I know this might be somewhat controversial, but please hear me out first.
I love automating things. I spent hundreds of hours in games like Factorio and Dyson Sphere Program and I have also tried to automate different things in KSP 1. As an example, automation is great for things that need to be perfectly repeatable (like an ascent with a specific profile) or that are hard to do manually (like suicide burns). The best way to script it in KSP 1 right now is to use kOS but I think there might be a better option. While waiting for KSP 2 I decided to try SimpleRockets 2 (by the way, it's a cool game, go try it out). So I opened the game, downloaded a cool-looking Atlas V and was blown away by what happened next. The rocket knew how to put its upper stage into orbit not just around its home planed but also its moons at a desired altitude! Turns out, SR2 has a built-in visual scripting language called Vizzy you can use to write programs like that. I decided to try it out and just in a few hours I had two programs for performing ascent and landing for me. Here's how the language looks:
This could also be used to complement new tutorials by showing not just a video but an actual rocket flown by a computer to teach new players. And yes, all this can (and has) been done before but I find the experience of using something like kOS far from perfect: you need to install the mod, learn a new scripting language, constantly switch to an external text editor, launch scripts from the command line and debugging is often a pain. If implemented correctly, built-in scripting can improve the player's experience, especially if scripts could be shared through the Steam Workshop for those who don't want to code themselves. And hey, it's not a bad thing either if someone learns how to code a bit while playing KSP 2! And the good thing is, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. This has already been done in SR2 and it works great there.
So what do you think?
I love the idea of adding a visual language since that would appeal to a younger audience, however, I feel like also having something more professional like Python would be awesome for nerds like me . Python is also used in real SpaceX rockets (from what I've read)
In short: Visual scripting would interest a younger audience and beginners to scripting, so if Python was implemented with it an older audience and people into scripting would also be interested. That way, besides rocket science, scripting would be a skill that you can learn inside of KSP.
So if you don't like or prefer visual scripting, you can use normal scripting.
I haven't read all of the comments, but I would implement scripting:
There are storage drives that can store a certain amount of "data" (written code) before their capacity is full. They would be similar to the batteries in the way they look (just like a storage drive thingy). This could be implemented in order to stop people just downloading code from others to, well, not "play" the game at all. The storage drive that would be at the end of the R&D tree could store infinite data. You can only write code in a storage drive (and/or small amounts of data in probes).
Scratch programming language
in Prelaunch KSP2 Suggestions & Development Discussion
Posted · Edited by Redstoner89
I love the idea of adding a visual language since that would appeal to a younger audience, however, I feel like also having something more professional like Python would be awesome for nerds like me
. Python is also used in real SpaceX rockets (from what I've read)
In short: Visual scripting would interest a younger audience and beginners to scripting, so if Python was implemented with it an older audience and people into scripting would also be interested. That way, besides rocket science, scripting would be a skill that you can learn inside of KSP.
So if you don't like or prefer visual scripting, you can use normal scripting.
I haven't read all of the comments, but I would implement scripting:
There are storage drives that can store a certain amount of "data" (written code) before their capacity is full. They would be similar to the batteries in the way they look (just like a storage drive thingy). This could be implemented in order to stop people just downloading code from others to, well, not "play" the game at all. The storage drive that would be at the end of the R&D tree could store infinite data. You can only write code in a storage drive (and/or small amounts of data in probes).