A "Probes/Planes Before Crew" type overhaul of the Tech Tree inspired by Zee's PBC Mod and Spink Akron/theonegalen's UnKerballed Start. It builds on that concept by further providing an upgrade path (via B9PS or the stock upgrade system when B9 is not available) for many of the parts, such as decreased dry mass, increased thrust/efficiency, or improved SAS levels. I attempt to balance the improvements by having the upgrades come with an increased cost and come later in the tech tree. This should leave a choice between getting upgraded tech at a slightly lower cost first.

Dependencies (Not Included)

• Community Tech Tree

• B9 Part Switch

• Module Manager

Strongly Recommended Mods (with custom configs)

• BetterSRBs - Better SRBs is how KTT is handling the "upgrades" for SRBs. I also modify SRBs from mods not directly supported in Better SRBs custom configs if BetterSRBs is present.

• Custom Barn Kit - Increases the initial number of parts for the VAB and SPH to be 46 as I did not want part counts to be as binding as a game mechanic. If JNSQ or Sigma Dimensions is detected, will increase the part count limits to 72 to help offset the availability of only smaller fuel tanks in the beginning of the tech tree.

• Engine Ignitor Reignited - Provides a new gameplay challenge to consider how to best balance engine burns alongside limited ignitions

• Rational Resources - Rational Resources implements some cold gas RCS modes into stock, ReStock+ and NF RCS blocks. I've added upgrades to these parts and this will be how KTT handles RCS upgrades. Be aware that this mod changes the distribution of planet resources and ISRU chains!

• Science Param Editor - Support for Stock; GPP, GEP, OPM; and MPE.

Recommended Gameplay Mods

• Kerbal Construction Time

• MandatoryRCS

• Persistent Rotation

• StageRecovery

Objectives

The Kiwi Tech Tree (KTT) overhaul, like its predecessors, revolves around the premise that probes should come before crewed space missions. You begin with 0.625m parts and work progressively larger, but also have access to plane cockpits from the start. To limit early crewed missions using plane cockpits, I have nerfed the skin temperature of crewed cockpits, but provide an upgrade for higher skin temperatures once you reach the High Altitude tech node (same tier as the Mk3 cockpit). I have made heat shields available relatively early, so you are of course free to experiment with re-entry.

KTT is a Tech Tree mod at it's core, however, I have tried to align stock parts and other mods to have similar functionality available with Nertea's NF Suite (if the relevant NF mods are installed). I further implement some optional mods within the NF Suite using B9PS functionality. This removes the need to choose one or the other within the gameplay environment. If you like to play with new parts as the modder intended, this is not the right tech tree mod for you.

Many parts have available upgrades such as engine upgrades which increase thrust/isp or structural upgrades which decrease the mass of the part. These upgrades generally come paired with a 50% increase in the part cost and available later in the tech tree. The rebalance is an attempt to make my tech choices a bit more meaningful and allow my kerbins to spend some time testing jets in Kerbin's atmosphere earlier in the career prior to launching in space.

I have added another 70+ tech nodes across the tree, but leave the general layout of the tree consistent with the Community Tech Tree, although some branches have shifted the relative location. While I shift some nodes, all nodes are present, thus leaving some compatibility with any mod not currently supported. To balance the additional number of science nodes, I have reduced unlock costs. Expect to collect around 40% more science points over the course of your career to unlock the majority of the tree. Science multipliers have increased within Kerbin, but have generally been reduced outside of Kerbin's Sphere of Influence. Expect to need to visit more planets to complete the tech tree.

I calibrated the nodes around stock, expansion packs, Restock/Restock+ and Missing History. The name of the nodes do not fully indicate the type of technology within the node, but rather the type of technologies that you should expect to find along the branch. However, some branches do not fully represent their current use (ie. miniaturization where you will find ground science). I have decided at this point to not rename them. Given the number of nodes, you will benefit by having several parts mods.

I have not spent excessive time balancing costs. Costs for some mods have been aligned roughly to stock costs. My general feeling is that money rewards should not be set too low in the difficulty settings, particularly if you are paying for parts to unlock. My cost revamps are fairly ad-hoc. If this a bug bear for you and you want to tackle a comprehensive review of the cost structure, please get in touch. I may readjust a few pieces if they are fundamentally out of proportion to other parts, but revamping costs are beyond the scope of what I will tackle.

In some cases, I have added rescaled parts, but indicated when and from what mod I have rescaled the parts within the description. In cases like Missing History, I will use the Restock texture when available for consistency in the visual style.