Rocket Part Revamp Discussion Thread

[a2soup]

So, seeing as Porkjet just announced his departure from Squad.... is this still happening?

EDIT: I don't mean this in an angry or critical way. I was actually pretty ambivalent about this revamp. I'm just curious.

Edited October 5, 2016 by a2soup

[ChickenNugger429]

57 minutes ago, a2soup said:

So, seeing as Porkjet just announced his departure from Squad.... is this still happening?

EDIT: I don't mean this in an angry or critical way. I was actually pretty ambivalent about this revamp. I'm just curious.

I think it is actually plausible we'll still see revamped parts come true in a following update, some work on these parts has already started, and there's a fair scope already set in a representation image of what Porkjet intended to achieve. Provided that he's remaining, I think Roverdude could be the man to pick up the pieces and continue the work. But time will tell us what will ultimately happen, there's still many uncertainties, but there is still people around who can do it I'm sure if the opportunity is given. 

Given the recent events, I really want to see the question of what will happen to these parts answered. I've been very excited to see development occurring around freshening the old muddy (and honestly placeholder) type parts, and to see it just stop dead in its tracks when it was very much in scope would just disappoint me and many others greatly, because there is definitely room to be had to revamp the parts, and I honestly I feel the game doesn't look completely finished without an overhaul of them, which really irks me. 

I think it's important to popularise this thread again so it meets the eyes of those who can make it happen because the work and intentions set here were very nice, and just seeing it come to an immediate halt is unacceptable. 

Edited October 5, 2016 by ChickenNugger429

[Gardevoir11]

On 18.9.2016 at 9:25 PM, Waxing_Kibbous said:

Anyone notice some texture issues in certain lighting? I'm using Planetshine so perhaps that's affecting things

In waht version? I have seen that too on a Twinboar in stock 1.1.3.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Gardevoir11
Error

[Ven]

On 10/4/2016 at 11:41 PM, Gardevoir11 said:

In waht version? I have seen that too on a Twinboar in stock 1.1.3.

Regardless of version, the normal map artifacts (or "blocky lighting") are likely the result of the poor texture compression of DXT5 DDS files. The only way to fix this it is to move to a higher DDS format like DXT7 or to a different format entirely.

[lajoswinkler]

I'd like to say that I've replaced the stock engines with Porkjet's naked ones. I don't use the old ones anymore. His new designs have the right KSP feeling to them.

Sadly, we probably won't get them in the actual game.

[MR L A]

I've been using the mod for a week or so now. Absolutely love the work! They look much better in-game than they do in the previews  I really hope all the parts get overhauled eventually, despite Porkjet leaving.

Anyone know if anything has been said about it being continued?

[Deimos Rast]

Reading through this thread is kind of tragic, looking back over it. Everyone, myself included, hyped for new shiny things. But...no one pointed out the obvious: you don't release the assets to something that's going to be a central feature in a new release. The license is also that of a mod, if I remember correctly, not SQUAD assets.

Now with Porkjet's reported departure...I hate to say it, but I think this is it boys and girls. This is our part revamp.

RIP.

[Theysen]

Looking at Nertea's stuff I wish people start considering him to give a new artpass to the whole stock parts. 

[Wjolcz]

UGH! It's happened again! This game will never have a consistent look!

[monstah]

5 hours ago, Theysen said:

Looking at Nertea's stuff I wish people start considering him to give a new artpass to the whole stock parts. 

I wouldn't mind that. Paging @Nertea  

[Andem]

@Nertea

 

or @Ven if you return...

[Tyko]

I'm really excited by PorkJet's engines and the idea that they get better over as tech advances. I'm less enthused with the ongoing need to make everything look like it's used and abused. I get that there's this amorphous back-story that everything was from a junkyard, but I like my rockets a little cleaner and shinier.

[Kerbal101]

I have integrated the Porkjet engines by means of original part replacer. I thought you might want to know that, guys. See here, its 3rd option.
Beware the Porkjet overhaul engine data was not touched, thus they are different from stock 1.2 - in case you do challenges.
They work pretty nice and the Pug engine is extremely useful at start.

So I was testing the backward compatibility to vanilla (if one removes the mod completely, all vehicles fallback to original engines - so long two new engines are not used), and then I noticed the quality bump of Porkjet parts:

just leftclick for zoom to compare.

There is absolutely no reason I would use stock 1.2 engines now. It's a great overhaul "as is", as it was released!

 

Edited November 1, 2016 by Kerbal101
leftclick, not rightclick :/

[Alshain]

On 10/28/2016 at 1:33 AM, Deimos Rast said:

Reading through this thread is kind of tragic, looking back over it. Everyone, myself included, hyped for new shiny things. But...no one pointed out the obvious: you don't release the assets to something that's going to be a central feature in a new release. The license is also that of a mod, if I remember correctly, not SQUAD assets.

Now with Porkjet's reported departure...I hate to say it, but I think this is it boys and girls. This is our part revamp.

RIP.

I pointed that out in the devnotes where they announced it.  I also said I thought it meant Porkjet wasn't working for Squad anymore.  Both cases I was told I was being pessimistic.

I still want them to find someone to revamp the parts, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Edited November 1, 2016 by Alshain

[TheSaint]

17 minutes ago, Alshain said:

I pointed that out in the devnotes where they announced it.  I also said I thought it meant Porkjet wasn't working for Squad anymore.  Both cases I was told I was being pessimistic.

I still want them to find someone to revamp the parts, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Yup. I've seen folks clamoring for an art pass for years, and nothing has happened. The impression I get is that everyone at Squad is perfectly happy with how the current parts look.

[Deimos Rast]

2 hours ago, Kerbal101 said:

I have integrated the Porkjet engines by means of original part replacer. I thought you might want to know that, guys. See here, its 3rd option.
Beware the Porkjet overhaul engine data was not touched, thus they are different from stock 1.2 - in case you do challenges.
They work pretty nice and the Pug engine is extremely useful at start.

So I was testing the backward compatibility to vanilla (if one removes the mod completely, all vehicles fallback to original engines - so long two new engines are not used), and then I noticed the quality bump of Porkjet parts:

just rightclick for zoom to compare.

There is absolutely no reason I would use stock 1.2 engines now. It's a great overhaul "as is", as it was released!

 

Nice work. I've done something similar in my install, although much more basic.

2 hours ago, Kerbal101 said:

I have integrated the Porkjet engines by means of original part replacer. I thought you might want to know that, guys. See here, its 3rd option.
Beware the Porkjet overhaul engine data was not touched, thus they are different from stock 1.2 - in case you do challenges.
They work pretty nice and the Pug engine is extremely useful at start.

So I was testing the backward compatibility to vanilla (if one removes the mod completely, all vehicles fallback to original engines - so long two new engines are not used), and then I noticed the quality bump of Porkjet parts:

just rightclick for zoom to compare.

There is absolutely no reason I would use stock 1.2 engines now. It's a great overhaul "as is", as it was released!

 

Nice work. I've done something similar in my install, although much more basic.

[ChickenNugger429]

I think it's safe to say that at this point I too have given up hope of the dev-team (or rather, what remains of it) furthering Porkjets parts. I decided to look back on KSPTV VoDs on twitch. I found a squadcast hosted in the offices over in Mexico. 
At the time of this post, it's from about 15 Days ago. https://www.twitch.tv/ksptv/v/96151573
Play it from 00:36:15 onwards. "Our new artists are working on new parts and new stuff.. yeah, Porkjet's parts will not be worked on, eh, any further..." 
When listening to some parts before that there was a real emphasis on 'merchandise' and 'expansion packs', and not so much updates. Again we don't really hear much information on what genuine updates are actually planned. I feel like, with the departure of those multiple devs, any remains of the spirit of upholding the game is pretty much gone. 
 

[AndroidSub]

Huh, they just confirmed it in the newest devnotes

[HebaruSan]

14 hours ago, AndroidSub said:

Huh, they just confirmed it in the newest devnotes

Specifically, in case anyone else is wondering what 'it' means:

21 hours ago, SQUAD said:

We have been listening to all the concern about what happened to the Rocket Parts Revamp and we wanted to shed some light on that topic. The reality is that the development focus had to shift towards other matters, that is why we decided to make the already completed parts from porkjet’s PartOverhauls public, which you can download here.

Despite the change in priorities, this doesn’t mean that we will put this project aside indefinitely, we may continue porkjet’s work in future installments, but for the time being it is not within our immediate work plans.

Our artists have also been quite busy working on images and textures that will be localized and also spending some more time focusing on artwork as well as modeling. And with the holiday season looming in the distance, they’ve also started to work on some collectibles for you guys.

So instead of finishing the part overhaul, the art crew is helping with translation efforts and making plushies. The upside is that SQUAD is not saying, "Eh, this revamp was a mistake, let's forget it ever happened." They might return to it at some future date.

[Darnok]

14 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

Specifically, in case anyone else is wondering what 'it' means:

So instead of finishing the part overhaul, the art crew is helping with translation efforts and making plushies. The upside is that SQUAD is not saying, "Eh, this revamp was a mistake, let's forget it ever happened." They might return to it at some future date.

Same as they returned to delta-v feature

[Gaarst]

Quote

it is not within our immediate work plans.

Meaning: "we'll add it when we'll add gas planet 2, dV readouts and all the stuff we've announced these past few years."

[Wjolcz]

I bet they simply don't have anyone who can nail PorkJet's style. And they don't want to repeat the same mistake that happened to the other part revamp projects a few times already.

I always tried to be on the LEGO side of the community, because thought in the world of KSP the rocket parts are mass produced in factories, but I now think that procedural tanks/girders/wings could have saved a lot of time. Create one texture, make the tank stretchy and focus on the engines and capsules only.

[solarbearman]

We're still talking about this?

[panzer1b]

On 12/3/2016 at 6:37 PM, Veeltch said:

I bet they simply don't have anyone who can nail PorkJet's style. And they don't want to repeat the same mistake that happened to the other part revamp projects a few times already.

I always tried to be on the LEGO side of the community, because thought in the world of KSP the rocket parts are mass produced in factories, but I now think that procedural tanks/girders/wings could have saved a lot of time. Create one texture, make the tank stretchy and focus on the engines and capsules only.

Ive always been in support of procedural parts.  Less resources and less clutter in the menus.  You can still implement it exactly the way it is now by setting certain sizes they can be (with something like a cheat menu option or cfg flag that allows free size choice).  Not to mention that their use will drastically kill part count issues on many designs (why do i have to have 30 wing panels just to make a single wing that could easily have been made with at most 3-4 procedural parts).  And yeah, no reason not to implement em...

Its very unlikely but i remain hopeful that someday we will get procedural parts that work well in stock...

[GluttonyReaper]

On 03/12/2016 at 9:53 PM, Darnok said:

Same as they returned to delta-v feature

Also the same as they returned to resources, so who knows?