Give me ideas for a Base!

[Herbert McCheese-Wang]

I don't know what modules to build, where, and for what purpose, but I would love to build a base.

I have the Kethane mod installed but that's it - if you do know any good mods for bases, POST THEM BELOW!

[Whackjob]

A little motivation for you.

For what it may be worth.

/still my favoritist picture ever an ever

[Herbert McCheese-Wang]

I see the MET is yellow - I wonder why.

OMG awesome base!

[Levelord]

Floating Laythe base!

[Whackjob]

I see the MET is yellow - I wonder why.

No idea why. Does that thing reset when you land or something? My Imgur account has about a dozen pictures from that mission. I went to the Mun with it, then from there to Duna, then to Ike, then back to the Mun, then landed it safely on Kerbin.

I think my youtube acct still has the video where I put her down on Kerbin.

[Whackjob]

Floating Laythe base!

Ok, I really like those residential modules.

[mellojoe]

Basic strutures:

Communication Tower

Habitat Module

Science Lab

Rover

Celestial Body Bus Station

[Captain Sierra]

MET goes yellow when the game cannot calculate physics as fast as it is set to (defaults 10x per second). HOME mod is good for base but the ability to (what I believe is a form of electrocracking) refine intake air into fuel is a bit OP. That aside, it makes great bases. FusTek station parts expansion is also a good one.

Since you have kethane, try going for a refinery base. I advise you to get either the Lazor mod, KAS, or quantum fuel transfer to make resource transfer between modules easy since land docking is not.

[Barklight]

Dual base setup.

Create a small mining outpost somewhere remote on Duna, then create a "town" somewhere 5-10km away with a few residences, a science lab, a motorpool, and a landing pad. Bring up a few rovers / trucks. And some kind of transport vehicle capable of leaving "streetlights" every 500m or so going in a straight line between the mining colony and the town.

Saying Duna because with the theme of the proposal it would be like a wild west kerbal mining town

Would look cool to fly over at night!

[Whackjob]

MET goes yellow when the game cannot calculate physics as fast as it is set to (defaults 10x per second).

That explains quite a bit hehe.

HOME mod is good for base but the ability to (what I believe is a form of electrocracking) refine intake air into fuel is a bit OP. That aside, it makes great bases. FusTek station parts expansion is also a good one. Since you have kethane, try going for a refinery base. I advise you to get either the Lazor mod, KAS, or quantum fuel transfer to make resource transfer between modules easy since land docking is not.

Oy! Not for me. I only use Kethane because I like stopping at several planets without making it too easy.

[Wayfare]

Wildly overcomplicated, multiple-module Munbase from the heady days of 0.18:

Much more sedate, compact base that can be deployed pretty much anywhere in the present:

[geb]

Simple, easy to land, and holds a lot of colonists.

[Herbert McCheese-Wang]

I see the MET is yellow - I wonder why.

Sorry I was being sarcastic :s

[Whackjob]

Hehe. It's ok. It was just wasted on me, given I'm a dolt who had no idea what that meant hehe.

But hey, you taught me something new today! I still call that a win.

[Joshington]

I feel like everything I have created thus far is a failure compared to those first two pictures.

TO THE DRAWING BOARD!

[Specialist290]

Hehe. It's ok. It was just wasted on me, given I'm a dolt who had no idea what that meant hehe.

But hey, you taught me something new today! I still call that a win.

I was personally wondering if you had ever seen it go green

[spudcosmic]

Download Hooligan's ballast mod and make an underwater Laythe base!

[WillHop]

Land docking is a pain but in my opinion its worth it. Check out the Coffee 03 Mun Base.

This is the crew standing with the first hab module with plenty of points for expansion.

Solar array dropped as they needed power, landed only about 1km away but it was a pain to dock as they weren't quite level.

Docked a second hab module on to the end of the solar array - same problem so docking took much longer but got it in the end and now imo it is totally worth it.

I plan to expand it a little more and drop a rover and a small RCS jetpack thingy, plus maybe some more modules.

[Whackjob]

I feel like everything I have created thus far is a failure compared to those first two pictures.

TO THE DRAWING BOARD!

Now THAT is what I like to hear! Build big, build long, give Newton the metaphorical finger! Frame rates be [redacted]!

[leax256]

Download Hooligan's ballast mod and make an underwater Laythe base!

f

you stole my idea. THEIF, cut off his brain.

[Whackjob]

f

you stole my idea. THEIF, cut off his brain.

Such a waste. Brains are tasty and buoyant in soup.

[SkyRender]

It may be smallish for a base, but it does have some style to it. (Just ignore the skycrane still attached to the top of it...) You could easily replace the landing legs with rover wheels during initial design and make it a rolling base, too.

[Geschosskopf]

I don't know what modules to build, where, and for what purpose, but I would love to build a base.

I have the Kethane mod installed but that's it - if you do know any good mods for bases, POST THEM BELOW!

Well, bases must have some purpose. So, decide what the purpose of the base will be and then plunk the proper parts down there. Given that science is currently underrepresented in KSP, you don't need anything more than a Hitchhiker can or 2 with some antennae bolted on to call it a base. Essentially, a "base" is just a place to park Kerbals until (or if) you ever feel like bringing them home.

Now, Kethane is another story. Kethane's purpose is to make fuel so rockets can keep flying. Thus, it's pointless to mess with it within the Kerbin system (except to learn the mechanics)--only do it for real elsewhere. And remember, bases themselves don't need it, only rockets and airplanes do, so you only need Kethane if you're sending out stuff that can't get home without refueling, or need to refuel ships flying around in a distant system for extended periods of time. Or if you're building ships elsewhere (in which case you need more than just Kethane).

Once you've established a need, then you need to plan your Kethane operation around supplying that need. If you're just passing through, then it's generally better to get the Kethane from the moon with the least gravity and refine it into fuel in orbit than it is to have the whole operation on the surface. OTOH, any permanent installation that you'll be visiting frequently, or which serves as a hub for exploration ships/airplanes, should have the full suite of Kethane parts. Or you could be doing both, starting colonies that themselves produce their own Kethane and fuel, planting the seeds with a mothership that's just passing through and getting its Kethane from the low-gravity moon.

[SaturnVee]

Welcome to Mun One, here is a group picture from Expedition 1. See if you can spot Jebediah.

Each Kerbal gets their own habitation module, the others are out of this shot.

[blackfire83]

Whackjob, that's visually impressive, and wonderfully massive. I'm assuming it's an all-in-one Kethane miner and converter? Can you explain a bit more about it's purpose and operation? Or toss a link up to your Youtube video that you mentioned. I'm currently planning a massive Kethane operation and would like some insight. Thanks!