Putting "Marry me" on Duna.

[big-t]

I'm completely new to KSP modding, but I would like to propose to my girlfriend by writing a message on Duna and adding a special quest to direct her to it.

 

I'm not sure what the best way to put the message on the planet would be.  I could maybe build the words out of a "crashed" spacecraft parts (and lights?), but I'm concerned that that'll spoil the surprise by having it show up in the map before she gets there.  (Could work though if I make it a rescue).

 

I was also considering adding some geometry, some boulders or something to spell it out.  I'm not sure if that'd be easier or harder to pull off.

Or just some good old fashioned red paint would work too.

 

I've seen contract modding guild, which gives me some idea of how to create the contract to direct her there, but I'm not sure how I would add in a waypoint at a fixed co-ordinate once it's done.  

[Dman979]

I wonder if you could write a plugin to reconfigure the biome map to spell out "Will you marry me," using one biome as the background and the others as letters? You could install that plugin and write a Making History mission to do a scan of the planet.

It would be totally invisible until she sees the biome map, but I don't know if it's possible to reconfigure.

 

[Gargamel]

I don't know about the contract side of it,  but I'm pretty sure I've seen Billboards in some of the fan fics around here,( @JustJim ?).   I'd guess it would just be a simple texture that you choose to add to it, so that would be pretty simple.   Add it to a command pod, place it and a Kerbal (renamed to your name of course), and there ya go.   Make it a rescue Contract.   

Or, if you can't get a modded billboard to work, make one out of structural Panels, and use lights to spell out the words.  That way she can get real close without seeing the message, and then when the lights turn on.... 

Better yet, if you have the Making History DLC, use the mission builder to set the whole thing up and have her play the mission.  I haven't played with the MB enough, but I'd suspect getting the lights to light up after she get's so close...   That way you can keep the whole thing stock and (hopefully) not worry about it bugging out on you at the absolute worst time.   

And if you don't have the DLC, I think it would be worth it to fork over the cash, seeing how much you're probably paying for the ring anyways, this is just part of the cost....

[Whirligig Girl]

for a Making History Mission, you could have a vessel that needs to be visited, and the vessel has "written" on it with parts that reads "Will You Marry Me?"

Edited October 17, 2018 by GregroxMun

[Snark]

1 hour ago, big-t said:

I'm not sure what the best way to put the message on the planet would be.

 

47 minutes ago, Dman979 said:

I wonder if you could write a plugin to reconfigure the biome map to spell out "Will you marry me," using one biome as the background and the others as letters? You could install that plugin and write a Making History mission to do a scan of the planet.

It would be totally invisible until she sees the biome map, but I don't know if it's possible to reconfigure.

Now that is a really excellent idea.  You can use a nice romantic font, have whatever additional decorations you want, etc.-- and the "reveal" should be perfect!

@big-t, if you wanted to re-do the biome map, it's really easy.  All you need to do is install Kopernicus, and then it's a matter of writing a super-simple mod that's just a .cfg file and an accompanying image map.  Here's an example of a map I once did to rejigger the biomes on Eve:

I stopped maintaining that particular mod a while ago, because I created it back when Eve biomes were pretty boring and needed a spruce-up.  KSP 1.2 overhauled Eve's biomes in stock and made them a lot more interesting, so the mod wasn't needed any more and I stopped updating it.  But the way that biome-remapping hasn't changed since then, I believe, so if you just look at how this mod sets up the config and the image map, it should be really easy for you to put together what you want.

[big-t]

Ah, thank you all so much, I'm looking forward to trying to build this.

 

Also, I never actually looked into what making history dlc was about, and now I'm torn between the biome idea and the custom mission.

 

I'll let you know how it goes in a few weeks.

[Dman979]

14 hours ago, big-t said:

Also, I never actually looked into what making history dlc was about, and now I'm torn between the biome idea and the custom mission.

Why not both? Combine the two, and give a mission to scan the planet?

Nevermind, I already suggested that.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Dman979
Duplicate suggestion.

[Ger_space]

You could use kerbal konstructs to either place a big mapdecal ( best option) or some buildings in the right position

A mapdecal with either text and scaled big enough should be visible even from space 

[Just Jim]

[Dark Lion]

Make her say yes in 5 (sort of) easy steps!

~Build a craft which spells out your big question for your sweetheart and name it something stealthy like "Q4U," "Project Unity," or something clever...-er.
~Attached, below, should be 2 platforms your sweetheart can land (or coughcoughcrashcough) on. One spells "YES" above, the other spells "NO."
~!!MISSION CRITICAL!!: Make the "NO" platform tilt the landing craft over to the "YES" platform, regardless of a perfect (/crash) landing on "NO." 
~Send craft to Duna, by any means possible. I highly recommend sending a kerbal with your name, and asking her to rescue you. You could always play it off before your sweetheart's mission, like you decided to give the game a rest after stranding your kerbal there.
~Enjoy your holiday! 
 

[Mrcarrot]

A simple MapDecal could do this quite easily...