Kerbal Diversity.

[sunnypunny]

getting back to the topic of kerbal diversity, i'd be more in favour of a biological rather than anthropomorphic approach. this game makes a great physics experiment, and maybe bit of biological experimentation could be added by allowing players to vary the attributes of the kerbals as a species, and then see how they evolve differently (based on our knowledge), or something like that. it better fits the miniaturised setting of the game imo.

[kerbiloid]

A problem which I faced long ago thinking about a LOTR modern warfare for ZX Spectrum was that elves and gnomes dwarves should use absolutely different tanks and planes due to their diversity.

In KSP with its pixel-hunting models the diversity would make the problem much more annoying.

Edited July 5, 2021 by kerbiloid

[Pthigrivi]

7 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

A problem which I faced long ago thinking about a LOTR modern warfare for ZX Spectrum was that elves and gnomes dwarves should use absolutely different tanks and planes due to their diversity.

In KSP with its pixel-hunting models the diversity would make the problem much more annoying.

I don’t think anyone intends for there to be gameplay differences. These are all just cosmetic differences for RP purposes. 

[kerbiloid]

2 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

I don’t think anyone intends for there to be gameplay differences. These are all just cosmetic differences for RP purposes. 

Yes, but then you need take into account different shapes, different needs, and different masses.

And thus different cabins dedicated to particular Kerbals.

[Bej Kerman]

44 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

47 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

I don’t think anyone intends for there to be gameplay differences. These are all just cosmetic differences for RP purposes. 

Yes, but then you need take into account different shapes, different needs, and different masses.

And thus different cabins dedicated to particular Kerbals.

Kerbals won't go that in-depth. As Pthigrivi said, it'll all just be cosmetic.

[A Generic Kerbal]

IMO there only should be diversity in hair styles or maybe accessories, no different skin colors please 

[Guest]

23 hours ago, A Generic Kerbal said:

IMO there only should be diversity in hair styles or maybe accessories, no different skin colors please 

Nah, they should absolutely have all the same exact hairs, and have a different number of legs and eyes.

[kerbiloid]

Depending on launch results.

Spoiler

Robinson's Requiem

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by kerbiloid

[Bej Kerman]

On 7/21/2021 at 11:52 AM, A Generic Kerbal said:

IMO there only should be diversity in hair styles or maybe accessories, no different skin colors please 

That just sounds utterly pointless. Why should there not be any diversity skin colour? While we're at it, why don't we remove female Kerbals?

[ArtemisAZ]

Just head canon it all, everything is canon in head canon

IMAGINATION MEANS NO LIMITATION

[Lewie]

On 7/22/2021 at 7:30 AM, Bej Kerman said:

That just sounds utterly pointless. Why should there not be any diversity skin colour? While we're at it, why don't we remove female Kerbals?

Why have multiple tones of green? There was only one in the first game.

[snip]

 

[GuessingEveryDay]

On 8/9/2021 at 9:22 PM, Lewie said:

Why have multiple tones of green? There was only one in the first game.

 

This is really the only type of realism they can try adding to the game. DNA mutates, it changes the instructions. So why wouldn't it change skin color?

[MechBFP]

23 hours ago, Lewie said:

Why have multiple tones of green? There was only one in the first game.

There also wasn't interstellar travel in the first game, better strip that out. Better graphics? Gone. New parts? Don't even make me laugh.

[Deddly]

I'm in favour of giving kerbals more variety and personality. I want to feel attached to something that is more than one of countless identical creatures where only the name and whether they scream or laugh during flight differentiates them from one another. 

KSP didn't need female kerbals, but it sure added variety and is better for it. 

KSP doesn't need different shades of green, nor does it need variations in hair colour and styles, but I'm sure glad to see some of that coming - not for any reason other than to have some more variety. 

Edited August 20, 2021 by Deddly
Reworded a term that could be misinterpreted as political. Sorry about that.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Deddly said:

I'm in favour of giving kerbals more variety and personality. I want to feel attached to something that is more than one of countless identical creatures where only the name and whether they scream or laugh during flight differentiates them from one another. 

KSP didn't need female kerbals, but it sure added variety and is better for it. 

KSP doesn't need different shades of green, nor does it need variations in hair colour and styles, but I'm sure glad to see some of that coming - not for some social justice argument, but to have some more variety. 

I agree with this

I don't want having diversity for political reasons, but just to make the kerbal world more expanded

 

[Timmon26]

Here are some sketches of kerbal faces I did. Kept the hairstyles similar to show the difference face shape makes, and varied the skin tones a bit with the markers I had on hand.

Spoiler

 

[Lewie]

On 8/11/2021 at 6:13 PM, The Doodling Astronaut said:

I agree with this

I don't want having diversity for political reasons, but just to make the kerbal world more expanded

 

exactly!

17 hours ago, Timmon26 said:

Here are some sketches of kerbal faces I did. Kept the hairstyles similar to show the difference face shape makes, and varied the skin tones a bit with the markers I had on hand.

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Nice!!! Those are adorable...I love the second male in the top row! 

[Spaceman.Spiff]

18 hours ago, Timmon26 said:

Here are some sketches of kerbal faces I did. Kept the hairstyles similar to show the difference face shape makes, and varied the skin tones a bit with the markers I had on hand.

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These are adorable!

Great job!

[Timmon26]

21 hours ago, Timmon26 said:

 

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Further thoughts on this:

I don't know how much facial variation the devs intend to implement, but I seem to recall a throwaway line in an interview about eyeball symmetry possibly varying. I'd love to see that extended to head shape, eye size and position, mouth size and position, etc. As you can see from the sketches, by making kerbal heads variable by a number of parameters and then randomly tweaking them very slightly, we can produce a wide variety of unique faces. Fortunately, humans are really good at noticing subtle differences between faces, so the absolute differences can be too small to affect gameplay in any way (although animation will have to dynamically account for it) while being large enough to be memorable.

Here's the theory behind how I varied these sketches:
Male kerbal heads are basically cylinders, and female heads are pills. Jeb and Val (Male and Female #6 above) are the prototypical examples. Each head shape can be defined by two circular planes separated by some vertical distance. Increase that distance and you get kerbals like Male 4 and Female 3. Decrease it and you get M9 and F9. 
Each plane can also vary in radius. If the upper plane is wider than the lower, you get faces like M7 and F7. If the lower plane is wider, you get M8 and F8.
Convexity and concavity may be helpful to vary as well; see kerbals M3 and M4 for a comparison. 
For eyeballs, each has a size, distance from center, and height. To prevent extremes, it may do to keep relative positions small, even as the height of the eyeline can change wildly. 
Mouths have a size, height, and left/right position.
I just used three different markers to vary skin tone, but in the game I'd expect skin tones to have subtle random variations in RGB values, within some small range centered around #BADA55. 
Hair style can of course vary widely, as we've seen in released screenshots. If I had a say, I'd keep hair color very close to if not always black. I always thought black looked the best against green, while other combinations like blonde or red tend to clash badly. 

Ultimately I'd like to see a level of variation akin to the Thermians from Galaxy Quest. They're each unique, but derived from a common "template."

[kerbiloid]

New buildings should be added: a barbershop and a tattooshop.

Also a bruise around the eye after collisions. Changing its color from dark blue to light yellow.

[Klapaucius]

I think the Minions do this quite well by simply altering the body shape a bit (and the number of eyes).  Perhaps the diversity should be uniquely Kerbal and not be taking cues from humans.

[Dman979]

Some more content has been removed. Keep it on-topic, please.

[Bej Kerman]

On 8/10/2021 at 2:22 AM, Lewie said:

There was only one in the first game.

...and?

[Lisias]

On 6/11/2021 at 5:46 PM, Minmus Taster said:

We have known for awhile that Kerbals will have individual hair styles in KSP 2

But I noticed some of the Kerbals in this model have a slightly lighter/darker skin and others have glasses, what do you think about this?

Edit: No Identity Politics in the comments, it's just a game about space toads not discrimination.

I think that just visual differences is too shallow. I don't care about how a Kerbal appears (darker, lighter, bald, moustaches, female, male, whatever) if they all behave the same.

I would like differences in traits, in personalities. I would like Kerbals that work better with some and worse with others. I would like Kerbals incredibly difficult to cope, but also incredibly competent on the task and also Kerbals not so good on the job, but incredibly easygoing. Rule followers, rule breakers, we need them all.

Spoiler

 

This will make the visual differences worth something, as it will be a way to identify who is who on the staff and so it would be needed on building the mission's team.

[BekfastDerp13]

Scott Manley kerbals should be added into KSP 2 for funny stuff. I think in some mods, kerbals have beards.