JimmyAgent007

Id like to see the level 5 engineer and scientist to be a level 1 pilot.

I suggested a editable tech tree a long time ago. Its nice to see someone else thinks so. Id like to be able to unlock a node and then get contracts for testing parts in those nodes before I can use them. Instead of just paying money. Thankfully we are now much more likely to get polish on systems now that the core of the game 'exists'.

For early survey missions, id just deorbit my pod and aim for the location. Report on the way down usually worked rather well. Now I have planes though so I can fly to them. What i found to be odd was being told to test a jet engine, they provide an engine, but not having any air intakes. Sure its doable but really, some things should be looked at. Things will get balanced as time goes on so for now I'm just going to enjoy the odd missions.

they already stated they would never do random failures. so mods will be the only way of including them

I think engineers should end up with some piloting skills, like for their final level they become a level 1 pilot. same with scientists. just to give a reason to have them progress that far.

maybe once you attain max rank in one job you can add another. though i feel like that or something else will need to be done by a mod.

True, I dont see it as a game breaker, but if your favorite core (for whatever reason) isnt the most advanced one then its kinda annoying when it cant do the things the others can. So linking it to the tracking station fixes that. Plus it seems, to me anyways, more logical since thats really where it is being controlled from.

Now THAT seems like a good solution. Probe cores should depend on what size and shape we want, not if they are advanced enough to do the things we want. Tracking station would improve all of them.

Ah, I thought you were thinking Kerbals in sandbox wouldnt get xp and thus not the skills. No idea on the probes, but they are controlled by kerbals on the ground so maybe. In sandbox i dont see why not.

Mike (Mu): It’s been another QA week, so rushing around fixing bugs, finishing off the new pilot skills and its UI. Basically, pilot skills are a set of additional SAS type modes which allow the pilot to lock onto various vectors. All of these modes are available in sandbox but they will only activate in career as you level up Kerbals with the pilot trait.

My first manned Duna landing. Used a SRB to deorbit and it was a perfect arc. I landed just with chutes and had just enough fuel to get back into orbit and dock with the main ship.

Well if say you are focused on a point with your pilot, it saves that point. when you reload the craft it loads with it facing that point. That being said, i doubt it too.

I wonder if you can use this to make space stations always keep an orientation you want. Like down always being the planet. Will it apply when you arnt following a flight?

Not as such right now, at least nothing announced. It serves its intended use for now, but once .90 is out then they will start to look at all the placeholder stuff and see what they can do. This thread here http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/99521-Tech-tree-and-parts-final-polish is only the most recent one about how to improve the tech tree. Welcome to the insanity.

Glad you think so, fuel in the wings is something that DOES happen, so why not? Lots of aircraft have really thin wings like the old parts because they need them as control surfaces only. Others need all the fuel they can get without strapping on external tanks so why not?

Internet Beers all around!

Well I dont think there should be a hard set goal, like you cant get mainsails without doing task 23 - x number of times. A progress bar that you need to fill with returned science might be a an unnecessary step. Since as it is you select the tech after you gain the science, a progress bar just lets you pick the tech before you get the science. If you mean that the progress bar is more like a contract, and you complete objectives. ie. Say heavy landing legs needs 100 science to unlock. Do a part test on it and reduce the cost by 25. Each use of the earlier landing legs reduces the cost by 5 up to a max of 20. Part broke during use, max tolerance needs to improve. reduce cost by 5 Now it only costs 50 to unlock that you probably gathered during the missions you tested them. So doing missions that use parts make the upgraded version easier to research but still cost science ('nerd bait' + actual use) would make more sense. As long as you couldnt spam missions on the launch pad and such.

I dont really work with planes all that much. I can see both sides of the debate, duplicate parts can get in the way for some while others like the freedom to choose the older parts because they like the look better. Some have even talked about how we should improve the new wings other than just say we dont like them. So with that thinking, why not have the new thicker wings hold fuel? Not sure if someone suggested it already, didnt see it. Then have the old wings not hold fuel, since they are too thin. So we still have the choice, but they are functionally different so that its no longer a case of duplicate parts. If you dont want fuel in the newer wings you can empty them. That would be my simple solution. Ted of course is right in saying that the Great Spaceplane Part Overhaul is still ongoing so things might change and make (mostly) everyone happy.

I really like the tech web diagram, Its a lot like what was done in Beyond Earth. For the newbies though, Id have the branches of the web depend on an initial choice between 3 options. Cockpit, Capsule, Probe. You cant pick anything else until you make that initial choice but once you do it all opens up. That way you can play the game however you want and progress how you want. As for the science system, I like the idea of contract testing of parts unlocking parts. The science collected on missions i see as 'nerd bait'. Sure the Mun sample doesnt help make a Mainsail but it might inspire or attract nerds to help make it.

Added a fuel module to my space station. Now it lags. Might be too tedious to add the rest. Guess I should reduce the part count for next time. At least it looks like what I wanted it to!

I think any official statement on any feature before its in QA or they KNOW it will be in the game is a bad move. They mentioned deep space refueling but no specifics because its up in the air and can be changed if its not fun or whatever. Things subject to change before release should be kept quiet. There are many entitled people who feel a comment is a binding contract and so they become more trouble than they are worth. However, if the devnotes included a "Suggestions threads discussed" list, just to say they have read it. No yes or no or maybe or whatever. Just that it was talked about. That might be a good compromise. People learn that the discussions they have are getting read even if not responded too.

Kerbal being Kerbal I dont think it would be that bad to include an Oort cloud much closer than in reality. Just a significant but not extreme distance past the final planet (assuming more than what we have might be implemented, we should have a Planet X) and make it the only source of F or G class asteroids or something. By then you should have all the science you could want but who cares, add more! Plus whatever resources end up being. I think this can be done, just scaled down like everything else in Kerbal is.

Clearly you have never put duct tape on your feet.

it would seem silly to get ice from 'icesteroids' but not from say, duna polar caps.

Crashed on the mun, with the two other ships sent to recover the crew. Still awaiting rescue. Science collected: None, Rep earned: None, Contracts completed: None, Kerbals Killed: 17