This mod attempts to address the issues associated with refuelling in orbit by providing a means to 'purchase' fuel from a fictional 3rd party vendor, without having to worry about mining and transferring fuel endlessly. This mod is based heavily on the style of "player choice" where most of the design decisions are handed over to the player to allow for a true custom experience.
The mod contains 2 parts; a sign and a fuel card.
The "sign", which can be attached to anything, gives the player the option of designing/building their own vessel/station etc using stock parts for example. The sign in effect "takes over" whatever it's attached to, allowing it to become a location for purchasing fuel.
The fuel card is carried on the player vessel and holds credit which is used to purchase fuel. When a purchase is made, the funds are taken off the card, causing the player to use multiple cards or to plan refuelling accordingly. The fuel card holds 1000 K$ by default.
The price of fuel/services varies according to where the station is at present, to reflect the transportation costs of the fuel. For example, near Kerbin the cost is close to stock (with a small commission added!) whereas by Eeloo, the cost is significantly higher. Add-on planets default at the highest cost modifier; custom prices for common planet packs may be added in the future.
After fuel is purchased, a timer initialises which prevents the player from purchasing fuel again until the timer has ended. The timer is also based on the location of the station, again it'll take longer to deliver fuel to harder to reach places.
Design and build a station (with a docking port) that your vessel can attach to. When happy, attach the "Sign" to your station. Please note that the mechanics of the mod are such that the station doesn't have to physically be able to hold the fuel you may require; it's up to the player how they wish to design their delivery means; realistic or otherwise.
Add your station into orbit at your preferred location, by either transporting it yourself or cheating it with Alt-F12, again player choice.
Launch your vessel, ensuring you have a fuel card attached to it!
Dock with your refueling station, & click the GRAPES toolbar icon to bring up the purchasing menu.
On the purchasing menu, you will be given the current price list for the station, as well as the total cost to refuel your vessel and the amount of credit you have on board. You can then select to refuel, recharge your batteries or leave.
Assuming all goes to plan (ie you have enough credit!) your tanks will now be full if you chose Refuel (or part full if you have insufficient credit to fill them completely) and the cost will be deducted from your card.
IMPORTANT: recharging your batteries carries a fixed cost regardless of how much charge you require. There is a safety margin of 1 unit to prevent accidental spams.
Once fuel has been delivered, a timer will initialise. This is to reflect the station needing to be refueled from the depot. Much like the price difference, the time till delivery is dependant on the planet the station is orbiting. The timer, although accurate is not an "exact science". Sometimes there will be unforeseen delays which will hold up redelivery.
Raw stats are from the beginning of time until now. Each follower and download entry represents one hour of data. Uneventful hours are omitted.