I've not played in over a year, and these new difficulty setting options are hard to find details about online

[r4pt0r]

So hey, long time no see all. I have tried to catch up a bit, I see devnotes are no longer a thing, and my google-fu is not strong it seems as I cannot find concrete info on how the part and kerbal G-force limits, pressure limits, and the plasma blackout will affect gameplay. I understand what those are, but I'm wondering if there was a large FAQ page somewhere detailing the numerical limits, things of that nature. Thanks, and hello again. Seems Im back in time for some big mystery feature in 2 weeks, neato. I presume it will fit into existing saves, so I'll start playing a new game once I get these rules sorted out.

Edited March 3, 2017 by r4pt0r

[bewing]

Nope, no FAQ. All those things are optional, so turn them off -- then turn them back on one-by-one to see. None of them affect gameplay too much. The main point is to make pilots a bit more valuable, and to not strain everyone's G-limits too much, unless a contract tells you to.

 

 

[Streetwind]

The default settings are all very generous. For example, for the tourist contracts that specifically ask to make the tourists black out through g-forces (guess they're masochistic thrill-seekers? ), most people find that they must jump through hoops to pull it off intentionally. More than one thread has been created by frustrated players who just couldn't get their tourists to faint. And that's despite tourists having less resistance than the average Kerbal. And pilots have more resistance than the average Kerbal. And experience level increases resistance.

So yeah, generally those things have little to no effect on your game unless you make them stricter. With one exception: Plasma Blackout is one thing that likely will affect you, depending on your launch profile. No real need to crunch numbers here. Just ask yourself: am I routinely getting to see redflames when I launch my rockets? If your answer is "yes", then you will get plasma blackouts quite a lot. Which, when combined with requring a connection for any control at all (also a setting) can in fact kill poorly planned unmanned launches.

[Snark]

+1 to good advice already offered.  Executive summary on the specific items you mentioned:

On 3/2/2017 at 5:20 PM, r4pt0r said:

kerbal G-force limits

When turned, on, they black out if too many gees are sustained for too long.  They recover when gee forces drop down.  Different tolerance by profession (pilots = highest) and level (higher = more tolerance), with tourists having least tolerance.  Generally takes 6+ sustained gees to trigger, so usually doesn't come up much.

On 3/2/2017 at 5:20 PM, r4pt0r said:

pressure limits

Go too deep in the ocean and kaboom.  Affects you not at all unless you're planning to explore the sea floor.

On 3/2/2017 at 5:20 PM, r4pt0r said:

plasma blackout

Lose comms when going fast enough through atmosphere that's dense enough.  How much it affects you depends on how hard-core you've got your CommNet settings.  Is of most concern for unmanned craft.

[Mast]

On 3/4/2017 at 10:37 PM, Snark said:

Go too deep in the ocean and kaboom.  Affects you not at all unless you're planning to explore the sea floor.

Wait, that's a thing now? We can actually explore the sea floor?

[Snark]

37 minutes ago, Mast said:

Wait, that's a thing now? We can actually explore the sea floor?

Yup, water in general got a lot more friendly and interesting back in 1.0.5.  Not only can you explore underwater (if you have a ship that's dense enough to sink), but you can zip around on the surface, too-- seaplanes are a thing.  Got a plane that's a bear to land?  Ditch it in the water; it's very forgiving as long as you're landing at a shallow angle.

Various mods are out there for making submarines more practical (e.g. buoyancy control), but you can do quite a bit even in stock, if you get creative about it. 

 

[Numerlor]

I don't know if this is still relevant but Mast pushed it up

 

[bewing]

13 hours ago, Mast said:

Wait, that's a thing now? We can actually explore the sea floor?

Yes. Submarines have worked nicely since version 1.2.0 at least. If you turn off the "max pressure" you can go down as deep as you want and explore. I'd  like for there to be some things down there to find.