Make Kerbal "trait" and level deeper and grittier

[darthgently]

Engineer, Scientist, and Pilot level should not be capped. 

Pilots should be able to eventually become "Commanders" which would give them the ability to have other Kerbals follow them on EVA, on the surface or in space.   A high level Pilot Commander should increase all efficiencies on the craft to a modest degree; science labs, mining, repairs, fewer kerbals required to move parts, etc. to reflect the "good leadership -> good teamwork" factor

Engineers should gain an increasing ability to scavenge parts to repair other parts without having an explicit parts/repair kit.  The presence of high level scientists should expand engineers' ability to do this as high level scientists would act as sounding boards for wild repair ideas.  High level Pilots who have achieved "command ability" could also lend a factor as the ability to keep morale up and lead during emergencies improves crew performance overall. 

The end result being that having each trait represented on craft will not expire upon cracking the tech tree or having probe cores smarter than pilots or having a satellite network that makes crewless probes more prevalent.

Maybe...maybe, allow Kerbals to cross-train to other traits, so you could have Scientist/Engineers, Engineer/Pilots etc.

 

[Fraktal]

Sounds sensible. For the engineer part, I'd pitch in with the idea that rather than just cannibalizing one part to repair another, high-level engineers could be capable of cannibalizing parts into repair kits (which we now have as of 1.11).

Cross-training would also be good, although it'd be simpler to implement if all kerbals would have the same three-pronged (pilot/scientist/engineer) ability tree, with the kerbal's actual class determining which branch's opening ability they get for free right off the bat. And now that I think of this, I remember once having suggested an idea where once you have an at least two-star kerbal, you can spend time and money to have them instruct lower-level kerbals of the same class at the Astronaut Complex, leveling them up to a maximum of one level below the instructor.

[RealKerbal3x]

Great idea! Maybe there should actually be a Kerbal skills tree (similar to the tech tree, but accessible through the astronaut complex) which allow you to pick what particular skills for your Kerbal's profession you want them to have. This could feed into your idea of having various members of crews complement each other.

[Fraktal]

Good idea, but allow kerbals to respec while they're back at the KSC.

[NH04]

Yes! I agree! Maybe add a 'simulation center' too so that Kerbals can "train" and level up without going to space!

[darthgently]

I'm too new to KSP to know the answer to this, but do Tourists, who gain experience, ever become anything other that Tourists?  It would be cool if a Tourist spends a lot of time with crew members they begin to get some on-the-job training skills.  So they could become apprentice/journeyman/etc/ engineer, scientist, or pilot.  And what the heck, senior crew should be able to retire to being a Tourist and watch other people work for awhile, ha!

It just seems that if some tourists end up stranded on Duna for 8 years with some crewmembers, they are going to end up nearly fully qualified in about everything required on that craft by the time they get rescued simply by pulling their weight while stranded

 

Edited December 19, 2020 by darthgently

[RealKerbal3x]

58 minutes ago, darthgently said:

I'm too new to KSP to know the answer to this, but do Tourists, who gain experience, ever become anything other that Tourists?  It would be cool if a Tourist spends a lot of time with crew members they begin to get some on-the-job training skills.  So they could become apprentice/journeyman/etc/ engineer, scientist, or pilot.  And what the heck, senior crew should be able to retire to being a Tourist and watch other people work for awhile, ha!

It just seems that if some tourists end up stranded on Duna for 8 years with some crewmembers, they are going to end up nearly fully qualified in about everything required on that craft by the time they get rescued simply by pulling their weight while stranded

 

Tourists stay tourists, though they can level up.

Currently higher-level tourists don't have any advantages over lower-level ones.

[NH04]

14 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Tourists stay tourists, though they can level up.

Currently higher-level tourists don't have any advantages over lower-level ones.

Advantages for higher-level tourists would be nice though, like more g-force tolerance. Don't know how many times a tourist has passed out and I lost the contract because of it. Jeb didn't even blink, though.

[kerbiloid]

Iirc, USI mod distinguishes levels of the specialists.

[Delbrutis]

On 12/19/2020 at 11:28 AM, darthgently said:

Maybe...maybe, allow Kerbals to cross-train to other traits, so you could have Scientist/Engineers, Engineer/Pilots etc.

I have always thought this would be a really useful idea . "Just my personal input" But I like the Idea of a seven point level cap and the Kerbal needs to stay one point ahead in their primary profession over any cross trained skill.  A example would be if Jeb starts as a level one pilot he has to take another level in pilot before he can cross train  another skill . He could then take a level one in science or engineering or both. But he must take another level of pilot before he can add a second level in either of those slots .   Kerbals  could only ever reach level five in their primary skill but would have a lot of cross training capability. Jeb could stay at level three "average " pilot and take two slots of engineer and science . He would never be a great pilot but But this would make him a really good all around Kerbal for missions  .  Maybe Jeb does not like science he could take a full level five in piloting and two levels of engineer. Hiring the right Kerbal would still be important if you  want to max out a profession but you would still get a lot of flexibility to develop them.              

[Spricigo]

Aside from the discussion about what is sensible and what is OP,  I really would prefer to have those things as perks  not tied to the level or profession. The same way some kerbals just are badS, other may be natural leaders and scavengers.

[Kerbart]

On 12/19/2020 at 5:30 PM, RealKerbal3x said:

Tourists stay tourists, though they can level up.

Currently higher-level tourists don't have any advantages over lower-level ones.

High level tourists would offer contracts that take them further. You'll only get contracts to take tourists to mun once you've built up a pool of one-star tourists, and so on. Killing tourists (or perhaps giving them a bad experience) will diminish that pool.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Kerbart

[James M]

If you choose to cross train, the max rank of each type would be locked from that Kerbal. For example, a pilot kerbal who cross-trains to also become a scientist can no longer become a commander (Or whatever the max rank of scientist is)

Edited January 7, 2021 by James M