Making KSC buildings more alive

[Whirligig Girl]

Here's a visual idea for what I would imagine would be v1.2, or whatever update SQUAD decide is the Visual Prettiness update.

The buildings in KSC could use more life. They feel so empty aside from the VAB/SPH and the one kerbal we see in each building (and four in Admin building). Wouldn't it be cool if there were actual Kerbals roaming throughout the various space center building U.I.s?

Note that even the ones with 2D renders for scenes could still have 3D Kerbals walking around, just use the 2D scene as a background texture, and draw flat sprites in front of certain areas, like when you want Kerbals to be seen behind things like pool tables. Though really it might be prettier and easier just to make it an actual 3D scene.

VAB/SPH

There's already Kerbals walking around here. Just one thing: Where are the female Kerbals? Are there no KSC engineers and scientists of the female gender?

Tracking Station

Okay, this one is different than the others. It doesn't really need to have Kerbals working there, but I think it should have at least one Kerbal. How about Margaret Kerman the computer scientist? Maybe she reads the planetary body descriptions to you. By that I mean she has a little box connected to the Info-Database with a sort of speech-bubble thing. Just a small thing but it would give representation of the female kerbals in the head staff of KSC.

Astronaut Complex

This has the potential for a lot of cool stuff. I've talked of the idea of having coinop games to function as pseudo-tutorials before. But this is different. What if the Kerbals and recruits could walk around the astronaut complex floor, talking with each other, holding suspiciously green sodas, looking at their digital watches, etc. The Kerbals shown would correspond to the Kerbals in the U.I. If you were to hire a Kerbal recruit, they might have a little animation of joy: something like "Yay! I've been accepted!" They may also change into a flight suit next time you enter the building. Some kind of visual clue to tell the recruits apart from the astronauts. Maybe just a medal on their chest or something, corresponding to their level as an astronaut.

Mission Control

Some Kerbals in the background sitting at the computers, looking around and chatting. One of them would be Bobak Kerman.

Research and Development Complex

Some Kerbals in the background of the science archive screen doing... sciencey things. Dropping things and writing down what happens. Mixing chemicals that explode, then cheering at the puff of smoke. Stuff like that. All of them would be behind Wernher von Kerman.

Administration building

Actually have the administrator Kerbals sitting in their chairs around a table. Each of them would be sitting in whatever pose you would expect their character to be in. Mortimer would be stiff and try to sit as symmetrically as possible, Linus might be relaxing, etc.

The more Kerbals, the better!

[KSACheese]

I like it! Even if it doesn't really have much usability, I think it would be a good aesthetic.

[CaptainTurbomuffin]

What I did not understand was how Wherner von Kerman became a scientist from an engineer. I would rather like to see a separate kerbal as a scientist, while keeping Wherner as a rocket engineer.

[John Nowak]

What I did not understand was how Wherner von Kerman became a scientist from an engineer. I would rather like to see a separate kerbal as a scientist, while keeping Wherner as a rocket engineer.

I feel the same way. Carl Sagan or Travis Taylor might be good templates, or perhaps go with a Soviet space scientist just to open it up a bit.

[manaiaK]

I love these ideas, GregroxMun. Especially the coin-op tutorials, and improving the gender balance in the buildings.

[NoMrBond]

I was expecting some traffic around KSC, when we're in the VAB there are trucks and staff and lifters and all sorts of, I don't know, scene 'texture'

It would be neat to have Kerbals walking between buildings, trucks moving parts to/from the VAB/SPH or R&D, just something to give the place a bit of life really. The trucks/lifters could even be carrying parts you've unlocked (to the VAB/SPH), parts you're soon to unlock (to R&D), or even subassemblies from your save (within certain limits).

Maybe even some scatter (some Kerbal flora/fauna would be neat, could even community source/contest for fitting models/drawings) would go a long way too make the place feel alive

[Rath]

And maybe some trucks driving around the KSC when not laubching from the launchpad because rocket exhaust doesn't like engine radiators.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry for the Necro guys, but I think that this counts as meaningful content.

[r4pt0r]

I would say there are many many graphical improvements I would put miles ahead of adding various baubles and persons in the KSC building.

[XrayLima]

I really like these ideas, they would definitely help flesh out the game some more, but I'd agree that there are a few more pressing improvements needed first. That said, if the more glaring issues were addressed this type of improvement would be wonderful. Part of the beauty of the game is screwing up, and that is made the more important because we care about the Kerbals, and we only care because we see and meet them. More we see the, more we care. I would suggest though if we want (and I say YES we bloody do) a female Kerbal KSC character, and want her in the Tracking station, with it's giant radio telescopes and receivers it should be Jocelyn Bell Kerman surely?

[pincushionman]

The issue with spicing up the other scenes is that nearly all your time is spent either in the build scene or the flight scene. The place we need more Kerbals milling about is in the flight scene. At KSC and other places around the planet too.