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Hi all, i have some ideas for features in the new game First off, i'd like to talk about "Suit Upgrades." You can find them in the administration building in career and science mode, but in sandbox they are automatically unlocked for you. In career you have to use credits to purchase the upgrades. That makes us go to Grav Boots. Do you hate it when you make an interior for your ship, only for your kerbals to float? That's where gravboots come in. You can toggle them with a button press and they make you stick to the floor and walk around like if the ship was landed. Something else i'd like to note is interchangeable launchpad designs. I know the game wilI have launch towers, but i would like them to be colorable and customizeable to fit rocket sizes, something like modular launch pads does. Also a weird idea, but i want cosmetics inside of the pods. Like, say i could add maybe a teddy bear or something in the pod. In iva, it will be there, and the lower the gravity gets it might float. I would want that feature to liven up ivas. hope people like and agree with these ideas, maybe to the point they're implemented. And, speaking of suit upgrades, i'd also love the feature to be able to upgrade the jetpack, for it to consume less fuel, or go faster, or consume different types of fuels. I would also absolutely adore communication upgrades for suits, for longer range signal bouncing. Edit: i have more ideas. How about docking ports that your crew can go through, kinda like connected living spaces? Also, i would love adjustable or longer ladders.

Kerbal players aren't exactly professional pilots (so landing is hard for many of us), and the runway is annoyingly short for some of the heaviest/largest spaceplanes we might build (ESPECIALLY given the lack of any Stock jet engines larger than 1.25 meters- meaning our largest spaceplanes tend to end up light on Thrust..) Thus, I would like to suggest that there be a longer/wider runway, which players can upgrade to as a "Level 4" runway (only effect is having more room to takeoff/land) in Career, or have from the start in Sandbox. While we're on the subject of facilities, a Level 4 Tracking Center upgrade would be nice- potentially allowing players to attain an even more powerful Deep Space Network, for an ENORMOUS investment of Funds (one more thing to work towards late-game) And, among the alternate launch sites, the Desert Runway is a serious pain- could we get a little terrain leveling of at least a few of the dunes right next to it? (like how the area around the KSC is flat) Maybe make it longer/wider as well? Historically, some of the largest/widest runways in the world have been built in desert areas, for aerospace R&D and potentially for spaceplane use someday (Dreamchaser and X-37b were only the start...)- yet the Desert Runway we have to work with is absolutely pathetic... As is the island runway too- meaning we only have one decent runway, at the KSC- and it's still not as long or wide as we might prefer at times... EDIT: since some comments on a Level 4 DSN aren't aware- there is already one for Outer Planets Mod. So it is definitely possible to do! EDIT #2: Since the lvl 4 Tracking Station idea has generated a LOT of discussion, and was only an aside (from the main idea of a bigger runway), I have created s new thread specifically on level 4 facilities. I would ask you take any discussion of upgraded DSN there- but I would ask that you please do not crowd out other parts of the topic people might want to discuss! Thanks!

This was originally meant to become UpgradesGUI Continued, but for several reasons starting "from scratch" proved more practical, and this Add-On inherited only a little from the former by @Gotmachine. For now it remains more limited than UpgradesGUI in certain ways. This plugin works in the VAB or SPH and adds a button to the right-click menu on any parts with upgrades to expand their applications and allow for implementing upgrades as alternatives which can be chosen at any time, regardless of newer ones being unlocked in the Tech Tree. DISCLAIMER: A lot needs to be improved before it gets even close to completed. This plugin was tested on Engines and RCS where, with the aid of the MM patches, it worked both in Editor and Flight, but there are almost certainly bugs. Download Upgrade Editor 0.3.4 (includes source code): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Cm5WA73G3IEONZ-JjEXQC0ULmpUA3Og1 Older versions: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Zlj9p-RIceb1yP-43V-8SjG_30FIP_fk DEPENDENCIES: ModuleManager (bundled version may become temporarily outdated in the future) License: GNU General Public License(GPL) 3.0 except for: RDColoredUpgradeIcon.cs from UpgradesGUI continues with its Unlicense. Upgrade Editor Upgrade Editor was created to make the part/module upgrades feature introduced in 1.2 about as flexible as RealFuels engine and RCS upgrades: configurable per part. Note that the plugin doesn't add any upgrades. If you want to have them in your game you need to download other mods that implement the upgrade feature. It also highlights part upgrades in the the nodes part list with a pale green background to better differentiate them from parts. How to Use: If you really want to browse every upgrade, even max diameter changes for procedural parts, delete UpgradesToIgnore.cfg While designing a vessel in the VAB/SPH, add a part for it which has unlocked upgrades. After placing the part in the editor, click on "Upgrade Editor" in the Part's right-click menu. "Toggle All" will either disable or enable all upgrades at once. "Always Enable" ignores custom settings. When you're finished with a part, just close the Upgrade Editor by clicking on "Close". Check its "Show Upgraded Stats". After that, any part featuring the same upgrades that is added to the craft will inherit such settings as well. To reset settings, use the reset & close button in the menu, which will enable again all upgrades before closing the UI. Suggested mods with upgrades: Sufficiently Realistic Progression Zero - this was created to support it and is bundled together with it(not necessarily the latest version). SSTULabs - upgrades that come with SSTU aren't of the type that would be significantly improved by the features of the Upgrade Editor(yet), but I'm recommending it anyway. Bluedog Design Bureau - might not really have two upgrades that can be considered tradeoffs, giving this editor a purpose for its parts, but it does have many upgrades. If you're interested in implementing part upgrades for yours, another mod's or Stock engines or RCS as alternatives where the capabilities of this Add-On would be very useful, PM me and I'll include your mod in the list. If you want to bundle this plugin with your mod because it would be useful for it, you don't need to ask for permission. Just keep its license and readme in your bundle, and if you want to remove its source code from it, add a link to this thread or to its download link with source included in its readme should it not have either one yet by then. A few examples of potential uses: An engine or RCS that can be switched between MonoPropellant and LF/Ox. Could be added to any Stock part through ModuleManager. Several upgrades for engines or RCS placed in the same tech tree's node with different tradeoffs between thrust, specific impulse and cost. Known Issues and Limitations: This plugin was not tested for every imaginable situation where it could be of use. Bugs may exist. There is no in-game interface to edit the ignore list of upgrades yet. Terrible support for part symmetry. First this won't apply automatically to all symmetrical counterparts of the selected part yet. Then there are bugs: if you open the Upgrade Editor Menu in a part, change its upgrade settings then alter its symmetry, argument out of range exception spam will happen and the Upgrade Editor button may disappear in all affected parts. Doesn't happen when picking a new part for symmetry from the left part menu, which inherits upgrade settings from latest edited similar with Upgrade Editor, and can also be avoided by saving and reloading the vessel after using the Upgrade Editor Menu to only then apply symmetry. Changelog: Version 0.3.4 Fixed crippling bug with RCS part upgrades by disabling the OnAwake() command for ModuleRCS and RCSFX. Now works correctly instead of having no RCS thrust at all. Fixed major bug where the first part with modified upgrade settings in a vessel loaded in VAB/SPH didn't have its upgrades properly applied. Fixed lack of reset to original Part Stats modified by PartStatsUpgradeModule upon disabling relevant upgrades. Fixed occasional bug where an Engine or RCS with upgrades that did not change propellant type would not have such reverted back during the load of a craft file if upgrades that changed such settings were disabled, depending on the quantity and position of the involved parts in a saved craft. Toggle All Upgrades now is set to false by default, which makes any part picked from the left menu in the Editor inherit the same settings last applied to a similar part through the Upgrade Editor. Version 0.3.3 Added capability of loading original part configs without upgrades and removed no longer necessary ModuleManager workaround patches. Added an Ignore List so upgrades that are utterly pointless to disable like diameter increases for procedural parts won't show up. Version 0.3.2.5 Added full persistence for upgrade settings. Saved crafts now store which upgrades should not be enabled for every part in them. Version 0.3.2 First test release, inheriting only the R&D tech tree highlight from UpgradesGUI and relying on wholly new code for everything else. Special Thanks: To @Gotmachine for doing UpgradesGUI, which inspired this project and served as reference for it. To @Shadowmage for unintentionally giving me a hint on how to achieve this when I was about to give up on this and mostly because I really like SSTU. To everyone who shared and/or created examples of PopupDialog uses , references without which I'd never succeed in creating this.

With 1.2 part stats upgrades that can be unlocked in the R&D facility have been implemented: "PartModules now support upgrades. In a MODULE node, add an UPGRADE node. Inside that add one node per techID you wish to provide upgrades, in ascending order. Inside that place keys and nodes you wish to upgrade. e.g. `UPGRADES { basicRocketry { maxThrust = 250 } }` will change maxThrust to 250 once basicRocketry unlocks. Upgrades will never override persistent data. Further, by default they overwrite each other; to make a node apply on a clean slate (so you can, say, add two PROPELLANT nodes and not have them conflict due to the overwrite logic) set `IsExclusiveUpgrade__ = True` in the upgrade's node. That will clear the upgrade state and apply that upgrade fresh. Upgrades are applied only when you add a part to a craft in the VAB/SPH, they don't magically apply in flight. When a part on a craft is upgraded, a new option will appear in the PAW (when in VAB/SPH) where you can view the current stats of all those modules with upgrades." While this is nice and enables the implementation of performance upgrades for older parts when unlocking a new R&D-"node", the usability of this system is thwarted by the inability to activate them in sandbox mode. For example: if you model an rocket engine that existed over many decades and was constantly upgraded, you can do this for career & science mode, but you are stuck with the basic version of that part in sandbox mode, even as the sandbox mode should provide you with every possible part to play around with. So my suggestion is: we NEED a way to activate and deactivate existing part upgrades in sandbox mode in the VAB, giving us the ability to switch between the available states of upgrades for a part. This would also make developing and testing such upgrades easier and, if also available in career mode would give players the option to to NOT use an already unlocked upgrade, for example for cheaply launching a smaller payload where you don't need the upgraded parts.

Currently a new Sandbox save defaults to having the "apply all upgrades" (unsure if that is the exact wording, sorry) UN-checked. As a result, any mod that decides to use this functionality (and stock, should it ever do so) has the modder bombarded with "why aren't my parts showing up?" comments in their mod thread since this toggle is both counterintuitive (you'd expect everything on in sandbox), and in "advanced settings" where they are less likely to notice it. The tiny change would be to have that check box checked as the default condition. I think it will save a lot of modders support headaches. This is primarily an issue to make modders' lives better, they have enough issues with demanding users without this additional trouble. I don't know who should look at this issue---perhaps @RoverDude or @nightingale?

Which KSC upgrade do you recommend doing first? I'm using the Engineering Tech Tree and New Horizons mods, so my career has been all unmanned so far. I still haven't unlocked manned space flight, though I'm about to do so. As it is, I can orbit Kerbin and conduct suborbital flights to earn cash and science. (Making orbit with less than 30 parts and 20 tons has been a fun change of pace.) But I suspect the part limit and especially the weight limit will make it tough for me to go beyond Kerbin to these mysterious New Horizons celestial bodies. I'm playing on Hard mode (except I've enabled quicksaves and reverts), so money is tight; I have 168,000 hard-earned funds to my name. Anyway, right now I see two leading affordable candidates for upgrade: the 150,000-fund launchpad, to let me use bigger boosters to increase delta-V; or the 150,000-fund astronaut complex, to let my Kerbals take soil samples and whatnot around KSC for some juicy science. What do you all recommend?