johnkeale
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Posts posted by johnkeale
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Hi guys!
So I've been testing the game event triggered shouts for a while now, apologies for taking so long. Anyway, I realized that I've only been testing in Career mode. Since the shouts are tied to the reputation, it didn't come to mind to test it in Sandbox and Science modes until now.
So here's my question, if there is no reputation, how do you think the shouts should be displayed?
In Career mode, a large percent of the shouts will depend on your rep. For example, if you have around 400 rep, a large percent of the shouts will praise your space program, and will express excitedness for whatever you do. There will also be shouts when you do something in-game, e.g. flag planting, kerbal hiring etc. Most of these shout will sound positive for high reputation, and negative for low reputation.
But in Sandbox or Science mode, there is no reputation, so these shouts just get displayed randomly. Should I disable reputation related shouts entirely? Display them randomly? Assume high reputation and display as if the user has high reputation? Something else?
Any thoughts? Especially to @ensou04?
Cheers!!
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1 minute ago, LoSBoL said:
You are right, it is becomming common business. I don't play a lot of games, but games that use these types of tactics to try and 'tease me' in to microtransactions or paid DLC raise my neck hairs. I consider it an insult of my intelligence and would even stop me from playing the game entirely. To me those tactics are a great way to allienate your otherwise faithfull playerbase.
I see where you're coming from. I believe that this is just some bad impressions gained from the all those debacles with EA. But I believe (and hope to continue believing) that KSP is different from all those other games.
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1 minute ago, Raptor9 said:
f I throw a Kerbal into that "cryo-volcano on Vall" that you all mentioned, will he be ejected into a suborbital trajectory?
Only one way to find out!
2 minutes ago, Raptor9 said:And with those hinges and rotating joints, looks like stock props, helicopters and tilt-rotors might finally become a thing. Oh man...the possibilities.
Yeah! When I installed IR, it opened a 'whole new world' of building for me. Same reason why I haven't installed kOS yet, because I will be drowned with all the new possibilities. Man I can't really wait for this DLC to come out XD
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3 minutes ago, klesh said:
Because the way its being suggested would incentivize the
playerrecurrent spender to want more out of those new terrain scatters than just looking at them.Player: "Boy, these new surface features are so cool looking, I wish I could deploy a thingamabob and run doohickey tests on them!"
Private Division: "We have just the thing for you!"
Oh yeah, that could work too haha. I didn't think about that, but it seems to be a good in-game advertisement too.
1 minute ago, fourfa said:Anyone recognize the middle leg parts on the left-side scorpion-ish craft? Top is a standard 0.625m liquid fuel tank, bottom is a standard adapter, middle is a ...?
I think that's going to be one of the new stock robotic part. It looks like a hydraulic piston to me.
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4 minutes ago, DMagic said:
This doesn't make too much sense to me. If someone really cares about more terrain scatters and things to do with them, then they will probably buy the DLC.
Hmm, in my understanding, the terrain scatters will just be 'something to see/discover' that's why I agreed that they should be in the base game. They'll just be like new anomalies, hence I referred to them as such. I mean sure there are already anomalies on the planets, but I think more would be good.
7 minutes ago, Maxsimal said:That portion of the feature will actually be included in the free portion of the DLC release. But it will be hidden because only the DLC functionality uses it. Modders can use it though, and it will be visible in the base game once modders add their own parts that use it.
This is so awesome to hear! Thanks! Maybe I should just mention @IgorZ here XD
9 minutes ago, Maxsimal said:However, for a wide variety of reasons, legal, logistical, etc (IANAL but this is pretty obvious) nothing Squad does can depend on the existence of a player-built mod. We can release stuff that you guys can then make compatible with your own mods, but not vice versa.
I actually didn't know this, but since @CobaltWolf mentioned that SEP was discontinued, I think it won't be much of a problem.
And now that I think about it, I can have an explanation for why there are two versions of a functionality (e.g. IR and stock robotics). I could just say in my headcanon that IR was a third-party manufacturer software (which means that it works on third party parts) and that the stock robotics are KSC developed software. All is well
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Personally, I think the DLC is worth more than its current price. But I'm a filthy weab that buys overpriced plastic figures, so my sense of value is somewhat off. :v But the point still stands, the DLC brings so much new content to the game that I think it's worth a go.
5 minutes ago, Kerbart said:Yes, maybe this is a way that Squad weazels its way out of the (shortsighted) promise of “you never have to pay for updates.” But without a subscription model (thank goodness), it’s foolish to assume that development of the game continues without an income source. DLC provides that income stream and you get something quite substantial for it back in return.
As quoted above, this is one good way to keep the game going. Let's be practical here, software development costs money, and this DLC is a really good way to generate income for the game. It has robotic parts people! And deployable experiments! Rover arms!
Though I still stand by Gameslinx point. Maybe have the anomalies on the base game and the functionality on the DLC. It's a really good compromise IMO.
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2 minutes ago, purpleivan said:
I've got to disagree with the various "only if it's free" type comments.
As has been stated many, many, many times before, all development costs money. If anyone is expecting any developer to continue adding/bug fixing indefinitely to a game without additional income, they'll be sorely disappointed.
I for one will be buying this the day it is released. So far I've spent something between 2000 and 3000 hours playing this game, for a total outlay of less than £40 (base game + MH) so my fun to funds ratio is looking pretty good right now.
Yeah I get what you're talking about. Software development is costly, and I am also willing to buy the DLC. In fact I think it's worth more than it's current price.
But I think @Gameslinx has a point too. The planets have been bland for a while now. They needed something to spice them up. So I actually like his proposal to put the anomalies on the base game, but have the functionality to interact with them on the DLC. I think it's a good compromise.
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7 minutes ago, Snark said:
But it's a mod
I wholly agree with you on this one. Thanks a lot for explaining it. I love IR, and all the other mods out there. I love them so much because they make the game 1000x more fun. But yeah at the end of the day, they're mods. They have their limits. I know that and accept that as I play my game. That's why I'm so hyped about this DLC.
3 minutes ago, ShadowZone said:UUUUUUH YEAH!
The things I will be able to do with this.500 ton Kerbal BattleMech incoming!
Hahahahaha I read this in your voice XD So looking forward to it
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8 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:
I'm sure @IgorZ will figure out a way to integrate KIS into the new system (however it works) since I don't think this new system will be a total replacement for KIS.
It's a DLC, so yeah, it will not be a full replacement for KIS. Still I wish the DLC would be compatible to the existing mods, since I will definitely buy it and I don't want to give up the mods I have installed.
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4 minutes ago, fulgur said:
I hope it is integrated with KIS. I use KIS for all my rovers. I really don't want two inventories per kerbal etc.
I agree, this is my primary concern too. I've been playing a heavily modded game, and I hope it would stay consistent and compatible.
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Just now, nestor said:
We will be releasing more details in the upcoming previews.
Goes to show how the community is still excited about this game! Our enthusiasm might be getting overboard.
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2 minutes ago, Maxsimal said:
1. Yes, you'll be able to make mods to add more robotics parts with the core functionality that's being released with the DLC - but anyone who wants to use those parts will need the DLC of course.
3 minutes ago, Maxsimal said:3. Mods will be able to add experiments for the surface experiments.
3 minutes ago, Maxsimal said:4. To deploy experiments, you'll have a Kerbal grab them from a storage container, carry them in their own inventory, and put them on the ground - the type & experience level of the Kerbal will affect the performance of some of these parts. Read into that what you will.
That's nice to hear!
1 minute ago, RealKerbal3x said:So, it's a watered-down, stock KIS? Are the experiments the only things the Kerbals will be able to carry in their inventories, or will it be possible to pick up and carry any part?
I don't know what to feel about this. The way KIS works right now really adds a different dimension to the game. I mean I was able to pick up debris on the Munar surface and assemble something to improve my existing base. Not that realistic, I know, but it was fun planning and executing nonetheless. If it's just an inventory system, maybe it's OK?
7 minutes ago, Maxsimal said:5. I hope you'll be pleased with what we're going to deliver for the robotics control mechanisms. We've got several features, that are still not revealed and I'm not sure how much I can say about them, that will help you control regular & robotic craft in ways that make the feature even more than it already sounds like.
Anyway, still seems to be fun and am really looking forward to it!!
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4 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:
The SEP assets are really old, but I would consider remaking some of the real-life ALSEP stuff that doesn't seem to be covered by this DLC - the gravimeter and magnetometer, for example.
That's good to hear. I guess I'll just wait. For now, once I've come up with a naming scheme, I'm still planning on installing SEP on my save and deal with the issues on my own (via quicksaves or cheats or some headcanon about the Kraken). I always attribute bugs to the Kraken in my headcanon so I can deal with that.
3 minutes ago, UomoCapra said:You'll have to take them with you from the KSC, as cargo.
Can we clarify this? What I'm thinking right now is that the deployable experiments are ever present on a payload bay or something, and we use the rover with the arms to 'detach' them from the payload bay and 'deploy' them on the ground. Is this how it works?
2 minutes ago, sh1pman said:Probably like planting a flag.
Or would the Kerbal be able to 'grab' it and 'deploy' it just like planting a flag?
Cheers~
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2 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:
SEP was officially discontinued yesterday.
Oh that's sad. SEP is an awesome mod, and I've been wanting to try it for a while now. I just don't have a naming scheme for SEP 'bases' that's why I haven't tried it yet. If it turns out that you can add new deployable experiments using the DLC, would you reconsider adopting SEP to the new system? Or have you really closed the doors for SEP?
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Wow this is really awesome! I'll probably get this (along with the other dlc) down the road.
One thing I would like to know about is its compatibility with the current mods though. As you might probably know, robotic parts already exist via IR, and afaik modders can use IR to make their own robotic parts too, making it highly compatible. SEP is a mod that requires KIS/KAS and it makes perfect sense for it to be so.
As you can see, the mods interplay with each other which makes this game really really fun and highly increases the game's replay value.
@UomoCapra If the user has the DLC, would the modders be able to, say use the stock robotics system to make their own robotic parts too?
47 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:@SQUAD it's early to say, but this surface science stuff - will it be possible for modders to add new experiments that use the same system? And, to be sure, would that be allowed even (since it's a DLC)? Obviously it would need to have the DLC as a dependency I figure so probably not a problem?
Would the modders be able to make their own deployable experiments using the system the dlc uses (As @CobaltWolf asks in the above quote)
Cheers~
Edit: add mention
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Ugh, sorry it's taking so long guys.
I don't really want to say this because it sounds like an excuse, but my work's getting really tough lately, and it seems like it's gonna get tougher in the coming months. (There are other reasons too actually) Nevertheless, I try to progress with coding as much as I can. If you are curious with the progress of the mod, you can just check the github repo, though I'm not making any significant progress either.
Cheers!
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On 2/7/2019 at 4:37 PM, Benjamin Kerman said:
Honestly, I think the toolbar icon is fine!
Sorry, perhaps you were talking about the Kerbshouts Logo? Or are you really talking about the toolbar icon? I was actually thinking of changing it too, but as you said, it seems okay as it is right now. It's short and succinct, and perfectly convey the mod.
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On 2/3/2019 at 1:26 PM, theonegalen said:
Glad to see you back! SNS is one of my favorite work-in-progress mods. It is one of those things that I might never have thought of, but once I heard of the concept, it seems so essential to an immersive and living Kerbin, just like Chatterer.
Thanks! The idea was originally ensou04's, and just like you I loved the idea as well. I feel that once this is finished, it will make Kerbin feel more 'alive', as well as give your Kerbonauts their own personalities.
On 2/3/2019 at 1:26 PM, theonegalen said:Although custom profile pictures in the shouts would be pretty neat, I feel like it would be really hard to design and implement enough variations to keep them from being repetitive.
Yeah, that's what I thought so too. This would be really cool from the perspective of the player, but on the technical side, it seems really difficult.
On 2/3/2019 at 1:26 PM, theonegalen said:You could get around it with some kind of random variation of different variables like hairstyle, skin tone, jewelry, and clothing, but that might get players thinking about how their kerbals don't have any of those variations.
This is a good idea. But as you said, seems a little too complex for what I want. I'll take note of the variations you suggested though, might be useful somewhere sometime. For example, I made it so that lay kerbals (normal citizens of Kerbin) and the player's own crew themselves post on Kerbshsouts. Your idea might not be applicable for the crew, but might be applicable for the lay kerbals. But yeah, seems difficult so I'll just note it.
On 2/3/2019 at 1:26 PM, theonegalen said:Chirper in Cities: Skylines doesn't use profile pictures for this reason, IIRC.
I actually didn't know that. Maybe I should look more into Chirper. I don't play Cities Skylines, but I have a friend that does. Maybe I should ask for some details from them. For now though, I guess I'll just use a default picture. I'll just use a different one depending on the gender. Oh, and maybe a different design for the player's crew? It seems a good idea to vary the profile picture per the poster type. Hmm I'll take note of that.
On 2/4/2019 at 2:43 AM, Benjamin Kerman said:You could maybe do some image editing, create a new image and try to implement a github-like default image generator…
On 2/4/2019 at 2:48 AM, DeltaDizzy said:Oh wow, that looks interesting! Maybe I could use that somewhere too.
For the Kerbshout logo, this is the concept that I had in mind, but as you can see, it's very basic and very simple and very rough.
Spoiler
Maybe someone else has better ideas?
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@DeltaDizzy Thanks for the info! I'll look into that thread. IIRC, I enabled issues for the github repo of this mod, so I will also be looking into how github handles issues. Thanks!
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Hi guys! Just to let you know, I'm still working on this mod.
As I mentioned in my previous posts, I'm currently working on implementing situation-triggered shouts. Unfortunately, it's taking longer than I thought. Anyway, I'm actually planning on treating this feature as the final feature for something like a 0.0.1 version, a baseline. When finished, I'm thinking of releasing it as an alpha version.
With this alpha version, I'm thinking of asking for help with testing. I'm pretty sure there are a number of bugs, as I've come across a few while testing myself. What is the policy of the community regarding this? Are there things I need to do before I start asking for some help?
Is it also possible to ask for help regarding the 'logo' of KerbShouts? It's currently just a placeholder image from the "Flags" directory of Squad, but I think it would be better if it were a unique logo.
I would also like to ask for opinions regarding the 'profile pictures' in the shouts. I'm thinking that it would be cool if it is different per Kerbal, just like in a real twitter feed, but generating many 'profile pictures' seems to be difficult.
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Hey guys! Sorry for the inactivity, I took some break from coding during the holidays, but I'm now back!
I'm currently focusing on implementing the mechanism for situation-triggered shouts. This might take some time though.
On 1/5/2019 at 3:45 PM, garwel said:This is a fun idea. I have a somewhat similar feature (random events) in Kerbal Health, but they are all naturally based around health-related stuff. Still, it can be easily expanded with MM patches and utilized for almost anything.
Thanks! I really hope I can cross this mod with all the other mods out there. It would be really fun if, for example in Kerbal Health, if a Kerbonaut has fully recuperated in KSC, they'll shout something that relates to this, or if a Kerbal becomes sick, they'll shout about it too.
Btw, if anyone have a story or shout they want to suggest, don't hesitate to tell me here.
Cheers~ -
8 hours ago, Benjamin Kerman said:
Yeah I think that'd be cool, but you might want to check if the Kerbals are in radio range… (unless they have phones with quantum tunneling now :o)
8 hours ago, DeltaDizzy said:Maybe once they get back in the ship, or at least not immediately.
Hmm maybe I could make it so that they'll post a shout the moment they go on an EVA, so that it would seem like they posted it inside the vessel, right before leaving the airlock. I'm thinking that maybe I could 'remember' anything they do on EVA, then post a shout once they board a vessel (whether the same vessel or not) as @DeltaDizzy suggests. Seems kind of difficult but I'll see what's possible and what's not.
I found the quantum tunneling phone kind of funny, I'll probably create a shout along the same lines
8 hours ago, Benjamin Kerman said: Glad you figured out the loading!
Thanks! It seemed difficult at first but it turned out to be relatively easy after I discovered the AllConfigs method.
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Just some quick update:
I've been updating the todos on the first post when I've finished implementing something. First, I was able to add a progress requirement to the stories and shouts as I have described in my previous post. I also changed the way the base stories and shouts are loaded. Previously, they were loaded from a fixed file, but now they are loaded from anywhere under the GameData folder, as long as they have the right root node name. Thanks to @Benjamin Kerman for putting me into the right direction
Lastly, I was able to add vessel type and vessel situation requirement to the Stories. At first, I limited the stories to space stations and bases, but I thought stories could happen to other vessel types too. For example, if you have a ship heading for Jool, a random story could happen there and it would be really fun to get notified about it. So I removed the fixed vessel type limitation, but I added it as a property of the story so that the story can specify it. Now stories can specify if, for example they are about a Station orbiting Vall, or a Ship splashed on Laythe or landed on Dres.
Next up would be implementing the same to shouts, and implementing that Chatterer-like behavior to shouts. I also thought that it would be really cool if shouts could talk about your vessel, or your crew, so I'm thinking of making that too.
That's all for now. Cheers!
Edit:
Quick question:
Do you think it makes sense for Kerbals to randomly post shouts while they are doing something? I've been browsing the GameEvents class, and it turns out that there are many callbacks for different kinds of events. For example, there is a callback to planting a flag, to going on an eva, even to just repairing a wheel. I thought it would be fun if the Kerbal that did the act would shout about it (randomly, i.e. sometimes they wont shout, or based on how stupid/courageous they are)
What do you think?
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Thanks @Kosmonaut!
Hey @Angel-125! Thanks for dropping by.
Yes, they are flavor text! That's the word I'm looking for that best describes what I'm aiming for. I aim for the Kerbals to develop personalities via the shouts and stories as the player progresses through the game. That's why I'm thinking of making the stories interconnected. I'm constantly contemplating on how I can make some stories interconnected, as well as maybe have some shouts interconnected too, and have the shouts and stories interconnected to be able to build a narrative. But this one sounds a little too complex, so I'm just putting it as a todo for now.
16 hours ago, Angel-125 said:Snacks does have a poorly documented event system that you can tap into that might be of use. It will tell you, for instance, when snacks are consumed. You could easily tap into that and have kerbals comment on the cuisine. Maybe they hate the latest meal, and your reputation drops..
I'll look into this once I reach that part during the development. It'll be really fun to see the crew's reaction to their Snacks/Supplies/Food, especially since I made it so that your current crew can also shout random nonsense on the shout feed.
16 hours ago, Angel-125 said:Anyway, love the concept!
Thanks! Really appreciate it!
Just some some quick update:
I made the rep-related shout percentage configurable on the settings. So the user can actually zero it out which means that there will never be rep-related shout on the feed. I also added outlier rep level shouts, since you know, you can't please everyone. Just 1 or 2 shouts that don't correspond to your current reputation level will appear on the feed. Another thing I added to the shouts is a 'progress requirement'. (Will be implemented on stories next)
One of the things I find hard when making shouts is making them generic, i.e. applicable to any situation. IRL, stories happen around something, people tweet about something, not just something generic. So I thought about adding a progress requirement to the shout/story so that it can talk about such progress. For example, if there is a baseShout like:
QuoteprogressReqt = MunReturnFromSurface, MinmusLanded, !MinmusReturnFromSurface
text = We were able to return from the surface of the Mun. We have accomplished Minmus landing. All that's left is to return from Minmus back to Kerbin. We're counting on you #KSC!In the example above, the progress requirement specifies that the player should have returned a vessel from the Mun surface, landed on Minmus, but have not yet returned a vessel from the Minmus surface. With this requirements in the place, the shout won't feel out of place when it shows up on the feed.
On the technical side, the progress requirement keywords will come from the ProgressTracking.Instance.GenerateSummary part of the API. I plan to create a wiki about creating shouts and stories once their properties start to become more solid. Anyway, this recent development to the shouts still need more testing.
After this, I plan on making the shouts and stories situational next. What I mean is that, I will check the current situation of the vessel and the crew/netizens will shout about it or stories will be based around it. e.g. A base on Minmus will also have Minmus related stories, etc. Then there is also that other feature where stories/shouts will happen once an event happens to the player. e.g. A probe arrives at Eeloo. It is perfectly normal for the KerbShout feed to be filled with shouts, that maybe congratulate you for a job well done or ridicule you for something so pointless. It depends on your reputation!
[WIP] Kerbal Stories and Shouts (KerbalSNS) - Giving more personality to your Kerbals through random events
in KSP1 Mod Development
Posted
That's a good idea! Thanks!