Little Changes You Love

[Superfluous J]

Recently I right-clicked on a part, and pinned the menu to the screen. It seemed so natural and normal and yet it was not all that long ago that that was not part of the game. In fact, there was a time not so long ago where clicking the "screw up this mission" button instead of the "do the thing you want" button was a very real danger, as you frantically clicked at a moving button.

Then I started to think about all the other little changes to the game that I didn't even know I wanted, but made the game so much better. The editor widgets to rotate and translate parts. Not having to turn off SAS to turn your ship (only the old timers remember that one).

I'm sure there are dozens, if not hundreds more. I'm not talking things like "The new aerodynamics" or "Kerbnet." I'm talking the little things that seemed nice but otherwise not notable, that over time you didn't even realize you appreciated so much. Or that you didn't even know you wanted until you got it.

[IncongruousGoat]

The attitude hold buttons, especially after 1.2 fixed the SAS high-torque jitter/overshoot issues. Before they were added, I would have been indifferent to them, and not seen myself using them. Now, I use them all the time, perhaps even too much (hold maneuver node can be dangerous on long ejection burns).

[Snark]

A few that spring to mind, in no particular order (I'm sure there are plenty more, these are just the ones I happened to think of off the top of my head):

• Being able to click on labels in the map view (Ap, Pe, etc.) to make them "sticky" so they stay even when the mouse isn't over them.
• Letting me have the navball be on by default in the map view.
• Individual actuator toggles for RCS, so I can turn it off for rotation.
• Jitter-free SAS.
• The stylized "planets" in the "Loading..." indicator having the innermost one orbiting fastest, as it should be.  (okay, I'm OCD)

[Rath]

Cargo bay opening range sliders.

[Snark]

Visible exhaust for ion drives.

[septemberWaves]

I know not everyone likes it, but I'm a huge fan of the new model for the Mk1 cockpit. I much prefer the new one to the pre-1.1 design.

Also, sounds for landing gear are great, even though I seldom play with sounds turned on (I usually listen to music, but the extra detail is nice when I do play with the game sounds).

[FL-T400]

I love the ability to bind collect all from the exparament storage unit to an action group

[Vanamonde]

Closest approach markers visible for most of the trip! 

[Sharpy]

Alt-click a vessel to fly it. Doubleclick a vessel to set it as target. Press B once and board as soon as it's possible.

Oh wait, these are still mods.

[fourfa]

RCS axis disable, and cabin lights in the cupola

[Wjolcz]

New RCS and Vernor effects, the right-click Ap/Pe indicators (previously left-click, which would lead me to my bioling point many times in the past.), the ability to switch orbit drawing mode and the amount of conic patches in-game. And let's not forget about the scaleable UI and the ability to move the navball.

Edited January 14, 2017 by Veeltch

[Snark]

"Deploy when safe" mode for parachutes. And making that the default.

Color-coding the parachute stage icons to indicate deployability.

Holding ALT in vehicle editor to force snapping to connector nodes.

[KSK]

• Option to include kerbal levelling and experience in Science mode. 
• Experiment storage cannisters.
• Parachute deployment status indicators.
• Cutaway views for the various crewed parts. 

I'm sure there are others. I didn't even know about forcing snap-to-connector but I'm very happy that I do now! That's gonna be a significant quality of life improvement- thanks for flagging it up @Snark.

[Just Jim]

The option to have a Kerbal level up during a mission and not waiting for them to return home.

 

Edited January 14, 2017 by Just Jim

[Carl]

Auto Strut. Like best thing ever.

[NSEP]

Attachment nodes for fairings and the ability to de-stage fairimgs makes building interstages alot cleaner.

[Jimbo Jangles]

First off @5thHorseman great question. Too many threads begin with some variation of "don't you just hate..." and I feel like this game has been getting better and better all the time.

 

When I found out the color of stock lights could be changed I was stoked. But when I double-clicked an IVA window and it zoomed in... 

 

Those little touches are what make this game the best! 

Jimbo

Edited January 15, 2017 by Jimbo Jangles

[FancyMouse]

Aim Camera.

More SoI changes of orbital path.

Can modify default throttle.

Asteroid texture/Magic boulders.

Shift-click inactive part.

Warp to next morning.

Landing gear cannon.

[Superfluous J]

2 hours ago, Jimbo Jangles said:

Too many threads begin with some variation of "don't you just hate..."

Amusingly, I had this in the first post's first draft, but didn't want to start what I hoped to be an overwhelmingly positive thread with a negative. However, I know EXACTLY what you mean

[LameLefty]

Pinning the part menus has to be up there with my favorite new feature, along with fuel-flow priority. Being able to pin three or four tanks' menus to the screen and manually move resources equally from three tanks to one, or from one to all three is incredibly simple now, and being able to set fuel flow priority makes aircraft design a LOT easier than it used to be. I also really like the ability to overlay the interior view of crew cabin parts now (tho' I think that was a 1.1 feature, but still not possible when I started back in 0.19).  It's fun to see the crew reactions, and makes for some fun screenshots.

Another great cosmetic feature - parachutes that don't overlap each other, but instead are angled and spread out from one another as they should be.

[klesh]

Timewarp to morning at KSC hasn't been mentioned.

Some of these little things I actually don't like, but the vast majority have been good improvements in my mind.

[tomf]

The improvement to the intercept markers for me. No more fine tuning my intercept, closer, closer - oh now it's decided to show me an entirely different intercept that is miles out.

[Leafbaron]

One thing I like very much is related to SAS. When targeting surface retrograde and landing, if you over throttle and start flying up, SAS switches to SAS hold instead of flipping your craft 180 degrees to chase the retrograde marker. especially useful when only a couple meters above the surface. 

[Fearless Son]

The offset and rotate tools in the VAB and SPH.  They are little things, but they make a huge difference in the speed and simplicity with which I can construct craft.  

[Kyrt Malthorn]

Haven't seen this mentioned yet: the ability to see where kerbals have been from the list while placing them in seats from the VAB.

Other than that...  the ability to remove decouplers from the staging list, and the "action groups always available" difficulty option.  IMO, action groups don't really make the game easier to play, they're just plain convenient.  Further, you don't get those nuisances like "Darn it, I launched this ship before the last VAB upgrade do out doesn't have the standard action groups every other one just like it does!  Couldn't they just wire ten buttons!?"

And let's not forget the overall sstability.