Devnote Tuesday: It’s All In The Details

[basic.syntax]

Related to this, it would be a great win for usability if the right-click menus in the flight scene were decoupled from the craft position so that they stayed stable on screen. Currently, menus can be very difficult to click if the craft is spinning (or the screen is shaking). Make the menus draggable and connect them to the part with a line instead.

This would be wonderful! Taking another step, it begs to be part of an Engineer's UI panel, allowing access to all craft tweak options without needing to hunt-and-click on a craft in flight. Crafts can have 100's of parts, so some kind of expandable / collapsible tree would be needed. (Another suggestion for v1.1, lol.)

[Superfluous J]

Related to this, it would be a great win for usability if the right-click menus in the flight scene were decoupled from the craft position so that they stayed stable on screen. Currently, menus can be very difficult to click if the craft is spinning (or the screen is shaking). Make the menus draggable and connect them to the part with a line instead.

This is the bare minimum I would want. Ideally, they would scrap that entire paradigm and replace it with something better.

Replace it with what? I don't know. I'm not the designer or the programmer. I just hate the current system. Especially with some mods installed that all seem to use that menu.

Also I'm on board with the suggestion to make the shaky cam toggleable. I personally want it for many things but if it started annoying me I'd like to stop it.

[razark]

I hate to have to say this regarding the growing anti-camera shake movement, but:

Me too!

Edit:

For clarification, I'm fine with it being toggleable.

Edited March 31, 2015 by razark

[RocketPilot573]

Felipe (HarvesteR):*snip*

Kerbal hire cost? FOV? Confirmation dialogs? Wow! Though on camera shake, I am not against it being added but as many others have said: toggle please. In fact how about separate toggles for in IVA and the outside camera? I would personally enjoy having it in IVA but not outside, since the craft is followed by a disembodied cameraman (or think Mario Kart).

Edited March 31, 2015 by RocketPilot573

[Majorjim!]

So happy for the prompts before saving!

The shaky cam is ok in IVA but please not in external view. Also toggle-able.

[BudgetHedgehog]

Hooray for some kind of stock KerbQuake! Don't care if it's toggleable, that's staying on permanently, I love it to bits and back.

Heyoo!

EDIT:

Added a confirmation dialog before overwriting a previously saved craft file.

Part test contracts now round their altitude and speed envelopes to much more sane values.

Quoted for emphasis. Sorely welcomed, for sure.

Edited March 31, 2015 by ObsessedWithKSP

[Wombats_&Co.]

Gonna add in my vote for a toggle on the shuddering camera, with a note that I probably won't turn off the shake. The presence of the option would be fantastic regardless of the final setting I use for it. I might go so far as to say have an option which includes IVA and excludes the exterior camera.

REALLY juicy devnotes, though! KSP's future is looking absolutely fantastic. Don't let our nitpicking get to you!

[Bill Phil]

Nice news! And the devnotes have been getting earlier and earlier...

Nice reference, Maxmaps!

[HarvesteR]

toggle please.

Not just a toggle. There is a scaling tweak in the game settings screen. Set it to 0 for no wobble at all, or if you're brave (and very tolerant to motion sickness) set it to >1.

In any case, this isn't a gratuitous shaky-cam effect. The camera isn't going to be constantly wobbling about just for show. The movement is always based on something, like pulling Gs, or atmospheric flight at very high speeds.

Cheers

[Wjolcz]

Well, there are a couple of reasons to do so. First, the modder code might simply be a hack around the main code, that would not be needed if the devs made the feature themselves. Second, unlike other devs in another companies, AFAIK SQUAD does not force you to waive your IP when modding KSP automatically, so technically the modders code is not open for their use automatically ( leading to negotiations about it's usage that can be simply avoided if you just redo from scratch ). Third, the devs might believe that adapting the current mod code to the main code will be a bigger workload then doing it from scratch. Fourth, the devs might believe that they can do better than the modder ...

Theres also the 5th: while the devs are working on something that is coming in the next version dozens of people create their own addons before Squad can finish their to-do list for the upcoming update.

What Im trying to say is that modders are always a few steps in front of the devs and they cant always keep up with mod community because they have something else to do at the time.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Veeltch

[cantab]

TrackIR support? Har har, April Fool's.

[lincourtl]

Not just a toggle. There is a scaling tweak in the game settings screen. Set it to 0 for no wobble at all, or if you're brave (and very tolerant to motion sickness) set it to >1.

In any case, this isn't a gratuitous shaky-cam effect. The camera isn't going to be constantly wobbling about just for show. The movement is always based on something, like pulling Gs, or atmospheric flight at very high speeds.

Thank you!

Edited March 31, 2015 by DuoDex

[Invader Myk]

Not just a toggle. There is a scaling tweak in the game settings screen. Set it to 0 for no wobble at all, or if you're brave (and very tolerant to motion sickness) set it to >1.

In any case, this isn't a gratuitous shaky-cam effect. The camera isn't going to be constantly wobbling about just for show. The movement is always based on something, like pulling Gs, or atmospheric flight at very high speeds.

Cheers

Both my stomach and I thank you and the devs for this.

[Pappystein]

Not just a toggle. There is a scaling tweak in the game settings screen. Set it to 0 for no wobble at all, or if you're brave (and very tolerant to motion sickness) set it to >1.

In any case, this isn't a gratuitous shaky-cam effect. The camera isn't going to be constantly wobbling about just for show. The movement is always based on something, like pulling Gs, or atmospheric flight at very high speeds.

Cheers

Thanks for the clarification. I am less afraid I will have to consign KSP to the 'can't play it anymore' pile of unplayable games. However it still brings up the fact you will have to put a Epilepsy warning on the box. That will turn off educators RIGHT QUICK to the EDU version. You can't have your students getting sick all over the computers. After all, let us be honest, how many educators are going to take the time to shut that feature off.

[dryer_lint]

Also, Kerbonauts now cost Funds to hire. The cost of hiring more crews increases for each additional crew member in your active roster, that is, hiring your 30th Kerbal is much more expensive than hiring your 5th one. This cost increases based on your current active crew count. That means, for instance, that going through 100 Kerbals would be far less expensive than having a roster with a hundred active ones.

Haven't seen anyone talk about this yet. This sounds awesome!

The part about it costing more to hire them if you already have a lot sounds similar to a wages system. You don't actually have to pay them, but having more around will increase your spending anyways.

[softweir]

Thanks for the clarification. I am less afraid I will have to consign KSP to the 'can't play it anymore' pile of unplayable games. However it still brings up the fact you will have to put a Epilepsy warning on the box. That will turn off educators RIGHT QUICK to the EDU version. You can't have your students getting sick all over the computers. After all, let us be honest, how many educators are going to take the time to shut that feature off.

Good point. I would suggest that it be off by default. (Or else have it off by default for the EDU version, but that means one more setting to check with every build!)

[micha]

Great to hear of more bugfixes and tweaks, and that the integrations are proceeding nicely.

Also glad to hear the camera shake is optional.. not my cup of tea (same as lens flares really - yes, they are around in real life (and a LOT of money is spent to reduce them in optics..), so IMHO no need to emulate them..) But art will be art I guess.

Also not sure why hiring more kerbals should become more expensive though. That kills the incentive to run multiple simultaneous missions (something I tend to do a lot of). Having hiring costs per se is great, having to pay more for more experienced kerbals also makes sense, but just having a higher cost because he's the 10th Kerbal on the roster seems totally arbitrary and I don't see the point.

Anyway, will wait and see how the new version will play - most of the features I'm really looking forward to and can't wait to give them a spin!

[KerrMü]

The camera-wobble-system sounds funny great idea.

Q Max: nice reference

[Sampa]

when you guys say butchering sandbox...what does that entail? Just curious!

[sal_vager]

when you guys say butchering sandbox...what does that entail? Just curious!

He means removing elements from the demo, just like the 0.18.3 demo didn't have all the features of the 0.18.x release

[basic.syntax]

... The part about it costing more to hire them if you already have a lot sounds similar to a wages system. You don't actually have to pay them, but having more around will increase your spending anyways.

it could get very interesting, if some (not all) outpost/station contracts were expanded (or given a second, follow up contract) from "have a facility supporting at least [n] kerbals" to "Staff the facility with at least [n] kerbals." (So, I put the outpost in orbit, but the contract doesn't flash complete. What? Oops, the fine print required a lot more than 10 seconds, this time - a 6 month stay!)

[sumghai]

Nice to see that camera shake will be in the stock game

[Red Iron Crown]

Adjustable intensity of the shake does sound really good, let the player decide how much they want in game. Good for accessibility for those who have vertigo or similar, too.

[dryer_lint]

Adjustable intensity of the shake does sound really good, let the player decide how much they want in game. Good for accessibility for those who have vertigo or similar, too.

OH GOD, REST IN PEACE FORUMS.

NOW RUN. RUN TO THE ESCAPE ROCKET AND NEVER STOP

Seriously though, this is hilarious. Are all the mods in on it?

[SpaceExplorer]

My stomach and I thank you HarvesteR, thanks for clarifying the camera shake dilemma I was having...