Devnote Tuesdays: The "Can't Spell Kerbal without K" Edition

[Red Iron Crown]

The #hypetrain near a major release is like a New Year's Eve party with no clocks. Everyone's excited and full of anticipation, but no one is exactly sure when the big moment will come.

[Alshain]

Porkjet confirmed in the SP+ thread that the cargo bays are coming to stock.

The problem with SP+ cargo bays is you can't attach much radially to the inside. Still better than the stock cargo bays... (that was sarcasm for the comedically challenged) but they need to tweak them just a bit thicker so radially attached stuff doesn't stick through the bottom.

That, and I still contend the wings are broken, but I've beaten that horse to death already.

[captainb]

I'm a little worried about the enhanced navball function. Hopefully these "arrows" can be removed by the actual Enhanced Navball mod because I rather like the ghosted versions of the same thing. Arrows sound silly.

I agree with this. Arrows would be highly tacky IMO. I also hope the new stock toolbar gets some love to be more mod friendly. Having multiple toolbars is just a pain.

Edited August 20, 2014 by captainb
fixed typo

[Red Iron Crown]

The problem with SP+ cargo bays is you can't attach much radially to the inside. Still better than the stock cargo bays... (that was sarcasm for the comedically challenged) but they need to tweak them just a bit thicker so radially attached stuff doesn't stick through the bottom.

It's a trade off. I'd rather not sacrifice a bit of internal space to allow attachment of things to the bottom, 1.25m payloads with radial parts are already a tight squeeze.

That, and I still contend the wings are broken, but I've beaten that horse to death already.

I thought it was just me that felt they didn't have enough lift. I replaced them with stock wings before moving over to procedurals. (If anyone is making spaceplanes without procedural wings, you should try them as they're really flexible and lower part count.)

Edited August 20, 2014 by Red Iron Crown

[Navy2k]

This would mean that the slider moves with 0 increments and then only snaps to an increment once you release the knob. It's easier to implement though and might actually work better for setups with large increments.

@Romfarer: Yes, as i typed it i had only a few increments per centimeter in mind (maybe best for 1-2). If you have more delicate structures in mind it can be hard to get the right one. Little Arrows with 1 step increment/decrement at the beginning and the end of the bar come to mind.

Greetings

Ben

[SelectHalfling0]

I LOVE SP+ THANKYOU SQUAD I WOULD GIVE ALL YOU GUYS A HUG IF I COULD!

On a side note I have used this mod to build really cool looking and working space shuttles

[Frank_G]

At first a big thanks to you at Squad, for all the informations and visions about what to come. Seeing more clearly, what is moving behind the scenes and around the coming updates is much more satisfying than only "we cant tell you right now" and nothing more. So this here was definetely one of the best Dev-Notes i've read in the last 8 months. Great to know our alltime favorite game is getting all the care it deserves .

Seeing spaceplane plus making it into the game, along with some long awaited navball and IVA / EVA functionality are really good news. Lots of long awaited things. And as a game asset creator i am really eager to see the new models and textures you have in store for future updates Keep flyin' guys!

[Ignath]

Picked up Spaceplane Plus last night to tinker and get used to the parts...awesome choice SQUAD!

Also, nice recovery from last weeks Dev Notes...much more informative this round!

[Ippo]

Thank you guys, this was actually a real improvement over the past devnotes

[Alshain]

I thought it was just me that felt they didn't have enough lift. I replaced them with stock wings before moving over to procedurals. (If anyone is making spaceplanes without procedural wings, you should try them as they're really flexible and lower part count.)

I tried them but the controls are horrid. I couldn't make a tail fin without accidentally resizing the wings I just finished perfecting... and of course there is no way to undo. In the end I went back to modular wings because it was just too frustrating (admittedly I get frustrated easily, unless I'm the programmer, then I find it exciting). He needs to fix the location of the mouse cursor while the resize buttons are depressed (if that's even possible), that would go a long way though some cases could still have issues.

From a programming perspective, you just put the mouse back to it's last position if it is moved and his control keys are active. I just don't know if he can do that inside the game.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Alshain

[blizzy78]

From a programming perspective, you just put the mouse back to it's last position if it is moved and his control keys are active. I just don't know if he can do that inside the game.

It should be possible: http://stackoverflow.com/a/1392221 (this is of course specific to Windows)

[ZodiaK]

Yay crew manifest!

Yay enhanced navball!

Yay spaceplane plus!

Yay 0.25!

Yayyyyyyyyyyy!

[cantab]

However, multiplayer is NOT what Rowdowser was referring to in the devnotes when he mentioned them undertaking a very large endeavor. I wonder what it could be then?

IMHO it's very likely to be something physics-related, overhauling or/and extended the core game mechanics. Because most other things - visual improvements, say, or even career mode - can be added more incrementally. As for what exactly it's hard to say. Could be aerodynamics of course. Could be an overhaul of the structural physics of the rockets. Could just be the port to new Unity.

What I'd like to see though is an overhaul of the hydrodynamics, and commensurate parts and science for underwater exploration. More celestials have oceans than have oxygen atmospheres, yet we've got nothing to really take advantage of them. Of course, better aero could easily be extended to better hydro, air and water are both fluids after all.

[Red Iron Crown]

Better aero would certainly be a good fit with the new spaceplane parts.

KSP 0.25: Come Fly the Friendly Skies

[KerbMav]

Let's summarize:

<p><strong>Felipe (HarvesteR)</strong><span><strong>:</strong><p><span>Indeed, we are all working frantically towards a very large goal. This is one of the largest, if not </span><span>the </span><span>largest concerted effort to develop a single feature we’ve ever had. We’ll share our plans as soon as they reach a point where they are matured enough to be discussed openly. For now, we have to keep these things under wraps, so please bear with us and try to keep speculation to a minimum, ok? </span></p>

<p><strong>Mike (Mu):</strong><span> Well, the administration backend got a bit of a rewrite to make it a lot more interesting to modders. It was already very moddable but it’s systems can now be fully config defined which should add a little spice to things. I’ve also been plowing on with a new logging system for vessels and kerbals. This will become the basis for a few new systems linked to career mode and will give us a better idea of where our intrepid astronauts have been.</span></p>

<p><strong>Daniel (danRosas)</strong><span><strong>:</strong> I am deep in the ocean of modeling and texturing. You know, moving vertex, uvs, painting. Trial and error. The pipeline between the artists has been set up, so it’s just trying to oil the machine that’s departed the preparation face. You can also read more about our current status in Maxmaps’ dev note. <em>The life of a game artist.</em></span></p>

<p><span><strong>Miguel (Maxmaps):</strong> </span><span>Organizing stuff for adding new sounds and overall effects to the game. Looking great so far. Also, our art team is currently sequestered in what is the largest 3D asset endeavor that we have overtaken so far. So much so you won’t see it in .25, so forgive them if they’re not really sharing a lot of info on the matter.</span></p>

<p><strong>Ted (Ted): </strong><span>Finally, I’ve been keeping up with the awesome features that the developers are working on, trying to contain my excitement to a barely professional level.</span></p>

<p><strong>Rogelio (Roger):</strong><span> We’ve been modeling, doing uv maps, texturing, and optimizing as much as we can. Before Squad, I was used to modeling and texturing in a more artistic way, but doing it to fit in a videogame has been challenging and I really like it. The production schedule was also finally done between Dan, Nick and myself. It establishes due dates and current status of the models we’re doing. It will be fun to improve our skills as a team. </span></p>

Something big that they do not want to talk about yet, so it has nothing to do with new sounds, the navball or crew movement.

"The largest concerted effort to develop a single feature"

Develop something further or develop something new?

Concerted means everyone is contributing?

Daniel says Miguel says more about it (or not really more ...), so he (Daniel) is in as well what is "the largest 3D asset endeavor ... so far", not just doing an animation then this time.

It is probably new, a big undertaking, has to do with 3D and is a "feature", so it is for the game (no 3D movie suddenly popping up then).

A complete overhaul of all parts does not really sound like "the biggest new feature".

Oculus Rift? Probably not, because why would 3D require so much new modelling?

Something new ... hmm ...

[Darnok]

I am sure it is new aero or new node mechanic, because using current nodes with SP+ cargo bays may be really hard for new people and very annoying for all of us.

[JimmyAgent007]

@KerbMav Maybe making the KSC fully destructible like they mentioned a long time ago? It would require lots of 3D work and could be considered a single feature. OR They could be populating Kerbin with cities.

[r4pt0r]

What I'd like to see though is an overhaul of the hydrodynamics, and commensurate parts and science for underwater exploration. More celestials have oceans than have oxygen atmospheres, yet we've got nothing to really take advantage of them. Of course, better aero could easily be extended to better hydro, air and water are both fluids after all.

I THINK YOU'RE ONTO SOMETHING! look at these quotes:

Daniel (danRosas): I am deep in the ocean of modeling and texturing.

A not subtle hint perhaps?

Felipe (HarvesteR):

Indeed, we are all working frantically towards a very large goal. This is one of the largest, if not the largest concerted effort to develop a single feature we’ve ever had. We’ll share our plans as soon as they reach a point where they are matured enough to be discussed openly. For now, we have to keep these things under wraps

From this we can see more subtlety.

"one of the largest" = What could possibly be larger than the ocean?

"openly" = rhymes with "open sea"

"under wraps" = as in water-tight

This is some da vinci code level conspiracy stuff, and I think the Illuminati might be in on it too...

Edited August 20, 2014 by r4pt0r

[Alshain]

I THINK YOU'RE ONTO SOMETHING! look at these quotes:

A not subtle hint perhaps?

From this we can see more subtlety.

"one of the largest" = What could possibly be larger than the ocean?

"openly" = rhymes with "open sea"

"under wraps" = as in water-tight

This is some da vinci code level conspiracy stuff, and I think the Illuminati might be in on it too...

ROFL, I think the Hypetrain is departing the station.

[Darnok]

Yet one more thing crossed my mind... right now in carrier mode you just can't create two or more stage fully reusable rocket, because we can pilot only single vehicle at the time, so maybe this new building would allow us to do something with this problem and maybe it will use part of multiplayer code in single player game

[joed_]

ROFL, I think the Hypetrain is departing the station.

No. This is something new.

The HydroTrain.

[Red Iron Crown]

No. This is something new.

The HydroTrain.

[LoveBoatTheme] The #hypeboat... soon will be making another run. [/LoveBoatTheme]

[cantab]

@KerbMav Maybe making the KSC fully destructible like they mentioned a long time ago? It would require lots of 3D work and could be considered a single feature.

I see a bit of a problem there. If KSC can be destroyed, then in the majority of saves it will be destroyed.

[Overfloater]

"More nav-ball icons AND an arrow that shows where the node burn direction is"???

YES! >:-) it's pretty annoying having to spin-flip-rotate to all directions looking for that damned node x-D

...oh, and Spaceplane Plus... yay... that's good too ;-D

[Endersmens]

[LoveBoatTheme] The #hypeboat... soon will be making another run. [/LoveBoatTheme]

We had to make it longer, but here she is! #HypeBoat