Jump to content

The Grand KSP 1.2 Discussion Thread


UomoCapra

Recommended Posts

Not New things:

PorkJet's handful of updated parts are not in here.

The bug in the spring equations in PhysX has not been fixed by Nvidia yet (after 16 months +), so wheels are still too bouncy. Better, but still bouncy.

New things:

CommNet: this game mode models signal strength. So in addition to science, funds, and reputation -- now you get to also manage the concept of signal loss if you want to. But this means that turning CommNet on makes the game a bit harder.

Within this new mode are many new details:
* Probe "limited control" mode assumes that even though you can't get full telemetry from Mission Control, you can still get enough signal through that your probes are not bricks outside of signal range. You can still turn SAS on/off. You can still select among SAS modes in order to give rudimentary steering. You can go to max throttle/zero throttle. You can send a message to set most of the values in the parts' context menus. If you add small thruster engines to your probe this all allows you to still complete satellite contracts -- or to land, if you are careful. You can't set maneuver nodes.
* Scientists, engineers, and tourists still have about the same piloting skills as in 1.1.3 when their ship is out of signal range. Inside signal range, a pilot at Mission Control can control the ship for them. Non-pilots with probe cores on their craft get a combination of the two "limited control" modes outside signal range.
* A pilot plus an advanced probe core plus a relay antenna can steer any probe or rover within signal range.
* Lots of new pretty signal visualization tools in map mode.
* Tracking stations in scenic locations on Kerbin.
* and lots more!


Antennas: Obviously, all the antenna choices are suddenly meaningful, where they never were before.
* You will need to research the antennas a lot before doing fully controlled interplanetary missions. (You can still use Kerbals or "limited control" mode, if you haven't got a powerful enough antenna.)
* All pods and probes have a built-in, short range antenna that allows control at Kerbin.
* There is a surface-mount Communotron16 antenna that is the only one you can use for flying in atmosphere or reenty.
* The whip antennas stack with no penalty, and all the other stack with diminishing returns.


KerbNet: probe cores that are in contact with Mission Control can display terrain and biome maps, depending on the tech level of the core. Kerbnet can detect interesting anomalies on the surface for you to visit! You can also create customized waypoints -- they are color coded according to the name you choose (identical names = same color).


Biomes: There is a huge project going on right now to update, tidy, and sanitize all the biomes, everywhere. The project is ongoing (ie. not finished yet).
* Kerbin has two new biomes, and the rest of the old biomes are scattered around a bit more.
* Your favorite old spots for science collection are probably gone.
* The maps that define the biomes are lower-res now (especially on Kerbin), so a biome "pixel" is bigger now.


SAS: Big improvements! Keep in mind that the same SAS algorithm covers jets, rockets in atmosphere, rockets in space, space stations, and rovers. So it can never be optimized to the point of being perfect. If you see it doing a silly thing with your ship, then try turning off some reaction wheels or gimballing. Maybe the "roll" axis still needs to be controlled a little more forcefully.


Autostruts: as long as the PhysX bugs in springs and joints are unfixed, the game has free autostruts as compensation. This probably means that they will get deleted in some future version, so don't get too attached to them. Try to avoid overusing them, too. More than 5 will sometimes cause your craft to shake itself into little pieces. Includes a visualization tool, too.


The Mobile Processing Lab:
* can level up Kerbals. So you don't have to take your crews all the way back to KSC and relaunch them -- they can stay permanently in space once you get them up there.
* has Kerbnet access (sometimes).


Ladders:
* much less sliding
* can't take "in flight over biome X" readings anymore -- you need to jump now
* when landed/splashed, can always take EVA and surface samples (landed & splashed) -- so you never have to climb all the way down off your craft anymore, except to plant a flag.

 

Manuever Nodes: should work better.

Orbital markers: lots of bugfixes here. Ship and SOI intercepts should be much more stable. Close approach markers should work better.

Fuel flow: has priority levels and a new visualization tool for those complicated asparagus designs.

New part categories in the editor to shrink down that darn "Utilities" category.

A few new ship types in the tracking station.

A new toy: aim camera! Right now it's attached to all parts -- that may change to reduce the number of buttons on things. Helps with docking. Fun to use with rovers. Attach the camera to a launch clamp and watch your launch!

Prettier highlighting -- even configurable colors (with some editing)

Drag: got reduced again. Be careful with those pod + heatshield + parachute combos! Don't forget your drogues.

Parachutes: New "deploy when safe" mode is now also the default. Stage them early -- you don't have to time it anymore if you don't want to. The point being that deploying parachutes was almost a minigame, and not a nice one.

Flag planting ceremonies: No longer necessary. One flag covers all Kerbals in physics range.

Contracts: more new types, and Explore contracts should always be available.

G force blackouts: Kerbals can pass out for a couple seconds from too many Gs now.

Science storage: a new part + relay antennas + advanced probe cores are all science containers now.

EVA: the SAS button now controls whether or not a Kerbonaut reorients to the camera on EVA.

There is an updated debug menu.

New text should be more readable and definitely uses less machine resources. (Yes, it still has a few artifacts.)

A lot of legacy bugs got nailed this time around, and this version should be really solid compared to v1.1.3.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for most of the answer. However, there are a few that I need to clarify

11 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:
  1. I heard that one can tweak the rocket. I am unable to do so, even in a new game. How to do that?
    See #3. I suspect that's what you mean. If not, be more specific and I'll try to help more.
  2. How do I upgrade my in progress career/sandbox form 1.1 to 1.2?
    Start the game in the new version. KSP will auto update. I suggest backing up not just your save, but the old version if you know how. If not, google it, it's not that hard :)
  1. I am not sure if it's tweaking of rocket or upgrade to thrusters, but a few youtube videos mentioned them
  2. Not by saving and reloading. I will test if creating a new one, then migrate the persistent would do the trick.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. A relay antenna can reroute a short range signal toward Kerbin with a lot more strength. A direct antenna needs to reach either to Kerbin, or to a relay antenna.

2. Generally, yes it matters. For most antennas, the bonus gets less each time you add another.

3. As 5th Horseman said: turn on "Advanced Twekables" in the settings. Then you set the "priority" of the fuel tanks. Turn on the fuel flow visualization to verify it looks right.

4. Not sure which tweaks you mean. There are lots now. Rigidity, Autostruts, Fuel Flow. And turn on tweakables.

5. Yup, as 5th Horseman said again -- it's automatic.

6. You might like this thread I made for more info: 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, TriggerAu said:

The only change after the last prerelease was a fix to the flagpole context menu UI.

It's always good to know the class of severity of last-minute bugfixes. Gives a good image of the stability of the whole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Jestersage said:

For some reason it does not work -- I do not get the KerbNet signal things, and maybe a few other features new in 1.2

For KerbNet, you need a probe core on your ship. KerbNet can only be accessed through the context menu of a probe core (or an MPL).

If you are looking in a probe core context menu, and KerbNet is not there, could you please post a pic?

For other 1.2 features, you may need to hit ESC, go into the "minisettings" menu, and activate the features (then sometimes you need to change focus to another ship to get the setting to activate).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, bewing said:

For KerbNet, you need a probe core on your ship. KerbNet can only be accessed through the context menu of a probe core (or an MPL).

If you are looking in a probe core context menu, and KerbNet is not there, could you please post a pic?

For other 1.2 features, you may need to hit ESC, go into the "minisettings" menu, and activate the features (then sometimes you need to change focus to another ship to get the setting to activate).

Sorry, I don't mean the actual Kerbnet, but the signal strength bar next to the timer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've just had a quick poke about in the shiney new version of KSP and have a query about the canister designed to return science data back to Kerbin.

I started a new Science Mode game and thought I'd try them out by simply getting some data during a sub-orbital ascent, loading it into the canister and jettisoning it.  I placed a parachute set to deploy at 0.5 pressure and 1200m.  When I dropped the canister and kept my focus on the vechile, the canister was nowhere to be found after the mission.  However, when I tried again, as soon as I dropped the canister, I switched focus away from the main vechile and watched the canister descend.  That way, it landed safely and I was able to extract the science after it landed.

Do you always need to switch the view to the canister and follow it to the ground (as you would with any other returning vessel) or am I doing something wrong?  I seem to remember an ancient thread explaining that you couldn't recover dropped fuel tanks by simply adding parachutes as, once you are far enough away the game simply models them as debris.  Does this hold true for these new canisters?

Hope the above makes sense!?!

Cheers

Clipper

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having just had a quick play around with the new update, there are a couple of things that I already really like.

1. The new font is much easier to read.  I can even make out the velocity on the instrument panel inside the capsule (which I could never do before).

2.  Is it me, or have they redone some of the sound effects? I'm sure that retracting landing gear didn't make such a lovely "clunky" noise before.  

3. The extra options when you switch away from a vechile.  I know it only saves a couple of clicks, but I do like being given the choice to go back to the space centre or tracking station.

 

What have you noticed that's going to make the game just that bit better for your style of play?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Perry Apsis said:

Just scrolled through the changelog. When you put the whole thing together like that, it's truly awe-inspiring. A monumental achievement. Thanks and admiration to the entire team that made this possible.

Couldn't agree more. A collosal effort, Squad. Thank you.

#werenotworthy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Jestersage said:

Sorry, I don't mean the actual Kerbnet, but the signal strength bar next to the timer.

Actually, that part of it is called CommNet, and it's defaulted to "off" for upgraded games. All you have to do is go into the Settings part of the ESC menu and turn CommNet on.

 

23 minutes ago, Aegolius13 said:

Do the Remote Guidance Unit probe cores have a role in relays?  I know this was suggested in development, but don't see it now.  If not, guess the 2.5m probe core is still completely useless.

Yes. If there is a pilot aboard, then you get full Remote Piloting capability with a relay and those advanced cores. Plus additional science storage. Plus extra KerbNet capability.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jestersage said:

I am not sure if it's tweaking of rocket or upgrade to thrusters, but a few youtube videos mentioned them

Ah, you mean the upgradeable parts from the Porkjet pack. The functionality is in the game, and the use of it is in that pack, but none of the current stock parts utilize the functionality. I'd expect a lot of modding activity around it in the coming weeks.

I haven't looked at it. I've not even downloaded the Porkjet pack yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...