Compilation of modding information links for 0.19/20/21/22/23 - Last update 24th Jan

[hoojiwana]

Moderator edit, by request:

Try the new thread here.

First of all, let me preface this all by saying I'm not all that good at making mod parts. I've only been doing it for a few weeks now, and I had to learn from all information spread out all over the place, with much of that being outdated or incomplete. The aim of this thread is to help gather up-to-date information into one place to help people who may be struggling with starting to make mods, or with some specific problem they may have. I would greatly appreciate input and help from those with more experience than me in order to make this the best it can be.

If you come across any information that you think might be useful to be added to this thread please post a reply here or drop me a quick PM. Thanks!

Starting out

You're going to need Unity, which you can download here.

You will also need to use only one of the Part Tools Unity plugins to export your Unity set-up into a .mu file:

0.23 Part Tools thread and download

0.20 Part Tools thread and download

0.18 Part Tools download

I recommend you read the 0.23 and 0.20 Part Tools posts by Mu, they are very informative.

If you're having trouble unzipping on a Mac, look here.

Modding Information Links

GENERAL INFORMATION

Stock Parts List

Part Modelling Guidelines

CFG File Documention on the wiki

Modding information page from before the forum wipe

- Download of the old page

MODELLING

Part sizes in KSP and 3D modelling programs

Basic Blender tutorial for making a propellent tank

- by Technical ben

Triangle count for parts snippet

Cylinder face numbers

Lots of snippets, read the entire thread

TEXTURING

Texture Format Information

- Worth giving the whole thread a read.

Fixing texture seams (gaps in the texture on the model)

Memory usage of textures

Creating a normal map

Normal map file naming

- Very important with relation to memory usage

LICENSING

All addons posted on any official Squad website must have a license

- Forum Rule 4.2

License Selection Guide

UNITY/CONFIGS

Getting started

Tutorial: Unity and Part Tools Setup + Model/Texture Import, Setup and Export to KSP

- video by Tiberion

Unity to KSP: A Detail Tutorial

- written by Kerbtrek

Part Tools 0.20, Blender, Unity and KSP

- written by Cheebsta

Example Config file for loading a .Mu file into the game

- written by Tiberion

TUTORIAL: Getting Started With Unity

- written by Nutt007, includes a video for 0.15

Tutorial:Making and asset from start to finish

Collision meshes

Collision Mesh snippets

Normal mesh use

Exploding Kerbals

Attach nodes

Radial attach coordinates

Tweaking attach nodes snippets

Science

Science and mods!

GameDatabase

0.20+ specific config extras

Example of using 0.20+ MODEL{} modules to combine parts

MODEL{} tutorial - Learn How to Weld!

- written by johnsonwax

MODEL{} tutorial - Intermediate Welding and Part Scaling

- written by johnsonwax

Scaling attach nodes with MODEL{}

Unity defined attach nodes

Unity defined attach nodes 2

Flag decal module

Engines

Quick how-to on setting up a thrustTransform for an Engine

Thrust Transform example

- Image

Snippet on thrustTransforms

Brief explanation of atmosphereCurve and velocityCurve

Unity hierarchy for Gimballing nozzles

Trouble shooting why an engine might not work

Fairings

To make fairings in VAB/SPH thumbnail invisible, set the fairing objects tag to Icon_Hidden. You will need to create a new tag to do this.

Example image of the tag

Removing the fairings from stock engines

Decouplers

Decoupler modules

RCS

Empty GameObjects with Y axis (

green

arrow) pointing in the direction of thrust, with one for each direction.

Air Intakes

Intakes for jet engines

Ladders

Adding airlocks and ladders to parts

Airlock

Adding airlocks and ladders to parts

Docking Port

Adding a docking node in Unity

Stock Docking Port in Unity

- Image

Docking port IDs

Parachutes

Stock Parachute in Unity

- Image

Components of a parachute

Solar Panels

Stock Folding Solar Panels in Unity

- Image

Setting up suntracking solar panels

Powercurve explanation

Landing legs

0.22 Landing Leg module in Unity

- Image

Quick landing leg how-to

- written by Tiberion - out of date

Animated landing leg tutorial

- written by vegany - out of date

Landing leg animation snippits

- out of date

Landing gear

Stock Landing Gear in Unity

- Image

Landing gear snippets

- Spread out through the thread

Rover wheels

Stock Rover Wheel in Unity

- Image

Changing wheel torque

Lights

Some tips for setting up lights

Wings

Correct orientation to produce lift

Control Surfaces

Creating a control surface

IVA

IVA Tutorial

- written by TouhouTorpedo

0.17 IVA tutorial

- I have no idea if this is still relevant, I've not tried to do any IVA's

Textures and Shaders

Adding a normal map

Faking detail with a normal map

Fixing unwanted texture transparency

Unwanted transparent faces

Potential fixes for incorrect shading

PNG versus TGA loading time

Emissive textures

Emissive tutorial - new thread

- written by CardBoardBoxProcessor

Emissive tutorial - old thread

- written by CardBoardBoxProcessor

Setting up an emissive on a light

- Big pictures

Stopping toggleable emissives showing up lit in VAB/SPH thumbnails

Looping an emissive

Throttle-response emissive snippet

Animation

Blender to Unity animation tutorial

- written by Xellith

Exporting an Animation from Blender

Looped animation

Anim Switch details for repeating animation in reverse

Repeating animation in reverse

- Old

Start point in animation for VAB snippet

Sounds

Using EFFECTS nodes to play custom sounds

How to get custom sounds to play without a plugin

- Pre-0.23 info

PLUGINS - would love someone with Plugin experience to point out helpful threads for this

Starting out on Plugins

KSP Plugin Framework - Plugin Examples and Structure

- by TriggerAu, very recent and up to date

Example plugin projects to help you get started

- by TaranisElsu

The official unoffical help a fellow plugin developer thread

Mu's code-update PartModuleKSPField, KSPEvent, ConfigNode and PartResource

- from May 2012

Wiki page on Plugins

Creating your first module

- on the Wiki

Part API

- on the Wiki

Anatid's KSP API documentation

- mostly a year old by now

Misc Plugin Information

Kethane Code Snippet

for an

incorrect installation warning

. Public domain license.

MISCELLANEOUS

A snippit on ISP and fuel density

Creating a new resource

Edited April 29, 2015 by Master Tao

[EndlessWaves]

Unity supports a variety of import formats, not just dae:

http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/HOWTO-importObject.html

Also, it's not normal for a part to be rotated after import. It's likely an artefact of the particular modelling process you're using. It won't do any harm, but it is slightly easier when it comes to making certain plugins if you export from your modelling program in the correct orientation.

[Devo]

As Endless said, many other formats to use , I use .FBX personally as it retains the animation information well I find.

and yah, Before exporting ensure all parts are rotated and scaled correctly. I actually don't even use an empty game object anymorein unity, I use the parent from my blender project as its scaled and centered already,

adding it to an empty object is just doubling up.

Convex Colliders are not the be all and end all. You can mix convex with normal mesh colliders, just be aware that things can possibly fall through a normal mesh collider and also they will fall through the floor, but they are solid most of the time. It's good for small things or for objects that are odd shapes.

also landing gear is easy, its the wheels I havent gotten around to yet. I'm going to do a landing leg video tomorrow i think, i've made a couple dozen legs now, I wish the new wheel and suspensions system was as easy

[hoojiwana]

Alright, sounds good. I think I might reduce this topic down into a collection of modding information, since I'm probably too inexperienced to be making tutorials like this. Don't want to be passing on my bad habits from having to figure some things out for myself! And there's a perfectly usable tutorial over here by kerbtrek, and that seems to be better than mine.

[nothke]

Is there an animation tutorial? I need to make a toggle animation, and I managed to create the toggle button but the animation doesn't work in game (it works in Unity) and I could be wrong about anything..

[hoojiwana]

Hmm, I just had a quick look and found a few old ones, and added them to the OP.

Start point in animation for VAB snippet

Animated landing leg tutorial - written by vegany, possibly out of date?

Landing leg animation snippits - possibly out of date?

I've still not tried any animation myself so I can't really give any tips or anything there unfortunately.

[Devo]

Hmm, I just had a quick look and found a few old ones, and added them to the OP.

Start point in animation for VAB snippet

Animated landing leg tutorial - written by vegany, possibly out of date?

Landing leg animation snippits - possibly out of date?

I've still not tried any animation myself so I can't really give any tips or anything there unfortunately.

As long as they look for tiberions tips, they will be ok. Im really bummed all his posts are gone, he posted so much help.

ie

"The animated version of the landinggear must be named 'HLandingGear' not just landing gear

you\'ll also need to name the animation 'Retract' and set the 1st and last frame; to do that click on your imported object in the project, scroll down to the box where you can click 'split' animation. Click the + sign and it adds one animation named idle; click on the name and rename it to Retract. then set the 1st and last frame to whatever they are in your 3d software (Mine was 1 to 72) and click apply. Should work when you hit G now.

And you\'ll want 'automatically play' to be off

(If you can\'t tell, I have been wrestling with Unity the past few days )"

[nothke]

Thanks you guys very much for quick reply!

However, none of the links show the solution to the simplest possible toggle animation. I've set up everything correctly, but the problem is that I don't know the "magic word", as in the case of landing gear it's "retract" and object name is "HLandingGear".. Who would've guessed that? xD There must be a list of all the magic words, but it's either wiped out or hard to find.

I guess I'll ask Tiberion directly =)

[hoojiwana]

If you look in part CFGs similar to what you are trying to create, you can usually find some good clues to how things might work. For instance, in the stock satellite dish part CFG, is this:

MODULE
{
   name = ModuleAnimateGeneric
   animationName = dish
   isOneShot = true
}

I've no idea what you're trying to do and as I've said already, I've not made any animations myself so I can only really guess at things, but that might set you down the right path.

[Tiberion]

Yeah there's a lot of stuff I had described here and there in various topics thats gone. I always meant to make a info thread but never did. I can't even arrange what needs to be redone in my head right now.

Here's the info-graphic from C7 for the new rover wheels:

And a couple of others I had stored for Parachutes and Solar Panels:

[Tiberion]

Also note:

HLandingLeg was a part type we used to animate things before they added the part modules, especially AnimateGeneric. That is want you want to use now; using it, the objects do not need to be named anything specifically. You might see some old parts still using HLandingLeg part type (like the old animated legs in NovaPunch which have not been updated.) So to use the ModuleAnimateGeneric you should set "module = Part" at the top of your config file, and use the animation module later at the bottom.

Here's some basic info on using Animate Generic's module:

1st: the parameter list:

---- ModuleAnimateGeneric

public string animationName = "default";

public string status = "Locked";

public bool animSwitch = true;

public bool isOneShot = false;

public string startEventGUIName = "toggle";

public string endEventGUIName = "toggle";

The animationName is what you name the animation when you import it into Unity. The name must match what you put into the config file, including caps. When you import into Unity you mustmake sure to set the animation rig "type" to legacy in the Rig tab, and then set your animationName and the starting and ending frames from your animation in the 3d software. Click on the DAE/Blend/FBX file you imported in the project list, you should see some tabs, like this:

http://i.imgur.com/wgTt5aN.png

On the Rig tab, make sure its set to Legacy. Then on the Animations tab (as seen on the smaller inset image) I named the animation "Retract" and set it to look from frame 0 to frame 90

On this 2nd image, it shows how the component should look on your object in the scene; make sure there are no other "Animation" or "Animator" components in the tree structure for this part. Make sure to uncheck Animate Automatically!

http://i.imgur.com/tE0upVK.png

Then all that is left is exporting the part normally, and setting up the config. for the example, this would go in the config:

MODULE {

name = ModuleAnimateGeneric

animationName = Retract

startEventGUIName = "Open Leg"

endEventGUIName = "Close Leg"

animSwitch = True

isOneShot = False

}

For the other parameters:

startEventGUIName and endEventGUIName lets your over-ride the "toggle" text on the click-menu in game.

animSwitch = true would make it reverse its starting position, starting in what is normally the "open" position. in the example the leg would start in the extended/open position (which probably isn't how you'd want it if yo plan to launch it on a rocket, its just an example)

isOneShot means it can never be re-closed, it only ever opens once.

[Devo]

Good to see you adding them back Tib, so many posts of yours I miss, so much helpful info lost ah well it will take some time but it will be back to it's old self in no time.

[hoojiwana]

That's brilliant Tiberion! Though there is currently a bug with isOneShot that I've noticed with some of the stock parts. If you bind the animation to an action key, for example toggling the stock antenna to deploy, you can then re-trigger the animation to play in reverse with the action key after causing the vessel to reload by going to the Spacecenter and back.

[Tiberion]

yeah I wrote most of that up to help nothke and decided I better publicize it again to make it easier to find. Its not really comprehensive, there are certainly many more things you can do animation-wise (including doing it directly in Unity) but I'll leave that for later

edit: hoojiwana - Yeah a lot of that vessel specific stuff isn't persistent properly yet, its just not getting saved I think.

[nothke]

IT'S ALIIIIVE!!!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TIBERION!!!

Got it working, it was the "legacy" type that was the MAIN problem (cause most tutorials show unity when the legacy was the only one), but still it didn't work even after that.. Weirdly enough, I just had to nudge the length frames slider and it worked! And I got it that it MUST show if you check "play automatically" and preview it in game screen (it didn't before nudging). Just you need to remember to uncheck "play automatically" before export

Start and end GUI text work perfectly, as well =) I will post a video when I finish the mod =)

Edited April 21, 2013 by nothke

[Deltafee]

Hey Could you make one about lights?

[Tiberion]

I actually have never set up a light, so I'd have to find all the info myself first. Someone who is more familiar with them can probably do a better tutorial on that.

[Athlonic]

Hi,

There was a mod called "Part reloader", is has been whipped by the unfamous server crash.

I am about to do some parts, this mod should be handy because it let you reload parts without restarting the game every time you need to test some modifications.

Do anyone here have a link to this mod ?

Thanks.

[ahappydude]

Thanks for this! Esp the animation stuff ,now i understand why ksp didnt like some of my animations haha cheers

[Blargeddy]

Does anyone know how to make crew hatches for kerbals? I think it is related to an object on the model that you give a certain name to that makes it a crew hatch. If anyone could answer I would greatly appreciate it(I use Blender BTW).

[Devo]

Does anyone know how to make crew hatches for kerbals? I think it is related to an object on the model that you give a certain name to that makes it a crew hatch. If anyone could answer I would greatly appreciate it(I use Blender BTW).

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Adding_Airlocks_and_Ladders_to_Parts

[hoojiwana]

I've reformatted the original post and split the links into sections, with plenty of room for future links.

Is the formatting okay?

[Bugbear]

Why is this not stickied yet?

The format looks good, although there is a minor font issue under landinggear where a couple of entries are in a smaller font.

A few links you can add under plugins:

Creating your first module

Part API

Anatid's KSP API documentation

The official unoffical help a fellow plugin developer thread

Mu's code-update PartModuleKSPField KSPEvent ConfigNode and PartResource

Handy link to add under general

Stock Parts List

[hoojiwana]

The format looks good, although there is a minor font issue under landinggear where a couple of entries are in a smaller font.

I was trying out formatting for out of date links, changed it back to default size now.

Thanks a bunch for those plugin links!

[ummwut]

Thanks, hooji!