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KSP Weekly: Farewells and new beginnings


SQUAD

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Welcome to KSP Weekly, everyone. Another week full of work and advancements in every project. It’s great to see things taking shape and of course we want to tell you all about it, so without further ado, let’s dive in.

Let’s begin with the development front, where we’ve been working on translation strings as well as including the AmbientLightBoost adjustment for the next prerelease. We have also been working on some of the base systems for the expansion and creating some of the basic elements for players to create their own missions. This system keeps track of bundles and loads content on the fly (asynchronously) and it was designed as a proof of concept providing an alternative method of building native asset bundles in Unity. Its strong features are avoiding adding more content to the loading process and loading on demand as well as including an integrated export pipeline in the KSP project, and taking advantage of native bundle assets.

This brings us to the fact that the final aspects of the Mission Builder’s design is almost done, which is laying the groundwork to the task that the Devs will be performing in the next several months.

In other regards, there’s been some bug hunting as well as the maintenance of the bug trackers to keep them tidy and current. For example, this week some of the Devs spent the earlier part of the week fixing a planetary graphical glitch that could be caused by using the map view and time warp. Some have spent many hours poking at all the obscure corners of the game - mostly looking for words displaying in an incorrect language, since it’s a high priority to get every translatable thing into the hands of the language volunteers ASAP. There are still a lot of open issues around for the KSP prerelease - but the number is shrinking fast, which is a good sign! We hope that all you bilingual folk will join the hunt soon, so we can get this version working nicely.

The Devs want to take this opportunity to give lots of props to the players who have been adding issues to the pre-tracker so far. We do notice when you put in the extra effort - we just wanted to let you know.

While the Devs flesh out the infrastructure and interface for the Mission Builder, QA have been busy testing the new parts for the expansion as well as the usual localization work. The parts are looking great, and suit their designed roles really well. They also complement the existing parts, so we’re sure that players will make some very imaginative craft. Localization has seen nearly all strings being translated, so it’s just the final bug fixes and polish remaining. There’s still some way to go, so keep those reports coming for any problems you spot. Console testing is also being conducted with focus shifting to the control schemes while looking out for any hint of the save corruption. It’s looking pretty good so far.

In the art department, we’ve been performing some adjustments to the localized versions of the KSPedia. Either, replacing images with UI in Japanese, Russian & Spanish or, thanks to the suggestions of our Russian volunteers, updating the text with better translations.

But that is not all, our artists are also working on UI development for the expansion, trying to stay within style and sketching lots of possibilities. And of course, the work on the expansion’s new parts continue by Roverdude’s talented hands.  And since folks were sad that they did not get any part pictures last week, we figured we would make up for it this week! Can you guess where these parts are inspired from?

We also started a new forum trend this week: The KSP Challenges - regular themed challenge threads where you’ll be able to share your achievements with the wider community. This week challenge is called “Making a hole in one on Moho”, click here to learn more. We’re eager to see what can you make, so let’s have some fun.

Finally but not least, we are very saddened to see one of our dearest colleagues part ways in search of new adventures, we’re talking of course of the legendary sal_vager.

Here are some words from our staff to you, mate:

Badie: I want to wish Mat all the best in his next adventures, I learned so much from you, thanks for your help every time I needed, for making me laugh and for everything you did for the community! All the best Mat and I hope you can come to Mexico!  I´ll miss you  

Roy: I would like to say goodbye to Mat (sal_vager), he teached me quite a bit of KSP and I wish him the best in his upcoming adventures, I’m sure we will spend some time playing through Steam or suggesting new games between your travels. I hope you have lots of fun!

JPLRepo: I’d like to say farewell to Mat (sal_vager) an old round great guy. Who has not only been Squad staff for some years but has put a lot of time into the community forums in his own free time as well as a moderator. It is very sad to see you go, but I hope you do well and all the best for the future!

TriggerAu: It’s sad to say bye to Mat, he’s a great member of the KSP family and helped SO many people over the years from community, to staff; testing, design, discussion and friendship. But, he says there’s this thing called sunshine out there and he’s going to get some. All the best Mat!

Squelch: This week we also bid a fond bon voyage to Mat who is taking a break from KSP for a while. We will all miss him terribly, and hope that his return is safe and speedy.

Technicalfool: I’ll be looking after Mat’s console test kits while he’s off globetrotting. One of the kits comes with a pink post-it note that reads “QA Headset - Scott M”, so I’m guessing that one’s seen almost as much of the world as Mathew’s about to. I’ll try not to wear the controller out while helping to find the best ways of using the controller.

Naturally, sal_vager wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye the way he knows best - with some poetry, of course!

With trepidation the time has come

I take leave of Squad, I face the sun

Each new day, new sights, new sound

Next step unknown, see what’s around

My journey unplanned, unplannable

To see the world, while I’m still able

With exaltation my time has come

To find myself, I chase the sun

Thank you for everything dear friend, we wish you all best in your journeys. :)

That’s it for this week. Be sure to join us on our official forums, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Stay tuned for more exciting and upcoming news and development updates!

Happy launchings!

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Now THAT'S a devnote post.  I see a full line of 5m and 1.8m tanks, which to me implies engines in at least 1.8 size...  Very useful quad adapter... Soyuz booster parts...  Feeling the creative juices flow.  HYPE TRAIN

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Hey Sal, sad to see you go. Best luck on all future adventures. 

And those new rocket parts look amazing. Roverdude, very well done good sir. Personally I think the Sojus booster wold be more versatile partwise if it was all white, but hey, I like a challenge. :wink: 

I love it when you add a nice little picture to the devnotes. Always brightens up my weekend. Keep up the good work guys :)

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44 minutes ago, SQUAD said:

And since folks were sad that they did not get any part pictures last week, we figured we would make up for it this week!

These parts look amazing.  Nice job, @RoverDude!

44 minutes ago, SQUAD said:

They also complement the existing parts,

Of course they do.

Spoiler

X200-32_FT.png

 

Edited by klgraham1013
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On 3/31/2017 at 6:36 PM, SQUAD said:

 And since folks were sad that they did not get any part pictures last week, we figured we would make up for it this week!

This is why I wanted pictures so bad last week it's as bad as I feared this isn't pork-a-like. The LEM could be fudged as emulating the mk1 lander can which has no equivalent in porkjets body of work, but there is no doubt upon seeing these fuel tanks that @RoverDude isn't even trying to match the quality of Porkjet's texture fidelity.

This is just old-stock-a-like but planer and cleaner.

This is just yet another layer of artistic geology to heap on top of nova, pork, and others.


Retraction: I had a bit of a public epiphany while debating this on the r/ksp subreddit I understand Roverdude is in a difficult position wedged between what his Client(Squad) is asking for and what fans of ksp wish for, and I shouldn't have been so rude about it, but I do hope squad is internalizing the feedback they've been receiving about thier art assets since almost the beginning and has some plan to address it someday on thier internal roadmap.
 

Edited by passinglurker
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6 minutes ago, passinglurker said:

This is why I wanted pictures so bad last week it's as bad as I feared this isn't pork-a-like. The LEM could be fudged as emulating the mk1 lander can which has no equivalent in porkjets body of work, but there is no doubt upon seeing these fuel tanks that @RoverDude isn't even trying to match the quality of Porkjet's texture fidelity.

This is just old-stock-a-like but planer and cleaner.

This is just yet another layer of artistic geology to heap on top of nova, pork, and others.

I am not gonna pay real money for parts that don't meet the Porkjet standard

Maybe @RoverDude should just be the lead artist and make all of KSP Dude-A-Like.  Get rid of all that artistic geology.  Besides, we all know he's actually a robot, so I think he can handle the work load.

Now that I think about, I would have much rather had him redo the old parts than create these new ones, but Squad needs this DLC to be content rich in order to make that money.

Edited by klgraham1013
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Sad to see you go @sal_vager but if anyone on this crazy ride desperately needs the break, it'd be you. Cheers!

New parts look better than the LM, less "over done" on the shading, feels more subtle, clean. If that Saturn V base isn't 5m then I hope we see some engines rethinking the concept of "form factor" because tankbuttes are going to look downright stupid under it.

3 minutes ago, klgraham1013 said:

Maybe @RoverDude should just be the lead artist and make all of KSP Dude-A-Like.

Please no. Roverdude is talented for sure but I don't like his aesthetic sense at all.

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2 minutes ago, regex said:

Please no. Roverdude is talented for sure but I don't like his aesthetic sense at all.

I just want a consistent aesthetic.  It's been left to mods for far to long.  Honestly, though, I'm resigned to nothing ever being done about it.

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On 3/31/2017 at 7:37 PM, klgraham1013 said:

Maybe @RoverDude should just be the lead artist and make all of KSP Dude-A-Like.  Get rid of all that artistic geology.

That would be a harsh compromise at best the end result is either rockets and planes are still divergent in fidelity or planes take a step backwards it would be better if they actually try to emulate porkjets standards.

On closer inspection what the making history parts look like and what roverdude normally makes for his mods are pretty different. Clearly these are meant to jam alongside the stock nasa parts. Understandable given time and budget restraints, but regrettable considering the NASA parts aren't on par with what RD normally makes to begin with.

On 3/31/2017 at 7:37 PM, klgraham1013 said:

 Besides, we all know he's actually a robot, so I think he can handle the work load.

If Cobalt Wolf can emulate porkjet for free I don't see why Roverdude and the KSP artists can't do it on a salary while charging us extra for the results. 

On second thought haveing to respect and blend in with anything Hugo touched sounds like a rough and dirty job I hope RD gets paid overtime for this

We don't have to accept this everyone we fought off that subpar barn and we can fight this too don't settle for anything less than pork-a-like!

@SQUAD probably wants parts that look inline with what they've already got for the sake of advertising pictures. Its a shame that means working around Hugo's janky 1998-quality nasa parts but thems the breaks

Edited by passinglurker
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7 minutes ago, passinglurker said:

If Cobalt Wolf can emulate porkjet for free I don't see why Roverdude and the KSP artists can't do it on a salary while charging us extra for the results.

A question I've wondered about a lot of things.

edit:  Not to degrade the work done on KSP, but we all know the joke of mods being only half implemented into stock.

Edited by klgraham1013
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Possibly 5-meter parts? How convenient shall it be if those beautiful pieces arrive, and thus, now I have a choice to make once the expansion comes out. Should I rebuild my 30,000 ton HexaHauler with less part count (it is unbearably laggy, so I have taken a temporary break from KSP partially, among other true excuses, to think of what to put in it with good part count and exciting function)? Or shall I make it larger using the upcoming size increase, for the most monstrous, and still laggard, only-official-part-containing (nothing is wrong with mod parts, just a self limitation) mothership? 

We shall wait and see, for this expansion shall make history, leaving a legacy of the most kerbal creations yet. 

And don't get me thinking of how to use the ≈ 1.8 m parts. Once I see the full store of them, and or am given a bit of time to think on uses, I will find ways to creatively use them. I will. (I am thinking cool-looking subs, missiles, and sleek SSTO fuselages for starters).

 

Also, farewell to sal_vager. We will miss him.

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1 hour ago, SQUAD said:

AmbientLightBoost adjustment

NlpTE36.png

Nightfighters will never be the same with night actually being dark!

4OTiw6S.png

Thank you guys so much for including this feature!  The mods that let you do it were extremely buggy, and this is just amazing, makes attacheable lights actually useful, and adds new challenges on trying to do things like landing, rendezvous, and dogfighting in pitch black blackness!

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3 minutes ago, panzer1b said:

Nightfighters will never be the same with night actually being dark!

Thank you guys so much for including this feature!  The mods that let you do it were extremely buggy, and this is just amazing, makes attacheable lights actually useful, and adds new challenges on trying to do things like landing, rendezvous, and dogfighting in pitch black blackness!

Completely agree!  So few games have real darkness.

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I don't know, the new parts look fine to me. I think they're a good middle ground between realistic and "kerbal." Are they exactly the way I'd have had them done? No, but neither were all of Porkjet's ones. I think these will look just fine next to most of the current stock parts, including Porkjet's.

My only wish would be for ALL the parts (Porkjet and otherwise) to get a pass over their textures to make the colors something like consistent--so black paint on one part matches black paint on the next. These new parts, for instance, look like they have much higher contrast than, say, the SLS parts or Porkjet's spaceplane parts. (Although if someone were to go back and redo the ancient 1.25 and 2.5m parts, I wouldn't complain too loudly.)

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On 3/31/2017 at 8:25 PM, Hotaru said:

Are they exactly the way I'd have had them done? No, but neither were all of Porkjet's ones. I think these will look just fine next to most of the current stock parts, including Porkjet's.

Porkjet made some controversial design choices with the shape of parts yes (though I'd take porkjets leerjet cockpit over that janky old anime cockpit anyday because it was better quality), but his texture quality while capturing the kerbal aesthetic is top notch there can be no debate there. I can accept the shape of meshes @RoverDude makes but those textures need more fidelity like porkjet if they expect me to pay real money

This isn't Roverdude's fault this is Squad's for asking him to mimic Hugo's work instead of replace it

I've been burned by squads neglect for completing this game since 0.90 I'm not gonna give any signal I'd accept things like those oil-drum-esque doodle-bolts on the tank butts

erm... actually I still don't really like the bolt patterns... sorry >.>

Edited by passinglurker
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