My idea on how colonization could work

[Serratus]

I haven't read entire thread so sorry if I'm repeating someone's ideas!

I'm all for colonisation just to be clear. But I disagree with OP's version of it based on my experience of how KSP developed over the last 14 versions. KSP has always avoided system-solutions to these things letting players have freedom of interpretation. What I mean by that can perhaps be shown in an example of docking. Before we had it, many ppl were coming up with ideas of how should it work - they were suggesting orbital construction buildings which you could supply with parts or resources. Those ideas invariably included tons of menus, customization options and ways to define function and use.

Then the docking update came and I had a revelation. The game doesn't have to know what all that junk in space is. You don't have to define it. Your mind does that. If SQUAD went along with some of the ideas we would have to go into the menus and tell the game what we were building and how it worked. Instead the game doesn't care! Is it a big ship or is it a space station? A carrier? A probe? It only depends on how You look at it.

So back to colonies. Why should there be any mechanic specific to starting a colony? Why would we need it? All necessary base features are already there. What is a colony - that is the right question. Colony is defined by its function. Does it create resources? Provide habitable conditions? Build things? All of the above? All those things can be done already (albeit with mods, but many modders are joining SQUAD these days). So why would we need some stages of development? We can make those ourselves in our minds!

So if there is a function that a colony should have according to You, then suggest it. But don't ask SQUAD to limit the use of that feature to one specific task - that's not how they roll (and I'm glad). Colonies can work perfectly fine on general game mechanics, they don't need special treatment. And certainly they don't need to be script-based.

ADHD version: No stage system for colony development, function defines what it is, not some fancy game feature. Ask for more basic features rather than new complicated mechanics. Don't do drugs.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Serratus

[Rusty6899]

Serratus

That's pretty much the point I was trying to get across. I don't like the idea of having it built in as a major game mechanic, but I do think that there should be a greater impetus to encourage certain players to colonise.

[Skyler4856]

How about binding ships together in a Colony System, max distance would be 2.5 kilometers. Please keep in mind this wouldn't require the game to run all of the physics calculations for a base at once.

[Dodgey]

How about binding ships together in a Colony System, max distance would be 2.5 kilometers. Please keep in mind this wouldn't require the game to run all of the physics calculations for a base at once.

Hang on. How does it not mean that the game would have to load everything in? 2.5 km is the load distance.

[Deadweasel]

I haven't read entire thread so sorry if I'm repeating someone's ideas!

So back to colonies. Why should there be any mechanic specific to starting a colony? Why would we need it? All necessary base features are already there. What is a colony - that is the right question. Colony is defined by its function. Does it create resources? Provide habitable conditions? Build things? All of the above? All those things can be done already (albeit with mods, but many modders are joining SQUAD these days). So why would we need some stages of development? We can make those ourselves in our minds!

So if there is a function that a colony should have according to You, then suggest it. But don't ask SQUAD to limit the use of that feature to one specific task - that's not how they roll (and I'm glad). Colonies can work perfectly fine on general game mechanics, they don't need special treatment. And certainly they don't need to be script-based.

All well and good, unless you get it in your head to try to do something more. Got too many parts in the area, trying to build up all the functionality you think is needed for your colony? Awww, too bad. 800 parts running makes the game too difficult to manage.

Yet's we can play "let's pretend" all day long with this, but it really would be nice if there were some tangible benefit to sending more than one flight out to a planet/moon. What can you do after you've landed, gotten out, said "well, here we are!", then loaded back up to fly home?

Granted, I've seen some really cool base designs out there, and there's no reason people couldn't continue to conjure up their own designs to extend a static colony system, but we really could use some kind of game mechanic that offers a benefit to sending enough equipment out there to support a colony, without penalizing the player for the effort with hours of lag.

[Skyler4856]

Hang on. How does it not mean that the game would have to load everything in? 2.5 km is the load distance.

Derp. My bad.