Kerbal War Program - Upcoming Interactive YouTube Series - Planning & General Info

[Th13f]

Ok. So, I will be getting a new computer some time next year, which invariably means I will be getting KSP also (my current hardware doesn't run the game). Now, this is something that I've been thinking about for a long time, especially since watching Macey Dean's and EnterElysium's series (If you haven't watched them yet, please do. Like, now.)

Below, I will post a bunch of ideas for this series, that I am looking for feedback about. Now, I really don't know when exactly I'll be able to buy the new computer, so I can't really say when this series will be out, but when it does, this thread will also serve as episode listing & general overview of the situation. Right, so, let's begin with the ideas.

I will be using mods for this. Included in the series, there will be:

• MechJeb
  
• B9 Pack
  
• Kethane
  
• Lazor Mod
  
• Sunbeam Mod
  
• Gatling Cannon
  
• KerbPaint
  
• EnterElysium's Sparrow Missile
  
• Warp Drive Mod (forgot the name)
  
• Damned Robotics
  
• Pirated Weapons Pack
  

The reason I will be using KerbPaint is to distinguish between the various factions, which will be in this universe (there will be a few). I don't wanna' too many mods, because it would crash the game a lot (the reason I am going for so many different weapon packs is because each faction will have different technologies).

Ok, so let's take a look at the concept behind the series and the factions:

This series will focus heavily on both space and planetary combat, but on a grand scale. What this means, is there will be missions throughout the Kerbol system and things involving fleet battles, orbital drops bringing down troops and vehicles for ground assaults (after the pilot episode, each episode will feature various such battlefields, with a brief intro at the beginning, describing the overall situation of the war), as well as things such as capturing prisoners, deep space reconnaissance and resupply, and so on and so forth. Now, let's see them factions:

Main faction: The KKKP (Kollective of Kommunist Kerbal People)

Territory: Kerbin, Mun, Half of Minmus

Political System: Kerbonautocracy

Leader: Komrade Joseph Kalin

Signature Technologies: Nuclear Engines, Gatling Guns

Vehicle Color: Red

Before the rise of the KKKP, Kerbin was ruled by a not-fun government (Shut up, or I deport you to Minmus!) of evil Korporations, that only cared about making money and completely neglected the space program. Of course, there were some Korporations that sent expeditions and even set up colonies throughout the Kerbol system, but only so that they could make money to build more useless stuff. Then, a visionary leader, by the name of Vladimir Krenin, came along and he said that Kerbals don't need stuff like malls and office buildings. No, what Kerbals really need, is rockets. So, there was a glorious revolution, which overthrew the unfair government and transformed Kerbin into a Kommunist Utopia.

The new Kommunist government then established the KKKP and dedicated itself to building scientiffic craft (massive warships) for the peaceful exploration of space. The KKKP is described as the land of the free (that's what the government says). It is such a free country, that people who disagree with the government, get sent on a trip aboard one of the state's numerous Luxury Cruise Liners (prison ships), where they are shown just how free and awesome, the KKKP really is.

Due to its peaceful nature (incompetent scientists), the KKKP does not have advanced military technologies, or large numbers of military assets (lousy economy). What it does have, is an endless supply of volunteers (konscripts) and an unwavering dedication (Kommissars) to the KKKP's ideals. Reflecting the creativity of the Kerbal people, the KKKP's craft designs are sturdy, reliable and simple in their design.

Starting Military Assets:

- 1x Vladimir Krenin-class modular battlecruiser (capital)

- 1x Joseph Kalin-class assault carrier (capital)

- 3x Vodkov-class frigates (sub-capital)

- 1x Kalingrad-class transport (transport ship)

- 1x Squadron of Sukerbal Su-27 space-and-atmospheric fighters (5 craft per squadron)

- 3x Squadrons of Mikerman-Gurebediah MiG-15 atmospheric fighters (5 craft per squadron)

- 2x Battalions of K-34 Tanks (10 tanks per battalion)

- 4x Ankerbov An-225 Crew-and-cargo shuttles

- 4x Munar-Range Ballistic Missiles

And that's pretty much it. As you can see, at the start of the war, the KKKP is woefully undermanned and under-equipped, lacking even basic capabilities, such as dedicated space fighters, orbital drop pods and basic troop transports. All of these issues will need to be addressed quickly.

The Democratic Kerbal Republic of North Kerbia

Territory: Half of Minmus

Political System: Dear Leader State

Leader: Dear Leader Kerb Jong-Un

Signature Technologies: Nuclear Engines, Gatling Guns

Vehicle Color: Green

The North Kerbian DKR is a faction which occupies half of Minmus. It has an on-and-off relationship with the KKKP, completely dependent on supplies and technology from Kerbin (useless junk that the KKKP no longer needs), its one and only trading partner (due to the the fact that North Kerbia is situated inside the KKKP's territorial space and the fact that it is in range of its ballistic missiles), but would not hesitate to turn on the KKKP, should the chance emerge and if it is in the interest of their government.

North Kerbia was born from an early colonization attempt by the KKKP. Following the destruction of korporate headquarters, during the revolution, the KKKP lacked the technology to build ships which could make regular trips to and from Minmus. Therefore, as a propaganda maneuver, a one-way colonization mission was sent to the small moon, which, due to its isolation, became self-sufficient and eventually declared its independence. The KKKP soon struck back, in an effort to quell the rebellion and managed to retake half of Minmus. However, the war soon ended, despite the massive advantage of the KKKP (North Kerbia didn't have the infrastructure to produce its own warships), when the Kerbin government realized that they could simply force North Kerbia into a monopolistic trade deal, through which they could sell second-rate equipment to them, at exorbitant prices, in exchange for resources.

Today, North Kerbia maintains a very small number of military assets, with technology even more outdated than the KKKP (which often fails and explodes).

Starting Military Assets:

- 1x Dear Leader-class frigate (sub-capital) (stripped down, older version Vodkov-class frigate)

- 1x Squadron of Mikerman-Gurebediah MiG-17 space-and-atmospheric fighters (modified MiG-15 fighters) (5 fighters per squadron)

- 1x Battalion of NK-1 Attack Rovers (10 Rovers per battalion)

- 1x Ankerbov An-225 Crew-and-cargo shuttle

North Kerbia's military is almost non-existent, but their large number of workers can quickly set up a massive production of cheap, bare-bones assets. Being a faction which overexploits its citizenry, they have a high level of upkeep available, which means that, if freed from the control of the KKKP, they can quickly set up a massive fleet.

Bad guy: The Laythean Space Empire

Territory: Entire Jool System

Political System: Absolute Monarchy/Slaver State

Leader: Emperor Adolf Kitler

Signature Technologies: Sunbeams, Warp Drive, Ion Engines

Vehicle Color: Green

The Laythean Space Empire dates back from the heyday of private space exploration, before the revolution on Kerbin. The massive Laythe Holdings Korporation, who's income amounted to half of Kerbin's gross domestic product, bought out all of the moons in the Jool system and began exploiting them, using a large slave workforce. Using this advantage, they were able to quickly set up a large powerbase in the Jool system, centered on Laythe.

They have an enormous technological advantage over the KKKP, as most of the tech databases on Kerbin, were destroyed during the revolution, which forced the KKKP to start over from scratch. Unhindered by loss of technology and with the highly developed infrastructure of Jool, Laythe Holdings Korporation managed to develop a formidable, high-tech armada of warships, which it has used to dominate the Kerbol system since.

Following the Kerbin revolution, the LHK declared independence and restyled itself as the Laythe Space Empire. Ruled by a ruthless and ambitious leader, who's goal is to subjugate and enslave all Kerbalking, to further his own profit, the Laythe Space Empire is certainly the biggest threat in the system, the only thing holding them back so far, being the lack of large enough force to conquer every planet. However, with their factories producing new ships around the clock, this issue has nearly been resolved and a system wide war, is just around the corner.

Starting Military Assets:

- 2x Laythe-class supercarriers (capital)

- 4x Vall-class battleships (capital)

- 9x Tylo-class frigates (sub-capital)

- 10x Squadrons of Kermanschmidt Me-262 space superiority fighters (5 fighters per squadron)

- 5x Squadrons of Kermanschmidt Me-109 space-and-atmospheric fighters (5 fighters per squadron)

- 4x Battalions of Panzer Mark K Tanks (10 tanks per battalion)

- 1x Battalion of Bop-5 Long Range Guided Missile Launchers (5 launchers per battalion)

- 2x Squadrons of Orbital Drop Pods (5 drop pods per squadron)

- 3x Pol-class transports

- 5x Kermanschmidt KA-5 Crew-and-cargo shuttles

- 4x Inter-Planetary Ballistic Missiles

The LSE has a large, powerful military, consisting of very advanced ships and vehicles, typically armed with sunbeams and guided missiles. They have the advantage of starting out with the largest force as well, however, their sophisticated designs have a much higher construction time and a greatly increased upkeep, which means that any losses they suffer, are going to be signifficant blows.

...............

Ok, so let's move on. You're getting a basic idea of what this series will be like.

I want the Kerbal War Program universe to be as alive as possible. To this end, I will be taking submissions for minor factions, from the community. There are several criteria and rules to submitting factions:

I will choose three submissions, based on faction description and ship/vehicle design. Interesting factions, with a well-written bio and cool-looking ships, are what I am looking for. These factions do not necessarily need to be aligned with any of the main factions (in fact, I would prefer factions that follow their own interests), however they need to be original. Also, you may not use any of the following characters in your faction's submission bio, or subsequent story posts (details about these, further below), as they are part of the main faction: Jeb, Bill and Bob.

Vehicle designs must be functional (atmospheric/planetary fighters must be able to fly in atmosphere and so on) and must not exceed the part count limit. You must also design planetary base/command center-type things, factories AND kethane extractors as well (which will also have a part count limit), since these are the backbone of the supply&upkeep system which I will describe below. You may also design (this is optional) planetary and ground defenses, as well as space stations/bases.

The format in which factions are submitted, must be exactly the same as mine (flags are not necessary) and you must include picture links (don't embed images, to prevent cluttering of the thread) for all your ships, vehicles and structures, as well as .craft file links. Designs may not use any mods except for those I listed at the beginning of this post and cargo ships must be able to transport ground vehicles to off-planet destinations (docking ports are a must).

The part count limits:

- Capital ships: 100 parts (not including things like missiles)

- Sub-capital ships: 50 parts (not including missiles)

- Cargo ships (refuelers, troop transports, etc): 50 parts

- Shuttles: 30 parts

- Fighters: 30 parts (not including missiles)

- Ground vehicles: 20 parts

- Drop pods: 5 parts

- Space stations/bases: 30 parts (not including missiles)

- Factories: 10 parts

- Command centers: 15 parts

- Kethane extractors: 20 parts

- Stationary ground defenses: 10 parts (including missiles)

- Ballistic missiles: To be decided

The reason I am imposing such low part counts is because I want to be able to have larger numbers of things on screen, for epic scale battles. I know the devs are optimizing the game, but I want to be able to have grand space battles and things.

Ok, let's see the unit cap for minor factions:

Minor factions start out with a minimum of a quarter of and maximum of a single planet/moon as their claimed territory. They start out with one command center, one factory and one kethane extractor. They may also start out with up to 5 stationary ground defenses and a maximum of one space base.

For units, minor factions may start out with up to one capital ship, two sub-capital ships, two squadrons of fighters (or, one squadron of fighter and one squadron of drop pods), one ground battalion, one cargo ship and one shuttle. Following each episode, a minor faction may expand. To expand, the owner of a minor faction must do the following: Provide a detailed list of ships/units they are building (with picture and .craft file links). In case of buildings/structures/space bases/ground defenses, you must also provide the location where these are to be built. Additionally, you must also write up a short story, in the expansion post, regarding what is happening in your faction (can be a mission report, a news article, a short story of people doing things) and it must also mention something regarding the expansion/construction. Same idea applies to military operations. You must specify target, number of forces deployed and must write a story relating to that.

Ok, so let's move on to the supply/upkeep/resources system.

This is an RTS-like system of rules: Each planet may have a maximum number of Kethane extractors, which all produce a certain amount of supply (both maximum number of extractors per planet and amount of supply produced per episode, are yet to be determined). Kethane extractors must be built in a territory controlled by the faction which builds them and to control a territory, you must have a command center present on it. Planets and moons are all divided into 4 territories (quarters). To be able to build a command center in a territory, you must first eliminate the command center of the faction currently controlling it.

Each ship/unit/space base/defense system has a certain upkeep. A faction may not exceed the total amount of supply per episode which it has (in order to build more things, a faction must first increase its supply by acquiring more territories and building more kethane extractors. When a faction has lost all of its command centers, it has been eliminated.

Now, on to factories and production. A faction may only build one factory per territory. Factories all generate production per episode. Production determines how fast a faction can build things. If a unit requires more production than currently available, it can not be built over the course of a single episode. Small, simple units require less production, thus they can be produced faster, while large, capital size ships, may take up to several episodes until it is available for deployment (deployment is also a work in progress system). How much production a unit/structure costs, depends on technology (units built using technologically simple parts and which are simple, will cost less).

Ground units are built one battalion at a time, while fighters/drop pods are built one squadron at a time.

About deployment, here's what I am thinking:

Once a unit/structure has been "built", it may be launched from the VAB/Spaceplane hangar at any time (essentially, deployed). If missiles run out, the deployed unit will be deleted and relaunched (this counts as a rearmament). In this thread, there will be a resource panel/table/thing, detailing how many units each faction has, where they are, what is being built and what resources each faction has. Same thing applies for territories. (I will delete objects which do not appear in the current episode, then simply re-add them when they are in an episode, to avoid having hundreds of things all over Kerbol).

Ground vehicles and fighters are constructed in groups. What this means is that these units can not be rebuilt individually (as in, a squadron of fighters still counts as a squadron of fighters, regardless of how many of them have been destroyed, until the entire squadron/battalion has been destroyed). This is to prevent factions from spamming fighters/ground units every turn, effectively making them invulnerable.

This is quite a large scale project and I await your opinions about it. I may also collaborate with someone else on doing this series, through the asynchronous multiplayer system (watch Kethane Wars on YouTube to see what I mean). Ok, so I am finished for now. You may already start posting submissions for minor factions.

So what do you think? Is there anything which needs to be tweaked, added or removed? Would you like such an interactive YouTube series?

[zavdan62]

how old is this?