KSP Weekly: Cassini’s Grand Finale

[SQUAD]

Welcome to KSP Weekly everyone. Coinciding with the eve of the Mexican Independence Day, today, just a few hours ago, the spacecraft Cassini-Huygens met its spectacular end while entering into Saturn’s atmosphere. Its destruction was planned to ensure protection and prevent biological contamination to any of the moons of the planet thought to offer potential habitability. The spacecraft’s development began in the 1980s and was planned, built, launched, and operated in collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency (A total of 27 nations participated in the project). Its design included a Saturn orbiter (Cassini) and a lander (Huygens) for the moon Titan. Cassini-Huygens launched on October 15, 1997, aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur and entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004, after an interplanetary voyage that included flybys of Earth, Venus and Jupiter. On December 25, 2004, Huygens separated from the orbiter, and it landed on Saturn’s moon Titan on January 14, 2005. It successfully returned data to Earth, using the orbiter as a relay. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System and the first landing on a moon other than our own. Cassini-Huygens travelled 7.9 billion kilometers since its launch, collected 635GB of data, completed 291 orbits around Saturn, took 453,048 images, made 162 targeted flybys of Saturn’s moons, discovered seven new moons orbiting the planet and 3,948 science papers were published using its data. On November 29, 2016, the spacecraft performed a Titan flyby that took it to the gateway of F-ring orbits: This was the start of the Grand Finale phase culminating in its impact with the planet.  A final Titan flyby on April 22, 2017, changed the orbit again to fly through the gap between Saturn and its inner ring days later on April 26. Cassini passed about 3,100 km above Saturn’s cloud layer and 320 km from the visible edge of the inner ring; it successfully took images of Saturn’s atmosphere and began returning data the next day. Cassini-Huygens was a huge success in every sense of the word and even after its destruction, we’ll continue to learn about Saturn and its moons for several years to come, thanks to all the data it collected. A well deserving Grand Finale for a magnificent human achievement. Goodbye Cassini-Huygens! Learn more about the spacecraft here. Now let’s move on and talk about KSP development.

For starters we continue to get feedback about the pre-release of update 1.3.1 and we want to reiterate our gratitude towards those who have been helping us with this phase of the release. As bug reports come in, bug fixes come out. For instance, some noteworthy improvements include fixing the Kerbal swimming animation (they were jittering), an issue with the Duna Rock easter egg and a bug that involved the Engine exhaust FX being overlaid by Fairings. The team also worked on the  external command seat ejection parameters, so that Kerbals don’t ragdoll when leaving them, as well as on further improvements on the landed vessels coming off rails ground collision issue. Just to name a few.

In other news, Blitworks continue to provide regular updates for the console platform. They’ve been working hard on the implementation of the new controller mapping pre-sets. Testing and reporting on the new control methods as they are fleshed out is going to be a significant task for the QA team in the following weeks. Furthermore, in the latest build that came out, various issues with flight input, trim and autopilot were fixed, as well as a bug that made the ‘Cursor Mode’ unavailable when viewing the KSPedia while inside the Vehicle Assembly Building or Space-plane Hangar. It’s important to note that as this version is being built from the ground up, some of the bugs we have been talking about are completely new and some others that were quite notorious in the previous version are not even present anymore.

We continue to work hard on the Making History Expansion and we’ve made important progress this week. For example, the team worked at ironing out some of the details in the Mission Builder and extending the controls and tools the mission creator will use. In addition, other significant advancements were achieved, like the implementation of failure states for part modules. This will allow Mission Creators to trigger a failure in a specific module during a mission , for example, an Engine-Module can fail by: Shutdown, reduced thrust limit (by %), loss of throttle control, loss of gimbal control, and so on. What made this specific task so laborious was we had to build a list of all modules and their failure possibilities, and as you know, the module’s list is quite big by itself. Similarly, the team finished with the implementation of the Vessel Position Gizmo within the Graphic Action Pane. The gizmo will allow Mission Creators to place vessels in any location of a planet’s surface and adjust their orientation as well. But images speak louder than words, so check it out. It’s important to note that the UI elements are still wireframes, in other words, it is not the final UI art nor layout. We will also include tools to place vessels in orbits, but this gizmo is specifically for planet’s surfaces.

Finally, in the art department, the team has been working on the geometry and textures for more parts and IVAs, including the Apollo inspired Service Module and work on our analogue to the LR-91 Engine. Like the LR-87, this will be another 1.875 engine and help round out the lineup in that profile size, and fill the gap for vacuum engines between the Terrier and the Poodle.  It will also feature mesh switching, with players able to either use a bare version suitable for engine clusters, or a full 1.875m tank butt and skirt, both of which can be seen in this WIP preview picture. On top of that the artist have also been working on the wireframes for the Global Scoring Screen.

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]

16 minutes ago, SQUAD said:

The gizmo will allow Mission Creators to place vessels in any location of a planet’s surface and adjust their orientation as well. But images speak louder than words, so check it out. It’s important to note that the UI elements are still wireframes, in other words, it is not the final UI art nor layout. We will also include tools to place vessels in orbits, but this gizmo is specifically for planet’s surfaces.

Oh, neat!

Edited September 15, 2017 by Just Jim

[MiffedStarfish]

21 minutes ago, SQUAD said:

Global Scoring Screen

Competitive KSP! There goes my free time...

I just managed to catch the Last 10 minutes of Cassini's life after sprinting down a floor and pestering a friend for the use of his laptop, yay friend!

[HafCoJoe]

Nice looking engine! Looking more and more forwards to this expansion

[tater]

Cool engine.

 

[sumghai]

Just a question regarding the stock mesh switching feature - will the underlying code be implemented in future updates to the core game, or would it only be available through the expansion?

[blowfish]

Nice engine!  A couple of nitpicks though:

• It seems like the exhaust duct is just coming out of the mount, which doesn't really makes sense.  The turbine is directly below the pumps and it should come out of there.
• What's with the 4th pipe coming at an angle from the upper part of the engine?
• Any chance that the exhaust nozzle could actually provide roll control?  I guess most people don't really think about it in KSP due to the silly way reaction wheels work, but I think it would be nice.  The engine and gimbal setup required for this isn't terribly complicated.
• Is the texture using baked AO?  There are a few of corners that I would expect to be darkened by AO that don't seem to be.  I think that baked AO really brings a lot of depth to a model

Here's a pretty good view of the turbomachinery on the real thing:

Spoiler

 

[maceemiller]

I dont actually know why I feel this sad about Cassinis demise....its only a man made probe made of "metal"....but I genuinely do.

Ive lost many "human" friends within my 44 years on this planet who I miss dearly but I am sad about Cassini.......

Feels like a friend who I never knew will never post that random comment i always loved reading

[regex]

2 minutes ago, blowfish said:

Any chance that the exhaust nozzle could actually provide roll control?  I guess most people don't really think about it in KSP due to the silly way reaction wheels work, but I think it would be nice.  The engine and gimbal setup required for this isn't terribly complicated.

I, too, would love to see this sort of detail in a stock engine.

[Redneck]

1 hour ago, SQUAD said:

We continue to work hard on the Making History Expansion and we’ve made important progress this week. For example, the team worked at ironing out some of the details in the Mission Builder and extending the controls and tools the mission creator will use. In addition, other significant advancements were achieved, like the implementation of failure states for part modules. This will allow Mission Creators to trigger a failure in a specific module during a mission , for example, an Engine-Module can fail by: Shutdown, reduced thrust limit (by %), loss of throttle control, loss of gimbal control, and so on. What made this specific task so laborious was we had to build a list of all modules and their failure possibilities, and as you know, the module’s list is quite big by itself. Similarly, the team finished with the implementation of the Vessel Position Gizmo within the Graphic Action Pane. The gizmo will allow Mission Creators to place vessels in any location of a planet’s surface and adjust their orientation as well. But images speak louder than words, so check it out. It’s important to note that the UI elements are still wireframes, in other words, it is not the final UI art nor layout. We will also include tools to place vessels in orbits, but this gizmo is specifically for planet’s surfaces.

 

now that is something useful. The vessel position Gizmo would come in handy in game for rescue mission contracts.. Do a scan of crash site to see what you are dealing with. Even better on a RPM MFD screen in IVA

[HebaruSan]

1 hour ago, SQUAD said:

It’s important to note that the UI elements are still wireframes, in other words, it is not the final UI art nor layout.

With this caveat firmly in mind, some hopefully-constructive feedback...

The rotation/translation gizmo is slightly concerning:

• It looks like the person testing the UI is exclusively changing the position without using the translation gizmo; maybe it's not needed, especially since it can only move in 4 directions?
• The gizmos make the UI look and feel busy, since an edge case (tweaking the orientation) is always present and taking center stage.
• If it's not an edge case, then it may be wise to revisit the placement algorithm. It should be possible to determine a good default orientation.
• The indicator for the current orientation is very minimal, just a small icon, hard to assess without rotating the camera. The ideal here would probably be to use a scaled version of the real craft, but since that may not be feasible, maybe use a model with a bit more shading rather than an all-white shape?
• Craft orientation differs in the different editor scenes ("forward" is vertical in VAB, horizontal in SPH), which could complicate matters; will mission creators have to limit which building players use to ensure proper launch orientation? Or maybe there will be a rocket icon in addition to the plane icon?
• On rough terrain, an orientation that looks right when zoomed out may not be appropriate when zoomed in (e.g., you might be on the wrong side of a small peak on a much larger mountain sloping the other direction). I think the 90% case for editing orientation would be to do it at max zoom-in.
• Not gizmo-related, but a button or hotkey for max zoom-in would probably be appreciated for precise placement.

But overall that was a very impressive animation. Zooming in on that mountain/valley formation gave a good sense of the contours of the area.

[JPLRepo]

8 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

With this caveat firmly in mind, some hopefully-constructive feedback...

The rotation/translation gizmo is slightly concerning:

• It looks like the person testing the UI is exclusively changing the position without using the translation gizmo; maybe it's not needed, especially since it can only move in 4 directions?
• The gizmos make the UI look and feel busy, since an edge case (tweaking the orientation) is always present and taking center stage.
• If it's not an edge case, then it may be wise to revisit the placement algorithm. It should be possible to determine a good default orientation.
• The indicator for the current orientation is very minimal, just a small icon, hard to assess without rotating the camera. The ideal here would probably be to use a scaled version of the real craft, but since that may not be feasible, maybe use a model with a bit more shading rather than an all-white shape?
• Craft orientation differs in the different editor scenes ("forward" is vertical in VAB, horizontal in SPH), which could complicate matters; will mission creators have to limit which building players use to ensure proper launch orientation? Or maybe there will be a rocket icon in addition to the plane icon?
• On rough terrain, an orientation that looks right when zoomed out may not be appropriate when zoomed in (e.g., you might be on the wrong side of a small peak on a much larger mountain sloping the other direction). I think the 90% case for editing orientation would be to do it at max zoom-in.
• Not gizmo-related, but a button or hotkey for max zoom-in would probably be appreciated for precise placement.

But overall that was a very impressive animation. Zooming in on that mountain/valley formation gave a good sense of the contours of the area.

• Flexibility.
• Not sure what that means. - Placement vs orientation is a toggle.
• It's a work in progress.
• It's a work in progress.
• The code handles it, and is a work in progress.
• The creator can zoom in and out. Orientation to ground is a work in progress.
• It's a work in progress.

 

[Angelo Kerman]

The new software features going into the Making History DLC are impressive. Hopefully some will make it into stock as well.

[HebaruSan]

4 minutes ago, JPLRepo said:

• It's a work in progress.
• It's a work in progress.
• ... is a work in progress.
• ... is a work in progress.
• It's a work in progress.

Good! I wouldn't want to give feedback after the feature's done and it's too late to change it!

5 minutes ago, JPLRepo said:

• Not sure what that means. - Placement vs orientation is a toggle.

I expect that most of the time I'm not going to use either of the gizmos. I'll...

1. Pan around Kerbin till I find the kind of area I'm looking for (flat plain, mountain, river, whatever)
2. Medium-zoom to the local region to find the desired specific feature (peak, coastline, etc.)
3. Max-zoom for precise placement
4. Click to place the craft with the default orientation
5. Edge case: I want to do something unusual with the orientation, so I choose that tool and make adjustments
6. Accept and proceed with designing the rest of the mission

As a rule, we'll want to place rockets pointing straight up on the mobile launch platform and aircraft tangent to the ground. The exceptions are few and rare: rescue missions with crashed rockets lying on their sides? rocket sled / rail gun launches from moons? adjusting the forward direction of aircraft?

I'm just suggesting that this UI element be de-emphasized from what we see in the animation. This could be as simple as adding a "no gizmo" mode so there aren't any arrows or rings present when you first click, like placing a part in the editor.

But again, it looks really good so far!

[Torgo]

The Doctor sings a goodbye opera to Cassini

Not that The Doctor,

Spoiler

the other The Doctor. 

 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Torgo

[nestor]

2 hours ago, HebaruSan said:

Good! I wouldn't want to give feedback after the feature's done and it's too late to change it!

I expect that most of the time I'm not going to use either of the gizmos. I'll...

1. Pan around Kerbin till I find the kind of area I'm looking for (flat plain, mountain, river, whatever)
2. Medium-zoom to the local region to find the desired specific feature (peak, coastline, etc.)
3. Max-zoom for precise placement
4. Click to place the craft with the default orientation
5. Edge case: I want to do something unusual with the orientation, so I choose that tool and make adjustments
6. Accept and proceed with designing the rest of the mission

As a rule, we'll want to place rockets pointing straight up on the mobile launch platform and aircraft tangent to the ground. The exceptions are few and rare: rescue missions with crashed rockets lying on their sides? rocket sled / rail gun launches from moons? adjusting the forward direction of aircraft?

I'm just suggesting that this UI element be de-emphasized from what we see in the animation. This could be as simple as adding a "no gizmo" mode so there aren't any arrows or rings present when you first click, like placing a part in the editor.

But again, it looks really good so far!

The icon changes between a 2D icon and a 3D proxy depending on the zoom level.

There is a rocket proxy/icon also.

The orientation is not for aligning with the surface. Most of the time you will only use the Y axis but you can use the others if you like.

[klesh]

Is the choppiness of the way the terrain is drawn when you zoom in an aspect of it being a work in progress, or is that pretty much how its going to function?

[John FX]

13 hours ago, SQUAD said:

The gizmo will allow Mission Creators to place vessels in any location of a planet’s surface and adjust their orientation as well.

It would be very handy for the default orientation to be on the same plane as the ground you are placing your craft onto.

I can see it being a great pain to try and get the alignment of the craft to be the same as the ground manually.

[rudi1291]

12 hours ago, blowfish said:

Any chance that the exhaust nozzle could actually provide roll control?  I guess most people don't really think about it in KSP due to the silly way reaction wheels work, but I think it would be nice.  The engine and gimbal setup required for this isn't terribly complicated.

This could indeed be very useful since at least some of the command parts included in MH dont have integrated reaction wheels

[nestor]

4 hours ago, John FX said:

It would be very handy for the default orientation to be on the same plane as the ground you are placing your craft onto.

I can see it being a great pain to try and get the alignment of the craft to be the same as the ground manually.

The vessel will align to the ground. 

[Sirad]

9 hours ago, klesh said:

Is the choppiness of the way the terrain is drawn when you zoom in an aspect of it being a work in progress, or is that pretty much how its going to function?

Shhhhhhh dont ask, thats RUDE!

[Pixel Kola]

How about releasing something? Making History is either a complete re-work of everything, or ur just bad at what you do. you hype and hype and hype for months about Russians being able to read everything in the game.. you hype and hype and hype whatever 1.3.1 is supposed to be, I've never seen so much hype for a pre-pre-pre-realease.... it has been half a year since Making History talk... and it's just what.. a few extra parts that are either cylinders or minimally faceted polygons and basically what amounts to a contracts mod...

Really?  ...... really?

Edited September 16, 2017 by Pixel Kola

[John FX]

7 minutes ago, Pixel Kola said:

How about releasing something? Making History is either a complete re-work of everything, or ur just bad at what you do. you hype and hype and hype for months about Russians being able to read everything in the game.. you hype and hype and hype whatever 1.3.1 is supposed to be, I've never seen so much hype for a pre-pre-pre-realease.... it has been half a year since Making History talk... and it's just what.. a few extra parts that are either cylinders or minimally faceted polygons and basically what amounts to a contracts mod...

Really?  ...... really?

I do not think they are doing nothing, just waiting and not releasing an already made product.

I reckon they are working on it right now, which would explain the Work In Progress images we keep seeing (shocking I know)

Coding is not instant you know, the idea to do something takes hardly any time but the implementation of it can take AGES.

As more info comes out it is plain that there is more than just a contract manager being made, part failures, extra launching pads, placing various craft about the place, these are all new features for stock. If someone has made a mod that does similar then they own copyright on their code so Squad cannot use that and they will have to redesign the wheel from scratch.

In fact it may even be harder if someone has made a mod because you have to avoid using the same code by accident.

Coding takes months and months, more if you do it right.

What would you have them do in the meantime?

I want updates on how they are doing.

[Just Jim]

19 minutes ago, Pixel Kola said:

How about releasing something? Making History is either a complete re-work of everything, or ur just bad at what you do. you hype and hype and hype for months about Russians being able to read everything in the game.. you hype and hype and hype whatever 1.3.1 is supposed to be, I've never seen so much hype for a pre-pre-pre-realease.... it has been half a year since Making History talk... and it's just what.. a few extra parts that are either cylinders or minimally faceted polygons and basically what amounts to a contracts mod...

Really?  ...... really?

With all due respect, what do you mean hype, hype, hype for months?

If you're referring to the KSP weekly giving us constant updates as to what's going on, that's because most of the forum members demanded more details. And @SQUAD seems to be doing it's best to keep us updated as to what is going on. 

As for the Mission Builder, I've never seen a mod quite like what they're doing... at least from the sounds of it. I'm getting more curious week by week.

Myself, I'm glad they keep hyping it, as you put it, and letting us know what's going on behind the scenes. Truth is, they don't have to tell us anything.

Edited September 16, 2017 by Just Jim

[Daishi]

14 minutes ago, Pixel Kola said:

How about releasing something? Making History is either a complete re-work of everything, or ur just bad at what you do. you hype and hype and hype for months about Russians being able to read everything in the game.. you hype and hype and hype whatever 1.3.1 is supposed to be, I've never seen so much hype for a pre-pre-pre-realease.... it has been half a year since Making History talk... and it's just what.. a few extra parts that are either cylinders or minimally faceted polygons and basically what amounts to a contracts mod...

Really?  ...... really?

Two choices. You either contribute to this thread with healthy, civilized discussion; or don't say anything at all. Squad has no obligation to share anything with us, and speaking like you're somehow magically entitled to content is childish. They have a business to run and game development is complicated, even more so with an international team. Show a little respect.