Thoughts about USI MKS/OKS

[andylaugel]

I'm going to share my thoughts about USI Kolonization Systems (MKS/OKS)[mods.curse.com] mod, and encourage you to do the same. It's been a few months since I used it last actively, but killer_Foxy's posts got me thinking about it again.

Overall: It is a facinating mod, but good god is it complicated and overwhelming. The wiki documentation[github.com] helps, but isn't quite enough. Here are some of the issues I had:

• This one mod is a combination of several other mods, and it shows. There are several dozen new resources, several new cross-sections of parts, construction machinery with servos, a couple different rovers, and so on. Some parts have been depreciated--unnecessary for new users. And the mod really wants a few other mods like life support and KIS/KAS. Individually these mods wouldn't be too hard to learn, but taken as a lump is overwhelming.
  
• Many parts can be reconfigured. In theory this is good, as you can convert a building into something more relevant to your needs on the fly. In practice, this makes things more difficult. In the VAB or SPH, there is an advanced tab where you can sort parts by resource--but the containers that can be configured 27 different ways won't show up there. Nor will reconfigurable drills to acquire said resources, or reconfigurable factories to convert a resource into other things. Some parts need to be deployed before you can reconfigure them in the VAB, like the various drills.
  
• Finding all the parts that have 'x' functionality requires looking through them one by one and scrolling down their details list, or hoping you can find where it's covered in the documentation.
  
• Many processes are unclear in the game, like [Workshop] or "Start Habitat." What do these things do exactly?
  
• Some features have been added to stock parts, but somewhat inconsistantly. The small ISRU and the big one both have an extra process--but not the same process as the other gets.
  
• Planetary storage allows you to dump extra resources into a warehouse that's accessible anywhere on that world. While I don't mind the idea of dumping a large pile of metallic ore on the ground of an airless moon, shipping tons of materials hundreds of kilometers from base to base strikes me as cheating somehow.
  
• Many of the parts that are designed to sit on the ground aren't very suitable for being placed on the ground directly. The cradles that are designed to support the cylindrical Tundra 2.5 and 3.75 modules on their sides use a lot of volume and aren't easy to ship individually.
  
• Most of the kerbal-containing parts don't have any sort of hatch. This becomes a real problem when you need to rescue a kerbal from a large Tundra module with no hatch and a max temperature of 1200.
  
• I have no idea what the 'geology', 'biology', or other colonization stats are about, how to improve them, or what they even do.

I've just given up on it for now, although I might try again later if I feel ambitious or in need of a real challenge.

[Celtic Frost]

I use Kerbalism which seems to not get along well with USI UKS/OKS. That might have changed though as I believe ShotgunNinja has been trying to get them compatible, I think it is due to the Community Resourse Pack mod that those depend on.