[Question] How many Kerbal pilots are there?

[HOC]

I\'ve seen differing opinions from the community, and for the purposes of my flight journal I\'d like to find out some things:

Are there a set number of pre-designed Kerbal pilots? (Names have already been created for a finite number of kerbals, and the crew you launch with is randomly selected - kinda)

...or are all names randomly generated on the spot? (there are no pre-definitions apart from the original three, names are randomised and therefore there are an infinite number of pilot possibilities - kinda...)

I\'d really appreciate an answer, thanks!

(By \'infinite\' I really just mean A LOT... There won\'t be an infinite amount of possible names, just many many many. Probably. the whole point is that I don\'t know!)

[Twinky827]

I have Bill Bob Jeb. But then I customized all my others, with different last names, and normal names and stuff. My favorite are Geoffrey, Desvan, and Buzz

[HarvesteR]

Well, you can have a theoretically infinite number of randomly generated crewmembers... In practice though, that number is cut short because of the finite number of name combinations.

With the current set of syllables on the name generation algorithm, I\'d say we have maybe some 5000+ possible names.

Cheers

[Monkthespy]

Well, you can have a theoretically infinite number of randomly generated crewmembers... In practice though, that number is cut short because of the finite number of name combinations.

With the current set of syllables on the name generation algorithm, I\'d say we have maybe some 5000+ possible names.

Cheers

Dayyuuuum. Time to burn through 5000 kerbals.

-shouts in the back to get the passenger aircraft out-

[GROOV3ST3R]

That\'s a lot of manpower to assemble an explosive device out of scrap

[Corax]

Dayyuuuum. Time to burn through 5000 kerbals.

-shouts in the back to get the passenger aircraft out-

The trick is not to \'burn through\' 5000 Kerbals - you have to keep them alive to have new ones generate. Also you will have names come up double and triple long before you have seen all possible combinations. Prepare for a long ride.

[HOC]

Ah, an answer.

With the current set of syllables on the name generation algorithm, I\'d say we have maybe some 5000+ possible names.

Cheers

...thus the second of my questions is the most true. (wait, what? How can a question be... whatever)

Okay, that\'s great. Thanks... Harv (It feels weird referring to someone else with the same abbreviation I start my youtube videos with... )

[witeken]

Or this: Is it possible to have more Kerbals with the same name (in the same flight, in more flights that are going on, while another Kerb with the same name is still dead etc)?

[Max Grant]

Well, you can have a theoretically infinite number of randomly generated crewmembers... In practice though, that number is cut short because of the finite number of name combinations.

With the current set of syllables on the name generation algorithm, I\'d say we have maybe some 5000+ possible names.

Cheers

I have been wondering if those were fixed, or pseudo-randomly generated. VERY AWESOME.

i still keep getting Bill and Bob and Jeb pretty often. I think right now they are orbiting the Mun on the Kublab in my persistent game. Of course, I end up re-installing fresh almost every release just to get all the custom parts updated correctly, which probably accounts for why I keep seeing them.

[Tfin]

I have been wondering if those were fixed, or pseudo-randomly generated. VERY AWESOME.

i still keep getting Bill and Bob and Jeb pretty often. I think right now they are orbiting the Mun on the Kublab in my persistent game. Of course, I end up re-installing fresh almost every release just to get all the custom parts updated correctly, which probably accounts for why I keep seeing them.

Bill, Bob, and Jeb come up for me whenever they haven\'t just been on (or aren\'t still on) a mission. I\'ve just sent them into... Kerbolar(?) orbit. I have another crew, Ferdred, Henton, and Macdred, sitting on the Munar surface, which leaves me wondering about HarvesteR\'s post, as Ferdred, Henton, and Macdred are also in orbit around Kerbin. They kept coming back until I sent them up there to stay, again.

[samstarman5]

Or this: Is it possible to have more Kerbals with the same name (in the same flight, in more flights that are going on, while another Kerb with the same name is still dead etc)?

Yes. I put a mission into orbit, went back to the space center to start a better rocket, and when I put it on the pad I got hit with deja-vu. 'Wait, aren\'t these guys already in space?' 'Yup'

Very kerbal. Never underestimate the Jeb when it comes to being in the awesome of space, but also not about to miss out on the launch of a bigger and better rocket.

[707-Engineering]

well, if you want to 'burn' through kerbals, i know i can put 1 Munlander in orbit in 3 minutes with time acceleration.. lets do the math !!

[GROOV3ST3R]

Assuming the following:

- Names won\'t come up more than once;

- There are 5000 of them;

- On your last flight you will only burn 66% of the crew or burn 5001 kerbals in total ( 8)just being specific);

- Your piloting skills are immaculate - and so is your SAS competence if you insist on doing it manually rather than Mechjebbing it;

- Your computer can take all the satellites you need to put in orbit to achieve this;

You will need to make a number of 1667 launches, successfully putting each and every one of them in orbit within the same amount of time, not crashing into any of the previous 1600+ satellites you left floating around Kearth like a ring of space trash + various previous assorted satelites you might have have floating around before.

This means that just the launch and orbit entry will take you a neat... 5001 minutes assuming each and every time you launch perfectly and get the scrap to orbit Kearth in that time.

I would think that with MechJeb adjustments and all the going through hangars and launchpads with possible bug encounters such as rockets falling apart, this number would be much closer 5500 minutes - which is only around 20 seconds more for every 3 minutes? Won\'t take too long to amass a massive delay...

I realise each and everyone of you is capable of doing this simple math in your heads, I just thought it might bring your minds to the GRAVITY of this endeavor and the sheer amount of time necessary.

You will need approximately 91 hours (+/- 40 minutes) - thats 91 hours of 100% success rate in launches and orbits - to complete this goal. This is around, I dont know, 3 days? Actually, 3.8 of a day...

Now that you know it, get to it and hopefully by Tuesday 18th afternoon, we will have our answer as to how many names are actually out there.

(if there is any more than 5000, it might take up to a week..... - anyone know the EXACT number of syllables used by the name generator?)

[Vanamonde]

I hope this isn\'t a dumb question, but if the names are randomly put together, what is the significance of the big list of guys in the persistence file? I think I read somewhere that these are all the guys you\'ve killed? Can I delete the list part of the file (I\'m compulsive about tidying up things like that)?

[softweir]

You can delete 'dead' crewmembers, but that will prevent them resurrecting except by random generation.

What happens is that crew are recorded as dying in the persistence.sfs file, complete with their time of death. They then stay dead for a while, but after that time is up they will become available for flying. This is why people keep seeing B,J&B reappear time after time - those dudes don\'t take death lying down! (Nor do any other Kerbals, but we tend to notice them somewhat less.) If you run out of live Kerbals to fly the next craft you launch then the game will generate a fresh set of crew.

[UmbralRaptor]

The list contains both dead Kerbals (as mentioned), and ones on spacecraft currently in the flight scene. You\'ll want to pay close attention to the state and time of death values.

[Vanamonde]

Cool. Then there\'s no harm to leaving the names, and a minor risk to deleting them. I can insert names of my own devising that will later come up in the rotation?

[HarvesteR]

Cool. Then there\'s no harm to leaving the names, and a minor risk to deleting them. I can insert names of my own devising that will later come up in the rotation?

You can, it works just fine.

The reason Crewmembers are saved instead of just randomly generated is because even though right now crew is automatically assigned to the ship when you launch, when Career mode is introduced, you\'ll have to hire, train, and assign your astronauts to your missions. Without having them saved somewhere, you\'d just have an endless parade of random guys.

Also, for now (and later possibly as a difficulty option), dead crewmembers are put on a timer to respawn. That\'s why you usually see the same crews coming up again. New crewmembers will only be generated when there are none available in your current roster.

Cheers

[Vanamonde]

Cool, cool, cool! Little touches of customization like this are one of the most appealing aspects a game can have, in my opinion.

How exactly would that work? Would I need to copy a record like this and put my own values in for the name and variables?

CREW

{

name = Gersel Kerman

brave = 0.6863467

dumb = 0.605542

badS = False

state = 1

ToD = 32483.2374524532

}

[kevinlacht]

You can, it works just fine.

The reason Crewmembers are saved instead of just randomly generated is because even though right now crew is automatically assigned to the ship when you launch, when Career mode is introduced, you\'ll have to hire, train, and assign your astronauts to your missions. Without having them saved somewhere, you\'d just have an endless parade of random guys.

Also, for now (and later possibly as a difficulty option), dead crewmembers are put on a timer to respawn. That\'s why you usually see the same crews coming up again. New crewmembers will only be generated when there are none available in your current roster.

Cheers

So in free play (like we have now only in KSP) you cann\'t train and hire astronauts (like training them to learn more manauvers in EVA\'s).

[DaringVonContra]

How do you put custom names in anyway?

[UmbralRaptor]

How do you put custom names in anyway?

By editing the 'name = ' line in the SFS files.

Cool, cool, cool! Little touches of customization like this are one of the most appealing aspects a game can have, in my opinion.

How exactly would that work? Would I need to copy a record like this and put my own values in for the name and variables?

Exactly that. A copy would be more for backup purposes than anything else, though you could save edited versions in /KSP/saves/scenarios/ and load them ingame with control+F10.

[Vanamonde]

By editing the 'name = ' line in the SFS files.

Oh yeah. I don\'t know why why I was thinking I needed to create a new one instead of altering an existing one, but I guess it works either way?

[vexx32]

Yep. You can make new ones if you want... currently the game generates crews in lots of 3, since crews usually die all together. If you added a new one (just one or two, not a multiple of three), you\'d potentially get the game mixing up the crews a bit, and be able to get Bill, Jeb and Bob as part of other crews, not just all 3 together. I think.