KSP Coder Needed!

[I.T Marcus]

Now due to previous misinterpretations of the post I decided to edit it to make my message a bit more clear.

I would like an experienced KSP coder to help me and my partner's project: "Infinite Horizons" which is planned to allow users to create not only their own planets, but their own star systems! I know this is difficult but I figured it would be worth trying! We have a plan on how this would roughly work, if you would like to know of such details PM me and I'll reply but for right now I don't want to make this too big of a post to take in

FIRST OF ALL: I DO NOT WANT TO DUMP ALL THE WORK ON SAID PERSON!

What I'm asking for is someone to help teach me and get me started in the world of C# programming, I have a basic understanding of it as of now but would like to use it to the best of my capability.

Think of the position as a Teacher-Friend-Supporting Coder-thingy

Edited January 8, 2014 by I.T Marcus
Unclear Message

[JordanL]

I will withhold these details to avoid someone just reading this and making the mod by themselves

That seems silly since:

1. You won't make money off this.

2. Someone else that does it first probably knows how to do it better.

3. If they do it well you don't have to do any work.

4. If they don't do it well in your opinion you can still do it yourself.

[I.T Marcus]

I'm sorry if I sounded a bit jerky when I put that in, but I feel it a bit wrong for someone to read someone's else's idea and just go off and do it themselves

I can understand why you think this way, so if you would like I could edit the post and put in the details to give people an idea of how it would work.

But thank you for the quick reply! (Btw: #1, I know this lol I didn't plan to do it)

[JordanL]

I don't really care personally if you reveal your idea, I just personally rolled my eyes and wanted to comment. I have worked almost exclusively for startups for the last decade as a programmer, and I just don't have much patience for people who value their own ideas above the ability to execute them. It's just a personal thing.

Most people who could just jump into a project like this have their own projects already and are unlikely to do work for your idea.

If you already have people with the skills to execute whatever it is you're thinking, and just want some help (because more help is usually better), then that's cool. But it's unlikely that you'll get much of a response because few people have less free time than experienced programmers. If you don't already have a 'team' that can execute your idea, then it'll be difficult.

But all the same I wish you luck, as it would be an interesting mod if it was executed correctly.

Just about every person that has the mix of skills and interest to pull something like this off hang out in the #kspmodders IRC room on EsperNet.

[OdinYggd]

I think the problem here is you don't seem to be putting a lot of effort into this yourself.

It's nice to have ideas, but you really do need to at least attempt to make them on your own and get it to a point where you at least have proof of concept before asking for people to join the project and work on it with you.

I'll use KMP as an example. gimp worked quietly on it for months to get it to where it was when it first became known- in a condition where he had a primitive concept developed to the point where it could be used as intended. It wasn't until after he was already showing results that other people joined the project and contributed to the codebase.

Asking for help learning to code is fine, tons of people willing to do that. But it really isn't a good idea to ask people to write your idea for you, starting with that kind of approach usually results in frustration and giving up.

C# isn't hard to learn. If you're good with a google search and willing to install Monodevelop for your operating system of choice, developing KSP mods is rather easy to get started in.

[Lalwcat]

Oh look, another "Hey I have this great idea, all you need to do is all of the work so I can put my name on it and get credit!"

Very common in programming.

[I.T Marcus]

Oh look, another "Hey I have this great idea, all you need to do is all of the work so I can put my name on it and get credit!"

Very common in programming.

That is not what this post was about at all, I am learning C# already and was wanting someone with more experience to help me do it... not a teacher but someone to help in on the mod as well. I am doing this because my first project which was my very own game in unity almost made me give up because every time I found a willing teacher they usually stopped helping me because they didn't have their heart in the purpose and basically just floated away... now I thought that if I asked a whole group of people to not only help me learn but to stay and code alongside me so that I would continue to get better

I know there are tons of tutorials out there and I've watched a lot, for some reason I only learn how to do exactly what the tutorial does...

I've tried applying things to what I want to do but just can't make the connection, I'm, a pretty smart person but for some reason coding doesn't stick to me as other things do

If there is anything that I would want you to take away from this reply is that I'm sorry if my post made you think that is what I meant

I'm going to reword the post so that other people don't get the same image

[JordanL]

So you want to learn about software engineering?

Hmmm... from your end, I know what you're looking for, but from my end I know that I can only do software engineering because I have over a decade of experience. Small steps, is what you want, if you're having trouble getting concepts.

Don't be afraid to break things, tweak things and see what happens, when you encounter a piece you don't know google it, and if you have specific questions search/post them to stackexchange.com for some answers.

You don't really learn programming by learning what to do. As you pointed out, that ends up teaching you how to follow the example you're given mostly. You learn programming by learning what not to do, then learning why you don't do it. Most of the stuff you try at first doesn't work, so you start really simple and make that work. Then you add a piece, and add a piece, and at each step you see what didn't work and look it up, learn about it, and see what does work.

Raw concepts that you should probably learn about include:

- Typing

- Control structures (if/else, functions, objects, variables, constants, arrays, etc.)

- What libraries are and how to use them (in abstract)

- Standards of coding (whitespace standards, naming standards, style guidelines, etc.)

But the stage that you're at is not one you graduate from quickly or without bruises. Regardless of who is helping/teaching you. Best of luck, but I'm not the person for you. I don't have the time or resources, and I already spend about 80% of my waking day programming.

Edited January 8, 2014 by JordanL

[TriggerAu]

Sorry you've had a rough start on this, didnt get a chance to respond before now.

I can give you some tips/places to look to start, but can't commit to another project myself right now. Some great resources for writing a plugin are:

• The WIKI has some info on how to set up your dev environment and basic code examples
  
• Hoojiwanna compiled a great list of all modding info, including plugin stuff - http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/25013-Compilation-of-modding-information-links-for-0-19-20-21-22-Last-update-6th-Jan
  
• TaranisElsu built some good starter templates to give some example ideas for plugins - http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/56053-Example-plugin-projects-to-help-you-get-started
  
• You can always post specific code questions in the plugin dev and support forum, or in the gigantic http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/7544-The-official-unoffical-help-a-fellow-plugin-developer-thread
  
• There is an IRC channel (#KSPModders) you can join onto and chat with other modders as you build stuff. usually can get some pointers as you go.
  

Personally I am partway through pulling together a framework for creating a plugin and I should have a version ready in the next week - and will post it in the forums too.

Best advice I can give you is think of a small idea, test it and keep going. Hope you havent been put off, and have fun.

EDIT: oh and another great resource is the source code of already published plugins. You can see the objects people use to access specific data/functions and depending on the licensing/asking the author you may be able to reuse some code with the appropriate authority.

Edited January 8, 2014 by TriggerAu
Forgot something

[I.T Marcus]

Thank you all for your advise! I am going to do as you guys said and start a bit smaller and work my way up finding out how to do things one step at a time. I guess I was a bit afraid of breaking things as I basically tried to keep my current configs as close to the Squad format as possible but I'm going to try to see what works and what doesn't and why... but thank you!!!

[John.E]

Marcus, we are both in the same place as far as code goes. I too am exploring KSP and C# (as well as Java under Android) but configs are not a problem. Simply create a parallel install of the game, 1 to play and 1 to break

[TriggerAu]

Marcus, we are both in the same place as far as code goes. I too am exploring KSP and C# (as well as Java under Android) but configs are not a problem. Simply create a parallel install of the game, 1 to play and 1 to break

I have about 5 maintained copies - Two separate plugins in isolated copies, one copy with a lot of the parts removed so its quick to load for debugging, one copy with my mods and some others for final testing and my gameplay one.

Dont be worried about your configs, use a dedicated copy for dev and keep your game separate and you should be good