Kerbal Architecture

[Bej Kerman]

33 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

Good to know! Truth be told though Im used to autocad through work I hate Autodesk with a deep passion.

Should have put a link here beforehand, here! https://www.blender.org/

Edited June 8, 2021 by Bej Kerman

[K^2]

On 5/22/2021 at 7:29 PM, Pthigrivi said:

Its probably best as a mod, which I might even start doing myself if I finally break down and buy 3ds max.

That's a wonderful idea. Give me a shout if you'll want a colab on procedural generation for the city layout.

Oh, and you can absolutely do the 3D editing in Blender. I know the UI is something to get used to - though, it's gotten WAY better in the past few years, but it's free and will readily export to FBX. If some custom export scripts would be needed, they can be easily written.

[Pthigrivi]

23 minutes ago, K^2 said:

That's a wonderful idea. Give me a shout if you'll want a colab on procedural generation for the city layout.

Oh, and you can absolutely do the 3D editing in Blender. I know the UI is something to get used to - though, it's gotten WAY better in the past few years, but it's free and will readily export to FBX. If some custom export scripts would be needed, they can be easily written.

I will! Its currently vying for some other time in my life... I'm waiting to see if I've been appointed to my town's planning commission. If that falls through its full steam ahead haha. 

[K^2]

56 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

I'm waiting to see if I've been appointed to my town's planning commission.

Oh, best of luck on that one! It's always amazing to contribute to building of something grand that will impact many lives.

[Le Lynx]

The kerbals could live into sort of  hobbit hole. I dream of live in a hobbit hole.

[Pthigrivi]

Thanks @K^2! Nothing's certain yet. We're actually engaged in a bit of a hostile takeover so we'll see how that goes 

[jimmymcgoochie]

A few things to think about-

Do towns and cities change and grow over time? Having them stay exactly the same isn’t very interesting or realistic. Maybe these “boom events” for colonies etc. could also trigger a wave of city expansion or new buildings to replace some older ones in towns and cities across Kerbin? And/or different architectural styles as game time passes, old stone and brick buildings giving way to more modern glass and metal and then to ‘futuristic’ designs as time goes on.

What about the collisions with buildings? Static features like the KSC and ground scatters/Breaking Ground features have to have collision meshes to make them solid when you hit them, but having that many solid objects inside physics range at once could be bad for performance even with KSP2’s promised improvements in the physics engine and related areas.

How many buildings is enough? Just creating a dozen or so models and spamming them out might work if they’re small houses, which are often built in large numbers at the same time so use the same designs, or industrial/commercial buildings which share most of the same features (boxy exteriors, lots of plain brick and corrugated metal on the outside, etc.) but makes a city look obviously fake with rows of cut and paste office blocks and civic buildings. What about airports, roads and train tracks between towns/cities, ports? The other side of that argument is that adding too many models will just add more memory use without any real benefit to the whole “space” thing in the game’s title and that’s the main reason why I see cities on Kerbin as “nice, but nowhere near essential”. Some well-designed city lights to make the night side of Kerbin look like it’s inhabited like Earth would be enough for me; 2D “buildings” on top of the terrain just look bad close up.

[shdwlrd]

1 hour ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

How many buildings is enough? Just creating a dozen or so models and spamming them out might work if they’re small houses, which are often built in large numbers at the same time so use the same designs, or industrial/commercial buildings which share most of the same features (boxy exteriors, lots of plain brick and corrugated metal on the outside, etc.) but makes a city look obviously fake with rows of cut and paste office blocks and civic buildings.

I'm guessing you never played city builder games. SimCity and Cities: Skylines don't have that many building types or many models for each type of building. If they are randomized well enough, you wouldn't notice unless you actually look for repeat buildings.

[jimmymcgoochie]

7 minutes ago, shdwlrd said:

I'm guessing you never played city builder games. SimCity and Cities: Skylines don't have that many building types or many models for each type of building. If they are randomized well enough, you wouldn't notice unless you actually look for repeat buildings.

Actually, I do. Quite a bit. Between playing various Sim Cities and the app edition of Transport Tycoon (which also features expanding towns with changing architectural styles as time goes on) and watching videos of others such as Cities Skylines, it’s very common to see large numbers of the same few buildings in the same town or city, with at best minor colour differences between them. You don’t have to look for them because they’re right there in front of you.

[SOXBLOX]

Solution: Kerbal Skylines Program.

[shdwlrd]

30 minutes ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

Actually, I do. Quite a bit. Between playing various Sim Cities and the app edition of Transport Tycoon (which also features expanding towns with changing architectural styles as time goes on) and watching videos of others such as Cities Skylines, it’s very common to see large numbers of the same few buildings in the same town or city, with at best minor colour differences between them. You don’t have to look for them because they’re right there in front of you.

Ok, but you shouldn't be sitting there staring at or studying the cities and towns. You typically should be moving over or through them. At that point, they should become objects you need to avoid. It shouldn't matter if they are using a handful of models with different colors and textures. You shouldn't really notice that fact.

5 minutes ago, SOXBLOX said:

Solution: Kerbal Skylines Program.

I was thinking that would be a good way to populate Kerbin with cities and towns.

Edited June 9, 2021 by shdwlrd

[Klapaucius]

First of all, I have been loving the architectural tour.  Thanks!  I lived in Russia from 1996-98.  My favorite thing to show visitors was the Metro (subway/underground).  The stations in central Moscow were amazingly, wonderfully ornate and sometimes over the top.

 

Here is  a link to a Guardian article with photos: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/oct/31/moscows-metro-stations-in-pictures

 

Having said that, KSP2 is already being sold as a place for advanced base building. Just looking at their last trailer demoing base textures and processing plants, I think there will be ample scope for building our own cities, or at least sizeable towns.  I don't see a need for cities beyond the stock KSC because I think we can do that ourselves.

 

and don't forget the vista revealed at the end (2:15) of the announce trailer.  This looks like the intention is to be able to construct bases of that scale.

 

[Dr. Kerbal]

I Doctor Kerbal support this idea. I usually fly around Kerbin, and I have circumnavigated it. I have seen most of Kerbin and it just, empty. The surface of Kerbin is scattered with hills, plains, and towering mountains. Occasionally, some trees and cacti will pop up and render in and out. And then we have the Kerbal Space Center. The only sign of an intelligent species. It really creepy. And it gives me the creeps if I think about it more. I mean, where are the offices or where houses of these companies. Like OMB Demolition or Probodyne? What is reputation for? Where is the public? Where does Kerbalkind live? And where do recruits come from? When Kerbal Space Program mentions corporations and other labs, where are they? Kerbin is empty. Desolate. And the Kerbal Space Center is the only sign of intelligent life. This just gives me more spooks. And this scares me. So. Shouldn't this mean Kerbin should be bustling with cities, towns, villages, highways, roads, airports, and etcetera? I know this is Kerbal Space Program but at least make Kerbin seem like its home to Kerbalkind. If a developer of Kerbal Space Program or Kerbal Space Program 2 is reading this. Please add signs of civilization instead of just a space center. Prove that Kerbin is home to kerbalkind. 

[mattinoz]

I know at least one online map provided is pitching 3D real world maps for games to use.  Sure Kerbin is 1/10 scale so would need some scaling and careful selection but sure would be an interesting way go large areas of landscape to texture the planet and climatic city scapes.