KSP 2 Menu Screen Ideas

[TheOrbitalMechanic]

In KSP 1, there are two menu screens that can show up. There's the Kerbals orbiting Kerbin, and the crashed ship on the Mun. In KSP 2, it might be cool to see some more variety/different screens, such as: the game opens with a ship (or station, or kerbal, etc.) orbiting Kerbin at sunrise, similar to that first shot of the KSP 2 trailer.

The twist, though, would be that as you get to and explore more planets and moons, the game remembers, and the menu screen has a chance to show another random body you've visited (i.e. you go to the Mun for the first time, and now there's a 50/50 chance of the ship orbiting Kerbin or the Mun when the menu screen starts). But that's just my idea, what are your thoughts/suggestions?

[Ahres]

That’d be so cool! I like this idea. Maybe even have your own vessels be what’s used in the menu background?

I’m excited to see what the menu screens look like in KSP2. I remember being in awe of KSP1 before even playing just because of the menu! I hope Intercept keeps it up for the sequel. 

[t_v]

That sounds really cool but how would that work with saves? The simplest solution would be to just unlock them once and have them but I feel like having it follow the progress of your current game would be nice.  However, that adds a host of problems, like for example there is no indication of whether you have competed a play through or not, and then save switching, and sandbox… if anyone smart has answers to these questions, that would be great. 

Now to actually contribute something, I like the idea of having your own ships in the menu because once again, having ships that you are playing with allows you to see your technological development as well as which planets you have explored. I sure would love to see a torch drive cruiser when booting up the game. I don’t know if there are any technical challenges to selecting and loading ships for the start menu, but perhaps an alternative to your own ships would be a list of ships at different tech levels. This would make the menu more consistent looking as the ships would all follow the same design principles and would not be too big/small to fit in shot. 

[darthgently]

Given that the loading screens prior to the menu screens take up a lot more time, I'm happy just putting the pictures I want to see in the UserLoadingScreens directory.  The menu screens aren't that big of a deal to me and I imagine the makers will keep that their own for more control over the image and branding of the game.  That said, I could have sworn I saw a mod that would alter the menu screen images, so doable in KSP1 anyway (i think)

Edited October 15, 2021 by darthgently

[Brofessional]

It's a nice idea as long as it doesn't impact the loading time. Half-Life 2 does a similar thing where it's menu screen backgrounds change based on the last chapter you saved in.

Above all I want the menu to load fast and be quick to navigate. KSP1's main menu is a bit sluggish and cumbersome to navigate.

[HeyThisIsntFallout]

XCOM 2 does something like this by adding your characters to the load screen. I haven't paid attention to whether it's accounting for small things like unlocked weapons and grenades and stuff. I think it would be a short stone's throw to make this happen, but I also don't know too much about programming, so what do I know.

[Bej Kerman]

On 10/15/2021 at 8:44 PM, darthgently said:

Given that the loading screens prior to the menu screens take up a lot more time,

KSP 2 shouldn't run into that problem.

 

[Kerb24]

Sounds interesting. I like it.