[1.11.x] Science+ v0.1.0

[Codapop]

 

Are you tired of filling out the entire tech tree with a single Minmus biome-hopper? Do you feel like your rocket designs are stale due to always having access to the best parts?

 

Introducing Science+

Science+ is a light overhaul of the science system intended to make the game more challenging and to push for a greater variation and creativity in mid-game problem-solving. It allows for the addition of new science types and requirements for spending them in the R&D Facility. These science types can be added by using config files. If the player gets science data that is not specified by the config files, then it will choose a type at random to assign the points to.

Packaged with Science+ is my own personal implementation of this mod which is loosely based off the different types of science in Factorio. It adds 7 new types (plus default Blue), all based on colors, which can be obtained by visiting other celestial bodies. For instance, Blue Science can be found on Kerbin while Purple Science can be found on Eve. The 8 different colors also have their own branches in the Tech Tree.

Dependencies: Module Manager

 

In-Game Screenshots (using Science Colors included with the download)

Spoiler

Science gained after the first mission: 10.5 Blue Science for the two experiments from Kerbin and 5 Orange Science which was randomly added as the science is not attached to a planet specifically.

 

Basic Rocketry now costs 5 Blue Science. The early part of the tech tree generally requires Blue Science as that is the majority of what you can attain from Kerbin.

 

Advanced Electrics requires Purple Science, which can be found on Eve and Bop. The branch of the tech tree following this mostly requires Purple Science, and each Science type has its own branch.

 

Or Build Your Own!

I happily encourage others to use this mod to build their own implementations to fit different play styles. You could have Relativity Science be the reward for using the GRAVMAX or have a special science that is only found at the poles of Duna. You could even have a different type of science for each node on the Tech Tree and make it a sort of scavenger hunt.

Here's how to use the Science+ config file. Don't forget to also edit the TechTree config!

Spoiler

Science+
{
    RED                          // Node Name (Unimportant)
    {
        type = Red        // Science Name (This can be anything you want, such as real life science branches or names of famous scientists.)
        id = Moho         // Requirement (This is how you get the science. It is matched with the experiment name.
        id = Duna          //                                   So "Mystery Goo while Flying Over Laythe's Oceans" could use "Mystery", "Flying", "Laythe" or "Oceans.")
    }
    ORANGE
    {
        type = Orange
        id = Dres
        id = Vall
    }
...

 

Special thanks to xEvilReeperx and Aniruddh for providing much-needed help as well as Diazo and Fengist for their excellent tutorials.

 

Download

Github: https://github.com/CodapopKSP/SciencePlus/releases

SpaceDock: https://spacedock.info/mod/2633/Science%2B

 

If you're looking for an even greater challenge, check out Science+ Randomizer!

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by Codapop

[Superfluous J]

Iiiiiiiinteresting. I'll most definitely give this a try on my next career!

[Demcrew]

Indeeed very interesting..! Coupled with mission builder, and you have a PVE set !

[Codapop]

Feedback is much appreciated, including your thoughts on the Science Colors and their requirements.

[majNUN]

I've never played Factorio. So what does this mod really add to the game? What's so special about colours? Some examples would be nice.

[Codapop]

4 hours ago, majNUN said:

I've never played Factorio. So what does this mod really add to the game? What's so special about colours? Some examples would be nice.

 

The mod isn't really attached to Factorio at all other than to provide inspiration for my work, so no need to have experience with it. I've attached screenshots and examples in the main post as well as in the spoiler below.

 

In-Game Screenshots (using Science Colors included with the download)

Spoiler

Science gained after the first mission: 10.5 Blue Science for the two experiments from Kerbin and 5 Orange Science which was randomly added as the science is not attached to a planet specifically.

 

Basic Rocketry now costs 5 Blue Science. The early part of the tech tree generally requires Blue Science as that is the majority of what you can attain from Kerbin.

 

Advanced Electrics requires Purple Science, which can be found on Eve and Bop. The branch of the tech tree following this mostly requires Purple Science, and each Science type has its own branch.

 

[OrbitalManeuvers]

I'm unclear about the connection between colors and locations. If I know a color that I need for a tree node, how do I figure out what I need to do to get that color?

[Misguided Kerbal]

This is a very cool concept, though I'd like to suggest these bodies for the corresponding science:

 

Gold Science (Why not give the sun gold?) :

 - Kerbol

 

Green Science (Perhaps bodies with life/biology? Dunno.) :

- Kerbin

- Laythe

 

Silver Science (Boring vacuum bodies)

- Mun

- Ike

- Dres

 

Red Science (Small, hot bodies perhaps?)

- Moho

 

Purple Science (Just Eve)

- Eve

 

Yellow Science (Small, asteroid-y bodies)

- Asteroids

- Minmus

- Bop

- Gilly

- Pol

 

Blue Science (Ice is a factor, perhaps? Like the could-be-habitable-barely bodies)

- Duna

- Vall

- Eeloo

 

Orange Science (Hard-to-get-to bodies)

- Jool

- Tylo

 

I think that in this way, we can classify the bodies according to science type. Orange and Purple science would be end-game science, which would unlock the tech tree. Though this got me thinking, what about expanding it? Instead of colored science, we could have Geology, Biology, etc, etc. Since we already have specialized scanners, that could be interesting. You would require points of all types of science to unlock a node.

[Codapop]

13 hours ago, OrbitalManeuvers said:

I'm unclear about the connection between colors and locations. If I know a color that I need for a tree node, how do I figure out what I need to do to get that color?

I sorta intended the player to explore and find out, though you could always look in the config files. Since the mod allows other modders to create their own config files, it wouldn't be easy to have an in-game chart or something, and it would be up to each modder to decide to add an explanation to their download or to make it intuitive enough to understand on its own. In the case of my Science Colors configs, it should become apparent which color science comes from where after sending out a few interplanetary probes.

 

 

13 hours ago, Misguided Kerbal said:

This is a very cool concept, though I'd like to suggest these bodies for the corresponding science:

 

Gold Science (Why not give the sun gold?) :

 - Kerbol

 

Green Science (Perhaps bodies with life/biology? Dunno.) :

- Kerbin

- Laythe

 

Silver Science (Boring vacuum bodies)

- Mun

- Ike

- Dres

 

Red Science (Small, hot bodies perhaps?)

- Moho

 

Purple Science (Just Eve)

- Eve

 

Yellow Science (Small, asteroid-y bodies)

- Asteroids

- Minmus

- Bop

- Gilly

- Pol

 

Blue Science (Ice is a factor, perhaps? Like the could-be-habitable-barely bodies)

- Duna

- Vall

- Eeloo

 

Orange Science (Hard-to-get-to bodies)

- Jool

- Tylo

 

I think that in this way, we can classify the bodies according to science type. Orange and Purple science would be end-game science, which would unlock the tech tree. Though this got me thinking, what about expanding it? Instead of colored science, we could have Geology, Biology, etc, etc. Since we already have specialized scanners, that could be interesting. You would require points of all types of science to unlock a node.

Indeed these were all considerations I made, and in the end I decided on the current config based on how much science there was available for each celestial body and how difficult it is to get to each one. Each color has an easy and a hard way to attain it, and generally the easy way has less science and the hard way has more for the later tech nodes that cost 550 or 1000.

Regarding your idea for Geology/Biology/etc, that's certainly possible with this mod, and I decided to leave that up to other modders to create to focus on their own implementations and consider things like gameplay and balance. You can take a crack at it if you want, and it should be quite easy to do using the config files, even if you don't have any modding experience.

[Morphisor]

While an interesting concept, to me requiring locations for specific types of science doesn't make the most sense. It may also be very limiting for certain playstyles. Instead I would suggest to consider coupling the science types to experiment types. This way you could advance structural knowledge by performing materials science and surface samples, for example. Gravitational studies, geophysics, radiation... all could be their own branch.

[Codapop]

7 hours ago, Morphisor said:

While an interesting concept, to me requiring locations for specific types of science doesn't make the most sense. It may also be very limiting for certain playstyles. Instead I would suggest to consider coupling the science types to experiment types. This way you could advance structural knowledge by performing materials science and surface samples, for example. Gravitational studies, geophysics, radiation... all could be their own branch.

That's possible with this mod with only a bit of config node writing, and it could add to immersion without adding much difficulty, as most players I've seen usually outfit each craft with a full suite of science experiments. In that case the science counts would always be a ratio of how much each experiment is worth. However, adding immersion is always a good thing. My Science Colors implementation was specifically designed as a difficulty mod to push players into leaving the Kerbin system earlier than is typical (while still remaining possible without advanced techniques). It's definitely not for everyone, and I wouldn't recommend it for beginners, much like I wouldn't recommend life support mods or similar.

[Maple Kerman]

Very interesting. I might try this out in a future career save.

[Kerminator K-100]

Sounds cool!

[fatcargo]

So, this mod can separate science points into types that can be later expended on specific nodes in tech tree...

Could tech tree nodes be separated completely from main tech tree, in their own root nodes ? Yes, it would make them unresearchable from default research root, but with some additional code those could be unlocked and allow further research as expected.

Edited February 16, 2021 by fatcargo

[theJesuit]

10 minutes ago, fatcargo said:

Could tech tree nodes be separated completely from main tech tree, in their own root nodes ? Yes, it would make them unresearchable from default research root, but with some additional code those could be unlocked and allow further research as expected.

I think that is possible, but can be buggy.

Peace.

[fatcargo]

If managed by mod, any bugs can be compensated for.

So, completely separate tech trees can be a thing in KSP.

Like geology, general phyiscs, structural engineering, fluid dynamics,  biology,  psychology, nanotech etc ...

I'm hinting at the idea replacing current science system to prevent investing science in one branch to be used in another, keeping unrelated fields of study separate.

One more thing : how are science points being kept separate by type, from generating by the science part to the last step when utilized in tech tree ?

Edited February 17, 2021 by fatcargo

[Codapop]

16 hours ago, fatcargo said:

So, this mod can separate science points into types that can be later expended on specific nodes in tech tree...

Could tech tree nodes be separated completely from main tech tree, in their own root nodes ? Yes, it would make them unresearchable from default research root, but with some additional code those could be unlocked and allow further research as expected.

I believe that is possible even just by editing the TechTree.cfg file or making a clever ModuleManager patch (or at least that could handle 95% of the work). I'd be able to do it fairly easily, if a bit messy, but I'm not sure if it'd be included in the Science+ main mod or if it'd be a smaller companion mod.

 

16 hours ago, fatcargo said:

If managed by mod, any bugs can be compensated for.

So, completely separate tech trees can be a thing in KSP.

Like geology, general phyiscs, structural engineering, fluid dynamics,  biology,  psychology, nanotech etc ...

I'm hinting at the idea replacing current science system to prevent investing science in one branch to be used in another, keeping unrelated fields of study separate.

One more thing : how are science points being kept separate by type, from generating by the science part to the last step when utilized in tech tree ?

My mod pretty much accomplishes that already, as the final 3 or 4 nodes of each tech branch require the unique science types that can't be found on Kerbin. All of these parameters can be edited using the config files, so accomplishing your goal can be done entirely using this mod (and its config files) and ModuleManager (if you wish to build your own Tech Tree and distribute it).

How the mod handles science types:

1. Science types are detected in the config files and are then built into the persistent.sfs in your save file. You can make as many science types as you want.

2. Every time science is gained in KSP, the name of the science will be compared with the "id" of the science types in the config files. So if the science name is "Mystery Goo while flying over Kerbin's shores" then it will try to match any part of that with any of the IDs in the config files. In the case of the config files that I included, it sees that "Kerbin" is in both the science name and the id for Blue Science. You can use any part of the science name as your ID, so if you wanted to change that to "Mystery", then it would give Blue Science every time you received science from the Mystery Goo experiment (or any experiment with 'mystery' in the name). And if you change "Blue" to "Nuclear Physics" then you will get "Nuclear Physics Science" every time you receive science from the Mystery Goo experiment. Then this science value is saved in the persistent.sfs file.

3. When you open the RnD Facility, it looks in the TechTree.cfg file and finds nodes with the new parameter "scitype". This is where ModuleManager comes in handy, because ModuleManager can look at the Science+ config files and edit the TechTree.cfg file to include the scitypes to each node. RDNode,1 is the 2nd node (1st is the default start node) and RDNode,2 is the 3rd node, etc. You can edit these to include your new Science Types by changing/adding/removing the "scitypes" parameters to include the science types that you want to add to the game. The mod will then add these science types to the "Research" button for the tech node.

4. When you click "Research" for a tech node, the mod will determine if you have enough of that science type to afford the node, and if you do it will subtract that amount from the persistent.sfs file.

[256]

Okay, so I've installed this mod and I'm having a major bug where my Science plus science total are only showing the totals from my most recent launch. So, for example, I've got 26 science (and it shows that in the stock science display), but science plus only shows that I have 4.5 blue science and 1.4 gold science, so I'm still unable to unlock even the first node. If I do another launch and get an EVA report from another part of KSC, then my total science goes up but now I have 1.4 purple science and NO science of any other colours.

Am I the only one experiencing this?

Ver. 1.11.1.3066.

Mods:

USI MKS/LS

CTT

ScienceAlert ReAlert

Kerbal Engineer Redux

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Contract Configurator

Visual Mods (EVE, Scatterer)

[Codapop]

On 3/29/2021 at 11:23 PM, 256 said:

Okay, so I've installed this mod and I'm having a major bug where my Science plus science total are only showing the totals from my most recent launch. So, for example, I've got 26 science (and it shows that in the stock science display), but science plus only shows that I have 4.5 blue science and 1.4 gold science, so I'm still unable to unlock even the first node. If I do another launch and get an EVA report from another part of KSC, then my total science goes up but now I have 1.4 purple science and NO science of any other colours.

Am I the only one experiencing this?

Ver. 1.11.1.3066.

Mods:

USI MKS/LS

CTT

ScienceAlert ReAlert

Kerbal Engineer Redux

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Contract Configurator

Visual Mods (EVE, Scatterer)

Apologies for the late reply. I'll try to recreate the bug and see if I can figure it out.

[Codapop]

I have confirmed that the mod works as intended on 1.11.1 and works with ScienceAlert ReAlert. Would you be able to send me your log file? You could also try removing CTT/Contract Configurator and maybe ScienceAlert one by one and see if it fixes it.

On that note, the mod doesn't currently work with CTT, but not for the same reason as your issue. The R&D nodes are different between CTT and the stock tech tree, so the colors won't line up and some tech nodes will be unresearchable unless you edit the Science+TechTree.cfg file in the SciencePlus folder to include them. You would just need to add "@RDNode,XX" to the end of the list until you reached the number of tech nodes in CTT. You'd probably also want to do a bit of reorganizing of the colors for game balance, but it's not necessary and would work fine without.

[Donchielo]

Hi, 

I'm trying to use and modify the config file, but it doesn't seem to work properly. 

Science+
{
    BLUE
    {
        type = Blue
        id = Kerbin
        id = Baikerbanur LaunchPad
        id = Island Airfield
        id = Woomerang Launch Site
        id = Administration
        id = Astronaut Complex
        id = Crawlerway
        id = Flag Pole
        id = LaunchPad
        id = Mission Control
        id = R&D
        id = Runway
        id = SPH
        id = Tracking Station
        id = VAB
        
    }
    ORANGE
    {
        type = Orange
        id = Mun
        id = Minmus
    }
    YELLOW
    {
        type = Yellow
        id = space high Sun
        id = space high Duna
        id = space high Eve
        id = space low Duna
        id = space low Eve
        
    }
}

this is what i made so far, but Yellow science doesn't seem to work properly. It puts science either in orange or blue science. 

Any idea why? 

Thanks in advance. 

[Codapop]

On 5/24/2021 at 5:31 PM, Donchielo said:

Hi, 

I'm trying to use and modify the config file, but it doesn't seem to work properly. 

Science+
{
    BLUE
    {
        type = Blue
        id = Kerbin
        id = Baikerbanur LaunchPad
        id = Island Airfield
        id = Woomerang Launch Site
        id = Administration
        id = Astronaut Complex
        id = Crawlerway
        id = Flag Pole
        id = LaunchPad
        id = Mission Control
        id = R&D
        id = Runway
        id = SPH
        id = Tracking Station
        id = VAB
        
    }
    ORANGE
    {
        type = Orange
        id = Mun
        id = Minmus
    }
    YELLOW
    {
        type = Yellow
        id = space high Sun
        id = space high Duna
        id = space high Eve
        id = space low Duna
        id = space low Eve
        
    }
}

this is what i made so far, but Yellow science doesn't seem to work properly. It puts science either in orange or blue science. 

Any idea why? 

Thanks in advance. 

Unfortunately the ID strings have to be exact, as the mod isn't "smart" enough to parse the words from your ID, so "EVA report from space high above Duna" doesn't match "space high Duna" because "above" is in the middle. You could potentially add 'above' (or 'over') to each one and that might fix it, but if not then you'll need to grab the exact text of the science experiment from either the game or the wiki.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Codapop

[Donchielo]

Thanks, I guessed that, is it possible to use the same method for contracts? I mean I'm currently working  on a gameplay mod with a bunch of different mods, and I want to make contracts. Is it possible to award custom science directly or indirectly by the method of ID?  

Edited May 29, 2021 by Donchielo

[Codapop]

On 5/30/2021 at 5:33 AM, Donchielo said:

Thanks, I guessed that, is it possible to use the same method for contracts? I mean I'm currently working  on a gameplay mod with a bunch of different mods, and I want to make contracts. Is it possible to award custom science directly or indirectly by the method of ID?  

With the current code, I'm actually not sure, and it depends heavily on what the name of the science is when it is awarded. I believe it always shows up in the debug log (alt + F12) so you can try completing a contract and see what gets logged. Then you can pick some keywords from that log to use for the science types. As for awarding directly, it would require a lot of rewriting.

Something to keep in mind, it is possible to be relatively sneaky with your ID names, such as "high" would result in all "space high over X" being that color, but also every "highlands" science would also qualify. To get around this you can use "high " with a space after it, and it will exclude "highlands". Sorry I can't be much more of a help, but it's difficult to know exactly what you're trying to do. Perhaps one of these days I'll look deeper into contract mechanics if I want to go for a v1.0 release.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Codapop

[MoeKitsune]

How well does this mod work with tech tree mods such as CTT and Kiwi Tech Tree?