Show picture of part being tested in a contract

[Miro Beero]

For all of us who don't have good memories,

When I am looking at a mission please show me a picture of the part that is required in the mission before I accept it.

[ceauke]

I'm very surprised that there's no reply (maybe the topic is a taboo ;-) )

I would love seeing the part that I need to test.

+1

[Superfluous J]

This isn't the first time this was requested. Pretty much everybody who doesn't work at Squad wants it. And probably the people there if they didn't have every part memorized so don't realize it's important.

[mattinoz]

Hopefully the move to give parts nicknames means squad get it that we don't have every part memorized.

[Starwhip]

I find that it's not the part I have trouble remembering the most, but that I have a contract for a part test at all. I'd like to see a better contract notification window in the VAB myself.

But the picture would be nice.

[Kegereneku]

I admit, it's maybe time we get this for 1.0.

I wonder if Squad might be thinking that because you are not supposed to know the part at first you are supposed to love discovering its spec.

But since the test contract are often random test infeasible or not worth the cost we want to know first if its "free-money".

[tater]

Yeah, an icon of the part would be awesome. In addition, a way to either show in a window, or click from within the mission selection area to show orbits/survey areas (should not be called "Mission Control," BTW, that is for controlling active missions (at least in english that's what it is)---maybe "Mission Planning," instead).

[nholzric]

Haha! I've been playing KSP for a long time (probably not as many hours as many of you - whatever) and I constantly have this problem. More than once I've thought to myself "Hmm, test that engine in orbit? Is that the giant weird engine I never use and can't afford to heft to orbit or the itty-bitty baby engine I could accidentally install on a rocket and never notice?" The Kerbal Wiki is my friend in these situations.

[Superfluous J]

I second (or fifth, by now ) the idea of making the parts more visible in the VAB. We already have blue highlighting on parts that we've not unlocked but are available for testing, but those we HAVE unlocked have no such highlighting. I would like those highlighted as well.

And when you right click them (for the extra stats) there should be a little "contract: Test this part traveling between 1200m/s and 1500m/s at between 50m and 53m altitude. Good luck" summary of the contract.

[mattinoz]

Yep add 6th here for a highlight colour for unlocked parts with test contracts.

Also while we are at contract interfaces in the VAB/SPH could we get a checkbox to hide contracts that we don't intend to meet in the current mission.

That list can get awfully long if your just trying to grind a couple of contracts to get some Funds.

Or your coming up on a transfer window and want to filter out the grind so its just Duna contracts.

[nholzric]

Also while we are at contract interfaces in the VAB/SPH could we get a checkbox to hide contracts that we don't intend to meet in the current mission.

That list can get awfully long if your just trying to grind a couple of contracts to get some Funds.

Or your coming up on a transfer window and want to filter out the grind so its just Duna contracts.

That's a great idea, it reminds me of the frustration with ships not remembering which crew you selected in the VAB. Ultimately, I want an easier way to see the contracts I care about during flight. Even if the contract window remembers which contracts are collapsed and which are expanded on a per-ship basis, this would help a lot. Since the contract window is so small in-flight, a more extreme solution would be to only carry certain contracts on a certain flight, but you'd probably want the ability to change your mind - view any other contract - in flight, so it wouldn't have to be that permanent.

[sumghai]

[MOD - Changed thread title for clarity.]

[Slam_Jones]

I wouldn't be opposed. Although I rarely do part testing contracts these days, I can still remember going back to the contract screen a couple times, trying to remember what I'm there to test.

On the other hand, you can open the contract window thingy in the VAB/SPH and just look at what it says, then match it to the right item.

[Vallius]

Maybe SQUAD could use the part icons we see in the VAB/SPH for this purpose?

I suspect that this would increase the load time for mission control significantly, but I'd consider it worth the wait.

Heck, they could even use the parts as they are presented in the Science lab. (It's been a while since I played, do they respond to a mouse like the VAB parts, or just as static pictures?)

[Carmoldu]

I'd propose get both an image of the part to test when choosing contracts and also parts that are needed for a contract somehow highlighted when in the VAB