Kerbal Space Program 1.9: "There’s No Place Like Home” Grand Discussion Thread

[UomoCapra]

Hello everyone!

Kerbalkind has been exploring the vastness of the Kerbolar System for many years: they’ve explored the surfaces of planets and moons, encountered beautiful landscapes, interesting surface features, performed experiments, and even captured asteroids, all with ingenuity… and many explosions. However, sometimes it’s good to look back and appreciate the wonders of your own home-planet and realize that There’s No Place Like Home!

Kerbal Space Program 1.9: There’s No Place Like Home draws its name from the substantial graphical overhaul we’ve given to Kerbin with improved textures and shaders, but that’s far from the only thing you’ll find in this update. Mainly focusing on performance improvements and bug fixes, 1.9 also includes some neat part revamps, a brand new drain valve, and several additions drawn directly from your feedback. Additionally, we’re including some cool stock crafts for the expansions, and advanced control improvements to the blades in the Breaking Ground Expansion.

Let’s go through some of the update’s highlights below:

Visual Revamps for Moho Dres and Kerbin

Kerbin, Moho and Dres have received major visual improvements, with detailed high-quality texture maps. Since there’s no place like home, Kerbin  also includes an Ultra Quality shader option for exceptionally sharp visuals. All in all, the Celestial Bodies in the Kerbolar System are looking better than ever.

Drain Valve

Kerbal Space Program 1.9: There’s No Place Like Home features the FTE-1 Drain Valve. A brand new part that, as the name suggests, is a release valve for parts with drainable resources, such as monopropellant, ore, liquid fuel, oxidizer or xenon. The Drain Valve also allows you to set the drainage over a specific amount of time. 

Part Revamps

The "Thumper" Solid Fuel Booster, "Mainsail" and “Skipper" Liquid Fuel Engines have been given a new look. New geometry, textures and emissive maps make these parts look sharp and realistic. On top of that, the "Mainsail" and “Skipper" are getting a couple of sleek variants for you to choose from.

Quality of Life Features

Drawing from our players’ feedback, Kerbal Space Program 1.9: There’s No Place Like Home is packed with some useful quality of life features like an adjustment to the time warp system that removes restrictions on warping at certain altitudes; a new cheat menu option that allows you to place your craft above the surface of any celestial body; a search box for the R&D Tech Tree; and a new Screenshot Mode for paused shots, and several others! 

Blade improvements 

Breaking Ground players can now enjoy cyclic & collective deflection controls to the blade parts. This will help you build and pilot helicopters and other rotorcraft realistically. Check out this devblog to learn more about it.

And more!

To learn more you can read the full Changelog here:

=================================== v1.9.0 ============================================================
1.9.0 Changelog - BaseGame ONLY (see below for Making History and Breaking Ground changelog)

+++ Improvements
* Added Camera mode (unlocked camera movement controls) when game is paused in flight and you hide the UI.
* Adjust Kerbal ladder navigation to remove sliding and provide better automatic transition between ladders.
* Part Mass and Cost now clamp their value to avoid negative numbers results from Mass/Cost Modifiers - configured per part via minimumMass and minimumCost in each parts cfg.
* Revamped Kerbin scaled space planet.
* Implement single camera system when running in DX11 for improved performance.
* Add new part - FTE-1 Drain Valve to drain resources from attached parts.
* Add new Cheat option in the Debug Menu  - Set Position to teleport a vessel to a position relative to the surface of a celestial body.
* Added medium and high Quality shader for Moho.
* Adjust Wheel brake setting and auto-friction to take into account Gee. Helps with rovers flipping over.
* Each KAL Window now persists its screen position with the KAL.
* KSPedia slides and assets now load on demand and are released when the KSPedia window is closed.
* Add handling for Ships folder in GameData/SquadExpansion where stock craft including DLC parts can be stored.
* Added Ultra Quality shader for Kerbin.
* Implement new Max Time Warp logic to allow faster warp rates when on rails. This is managed by gamesettings (ORBIT_WARP_MAXRATE_MODE = PeAltitude).
* Implement Limit modifier for altitude based Max Time Warp logic so players can tune when the mode is set to (ORBIT_WARP_MAXRATE_MODE = VesselAltitude).
* Change Default VesselSwitching Keys ( [ or ] ) to bypass debris and spaceobjects.
* Add Mod + VesselSwitching Keys  ( [ or ] ) to include debris and spaceobjects.
* Add search box to career tech tree.
* Added High Quality shader for Kerbin.
* Created new textures with higher detail for Kerbin's low quality terrain shader.

+++ Localization
* Fix variant name in selector being cropped in some languages like Japanese
* Fix missing font character affecting some KSPedia slides in Russian.
* Fix missing font character affecting Orbit Info UI in Chinese.

+++ Parts
* Revamped Skipper engine.
* Revamped Mainsail engine with silver variant.
* BACC "Thumper" Solid Fuel Booster revamp.
* RE-M3 Mainsail (New "Full", "Mid" and "Bare" variants).
* RE-I5 Skipper (New "Shroud", "Truss Mount" and "Bare" variants).

+++ Bugfixes
* Fix tab key switching for columns in the settings screen, it will focus the first available item.
* Fix part filter showing no parts after switching between subassemblies, variants and simple mode.
* Fix renamed asteroids needing a scene change to update screen and kb info.
* Fix NREs where Breaking Ground Science VesselType should not be available without the DLC.
* Fix surface attach node handling on Part Variants.
* Fix action sets input losing focus when renaming and moving the mouse away from the input field.
* Fix errors EVAing in timewarp via crew hatch dialog.
* Fix additional launchsite CommNet stations being active even when those launchsites are not active in the currently loaded save.
* Fix shadows on KSC filler tiles when lights are shone on them.
* Fix NREs and oxygen timeliness checks resulting in kerbals dying when they shouldn't when no helmet on.
* Fix NRE pressing Ctrl-Z (undo) many times with symmetry part selected.
* Fix audio FX fade when objects move away from player's camera.
* Fix dV calcs for boosters with fuel flow priorities changed (specific use cases).
* Fix Discontinuity in texture mapping on the Mun with high quality shader.
* Fix Walkway textures around level 3 RnD building.
* Fix issue where symmetry could break when restoring a held part on a vessel and immediately placing the held part again.
* Fix Inputlock manager issue with MenuNavigation breaking single mouse clicks.
* Fix SAS target mode misalignment when control point is not the vessel root
* Fix NRE when deploying science experiments attached to debris when on EVA.
* Fix reentry FX.
* Fix target marker disappearing in the Ascent Tutorial.
* Fix Terrain shader causing crashes on AMD GPUs.
* Fix underwater fog.
* Fix log spam when player attempts to drag maneuver nodes backwards through patched conics crossing SOIs.
* Fix dV calcs on stages that have different tank priorities in the same stage.
* Fix manipulating maneuver nodes unhiding the Navball throughout gameplay.
* Fix NRE being generated when staging a service module inside of a fairing in liftoff during flight.
* Fix Kerbodyne S3-14400, Kerbodyne S3-7200 and Kerbodyne S3-3600 colliders being visible during Place Mode.
* Fix Rockomax Brand Adapter 02 being off-center.
* Fix Mastodon and Skiff bottom attach nodes being backwards.
* Fix issue with quicksaves loading active vessel about to crash causing the vessel to pass through the terrain. Quicksaves can no longer be made when the active vessel is about to crash into the ground (including EVA kerbals).
* Fix contract generation issues in Editor when reputation changes by allowing contract generation in Editor scene.
* Fix parachutes deploying on quicksave load or staging when set to only stage when safe and conditions are not safe.
* Fixed texturing being broken on corner of Bop.
* Fix part highlight remaining on parts when removed from action groups in the editor.
* Fix error when manipulating servos that are part of an action group
* Fix terrain texturing jitter on celestial body low quality shader when landing from Orbit.
* Fix mirror attach on bicouplers.
* Fix KSPedia Aircraft/Basics/Balancing act page slide missing in Chinese
* Fix opening the In-Flight Action Sets Editor unlocking vessel functions without a Command Module present in flight during gameplay.
* Fix the KAL-1000 curve starting below minValue for some parts.
* Fix Flight UI mode being locked during Time Warp.
* Kerbal Body collider adjusted to reduce collisions while on a ladder.

+++ Mods
* Add Per Kerbal PhysicMaterial Accessors for Modders so you can adjust each kerbals bounciness - SetPhysicMaterial, ResetPhysicMaterial.
* Fix Issue for mods when copying parts that had modified resource lists.
* Fix potential NRE in music player for mods.
* Set the KSP Assembly version correctly on game start so KSPAssemblyDependency will work for KSP versions.
* Added events for Action Groups in flight visibility changes so mods can handle any UI changes they need to in each mode
* Added Pause/UnPause events when the action groups show/hide in flight.
* Fix PQS.radiusmax not including some noise PQSMods in the calcs PQSMod_VertexHeightNoise and PQSMod_VertexPlanet. Should mean that radisumax is no longer below any vertex in most cases

Making History 1.9.0

+++ Improvements
* Added new stock vessels to be used in any game mode. Some of them are featured in stock missions.

+++ Parts
* Retuned Engine Plates mass and costs.

+++ Bugfixes
* Fix NRE when launching vessels with Breaking Ground Robotic parts and wheels in missions.
* Fix in mission builder where an NRE is generated when a flag planted in a pod triggers a node to destroy the same pod.
* Fix a truck collider in the Dessert Airfield.
* Moved the mission status check from the physics loop to the main game clock to prevent physics simulation being out of sync with respect to UI.
* The VAB and SPH should not be open in the stock Meet me in Zero G mission.
* Fix missions getting stuck if they have a mission briefing and the player changes scenes before closing the mission briefing dialog box.
* Fix scoring in Trouble in the Void stock mission.
* Body collider adjusted to reduce collisions while on a ladder for vintage suits.

Breaking Ground 1.4.0

+++ Improvements
* Blade controls are no longer instantaneous.
* Blades SAS support improved.
* Added new stock vessels to be used in any game mode.
* Add new kspedia slides.
* Blades auto-detect cyclic vs collective control mode based on location of rotation axis relative to the vessel center of mass, per control axis. Mode indicated in Rotation Control State group in Advanced Tweakables.
* Blade authority limiter default set to 3 degrees.
* Blades auto-detect inoperable control axis (rotation axis within 5 degrees of control axis).
* Blade rotation axis shown as green arrow in aero debug display. Length is logarithmically proportional to rotation velocity (vessel relative).

+++ Bugfixes
* Fix cargo part model getting stuck on screen when pressing altimeter buttons.
* Fix deployed science power kerbal trait text in AC tooltips.
* Fix NRE when launching vessels with Breaking Ground Robotic parts and wheels in missions.
* Fix heaviest part autostrut for robotic parts attached in reverse depending on ship part order.
* Fix potential NREs using rotate tool on robotic parts.
* Fix robotic part animations stutter changing Auto-shift state playing through KAL-1000.
* Fix robotic parts losing functionality when auto-restart is enabled.
* Body collider adjusted to reduce collisions while on a ladder for futuristic suits.

Kerbal Space Program 1.9: There’s No Place Like Home is now available on Steam and will soon be available on GOG and other third-party resellers. You will also be able to download it from the KSP Store if you already own the game.

As with every release this thread will be used to bundle all general discussion about the new version so that the forums can continue to actively host threads on other topics as well. CLICK HERE for the official release announcement for Kerbal Space Program 1.9: There's No Place Like Home.

Happy launchings!

[raptor30]

still no clouds?!?!!! 

[garwel]

Great to see so many fixes and improvements. But I guess it'll take another 3 months to have all my favorite mods updated.

[Friznit]

Does this work in 1.9??

[MR L A]

Very nice, but I am HUGELY TRIGGERED by the fact we have yet another shade of orange... the orange on the skipper retexture is not even close to the orange on the large 2.5m tank

[theJesuit]

I'm excited about Kerbins new terrain texture.  Thanks @SQUAD.

Peace.

[Shadowmage]

Huh, figures that 1.9 would hit literally hours after I finally update my mods to 1.8.

 

Really looking forward to the cyclic/collective changes to rotor blades.  Trying to implement a functional swashplate system without massive part-count was... not going well (rather, it went nowhere).

Minimum mass/minimum cost definitions in config files and validating the mass and cost values to not be negative is a fairly useful (but bug-hiding) feature.  IN theory it shouldn't be needed if parts and mod code works properly, but at least now when it isn't working, things won't start flying off into space on their own (negative mass on a craft does weird things).

Quote

Add new Cheat option in the Debug Menu  - Set Position to teleport a vessel to a position relative to the surface of a celestial body.

^^ Is simply a wonderful addition to the stock debug tools, that has been missing ever since they added the object relocation functions.

[Dirkidirk]

now to wait for the next update on le xBOX/pS4

Edited February 12, 2020 by Dirkidirk

[zer0Kerbal]

was looking for an excuse to update/release my mods.

[RizzoTheRat]

Oh *****, now I'm going to have to start a new career all over again.

 

 

 

[JebIsDeadBaby]

So, next stop KSP 2.0? :-)

[theJesuit]

Just now, JebIsDeadBaby said:

So, next stop KSP 2.0? :-)

Also 1.10.

I can't afford to change until ksp 2.0 goes on a discount sale

Edited February 12, 2020 by theJesuit

[scottadges]

I just might give playing completely (or nearly) Stock a try with the latest update. See what it's like while we wait for the mod updates. 

[NoMrBond]

8 hours ago, UomoCapra said:

* Implement single camera system when running in DX11 for improved performance.

Would it be possible to get a little technical background/information of this improvement?

[Foxster]

Just now, scottadges said:

I just might give playing completely (or nearly) Stock a try with the latest update. See what it's like while we wait for the mod updates. 

All my mods are working fine so far. 

[Shadowmage]

Just now, NoMrBond said:

Would it be possible to get a little technical background/information of this improvement?

I too would like a bit of additional info on that.  Missed it during my brief peruse of the patch notes.

Knowing a bit about the internals of how KSP renders things, I would imagine that this means they are no longer compositing the final viewed image from multiple cameras (near/local, and far/scenery/celestial objects).  If true, this would go a long ways towards cleaning up rendering issues regarding reflections and other post-processing effects (e.g. scatterer).  Single camera, single transform matrix, single render texture/render-target.

The improvements to performance likely won't be anything crazy, but it is a great step towards simplifying the rendering.

Wondering what in the recent Unity versions allows them to do this, or if it was other changes to the rendering code?  I've spent some time myself trying to solve that issue for personal game-dev projects, and the dual-camera setup is the only solution that I could reliably get working while keeping things 'simple'.  Perhaps they've gone from a 16/24-bit z-buffer to 32 and implemented logarithmic depth calculation?  Those changes combined might be enough to give good enough precision for only a single camera (though I thought logarithmic depth buffers had been in use for many years as a standard).

[RealKerbal3x]

Yaas, the update is released! Looking forward to playing with it

Edited February 12, 2020 by RealKerbal3x

[NoMrBond]

7 minutes ago, Shadowmage said:

Wondering what in the recent Unity versions allows them to do this, or if it was other changes to the rendering code?  I've spent some time myself trying to solve that issue for personal game-dev projects, and the dual-camera setup is the only solution that I could reliably get working while keeping things 'simple'.  Perhaps they've gone from a 16/24-bit z-buffer to 32 and implemented logarithmic depth calculation?  Those changes combined might be enough to give good enough precision for only a single camera (though I thought logarithmic depth buffers had been in use for many years as a standard).

Was this the point where they switched to using a reverse-float (log) depth buffer?

I remember that becoming available in Unity earlier (and Blackrack pointing out the advantages thereof) but wasn't sure if it was in-game already

To quote blackrack > 

Quote

 

Graphics: Improve shadows precision for large game worlds. Use reverse-float depth buffer for improved depth buffer precision on modern GPUs. Particularly improves directional light shadowing for large view distances.

Using this and a logarithmic depth buffer, this would allow squad (or me) to merge the near and far cameras into a single camera, using a unified depth buffer. This would simplify otherwise impossible or too complicated effects due to splitting of the scene on multiple cameras and multiple depth buffers, including screen-space reflections, refraction (ocean or heat/particles), ambient occlusion, depth of field and many more...

Right now I've already figured out how to make all the game shaders write logarithmic depth, and using just one camera it works beautifully, except for the shadows which suffer from precision issues, and not just a few artifacts here and there, I'm talking shadows getting down to the boogie and flickering on every surface.

This would indeed "unlock" several cool graphical effects, like really cool effects, I'm not sure however what the overhead is for migrating from the current version to 5.5 and I see why it's not a priority. It would be amazing though, one can dream.

 

I have bolded the bit which I am suspecting has come to pass? 

[sh1pman]

Also, Skipper now looks more powerful than Mainsail.

[JPLRepo]

35 minutes ago, Shadowmage said:

I too would like a bit of additional info on that.  Missed it during my brief peruse of the patch notes.

Knowing a bit about the internals of how KSP renders things, I would imagine that this means they are no longer compositing the final viewed image from multiple cameras (near/local, and far/scenery/celestial objects).  If true, this would go a long ways towards cleaning up rendering issues regarding reflections and other post-processing effects (e.g. scatterer).  Single camera, single transform matrix, single render texture/render-target.

The improvements to performance likely won't be anything crazy, but it is a great step towards simplifying the rendering.

Wondering what in the recent Unity versions allows them to do this, or if it was other changes to the rendering code?  I've spent some time myself trying to solve that issue for personal game-dev projects, and the dual-camera setup is the only solution that I could reliably get working while keeping things 'simple'.  Perhaps they've gone from a 16/24-bit z-buffer to 32 and implemented logarithmic depth calculation?  Those changes combined might be enough to give good enough precision for only a single camera (though I thought logarithmic depth buffers had been in use for many years as a standard).

More info for modders can be found here.

 

[MechBFP]

Very nice. Thanks again SQUAD!

The “Science Vessel” bug killing the map view was messing with a surprising amount of newbies. Good to see it fixed. 

[TiktaalikDreaming]

So...

* Blades auto-detect cyclic vs collective control mode based on location of rotation axis relative to the vessel center of mass, per control axis. Mode indicated in Rotation Control State group in Advanced Tweakables.

Is this available for more than just blades?  Outboard jet or rocket engines for instance?

[JPLRepo]

Just now, TiktaalikDreaming said:

So...

* Blades auto-detect cyclic vs collective control mode based on location of rotation axis relative to the vessel center of mass, per control axis. Mode indicated in Rotation Control State group in Advanced Tweakables.

Is this available for more than just blades?  Outboard jet or rocket engines for instance?

No. Sorry. Only ModuleControlSurface.

[Motokid600]

"Fixed audio fade with camera distance" Thank... God. That is the best thing for me in 1.9. The engine audio not fading with distance was killing this game for me.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Motokid600

[Shadowmage]

1 minute ago, TiktaalikDreaming said:

Outboard jet or rocket engines for instance?

As this feature is simulating collective pitch, as utilized by helicopters and other rotorcraft, I'm not sure how it could be applied (conceptually) to combustion based engines.  Those engines can't really put out more thrust on one side of the engine than the other; there is only one nozzle, which determines the direction of thrust.

Rocket engines/etc can already do vectored thrust with the use of the gimbal module; different concept and applications, but is how thrust is controlled on those types of engines IRL.

28 minutes ago, JPLRepo said:

More info for modders can be found here.

Many thanks for the info, seems to be exactly what I was looking for