RPG-like Kerbal Progression

[0something0]

What if Kerbals could unlock different skills based on a skill tree and the player's decision? Every level you get say 10 points to spend. You can invest the points in a web like this.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CGYFZUv-QdlcPkcZEe9j2a1bLOoprEkv/view?usp=sharing

EDIT: This is only an example

All classes can eventually unlock all skills but researching skills that are not specific to their class take double the points. The rounded shadowed boxes aren't actually special.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2018 by 0something0

[Gargamel]

Aside from the fact that kerbals have 0 skills inherently, and are allowed to do things based only on their level, I like the idea.

Especially since I play with Final Frontier, this would really allow me to customize my kerbals. 

[REMD]

That can be cool :). But EVA RCS only for pilots is little bit not suitable for this game.... On the other hand rescue missions could be much more fun. And rover suddenly make sense. Yeah... i take it back :D Take RCS ability from kerbals can be much more fun and chalenge.

[Wjolcz]

Even more hassle to have actual astronauts instead of useless living payload? What we have in the game now is too much already. No thanks.

Edited May 4, 2018 by Wjolcz

[Dimas152]

21 hours ago, REMD said:

That can be cool :). But EVA RCS only for pilots is little bit not suitable for this game.... 

nope it's categorized on All, after chutes and EVA

[pandaman]

As toggleable difficulty option(s) then it would offer another level and/or style of play for those that want it, so I'm sort of in favour, though I think it needs to be off by default.

I'm not sure if it's possible, or how easy it would be, to tweak the existing crew class and experience system to make it work though.

[Pthigrivi]

Yeah this is probably more than most players have a strong desire to manage. The automatic upgrades we have now are probably the better system, but a flow chart like this could basically happen in the background--eg. when a Pilot progresses to level 5 they can operate IRSU.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Pthigrivi

[0something0]

How about a simpler system where players can choose what skills the kerbals get? So there are 5 skills that a kerbal can get but the player can choose when to unlock a skill. So, they could get the parachutes before advanced SAS.

Also would this be a good idea for a mod? (Not that I have the skills to implement it)

Edited May 6, 2018 by 0something0

[RealKerbal3x]

@0something0 I think this would be quite interesting. The kerbals have a kind of 'tech tree' just like the parts and you can choose what skill they get next.

Also I think the kerbal parachutes should be based on the level of the Astronaut Complex, rather than the level of the kerbal. It doesn't make sense to say 'Jeb, you're cleverer than Bill so you get to live but he doesn't'.

[thereaverofdarkness2]

Why would you get 10 points, and all costs are in increments of 5? Why not divide those values by 5?

[Wjolcz]

Why have classes, experience and skills AND RPG elements at all?

This is why I have such a problem with the whole kerbal experience. You get to put that useless creature into the capsule to have it fly and become a little bit less useless. Instead of KIS/KAS and welding parts we got nerfed meat bags that can do a little bit more than a standard probe can. Why make the experience even more painful by adding RPG sillines on top of that.

You guys better start thinking how to make space exploration more fun and engaging instead of coming up with useless ideas that can make the game only more tedious and more boring.

[Superfluous J]

First 3 levels: What we have now.

Level 4: Pick which other class' skills you now have. So Jeb can run the ISRU as well as Bill.

Level 5: You get the other class' skills. Like in Sandbox.

[mattinoz]

12 hours ago, Wjolcz said:

Why have classes, experience and skills AND RPG elements at all?

This is why I have such a problem with the whole kerbal experience. You get to put that useless creature into the capsule to have it fly and become a little bit less useless. Instead of KIS/KAS and welding parts we got nerfed meat bags that can do a little bit more than a standard probe can. Why make the experience even more painful by adding RPG sillines on top of that.

You guys better start thinking how to make space exploration more fun and engaging instead of coming up with useless ideas that can make the game only more tedious and more boring.

 

So if KIS/KAS and welding skills were part of the tree. If various particular piloting skills were part of the tree. If science observation was part of the tree.

And the tree described things Kerbals could do without direct playar control that might help elevate Kerbals to more than balast in the game.

[Superfluous J]

21 minutes ago, mattinoz said:

So if KIS/KAS and welding skills were part of the tree. If various particular piloting skills were part of the tree. If science observation was part of the tree.

And the tree described things Kerbals could do without direct playar control that might help elevate Kerbals to more than balast in the game.

If a level 4 pilot could endlessly repeat an ore milk run for me I'd be all over that.

[Wjolcz]

56 minutes ago, mattinoz said:

So if KIS/KAS and welding skills were part of the tree. If various particular piloting skills were part of the tree. If science observation was part of the tree.

And the tree described things Kerbals could do without direct playar control that might help elevate Kerbals to more than balast in the game.

Nah. If they were all astronauts with all the piloting skills from the beginning and they would be able to learn the KIS/KAS/welding abilites would be better. Not like what SQUAD did, which was basically nerfing the kerbals and dividing them into classes for the sake of "feeling the progress". It's not progress. It's just annoyance.

37 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

If a level 4 pilot could endlessly repeat an ore milk run for me I'd be all over that.

This would be great. You could put a kerbal on board, "show" him how to fly the rocket by flying it yourself and now that kerbal can follow the same exact ascent profile every time (maybe even in the background?).

[Greenfire32]

3 hours ago, Wjolcz said:

This would be great. You could put a kerbal on board, "show" him how to fly the rocket by flying it yourself and now that kerbal can follow the same exact ascent profile every time (maybe even in the background?).

I share a similar sentiment. I've posted this before, but I'll post it here again:

"My dream KSP game is somewhat of a mix between what we have now and Civ V playstyle where you can create different "units" to do the mundane stuff for you. Just imagine starting a KSP game as it is now and doing all these things yourself, and then unlocking the ability to tell other "Kerbal Krews" to continue doing the mining or the refining or the science on a particular planetary base so that you (the player) can remain at the forefront of discovery..."

[CobaltShock]

Maybe some pre-determined traits? Like some recruits can develop some traits quicker? 

[mattinoz]

9 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

If a level 4 pilot could endlessly repeat an ore milk run for me I'd be all over that.

While a different level 4 pilot could fly a ssto cargo run to orbi and a station board pilot could handle docking either craft to the station.

All pilots but only really in one area.

[Darinth]

On 5/31/2018 at 11:55 AM, Greenfire32 said:

I share a similar sentiment. I've posted this before, but I'll post it here again:

"My dream KSP game is somewhat of a mix between what we have now and Civ V playstyle where you can create different "units" to do the mundane stuff for you. Just imagine starting a KSP game as it is now and doing all these things yourself, and then unlocking the ability to tell other "Kerbal Krews" to continue doing the mining or the refining or the science on a particular planetary base so that you (the player) can remain at the forefront of discovery..."

Adding elements along these lines is really something I'd love to see. Adding in elements of automation for things like "Here. Take this rover and go to locations x, y, and z and do all these science experiments at all of them." or "Follow x launch profile to get into space, follow y flight plan/set of maneuvers to get to the mun, land at z location. Turn on your mining drills, when your tanks are full, launch and return to Kerbin."

Unfortunately, in order to have any chance of this working would require massive overhauls including such things as multiple active floating point origins/krakenbanes so that multiple vessels could be kept active at any time in order to do physics simulations, not to mention performance increases that are an order of magnitude more efficient in order to make a computer realistically capable of running it.

[General Apocalypse]

I have to strongly oppose this for the simple reason that the game engine is an asthmatic hamster on a wheel and that the game itself is maintained by three guys with medium level morale so we barely have a dev team helping grow the game.

Your features are also in stark contrast with what the game is : the only decent spaceflight simulator in existence. To gamify the kerbonauts would be to equivalent to adding payed lootboxes to a game like This War of Mine or Starcraft.