Jump to content

KSP Weekly: Curious about Mars

SQUAD

By SQUAD
in KSP1 The Daily Kerbal

 Share

Recommended Posts

SQUAD

SQUAD

Posted
Posted
tumblr_inline_pa0nv0Cuna1rr2wit_540.png

Welcome to KSP Weekly! Yesterday NASA held a press conference to unveil the latest discovery on Mars by NASA's rover. Researchers have announced that the rover’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument has successfully detected organics on Mars, a major breakthrough that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life. The team also presented some interesting findings about methane in the Martian atmosphere.

Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life.

Using the SAM instrument, the team, led by Jennifer Eigenbrode from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, examined samples of Martian soil from mudstone in Gale Crater. It was collected by Curiosity’s drill from 5 centimeters beneath the surface, preserved in sulfur, and dates back in time between 3.2 and 3.8 billion years ago, when water was once present there.

In the second paper, scientists describe the discovery of seasonal variations in methane in the Martian atmosphere over the course of nearly three Mars years, which is almost six Earth years. This variation was detected by Curiosity’s SAM instrument suite. Water-rock chemistry might have generated the methane, but scientists cannot rule out the possibility of biological origins. Methane previously had been detected in Mars’ atmosphere in large, unpredictable plumes. This new result shows that low levels of methane within Gale Crater repeatedly peak in warm, summer months and drop in the winter every year.

While we have seen organics on Mars before, this is the first time they have been linked to larger molecules that could be indicative of life. This new data from Curiosity reveals that billions of years ago, a water lake inside Gale Crater held all the ingredients necessary for life, including chemical building blocks and energy sources. Mars never ceases to impress, right?

[Development news start here]

There’s never a work shortage at the KSPHQ and this week was no exception. Upcoming patch 1.4.4 continues to keep us busy as we continue to add fixes and improvements to both the expansion and the base game. For instance, you might have noticed that the Engine Plates and Structural Tubes that were included in the Expansion had the same mass and cost regardless of the variant selected. This is fixed in 1.4.4 so that all Structural Tubes and Engine Plates will include their proportional mass and cost.

Additionally, Steam users will be happy to hear that the team has been working on expanding and improving controller support for the game via the Steam Controller framework. We are trying to close the gap between the mapping found in the consoles’ Cursor Mode and the one currently supported in the PC game. The gap will not be completely closed for now, but it will be an improvement nonetheless. We will provide configurations for DualShock 4, Xbox One, a new configuration for the Steam Controller, and one for HOTAS-like joysticks.

The team also worked on adding the version watermark for the expansion. This is relevant to people who purchased the game and the expansion from the KSP Store or any other platform that doesn’t update the game automatically. For example, if you bought the game and the expansion from the KSP Store and there’s an update, you need to install two separate executable files; one for the base game and the other for the expansion. The problem was that the game only used to showcase the base game version in the lower right corner of the screen, something that led to confusion to users who forgot to install the expansion update and experienced issues due to that. Now, both versions will be displayed so it will be easier to spot any issues due to the incompatibility of versions.  

In other news, BlitWorks has been working on the upcoming patch for KSP Enhanced Edition. This week they provided us with a brand new build that not only included various bug fixes, but also an improvement based on feedback received by our players. The new patch will include a Cursor Speed Adjuster, something many of you have asked about.

tumblr_inline_pa0o25Nvl91rr2wit_540.png

Don’t forget that you can also share and download missions on Curse, KerbalX, and the KSP Forum.

Finally, we remind you that you still have another week to participate in our latest KSP Challenge - Stylish Decay!   So go 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!  


*Information Source:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Atroner

Atroner

Posted
Posted

 

I bought the console version and the PC version with its DLC. I use more the PC version, but I think it's a good idea to adjust the cursor speed on the console. stay that way! Greetings.

Sorry for the translation I do not speak English

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mrcarrot

Mrcarrot

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Tyko said:

Great update. I'm really hoping 1.4.4 offers a stable, playable game without the need for additional 1.4.x iterations.

The way I figure it is that the base game needs to be updated for the expansion to be updated, so I think that 1.4 will probably have more patches, because SQUAD will probably try to add new expansion-related content...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
klgraham1013

klgraham1013

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Mrcarrot said:

The way I figure it is that the base game needs to be updated for the expansion to be updated, so I think that 1.4 will probably have more patches, because SQUAD will probably try to add new expansion-related content...

Can someone inform me why this is the case?  My puny mind can't seem to comprehend why the main game would need an update when the DLC receives one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mrcarrot

Mrcarrot

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, klgraham1013 said:

Can someone inform me why this is the case?  My puny mind can't seem to comprehend why the main game would need an update when the DLC receives one.

So the DLC code can exist in the API for mods to use it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sh1pman

sh1pman

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, SQUAD said:

in 1.4.4 so that all Structural Tubes and Engine Plates will include their proportional mass and cost.

While you’re at it, can you please make Structural Tubes and Engine Plates shield their contents from drag, like cargo bays? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
klgraham1013

klgraham1013

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Mrcarrot said:

So the DLC code can exist in the API for mods to use it...

They can't actually be changing the API every time the DLC is updated can they?  Isn't the whole idea of an API to avoid that sort of thing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DMagic

DMagic

Posted
Posted

KSP doesn't have an API, just code with lots of public fields and methods. And the base game and DLC share the same code, some of it is locked off if you don't have the DLC installed, but the code is the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Caelib

Caelib

Posted
Posted

What is the size of the team doing active development on KSP these days?  My perception is that is extremely small (2?) given the slow progress of things post-expansion.

Can we expect the pace of things to pick up in the future?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
klgraham1013

klgraham1013

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, Caelib said:

What is the size of the team doing active development on KSP these days?  My perception is that is extremely small (2?) given the slow progress of things post-expansion.

Can we expect the pace of things to pick up in the future?

Probably closer to 10 to 20, but that information is probably NDA'd these days.

They did say the team was bigger now than it was before the mass exodus.

Edited by klgraham1013
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LoSBoL

LoSBoL

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, klgraham1013 said:

Probably closer to 10 to 20, but that information is probably NDA'd these days.

They did say the team was bigger now than it was before the mass exodus.

I don't think its under a NDA, I think pretty much everybody gets mentioned in the Readme.txt file in the KSP folder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Majorjim!

Majorjim!

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, Caelib said:

 

Can we expect the pace of things to pick up in the future?

LOL! Not a chance. It's always been slow. I just want them to finish the damn game and be done with it. It's time. 

Edited by Majorjim!
Link to comment
Share on other sites
klgraham1013

klgraham1013

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, ShadowGoat said:

What is this mass exodus you speak of? I haven’t been on the forums long enough to know about it.

A bunch of the team left all at once for suspicious and/or innocent reasons we will never know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
StrandedonEarth

StrandedonEarth

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, ShadowGoat said:

What is this mass exodus you speak of? I haven’t been on the forums long enough to know about it.

9 minutes ago, klgraham1013 said:

A bunch of the team left all at once for suspicious and/or innocent reasons we will never know.

To give that a bit more context and detail, Squad had hired a bunch of coders/artists/staff. I don't quite recall if it was in the big push for version 1.1, which included rewriting the entire code base to upgrade to Unity 5, or for the massive bug hunt leading up to 1.2, trying to fix a lot of the bugs (many introduced by the upgrade to U5) plaguing the game. Many of these people were talented modders hired on contract.

At any rate, at the end of May 2016, the lead developer Harvester, who created KSP to begin with, left KSP shortly after 1.1 dropped, basically due to project burnout. Then in October 2016, many of the staff and hired modders left, for reasons protected under NDA. Staff turnover on long-running software projects is normal, as people need a change.

But all that is ancient history now, the dog is sleeping, the horse has been cremated, not all the old staff left, Squad has hired new staff, the sky hasn't fallen, and development is continuing. Any revived discussion (if any) on the exodus should be left to the thread I linked above.

I believe complaining about the game and its developers is pointless and counterproductive; it only makes them defensive. Much better to offer constructive criticism (not always seen that way) and encouragement to do the best they can to make this unique game as good as it can be. But I do wish it didn't rely on mods to fill some gaps in the stock game.

So, @SQUAD, keep up the good work, keep on squashing bugs, and I'm looking forward to seeing what 1.5 will bring !

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ioresult

ioresult

Posted
Posted
On 6/8/2018 at 4:05 PM, SQUAD said:
[Development news start here]

There’s never a work shortage at the KSPHQ and this week was no exception.

Wow hard at work or hardly working at all?

Basically during one week, you patched a config bug and added a sprintf? That's the work of a couple of hours tops including testing!

I'm scared for the future of this game!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ultimate Steve

Ultimate Steve

Posted
Posted
On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 4:02 PM, Tyko said:

Great update. I'm really hoping 1.4.4 offers a stable, playable game without the need for additional 1.4.x iterations.

But if we get 1.4.5 we'll tie 1.0.5 and 0.8.5! We're two patches away from holding the record!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...