Game time continues while KSP is closed

[Xardas]

Hi, I hope a modder or SQUAD can do this.........have an option for the game to continue even when your PC is shut down. I'm not a coder but know it can be done since I've had other games that do it. I assume KSP would note the computer's time when you exit the game, then when you start playing again it sees the current computer time and would calculate how much Kerbal time has passed and adjust things accordingly. Things like life support supplies would be less, while mining stockpiles would have increased, and long flights would be further along........for example. 

 

Right now the Kerbin's Universe only exists while playing, but with this change/mod the Kerbins get on with their lives while I am doing the IRL things. Someone...........GIT'R DONE!   

[Blaarkies]

Write down the time at which you last played KSP. Find the difference between that and the current time. Open up KSP, timewarp that amount of hours, done.

Do this three times and please let us know how it turns out

[The Aziz]

Yup, this is why there is time warp.

 

[Superfluous J]

For a mod to be written, a single person needs 2 things:

1. The desire for the mod. You have this.
2. The ability to create it. You should do this.

It's not a very popular thing to want, so you're going to be hard pressed to find someone with both qualities.

[StahnAileron]

Personally, I'd rather not have KSP doing things when I'm not there to babysit it considering the weird crap it can pull off sometimes.

If I want KSP to be "running" in the background like that, I'd have the game actually running in the background and using that option in the Options menu (you know, the one that lets KSP keep processing even when it's not in focus. For the record, I have that "OFF" so I can look up info if I need to while playing, like calculating orbit AP, PE, and orbital periods for satellites.) I rarely shut-down my system to begin with.

And as mentioned, that's what time-warp is for. Real-time progress is much too slow for anything other than tasks that you should be present for anyway (like maneuver nodes, launches, etc.) Something like KAC and time-warp is more than enough.

Unless KSP introduces far more automation options AND other mods support such an option, off-line time progress is not something I'd see being supported well, if at all. (I also imagine this would make loading a save game take longer since the plugin would need to recalculate EVERYTHING that happened since save until loading and then apply it.)

[Xardas]

2 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

For a mod to be written, a single person needs 2 things:

1. The desire for the mod. You have this.
2. The ability to create it. You should do this.

It's not a very popular thing to want, so you're going to be hard pressed to find someone with both qualities.

As I said before, I am not a coder. The mod would be very convenient for me and would also add some realism. It would of course require players to check back into their game from time to time, but of course I also said "option", meaning this could be turned off. I have kids and I never turn off my PC, but I do get interrupted quite often.

If this mod existed you would have to be rather daft to have nodes set up or some other task that requires your attention and go to the beach. My use would be to let the game mine for me, convert fuel, charge batteries etc. Nothing that requires my immediate attention. I have a self-refueling hopper sitting on Laythe as I type this......it takes 3 Kerbal days to refuel and it would be nice to come back to the game with full tanks........without having to time warp or use HyperEdit. Of course time warp suffices, but isn't very realistic in my mind. Knowing that my base is doing it's thing and the Kerbals are going about their lives seems kinda right.

[eddiew]

1 hour ago, Xardas said:

It would of course require players to check back into their game from time to time

Unless you have things in unstable orbits, no it wouldn't... Most things in KSP happen on timescales of weeks-months-years, and very few things are sensitive to within 1 day of game-time apart from arrivals at planets - which will require a transit time in the order of months. Sorry, but I really can't see any value in having the game roll 10 hours forward while I'm at work. Nothing will have changed during that period. 

And of course, there is timewarp... the thing you are asking for is literally at your fingertips  

Edited October 20, 2016 by eddiew

[Hupf]

3 hours ago, Xardas said:

As I said before, I am not a coder. The mod would be very convenient for me

So how much are you willing to pay for a coder's time on this then?

[StahnAileron]

5 hours ago, Xardas said:

[...] The mod would [...] add some realism. It would of course require players to check back into their game from time to time [...] I never turn off my PC, but I do get interrupted quite often.

[...] My use would be to let the game mine for me, convert fuel, charge batteries etc. Nothing that requires my immediate attention. I have a self-refueling hopper sitting on Laythe as I type this......it takes 3 Kerbal days to refuel and it would be nice to come back to the game with full tanks........without having to time warp or use HyperEdit. [...]

If you're like that, then just run KSP in the background, 24/7. I'm not QUITE sure since I have the options off, but I think Unity is fairly smart about GPU usage when KSP is not actively being rendered (i.e. Minimized to taskbar... Though maybe it's the OS managing that.) I've had my GPU wind down when I have KSP minimized for a short while (couple of minutes? However long it take the fan to cool it to reasonable level so it can wind down, it feels like.) Granted, you'd be paying more for power usage, but it'd probably not be all that noticeable (maybe...) And of course you'd be losing compute resources and can't play any other game that needs exclusive GPU access...

Still, considering the amount of real-time it takes to do certain tasks (Space = Time and interplanetary distances are immense, even if scaled down), I don't think letting real-time, unattended (offline) progression is all that useful. I'd rather Time-Warp for a few seconds and be done with it than wait 18 real hours for a task to be done. (Or doing something else in-game while I wait, but we're assuming a player doesn't have the time to do that. i.e. Have time to do one mission, not two, in a block of real-time.) I don't think that amount of unattended game progress is worth waiting 18 real hours. I've gotten interrupted playing KSP as well. It could be hours after I Alt-Tab out of / ESC pause it, so I'm glad to be able to continue exactly where I left off rather than coming back to progression I have no account of because I wasn't there to witness it.

And not to knock on the idea further, but your proposal now reminds of how many Social Media games work by tying progression to real-time elapse. (e.g. Farmville and waiting 18 hours for planted potatoes to growth before harvesting.) I know people have their own play styles and all, but I've always hated real-time elapse style progress... Well, in games that didn't have in-game time acceleration. I think too much can happen in KSP for unattended progress to be a real thing.

Anyway... I say if you have a spare computer that can run KSP, set it up as a pure KSP machine and leave KSP running on it all the time. Expensive workaround, but it's either using up some of your own resources or getting someone to volunteer and donate theirs to create your mod for you. Which is cheaper, I dunno.

[pandaman]

Well it definitely wouldn't appeal to me.  I can imagine my wife's reaction to 'sorry dear, I can't do the dishes yet my Minmus rescue mission will fly past into the great dark yonder it I don't correct it right now'.

But if it floats your boat then why not try it.  Either leave your computer running 24/7 or keep track and time warp whenever you switch on.  I can see it being amusing for a short while on shorter missions, but ultimately not practical when you have real life to get in the way. 

[ZooNamedGames]

On 10/20/2016 at 4:48 AM, 5thHorseman said:

For a mod to be written, a single person needs 2 things:

1. The desire for the mod. You have this.
2. The ability to create it. You should do this.

It's not a very popular thing to want, so you're going to be hard pressed to find someone with both qualities.

Problem being 80%+ of people get stuck on problem 2 and then return to problem 1 asking another to do it.