Is it just me, or are part descriptions getting lame?

[MacLeod-Industries]

I absolutely love all the part descriptions in the game. It is a small detail, but it really made the game more interesting to play. Every part has it story, it really added to the game.

Recently however, the new parts they have been adding have had 2 sentence descriptions that look like they had minimal effort put into them.

One of my favorite part of Indie devs is their attention to the little things, and I am a little disappointed that they haven't added anything fun with the new parts.

 

What do you guys think?

[KSK]

Personally, I agree. With a couple of exceptions, I like the older part descriptions and it would be nice if more could be done with them. The problem is, I think, that everyone's definition of a lame description will be slightly different. Also, the more detailed the part descriptions, the more risk of unintended consequences during localisation.

Question for the forum - is there, or could there be, a mod to expose the part descriptions for editing? 

[razark]

3 hours ago, MacLeod-Industries said:

What do you guys think?

I'm all for short descriptions, if it does nothing more than prevent the continuation of the "Kerbalz is dum and make rokets from trash! lol!" aesthetic.  That crap got old real fast.

 

44 minutes ago, KSK said:

Question for the forum - is there, or could there be, a mod to expose the part descriptions for editing? 

Aren't those just in the part .cfg files?  I think the mod is called "Notepad".

[Snark]

1 hour ago, KSK said:

Question for the forum - is there, or could there be, a mod to expose the part descriptions for editing? 

Trivially easy to do with ModuleManager.  You can replace a part description entirely with custom text, or you can append extra language on to the existing one.

For example, a while back someone wanted some MM config to allow all wing parts to have fuel storage, not just the BigS ones, and here's what I came up with:

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleLiftingSurface],!MODULE[ModuleCommand],!RESOURCE[*]]
{
	@description ^= :(.)$:$0 New and improved model now has liquid fuel.:
	RESOURCE
	{
		name = LiquidFuel
		amount = 0
		maxAmount = #$../mass$
		@maxAmount *= 500
	}
}

...note the "@description" line:  what it's doing is saying, "keep the existing description and append the following to the end of it."

 

So, basically, if you'd like to try your hand at some custom descriptions for specific parts, all you have to do is create a file anywhere in GameData (can be in a sub-folder, or in the root folder, doesn't matter).  Can call it anything you like, as long as the file name ends with ".cfg".  Then you can put text like this into it:

@PART[thePartName]
{
    @description = Whatever text you want to put here, have fun!
}

...where "thePartName" is whatever name the part says in its .cfg file (i.e. "name = whatever").   If you want to tinker with multiple parts, you can put multiple @PART sections in one file if you want (you don't have to do one part per .cfg file).

The above snippet would completely replace the existing description.  If you want to keep the existing description but add on to it, you would do this instead:

@PART[thePartName]
{
    @description ^= :(.)$:$0 Stuff you want to add on to the end of the description.
}

...never mind trying to understand all the gibberish punctuation there, unless you happen to be interested in grokking all the technical details.  Just copy it verbatim and substitute your own text.

(Note, in case it's not obvious:  all of the above only works if you happen to have ModuleManager installed.  If you're running any mods at all, there's a pretty good chance you have it installed already, since so many mods use it & bundle it.  If you don't have it installed, you can get it here.)

15 minutes ago, razark said:

Aren't those just in the part .cfg files?  I think the mod is called "Notepad".

Yes, they are.  And certainly it would be possible to just go into the Squad part files with Notepad and edit them, sure.  However, I'd strongly advise not doing that, and using ModuleManager instead, for the following reasons:  1. Using MM doesn't touch your original files, so it's easy to undo & revert if you change your mind.  2. If you edit the original .cfg files, all your changes will get wiped out any time KSP updates.  Keeping them in a separate MM patch means they're safe and will continue to work even after an update.

[KSK]

Thanks @razark and especially to @Snark for the (much needed) step by step instructions!

Will have to give this a whirl! Will take a while to redo all the part descriptions but it should be a good project for doing in small snippets here and there.

[razark]

4 minutes ago, Snark said:

Yes, they are.  And certainly it would be possible to just go into the Squad part files with Notepad and edit them, sure.  However, I'd strongly advise not doing that, and using ModuleManager instead, for the following reasons:  1. Using MM doesn't touch your original files, so it's easy to undo & revert if you change your mind.  2. If you edit the original .cfg files, all your changes will get wiped out any time KSP updates.  Keeping them in a separate MM patch means they're safe and will continue to work even after an update.

True.  I haven't wrapped my brain around what MM is capable of, so I didn't know if it could handle the descriptions.  (That's actually pretty cool, though.)

Usually, I just edit the files, because I'm making time-tested edits that I don't ever intend to change.  I also keep the original download, so I can grab the files if needed, and each update goes in its own folder.  Also, I don't have to learn the esoteric runes of MM files. 

[regex]

IMO the part descriptions were pretty much always terrible, often giving zero indication of what the part was intended to do and using humor that emphasized the part of the KSP millieu that I have always found detrimental, that being "MOAR EXPLUSHUNS" and Kerbals being idiots.

Short, informative descriptions devoid of base humor? Sign me up.

Edited October 26, 2017 by regex

[Snark]

20 minutes ago, KSK said:

Thanks @razark and especially to @Snark for the (much needed) step by step instructions!

Will have to give this a whirl! Will take a while to redo all the part descriptions but it should be a good project for doing in small snippets here and there.

My two cents:  if you're gonna take the time and effort to do this... put it all in one big .cfg file and publish it as a mod.  Share the joy! 

19 minutes ago, regex said:

Short, informative descriptions devoid of base humor? Sign me up.

...and the nice thing about making this an actual published mod, @KSK, is that you can get people to help you with it.  For example, start by creating a thread in the "Add-on Development" forum for your work in progress, and solicit contributions from people who care about this stuff, such as @regex.  Many hands make light work, here.  I bet a lot of people would be happy to chip in.

Once you've got it reasonably fleshed out, move the thread over to Add-on Releases, and publish it on github or SpaceDock or whatever.

(If one wanted to get really fancy and utilitarian, one could even include some auto-generated content.  For example, could have a snippet of config that uses wildcards to append 'Can toggle crossfeed' to the description of every part that has ModuleToggleCrossfeed on it, or the like.)

[KSK]

Cheers again @Snark. I'll definitely need a hand to do anything fancy.  

But yes - very happy to share this as and when it comes together. Wow - starting my own mod. Who saw that coming? 

[regex]

Just now, KSK said:

Wow - starting my own mod. Who saw that coming? 

The hardest part is commitment, everything else is just learning.

[Superfluous J]

I started a Modman config called "Descriptive Descriptions" and even asked for help on it way back when. I got none outside of thumbs up. Then I moved on to other things. I personally still use it, tough it's woefully undone.

Feel free to use it, or if there is interest I'll start it up again my own self.

https://github.com/5thHorseman/DescriptiveDescriptions/blob/master/DescriptiveDescriptions.cfg

(Note: After the main block it says "undone from here on" or something. Then a ways down I have probe cores done.

EDIT: Oh, here's the original post, that I couldn't find before.

 

Edited October 26, 2017 by 5thHorseman

[HebaruSan]

Would also be nice to localize; reworking a few lines from DescriptiveDescriptions as an example:

@PART[noseCone]
{  
	@description = descdesc_noseCone
}

Localization
{
	en-us
	{
		descdesc_noseCone = Fits atop Mk1 parts, and is likely more aerodynamic than anything you'll put it on.
	}
	es-es
	{
		descdesc_noseCone = Spanish translation of that
	}
}

... and so on for ru, ja, and zh-cn. Each language-specific block can have many translations in it, so this would also condense them somewhat in the file.

[regex]

2 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

@PART[noseCone]
{  
	@description = descdesc_noseCone
}

 

Don't those tags require a hash sign (or something else) or am I mistaken? Like:

@PART[noseCone]
{  
	@description = #descdesc_noseCone
}

 

[HebaruSan]

1 minute ago, regex said:

Don't those tags require a hash sign (or something else) or am I mistaken? Like:

Nope. SQUAD's tags use them, but that was a design decision on their part for the auto-generated ones, not a requirement.

[Snark]

2 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

Would also be nice to localize; reworking a few lines from DescriptiveDescriptions as an example:

^ Just to point out the benefit of this, for anyone who may be thinking "But I don't speak Spanish / Russian / whatever, why would I do this":

If you build it like this, and just include the en-us section, then the benefit is that it's localizable.  Someone else could come along and submit an es-es block for you (if you can find someone to translate), and presto, your stuff would be available in Spanish.  Or even if you go live in a hermit cave somewhere and become un-contactable, someone could use ModuleManager to patch what you've done to add support for other languages.

[Mrcarrot]

13 minutes ago, Snark said:

if you can find someone to translate

It's called Google Translate.

https://translate.google.com/

Edited October 26, 2017 by Mrcarrot

[Chemp]

9 minutes ago, Mrcarrot said:

It's called Google Translate.

http://translate.google.com

I'm not sure if that would give you an accurate translation. Google is good to grasp the basic meaning but beyond that... If you absolutely want to use a translator, try https://www.deepl.com/

2 hours ago, KSK said:

Wow - starting my own mod. Who saw that coming?

Sign me up for the spanish translation.

[Superfluous J]

I'm all for localization. The config predates it being in the game else it'd probably have it already.

[KSK]

6 hours ago, regex said:

The hardest part is commitment, everything else is just learning.

Well said. 

I can do the first part. Been plugging away at my KSP fiction since 2013. The story may not be to everyone's taste but I'm thinking the commitment is there.  

Hopefully I can do the second part too. Borrowing @5thHorseman's DescriptiveDescriptions as a worked example should help a lot! And yeah, if anyone wants to lend a hand with localisation, you'd be very welcome.

Tentatively I'm thinking of modelling this after the flavour text from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, with each part description being a quotation from an in-game character. I'll probably borrow bits of my fanfic for inspiration too but generalised a bit so that the part descriptions don't hew to any particular story.

Should be fun!

[Just Jim]

29 minutes ago, KSK said:

Tentatively I'm thinking of modelling this after the flavour text from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, with each part description being a quotation from an in-game character.

Oh, I loved that game... and I think this would be a really cool way to approach this as well. 

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

I agree that they're lame but don't the devs have better things to do?

[Spricigo]

5 hours ago, Mrcarrot said:

It's called Google Translate.

https://translate.google.com/

Example of it in action:

Portuguese: Xá comigo, eu livro sua cara.

Gogle translation: Shah with me, I'll read your face.

Actual translation: Let it to me, I cover you.

The phrase is a joke about bad translation, one says "Tea with me, I book you face"  because the literal word by word translation would result in the Portuguese sentence.  Google translate it one word differently, Google translate don't even get the joke.

[razark]

46 minutes ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

I agree that they're lame but don't the devs have better things to do?

Well, the devs do have a hand in how their game is perceived based on how they write the part descriptions.  In fact, it matters a lot more to the average user than some neat coding trick that no one outside the company will ever see.

[Mrcarrot]

5 hours ago, Chemp said:

I'm not sure if that would give you an accurate translation. Google is good to grasp the basic meaning but beyond that... If you absolutely want to use a translator, try https://www.deepl.com/

Sign me up for the spanish translation.

 

5 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

Example of it in action:

Portuguese: Xá comigo, eu livro sua cara.

Gogle translation: Shah with me, I'll read your face.

Actual translation: Let it to me, I cover you.

The phrase is a joke about bad translation, one says "Tea with me, I book you face"  because the literal word by word translation would result in the Portuguese sentence.  Google translate it one word differently, Google translate don't even get the joke.

Guys, don't take it completely seriously, it's meant to be a joke(somewhat).

[Spricigo]

1 hour ago, Mrcarrot said:

 

Guys, don't take it completely seriously, it's meant to be a joke(somewhat).

Taking it completely seriiously was also a joke.