So I had this idea for a mod......

[Kerba Fett]

...but it turns out I'm nowhere near smart enough to do the 3D modeling or use Unity.

But I figured I'd throw the idea out here to see if anyone else was interested.

I noticed recently that when I approach my Mun base or the station I've got orbiting Kerbin that I've been getting a lot of lag. Most of the players that have been in KSP for a while have probably experienced the same thing. You add stuff till it lags then stop going there because it's too laggy.

So then I figured, what if my base had all the same functionality but only took a few fairly simple parts. My first thought was a saucer configuration since it seemed appropriate for little green men, but pretty much any shape would work. The image below should give you an idea of what I had in mind. The pillar in the center of the ship would be the core. This would be a probe core so it would be the basis of your ship but wouldn't be able to fly the ship by itself. (more on that later)

Attached to the core would be the upper and lower mounting plates. There would be a couple of variations of each depending on how you wanted to set up the ship. Choices for the lower plate would be single center engine or multiple engine setup. (multi would be needed for an unbalanced ship)

Choices for the upper would be a flat disc, or a dome for a second upper deck.

Between the upper and lower plates and surrounding the core you'd have a number of wedge shaped modules. This is where most of the customizing happens. These wedges could be maned cockpits or drone cores. They could be fuel tanks or batteries. They could be short term passenger compartments for many or long term compartments for few. They could be kethane converters or KAS storage lockers. And of course you'd have a few empty boxes that you could fill with normal KSP parts.

The nice thing is that most parts are just a mesh and a config file so if you distribute a UV template image with the mod people can paint their own textures, add a config, and get any module they want.

Up to this point it's just standard KSP stuff with less parts in a different configuration. If I'm not mistaken, anyone can define a resource in KSP. This would allow you to customize installed modules by adding stuff like CPU cycles or Crewed Workstations or Science Equipment.

For example: suppose you add a lab module to your ship. It would weigh 3 tons, need 2 crew to operate, contain 5 science equipment, and need 10 CPU cycle. And it would transmit at the same level as a stock lab. Add another 5 science equipment to it and it weighs 4 tons, needs 20 CPU cycles, and needs 3 crew to operate, but transmits 5% better than the stock lab.

This should all be possible with config files and most modules would be upgradable, but there would always be a tradeoff.

I was also thinking the tradeoff would carry over to the drive system. You could choose from chemical rockets for high thrust but low isp, electric drive for high isp and low thrust, (like a more powerful ion engine) and a third system that allows you to adjust the thrust/isp ratio on the fly. Of course that one would be less efficient than either of the other options, but more versatile. (one of the mod packs out already has an engine like that, but I can't recall which one just now)

Of course the engines would also require CPU cycles so the basic core alone wouldn't be enough to run them. You'd also need a drone pilot or crewed cockpit.

You'd still have to compromise at every stage of the design, but would end up with a ship with less parts that should be less prone to lag.

One other thought is that if the central core was surrounded by invisible docking ports rather than just connect nodes, and each module had a built in docking port, you could change modules in orbit.

Anyways, that's what I had in mind when I started the object in the picture. Now that I've realized I don't have the ability to pull it off perhaps someone more talented would be interested in it.

[Pondafarr]

I'm not aware of any mod currently that implements a CPU cycles type of resource, so you would have to build a DLL to support it. Oh, I think I got it...much like a command pod has the requirement for X kerbals to operate, you simply provide X cpu cycles (like a fuel type) to power your additional parts. Kewl idea. As for the modular ship/base, thats a good idea. Your initial design looks promising, sort of a 50's style saucer.

I'm looking forward to further concept development...

[frizzank]

Whats with all the self doubt. Everyone, and I mean everyone starts somewhere you only need the passion and conviction to see it through to the end.

Your off to a good start. Read the tutorials and give it a go.

You start with the passion and the idea, the talent and skill comes later.