"Junk" rocket part skins

[Fred Cop]

SHORT VERSION:

Spoiler

Now that SQUAD are reworking KSP's rocket parts to look more sleek/professional, I feel there should be a new group for rocket parts emulating the mis-matched junk-like aesthetic KSP's rocket parts have (before SQUAD starting revamping rocket parts)

 

FULL VERSION:

I'll be honest, as much as I love the look of the new revamped parts, I kinda feel sad that SQUAD is killing off the old part's junk-like art style.

 

I mean, I understand all of KSP's rocket parts had mis-matched styles and designs, since rocket parts were added/implemented at different times during the game's development, but I feel that worked in the game's favour. The way rockets were assembled using mis-matched parts gave the impression that Kerbals just dug up some random junk and just slapped some bits of metal together into something that resembled a rocket (hell, the item descriptions for several parts state they came from a junkyard or were found by the side of the road).

Much in the same way players would build rockets through trial and error (at least before DeltaV tools and mods were available), it felt like the Kerbals knew nothing about space flight either, and were just putting something together in the hope it'll make it to space.

 

As for the new art-style, it's sleek and modern. The colour palette and designs are consistent, and it gives a very professional NASA-esc vibe. Now, if you like the new revamped rocket parts, that's perfectly fine, but I feel the style of these modern revamped parts don't fit well with KSP (I mean, KSP is SQUAD's IP, they can do what they want with the art-style, but to me the new style doesn't feel right).

Like, maybe this is just me, but I cannot envision the Kerbal-race designing something professional or sleek like the Saturn V. They're very clumsy/primitive (if the game's trailers/writing is anything to go by), so - to me - slapping something together using scrap seems like the sort of thing they'd do. As a result, it feels weird to me that SQUAD would switch to a more realistic/sleek new style (although A. that's just my thoughts, and B. for all we know SQUAD might be moving KSP towards a more serious/realistic tone).

 

 

This brings me to my suggestion:

In the future (perhaps after a few bug-fix updates/patches, *cough cough*), I think there should be a new skin group for most rocket parts emulating the game's original inconsistent junk-like style. I'm a bit iffy about whether to say that a "junk" rocket part skin should used by default in Sandbox/Science, but players can still switch to the three newer skins if they prefer them.

Heck, there could be a game mechanic included in Career mode (preferably one you can enable/disable in the game's options) where all rocket parts use the Junk skin by default and you can pay Funds to upgrade parts to use the more professional/sleek skins. That way, you start off career mode with rockets that look like they were assembled from random scrap, then progressing to shinier modern-looking rockets.

Obviously, it's a bit early to be discussing this, since not all of KSP's rocket parts have been revamped to the new style, but I'm thinking this suggestion could be implemented after the release of 1.6, or further into the future. Just at a point where more than half of the game's rocket parts (at least, the ones that need to be redesigned) are revamped.

 

...

...am I just complaining about something that doesn't matter? I don't know.

What do y'all think about this suggestion? Do you think it's stupid/a waste of precious development time or...?

Edited December 14, 2018 by Fred Cop

[roboslacker]

There's a few mods for junk rockets, so there is some demand. If you're a modded player, you could check out Honest Purple's Land O' Junk, or Bargain Rocket Parts. Personally, I don't want to see stock junk parts.

[The Yellow Dart]

I like the idea of career progression unlocking a new sets of rocket skins, and it fits with the aesthetic of the space center upgrades that currently exist, where you start with a concrete slab with scorch marks and a bumpy dirt runway. Start off with clunky looking cobbled together part skins, then once you upgrade the VAB it can unlock a set of Space Race era skins (Apollo & Soviet) and parts default to that from then on, then the third upgrade gives you a futuristic looking set. Same for the SPH and plane parts.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

While I'm with you in wanting the old fashioned models to stay as an option, there are some technical reasons why that isn't wise.

KSP loads everything into memory when it's started up, so you would really be bloating the RAM load, which is already considerable.

That said, I'm also sad that Squad is moving away from the "cartoony mismatched junk-rockets" Kerbal vibe that makes KSP, well KSP. Updating the models didn't require throwing what little style/character/identity the game had out the window. The new models may be technically superior but they lack any kind of heart, passion, or imagination. To be honest, they look like they are from a completely different game to me, I mean; what was the design philosophy here? Realism? Why? I half expect to see the Kerbals themselves retconned to plain ol' humans as a minor patch note any update now. 

Edited December 14, 2018 by Rocket In My Pocket

[Kerbinchaser]

My favorite thing about this post is that you posted a "short" version and a "long" version. 

In all seriousness, I don't know if we need "skins." I think KSP is almost a "cartoon" game at heart, and even though physics are realistic, the rockets themselves look great the. way they do now. Of course, I almost never play stock, but my 2¢ is that we really don't need this for the game to improve. Other things need to be addressed before visual things are added.

Good suggestion though.

2 hours ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

That said, I'm also sad that Squad is moving away from the "cartoony mismatched junk-rockets" 

 

For some reason I feel like this had something to do with the move to Take Two. 

[Superfluous J]

I like the idea in general. I'm in the never-minded-the-old-skins camp, just on the border of the missing-the-old-skins camp.

The more skins the better. Until you start having memory issues, of course.

Is there a reason we can't have every FL-T* skin available to every FL-T* part? With or without stretching and panning, as chosen by the player? This would cause near duplicates (esp in the smaller parts of sets), freeing up space for more whimsical skins.

I like the idea of skins being available on a per-tier basis of the VAB. It's a far better upgrade option than number of parts on a craft

[rageit]

Can anyone suggest me a mod which will give skins to apply on ksp rocket parts in the previous version game