Stand alone editor

[LIY2012]

I would like to add a feature request.  I have often wished I was able to work on building new rockets while sitting on the train or during lunch time at the office.  Do you have any plans for releasing a stand alone VAB style editor.  I don't always have my gaming system with me, so I was hoping for something that would be able to work on a low-power / low-cost tablet or iPad with touch controls.  This would allow me to design a ship/mission in my spare time and them launch it later when I get home.    

[The Aziz]

On 10/24/2019 at 4:26 AM, LIY2012 said:

Do you have any plans for releasing 

No they don't, for a billionth time no

On 10/24/2019 at 4:26 AM, LIY2012 said:

 work on a low-power / low-cost tablet or iPad with touch controls. 

Low power means no, touch controls mean no

Would they charge for it? How much? Or would it be free? 

With controls built from the scratch only to work with tablets?

[Pds314]

If you hate your life you could edit the .craft files manually in any text editor or make a visualizer/editor for .craft files.

Here's a random plane I downloaded from somewhere. I didn't make it. Feel free to edit this stock electric propeller plane using any text editor. Or make an app that correctly renders something like this.

[snip]
 

 

Edited October 27, 2019 by Gargamel
Giant Craft File removed

[Vanamonde]

Someone who has just found the game and the forum cannot know what might have already been suggested. How about cutting the guy/gal some slack? 

[linuxgurugamer]

On 10/23/2019 at 10:26 PM, LIY2012 said:

I would like to add a feature request.  I have often wished I was able to work on building new rockets while sitting on the train or during lunch time at the office.  Do you have any plans for releasing a stand alone VAB style editor.  I don't always have my gaming system with me, so I was hoping for something that would be able to work on a low-power / low-cost tablet or iPad with touch controls.  This would allow me to design a ship/mission in my spare time and them launch it later when I get home.    

Welcome to the forums. Despite the rude replies above, this is a very friendly forum, with many people wanting to help.  

Ksp is 8 years old, putting it, even just the editor, on a tablet is impractical.

[Hoozemans]

Commenting on one out of a thousand similar questions is probably a waste of time, but

On 10/27/2019 at 9:16 PM, linuxgurugamer said:

Ksp is 8 years old, putting it, even just the editor, on a tablet is impractical.

I often run multiple instances of KSP so that I can sandbox new designs while editing them at the same time. This is a bit harsh on my not-game-optimized old laptop, though. And my desk is a bit small for having two KSP-dedicated machines on it... Having a standalone VAB/SPH editor would seem a nifty thing to have. The best argument against is is that ' nifty thing to have '  probably does not make it worth the effort of developing and maintaining it. I, for one, couldn't be bothered - I'll just have to get a bigger desk

[Fierce Wolf]

Editing the craft's JSON file sounds like a lot of fun, yay! (?)

[swjr-swis]

On 10/26/2019 at 9:11 AM, Pds314 said:

If you hate your life you could edit the .craft files manually in any text editor or make a visualizer/editor for .craft files.

Believe it or not, there are people around to whom the notion of getting into the nitty-gritty of a text file is an almost irresistible invitation.

I don't have an abundance of time for it anymore, but I have on occasion created a (working!) craft file or two from scratch in Notepad++ just to test if I understood the format correctly.

Assembly was my first programming language. Probably has something to do with that.

Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of the changes introduced to the craft file format at some point, I think it was with the introduction of part variants. I feel it lost consistency, and readability. And yes, ironic, from an Assembly guy. I've not enjoyed craft file editing quite as much since then.

 

A standalone editor purely for testing ideas of craft design, would see a lot of use from me, even on a mobile device. Make it a paid app if the beancounters want an RoI. But do consider it.

 

On 10/25/2019 at 11:18 AM, The Aziz said:

Low power means no

From my own experience of using KSP on a pretty wide performance range of hardware, it's the unnecessary 'fluff' that seems to consume most of the performance: ground crew, flickering lights, Vehicles On Ice. None of that would be necessary for a standalone editor. The editor also completely lacks the need for per-frame physics calculations, which is the main performance bottleneck in flight mode.

Performance-wise, I don't think a standalone editor is as unfeasible on a low-power device as people tend to think.

I generally dislike having to do anything on a mobile device other than making or taking calls, but for this, I would be willing to accept a good few compromises in user interface, just to have it available practically anytime anywhere.

[sturmhauke]

1 hour ago, Fierce Wolf said:

Editing the craft's JSON file sounds like a lot of fun, yay! (?)

It's not JSON though, and will not be recognized as such by any JSON library functions. It appears to be a custom format - at least, I haven't encountered anything exactly like it elsewhere.

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

It's JebSON

 

[putnamto]

Maybe not for tablets,  but a stand alone vab app would be nice,  my game likes to eat more and more Ram if I spend to much time in the vab. 

 

That way you could design your ship,  then move it to your save

[FleshJeb]

I use this amazingly low-overhead, rapid-prototyping tool called a pencil and paper.

Joking aside, I've used AutoCAD professionally for 25 years, and I still think that in the early phases of a project, dealing with computer interfaces limits your thinking and takes up valuable mental processing cycles. Make the machine work for you, don't work for the machine.