KSP Weekly: The son of Mars and Venus

[SQUAD]

Welcome to KSP Weekly everyone. On this day, 29 years ago, the former Soviet Union launched an unmanned space probe called Phobos 1 from the Baikonur launch facility intended to explore Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. At the time, less was known about Mars and its satellites than the gas giants, so this mission was undertaken to reveal some of the mysteries of our red neighbor. The probe carried several scientific experiments: a radar transmitter, an X-ray and alpha-backscatter spectrometers, a camera, and a laser that could vaporize tiny bits of matter so a reflector could analyze the vapor for atomic masses. The probe also carried a “hopper.” The hopper would be dropped onto Phobos to drill and analyze the soil. It would be able to bounce across the terrain by using spring loaded legs. Unfortunately, on September 2, before Phobos 1 had reached its destination, a faulty key-command was sent up to the probe from ground control in Yevapatoria. A computer that was supposed to proofread all commands before being transmitted malfunctioned! This, combined with some human error, caused the end-of-mission order to be transmitted to the spacecraft; shutting down all of the systems aboard Phobos 1. Other missions followed Phobos 1, but none have reached the surface of this peculiar moon successfully to this day. If there is one thing we’ve learned from KSP, it’s that perseverance is the secret of all triumphs, right? Let’s move on and talk about Kerbal development!

Let’s start with the upcoming 1.3.1 patch for the core game. This week we worked on more bugs, including one where the camera would madly flicker up and down after you crash a vessel into the ground near an altitude of zero (reported as at the KSC, but was a much wider problem than that). Another bug of interest is one regarding Destructible IDs. This bug is related to the method used when switching scenes, which unregisters the destructible items. Our investigations continue into resolving this one for the patch.

In other news, testing for recent console builds continues. The external testing team, who have been helping us out for a couple of weeks already, continue providing us with valuable feedback. The QA team is very happy with the quality and usefulness of their reports, which are being revised as they come. Improved playability and stability for the console versions has been the focus for the past months and huge progress has been made. We want to deliver the best port we can possibly make, so the testing phase plays a crucial part in achieving that.

This week we have also been carrying on with the design of the Making History Expansion. For example, one of the regular tasks that had some attention this week has been the integration of feedback and ideas from previous development work into the design and new stories. An example here would be that while working on a task the assigned dev notices a gap or possible improvement in the design, so rather than going off task our process is to record these in a register that is then regularly reviewed to generate follow on work and iteratively improve the design.

On the coding side of the Expansion’s development, devs have been working on a number of things including implementing the logic flow components of missions - the items you place on the canvas to direct the flow of branched in the mission story. Another area of focus this week has been the persistence structure for missions to cater to all the options we need for export/import of missions that support sharing these. Additionally, there’s been advancements on the Expansion’s system for loading vessels into a mission in various locations and positions around the solar system, such as landed, in orbit, and so forth.

Work continued on the Mission Builder’s Action Pane, specifically on the Settings Action Pane (SAP) portion. What is that? Well, when the Mission Creator is laying out their mission they place nodes down on a canvas - like a flowchart - and each of these nodes has a number of configurable settings. To the right of the canvas is the Action Pane (AP) that has a number of components and one of these is the Settings Action Pane (SAP). The SAP displays the configurable settings for the selected node on the canvas. In this case it’s not “really” rocket science as anyone who has used software will be used to interacting with a properties pane or sidebar, and this commonality should make it easy to understand. This week the End Nodes functionality for the SAP got some attention. Nodes that, when reached, indicate the mission has finished are placed by the creator to trigger the end of mission logic. This option in the SAP allows the creator to select the end message; and whether the ending is one for “success” or “failure”.

On the artistic side of development, the work on the new engine parts continues. So far we’ve shown you the ongoing designs of some of these, which for clarity, are still being worked on to make them extra crisp. Also, the art team is almost done texturing the Apollo 11 inspired Lunar Lander, they are just missing some lights and a couple of props which are being added as we speak. While the artists keep adding new parts to the Expansion’s inventory, the QA team has been checking out and testing them to see if there’s some additional tuning required.

Finally, we encourage you to participate in our latest KSP Challenge - See the system on a toaster! This time around, the challenge consists of visiting the exotic sights of the Kerbol System with self-made vessel that can go as far as possible, with the lowest part-count possible. Are you up to the challenge? Check it out and share your creations!

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 and development updates!

Happy launchings!

[Just Jim]

I'm getting really eager to see this Mission builder in action  

[HafCoJoe]

22 minutes ago, SQUAD said:

If there is one thing we’ve learned from KSP, it’s that perseverance is the secret of all triumphs, right?

That is a lovely quote

I look forwards to that flickering bug getting fixed! It'll help a lot of sore eyes. I'm curious if this is possibly related though - your camera also flickers when you go under bridges in the KSC. Perhaps that can be looked into at the same time?

Edited July 7, 2017 by Avera9eJoe

[regex]

Good work on the bug fixing, always needed and always welcome. I'm assuming the main game can now be considered "feature complete" and any further changes past 1.3.1 will be to the API for DLC support or bugfixing?

[CattyNebulart]

3 minutes ago, regex said:

Good work on the bug fixing, always needed and always welcome. I'm assuming the main game can now be considered "feature complete" and any further changes past 1.3.1 will be to the API for DLC support or bugfixing?

Multiplayer is still listed as a feature to be added eventually. And one I am really looking forward to.

[klgraham1013]

6 minutes ago, regex said:

I'm assuming the main game can now be considered "feature complete" and any further changes past 1.3.1 will be to the API for DLC support or bugfixing?

I know some don't want to hear it, but I think this could and, maybe, should be the truth.

[klesh]

23 minutes ago, CattyNebulart said:

Multiplayer is still listed as a feature to be added eventually. And one I am really looking forward to.

 

 

Listed where?  Thats the key.

[regex]

Just now, klesh said:

Listed where?  Thats the key.

Exactly. [citation needed]

Edited July 7, 2017 by regex

[qzgy]

19 minutes ago, klesh said:

Listed where?  Thats the key.

19 minutes ago, regex said:

Exactly. [citation needed]

He may be referring to this post (http://kerbaldevteam.tumblr.com/post/47730955705/expansions-dlc-and-the-future-of-ksp). or to this post in the "Commonly Suggested Things" In the suggestions and Development, where multiplayer has been filed by Sal as "Already Planned"

However, multiplayer has been discussed extensively (refer the to multiple threads in the Suggestions and Development), and I think the general consensus has been "Cool, but nearly impossible to make work"

 

[Kerbuvim]

Empty Void about consoles, as usual ...

[qzgy]

2 minutes ago, Kerbuvim said:

Empty Void about consoles, as usual ...

Seriously? Did you even read the thing? It's even bolded.

2 hours ago, SQUAD said:

In other news, testing for recent console builds continues. The external testing team, who have been helping us out for a couple of weeks already, continue providing us with valuable feedback. The QA team is very happy with the quality and usefulness of their reports, which are being revised as they come. Improved playability and stability for the console versions has been the focus for the past months and huge progress has been made. We want to deliver the best port we can possibly make, so the testing phase plays a crucial part in achieving that.

[Kerbuvim]

Just now, qzgy said:

Seriously? Did you even read the thing? It's even bolded.

This is the "Empty emptiness" as it is. We read the same thing from week to week for many months. This is only a formality, so that "do not whine"

[qzgy]

3 minutes ago, Kerbuvim said:

This is the "Empty emptiness" as it is. We read the same thing from week to week for many months. This is only a formality, so that "do not whine"

So what do you expect? AFAIK, they're trying to overhaul most of it. Its not going to go at a fast rate.

[Kerbuvim]

6 minutes ago, qzgy said:

So what do you expect? AFAIK, they're trying to overhaul most of it. Its not going to go at a fast rate.

I expect details about what's being done, what's done, and what remains to be done. So, as they talk about the progress of work on the PC. Are you redoing the interface? Show screenshots. Did you do something else? Tell us about it. But they write month after month empty phrases like "we are working on this".

[passinglurker]

5 hours ago, SQUAD said:

So far we’ve shown you the ongoing designs of some of these, which for clarity, are still being worked on to make them extra crisp.

If I may make a suggestion unless you are actively soliciting critique and feedback(i.e. the highlighting of flaws and other "negative" things that one would wish to see improved) perhaps you should hold off on the art previews until the artists have had enough time to show these parts the extra crispy love they deserve. As a user who cares about how thier game looks I'd rather see something closer to the final product and make my purchasing decision based on that.

Also to clarify when I say closer to the finished product I mean like difference we saw between the mk3 spaceplane parts previews and mk3 spaceplane parts release.

For people who don't care about how the game looks all they really need to be kept happy in the meantime is some written specs about size, niche, and historical equivalent

Edited July 8, 2017 by passinglurker

[Streetwind]

A question in regards to the Mission Planner UI:

You keep describing it as a way to place nodes and connect them. You know what that reminds me of? The tech tree. Today we can edit the tech tree via config files, but every now and then, requests pop up in the modding subforum for a graphical tech tree editor.

Squad, do you think the Mission Builder UI could be repurposed to make a stock-included graphical tech tree editor?

[Vanamonde]

Quote

If I may make a suggestion unless you are actively soliciting critique and feedback(i.e. the highlighting of flaws and other "negative" things that one would wish to see improved) perhaps you should hold off on the art previews until the artists have had enough time to show these parts the extra crispy love they deserve. 

People complain if they don't show work in progress.

People complain about the work in progress that if they do show it.

People complain that it wasn't strenuously enough emphasized to be work in progress.

And now you don't want to see work in progress if it's too preliminary? 

This has gotten ridiculous. 

Note: I am speaking as a player of the game right now and not as a moderator, nor do I represent Squad. 

[Broke dead dogg]

8 hours ago, Kerbuvim said:

I expect details about what's being done, what's done, and what remains to be done. So, as they talk about the progress of work on the PC. Are you redoing the interface? Show screenshots. Did you do something else? Tell us about it. But they write month after month empty phrases like "we are working on this".

This is the problem with Ksp  weekly when it comes to consoles.

A lot of empty statements with very little detail (compared to other Dev aspects)

It's kind of like having someone point a finger at you in a waiting room saying "I haven't forgotten about you

What we want is details!

What's working, what's not, successes, failures, are they ahead of (their) schedule, or behind?

Edited July 8, 2017 by Broke dead dogg
Autocorrect

[Majorjim!]

Just now, Vanamonde said:

This has gotten ridiculous. 

Note: I am speaking as a player of the game right now and not as a moderator, nor do I represent Squad. 

I know right! It has got to the point where folks can't even express their opinions without someone jumping all over them..

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2017 by Majorjim!

[KSK]

Well I, for one, appreciated this week's history lesson. Phobos 1 was not a probe that I knew about until today and it's a real shame it never reached its destination. A space hoppin', rock drillin', laser pew-pewin', robot explorer -  sounds awesome!

Thanks Squad! 

Edited July 8, 2017 by KSK

[Scientia1423]

1 hour ago, Majorjim! said:

I know right! It has got to the point where folks can't even express their opinions without someone jumping all over them..

 

 

 

We should let Squad be free to do what they want, rather than forcing them into a corner between 2 decisions.

Also the camera attaches itself to the ceiling of the island hangars which is I guess another issue.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Scientia1423

[Human Person]

12 hours ago, SQUAD said:

If there is one thing we’ve learned from KSP, it’s that perseverance is the secret of all triumphs, right?

Beautiful. That and the right amount of boosters.

[0111narwhalz]

1 hour ago, Physics Student said:

the right amount of boosters.

The only right amount of boosters is "a couple more than you have."

[John FX]

9 hours ago, passinglurker said:

If I may make a suggestion unless you are actively soliciting critique and feedback(i.e. the highlighting of flaws and other "negative" things that one would wish to see improved) perhaps you should hold off on the art previews until the artists have had enough time to show these parts the extra crispy love they deserve. As a user who cares about how thier game looks I'd rather see something closer to the final product and make my purchasing decision based on that.

Also to clarify when I say closer to the finished product I mean like difference we saw between the mk3 spaceplane parts previews and mk3 spaceplane parts release.

For people who don't care about how the game looks all they really need to be kept happy in the meantime is some written specs about size, niche, and historical equivalent

If I could make a suggestion?

Obviously by posting you were wanting a critique of your post and feedback on it.

If you could refrain from looking at, and by implication commenting on, works in progress, specifically regarding textures, then the people making it would be able to get on with their job. We also get to see WIP parts which the rest of us are quite interested in seeing.

People who care too much about textures should only look at finished textures or be involved with making them, it seems there is no sensible middle ground possible IMHO

More seriously :

Historically too much complaining has lead to a game less good than it otherwise would have been and so is counterproductive. As someone who cares about Squads game, which I play, I want it to be as good as possible and so, whilst a certain level of feedback is good, too much complaining leads to a degradation of game quality.

One example of when complaining becomes too much is when the complaining is at the level of subtle effects on rivets on a texture for a WIP part. One way to recognise you may be complaining too much is if you ask to not be shown WIP parts because you know you would complain a lot if you were shown them.

[klgraham1013]

4 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

People complain if they don't show work in progress.

People complain about the work in progress that if they do show it.

People complain that it wasn't strenuously enough emphasized to be work in progress.

And now you don't want to see work in progress if it's too preliminary? 

This has gotten ridiculous. 

Note: I am speaking as a player of the game right now and not as a moderator, nor do I represent Squad. 

So let's not do anything ever because someone will complain no matter what we do.