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KSP Weekly: From publisher to a comet's name


SQUAD

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Welcome to KSP Weekly, everyone! Did you know that on a day like this, but in the year 374, was the 9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet? Back then people saw comets as omens of bad fortune, such as deaths of rulers, famine and even the coming of plagues. It was not until 18 years after Sir Isaac Newton published his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, in which he outlined his laws of gravity and motion, that Newton’s friend editor and publisher, Edmond Halley, was able to determine after examining historical records that the orbital elements of a comet that had appeared in 1682 were nearly the same as those of two comets that had appeared in 1531 (observed by Petrus Apianus) and 1607 (observed by Johannes Kepler). Halley thus concluded that all three comets were, in fact, the same object returning every 76 years, a period that has since been amended to every 75–76 years. Needless to say that the comet was named after him. But we’re here to talk about everything Kerbal, so after that brief curious fact, let’s begin.

The QA team was very busy this week as we get closer to the final development stages for the localization pack update. Doing keyboard layout testing and spending hours reading through KSPedia in every language and part descriptions. Then doing it all again as soon as the next build comes out. And there are of course other pending bugs that have been fixed and now need some checking.

In between all the testing, sal_vager had the chance to set up a new PC and he was so excited that he wrote a small lyrical piece about it:

Setting up the new PC

Minty fresh, it’s Linux you see

All AMD and open source

It’ll give an edge in tech support

From black screens to missing text

I’ll take a look and do my best

On the dev front the localization effort continues as well. Some of the devs have spent some time refactoring code so that some ingrained things can be localized, such as CelestialBody Names, Biome names, Vessel Situations and so on. Furthermore, Jplrepo was able to complete the seam fixes on all runways and they have been signed off by QA. He worked together with BJ on the general terrain seam investigations. The root cause has been identified as something that has changed in Unity itself between KSP versions from 1.1.3 to 1.2.0. Whilst we continue to investigate the Unity changes, fixes for the problem have been tested and work. BJ is now working on implementing the fixes.

Additionally, the kerbal name generator for the localization pack is almost done, and the site generator is coming along nicely, all thanks to the help from the volunteers. Here are some examples of some of the names the site generator is now able to spawn(bare in mind that these have still to pass the volunteer’s check and may still have some errors):

Spanish: Cuenca de Schiaparelli

Russian: Бесплодные земли Билла

Japanese: キリムのベンド

Chinese: 玫瑰坡

English: Trigger’s Lament

Past Tuesday, TriggerAu wrote a Developer Article about The Weighing of Fonts, which basically talks about the difficulties the developers faced when trying to fit new characters and symbols in the KSP interface, we highly recommend it. We’re planning to continue which the Developer Articles to let developers talk about their work and experiences in greater detail and to give you more insight about some of the challenges we face when developing KSP. These won’t be scheduled as regular forum posts, as we’ll be having multiple authors sharing info whenever they are willing and able. Nevertheless we will let you know when these come out, so you don’t miss any and keep your eyes peeled on the DevBlogs section of the forum for when they do.

Now let’s talk a little bit about our friends at Blitworks, who continue with the console update on a safe and steady pace. As we mentioned last week, we received the first builds to start the testing process and although there is still much to do, some of our testers have stated that these builds are becoming increasingly stable!   

Finally on the Art Division, there’s been some fixing of KSPedia issues and the work on the retopology of animation models is now focusing on blendshapes of the eyelids for the male and female characters.

That’s it for this week. Be sure to join us on our official forums, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Stay tuned for more exciting and upcoming news!

Happy launchings!

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Is there any way to have an EVA kerbal model that doesn't have the spacesuit collar, or a way to make that collar a separate object? That would really help certain people writing stories and such. Just sayin, if the Art Division is doing stuff with the kerbals.. :)

Edited by Angel-125
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It's a wonderful job:D. But be careful with your health and overwork!

3 hours ago, SQUAD said:

Halley thus concluded that all three comets were, in fact, the same object returning every 76 years, a period that has since been amended to every 75–76 years.

I do not know where I am in 2061 of the next return of Halley's comet.

But I guess it will be quite nice if I can see the beautiful glowing comet that is drawing a magnificent tail in the night sky of KSP.:)

 

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58 minutes ago, Enceos said:

Kerbal Retopology... I'm so looking forward to seeing new Kerbals! And hopefully in civilian clothes as well (That collar and the bulky suit have been bugging modders for years).

Has it been confirmed that they talk about ingame models at all? I only read "animation model" which sounds more like the one used in the trailers.

Edited by pellinor
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50 minutes ago, pellinor said:

Has it been confirmed that they talk about ingame models at all? I only read "animation model" which sounds more like the one used in the trailers.

Even if it hasn't I'm encouraging them to do it :wink:

Edited by Enceos
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Just now, The_Rocketeer said:

Another interesting and encouraging read, thanks @SQUAD. Particularly the seams fix - the smell of that put me in mind of some other bugs that just would not die, so I'm glad this one's detailed for early termination.

Agreed, something that 'minor' (for a space exploration game) being fixed is testament to Squads commitment to KSP, cheers all!

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10 hours ago, EBOSHI said:

I do not know where I am in 2061 of the next return of Halley's comet.

I have an outside chance of still being alive in 2061. I'll be wherever the viewing is best and I have the means to reach.

I technically saw it in the 80s but the viewing was bad (both of the comet and the weather) and I was a teen so didn't care that much.

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22 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

I have an outside chance of still being alive in 2061. I'll be wherever the viewing is best and I have the means to reach.

I technically saw it in the 80s but the viewing was bad (both of the comet and the weather) and I was a teen so didn't care that much.

Even if we do not have the opportunity to see Halley's comet, surely a nice celestial event should be waiting in the future.

I was staring at Comet McNaught with a wonder feeling. There are surprisingly few opportunities to recognize that the earth is an element of the universe. That was such an experience.

Edited by EBOSHI
not "Comet Hale-Bopp"
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6 minutes ago, Enceos said:

I wonder how many people here saw the last Halley's Comet?

I was 6 years old but I remember my parents taking me outside to see it.  I remember them telling me it was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'll be 81 when it comes back around (if I make it that long).

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3 hours ago, EBOSHI said:

I think most people already know, but I would recommend NASA 's APOD. It is a site introducing one image per day about the former astronomical show and the current observation.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

That's my homepage!

I was also 16 the last time Halley's went by. I didn't see it, probably due to weather/location.

Edit: Mostly location, it was a bad pass as far as viewing goes. From Wiki:

Quote

Halley's 1986 apparition was the least favorable on record. The comet and Earth were on opposite sides of the Sun in February 1986, creating the worst viewing circumstances for Earth observers for the last 2,000 years.[89] Halley's closest approach was 0.42 AU.[90]Additionally, with increased light pollution from urbanization, many people failed to even see the comet. It was possible to observe it in areas outside of cities with the help of binoculars.[91] Further, the comet appeared brightest when it was almost invisible from the northern hemisphere in March and April.[92]

 

15 minutes ago, HoloYolo said:

I think comets in general would be nice.

 

6 minutes ago, Benjamin Kerman said:

Yea, even if they dont go to anywhere in particular...

It would make for a challenging rendezvous target.

Edited by StrandedonEarth
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