KSP 2 Ideas that don't merit their own thread.

[Strawberry]

Arcjet thrusters, these are a pretty niche technology, however they make electric arcs through there propellant (hydrazine is the main one) and expel it which I think slaps. Gameplay wise these would serve as an early game rocket filling the niche of a micro ion engine, useful for microdrones and maybe later on you get to use these things as really energy efficient but slow rcs thrusters, for things like long distance travel where turn rate doesnt matter much.

[Domonian]

Tracked vehicles! I don't know how possible it would be modeling and programming-wise, but could tracks be viable for ground vehicles? They'd be slower, but could support larger frames and have better traction over rough terrain, at least in concept. I've never really messed with rovers in KSP1, so idk if the gravity differences due to scale make wheels flat-out better or if tracks are a decent alternative. Would definitely be neat to roll out a rocket on a large tracked launch pad... 

[Turtlegirl1209]

I'd love to see a planet with thin atomosphere but also incredibly high and variable terrain (maybe caused by high rotation? idk im not a scientist) I think it'd make for an intersting and very unique challenge for landing that isnt just "higher gravity lol". for example, would you take the delta v saving and try to land precisley on the mountaintops, where you would land via propulsion like you would on a vacuum body, or would you elect land on a lower-down area where the atmosphere is thick enough to allow your decent rate to be slowed by parachute? but, in the case that you do choose to land via parachute, the player would still need to be careful to enter and land precisely as you'd need to land somewhere where your parachutes can open before you hit the terrain. Probably poorly explained, and i dont think itd be very realistic, but its a fun thought experiment.

[attosecond]

space elevators, with appropriate apparent gravitational field physics.

[Ember12]

10 hours ago, attosecond said:

space elevators, with appropriate apparent gravitational field physics.

I'd be surprised if the game had space elevators.  KSP2 focuses on tech that, even if we can't make, we understand about how it works.  Nobody known how to make a space elevator though.  At least, not the cable.  You need a LOT of tensile strength.

[attosecond]

2 hours ago, Ember12 said:

I'd be surprised if the game had space elevators.  KSP2 focuses on tech that, even if we can't make, we understand about how it works.  Nobody known how to make a space elevator though.  At least, not the cable.  You need a LOT of tensile strength.

There's quite a bit we don't know about Stardriver ICF fusion reactors, too. Didn't stop them from modeling it and showing us the visuals (non-symmetric beam configuration is a head-scratcher).

[whatsEJstandfor]

2 hours ago, Ember12 said:

I'd be surprised if the game had space elevators.  KSP2 focuses on tech that, even if we can't make, we understand about how it works.  Nobody known how to make a space elevator though.  At least, not the cable.  You need a LOT of tensile strength.

We have a pretty good idea on how it could work on low-gravity worlds. IIRC, we currently have the technology to make one on, for example, the moon, though we don't have any practical need at the moment

[Ember12]

25 minutes ago, whatsEJstandfor said:

We have a pretty good idea on how it could work on low-gravity worlds. IIRC, we currently have the technology to make one on, for example, the moon, though we don't have any practical need at the moment

That's a good point.  I'd only been thinking about worlds like Earth.

 

[Stephensan]

Thought of a few, pretty new to the forum so no idea if its been suggested. the things that are started with visual are visual and shouldn't be able to be turned off, but things like mechanics should be able to be disabled while creating your "career" or automatically enabled after a certain difficulty 

• Visual burn marks on taking off and landing.
• Visual ground damage if there is a crash landing.
• Parts getting dirty in locations where dust and particles are capable and would be a good representation of if a location is abandon or not kept up, cleaning will be available or not would be like the colonization of planets, where it isn't necessary to do it but will slightly hinder performance.
• Parts not just combusting when touching the ground without landing gear regardless of angle of attack, scrape and cause damage to the parts that can be not repairable.
• Ships being built part per part, and actually takes time
• Visual Reentry effects
• A Plane control that is mouse controlled with a button for easier in flight controls for those "fine" pointing.
• Wind affecting taking off and light objects.
• Solar Wind capable items using the power of the solar wind as a point of thrust.
• Dynamic sounds for in atmosphere for going super sonic, or watching rocket launches from afar, instead of being ultra localized with ships like Saturn V IRL you could theoretically hear it 200 miles+ so large ships and what not should able to be heard large distances, but with sonic booms way shorter range
• Multiplayer able to see and watch other players rocket ships with telescopes, or LOS.. 
• Multiplayer able to either start off with a already prebuilt location like KSC, or create your own location and get a limited amount of parts to build your own
• Multiplayer setting to hide other players ships from being visible, and would need tracking systems across the planet, including in space to locate them (thinking about the race to the first man on the moon)
• Multiplayer able to take over peoples ships, resources etc, with settings for either being NAP, allies, collation, and foes being able steal things like including research items that you can use for your own for successful complete ownership takeover.. this one sounds far more outrageous than the rest, but i would still put it in the race to get the moon.. 

those are a few i could think of, but i doubt they need the last one but the other ones should be considered, if not already asked or talked about.. sorry still quite new to this, but with the original ksp with mods for multiplayer it was quite a bummer seeing other peoples ships and what not so the element of being surprised wasn't capable.

[Stephensan]

Part two, as bad as it sounds i was using Grammarly and i just realized after all this time, that Grammarly removed a few of my additions

 

• Rovers, and wheeled like machines on surfaces like dirt, dust etc, anything with fine particulates should leave a permeant track unless there is something that can hinder it, such as wind, other kerbin made items running over it, and you should be able to see it with a camera system/telescope if you have such technology to see it at such quality.
• Capable of seeing super large objects such as motherships or huge ISS like objects with the naked eye from the ground, but can be effected by atmosphere and anything that real life can be effected by.
• Option to increase when the "close ground rending/parallax" for the "amazing shots" of close, ultra close flying or a "photo mode" that can be toggleable (this is due to popin i saw and how long it took for the parallax/ground clutter rending took before it appeared.
• Better internal capabilities to control the ship in first person.
• Capabilities to "roam" in large ships internals in first person.

[awsumguy76801]

speed of light limits communication with the ground for transmitting science back home from far away places

[Dinlink]

I think it would be nice to add a Hardcore option or DLC that enables proper n-body dynamics and proper aerodynamics (With better interface and UI integration than Principa and Ferram Aerospace mods)

[MeatyBoi]

So much mod potential

[shdwlrd]

The ability to create a colony in sandbox, blueprint it, and use that blueprint to construct the colony in progression mode.

[t_v]

Two completely unrelated suggestions that definitely do not merit their own thread:

When you turn the lights off, the lights turn off in IVA view so you can sit in the dark looking at the blinking lights and monitors while doing the same thing in game  This is mostly because I saw the monitors reflected off of the Kerbal's helmet in the trailer and thought it looked cool. 

Allow kerbals to multi-class. This is really just a personal preference, but I'd like to see more levels available which you can fill with multiple classes, or go full on for one class to get a super-skilled kerbal. Do this by either training on colonies or by doing things like piloting, sciencing, and engineering (or other classes) so that you can have a kerbal that is reasonable at piloting (can hold a maneuver heading on their own), can do repairs on stuff like wheels, and can process science in a lab, albeit slowly. 

 

[magnemoe]

On 8/5/2022 at 10:15 PM, shdwlrd said:

The ability to create a colony in sandbox, blueprint it, and use that blueprint to construct the colony in progression mode.

This is an good idea, a lot like how we design and test stuff in sandbox before using in the real game. 
However it might have some issues like how colonies are build who is a bit unclear as in you have to deliver resources at location but it would be fun for interesting base locations. 

[Rutabaga22]

I would like a location on kerbin called "Kape Kanaveral" maybe even with an unlockable launch site.

Or have it be the name of the little ksc peninsula 

 

[Ember12]

I would love to see more spherical crew capsules, from small pods to big habitats.

[GigFiz]

I wouldn't mind it being possible to do actual booster recovery. I mean, it wouldn't be hard, we  could do it now if they didn't frickin' disappear halfway down. Just have parachutes that will auto trigger that you can hook to early stages and either just don't disappear them or have it do a calculation to say: enough parachutes? Great, it'll be on the ground, or even just auto-recovered and you don't have to bother going to tracking station to recover them

[Ember12]

5 hours ago, GigFiz said:

I wouldn't mind it being possible to do actual booster recovery. I mean, it wouldn't be hard, we  could do it now if they didn't frickin' disappear halfway down. Just have parachutes that will auto trigger that you can hook to early stages and either just don't disappear them or have it do a calculation to say: enough parachutes? Great, it'll be on the ground, or even just auto-recovered and you don't have to bother going to tracking station to recover them

I'm hoping for some feature that lets you go "back in time" and take control of spent stages while your past self flies the upper stages onward to space.  You could have booster recovery, SpaceX style stage recovery, flyback boosters... you name it.

[Bej Kerman]

12 hours ago, GigFiz said:

I wouldn't mind it being possible to do actual booster recovery. I mean, it wouldn't be hard, we  could do it now if they didn't frickin' disappear halfway down. Just have parachutes that will auto trigger that you can hook to early stages and either just don't disappear them or have it do a calculation to say: enough parachutes? Great, it'll be on the ground, or even just auto-recovered and you don't have to bother going to tracking station to recover them

7 hours ago, Ember12 said:

I'm hoping for some feature that lets you go "back in time" and take control of spent stages while your past self flies the upper stages onward to space.  You could have booster recovery, SpaceX style stage recovery, flyback boosters... you name it.

You mean like FMRS? The concept already exists and works, KSP 2 just needs to implement it.

[GigFiz]

 

A minor one that is probably very much YMMV is lander cans: they are cool, but I find myself never using them and it just being simpler to land a larger, more fully equipped craft; it's more weight, but it can be far more fully equipped and hold way more science stuff and whatnot. I just think it would be cool to somehow have more incentive to use them, at least sometimes. I accept that this could be just me and maybe other people either use them all the time or don't use them and don't care.

 

On 8/24/2022 at 5:38 PM, Ember12 said:

I'm hoping for some feature that lets you go "back in time" and take control of spent stages while your past self flies the upper stages onward to space.  You could have booster recovery, SpaceX style stage recovery, flyback boosters... you name it

That could be cool, as long it was optional and doing it more automatically with chutes was also an option. Like Bej said, this one is easy enough to do, so I would put this in the 'quite likely' category. Plus I would strongly suspect that KSP2 will ditch the auto-delete at a certain distance effect that throws the whole thing off now, anyways. It isn't really necessary anymore, and it makes some cool stuff really difficult/impossible.

[Rutabaga22]

I want to be able to lock the rotating solar panels. Maybe make them Generate more power because they don't have to use any to rotate.

[t_v]

20 minutes ago, Rutabaga22 said:

I want to be able to lock the rotating solar panels. Maybe make them Generate more power because they don't have to use any to rotate.

Non rotating solar panels would be cool for keeping your craft looking nice, but I don’t think any significant portion of the power a panel generates is used for rotation. And when a panel isn’t properly rotated towards a light source, it generates a lot less power. 

[Rutabaga22]

Lowne Island.