I decided to write this as, being completely new to the whole process of modding KSP1, I found the documentation quite lacklustre. Many links were broken owing to changing hands and forum migrations; many creatives rarely publicly documented their production process. The process of learning to make an engine from start to finish was quite a difficult one as a result; we even had to re-discover lost techniques to building these rockets as if archeologists investigating ancient construction methods.

As such this page aims to consolidate what I’ve learned from building my own engines, as well as process and workflow tips to make things easier.

What this will and won’t cover

This page will not give instruction on:

• How to create models. I will cover considerations and workflow techniques specific to preparing a model for KSP, but otherwise I will assume you are comfortable working in Blender.
• How to design textures. Again, I will cover the technical side of things, such as file format exports, and will give advice on how to create assets that feel congruent with ReStock or Nerteaverse parts. Otherwise, I will assume you already have a raster image editing software of choice and that you are comfortable using it.

In other words, I will give information regarding the technical side of things in regards to creating a part for the game and how technical requirements will affect your creative workflow. I won’t give information on creative aspects of learning how to 3D model or use image editing software.

What you’ll need

You won’t need all these things off the bat, but in case it helps to do a sort of mies en place for your development, you’ll need the following:

• Blender with taniwha’s .mu export plugin. Installation instructions are available on the wiki. Using this plugin, we can bypass having to install Unity altogether.
• The Blender plugin, Texel Density Checker. This will help us ensure we’re using our UV map resolution efficiently.
• A raster image editing programme. I personally use Photoshop CC, as it’s what I’m already familiar with as an artist. Ideally, to make things easier, you’ll want something that has layer blending modes, layer effects, and filters.
• A bumpmap to normal map converter. Tools like xNormal and NormalMapOnline work just fine.
• A DDS converter. KSP uses DDS files for textures. One thing we lose from not using Unity and PartTools is a DDS exporter, so we’ll need something to export with. CineboxAndrew made a Python-based DDS converter that can work real well for this.
• A text or code editor for editing our part configs. Something as simple as Notepad or Notepad++ works. Since I’m all fancy I use Visual Studio Code, as there exists an extension that colour-codes KSP CFG syntax, making it easier to read.

Ideating

Ideation and Concept

Modelling

Blender Modelling for KSP

Parenting, Transforms, and Settings

Texturing

Preparing Materials and Shaders

UV Unwrapping

Baking textures

Create the Diffuse/Specular Texture

Create The Normal Map

Create The Emission Map

Creating the Interior Engine Glow

Export and Configuration

Export Your Model and Textures

Create a Config

Preparing for publication

Publishing your mod

Additional techniques

Multi-nozzle engines

Creating gimbal arms

Deforming meshes with gimbal

Modelling tubes and pipes

Modelling struts

Using B9 Part Switch

References and lists

Nertealike technical standards

KSP part naming schemes