[v1.0.0] The Skyhawk Science System - a new BDB-focused tech tree

[CessnaSkyhawk]

Hi there! For the longest time, I've had trouble settling on a tech tree to use for my KSP playthroughs. TETRIX, Kiwi, Probes before Crew, and even just the standard Community Tech Tree are all good, but they each had some sort of issue or thing that I just didn't like. After sometime trying to change it for personal use through patching, I've instead decided to just go all the way and create my own custom tech tree, the Skyhawk Science System. Behold!

(Hopefully the image displays properly, but if not, the link still works)

This tech tree (currently just the layout, no part patches yet) will be based around a combination of the amazing Bluedog Design Bureau, Coatl Aerospace, SOCK, reDIRECT, Nertea's  whole suite of mods, and more! It will attempt to create a "somewhat realistic" progression from launching sounding rockets into space to exploring deep space with antimatter torch drives. It won't completely accurately follow real-life, but I'm trying to strike a reasonable balance between the stock-alike "unlock things based on radial size" and the realistic progression of rockets to make sure everything has a reason to be used.  I'll continue to update this thread with my progress as time goes on, but for now, feel free to take a look at the current tree plan and let me know what you think! And if you've got any questions about what I'm planning, ask away as well!

BETA Release (Ready for testing!  )

https://github.com/CessnaSkyhawk/SkyhawkScienceSystem/releases

 

Mod Support:

I've provided a list of mods which the tree currently supports right here: https://github.com/CessnaSkyhawk/SkyhawkScienceSystem/wiki/Mod-Support

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk
Release!!! :)

[theJesuit]

I love it! 

Also, when editing the OP, at the bottom right of the edit window is a button to insert media.  Out the imgur link there.

[CessnaSkyhawk]

10 hours ago, theJesuit said:

I love it! 

Also, when editing the OP, at the bottom right of the edit window is a button to insert media.  Out the imgur link there.

Aright, figured it out now. I was just using the wrong link 

[SpaceFace545]

You should also add Benjee10’s mods as well

[CessnaSkyhawk]

26 minutes ago, SpaceFace545 said:

You should also add Benjee10’s mods as well

Don't worry - reDIRECT, SOCK, and the like will 100% be implemented, and were actually part of the balancing plan for the mod. I honestly just forgot to add them to the post cause I always just associate them (and Hephaistos's (ULA Vulcan)) with BDB due to them all being American rockets 

[Spike88]

What about tantares and knes? 

[CessnaSkyhawk]

10 hours ago, Spike88 said:

What about tantares and knes? 

I personally don't use those mods, and don't know much about European or Soviet rocketry in general, so I probably won't necessarily patch in base support for them, but once the tech tree is in a somewhat release ready state and posted on github I'd be more than happy to take PRs from people who do.

[CessnaSkyhawk]

Good News! I've figured out a new way to handle my planning that speeds up my tech tree patching time by a crazy amount! I'm now planning on trying to release a super duper early alpha sometime tomorrow - localization is still gonna be wack, tech tree icon art is still non-existent and it will definitely not be fully balanced, but it should at least let you all see exactly what the baseline setup for the tree will probably look like

[CessnaSkyhawk]

Well, I just made a offical github for the SSS, and uploaded my first release right here: https://github.com/CessnaSkyhawk/SkyhawkScienceSystem/releases/tag/alpha  

It is 100% definitely NOT playable, and at this point only supports Bluedog Design Bureau (Even Stock isn't supported yet!). I'm really only releasing this so people can get an idea of what my plan for balancing this mod is, and also so I can get used to using github while the file sizes and amounts are still small. Either way, let me know what you think of the plan so far, and I'll hopefully be releasing a more finished version soon!

Edited September 16, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk

[Morphisor]

On 9/12/2021 at 4:35 AM, Spike88 said:

What about tantares and knes? 

I second adding these in, if you've not used them you're missing out! They are like jelly and sprinkles to BDB's peanut butter. They're all made to fit well together too!

[rextable]

Cool beans!!!

This has my vote. I'll certainly give it a go once it's fleshed out.

Edited September 18, 2021 by rextable
cannot spell

[theonegalen]

Looks awesome!

[CessnaSkyhawk]

20 hours ago, Morphisor said:

I second adding these in, if you've not used them you're missing out! They are like jelly and sprinkles to BDB's peanut butter. They're all made to fit well together too!

I'll see what I can do, but no promises. I don't really like patching mods that I have no experience with cause I like having a feel of a given mod's part balance before I try to work it into the tree. Either way, once development gets a little further, I'd also be open to pull requests incase anyone else wants to try their hands at them! 

18 hours ago, rextable said:

Cool beans!!!

This has my vote. I'll certainly give it a go once it's fleshed out.

 

11 hours ago, theonegalen said:

Looks awesome!

Thanks so much! I'm currently trying to wrap up the stock parts (always fun because the internal part names are so inconsistent and varied) and then I'll move on to fleshing out mod support. Still go a decent bit though - want to work in a few more mods before I finalize localization, and then at that point we should have a somewhat playable tree, although the icon imagery will probably be a bit lacking. I'm hoping we'll be at that point by mid-October 

Edited September 19, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk

[Thatguywholikesionengines]

Lookin' good! I like the community tech tree as much as the next guy, but this seems like a fresh change of pace that isn't RO/RP-1 levels of complex. Count me interested!

[CrzyIrishmanBob]

Love it! I've been dying for a tech tree that directly supports BDB like this! Definitely looking forward to using this one. 

[CessnaSkyhawk]

17 hours ago, Thatguywholikesionengines said:

Lookin' good! I like the community tech tree as much as the next guy, but this seems like a fresh change of pace that isn't RO/RP-1 levels of complex. Count me interested!

 

10 hours ago, CrzyIrishmanBob said:

Love it! I've been dying for a tech tree that directly supports BDB like this! Definitely looking forward to using this one. 

Glad to hear it! I'm almost done with Stock and Restock, and then I'm gonna start working on supporting a lot more mods!

Edited September 20, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk

[CessnaSkyhawk]

Skyhawk Science System v0.2.0 - "Back to Basics"

https://github.com/CessnaSkyhawk/SkyhawkScienceSystem/releases

With the release, the Skyhawk Science System now supports the stock game (a pretty important thing to do), both DLC expansions, and Restock Plus to boot! There's still a lot of balance issues that I want to fix, but I'm planning to wait until I've added in more mod support to fix them. I figure it'll be easier to adjust things when I have all the related parts together, so I can actually visualize where everything falls in a given branch. I also really do not like the current balance of the aviation branches, so I'll eventually fix that, but probably not for at least 2-3 more releases. I've got a busy next few days, but I hope to get cracking on adding in reDirect, Coatl Aerospace, and a good portion of the Nertea suite of mods over the weekend.

Remember, it's still NOT PLAYABLE FOR REAL SAVES and I have no idea what kind of mess could happen if you load it up in one! Fly safe everyone!

Edited September 21, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk
Removed extraneous link

[CobaltWolf]

I know the BDB parts have techtags that we included for Cold War Progression Techtree. Stuff like, "AgenaA", "AgenaB", etc. Broken up like that. I imagine that's not quite as useful here, since you're breaking things up more by part category?

[CessnaSkyhawk]

On 9/21/2021 at 10:25 AM, CobaltWolf said:

I know the BDB parts have techtags that we included for Cold War Progression Techtree. Stuff like, "AgenaA", "AgenaB", etc. Broken up like that. I imagine that's not quite as useful here, since you're breaking things up more by part category?

Didn't notice that, but yeah, probably wouldn't be the most useful, and anyway, BDB is already pretty much fully defined aside from the reworked Saturn/Apollo and the new Pioneer parts. Thanks for the heads up though - might be useful in the future.

 

and in other news...

 

Skyhawk Science System v0.3.0 - "Moar Boosters!"

https://github.com/CessnaSkyhawk/SkyhawkScienceSystem/releases

This release is actually pretty big - adding Near Future Launch Vehicles and Propulsion, reDirect, Tundra Exploration/Technologies, Far Future Technologies, Cryo Engines, Kerbal Atomics, Missing History, and more! It finally fills out some empty areas, like the reuse section (thanks to KRE) the nuclear/plasma/antimatter section of the tree (FFT, NFP, and KA), and the "near-future" rocketry nodes as well (TEx and NFLV). Now, one should theoretically be able to progress smoothly from barely making orbit with Vanguard in the early orbital era, to using Thor and Delta to launch larger missions in the mature orbital era, Titan and Atlas to send probes to other planets, and to bring kerbals into space in the "high performance" and "medium-lift" eras, the Saturn V to land on the moon in the super heavy-lift era, improved Saturn V variants or the SLS for follow up missions in the modern era, and finally unlocking starship and 7.5m NFLV parts in the future eras, and then from there into fancy exotic engines. The next release will likely focus on fleshing out other lightly filled portions of the tree, like station parts, surface bases, etc. I'm also thinking of a potential way to work in the major FTL mods (Warp Drive, BluShift, ESLD Beacons, etc), but it's still in the planning phase.

As always, while the tree is much more fleshed out, it's still NOT PLAYABLE FOR REAL SAVES and I have no idea what kind of mess could happen if you load it up in one!  If there's demand, maybe I'll look at making a quick modification for a playable alpha, but I'm not sure if it's really ready for that yet...

Edited September 23, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk

[CessnaSkyhawk]

Skyhawk Science System v0.4.0 - "Rounding Out The Edges"

https://github.com/CessnaSkyhawk/SkyhawkScienceSystem/releases

With this release, support has been added for multiple new mods, including:

• Boring Crew Services
• CNAR
• Coatl Aerospace
• Heat Control
• Kerbal Planetary Base Systems
• All Remaining NF mods aside from Aeronautics
• Special Delivery
• Stockalike Station Parts Redux

With that, I'd say the rocketry section of the tree has now been mostly finished to a point that it'd be playable once that science is fixed, albeit with a few balance issues. Aviation is another story, but I plan on fixing that in the next update (v0.5.0) before going in for a balance pass on all the parts in v0.6.0. Also, for those of you interested in more global representation, I've got some good news! I've figured out a strategy to make my tech tree patching far more efficient and faster. Because of this, I can handle many more mods than before, and am now heavily considering a "World Tour" update where I add support for Tantares, Knes, CRE and all the other mods representing other global space programs. Let me know if that's something you'd like to see, or consult #1 if you want to see all the mods I'm considering supporting in it!

EDIT: Forgot to say this at first, but STILL NOT PLAYABLE IN REAL SAVES!!!! Please don't use the tree in any saves you care about!

Edited September 27, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk
warning

[Redleg1]

I really appreciate that you are building this tech tree! Been waiting on a BDB focused tree for a long time and have even tried working on my own one.  I'm curious if you plan to have life support mods as part of the tree at some point or, do you have any recommendations for a life support mod that best compliments BDB?

[CessnaSkyhawk]

9 minutes ago, Redleg1 said:

I really appreciate that you are building this tech tree! Been waiting on a BDB focused tree for a long time and have even tried working on my own one.  I'm curious if you plan to have life support mods as part of the tree at some point or, do you have any recommendations for a life support mod that best compliments BDB?

Thanks so much! I'm glad I'm not the only one looking for a tree like this! I do plan on supporting LS mods at some point, but I'm putting it off for now because I'm waiting to see if Kerbalism 4 is coming out anytime soon, as that'd be my ideal LS mod to support in house. If that doesn't pan out by v1.0 than I'll probably pivot to USI instead. Either way, idt I'll have LS support in 1.0, but it'll likely be the first addition after the main release

Edited September 27, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk

[CessnaSkyhawk]

Skyhawk Science System v0.5.0 - "Taking Flight"

https://github.com/CessnaSkyhawk/SkyhawkScienceSystem/releases

Our namesake finally decided to make an appearance!

It was a lot of work, but I'm now proud to say that version 0.5.0 is ready, and with it, comes a slightly more reasonably organized aviation tree! SSS now supports (and will likely require if you want to have a fully filled-out aviation tree) Airplanes Plus, Blue Steel, Shuttle Orbiter Construction Kit, Mk2 Expansion, Mk3 Expansion, and Near Future Aeronautics (finally fleshing out the Nertea suite!) I'm not really a big plane-builder in KSP (I know, I know, it's weird considering my name...), so there's likely some questionable choices in the balancing, so if anyone checks it out and has any suggestions, just let me know!

As for next update, I plan to do a balancing pass over the full tree now that I've got a lot of mods in it, and set up a finalized plan before I move on to the final wave of new part mods. I'm also hopefully gonna take some time and finally get localizations and icons set for most of the nodes. 

 

STILL NOT PLAYABLE THOUGH - WAIT TILL 1.0 BEFORE ADDING TO REAL SAVES!

Edited September 30, 2021 by CessnaSkyhawk

[SpaceFace545]

2 minutes ago, CessnaSkyhawk said:

Skyhawk Science System v0.5.0 - "Taking Flight"

https://github.com/CessnaSkyhawk/SkyhawkScienceSystem/releases

Our namesake finally decided to make an appearance!

It was a lot of work, but I'm now proud to say that version 0.5.0 is ready, and with it, comes a slightly more reasonably organized aviation tree! SSS now supports (and will likely require if you want to have a fully filled-out aviation tree) Airplanes Plus, Blue Steel, Shuttle Orbiter Construction Kit, Mk2 Expansion, Mk3 Expansion, and Near Future Aeronautics (finally fleshing out the Nertea suite!) I'm not really a big plane-builder in KSP (( know, I know, it's weird considering my name...), so there's likely some questionable choices in the balancing, so if anyone checks it out and has any suggestions, just let me know!

As for next update, I plan to do a balancing pass over the full tree now that I've got a lot of mods in it, and set up a finalized plan before I move on to the final wave of new part mods. I'm also hopefully gonna take some time and finally get localizations and icons set for most of the nodes. 

Congrats!!! you did it

[Talverd]

Woohoo.