Desc?

[Spacetraindriver]

Does anyone fill in the Desc of your spacecraft? I find it kinda professional, even though you can squeeze funny jokes into it. I usually fill it in for my big and really cool stuff.

[AlamoVampire]

The description? If you mean that, then, sometimes I do. Especially if I'm working on variants of my craft, just to keep tabs on changes.

[pincushionman]

Yes. To describe things that may not be apparent in the title, like (early in career) what experiments it carries, number of stages, number of crew, part contracts, etc. The "name" usually covers the intended destination.

It was REALLY important before we got the ship thumbnails.

[Scotius]

I do that sometimes. Mostly for informative purposes, if i have couple of versions of a basic craft. For example - i use a Space Van series of ships. Version I is a LKO rescue craft with RCS, more chutes and less battery capacity. Version II is two-kerb tourist carrier able to make a fly-by around the Mun. It's mostly identical to V I, but slimmed down (cheaper ). Description lets me know what can i expect from both crafts.

[Triop]

I don't use it often, but when I do it is for a craft that can actually do something.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Triop

[Superfluous J]

If I'm sharing a craft I use that to detail what the action groups do and/or any oddities of the craft.

For my own ships, I use it for notes like "This doesn't actually work" and the like.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

7 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

If I'm sharing a craft I use that to detail what the action groups do and/or any oddities of the craft.

For my own ships, I use it for notes like "This doesn't actually work" and the like.

Same, I only use it if the ship requires some special means of operation or has a glaring flaw I might forget about by the next time I load it up.

[Choctofliatrio2.0]

Occasionally. Sometimes if it's a plane or ship I use a lot, I'll keep a "flight log" of the various missions it did. Other times just a short blurb to tell me what the ship is supposed to do (What the heck did I build "Jalapeno I" for?)

[Evanitis]

I wasn't aware of this function.

[Tex_NL]

If the contents were visible (possible even editable) during flight it would add a great feature but as it stands now that text field is completely useless!

[adsii1970]

15 minutes ago, Tex_NL said:

If the contents were visible (possible even editable) during flight it would add a great feature but as it stands now that text field is completely useless!

On KerbalX, the contents actually become part of the craft's description. On craft I upload, I always use it. If it is something I am tinkering with, I don't... Otherwise, you are correct, it is a pretty useless field.

[Vim Razz]

I often do.  It helps me remember what I made the craft for, which I tend to forget a few days or weeks (real time) after the initial launch.

It's also a handy place for performance notes and listing things that should be fixed or modified in the next build if I ever want to re-use the design.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Vim Razz

[bewing]

I keep a "KSP notes" text file in an editor minimized while I'm playing. Almost all my rockets need detailed "flight instructions" because they do funny stuff during launch, if I try to maneuver them too much while they are boosting. It has to be editable during flight, and be able to hold several paragraphs of text per craft.

 

[Findthepin1]

Occasionally. When I can make a pun from it.

[Tex_NL]

Yep, this thread is moving in a predictable direction. And I have an excellent solution to it.

Most people have module manager and firespitter.dll installed through one mod or the other. If you have those all you need to do is create an small .cfg file (I called mine infordrive.cfg) with the following text:

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleCommand]]
{    
    MODULE
    {
        name = FSinfoPopup
        textHeading = Craft Information
        textBody1 = 1 - 
        textBody2 = 2 - 
        textBody3 = 3 - 
        textBody4 = 4 - 
        textBody5 = 5 - 
        textBody6 = 6 - 
        textBody7 = 7 - 
        textBody8 = 8 - 
        textBody9 = 9 - 
        textBody10 = 0 - 
        textBody11 = Press [ o ] to toggle this window.
        showAtFlightStart = false
        hideAfterCountdown = true
        showOnEachFlightStart = false
        countDownDuration = 30
        toggleKey = o
    }
}

With this MM patch all command modules get one extra menu feature allowing you to add and edit 10 lines of text.

[regex]

Only for subassemblies, to record the intended payload to orbit and delta-V, things like that.  Any completed ship is assumed to work as planned.

[katateochi]

4 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

On KerbalX, the contents actually become part of the craft's description. On craft I upload, I always use it. If it is something I am tinkering with, I don't... Otherwise, you are correct, it is a pretty useless field.

I was actually thinking of making it so that if you put a description with action group info and started each action on a new line starting with a number followed by . or named action followed by : then I'd read that out as action group info.  Kinda like how it currently does if you have a B9 InfoDrive, but I haven't built that yet.

[Guest]

I used to, then being creative got really difficult. I moved that effort to translating the names into french (Cosmos Gare-un -- space station one) and leaving it there.

[Guest]

TWR, Delta-V stats, Payload capacity, intended mission, a little flavor text, and a career history are all things I write into my descriptions.

[MGCJerry]

Never used it

[Tex_NL]

1 hour ago, katateochi said:

I was actually thinking of making it so that if you put a description with action group info and started each action on a new line starting with a number followed by . or named action followed by : then I'd read that out as action group info.  Kinda like how it currently does if you have a B9 InfoDrive, but I haven't built that yet.

That tiny MM patch I mentioned earlier is exactly how the B9 infodrive works. But instead of adding an extra part to your craft it is by default included in all command pods.

[adsii1970]

1 hour ago, katateochi said:

I was actually thinking of making it so that if you put a description with action group info and started each action on a new line starting with a number followed by . or named action followed by : then I'd read that out as action group info.  Kinda like how it currently does if you have a B9 InfoDrive, but I haven't built that yet.

Actually, I like the action group listing the way it is. On all my craft I actually include that in the upload template you give. I've never had one complaint yet from anyone when it comes to that aspect of my model building...

[katateochi]

On 01/03/2016 at 9:19 PM, Tex_NL said:

That tiny MM patch I mentioned earlier is exactly how the B9 infodrive works. But instead of adding an extra part to your craft it is by default included in all command pods.

That's actually really cool! I know it's just a simple .cfg, but would you consider making that into a mod? Mostly so that it has defined terms (or are they set anyway? in other words could someone create that using textString1 instead of textBody1?). If you do, or if it requires those set terms then I'll add support in for that to KerbalX.

On 01/03/2016 at 9:51 PM, adsii1970 said:

Actually, I like the action group listing the way it is. On all my craft I actually include that in the upload template you give. I've never had one complaint yet from anyone when it comes to that aspect of my model building...

I wouldn't change how you currently can set action groups, just add in that if you put a description and used a set format then that could auto populate those fields. format would be something like

some random text about craft yada yada
ActionGroups:
1. main engines
2. VTOL engines
3. don't press this
9. emergency chutes
abort: explodes things

more text that would be ignored.....

So I'd just look for ActionGroups: or action groups: on one line (and a few variations on that) and then following that, lines starting with 0-9 with a . or : after it and named groups followed by a : and read out whatever text follow until the end of the line or the next action group key word.

If you didn't use that in the description then nothing would change as far as uploading and setting AG info goes.