Instant replay?

[Goody1981]

Does anyone remember that car game Stunt? (Or maybe it was Stunts). You build your own tracks, take a hilariously poor-handling car onto them, inevitably crash (oh the ignominy of that cracked windshield!) and then spend the next 25 minutes watching the replay from all possible angles.

 

How cool would it be to put together a plane, swoop around the KSC, do some impressive manoeuvres that may or may not end in a fireball and have the ability to watch/save an instant replay? 

 

Admittedly this is probably mostly land-focused, since a replay of a 4 hour ion burn might not be the most interesting thing, but I'm sure the amazing people here could find interesting ways to use it in space too.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Goody1981
Edit- spelling

[jlcarneiro]

I do remember that game! Very old, primitive and... FUN! Here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stunts_(video_game)

The instant replay would be great, but I don't know if it would be feasible... I suggest something easier, though: the game would constantly save the last xx secs (e.g. 30 secs) so when we crashed, it would show it repeatedly if we wanted it to.

[pandaman]

This would be a handy feature for creating cinematics etc.  The same shot from multiple angles would give interesting editing options.

As for implementing it I don't know what the best approach would be.  Maybe a 'start/stop recording' hotkey would be the best way. Then it's purely optional.

[worir4]

This is something I have long wanted. There is a mod that lets you slow down time and even pause it, but it is no replay. 

Oh how glorious it would be to watch a 500 part rocket explode on launch spectacularly. 

[Guest]

This game is such an explosion-oriented game and I never thought about this?

 

This is GENIUS!

[Goody1981]

2 hours ago, spink00 said:

This game is such an explosion-oriented game and I never thought about this?

 

This is GENIUS!

Haha thanks

I'm relatively new to the forums, and didn't want to make a faux pas by suggesting something that had already been suggested. I scoured the "Already Suggested" and "What Not to Suggest" threads again and again, sure that it must have already been mentioned. Super surprised it hadn't been!

 

3 hours ago, pandaman said:

This would be a handy feature for creating cinematics etc.  The same shot from multiple angles would give interesting editing options.

As for implementing it I don't know what the best approach would be.  Maybe a 'start/stop recording' hotkey would be the best way. Then it's purely optional.

Yeah I think that's a great idea. I'm fairly certain TIE Fighter (maybe the Special Edition on - gasp - CD-ROM!) had this feature. It was awesome too, because you could position the camera in heaps of different ways - your ship, your target, or free floating so you could just watch from any angle.

[Glaran K'erman]

Good suggestion, would be very cool to have for epic landings!

[Tex_NL]

Most definitely a great suggestion. That's why this has been suggested several times before. Oldest I could find dated from early 2012.
I myself have suggested this very same thing a few years ago and I too made the comparison to TIE Fighter. It recorded all positions and actions of all craft and you were able to replay it from every viewpoint.

But despite the need/desire for such a feature I am no longer sure it can adequately be done. To make a proper replay all parts must be tracked and recorded each and every game tick. The KSP physics already put enormous strain on the CPU. I don't know if it can handle the extra load.

[jlcarneiro]

Look at this video from Video Wednesday:

I suppose, Simiel Black had to jump at least three times to get those three points of view. If the game recorded the trajectory of the vehicle (or maybe if he used Persistant Trails) he would have to jump just once and ask the game to replay it as many times as he liked.

Am I right?

[A35K]

Indeed a very interesting suggestion. I think instant replays would not only be fun, but they could also have a use (e.g., if your rocket starts to wobble and fall apart, you could use a replay to see exactly were it started breaking etc.), however as has already been mentioned, it would be very complex since it would have to basically save every physics calculation that happened (or do it again). One game that does this is FSX (Flight Simulator), but the replays are sometimes glitchy because of so many parameters which have to be recorded. And in that game, the planes are one "part", now imagine KSP with a multiple hundred part ship! If it is feasible, it should definitely be added, but it won't be easy.