Universal Resources: Because Kethane is too Easy!

[mushroomman]

Ever since Kethane added support for multiple resources I was thinking of doing this. And hey, it's so darn easy to do I'm surprised nobody else did it yet! So without any further ado, introducing the Universal Resources Mod!

A mod designed to run off of, but replace Kethane. It is significantly more difficult as well because it's not a "one size fits all" resource. Some planets are pretty much useless altogether (may be changed) and most only have a few deposits of a few resources. The current resources are as follows:

Water:

Dark Blue

Can be converted into Hydrogen and Oxidizer using an Electrolyzer.

Commonly found on Kerbin and Vall. Also found on the Mun, Duna, Laythe, and Eeloo.

Hydrogen:

Light Blue

Can be used as fuel for nuclear engines, and mixed with oxidizer to make LFO in a fuel mixer.

Found on all planets in medium to low quantities. Can also be made from water.

Uranium:

Brown-Green

Can be converted into Plutonium using a centrifuge.

Commonly found on Kerbin, Moho, Eve, and Bop. Also found on the Mun, Gilly, Dres, and Tylo.

Plutonium:

N/A

Used to power RTGs and other such atomic devices.

Not found naturally. It can only be made from uranium.

Nitrogen:

Yellow

Mixed with oxidizer in a fuel mixer to make LFO or Monopropellant.

Commonly found on Kerbin, Minimus, Eve, and Duna. Also found everywhere else.

Plans:

Xenon or something to make it out of.

Atmospheric resources/mining Jool (this may be possible with Kethane normally, but I'm not sure)

Mod support for everything under the sun. Ideally.

HELP WANTED

I really have no idea what I'm doing. As it stands this mod is illegal to distribute because it uses modded Kethane parts. I plan on using recoloured stock tanks, but I need someone to make models for scanners and drills. I can model half decently, but I suck at texturing and I can't animate. So I basically need someone to do 90% of the real work.

If anyone has any suggestions or wants to offer help, please let me know! I should like to learn how to do all this stuff on my own one day and this is the first step!

Edited September 29, 2013 by mushroomman

[The Destroyer]

This sounds like a good mod.

I would love to help- but I suck at modeling/texturing, but I can test, if you want to.

[Guest]

Xenon is also found in planetary atmosphere, in pretty small concentrations, but still. It can't be made out of anything. Hydrogen should be abundant on Jool, or possible to be made from water. Also, you should include oxygen for life support and making LOX out of it. I'd also like to see helium-3 and deuterium, the former being abundant on Mun and Jool, the latter made from hydrogen at a fixed percentage. They'd be good for fusion reactors.

[Kommitz]

I've got designs a H2/O resource system that I'm planning on doing for my engines eventually, using Kethane.

Have a couple of ice drilling bits mocked up, I'd be glad to share them once (or if) I have to time to finish them off.

What level of detail are you looking to go in to with the resources though? In my plans I'm just treating the preexisting Oxidiser as LOX, and I had thought about making a Hydrogen analogue at around 1/10th the density of the standard liquid resources to keep the numbers nice and rounded.

[Nupol]

I would help you with the Modeling but i have never done a part in KSP because i´ve never read some of the tutorials but i released several objects for Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. I´m quite good in modeling. if someone want to team up with me who can texture, animate and writing this config stuff i would start modeling several nice objects. Drills in different sizes like for little rovers, tanks and so on. it could be more efficient to work with several members on this project.

WIP pictures of my canceled work in rct3. As you see i was not that good in texturing back then but im sure to do some nice textures.

remember these are low poly models with lots of alpha textures and far away from final: http://imgur.com/a/4qB3c#0

i´ve also learned to work with autocad in school but for modelling in ksp i would prefer sketchup and a export to blender.

if you are interested i would like to join your team. Pm me if you want.

regards

Edited September 29, 2013 by Nupol

[mushroomman]

I've got designs a H2/O resource system that I'm planning on doing for my engines eventually, using Kethane.

Have a couple of ice drilling bits mocked up, I'd be glad to share them once (or if) I have to time to finish them off.

What level of detail are you looking to go in to with the resources though? In my plans I'm just treating the preexisting Oxidiser as LOX, and I had thought about making a Hydrogen analogue at around 1/10th the density of the standard liquid resources to keep the numbers nice and rounded.

If you do get around to finishing them I would appreciate it. Your models are very nice. But don't make it a priority or anything.

As for detail, I am just going to use Oxidizer as LOX. I try to keep the masses more or less realistic, but it's not 100%.

Xenon is also found in planetary atmosphere, in pretty small concentrations, but still. It can't be made out of anything. Hydrogen should be abundant on Jool, or possible to be made from water. Also, you should include oxygen for life support and making LOX out of it. I'd also like to see helium-3 and deuterium, the former being abundant on Mun and Jool, the latter made from hydrogen at a fixed percentage. They'd be good for fusion reactors.

If I can figure out how to gather atmospheric resources I'll definitely put xenon in there (also nitrogen). Hydrogen can already be made from water, giving you hydrogen and oxidizer. I'll probably add a converter for turning oxidizer into oxygen for life support mods. As for helium-3 and deuterium, I would add those but they're useless right now. They could probably come in handy for the warp drive mod, though I'm not sure what resources it uses.

[Scotius]

Warp Plugin uses deuterium, so yeah - it would be useable. As for other resources: LFO, liquid fuel, antimatter, argon, xenon and aluminium. Also exotic matter, but it is synthetised directly in warp cores. Fractal_UK is working on adding heat radiators, and on his screenshots i've seen something that could be lithium (and possibly molybdenium, but i might be completely off on this one). Really guys - i think you should cooperate. Fractal already made some cool parts for resource extraction, including atmospheric scoop. And ever-talented zzz made some seriously awesome custom models for these parts. So get talking already

[rhoark]

I would love to have a more intricate resource system in the game. Kethane, RealFuels, and IonCross will never reach their full potential without a top-down unification. I don't have the time to implement it, but here is the set of resources and reactions I had planned, based on a simplified overview of feasible chemistry:

Raw elements (names based on the old Squad flowchart):

hexagen (hydrogen)

kerbon (carbon)

nitronite (nitrogen)

oxium (oxygen)

lithite (double duty as lithium and silicon)

zeonium (xenon)

obtainium (iron, aluminum, titanium, etc.)

blutonium (radioactive elements)

depleted blutonium (radioactive byproducts)

Compounds:

water, kerboxide, propellium (liquidfuel), oxidizer, monopropellant, snacks, kerblithite

Fuel processors:

propelliium converter: kerbon + hexagen + electricity -> propellium

hexagen reformer: propellium -> kerbon + hexagen

monopropellant processor: hexagen + nitronite + electricity -> monopropellant

monopropellant cracker: monopropellant -> hexagen + nitronite

monopropellant decomposer: monopropellant + oxium -> oxidizer + water

water electrolyzer: water + electricity -> hexagen + oxium

Electrical generators:

alternator: propellium + oxidizer -> kerboxide + water + nitronite + electricity

fuel cell: hexagen + oxium -> water + electricty

fission reactor: blutonium -> depleted blutonium + electricty

fusion reactor: hexagen + electricity -> lithite + more electricity

Life support:

kerbals: snacks + oxium -> kerboxide + nitronite + water

greenhouse: kerboxide + nitronite + water + light -> snacks + oxium

growlamp: electricity -> light

(light resource of course should also be generated from exposure to sunlight, attenuated by barometric pressure)

kerbon scrubber: kerboxide + lithite + hexagen -> kerblithite + water

kerbon regenerator: kerblithite + electricity -> kerbon + lithite

Edited September 30, 2013 by rhoark

[rhoark]

I looked at resource placement as a combination of real-world analogues and creating balanced challenges. Fortunately, it works out pretty well to create situations where a single body won't meet all your needs, but you can get a good economy going within several of the planet-moon systems.

Mun -> (trace) water ice

Minmus -> kerboxide dry ice

Between the two you can fuel hexagen/oxium or propellium/oxium engines, though liquid oxidizer will require nitronite imports.

Eve -> propellium ocean, kerboxide atmosphere, nitronite and blutonium soil

Gilly -> lithite, (trace) water ice

Eve will provide every kind of propellant, but Gilly can top off your life support

(Life support has reciprocal reactions to last a long time, but there should be a slight efficiency cost so as not to be perpetual-motion in a closed system.)

Laythe -> oxidizer ocean, oxium atmosphere, nitronite soil

Jool -> hexagen atmosphere (trace zeonium)

Bop -> lithite soil

Tylo -> blutonium soil

I really like the idea that there's no hexagen of any kind on Laythe, so the ocean is actually oxidizer. Among Jool and its moons you can get everything you need. Probably the area best suited to export to the rest of the kerbol system.

Duna -> kerboxide ice at the poles, lithite soil elsewhere, kerboxide and nitronite atmosphere

Ike -> (trace) water ice

Not a great place for resources overall, but has just enough to refuel for a return trip if you're willing to work at it.

Edited September 30, 2013 by rhoark

[mushroomman]

Well that's a lot of stuff. I was wondering about whether or not I should use real names. I'll make a poll.

As for those added elements, I'll do pretty much exactly what you suggest for support with the life support mod. If I team up with the warp drive mod I could use their work to draw resources from the oceans and maybe atmospheres. So that would be good. I could have swore there was an option to have resource deposits only spawn at certain latitudes, but I can't remember what it is. I would definitely like to have certain resources at the polls. As for balancing, I may consider your suggestions but I think it would be best to wait until a Beta and let everyone decide what's fair. I appreciate the suggestions.

[astropapi1]

Awesome idea! I've always wanted to do something like this through cfg edits, because I don't like the whole kethane -> everything system. It's been like that for a while.

Personally, I think it would be better to use SQUAD's slightly modified (hexagen / hydrogen) resource names. After all, this is the Kerbol system.

[togfox]

I was thinking of adding a resource myself but may just piggy bank of yours if you're willing. Will send a pm.

[Scotius]

For the sake of simplicity i prefer normal names. When i have xenon and titanium i don't have to scratch my head wondering what would it be useful for - zeonium and lithite might cause such problems. Situation would be different if SQUAD officially published list of elements that would be included in resource update. But from what we know it's still in flux, and some elements shown before dropped off the chart since then.

[Ballistic Idiot]

I'd love to see a mod that gives you some potential for resources on other planets but isn't as simplistic as Kethane. A robust interplanetary space program should be a technical feat needing multiple resource extraction points on Laythe and having to move resources on a planet that is tidally locked to another sounds like just the kind of complication that gets me going.

I think you might be biting off quite a part count though. I'd still love to see it, and cheers to you for taking it on.

Ooh, I think I just got all tingly thinking about needing a cargo truck on Laythe.

[rhoark]

The greater simplicity can be had with invented names, because they give license for abstraction. It allows you to have just one kind of noble gas, one kind of hydrocarbon, one structural metal, one heavy (nuclear) element, etc.

The names aren't the important thing to me, though. It's having two or three intermediate products between what you dig up and what you put in your engines, and the different ways you can remix them.

[Moon Goddess]

I was working on this same thing, using the Squad names like Rhoark is, I ran into the same roadblock as you, can't make drills and pumps.

So my vote is phoney names.

I think it allows a lot more flexibility.

I can easily say we can't have lakes of hydrogen on Eve, but much harder to argue against lakes of Propellium.

There's no real world explanation Minmus, anything you say I can explain why it doesn't work. However I don't know how Nitronite works, or Hexagen so sure.

[Vulkan]

I am definitely interested and as a taster present to you a couple of screenshots for my newly started atmospheric collection plugin.

So far the module keeps track of available IntakeAir from the stock intakes and calculates the ratio of the individual components in the atmosphere based on height.

Currently it's a simple 50:50 Oxygen:Nitrogen at sea level with a linear transition to 100% Nitrogen at 69km.

I used the KSP-PartGenerator v3.0 by Lando for the part file and texture.

The plan is to have a different profile for each planet with buttons on the GUI to separate each element into tanks. Power requirement for separation will increase with lower concentrations.

[mushroomman]

I am definitely interested and as a taster present to you a couple of screenshots for my newly started atmospheric collection plugin.

So far the module keeps track of available IntakeAir from the stock intakes and calculates the ratio of the individual components in the atmosphere based on height.

Currently it's a simple 50:50 Oxygen:Nitrogen at sea level with a linear transition to 100% Nitrogen at 69km.

I used the KSP-PartGenerator v3.0 by Lando for the part file and texture.

The plan is to have a different profile for each planet with buttons on the GUI to separate each element into tanks. Power requirement for separation will increase with lower concentrations.

Oh man I would love you forever for this.

[Fractal_UK]

For the sake of simplicity i prefer normal names. When i have xenon and titanium i don't have to scratch my head wondering what would it be useful for - zeonium and lithite might cause such problems. Situation would be different if SQUAD officially published list of elements that would be included in resource update. But from what we know it's still in flux, and some elements shown before dropped off the chart since then.

Using a resource name that SQUAD is planning on using for a future resource system is probably a bad idea, it's asking for conflicts with a future stock resource system. Conflicts that could be seriously difficult and require a lot of work to fix in the worst cases.

[Hyratel]

my suggestion is to have "material roles"

ie, Ferrous like iron, Conductive, like copper or silver. Carbon is a universal

[rhoark]

Using a resource name that SQUAD is planning on using for a future resource system is probably a bad idea, it's asking for conflicts with a future stock resource system. Conflicts that could be seriously difficult and require a lot of work to fix in the worst cases.

Or it could make it ready to work with the stock system out-of-the-box.

[Jahulath]

I'll make a drill this evening and post the model here if I come up with anything worth using.

[Radiokopf]

I made a pump (with a very very simple model) that knows when its in the Water and i makes some res. (e.g. Water on kerbin Propllant on Eve) dependet on the planet its on. You mount it on a KAS winch and eject it into the see basicly.

Could be an idea for this one!

I also made the LV-N toggleable between liquid fuel and "Bluetonium" with having it have slighly more thrust with it.

Its nuclear so it should use it, but make it need it would make it unusable.

Also, if you incorperate TAC's res we would have a full livesupport/resource System!

Water is allready in.

CO2 could be in some water or in the Athmosphere.

Food is a bit more complicated.

As you see your not the frst one with this idea

Edited October 1, 2013 by Radiokopf

[NovaSilisko]

Ah crap I wanted to make a mod like this, knew I shouldn't have waited

[Moon Goddess]

Ah crap I wanted to make a mod like this, knew I shouldn't have waited

I thought they were waiting on you to make a stock like this...