Jonfliesgoats

What would you think of adding a maneuver editor to the tracking station? Is this feasible since the craft are on rails when we see them in the tracking station?

I love the idea of overhauling the science system. I do like science points to spend on development, however. I think long term experiments, more sensors and more dynamics to measure would all greatly increase the variety of missions you can do in career mode. Earlier I mentioned adding speed and acceleration dynamics for testing and science. Long term measurements are a cool paradigm and we already have a model for doing similar things. We scan for more by putting a probe in a polar orbit and it magically gets the data we need. We don't have to wait for a thousand or so orbits to build our data. We could do something similar for long term orbital surveys. For long term surface data, what about sensors that have to maintain stability for a given amount of time (so many days). These would yield more science, but they have to be oriented just so (vertically, horizontally, etc. so a tipped over lander wouldn't cut it). Anyway, many more science options and much more expensive tech progression would create a more varied game experience.

To be fair to the Kiff comparison, Kiff is in fact inseparable from Zap Brannigan despite Brannigan's demonstrated incompetence. Perhaps Kiff does have a Kerbalish fascination with Brannigan's antics? This, combined with Kiff's improved training created an inner conflict within Kiff where his Kerbal nature thinks "Full afterburner, Zap!" while his Doop Academy training makes him think better of these things. As for serious, contemplative, Kerbals, do you imagine Jeb or Bob reading classified reports on their SIPR? Do they look up, sip coffee and think "We really need to get these goo canisters to Minmus before the Kerbish Alliance develops NERVA engines!"? I suppose the lack of novel hairstyles on stock kerbals is indicative of some degree of seriousness amount them.

The problem is attitude. Kerbals are dauntless and optimistic while Kiff is resigned to his position, passive and generally unambitious. Kerbals and Zap Brannigan would get along well, I think. They'd both have no reservations about going to full afterburner just to get out of their parking spots on the ramp. Perhaps Kiff is the frustrated genius of Kerbal-frogs?

Magzimum makes a good point regarding the cost of wind tunnel testing. A per-use fee for the wind tunnel may remove any incentive for using the facility. Having an upgradeable wind tunnel would be something that would allow players to test their craft when they finally get tired of trying to keep their noodle-rockets stable. Or, instead of trying to fly a spaceplane to a given altitude/speed regime to test its performance, you could "dial in" the specific speeds and altitudes (atmospheric pressures) to test your vehicle. Data presentation is another thing altogether. While I'd love graphs of forces at given values of dynamic pressure, sideslip, aoa, etc. Most people would quicky lose interest. What would you think of a presentation of various vectors of lift, drag, thust along with pitching, yawing and rolling moments presented on the craft in real time during the test? Numeric values could be presented in real time in the enhanced engineering report. KSP already calculates these things. We'd just present the values of these numbers to the player as they "fly" their noodle rockets and wedge-planes in the tunnel. Think that'd be palatable? My taste in these things is poor so I rely on the judgement of others. I'd make all my coworkers wear uniforms of purple fur with LED insignia, if I could. So, yeah, I am not the one to consult for customer-friendly presentation.

Console KSP involves sad tuba music while I'm in the atmosphere. Still it's better than stock .25(ish) was when I started.

I think a lot of the part testing to be done on the ground could be moved to the R and D center as well. It'd be more appropriate to set up test stands and other jigs there than on the runway or launch pad.

Can't do FAR on console. I loved it on PC, but my video card just isn't cutting it anymore. I do miss some mods.

Crashes about once every four hours or so. The save rollback bug on consoles is a much, much bigger problem at the moment.

Some were thinking they were frog like people akin to Kiff from Futurama. I liked that idea, but now I think they are adorable cyborgs. They have no cities, agriculture or reproduction that we can see. They could just be self replicating machines that are simply programmed to learn and fly. Thus the only structures on Kerbin are airfields and aerospace support structures. This would also explain why they don't need to eat or excrete on long trips. A problem with this idea is that Gene drinks coffee. Perhaps this is some sort of hydraulic fluid replacement or something?

Good idea.

I like the idea.

I love this idea, but I think it may appeal to a niche market of aerospace nerds. There was a similar discussion regarding jet engines in here recently. Still, I think it' soo cool!

A week or so ago, someone suggested a simulation mode that allows you to test your craft without spending the funds or getting science. I forgot the names of the original poster of this idea, but that notion was rolling around in my noodle for a while. What about a wind tunnel facility at KSP? You could build your craft in the VAB or SPH and test it through different regimes of flight at different speeds. Lift, drag and thrust vectors would change and the players could experiment with controllability,. There would be a small cost for using the wind tunnel, but you would get a much more detailed engineering report. We could even have Kerbals put the data into various spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations! This may be fun or it may make the game too much like an actual job at Kerbal Dynamics.

Getting aerodynamics and fluid dynamics right requires a lot of processing power. If, for example, we were going to address spanwise flow on stall progression, we would see different handling qualities at high angles of attack with wings of different taper, sweep and aspect ratio. Adding localized flow, interference effects, etc all requires tons of computing. That's just for subsonic, incompressible aerodynamics! Start adding compressibility, transonic effects, oh my! This is why we still do wind tunnel testing today, too. That said, how cool would it be if we had to make coke bottle fuselages, address the different types of shock waves that from on our craft, etc!?!? I get all nerded-up just thinking about it! Perhaps in the next generation of computers and KSP? We could see aeroelastic control reversal at high speed before our Kerbals disintegrate in rolling pull-outs! Right now our parts bend, but don't twist under load. So this is a fantastic notion. I wonder how achievable it is, though.

This is a fantastic idea! It should be pretty easy to implement too.

I think this is a great idea, contingent on the power of our respective computers.

Would it be feasible or enjoyable to offer science points ny getting vehicles and specific sensors above certain speeds, accelerations? Right now we just do altitudes and locations. I imagine something like "Get a Mk1 probe above 900m/s below an altitude of 5000 meters." or "Test a TR-18 stack decoupler while above an acceleration of 6G.". This would go along with making tech about ten times more expensive to acquire and providing many more novel ways to build up science points When we recover a vehicle we could get science points for "recovery of a vehicle that exceed (N speed or dynamic pressure) or (N acceleration)". I edited this post because originally I referred to contracts as well as science. A reply correctly stated that we already have speed as part of contracting. My goal is to add speed and acceleration to science points.

Wan Hu is a great nomination! Korolev is a good one too. What do you guys think of this Kenyan trying to make his way to Mars? http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/lifestyle/article/2000174173/rongai-s-rocket-man-with-mars-on-his-mind

Deleted since my chicken photos wouldn't load. Can I get my daughter a Kerbal plushy?

Veetch, Would you like lots more science opportunities and more expensive progression? Tater, Adorable about the kids and characters. I wean myself off of quick saves, which leads to many more unmanned missions and, sadly, Kerbal fatalities. Vanamonde: So the goo pod is a light hearted animal program? That makes a lot more sense regarding how Kerbals immediately have access to mysterious, advanced material that prefers some environments to others. Thanks for the background info!

For more consideration I'd like to suggest 1.) Roland Garros who simply stuck metal deflectors on propeller blades rather than worrying about synchronizing weapons to propellers. Very Kerbal engineering solutions there. 2.) James Doolittle. He is right up there among the stars of dynamic nerds due to his pioneering work in instrument flight, developing anti knock ratings for aviation fuel, etc.. References to his war time exploits abound. He was Jeb-like 3.) Douglas Badder, who was able to keep flying despite the loss of both of his legs. He has the physical resilience of a Kerbal. 4.) The Montgolfier Bros who just heaped a bunch of farm animals into a bag full of hot gas and observed the results. Very Kerbal experimental techniques!

I like the idea of Kiff as an exiled Kerbal. Frog-people Kerbals sounds like a good way to go. Somewhere there are hidden globs of fertilized Kerbal eggs hanging on the under rocks. Kerbal puberty? Slide rules, water parks and bubble nests?

John Stapp and his experiments with rocket sleds, human deceleration and ejection seats. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stapp

Good point! What if you can level up the Kerbunny test subjects like you do with Kerbonauts? Perhaps a mini-game where you condition your Kerbunnies for science by outfitting them with a hodgepodge of antique space suits and put them in little centrifuges? A trained or conditioned Kerbunny would yield more science. They'd have to squeak adorably, etc.