KSP Weekly: The Cosmic Snake!

[Kerbital]

Sorry if I missed this somewhere. I did search, pinky swear! Will upgrading to a new Unity engine improve performance with large-part-count vessels or will that still be limited by CPU/physics calculations? Will it bring proper multi-threading to KSP? Cheers!

 

[NoMrBond]

31 minutes ago, Kerbital said:

Sorry if I missed this somewhere. I did search, pinky swear! Will upgrading to a new Unity engine improve performance with large-part-count vessels or will that still be limited by CPU/physics calculations? Will it bring proper multi-threading to KSP? Cheers!

Unity 2017.1 has a very slight bump in PhysX (3.3.3 to 3.3.4) but that's not going to really do much for performance

KSP is multi-threaded already, using the job-scheduler of Unity 5 since KSP 1.1 (it was also multi-threaded before that, just less so).  Similarly the physics has been multi-threaded since KSP 1.1 with PhysX 3.3.3, with the caveat that grouped bodies are still stuck in a single thread (one vessel = one thread).

Perhaps the updated C#v6 support (even the runtime update in general) will help performance (the updated garbage collector will be nice at a minimum)

[Kerbital]

1 minute ago, NoMrBond said:

Unity 2017.1 has a very slight bump in PhysX (3.3.3 to 3.3.4) but that's not going to really do much for performance

KSP is multi-threaded already, using the job-scheduler of Unity 5 since KSP 1.1 (it was also multi-threaded before that, just less so).  Similarly the physics has been multi-threaded since KSP 1.1 with PhysX 3.3.3, with the caveat that grouped bodies are still stuck in a single thread (one vessel = one thread).

Perhaps the updated C#v6 support (even the runtime update in general) will help performance (the updated garbage collector will be nice at a minimum)

Thanks. That explains the performance issues with single, large vessels. That made me think there was no multi-threading in the game

[0111narwhalz]

6 hours ago, NoMrBond said:

it was also multi-threaded before that, just less so

I thought single-threading was a limitation of 32-bit applications.

[NoMrBond]

Just now, 0111narwhalz said:

I thought single-threading was a limitation of 32-bit applications.

32-bit meant that (pre-1.1) KSP could only address ¬4GB of memory (causing much lamentation and gnashing of teeth)

Multi-threading and 32-bit limits on addressable memory are very different though

[HebaruSan]

On 11/18/2017 at 12:33 PM, HebaruSan said:

 

@JPLRepo, if you create a way of chaining one mission after another, you've got the potential for a full-on "campaign mode." Maybe a "Next Mission" button on the victory screen. Just a thought to consider.

@JPLRepo, some ideas for mission editor nodes:

Retrieve MacGuffin Node (Action): Allows a mission creator to define an arbitrary unique object to be "retrieved" (generated) by performing some configurable action in some configurable context (e.g., a custom right click option like "Dig in the regolith" while on EVA at the equatorial Mun Arch, but also potentially traditional science collection), triggering a message dialog on success similar to the science report window. This object can then be transferred from vessel to vessel like science data.

Hand-in MacGuffin Node (Logic): Checks whether the active vessel has the specified MacGuffin just like the other mission completion nodes.

Together these would enable missions with arbitrary goals beyond collecting science or rescues. A creator could construct a plot line around a sequence of hidden artifacts, or a trail of lost data tapes, or even rapid interplanetary pizza delivery ("30 weeks or it's free!").

[Jim123]

looks nice id like to see these parts become part of the game

[NoMrBond]

9 hours ago, Jim123 said:

looks nice id like to see these parts become part of the game

This is the KSP Weekly, not the StarMods section so yeah, these are becoming part of the game

[Jalaris]

@SQUAD Will we be getting an art pass over the original, older, parts? These new parts look fantastic,  however they are significantly more detailed than some of the older parts, and would clash.