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As we saw in Show and Tell, Kerbals can dance. Things I'm hoping for in that regard specifically: that Kerbals maybe do idle animations when just standing there, and that either there are a variety of dances or a relative degree of ease in adding new dances via mods. I realize that KSP2 could conceivably plug in new such animations as DLC content. Or maybe there's lots of dances that are only found in certain locations. I.e. you have to "find" dances by going to different places (visiting Easter eggs?), sort of like in the game Wandersong. So far we've seen that shuffling Fortnite Dance, Peering off into the distance, and in KSP1 we have Alan-Shepherdian Lunar Golf. What other sort of things would you want in regards to Kerbal movements beyond what we've seen with IVA actions and walkin-around? [Whoever's good at character animation, I'm sure it won't be long for a list of requests to pile up.]

I want to keep this topic very concise and to one simple point. I love the EVA parachute system for Kerbonauts. They recently saved the day when I brought the rescue craft for two Kerbals stranded in Munar orbit piloted by Jeb back to Kerbin. When I descended through the upper atmosphere I wondered why the parachutes didn't show up in the stage stack. Well, the craft was mainly designed and launched to stay in space and be a shuttle in the Kerbin system - no chutes on that thing. But on to my point: Kerbals lean their feet the wrong way when steering. As of version 1.9 Kerbals lean their upper body left when making a left turn, which is fine, but they stretch their waddly legs to the right, which is wrong. A paraglide can be steered by shifting one's mass. This is done by bending the whole body to the left or right, depending on the intended direction. This problem should have a very quick fix: Swap the leg animations for left and right turns. This is my first post on the forum, so feedback is very welcome. I started playing KSP just one month ago and have played it for 300 hours since.

Just a quick thought: It would be cool if the iva chairs that kerbals sit in had interactive handles (the joystick would move with the wasd commands etc.) Share your thoughts in comments!

This thread will instruct you on how to create Kerbal parts using animated meshes, known in Blender as Shape Keys and known in Unity as Blend Shapes. Disclaimer: This guide assumes you already have a basic understanding of modeling, animation and creating simple Kerbal parts. Why??? The benefit of using animated meshes over regular scaling or rotating of a part allows you to yield complex animations from a single object, regardless of its shape. In the Kerbalverse, these parts are most noticeable with inflatable habitats. To my understanding, the only few on the market are those created by myself. With that said, I am hoping this will encourage others to take advantage of our new ability to use Blendshapes in Kerbal thanks to the hard work of @Shadowmage and his Textures Unlimited plugin, which allows for the loading of Asset Bundle-based models. Asset bundle based model loading is currently the only way to accomplish having these parts in Kerbal. For example, it would not be possible to create the egg-shape of the KEAM (BEAM module recreation) if I were to just scale a cylinder. The end resulting animation and shape would not be appropriate. See wireframe example of the KEAM's expansion using a single object: To start, create your model as normal. Create your desired animation with your object using Shape Keys (if Blender) (please Google for simple tutorials on this if you are unsure about animating with Shape Keys. The idea is very similar to animating a regular object. Where you would hit the I key for keyframe over the timeline, you instead do it over a new Shape Key on the side menu). If using Blender, it's best to save the .blend file within your Unity project location and work from that file within Unity. If you prefer or require FBX format for any various reason, ensure you have the "Baked Animation" option checked under the Animation tab in your export options. Check "Key All Bones" if using bones for anything. Inside Unity, you only need to verify your BlendShapes numbers under the Skinnded Mesh Render component of the animated object match the numbers in Blender. Warning: I noticed some issues above 9 Shape Keys where it seems that Unity only recognizes a total of 10. Avoid going above 9. It is very important to note, if you are using a model that contains any sort of part triggers, layers, or tags, like an Airlock or a Ladder, is is MANDATORY that you set up your part tags EXACTLY as shown in the following picture or they WILL NOT WORK when loaded in Kerbal: The final result on your model must still contain the proper tags and layers, for example with an airlock / hatch: To create the prefab ("Asset Bundle object file," as I call it), simply drag the ROOT part of your model FROM the hierarchy into the project folder window below. This action will create a prefab file. Select this prefab file so that you are viewing the preview of it in preview window. There is an AssetBundle "tag" location on the bottom of this window. Select the dropdown and create a new name for your asset bundle. Click KSPAssets on the top toolbar of Unity and select Asset Compiler. Click "Create" for your asset bundle, followed by Update and then Build. This outputs an assetbundlename.ksp file to your Unity project's "Asset Bundle" folder, one directory up from your Assets folder. The final step is to rename your finished asset bundle file to have an extension of .smf instead of .ksp Finally, drop your .smf file into your Kerbal addon folder inside GameData along with its textures and config file and as long as you have Textures Unlimited installed, the .smf file will be loaded like a normal part. I hope this can be of great help to the community or even just one person as I would love to see more complex animations in the Kerbal universe! Thanks!!!

Hello, and I'm currently writing a plugin, which enables 1-way animated engines, like the RL-10-B2 or the M-1. I want to know the animation state for "Deployed". Also, I would like the engine to not be able to activate if the animation is in progress, or if it hasn't started yet. Could someone please find the animation state for "Deployed"? Thanks, Bottle Rocketeer

I'm curious how ModuleScienceExperiment is wired up to animations. Stock science experiment parts like the Mystery Goo Containment Unit have two modules as illustrated below. I've learned through experimentation that the first (ModuleAnimateGeneric) provides an action button on the part's right-click menu (at least in the VAB, and usually after launch) that triggers the animation. For the Goo, the button is labeled "Deploy". I've also determined animationName points the game to the relevant animation in the mu file. Similarly, ModuleScienceExperiment includes button labels that show up on the part's right-click menu (e.g. "Observe Mystery Goo"). And when you perform the science experiment in the game by clicking the button, the animation is triggered (start animation, then end animation). However the module is missing any reference to an animation name. I'm wondering how the game determines which animation to run. Is it always assumed parts with ModuleScienceExperiment will also have a ModuleAnimateGeneric, and is that how the game looks up the animation? I'm asking because I want to have a part with multiple ModuleScienceExperiment's and ModuleAnimateGeneric's. When I do that in my weldment, performing a science experiment doesn't trigger the animation (but the animations still run when using the buttons corresponding to the first module). MODULE { name = ModuleAnimateGeneric animationName = Deploy startEventGUIName = Deploy endEventGUIName = Close actionGUIName = Toggle Cover } MODULE { name = ModuleScienceExperiment experimentID = mysteryGoo experimentActionName = Observe Mystery Goo resetActionName = Reset Goo Canister useStaging = False useActionGroups = True hideUIwhenUnavailable = True xmitDataScalar = 0.3 FxModules = 0 dataIsCollectable = True collectActionName = Collect Data interactionRange = 1.2 usageReqMaskInternal = 1 usageReqMaskExternal = 8 }