Colonization Mods

[steuben]

I'm going to tip toe into mods on this one... or maybe I'll end up jumping into the deep end.

I'll looking for recommendations for a mod, or a minimal set of mods, that would let my develop active colonies on the various moons/planets. like Alien Legacy or Millennium: Return to Earth.

 

Okay. I've realised that this is really two questions. so I'm going to break it apart and focus it a bit.

1. life support mods. the reqs:
- the basic three things: air, food water
- no/low dependency on other mods

2. construction mods. the reqs:
- build parts
- attach parts
- launch ships- no/low dependency on other mods
notes: for easily launching ships, Extraplanetary Launchpads looks to be the option. unless I'm going to get hardcode and use kis/kas

 

Edited April 26, 2017 by steuben

[Wadusher0]

Base building is a really complicated task that tends to favour lots of mods. To start, you'll want Modular Kolonization Systems for a whole heap of useful parts and systems for base building, such as a fully fledged logistics system for moving resources around your planet, and inflatable parts for easy transport. If you don't like the look of inflatable parts there's also Kerbal Planetary Base Systems for parts.

I'd reccommend using these with several of RoverDude's mods, like Konstruction and USI Life Support, as well as KAS/KIS. The only life support MKS is compatible with is USI-LS - I think that's the only one the greenhouses/recyclers work with. Konstruction is useful to put your base together, especially with KIS - the parts dramatically increase individual kerbal lift capacity. KAS also has ground pylons to help secure your base and (hopefully) prevent kraken attacks.
To expand your base, MKS is bundled with Ground Construction, but you can use OSE Workshop to create individual parts or ExtraPlanetary Launchpads to build vessels/base modules.

These are the mods you should start with. There's a boatload of mods that'll come in handy but aren't requirements. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by wadusher1

[bigcalm]

I agree with wadusher's recommendations - go for the USI / MKS constellation of mods with Kerbal Planetary Base systems for the look of the thing (my USI only bases all look like oil refineries, which I guess they kind of are), and add Extraplanetary Launchpads too.

[Dman979]

This thread has been untangled from the recent forum mess-up.

@steuben, @wadusher1, and @bigcalm, please let me know if there are posts missing from here.

[DStaal]

Just to mention: If you want a slightly simpler approach than USI, you should take a look at the WBI suite of mods, most notably Pathfinder:

It does a lot of the same resource transfer, construction, and setup mechanics as USI, but with it's own flavor.  Most of the parts could actually be built using OSE Workshops and inflated using Equipment created locally, if you want.  (Although there are some larger solid parts, particularly the new Bison parts in the Heisenburg mod.)

It includes some integration to allow KPBS to work with it as well.  (KPBS has some integration with USI-LS, but none with MKS at the moment - although I'm working on a mod pack for that.)

[steuben]

focusing on the construction portion of things. most of them look like they do much more than i need. the mod library thread doesn't seem to help much. or maybe i'm just misreading things.

1. is there a mod that i can drill for ore, and then process it into parts/crafts?

2. simple to use.

It looks like Extraplanetary launchpads and Ground Construction fits the bill.

[Krakenist]

Either use B9 Aerospace pack's HX series parts for huge colony ships that contain all the necessary materials to colonize the entire solar system or use the cargo freighter mod by dboi88 and as a challenge, make a B9 HX class VTOL

 

[Crimeo]

KIS / KAS is not really "hardcore" it's just a thing that lets you do convenience fixes, occasionally.

It's also going to be almost necessary to go along with extraplanetary launchpads. I can hardly conceive of one working without the other -- You constantly end up building accidentally without one of the resources you need, for example, or just hit the buttons wrong, and need to pump in some xenon or whatever, and without KIS, you'd have to ridiculously design EVERY spaceship to have a docking port and a way to be accessed by a rover tanker on site to fix that, or else you're just going to be totally screwed on like... your fourth launch probably.with a giant rocket that you can't put anywhere. Etc. etc.

You definitely want USI life support + extraplanetary launchpads + KIS/KAS at a minimum, I'd say.

 

Quote

1. is there a mod that i can drill for ore, and then process it into parts/crafts?

Yes extraplanetary launchpads.

Ground construction I would say does NOT fit your description of a "colonization mod" in the normal sense, in that you cannot build anything unless you bring a big box of parts fresh, every time, from KSC. EPL does let you build things in isolation on a colony.

(It doesn't use ore, it uses a different resource, but it's also eaily found and you could modify the configs to use ore potentially anyway).

USI (just USI life support NOT all the rest of the USI stuff) fits your life support request of just being two or three things you need (space to stretch your legs, and "supplies" if I recall, and greenhouses that recycle it, only a few parts).

And KIS/KAS is an ANTI-frustration mod, not the other way around,by letting you fix small things that will go wrong on far away colonies, without just simply failing your entire mission for stupid reasons. For example, if your pilot could get outside, but your scientist was stuck in a pod because the hatch was obscured by a solar panel -- do you just abort and go home for 5 years? Or do you use KIS to simply move the damn panel 5 inches to the left?

----------------

I'd also suggest Deep Freeze, which makes the requirements for life support much more bearable for long journeys, but could go easily without.

Edited May 3, 2017 by Crimeo

[RoverDude]

@steuben - biased of course (given I wrote it), but I would recommend MKS since it's been doing the colonization thing for years now.   Bear in mind it is a colonization gameplay mod, not a parts mod, and almost a new game unto itself.  RE concerns about complexity - the new release (in pre-release now) provides the option to turn off the 'wear' mechanic, removing one of the tougher production chains, making it a bit more gentle on new players (and of course you can always turn it back on once you get your feet wet).  There's also a pretty solid community driven KSPedia and Wiki and a ton of helpful players   It also dovetails perfectly with the rest of the USI bits like life support, etc.

[MaxwellsDemon]

RE USI... one of the challenges for me right now is designing bases and stations that my Kerbals can stand to live on for an appreciable period of time, yet balancing that with economy of size, etc.  Other than adding on additional "unused Kerbal space," such as (to cite a stock example) a Hitchhiker can without staffing it full, and other than the cupola, are there any other small (radial parts, inventory items, etc.) that can add a bit to habitability, in one or another mod?  Sort of the notional equivalent of hanging up a picture of a Kerbinscape and a potted plant to make things 5% more comfy?   

[DStaal]

13 hours ago, MaxwellsDemon said:

RE USI... one of the challenges for me right now is designing bases and stations that my Kerbals can stand to live on for an appreciable period of time, yet balancing that with economy of size, etc.  Other than adding on additional "unused Kerbal space," such as (to cite a stock example) a Hitchhiker can without staffing it full, and other than the cupola, are there any other small (radial parts, inventory items, etc.) that can add a bit to habitability, in one or another mod?  Sort of the notional equivalent of hanging up a picture of a Kerbinscape and a potted plant to make things 5% more comfy?   

The cupolas are pretty powerful, actually.  You need to think about both hab space and multipliers - having a small habitation unit with a couple of multipliers can quickly get you months of habitation time.

But as for your specific request: Those would be unbalanced by RoverDude's guidelines; habitation or bonuses both need to have space/volume.  The pictures and potted plants are assumed to be already included in the calculation.

[RoverDude]

@MaxwellsDemon - as @DStaal noted, hab multipliers are your friend.  The optimum hab time tends to be a mix of both.

I've had no issue ever getting bases past the 50+ year mark.  

[MaxwellsDemon]

I'm thinking more along the lines of getting a crew in an Apollo-style capsule and lander can to and from Minmus without the crew going on strike before landing.     With three Kerbals and five seats, the limit seems to be about 2-3 days short of a Minmus mission...

[DStaal]

1 hour ago, MaxwellsDemon said:

I'm thinking more along the lines of getting a crew in an Apollo-style capsule and lander can to and from Minmus without the crew going on strike before landing.     With three Kerbals and five seats, the limit seems to be about 2-3 days short of a Minmus mission...

Take a look at some of the mini-cupolas, they'll get you some spare time.

Or...  Free-return plan.  Schedule them to go on strike on the way back, and use an areobrake capture/descent.  They should return to work just in time to deploy the parachutes. 

[MaxwellsDemon]

Actually, I build my 'Apollo' analogue with a hidden OKTO2 probe core, so I guess I don't really *need* them to be on the job.   But still...    I guess I can see if I can tweak the settings a tad.

Edited May 8, 2017 by MaxwellsDemon

[MaxwellsDemon]

(I was thinking last night that, if Jim Lovell and Frank Borman could sit in a Gemini for 14 days without going on strike, then surely a few Kerbals could do the same.  But then I thought, it's a pretty safe bet that Lovell and Borman have the Bad$ trait...)   (Whenever I get a Kerbal with Bad$, I add them to the 'veteran'/'immune from supply' list in the USI-Life Support setup.   I figure that's fair.)

Edited May 9, 2017 by MaxwellsDemon