Planning a Youtube Series

[Shadtiger]

So, here is the idea. I want to make a you tube series of KSP, for all your entertainment and amusement as I flub up various flights, build the infrastructure and so on. That said, I would love a bit of input on various points...like what modpacks you would like to see me use past the basic list I always play with period, missions you would like to see me try to pull off, and so on.

At present the the list looks like this:

B9 Aerospace

Deadly Reentry

Extraplanetary Launch Pads

Farram Aerospace

Infernal Robotics

Interstellar

Kerbal Attachment

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Kethane

KW Release

Mekjeb

Modular Kolonization

Real Chute

Stage Recovery

TAC Fuel Balancer

TAC Lifesupport

Texture Management

and

Vanguard.

Any thoughts on what I could add for beautification? I have tried a couple, but can't seem to find one that delivers the volumetric clouds that would add that level of difficulty, which would be nice...I do like my game to be pretty as well as hard, so adding that would be choice, especially for the viewers who are watching...nothing quite as boring as seeing the plane jane bare bones game graphics.

As to difficulty, I will be playing it on a custom, with some hard level things on, as well as some of the easy settings...

What that comes down to is all the reverting flights, quicksaving, quickloading and so on will be turned off, per hard setting. All the slider bars for science, rep, lost science, lost funds, and lost rep will be set at 100% per the standard easy setting (as I don't want it to take 15 episodes before I can make a mission to the mun. And as I am playing with a ton of the extra mod packs, and making extra missions with the kolonization systems and so on, as well as extra flights up and down well to resupply fuel, life support and all that, I am setting the funds made to 500% to pay for the extra bits...

Again, thoughts?

Let me know folks, as once I have a general list of ways to mod the game, I will more than happily get to work recording the first episode and editing it down so that it fits in the required time slot on Youtube. Though as I remember with Youtube the first few episodes you post have to be shorter, so I may have to post them in part 1, 2, 3...we shall see.

Speak you piece folks, I want to hear your ideas, thoughts and so on.

[Superfluous J]

I strongly suggest you (and every youtuber) add Ambient Light Adjustment to your list. Your viewers will thank you. Also for pretty it's hard to beat Environmental Visual Enhancements and Texture Replacer and a pack for them (I like Astronomer's pack).

If you're doing a lot of science, I suggest you cut that part out of your videos. Also, you can streamline it greatly with a combo of ScienceAlert and Science Containers (with a config for it, see below) so you don't have to spend time getting science and can spend more time getting to the places to get science.

MODULE{
name = ScienceContainer
}
}[/noparse]

[noparse]@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleCommand],!MODULE[ScienceContianer]]{

[Shadtiger]

I will definitely give those mod packs a look up and a test 5th Horseman, and many thanks. Once I see how they work with my game, the texture reducer and the beast I play KSP on I will let you know which ones worked, didn't work and in general what will be on the list...from there, we can touch base and see if there is something I can use in place of something that failed on the trial run in my personal game. Hope to be able to let you know soon on what works and doesn't and maybe we can knock heads on how to make things work that appear at first broken...

By the way, the series is for the time being at least going to be played in .25, not sure if I will update the gamepack I am using when the game updates...will have to at least wait till the modpacks get an update.

[Superfluous J]

All the mods I mentioned work in 0.25, though some don't say they do.

[impwarhamer]

Make sure your certain before using b9, it's a big pack and will limit your memory for other mods

If your using EPL, make sure you also grab bahamuto's drills (linked on the EPL thread), EPL is a good mod, but it's textures/models are terrible.

[Francois424]

@impwarhamer:

If the OP only take the parts that he needs. trashing the others, then he can have a lot more memory available. I installed B9 but kept like 5 parts, I also removed all the parts I never use from Squad's folder (such as the ant engines and many other).

That's how I manage for now and hope for full x64 support in the future.

[longbyte1]

The mod list looks very similar to Scott Manley's. Is there any twist to your series, as in are you planning to do something unique in your series that people might be interested in?

[Shadtiger]

Well, to each of you, thanks for the response...lets hit them in order. :3

@ 5th...

I tried the Beautification Pack for .25 which said it had volumetric clouds, but couldn't get that one working. I will give each of the packs you mentioned a try and see how each sets the limits of my game, though I am probably going to be limiting the science one, as I want to work my way up the tech tree. On the flip side, if I do have issues installing, you mind if I PM you here for advice, pointers, and so on?

@Imp and Franc...

I am pretty sure, though I may weed a bit out of my B9, I use it extensively in my games. I am a huge fan of shuttles and HTOL trans-atmospheric aerospace vehicles, so most of B9 will be in the game, though I may pull some things out, like the doubled up landing gear (I tend to only use the heavy ones as I like the extra durability for the three point hard landings I tend to keep pulling out of my arse. They are a little rough on the parts and all the strength I can get is necessary. However there are a few items I hardly ever use in game, so I will definitely give it a look. Haven't had a crash from size yet, though with the EVE one I might start, so thanks for the tip.

@Long...

Well, that is why I am hitting this up first, figure that I have a couple weeks of getting things ready, hitting a little QnA here and so on. Do you have some ideas for a story line, and so on? Also, do you know if there is a mod pack that puts other star systems out there, that I could reach in game? Making the whole interstellar pack more useful? I do know I am going to be Kolonizing most of the system, which is why I have the Modular Kolonization pack. Which is certainly a new twist...basically I have to make trans-atmospheric craft to go out, drop supplies and come back...so there is that factor.

[Superfluous J]

@ 5th...

I tried the Beautification Pack for .25 which said it had volumetric clouds, but couldn't get that one working. I will give each of the packs you mentioned a try and see how each sets the limits of my game, though I am probably going to be limiting the science one, as I want to work my way up the tech tree. On the flip side, if I do have issues installing, you mind if I PM you here for advice, pointers, and so on?

No prob but I may not be able to help. I generally install mods and if they don't work I just toss 'em aside

And those science ones don't get you more science, they just eliminate most of the drudgery in collecting it.

[Shadtiger]

No prob but I may not be able to help. I generally install mods and if they don't work I just toss 'em aside

And those science ones don't get you more science, they just eliminate most of the drudgery in collecting it.

Alright, that sounds cool, easier than attaching them to a button in VAB I would assume?

[Superfluous J]

Yes.

ScienceAlert tells you when you're in an area where you can get fresh science, and gives you buttons to click to do it. Technically hitting an action group would be easier than clicking those buttons but knowing you're in a new area is really the key there.

And ScienceContainers (with that config) lets you right click the command pod and just "collect all science" which eliminates the need to get your Kerbal out and go around to every experiment, right click it (assuming you're close enough), take the data, and then get back in to the pod. I don't know about you but after about 100 times doing that I never wanted to again. And after about 2 times of doing this I could never go back to the Stock way.

[LethalDose]

Some notes:

• How many of these mods are you playing with currently? Jumping into the a series and all the mods may be a lot to handle.
  
• MKS/OKS comes bundled with Karbonite, which may be a reasonable alternative to Kethane.
  
• I don't see Kerbal Engineer or VOID on there. They're pretty standard.
  
• RealChute has always seemed superfluous to me, plus the drama with the author's recent tantrum and rage quitting it, and then coming back, I would avoid it.
  

Just my thoughts.

[White Owl]

PlanetShine has the functionality of Ambient Light Adjustment, plus more features. But you definitely need one of them. Or add a whole lot of lights to absolutely everything.

[Pecan]

I want to make a you tube series of KSP, for all your entertainment and amusement as I flub up various flights, build the infrastructure and so on. That said, I would love a bit of input on various points...like what modpacks you would like to see me use past the basic list I always play with period, missions you would like to see me try to pull off, and so on....

Check the competition - Have you seen how many YouTube videos and series there already are where people "flub up" various flights?

Who is your audience - Is it experienced, beginner or sonsidering players "entertainment and amusement" you are aiming for?

Why should they watch - Several gigabytes and hours of attention for what? Will you be funny, instructive, insightful?

Mod list - It's huge and complex, so presumably you aren't aiming to inspire people to do better at the same things. How many of them will be material to your purpose (eg; will your craft design REQUIRE TAC fuel-balancer and will you explain that?)

As with anything, being able to do it is only the first and easiest requirement. More importantly you need to have a clear story-line and demonstrate progress - or reasons for obstacles - in that in each programme of your series. Even if it's just yet another "look at what I can get wrong, duh!" series you have to think about competing with people who do huge, spectacular or really 'complicated' explosions.

Content, scripting, presentation and editing. Do them, practice them, re-do them.

[Shadtiger]

@5th: That sounds choice... I have actually lost a couple missions when the ship and the kerbal decided to go in oposite directions and I didn't correct it right...so, yeah, definitely looking into those. Just got the internet moved to the new house, so looks like I start the basic first episode jazz here, though it will probably be a couple weeks before I have something postable.

@Lethal: That is the mod list I play with currently, and have been playing with since shortly after getting the game. May modify it a bit, but I am still in the testing stage. I prefer Kethane myself, and there is another mod that requires it...Extraplanetary Lunchpads, I think. What are Kerbal Engineer and VOID? What do they do, and how could they enhance the show? And while I do love the extra chutes, I think I may take your advice and ditch that one, I have lost a couple bits of missions and a few whole missions once I installed it, so it really hasn't been a help, or a difficulty enhancer, more just a pain in the arse.

@White: Hey, thanks for the suggestion, I will toy around with the different beautification modes people have suggested, including that one, I really want the game to look better, both on the series and in my own personal play time, though they may end up being one and the same around work at this point. :3

@Pecan: I have seen a lot of the competition, and while what I am planning is similar to Scott Manley's vids, I am definitely taking mine in a slightly different direction. I am going for the full Kolonization of the Kerbal system, so that should be a real difference right there...between the fuels you get with the Kethane stuff, the Interstellar and so on, added to the Modular Kolonization and Extraplanetary launch pads, we should have a decent difference. As to the audience, whoever wants to watch really, though newer players will find some tips and hints I have figured out over my game play, and more experienced players can certainly point and laugh when I do something colossally stupid. I want to keep it fun and informative, but I also want to show what can be done when you are playing with a serious set of mod packs made to increase what is available to do in the game. As to TAC, I use Life Support to add a layer of difficulty, I use Fuel Balancer, cause a lot of times on reentry I have to shift my fuel balance around at speed or dump it fast to regain control or shift my angle of attack. I use B9, Interstellar, and Farram pretty extensively, etc etc. Deadly Reentry... cause really, coming in at 4 or 5000 meters per second, blasting into the lower atmo on a aerobrake to get your capture...yeah, not happening. As to the look what I can screw up, yeah, definitely not what my series is about...more like damn I screwed that up, now I have to make an emergency retrieval craft and go get the missing crew...cause no respawns...

All in all though, Everyone had great points, I really appreciate the input and I will definitely be looking into a few variations for my mod list as well as setting up to start recording over the next couple days...pending being allowed to by my wife, as we are technically in the middle of a move at the moment... lol

[Shadtiger]

Well, this is disappointing. I got EVE and the better atmospheres pack was the only thing that I could get to supply the volumetric clouds... and now, quite litterally, even with the stripped down version of B9 that I pulled apart today, I cant even play one mission without it crashing on me...oi. Soooo, this is what I did, got went through...

Obviously EVE and Better Atmos, as well as trying out Science Alert and Science Can... Love the warning that I can collect new science, makes the game much more readily workable, and the auto cans that suck the science out as soon as you get back in form your eva are nice...Also tinkered around with a few other things, but all in all...I have to find a way to reduce the Better Atmospheres. I am thinking of dumping the city lights and just going for the clouds, as well as dumping the fancy asteroids, etc etc to get that one pared down some. I also tried the Ambient Light Adjustment, but it keeps coming up that it is not compatible with the .25 version I have downloaded, so I finally gave up on that. Will just have spots on everything, pointing everywhere for night side docking, etc. My goal is to Kolonize the entire Kerban system, but I also really wanted the warp tech from interstellar to make getting around to the various bases I build with supplies a bit easier...that said, can you use just the Warp Plugin, or do you need the Open Resource packs in there too? Anyone know?...

I have pared down B9 to only the things I generally can be found using in my game, which is still considerable (but only about half the size of the original B9 pack. And I am only transferring the trimmed down B9 Aerospace folder, none of the others...though firespitter shows up in one other mod pack I think. I also have active resource management...or active graphics management, or whatever it is called in my BoulderCo folder in hopes of rendering most of it back down unless I am right up close to it. That seems to help some (it actually loads as opposed to crashing mid boot) but it isnt enough...I have also had to lose a number of the other mod packs I really enjoy as well...things like Mekjeb (which I use for a flight data window for easier flying) and so on. Have to say the 32 bit is a little disappointing in the initial beautification process, but I am still tinkering with it. So, for now, wish me luck getting a stable mod list...I will let you all know more soon.

[Shadtiger]

so, an evening of tinkering, modifying packs, looking at various ways to make this all fit, and it occurs to me...well, I have made a dual boot to linux before, why not again. So I get ready to, and I say to myself, you know, why not see if my frame can handle the x64 without dumping its brains all over my desk...so I play a few rounds, I look, sure enough watching some of the data, it looks a tad twitchy, but all in all, no crashes...soooo...I load the list (short B9 at the moment) and I have myself a play this morning. Good news bad news situation here...short the B9 pack, (which I absolutely love and want to add to the pack tonight after I finish moving furniture and work) I have what appears to be a stable platform for all my mods, plus the beautification, and it looks and plays awesome...almost.

The one hitch I am having is that Ferram Aerospace doesn't seem to be working. Does anyone know if there is a special x64 release for it that allows the aerodynamics to work, anyone think that might just be a bug playing x64 in windows? Thoughts? And if all else fails, I will dual boot my system with a linux setup so that I can make this...

Also, more thought on the matter, I am definitely going with the colonization of the Kerbol System as the main thrust of my series. Basically, orbital colonies on every planetary and lunar body in the game, as well as ground colonies on every body I can manage to get them onto. That said, this looks to be a long game, and if all else fails, we are going to see some serious use of the Remote Tech mod (I love using it as it makes comms more realistic) and the ships are goign to be carrying tons of life support for round trips to and from the various planets with Kerbals on board, cause where is the fun if you don't have to feed you kerbals snacks, make sure they have water, power, air, so on.

So... the x64 list of mods...as of this morning:

Better Atmospheres

Deadly Reentry

Environmental Visual Enhancement

Extraplanetary Launchpads

Ferram Aerospace (Parts work and link properly, aerodynamics malfunctioning)

Infernal Robotics

Interstellar

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Kerbal Attachment System

Kethane

KW Rocketry

Mechanical Jeb

Modular Kolonization System

Remote Tech

Science Alert

Science Containers

Stage Recovery

TAC Fuel Balancer

TAC Life Support

Vanguard

and

Texture Management...

And with any luck we are adding B9 back to that and seeing if it still runs tonight, I will let you all know. If it does go unstable, I may look into getting set up with a dual boot system so that I can run linux, as using the x64 version of the game is much more gratifying as I can add everything I want, as well as most of the suggestions all of you made...Still no luck on a .25 usable version of Ambient Light Adjustment, but still looking for that one, as dark side docking maneuvers blow arse.

Anyone have thoughts, suggestions, ideas, shoot a comment below and let me know.

[Shadtiger]

Just curious if anyone is still watching this thread...definitely working toward a January 1stish release on my series, and I know what I am doing with it now...

It will be a colonization of the entire Kerbol System.

[Nickols]

Well, I'm looking through the one. How the process is going currently?

[Shadtiger]

Well, I'm looking through the one. How the process is going currently?

Not terrible, but also not great...>.< I definitely know what I am wanting to do, however at this point I need to figure out a few more ways to customize my craft as B( is just too monstrous to run with everything else, which is a shame, I really do like their shuttle parts. However, I do have a final plan and I know what I want to make for the series...The complete colonization of the Kerbol system. And here is hoping that they make a mod for more star systems to go along with the interstellar pack, so it really is...well...interstellar. Still, should be fun and the list is massive but still runs well. As long as I don't overdo the graphics settings I am pushing about 2.2 to 2.4 gigs of memory use with everything, so I think I am going to try for procedural parts...see if I can fit that. If you have suggestions I am always willing to listen in and try something new. Also, if you, or anybody you know has any suggestions for a video capture and audio recording freeware for Windows 7 that doesn't suck, I would love to hear it as I am having issues finding the ones I need.

All in all though, provided I can find a freeware to record with in time...and until I can afford better, it should be up first Saturday of the new year.

Definitely going "Kolonization or Bust" though, should be fun.

[Shadtiger]

The series is going on inndefinite hold and I will start a fresh thread once the issues that just dropped in my lap are dealt with. My 6mo old son just yanked cables and destroyed a thousand dollar piece of equipment vital to my job so I am dusting off the four hundred dollar backup and will be working considerable overtime for the forseeable future to get it replaced, get a propper desk to keep him out of cords, and so on. Needless to say, I won't have time to record well into January, possibly February.