"Minigames"

[Wjolcz]

I've had this thought for a while now, but I don't think I've seen something like this here before.

The idea is having widgets whenever a more complicated action is performed. Let's take the experiments as an example: the player does the goo container observation and transfers it to the lab. A widgets pops out with a 2D representation of the goo and lab equipment. Now it's possible to literally "poke" the goo in different ways and throw other stuff at it to see how it reacts.

Same for engine modifications. I'm not a big fan of engineers buffing engines by just sitting in the vessel, but maybe there should be a way to modify them in-flight? The engineer goes EVA, get's closer to the engine and is now able to modify it by adding and/or replacing certain modules and plumbing by messing around within the boundries of that 2D engine scheme widget. Same for repairing wheels, solar panels and radiators.

Edited January 6, 2017 by Veeltch

[Benji13]

I read the title and all I can think about is a game of snake with a little rocket that gets more and more fuel tanks. Good idea tho. 

[kerbiloid]

Not that there were no in-game minigames...

 

[ottothesilent]

I agree that the idea sounds cool, but I don't know that people will enjoy poking the goo for the thousandth time. My point being, it's fun until you do it a lot, and with the science-grind that is Career Mode, you WILL do it a lot.

[Wjolcz]

1 hour ago, ottothesilent said:

I agree that the idea sounds cool, but I don't know that people will enjoy poking the goo for the thousandth time. My point being, it's fun until you do it a lot, and with the science-grind that is Career Mode, you WILL do it a lot.

It should be optional. Didn't say that in the OP because I thought it was obvious given the way science is collected in KSP. And yeah, the science grind is bad. But it's the problem with the core idea and design decisions of science points.

[Harry Rhodan]

I always thought that the docking port alignment indicator mod was pretty much like a minigame. You get close to the target, open the indicator window, try to align the crosshairs and distance and if you succeed you succesfully dock.

[Wcmille]

I enjoy finding good landing zones for bases on Mun that are both ore rich and flat. Maybe you could have randomized "science Easter eggs" (scientifically significant finds) in each biomes that you could search fore and gain additional science by running experiments on them. That way, you could gain some enjoyment by systematically searching biomes.

[Wcmille]

I think the properties of a good mini-game are:

They aren't strictly necessary, otherwise they become an unfun chore if you are trying to do something else. They are also more work for new players who already have a lot to learn.

They encourage the design and deployment of spacecraft to solve them better. This seems to be the main objective of KSP, so we should support that goal.

[Wjolcz]

Just an example of such minigame in Starbound:

They are pretty fun IMO.

Maybe the player could randomly get rare rocks/gems/flags/whatever (+plus the science points obviously *cringes*) for performing these experiments in particular order?

Edited January 6, 2017 by Veeltch

[StupidAndy]

to me, I think that minigames would ruin the feel of KSP, its not a game where you go across the solar system to poke a goo...I'll rather stay with my current science gathering ways, thanks...

[Wjolcz]

7 minutes ago, StupidAndy said:

to me, I think that minigames would ruin the feel of KSP, its not a game where you go across the solar system to poke a goo...I'll rather stay with my current science gathering ways, thanks...

As previously said: they would be optional and performed only in the lab.

[HebaruSan]

I would opine that good mini-games are 1) either quick or not overly repetitive, and 2) as deeply connected as possible to the rest of the game. The best mini-games don't even feel like mini-games, they feel like a smooth continuation of the main game.

Example of good mini-game: hunting in the full-graphics version of Oregon Trail. You start with however many guns & ammo you've acquired in the main game, and your party gains as much meat as you can kill (and carry), but beyond that, the available fauna are affected by your current "biome," and the season and over-hunting are factors in some versions. The better you are able to anticipate and react to the appearance and movement of the animals, the better you do, with a healthy dose of luck thrown in.

Example of bad mini-game: hacking in Mass Effect 2. It's the exact same tedious shape-matching task every time. The target shape and the shapes to choose from are just randomly generated, with no connection to the context in which the "puzzle" happens. Then to add insult to injury, you have to do it two more times, because, well, that's just how it works. The whole thing is completely arbitrary, the only connection back to the main game is that if you win, you get the loot in the box, and the three-round requirement guarantees it will be repetitive even if you only ever attempt to hack one thing! I have indefinitely shelved that game (and series) until I can find a way to turn off this mini-game. Yes, you can probably skip it most of the time, but I don't want to go without loot that is available in the game world because of something outside the game world.

So if science mini-games were to come to KSP, I would like to see the details relate to the player actually discovering some unknown about the game world. Maybe the gravity meter works by swinging a pendulum to pinpoint the current "down" location, and then throwing some ball bearings "up" with a known force and counting how long they take to fall back down. Maybe the pressure meter would require the player to choose balloons and helium tanks with the right properties and inflate them, then measure their volumes. The materials bay could have a zoom-in feature where the various samples would burn, turn colors, evaporate, etc., perhaps to reflect environmental toxicity? And of course we already have Research Bodies and Impact.

[p1t1o]

I for one, love minigames and would welcome their addition to KSP if handled well.

It/they would have to be:

For something that doe not require you to do it *too* often. Having a minigame for science experiments might just be putting an obstacle in front of something that used to be routine (You've arrived at Duna, now play this minigame 25 times before landing), and would we need multiple types of game for different experiments or the same one? Problems with both approaches. How about 1 game played required per planet, to enable science collection, or something? Or a game to unlock/enhance individual biomes? Game could be related to an researchable part.

Optional. You should be able to succeed without ever playing the minigame, or at least without ever winning it. Playing/Winning should enable you to succeed *better*.

Sciencey but not too sciencey. Real science work is often tedious and repetitive, lets not stick too closely to that paradigm. Also, maths is not fun no matter who says what.

 

[NSEP]

Kind of reminds me of the minigame in Moon Base Alpha where you have to fix electronics really quickly.

Sounds fun, but something optional.

[ZooNamedGames]

Believe I made a post on this subject before as far as things Kerbals can do on planets surfaces.

[swjr-swis]

On 1/2/2017 at 11:41 AM, Veeltch said:

Now it's possible to literally "poke" the goo in different ways and throw other stuff at it to see how it reacts.

I've seen that movie. It didn't end well for the poker, the rest of the crew, or the station...

[Death Engineering]

Well, there is "KSP Fishing Holiday".

[StupidAndy]

how do I do that again?

[Death Engineering]

12 hours ago, StupidAndy said:

how do I do that again?

Not near my 'puter, but this is from here.

You start fishing by getting within ~5 meters of a bit of water with a Kerbal on EVA, then right-click the Kerbal and click start fishing.  You must be landed, not splashed down.  You can also fish from a seaplane or boat, as long as you’re standing on it.  It’s sometimes a bit tricky to get the button to appear, try quicksaving/quickloading, jumping up and down, and walking away from the water and back again.  

[kerbiloid]

Kerbin Cup

They should add gates and a pass counter.

Spoiler

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by kerbiloid