Electric category in the editors

[ShotgunNinja]

The Utility category is cluttered, especially with mods. I noted many of the parts are batteries, solar panels, lights, etc. These could be moved into a new Electric category.

[Snikersnee]

You can create custom categories I believe. Although I do think there should be subcategories (wings, control surfaces, intakes, etc. would be aerodynamics.)

[Alshain]

Yep.  This is probably the #1 most suggested item that nobody can figure out why Squad won't just do it already.

@Snikersnee  The problem is the custom category menu is buried and the file it is stored in is even more buried (like incredibly so Kerbal Space Program\GameData\Squad\PartList\PartCategories.cfg), so 1. you have to go in to that menu to get the organized set, and 2. It likely gets lost each time a new version comes out and who wants to spend all the time reorganize them? Then you have to keep updating it for new parts.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Alshain

[Crzyrndm]

cough

(I agree totally btw, but in the meantime if you want to make custom categories that survive KSP updates...)

Edited May 7, 2016 by Crzyrndm

[Alshain]

At a bare minimum they should make an "Electrical", "Legs, Wheels, and Gear", "Separation and Docking", and a "ISRU" category.

Additionally they could lump together heat shields and radiators into a "Heat Management" group and Fairings, Service bays, and cargo bays into a "Cargo" group.

Edit: Also, "Communications" is going to be needed.  Having antennas in "science" won't make sense when you need them for basic control when @RoverDude's new system gets in.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Alshain

[Snikersnee]

It's not that hard. Here. Made a tutorial for you. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=679786943

(EDIT: don't question the title. trying to put a custom spin on the "for dummies" thing.)

(EDIT2: steam made the image low-res, so here's the imgur album[EDIT EDIT thank the kraken that albums now work!])

 

Edited May 7, 2016 by Snikersnee

[Alshain]

@Snikersnee Now do that for every part in the game, and every mod part there is and do it all again every patch Squad releases.

[Renegrade]

2 hours ago, Snikersnee said:

It's not that hard. Here. Made a tutorial for you. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=679786943

Yeah, I've used that before, but you end up with this annoying little "+" on each part icon, which is quite annoying when you're used to rapid, large scale construction that never involved having to click in a specific part of the durned part icon.

:/

In the old days, when the part categories went across the top, limiting the number of categories was required, but we have a LOT of unused space.   Also note that the actual part directories (folders) DO have an "Electrical" directory, as well as a "Thermal", "Wheel", and "Resources" directories.

The vertical list uses about 320 pixels of vertical height, ~100 are unavailable, and there's 9 icons.. so they're what, 35-ish tall and we have room for about 19 at 1024x768 (I believe that's the default and minimum rez?)...on top of which that list scrolls.

So we could pretty much just categorize for those four directories, which are pretty much what @Alshain suggested for a minimum.

 

[Crzyrndm]

@Snikersnee
That worked for the first handful of small groups I made with stock parts then the drudgery of the system just got too annoying. The constant requirement to update for new mods and those annoying little '+' buttons on each icon only make the problem worse. The back end is acceptable (it lets me do what I want, could possibly use a few improvements but...), but the user interface just isn't up to the task as far as I'm concerned. When stock starts adding custom filters based around functional attributes, then maybe I'll consider using it. Till then, Filter Extensions is just not something I want to be using part mods without

Edited May 7, 2016 by Crzyrndm

[Snikersnee]

I don't understand why the + sign is so annoying. That and why it's such an inconvenience to create custom categories.

[Alshain]

4 hours ago, Snikersnee said:

I don't understand why the + sign is so annoying. That and why it's such an inconvenience to create custom categories.

Because it has the opposite effect of what we want. It's not about having a group with only Electrical, It's about creating a less crowded Utilities and Aerodynamics group.  Creating a custom category for electrical, doesn't remove the partsfrom the Utilities.  So, the only way custom categories can resolve that problem is if you categorize every single part in a custom category and completely ignore the default categories, not only in stock, but any mods you want too.  Install a new mod?  You now have to go find all the parts it added, which can be scattered, and add them to the list too.

 Go do that right now, just with stock, not even including mods, and you will quickly see why it isn't a viable solution.

If they were all related in even some way it would make sense, but they aren't.  There are a lot of tanks but they are all tanks.  Utilities is like a "We don't know where to put this, so lets put it there" group.  Aerodynamics have somewhat become that too.  Despite the fact that heat is created by atmosphere, I still don't consider heat shield when I think of aerodynamics.  It's just in the wrong spot.  Fairings have more to do with shielding cargo than being aerodynamic, so why are cargo bays and service bays in Utilities and fairings in aerodynamic?  They both shield cargo!  Those two groups just have a nonsense organization and it needs to be corrected.  I'm not even sure air intakes belong there quite frankly, they are closer to engines than aerodynamics.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Alshain

[pincushionman]

Are the categories actually populated by the folder contents, or is it a database instead where it's based off tags in the part .cfg? That is, if "rocket engine" and "jet engine" categories were made, could the RAPIER potentially show up in both lists? Or if the 1x2 booster could be shown as both a tank and a rocket?

Edited May 8, 2016 by pincushionman

[Crzyrndm]

The stock "Filter by Function" subcategories (the default ones you always see) work only on the part category field so they can only ever turn up in one subcategory in that category. The actual function of those parts is irrelevant. If the filtering method was changed, it would be possible to have parts in as many subcategories as you wanted (see FE or the stock resources tab)

Edited May 8, 2016 by Crzyrndm

[Alshain]

In 1.0.5 you could have parts in multiple custom categories but they seem to have altered that in 1.1.

[Snikersnee]

Oh, I understand now. I thought he couldn't find the parts because there were so many.

[Renegrade]

On 2016-05-07 at 10:17 AM, Snikersnee said:

I don't understand why the + sign is so annoying.

Because it's entirely too easy to accidentally click that stupid little + while concentrating intently on a new design being put together, and then this damned "Add part to category" popup happens, breaking the workflow and distracting concentration.

If it was like an alt-click or right-click to add a part to a category, it wouldn't be so bad.  Still doesn't address the "Utilities is basically random garbage spam" issue.

[mattinoz]

Have to agree parts stock categories are too like digging in a Lego box for the small parts that fall to the bottom. It's the one Lego like aspect of the game that could go away.