The Future of KSP

[Pthigrivi]

So this is a reworked poll from a few weeks ago. At the time it was asking what people would most like to see from 1.2, but given that development of the new dish array and transmission system and possibly a rocket overhaul are already in the works I'm going to guess that 1.2 planning is probably baked in. I've also left off "Bug fixes" because thats a fairly constant car to chase. This is more to get a general sense of what the community is most interested in seeing in the future. Im sure there are a huge number of ideas that people have, but I did my very best to boil down some of the most common suggestions I see here into basic categories. Its multiple choice, but try to think about the things you think are absolutely essential. If you don't see a feature you'd really like feel free to write it in or expand on your vote below.

 

Edited May 21, 2016 by Pthigrivi

[basic.syntax]

"All of the above" - plus sound effects. I think HarvesteR really looks forward to working on them:

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2015 at 2:02 PM, SQUAD said:

I reckon it turned out for the best that we couldn't include the audio pass we had planned for the 1.0 release due to time constraints, because Unity5 has the most awesome audio toolset I've ever seen in a game engine. Imagine tools you'd find in pro audio software like Audition or ProTools, inside the game engine. Multi-channel mixing, EQ control at runtime, the works!

 

[blorgon]

Surface features are my number one ask. I really want a reason to visit planetary surfaces.

Better sound design is pretty high on my list, too.

[Pthigrivi]

^Good point. I included that with Graphics as a general sensory quality kind of thing.

[Barefoot Friar]

Give me a reason to visit other bodies by re-tweaking the science and by increasing the number of interesting things to observe.  Tie them together, if at all possible.

[AlamoVampire]

i hope to NEVER and I mean NEVER see multiplayer in this game. I am sorry to all the multiplayer fanboys out there, but, this is NOT a game that lends itself to multiplayer. There are too many ways it can go wrong. The biggest problem is, this game is so broken at the moment that its obscene to think they are considering it. They need in order of priority of things that MUST be done:

1. Fix this constant crashing. IF you are not affected by it, I am happy for you, but there is an issue either in KSP itself or Unity <leading suspicion is Unity> that has problems with memory usage that is causing ntdll.dll to yell out in frustration.
2. Address any other bugs that CAN be fixed <looking at you wheels with all your funny work arounds for one>
3. Polish career mode: as in, make it make SENSE, give people a reason to play it, give us an emotional investment. Do things logically, not just, well the player made orbit, lets have him or her try for eeloo or duna. that isnt logical, nor are those pointless go this fast use this, free money....sheesh
4. Add GP 2 and have Eeloo finally become the moon we know it is.
5. Polish graphics, add in the warm fuzzy fluffy stuff like clouds and city lights. yes, i know mods blah blah, im talkin all this as stock!
6. Double Check everything is kosher and smooth across ALL platforms, PC, Mac, PS4 and XBONE.
7. Find solutions to ALL POTENTIAL issues that WILL come up in multiplayer. Timewarp, part counts, mods, trolls, trolls, trolls, trolls, trolls, malware.
8. MAYBE consider multiplayer 2-3 years from now.

 

Yes, I figure that is enough time to get through just points 1-4 and make sure everything doesnt break as they go. All points are my opinion, but, I figure points 1 and 2 are absolute MUSTS <game breaking issues in number 1 for a ton of people, myself included, so unstable it is right now, its unplayable> 3 just makes sense, 4 would be nice, as is 5. 6 would be mandatory imo, as not breaking things is key. 7 makes or breaks multiplayer. In 2-3 years this game MAY be able to have multiplayer, its too young, too unfinished for multiplayer to be even remotely considered. No, Multiplayer needs to take the same amount of time resources did.

[Codraroll]

Highest on my wish list is a more moddable KSC. Make it possible to launch or build craft in more locations, primarily on Kerbin but eventually on other bodies. Make it possible to add buildings (the oft-requested Planetarium, for instance). Alas, it sounds like it would require pretty deep alterations to the code, so I guess I'll live with the dream instead.

So I guess surface features get my primary vote. Just something interesting to visit on every planet, something that isn't an easter egg. Glaciers, extreme mountain ranges, prominent craters, sinkholes, volcanoes, splotches of weird colours, maybe more exotic things such as areas covered in perpetual, thick fog or tunnels leading into the depths of the planet. Destinations really worth visiting, for fun and profit.

A proper reason to build space stations would also be cool. As another, recent thread showed, most people tend to stay within Kerbin's SOI the vast majority of the time. Something that would make building huge, complex space stations worth the effort - and not just because a contract says so - would be really nice.

In short, as far as features go, I'd like the devs to either focus on fun stuff to do inside Kerbin's SOI, or make it easier and more interesting to leave it.

[steve_v]

Well, the things I would most like to see addressed aren't on your list.
With the current "release" as a baseline, how about sorting out the instability, performance problems (primarily the infamous stutter), and the bizarre physics and collision glitches that still pervade the game. Yes, these are all game engine limitations. I don't consider that a valid excuse for leaving them unfixed.
I'll gladly take zero new content in exchange for stable and reliable core mechanics. No more glitchy wheels, unexpected framerate drops, craft lurching/bouncing on load, skating/sliding while landed, kerbal-ejection ladders, phantom forces, kraken drives, orbit instability, "colliding" with buildings kilometres away, docking/undocking bugs, etc. etc. 
And no random crashes.

I'd also like to see career mode refinements, graphical polish, something engaging to do on all those bland planets and moons, and various other details. But that's all way down my list, behind bugs and performance. Mods fill most of these gaps nicely as it is.

No amount of shiny new toys will cover up the glaring problems with the game engine, and no-one is going to enjoy new planets or graphical bling if the game doesn't run properly.
Right now, I'm waiting for the crashing and stuttering to be fixed, so I can actually play the game. 1.1.x has, as far as I can see, regressed on both of these issues.
Patches and improvements are supposed to improve stability and performance, not the other way around, right?

40 minutes ago, Codraroll said:

As another, recent thread showed, most people tend to stay within Kerbin's SOI the vast majority of the time

Count me as an example of "most people" then... But probably not for the reasons you expect. I rarely leave the Kerbin system because by the time I have unlocked the technology to do so, my save has grown to the point that the GC stutter makes the game unplayable.

45 minutes ago, Codraroll said:

A proper reason to build space stations would also be cool.

Indeed it would, but not when having more than a few of these makes the game engine freeze-frame every 5-10 seconds.

[Codraroll]

^I think it was assumed that fixing the bugs would be high on the priority list no matter what. Of course I'd like to see all the issues fixed, we all do, but this thread assumes we're allowed to dream beyond that. It's a wish list, after all. No need to stick with the troubles of the current situation.

[Pthigrivi]

I've been playing since about 0.18 and honestly some early 1.1 wonkiness aside this about as smooth and stable as Kerbal has ever been for me. Im on a 4 year old macbook and running more mods now than I ever have, and Im generally seeing much faster performance and very few crashes. Thats not to diminish from some of the frustration others are experiencing, its never fun to have legs blow up randomly or have the game crash. That said even big Bethesda titles are fraught with bugs and performance issues, Blizzard games deal with endless balance issues. These are big, well financed companies. Squad has what like less than 20 employees? Not to mention we're just emerging from an engine upgrade. Im not a programmer but I generally get the sense that producing good games is hard, and producing immaculate ones is nigh impossible. The unity upgrade was a huge lift and so much has improved. I have total faith the current issues will be dealt with. This is more about getting a sense from people what features and dynamics they'd most like to see added and polished up going forward. 

[Knaapie]

Your list is like the universe. ^^

It makes ones opinion feel so small in the grand picture devs are dealing with.

I'd expect them to explore their new engine, partially due to @basic.syntax  And partially because that seems like the most logical next step after insanely hard work to incorporate unity 5. Tbh, I'm quite happy how the game is progressing (apart from some sad stories from players who are bugged by crashes and performance drops). Mine on the other hand have increased drastically (yay for 64bit). 

I guess I'd prioritize general sensory quality together with surface features at this stage, making way for a career update later on: science / missions / building tier / biome mapping. Can I select 2? ^

Edited May 22, 2016 by Knaapie
yay i can

[mattinoz]

If 1.2 is rocket art overhaul, transmission relay and bug fixes then that seems like a good normal time update to me. Leave grander projects to start in 1.3. 

[Pthigrivi]

Select as many as you'd like! Of course if you select all of them it kind of defeats the purpose haha

[tater]

I already answered before I remembered how awful rockets look. I started using SSTU, and I haven't used a single stock part except the mk1 pod early in a test career since.

[basic.syntax]

It is important, to get a sense of what ppl want most in these broad polls, to just pick 3-5 items. While "it would be nice" to have it all, there is only so much that a small team can get done in 4 months (their previous release schedule seemed to aim for quarterly updates, Unity 5 proved to be a tall mountain, that they are still climbing.)

I think art style for rocket parts is thrown off by the "NASA pack." Its rough-hewn Kerbal engineering up to that point, then suddenly sleek, white, and modern. The two styles don't go together well. 

[Alshain]

None of the above.  I want to see interface improvements.  Barring that I guess I'll choose Multiplayer because that will truly expand and enhance the game-play the most.

Edited May 22, 2016 by Alshain

[AlamoVampire]

blunt mode activated: until they fix the constant crashing and the plethora of other bugs, anything else is fluff. <drops the keyboard, walks off>

[Pthigrivi]

10 hours ago, Alshain said:

None of the above.  I want to see interface improvements.  Barring that I guess I'll choose Multiplayer because that will truly expand and enhance the game-play the most.

What do you mean by interface improvements? I did sneak your maneuver mode into 'mission planning' btw. 

Edited May 22, 2016 by Pthigrivi

[Pthigrivi]

Well this wasn't exactly a scientific survey and its a small sample size but I like the data that's emerging. It's a little unexpected given all the attention some topics receive to see so many people hoping to see surface features, but I quite agree. People hoping for fancy graphics and dV readouts is less surprising. It's also worth noting that if you combine Contracts, Science and Experience, and Building Tiers you'd be into a 'career improvements' category you'd be above 20%, with science in particular demanding the most attention. It's the oldest of the career systems so it makes sense. I'd really love to see surface features and science combined, rewarding players for going out and studying unique places. 

[Alshain]

On 5/22/2016 at 2:00 AM, Pthigrivi said:

What do you mean by interface improvements? I did sneak your maneuver mode into 'mission planning' btw. 

Well that is certainly one of them, but also the save/load craft needs a lot of work and the subassemblies section needs to be easier to find what you want, the filter by function needs better categories already, especially for utility and aerodynamics.  There are things hidden in the VAB/SPH still that have no visual representation of what state they are in, so there is no way to know (Rotation absolute/local).  It's a lot more than just mission planning.  A lot of the user interface is still very difficult to use, it's gotten better over the years, but still needs work.

[Superfluous J]

Haha I picked 3 of the options (though could have picked 5 or more easily, I tried to - as you suggested - keep it down to what I consider critical) and those 3 are the top 3 so far. I'm like Ohio. However I vote, so votes the community.

FTR I voted for Graphics/Sound overhaul (mostly for clouds but also we should never be able to tell where the pixels were on any surface), Mission planning (mostly for dV and something that shows transfer windows), and Surface Features (because until we have actual reasons to go to the current planets, there is no real need to add more).

Edited May 24, 2016 by 5thHorseman

[Sereneti]

I would be glad if i see a multiplayer in KSP - but this had a low priority....
New Planets - maybe, but low priority...

Delta V readout and so on -> there are already mods for that, so it shouldnt be to hard to implement that ... (imho)
and so on...
 

[Fredbear12returns]

PLERNETS!

YAYA!

 

[322997am]

I want 2 things

1. Stability

i really despise the whole touch a wheel and you die thing. I can never do anything fun. Also I do not like that kerbals Spazz out and die when they feel like it. I also want kerbals to be effected by no aero in cargo bays (walking in cargobays). I also want the game to run so well that it could run on mobile.

2. Gameplay features

not parts new planets, new mechanics and so on