The "Full art pass" thread

[nothingSpecial]

I love the ribs. They add detail and aesthetics to the rocket. Don't like 2.5m rockets, other than the jumbo. Maybe make em all different solid colors (i.e blue green yellow orange)

The problem is, while they are good for payload (maybe even reasonable - to put structural elements of the tank outside the tank), they go against streamlining if you use them for rocket parts. And they don't look good enough with spaceplaneparts, so you are limited to use fuselage (or not; I frankly never used it after maybe my first playthrough) and mk1 jet fuel tank.

Maybe vertical ribs could add some detail to spice up plain design without throwing aerodynamics out of windows?

I agree on possible rockomax tanks solution, only think it would be better to keep palette muted. Orange can be bright because, you know, STS and SLS, but green and yellow are not so... "spacey" colors.

Or maybe not. We need at least some mockup.

[Red Iron Crown]

VSR is superior to stock. The funny thing is that it doesn't do much, if anything, to Porkjet's parts; they look almost the same.

It is my opinion that an art pass should attempt to bring all parts to the same level of quality and general aesthetic as Porkjet's. Too many of them look bulky, dirty, or like junk (not in the "your model is junk" sense, but actual junk), not at all fit for use in space. That needs to change.

Gotta say I agree with this. VSR is just beautiful, after using it for a while the stock textures/models of rocket parts look fairly clunky.

I am hopeful that eventually the devs will feel we have enough spaceplane parts and turn PorkJet's considerable talents to beautifying the existing rocket parts. Or maybe just buy VSR and incorporate it.

[klgraham1013]

But what are the standards for "looking good" or being "consistent" ? That's treading on dangerous ground, IMO.

I disagree. Ask any interior designer about color palettes. Ask a Blizzard artist about the specifics of their character design. Ask an architect about why specific shapes are used in building design. There is a science to art, if you take my meaning.

- - - Updated - - -

Sounds exaggerated to me. Someone with a vague knowledge of KSP would probably recognize each and every part as belonging to the same game.

If I had a vague knowledge of KSP and was shown the X-200-32, I'd probably think it was an exploding barrel from some first person shooter.

[basic.syntax]

Just a question, what do people think about giving some of the planets an art pass as well? Dres, and Eeloo right off the top of my head seem less detailed than say, The Mun. [...]

Maybe Dres could do with a complete re-imagining altogether, right now it's just "another boring grey rock".

See this article for the origin of the Mun's amazing detail. Note that reworking the geometry for other airless bodies might break saves with landed bases, that would then be above or below new terrain. (Unless the upgrade included a script to move objects up or down to the new surface... something that would require quite a bit of testing to cover odd contraptions, tall ones might simply fall over if they are now on a slope.) Breaking saves might be worth it, though

[Plume & Akakak]

If I had a vague knowledge of KSP and was shown the X-200-32, I'd probably think it was an exploding barrel from some first person shooter.

lol, fair enough.

I disagree. Ask any interior designer about color palettes. Ask a Blizzard artist about the specifics of their character design. Ask an architect about why specific shapes are used in building design. There is a science to art, if you take my meaning.

That's not what I had in mind, and I know. (I've paid a few rents in my life with the money I've earned from graphic and sound designs. )

I was wondering what you meant by "looking good" and "being consistent" in the part of your post saying that "every part needs to look good attached to each other", "in a Lego style building game".

More like a "Are Lego stormtroopers not allowed to pay a visit to Lego hippos in a Lego fire station at the top of a Lego medieval tower ?" question.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

VSR is superior to stock. The funny thing is that it doesn't do much, if anything, to Porkjet's parts; they look almost the same.

It is my opinion that an art pass should attempt to bring all parts to the same level of quality and general aesthetic as Porkjet's. Too many of them look bulky, dirty, or like junk (not in the "your model is junk" sense, but actual junk), not at all fit for use in space. That needs to change.

I agree with this, except it adds new parts and changes the tankbutt system, so when I go back to stock, a bunch of craft don't load.

[Wjolcz]

lol, fair enough.

That's not what I had in mind, and I know. (I've paid a few rents in my life with the money I've earned from graphic and sound designs. )

I was wondering what you meant by "looking good" and "being consistent" in the part of your post saying that "every part needs to look good attached to each other", "in a Lego style building game".

More like a "Are Lego stormtroopers not allowed to pay a visit to Lego hippos in a Lego fire station at the top of a Lego medieval tower ?" question.

The stormtroopers wouldn't normally go there, because they consider it a silly place. Or the Emperor told them not to.

That's not the point though. The point is that when you go to the store you don't buy a few pieces of this and a few pieces of that. You either buy a whole set of LEGO Star Wars, or a whole set of LEGO City. Or both, if you're rich enough.

Same with ordering the parts for your ship. The conversation should not look like this:

-"Hey Rockomax, can you make us a few pieces for our rocket?"

-"No, but you can take some FPS barrels from our junkyard for the same price."

-"k"

EDIT: Oh, yeah. Forgot about something: Never used Ven's mod, but the tankbutts look super useful. And since we're getting something similar for the Goliath engine, I hope we get this for other engines too. Having Skipper on 1.25m tanks would be amazing.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Veeltch

[More Boosters]

-snip-

Maybe Dres could do with a complete re-imagining altogether, right now it's just "another boring grey rock". Maybe some more massive canyons, making them Dres' primary features, and a recolouring (Eve is purple, so maybe to continue with the trend of "weird colors", Dres could be yellow?)

Pol is already sort-of yellow; I'd like to see a cyan Dres, like Uranus. Of course I can't explain such coloration. Lots and lots and lots and lots of ice?

Then again it's supposed to be a stand-in for Ceres so IDK.

-snip-

EDIT: Oh, yeah. Forgot about something: Never used Ven's mod, but the tankbutts look super useful. And since we're getting something similar for the Goliath engine, I hope we get this for other engines too. Having Skipper on 1.25m tanks would be amazing.

That would further reduce the utility of the 1.25m engines.

[Bill Phil]

Not really. It would be useful, but a Skipper has more than half the mass of one of the long 1.25 meter tanks, so it's best to stick with the 1.25 meter engines.

[klgraham1013]

I was wondering what you meant by "looking good" and "being consistent" in the part of your post saying that "every part needs to look good attached to each other", "in a Lego style building game".

More like a "Are Lego stormtroopers not allowed to pay a visit to Lego hippos in a Lego fire station at the top of a Lego medieval tower ?" question.

In my mind. A finished KSP craft should appear to be a single unit, where even the seams are hard to find. If you didn't already known what the particular parts looked like, it would be hard to determine where one part ends and another begins.

This isn't a hard and fast rule, just one that has not been followed nearly enough in KSP's part design.

edit: The 2.5 tanks are probably the most egregious example. The ribs on the 1.25 tanks don't help their case, either. This, in regards to simply stacking tanks on top of each other and making a tall rocket.

Edited September 14, 2015 by klgraham1013

[Whirligig Girl]

Maybe Dres could do with a complete re-imagining altogether, right now it's just "another boring grey rock". Maybe some more massive canyons, making them Dres' primary features, and a recolouring (Eve is purple, so maybe to continue with the trend of "weird colors", Dres could be yellow?)

Edited September 14, 2015 by GregroxMun

[Farex]

What Dres needs (besides it's asteroid-belt) is a moon in a polar orbit. Hm.

[Damien_The_Unbeliever]

One advantage of the clunky style is that, even without a craft file, you can readily comprehend how a craft has been put together. (Of those parts you can see in pictures). A smooth/no seams style would make it impossible to tell, from screen-shots, whether you were looking at one large tank of the appropriate size or multiple smaller tanks joined together. If you're arguing against such differentiation in tanks (i.e. someone who plays sandbox exclusively rather than career) then that's different from asking for an "art pass".

[klgraham1013]

One advantage of the clunky style is that, even without a craft file, you can readily comprehend how a craft has been put together. (Of those parts you can see in pictures). A smooth/no seams style would make it impossible to tell, from screen-shots, whether you were looking at one large tank of the appropriate size or multiple smaller tanks joined together. If you're arguing against such differentiation in tanks (i.e. someone who plays sandbox exclusively rather than career) then that's different from asking for an "art pass".

An art pass could mean many things, from refining models to cleaning up textures. I am arguing for a more consistent art style. Consider the Mk2 parts. A Mk2 cockpit -> cargo bay -> fuel tank -> adapter. A knowing eye can see the seams, but the generally consistent art style give the impression of a solidly made, single craft.

edit: I find it more impressive when I see a Kerbal craft and it takes me a second to figure out how it was built.

Edited September 14, 2015 by klgraham1013

[curtquarquesso]

Yep. Don't think many people would disagree with this.

VSR is nice, but it's very limited by the fact that it tries to keep the dimensions of the parts roughly equal to vanilla stock as to not break crafts. Squad needs to rethink every part in the game as far as I'm concerned, and they need to do it all in one fell swoop in order to only break crafts and saves once, and not over, and over again.

Squad needs to look at how to reduce part bloat on top of that. It'd be nice to be able to grab a tank, and cycle through different styles of it with different contents.

I wish they'd at least address is, and acknowledge that one day, KSP will get a solid art pass.