[WIP] SeaQuest KSP

[JadeOfMaar]

"SeaQuest KSP" :: Powered by Wild Blue Industries
It's time to build that fishing gear. The ocean is becoming even more playable!

Carrying the legacy of my "The Spice" mod, this one seeks to attempt to fill a very well known void in KSP and to open another door to (mostly) untapped gameplay opportunities. SeaQuest gives the player more to do with Kerbin's ocean, and adds value to (large) planet mods or large installs thereof.

SeaQuest KSP builds upon the Wild Blue Tools core mod made and owned by @Angel-125. Currently, no new parts (specifically, no new part models) are on the roadmap for this mod. Pathfinder is recommended for installation in order to get the most out of SeaQuest. The "Lasso" scoop devices in Pathfinder will be the example fish catching devices. MOLE (Mark One Laboratory Extensions) is additionally recommended for the science aspect and the complete experience. This mod fits right into the subtitle of  Pathfinder: "Space Camping & Geoscience," and is not meant to be a full mod on its own, but rather, to only be an expansion. What is a camping trip without catching a few fish and frying them?

Unlike "The Spice" (to those who know of and have tried it), mining, traveling and colonization aspects will not be chained down by a single habitable mystery planet and its OP handwavium engine stuff hoping to be found, but will be open to any and every planet mod with worlds capable of hosting life.

Fishes will not spawn and be visible and jump around, no. They are merely resources and may occur in any undisclosed number of oceans on varying compatible planets assuming the player has many planets with oceans installed.

Gameplay dimensions:

• Fishing. With RNG!
  • Powered by the WBI OmniConverter module, fishing will actually require a splashed vessel to sit and wait for a solid haul of the chosen category of fish. There will be chances to catch a bonus, catch less, or even none at all.
  • TBA various classes of fish will be select-able and mine-able. Each class may require its own amount or size of time interval between catches.
  • Some classes of fish can or will be common to multiple worlds. Others can be rare and exclusive.
• Economy
  • Every sort of fish has its price, weight, and amount per tank volume. By default, the tank templates will include a hefty ratio of Water or Classic Stock GrayWater for them to live in, but the water must be added separately when configured in OmniStorage (when available)... There is no penalty to not providing water for the fish but for roleplay's sake and "realism" would you keep fish in a dry, empty tank and expect them to live?
  • Floating and seaside bases become just a little more practical and their harvests can be sold for funds for your career.
  • Some classes of fish will be convertible to life support resources but the conversion process will involve varying fractions of waste output (convenient for buffing Fertilizer production or meeting other edge cases that need waste resources).
• Science
  • A small host of LDEF-alike experiments focused on fish will be included. Some with very high demands. Most will have clones per unique compatible world for fresh science gathering per unique compatible world.
• Planned Compatibility
  • Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Redux by @Nertea. (see 3.75m Aquaculture module)
  • Snacks! and Classic Stock by Angel-125
  • Stock planets (of course) and Outer Planets Mod. Other planet packs are TBD.
  • Supply and Demand by @Eskandare.

 

Edited December 25, 2018 by JadeOfMaar

[Nightside]

Wow, great idea! It reminds me of this old gem:

 

[Eskandare]

42 minutes ago, Nightside said:

Wow, great idea! It reminds me of this old gem:

 

I would love to see Kerbal sports somehow implemented within Sea Quest KSP. What do you think @JadeOfMaar?

[JadeOfMaar]

26 minutes ago, Eskandare said:

I would love to see Kerbal sports somehow implemented within Sea Quest KSP. What do you think @JadeOfMaar?

That's "part of the idea" yes. I do have an idea for kerbals to use a KIS fishing rod, and scout for fishing hot spots in the sea like with WBI GoldStrike. But I'm no plugin writer so it's all up to Angel-125 (once he's ready and willing) or whoever else is able and sufficiently interested to provide the functionality for me to piggyback on.

Edited December 25, 2018 by JadeOfMaar

[Angelo Kerman]

This looks like a lot of fun! I'll have to tweak GoldStrike to make fishing hotspots viable...

[Pulsar]

This is great idea! More convinience food source. I imagine that sometime the crew is tired of stale snack. 

[JadeOfMaar]

On 12/25/2018 at 11:00 PM, Pulsar said:

This is great idea! More convinience food source. I imagine that sometime the crew is tired of stale snack. 

It's funny you say that. In USI and Snacks! I have found references that describe the vital resource as less than appealing to the taste buds. I've played both of these enough to be so familiar.

The framework for the science experiments is roughly all laid out now. Some polishing waits to be done, and new icons to be drawn, then I can invite players to try them out.

[theonegalen]

Fishy fishy!

[Jesusthebird]

Subnautica meets ksp hehe!

[JadeOfMaar]

On 1/8/2019 at 3:35 PM, Jesusthebird said:

Subnautica meets ksp hehe!

Looks like you're right. I didn't want SeaQuest to bring much in the way of all-new parts, but now I'm planning for 3 tiers of depth for a certain unique, Crew Report-alike experiment, however, this experiment requires a tailor-made submarine body to carry it down to these depths, and survive past the default 400m limit on Kerbin (and ~240m on Eve) when part pressure limits is turned on.

So, in comes the Baby Shark/Turbo Shark profile. Very WIP but already fairly well trialed in-game. The main fuselage is near the 1.25m size allowing for a somewhat cramped 1 seat cockpit (because people are going to want a cockpit), and cargo space for 0.625m goods.

Further following @Angel-125 tradition, most of the fuselage parts will sport built-in solar panel, and when his mods are installed, many WBI features will be available to Baby Shark. Sea Quest will also be made available standalone for players who will want just the shark parts and maybe the fish resources for other uses excluding the Sea Quest grand scheme.

Edited January 20, 2019 by JadeOfMaar

[Joal ban Kluane]

Woah! Great design! But how can we expect anything less from Jade Of Maar? I hadn't thought much of the under sea before for KSP, but I will certainly have to revise my judgement once this comes out Please share your progress regularly to keep stars in our eyes in the meantime (or rather ... starfish? )

[JadeOfMaar]

20 hours ago, Joal ban Kluane said:

But how can we expect anything less from Jade Of Maar?

Please don't puff me up. I am not worthy of such praise. But... many folks indeed don't think much of the sea. Apart from its lacking physics. I've wanted to provide an avenue for such gameplay since.... this long ago. December 2016.

 

 

[JadeOfMaar]

It's been rather hard to find, much less hold my Zen for anything KSP lately, especially mod-making. I managed to revisit this today and made a polished draft for nearly all the parts I'd like to have for building a "Baby Shark" vehicle, and listed hopefully all of the remainder-- yet to be drafted, in MS Excel.

I won't show off the entirety of that preview render so far, but this chunk alone is a lot, as is. Featured here are the standard "hollow tail" and an additional "tank tail" with 0.625m adapter and inline 0.625m/1.25m propfan engine (the fins aren't part of the fan).

These parts have not been prepared at all as yet for KSP.

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by JadeOfMaar

[greenrolf]

Interesting concept

[Vahnskir]

My Yo's have been thoroughly Ho'd

[Adstri]

Very nice!

Edited April 9, 2019 by Adstriduum