Degrees of damage.

[kBob]

Actually thinking about it a bit (sorry for the pun) since they are using c# which as I recall has some pretty easy to use bit manipulators in it they could represent this data in as little as one byte (maybe more if you want it to align on a word boundary but that's beyond what I know of this program) in which case you could actually have 8 on/off conditions to represent the damage level.

edit: If you really want to be cleaver you could do something like assign each bit like a value of 10% and then use all the bits to represent the amount of total damage so if bits 0 and 1 are set you have 20% damage if all bits are set that would be 80% which you could simply say anything above that is repairable. Or you could do a progression bit 0 is 3% bit 1 is 6% and so on to bit 7 which is 24% then if bits 7 and 2 are set then you have 32% damage if all bits become set then good-bye part (yes this actually adds up to more then 100% but at some point you are going to have declare a part repairable and therefore destroyed). Most bit checking, setting, clearing routines are pretty processor friendly so then all you have is the routines that actually do something with the damage as you described which only get activated as needed so I'm thinking this could be a really good addition without effecting normal flight in any way noticeable. There are already routines to check for and display damage anyway. This all off the top of my head of course and I have no idea how the program is structured but it sounds good.

Edited February 8, 2014 by kBob

[KASASpace]

that might be a bit too far in to the realms of random failure.

Well, like if the part is less than 25% okay, maybe 10%, it has a small chance of failing. Like a heavily damaged engine with 10% hp *might explode if you throttle it too long.

[Dooz]

I like the idea it would make the game challenging.

[Justin Kerbice]

+1 damage could be a great addition (reduced effciency, failure more likely to happened, ...)

[DancZer]

I like the idea. I think the repairing thing should somehow connected to the Kerbals education level. Like low educated Kerbals can't fix the engines.

[Capt Snuggler]

Just thought of a way you could implement damage on solar panels.

right now when you bump a solar panel they twist and bend at the joint and then break at a point.

you could instead swap in the model for a bent and buckled model after it had bent or twisted 1-2 degrees from its placed angle and then the broken model after a few more degrees.

does that make sense?

[coolitic]

This would be nice, but I hope wont make game too complicated. Also repaired should just be like new, but I can live with slightly lowered performance.

[zxczxczbfg]

batteries could hold reduced charge.

Actually, lithium batteries of the sort used frequently on spacecraft tend to explode rather exuberantly when the casing is ruptured.

[Dodgey]

Actually, lithium batteries of the sort used frequently on spacecraft tend to explode rather exuberantly when the casing is ruptured.

Very Kerbal.

[Capt Snuggler]

This would be nice, but I hope wont make game too complicated. Also repaired should just be like new, but I can live with slightly lowered performance.

again, I'm not suggesting you should/would continue the mission as planned with a patch repaired part. but instead get your kerbals home safe, so you can modify your craft with what you have learned and try again.

that said I like the idea of conducting repair missions (like they did with Hubble) by sending up specialist engineers and equipment to do overhaul repair jobs, restoring the part to 100%.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Capt Snuggler

[Einsty]

I like this idea.

[Sanna]

The scale has the same basic design as the original Fujita scaleâ€â€six categories from zero to five, representing increasing degrees of damage. It was revised to reflect better examinations of tornado damage surveys, so as to align wind speeds more closely with associated storm damage.

love spell

[Master_Evar]

Yeah it´s a good idea, to repair stuff. If an engine is damaged it´s thrust limiter can be lowered, so that you can change the others to the same limiter, but also the gimbal and overheating is good. Planets could be fixed to some have softer ground, allowing for bigger impacts. Also would be great to have different kerbal specialists, such as engineers.

[JimmyAgent007]

I dont break parts often, but when i do its in a massive fireball.

That being said, I like everything the OP has said on this topic.