1.1 Text is unreadable

[Green Baron]

I get a headache from the small thin letters as well (on the 15" laptop screen, it's ok on the 24" desktop). I wear glasses for reading.

[John FX]

On 20/04/2016 at 0:42 PM, Ignath said:

As happens EVERY release with small bugs and UI issues, this was mentioned TIME AND TIME AGAIN to SQUAD from pre-release testers.  There are multiple bug reports on the issue and this was one of the items that was posted in the @NathanKell thread a couple days ago asking about the most serious bugs still remaining.

Pre-releases and bug fixing/testing is done not in a vacuum but with schedules, time constraints, workloads and many other variables in mind.  SQUAD chooses the bugs that they think are most important to fix before release and we, as testers, users and customers of theirs, have to deal with those decisions.

In this particular case, I think the choice to focus on wheels and landing gear (so they're at least semi-functional to mostly functional for the 1.1 release) was a much better decision than worrying about the text...and trust me, even in the most recent pre-release builds, the landing gear and wheels were NOT working.  So, to sum up...in this case your choice was between fuzzy text or not being able to land airplanes, spaceplanes or rockets with landing gear.  I think SQUAD probably chose wisely this time.  I would guess the text issues (if enough throw a stink about them) will be fixed in a patch for 1.1

Now that is fair enough but at some point it would be really nice if SQUAD would just stop putting anything new in just for a while and sort out the long list of bugs still open on the tracker.

They could put out an update and call it `Double Digits` as that is what they have reduced the list of open bugs down to.

I`ll have a look.

OK, as of writing on the bugtracker there are 1229 open bugs out of 1656

That`s 500 more than the last time I looked. It`s going up and up.

Maybe the update should be called "Back to triple digits"...

Really Squad, you have worked hard and brought us 1.1, it`s really nice and we like it but just stop for a bit, sort out bugs then move on. Now would be a good time because I`m sure there are bugs you would like to be gone after such an update...

An ever increasing amount of unresolved bugs can`t be good for anyone and lowers the quality of your product and brand.

[Ignath]

35 minutes ago, John FX said:

Now that is fair enough but at some point it would be really nice if SQUAD would just stop putting anything new in just for a while and sort out the long list of bugs still open on the tracker.

What "new" things did they add this time?  Only things I can think of are the following:

• Added an official mods (Asteroid Day, minus the telescope) parts to the game (I would imagine contracts, etc... will stay with the mod)
• Part Search
• Orbital Line display (really goes with the U4 to U5 update below, but figure I'd include it, just to increase the size of this list)
• KSPedia
• Vessel Cutaways

Besides these, pretty much everything else that is "new" has to do with:

• Update from U4 to U5 (not really anything "new" here...just a COMPLETE engine update)

Seems to me that they didn't really add much of anything "new" this go-around, and that perhaps the update from U4 to U5 was a bit more in-depth and complicated than they expected it to be.  The update touched almost every system in every corner of the game...this will obviously induce many more bugs.  Also, I think the quantity of bugs that you see on the tracker is so high because there was a whole other section of users who got to try their hand in helping SQUAD find bugs.  It certainly doesn't mean that they'll get them all cleaned up in 1 release cycle, nor does it mean that there are really 1229 distinct (read not duplicate) bugs open in the tracker right now.

Be patient, bug squashing is happening and has happened throughout the process of moving to 1.1.  I'm sure there will be a hotfix at some point (perhaps even today) to fix some of the largest glaring issues (like this text issue).  Also, SQUAD didn't introduce a whole lot of "new" stuff this go-around (in fact, they even cut some things [stock AntennaRange/RemoteTech functionality for example] to avoid the additional bugs/testing), most of these bugs are due to U4 to U5 switch and they'll get cleared up with time.

Again, to reiterate my point from the first page of the discussion:   'bug fixing/testing is done not in a vacuum but with schedules, time constraints, workloads and many other variables in mind"

In this case, it sure looks like SQUAD was hamstrung with a STEAM release of 1.1 on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, that was probably due to something they set up with STEAM a while in advance, and were unable to change that (the big 40% off sale for 1.1 release).  This caused them to not be able to continue the pre-release further, stamp a 1.1 release version and push it out.  So, in closing, we got what we got in 1.1 because of schedules, time constraints, workloads and other variables that forced SQUAD to have to release a buggy product on Tuesday, instead of doing what you've asked (sort out the long list of bugs still open on the tracker).

 

Edited April 22, 2016 by Ignath
spelling

[John FX]

5 hours ago, Ignath said:

What "new" things did they add this time?

Quite a lot actually...

KSP 1.1 also introduces an entirely new implementation for all wheel and wheeled parts in the game. With the move to Unity5, the PhysX engine also got updated to PhysX 3.3 (from 2.8 in Unity4 and earlier). Unfortunately, the wheel collider components got somewhat messed up in the upgrade, and that meant for us that our wheels simply wouldn't work as they did anyore.

The old implementation for wheels had always been a bit messy. There were several modules that did mostly the same things, and it was generally problematic to maintain and extend. Moving to Unity5 gave us the nudge we needed to write an entirely new, modular system to replace the old modules. Every rover wheel, langing gear and landing leg has been overhauled to use this new system. The new wheels use an independent physics base package called VPP (Vehicle Physics Pro, by Edy), which largely replaces standard PhysX wheels, and works under the concept of submodules connected to a base wheel part module.

In the cfg file for wheel parts you'll now find these modules defined:

• ModuleWheelBase
  This is the base for any wheeled part. It handles creating and setting up the VPP wheel controller and wheel collider, handles basic wheel parameters and sets up default values for anything not handled by a submodule. It also handles the tire mesh update and tire friction parameters.

• ModuleWheelSubModules
  Submodules are the core of the new wheel system. All wheel submodules extends this base class.
  • ModuleWheelSteering
    This submodule handles the steering functionality for a wheel. If omitted, the wheel won't be steerable. The steering logic has been rewritten from scratch to be much smarter, and now supports Ackermann steering with any number of wheels. In game, steering can be toggled on/off, as well as inverted, for each set of wheels.
  • ModuleWheelMotor
    This submodule adds motor functionality to a wheel. Motorized wheels now drain EC in proportion to how much torque they are outputting (which tapers down as the vehicle approaches its top speed), and also have tweakable traction control. Motors also be toggled and inverted.
  • ModuleWheelSuspension
    This submodule handles the suspension system for the wheel. This feature was the most improved, as suspensions were the most broken aspect of the new unity5 wheel colliders. The new suspension system is self-tuning. The spring force and damper values are adjusted in realtime based on the vessel mass and observed suspension compression, so the suspension is always springy and able to support the load of the vessel, regardless of its design.
  • ModuleWheelBrakes
    This submodule manages the brakes on a wheel. If omitted, the wheel will have no brakes.
  • ModuleWheelDeployment
    This handles the wheel's ability to deploy and retract, manages the deployment animation and toggles the wheel on/off when it is extended or retracted.
  • ModuleWheelDamage
    Wheels that are able to be damaged implement this submodule, which handles the stress simulation and damage states. Wheel stress has also been greatly rewritten. Of old, wheel stress was for the most part a function of vessel speed. Now, wheel damage is based on wheel load and slip. Excessively loaded wheels may pop under the least provocation, while doing donuts around KSC with a lightly loaded set of wheels may also end up in broken tires, and anything in between.
  • ModuleWheelMotorSteering
    Finally, this submodule extends the ModuleWheelMotor submodule itself, providing differential steering functionality as well as driving, using the same motor logic as other motorized wheels. (Only the XL-3 rover wheels use differential steering in stock KSP)

Debugging Tools

Comments can now be directly injected into the log, from the debug tab of the debug toolbar as accessed by Alt-F12. You can use this to communicate with the developer or modder reading the log as they read it, to outline reproduction steps for example, or anything else you need to communicate. If you left click the comment button, it injects a very short comment. If you right click it, it will inject the comment plus a lot of information about your game setup, where you are in game, and what you are doing in game. This is very very helpful to developers, as it is not always obvious what you were doing at any given time while reading a text file. So please utilize this liberally while testing, especially when uploading log files to the issue tracker.

There is a new cheat to enable stock vessel usage in career mode saves, combined with a new stock vessel that is built with starter technology: the Jumping Flea. This allows testers to start a new career save and immediately jump into the flight scene without having to go through the VAB or SPH, which speeds up the process of testing and debugging career mode.

Additionally, in the contract tab, there is now an option to reset contract weights to their default values. Contract weights will be explained below.

Options to enable Aero GUI and Thermo GUI are also now on the debug toolbar.

KSP's logging now intercepts log calls from child threads as well. In addition, the log now includes basic information about what mod DLLs are loaded and what folders/files exist in the root of GameData.

• Fixed IVA atmosphere gauges to match the UI gauge.
• Fix altitude tumbler saturation when under physical warp.
• Fix negative funds/science, display bugs with strategies affecting costs.
• Action group cluster buttons (gear, lights, sas, rcs) disable with loss of control source (probe without EC, empty pod, etc).
• Landing gear button detects state of landing gear/legs during rollout (no gear or all gear up, and the light will be off).
• The tooltip on the EVA button is now much more verbose if there is a problem.
• Fix some bugs with building unlock abilities text.
• Fix craft thumbnail saving for special characters.
• Astronaut complex and editor action group part names now display the title, rather than the internal part ID.
• All ModuleResource entries now print the same way, offer additional flexibility there for printing (non-default units, SI prefixes).
• Auto-warp (eg, warp to point in orbit and warp to next morning) can be canceled via the GUI (warp triangles or next morning button).
• Date/time formatting is now in a replaceable interface and can be customized by mods.
• Tweakables get locked along with Events.

• Symmetry partner action groups now propagate when removing/replacing parts in the editor.
• Symmetric partners no longer get "lost" during build.
• Offset and rotation gizmos now work properly for radial symmetry forks.
• Fix improper symmetry propagation when building singular wings, then mirror attaching in SPH.
• Fix node/stack attach in editor to connect proper nodes (especially with thin parts and cargo bays).
• Editor now displays preference for surface attach first, then node/stack attach.
• Multiple changes for re-root tool. New text message and ability to re-root arbitrary part branches (merged, subassembly, and branches in stand-by).
• Editor now selects proper root for merged craft that have been re-rooted.
• Fix offset gizmo when using on parts attached to hollow parts such as cargo bays, service bays, and structural fuselages.
• Offset gizmo now allows slightly larger offset distance when holding Shift.
• WASDQE no longer corrupts rotations when using the offset tool.
• Parts rotated with rotate gizmo now properly maintain rotation when removed or copied.
• Make editor gizmo input locks matter.
• Make a public property for which action group is selected in the editor.
• Fixed a part highlighting issue when moving the mouse from child to parent part.
• Fixed an issue when copying ghosted parts and attaching them to the main ship.

• Touched up the colors of all icons and orbits in map view.
• Warp To Next Day now functions in every scene, including the tracking station.
• Contract waypoints revised to run on Unity 5 canvases, and generally look more consistent with the other icons on the map.
• Saved vessels with maneuver nodes set in the future will now alternate between displaying their MET and the time until their next maneuver node in the tracking station.
• Fixed coordinate display to properly wrap around east/west.
• Split map control lock into two different ones (MAP_UI and MAP_TOGGLE).
• Changing camera angle and zoom no longer causes AN/DN lines to disappear (as much)
• Maneuver nodes can be placed on nearly any orbit patch.
• Targeting information is now available when on an escaping trajectory.
• Encounter information now accurately portrays the target's position at time of intercept when the target is on a flyby: the position markers will be in the correct SoI.
• Point at which celestial bodies' meshes are disabled is now tunable in plugins.

• Contract types are now weighted, this means as you accept a contract type, it will become more common over time, and appear more often in mission control. As you decline them, they will become less common. Planets are not weighted yet.
• Satellite contracts no longer utilize waypoints to display node information. They use a regular orbit renderer, and animate the spline to show the direction of the orbit.
• Flybys for tourism contracts and flyby milestones now trigger properly on unfocused vessels.
• Science milestones and contracts now respond to lab and orbital surveyor transmissions.
• Contextual contracts that ask you to add an amount of something to a vessel now display the current amount that the vessel has.
• MiniISRU now counts as ISRU for contract requests.
• Station contracts no longer consider asteroids a vessel is docked to when deciding if it is "new".
• Contextual contracts no longer generate on active vessels.
• Manned vessels with no crew and unmanned vessels with no power do not generate contextual surveys.
• Part test parts are now also highlighted in the technology tree.

• Use absolute path for Physics.cfg, fixes some path-related bugs.
• Fix a bug with drag cubes and skinned mesh renderers.
• Resources take heat with them on transfer.
• Disable Aero FX when thermo debug colors is enabled.
• Support (correctly) making occlusion change convective coefficient not temperature.
• Fix sun-based temperature curves to properly deal with tilt (basing it off true anomaly) and vary with latitude.
• Make Eve's upper atmosphere slightly gentler.
• Tune engine exhaust heating.
• Rework blackbody glow slightly for more flexibility and less obvious glow.
• Speed up buoyancy calculations.

• Splashed vessels touching or with kerbals standing on them no longer warp to the ocean floor when loading.
• Debris that gets automatically cleaned up in the space center will now attempt to recover for funds, science, reputation, and crew. Free launch clamps!
• Extended range for switching vessels in-flight.
• Fix an issue with vessel destruction and vessel markers.
• Vessels within physics range of active vessel are no longer deleted during quickload.
• Fix for kerbals entering zombie state when crashing and/or ragdolling in external command seat.
• Refactor asteroid spawning to remove duplicate code, fire events.
• A vessel's root part overhanging the edge of the launchpad no longer causes the vessel to be forced into the pad.
• The root part's cached transform is now set correctly, fixing some issues with loading vessels.

• Improved underwater FX tinting/fogging system.
• Moved underwater tinting into the atmosphere shader.
• Improved atmospheric halo/corona at low altitude thanks to blackrack/SkyToneMapper.

• Integrated the Probodobodyne HECS2, Communotron HG-55, and OX-STAT-XL Photovoltaic Panels from the Asteroid Day official addon.
• Part search has been integrated with a new part tagging feature that lets part configuration files be tagged with arbitrary meta data.
• Every part in the game tagged with arbitrary meta data, to make them more easily searchable.
• Parts are autotagged with certain tags based on their physical characteristics, so even new parts and untagged modded parts are searchable to some extent.
• Launch clamps now use raycasts instead of collisions to determine where they are landed.
• Added toggle option action group for fuel cells.
• Move radial drogue parachute to Survivability, with the first heat shield.
• Added flight control authority tweak (which also allows inverted control).
• Antenna now retain their state after transmitting (i.e. extended antenna stay extended).
• Fix a bug in parachutes that will not go from active to deployed if below deploy alt if they were not at semi-deploy pressure. Parachute now always deploys from active it reaches a radar altitude of its deploy alt. Parachutes also save animation state so deploy progress is not lost. Fix parachutes to care about density when checking for compressibility stress.
• Fix for guiActiveUncommanded being ignored when building part action windows.
• Airbrakes now properly retain their deployed state when rolling out or quickloading.
• Added callback support when changing a button on a part action window.
• Fix issue with the Twin Boar not providing roll control.
• Add warning to non-retractable solar panel descriptions that they can't.
• Fix bug with rescaleFactor of not 1.0 and MODEL nodes.
• IPartMassModifier now affects part mass as well as display. PartModules should not set mass directly.
• Added an inflatable heat shield. This combines excellent aerobraking with a reasonable level of thermal tolerance (though it is not ablative).

• Save/Load (and KSPField) support for VesselModules.
• Fix issues with ModuleRCS where some fields weren't hooked up right.
• Add staging toggle support to all our stageable modules.
• Support different portions of thrust per transform in ModuleEngines.
• Force a dragcube update when ModuleJettison jettisons.
• Correct typo in ModuleAnimateGeneric field names.
• Allow ModuleAblator to create a resource as it consumes the ablator (i.e. cracked ablator).
• Fix an issue with ModuleLight and symmetry.
• Default engines to working while shielded.
• Control surface actuation speed lerps now, like other speeds.
• Fix an issue with engines not properly saving throttle.
• Fix issue with engines disabling when below "sea level" on bodies with no ocean.
• Docking ports no longer become unusable if saved when acquiring, and automatically recover when loading from old saves.
• The grapple is more robust when grabbing the active vessel.
• Added an option to ModuleAnimateGeneric that allows animations to be disabled after a single execution in flight mode.
• You can now customize the menu name shown for ModuleDecouple.
• You can now customize the menu name for jettisoning a fairing.
• ModuleJettison now defaults to 'Jettison Shroud' for its menu name
• Fixed an issue in ModuleReactionWheel where EC was being drained when input was being received from the player even if SAS was off.
• Both deployable and non-deployable radiators have an option to activate/deactivate cooling (and corresponding EC consumption).
• Fixed a regression where static radiators were not respecting their parent/sibling cooling limitations.
• Gimbal reworked. Supports explicit +/-X, +/-Y ranges. Can enable/disable pitch, yaw, roll activation. Fix gimbal not working when an engine is activated rather than staged. Fix gimbal to use gimbal transform not part origin when computing inversing inputs.
• RCS and Gimbals can now have actuation toggled per axis.
• Engines and RCS now support thrust curves (based on percentage of propellant remaining).
• Fixed an issue with exhaust heating and non-full-physics parts.
• Fixed target speed running away when grappling onto a targeted vessel.
• Fixed easting coordinates not wrapping properly for ISRU instruments.
• Changed the method for deploying control surfaces. Mirror attached parts deploy mirrored, Radial attached parts deploy radially.
• Flight control deployment direction is no longer dependent on CoM, so they will not flip or jitter in-flight.

• Vessels can now utilize multiple labs at once.
• Labs no longer duplicate science data.
• Labs with science can now be recovered for science.
• Lab button on experiment results dialog always shows if a lab is present, but greys out when it cannot be used.
• When a lab cannot be used, a very specific reason is shown in the lab button's tooltip.
• Lab button tooltip no longer shows data amounts, but rather how much science you will get, and how long it will take to get it.
• Labs cannot transmit if already transmitting, or process when already processing.
• Fixed a few lab errors that were displaying despite actions being successful.
• Science Labs now have 750 units of data storage to account for large return values from Eeloo

• Clamshell fairings, fix fairing bugs. Thanks to xEvilReeperx for inspiration!
• Fix fairing center of lift placement.
• Fix infinite recursion state when attaching inverted fairings together
• Fix interstage fairings not connecting/closing nearby overlapping parts.
• Fix interstage "cannot activate while stowed" issue when decoupling with intact fairing.
• Fix fairing not wanting to close in the editor if the wall ever detected a collision.

• Fixed a bug where resource data was unavailable in the Tracking Center.
• Converted the Narrow Band Scanner to a Unity 5 UI.
• Drills should be less prone to shutdown due to physics hops.
• Fixed a drag cube issue with deployable drills that caused them to always be treated as if they were in their extended state.
• Fixed an issue where, upon load, radiators would be extremely hot due to core heat.
• Fixed a bug where resource data would be persisted when saves were changed without re-loading the game.
• Drills now respect InfiniteElectricity and InfinitePropellant cheats. Note that for resource converters, toggling infinitePropellant removes ALL input requirements. This is to better facilitate modder testing.
• Resources now have a volume field (in liters) that can be used by modders where volume calculations are required vs. mass.
• ModuleResourceConverter can now be configured to take inputs in mass (metric tons) vs. units.

• Cached the components of most animated kerbals, like EVA kerbals or the space center ground crew, in order to negate hundreds of unnecessary component searches per frame.
• Many, many performance optimizations. Some thermal things are now cached in part or precalculated, gauges refactored, slight PQS improvement.
• ITorqueProvider interface which modules that create torque implement.
• Events for part resource flow state, amount state change.
• Add events for going to/from, saving/loading protovessel/crew/part/progressnode.
• Science experiments can have optional cooldown timers. They can be set to not work when shielded.
• Facility upgrades have more fields and methods exposed for modding.
• Fix an issue with ConfigNode.ParseVector2 not returning one.
• Fix so that all GameParameters are respected.
• Fix an issue with parsing ulong enums.
• Add a debug override to enable quicksaving even when not clear to save.
• Fix a bug with events that remove themselves (was killing docking and other things).
• Add event when vessel reference transform changes.
• Add type-based contains and get to PartModuleList.
• Fix light dimming/brightening rates to use proper .cfg values.
• Warp-to-morning fixed for inclined launch sites. Now warps to a specified time of day regardless of inclination/tilt.
• Fix mysterious bright spots on the terrain with certain vessels.
• Crawlerway and SPH now properly report their names when being crashed into.
• The auto-deletion of debris at KSC can be turned off (settings menu)
• Long saves (> 68 Earth years, 233 Kerbin years) no longer cause negative dates. The date is good for over 140Gyr (though other problems will manifest)
• Quick-loading via alt-F9 a save made in the space center now returns to the space center if the save is not too ancient (pre 0.24).
• Fix issue with certain airlock hatches not properly detecting obstructions.
• Fix an issue with settings.cfg not properly importing or updating from previous installs.
• Added a "Return to 1x time warp" keybinding, default is /
• Fix instances where kerbals could sometimes not plant flags after bounding on low-g worlds.
• True anomaly is now always in radians.

 

 

Admittedly a lot of those are bugfixes and refinements to existing systems but there is a lot of new stuff there. A lot of long standing bugs were also dealt with but the number of outstanding bugs increased, even with 1.0.5 being mostly a bugfix update too.

Don`t get me wrong, I don`t think Squad are doing a bad job but I do think that a whole update cycle devoted to not introducing any more bugs and eliminating as many bugs as possible would be a good call. If there are a significant amount of duplicates on the tracker that would be a good way of looking like you are getting rid of bugs, hehe.

It might even give them time to put in the features that keep getting knocked back too...

[Ignath]

@John FX Most of the extensive list of items you posted are enhancements directly related to the update from Unity 4 to Unity 5, if they're not bug fixes (which is what you were originally complaining about, lack of bug fixes).

Wheels and Landing Gear are a prime example.  The implementation they used back in Unity 4 no longer worked on Unity 5, so they were forced to update.  Your post proves my point that a majority of this was due to the upgrade from U4 to U5 and most of these aren't "new" features.  Either way, this is totally OT of the original post, so I won't be responding again as I don't want the thread to be locked unnecessarily.  If you wish to continue the discussion, feel free to PM me.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Ignath

[John FX]

Just now, Ignath said:

@John FX Most of the extensive list of items you posted are bug fixes or enhancements directly related to the update from Unity 4 to Unity 5.

Wheels and Landing Gear are a prime example.  The implementation they used back in Unity 4 no longer worked on Unity 5, so they were forced to update.  Your post proves my point that a majority of this was due to the upgrade from U4 to U5 and most of these aren't "new" features.  Either way, this is totally OT of the original post, so I won't be responding again as I don't want the thread to be locked unnecessarily.  If you wish to continue the discussion, feel free to PM me.

I wasn`t wanting a big discussion anyway, however they were introduced I just think an update to fix things like the issue that made the OP write a suggestion would be sensible.

[Jirnsum]

I am playing on a UHD screen, and at 120 scaling everthing looks crisp, but still tiny! It's killing me to have to turn down the resolution and get fuzzier graphics, just because the UI doesn't scale nowhere near enough. At the same time the mousepointer is large is enough to complety hide the numbers when hovering over AP or PE nodes

[CattyNebulart]

It's bad anti-aliasing of text, there are some sections of text that are affected and some not. It's an annoyance I expect to be fixed someday/

[Cairol]

I also get blurry / frazzled text with 110% and 120% UI scale with my 23" 1080p panel. But with 100% scale, the UI is simply too small, while the nav ball is too big and noticably low-res / blurry too.
The app selector buttons on the right are too big.
And I also noticed, the preview images in the parts selector (the animated preview) is super-low-res and non-AA.
Don't know if the latter was already present in V1.0.5, but it looks pretty cheap and is somehow distracting.

[Sandworm]

Technical debt.  They are building a very big hill with each patch that they do not address these little things.

I was playing around with fonts/scales under the false assumption that I was seeing some sort of linux-related text bug.  From this thread I gather that the issue is universal.  Squad isn't going to get many more kudos at conventions if petty UI issues like readability aren't addressed.  I wonder what sized screens/resolutions Squad build this stuff on.  Am I looking at something that works only at insanely-high resolutions?

Any football fans here should appreciate the effect.  Traditional football balls were designed to be seen on grainy black-and-white screens 50 years ago.  Modern footballs are meant to look good in HD but become indistinct blurs on non-HD screens.

[wqt0806]

Spoiler

I took a photo to show the text is impossible to read with 120% scale.