Rutabaga22 Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 We see in one of the ksp loading screens that a kerbal is using an umbilical and tether. I hate doing spacewalks because kerbals Eva pack are hard to control. I want an Eva umbilical in ksp 2! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bej Kerman Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 2 hours ago, Rutabaga22 said: I hate doing spacewalks because kerbals Eva pack are hard to control You only have to practice instead of EVA'ing for a total of two seconds and concluding that trying wouldn't make you any better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunaManiac Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 2 hours ago, Rutabaga22 said: We see in one of the ksp loading screens that a kerbal is using an umbilical and tether. I hate doing spacewalks because kerbals Eva pack are hard to control. I want an Eva umbilical in ksp 2! You can't get rid of jetpacks! What about all those hapless kerbals on the mun? What will they use to get back in the cabin? Ladders? Who's ever heard of those? Jokes aside, for me the biggest problem with eva is not that it's difficult to control, but that it's imprecise. A tether would not solve that problem. A better way to do it would be to make jet packs more precise so that you could suspend yourself in one place while using eva construction, or adding handrails on more parts by default. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bej Kerman Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 10 minutes ago, DunaManiac said: You can't get rid of jetpacks! What about all those hapless kerbals on the mun? What will they use to get back in the cabin? Ladders? Who's ever heard of those? Jokes aside, for me the biggest problem with eva is not that it's difficult to control, but that it's imprecise. A tether would not solve that problem. A better way to do it would be to make jet packs more precise so that you could suspend yourself in one place while using eva construction, or adding handrails on more parts by default. Space Engineers has an inertia dampener that can match velocities with ships automatically, Outer Wilds has a better balanced version of the system where you have to manually hold the match velocity button if you and your ship change directions, and KSP already has a precise control system in it - just that it only applies to ship thrusters (last time I checked, anyway). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rutabaga22 Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 1 hour ago, DunaManiac said: You can't get rid of jetpacks! Never said we should, umbilicals and tethers would make a good addition to assist with Eva packs so Bobson Kerman isn't stuck in solar obit miles away from his capsule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunaManiac Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 1 hour ago, Rutabaga22 said: Never said we should, umbilicals and tethers would make a good addition to assist with Eva packs so Bobson Kerman isn't stuck in solar obit miles away from his capsule. Your suggestion does imply that, however. Jetpacks have both superior mobility and range than tethers do. So tethers imply that jetpacks are either unavailable or impractical. The latter case is true in real life, but none of these reasons are true in KSP, which are both extremely powerful and efficient compared to its real life counterpart. So as it stands, apart from helping out newbies, tethers are simply outclassed. Also, don't see how the scenario you shared supports the addition of tethers. If one is on a solar orbit there should be no reason that he or she is out of propellant, or even far away from his or her vessel. Tethers also can't assist in rescues either, as if a kerbal presumably has a missing or broken tether its useless, unless you're suggesting it can be fired like a harpoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rutabaga22 Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 21 minutes ago, DunaManiac said: Your suggestion does imply that, however. Jetpacks have both superior mobility and range than tethers do. So tethers imply that jetpacks are either unavailable or impractical. The latter case is true in real life, but none of these reasons are true in KSP, which are both extremely powerful and efficient compared to its real life counterpart. So as it stands, apart from helping out newbies, tethers are simply outclassed. Also, don't see how the scenario you shared supports the addition of tethers. If one is on a solar orbit there should be no reason that he or she is out of propellant, or even far away from his or her vessel. Tethers also can't assist in rescues either, as if a kerbal presumably has a missing or broken tether its useless, unless you're suggesting it can be fired like a harpoon. I just think it would be an easy way to give worse players a way to not have their kerbals fly away because they are bad with the the jet pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intelliCom Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 (edited) My biggest problem with the EVA packs is that you can't really control orientation at all. If we could just control kerbals the same way we do for normal RCS on a spacecraft, it'll make more sense. (If you've ever had confusion in trying to operate a spacecraft's RCS, try doing it with the camera in "locked" mode, works wonders) Maybe KSP 2 might even introduce different EVA pack types. Original monoprop, LF+LOX or maybe xenon-powered? Would encourage long-term EVA use. That being said, umbilicals/tethers would be good in case you're reckless with EVA fuel and the Kerbal would be left stranded, just metres away from its ship but slowly drifting away. Additionally, an umbilical could even provide the ship's own Monoprop supply directly to a Kerbal without getting back in. (Yes, I think the infinite fuel exploit should be patched) Edited June 9, 2022 by intelliCom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shdwlrd Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 21 minutes ago, Rutabaga22 said: I just think it would be an easy way to give worse players a way to not have their kerbals fly away because they are bad with the the jet pack. 4 minutes ago, intelliCom said: My biggest problem with the EVA packs is that you can't really control orientation at all. If we could just control kerbals the same way we do for normal RCS on a spacecraft, it'll make more sense. (If you've ever had confusion in trying to operate a spacecraft's RCS, try doing it with the camera in "locked" mode, works wonders) Maybe KSP 2 might even introduce different EVA pack types. Original monoprop, LF+LOX or maybe xenon-powered? Would encourage long-term EVA use. That being said, umbilicals/tethers would be good in case you're reckless with EVA fuel and the Kerbal would be left stranded, just metres away from its ship but slowly drifting away. Additionally, an umbilical could even provide the ship's own Monoprop supply directly to a Kerbal without getting back in. (Yes, I think the infinite fuel exploit should be patched) These two reasons are perfect case examples for tethers. Just like in real life, if there's really no reasons why you shouldn't be tethered to your craft when in orbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rutabaga22 Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 9 minutes ago, shdwlrd said: These two reasons are perfect case examples for tethers. Just like in real life, if there's really no reasons why you shouldn't be tethered to your craft when in orbit. 21 minutes ago, intelliCom said: My biggest problem with the EVA packs is that you can't really control orientation at all. If we could just control kerbals the same way we do for normal RCS on a spacecraft, it'll make more sense. (If you've ever had confusion in trying to operate a spacecraft's RCS, try doing it with the camera in "locked" mode, works wonders) Maybe KSP 2 might even introduce different EVA pack types. Original monoprop, LF+LOX or maybe xenon-powered? Would encourage long-term EVA use. That being said, umbilicals/tethers would be good in case you're reckless with EVA fuel and the Kerbal would be left stranded, just metres away from its ship but slowly drifting away. Additionally, an umbilical could even provide the ship's own Monoprop supply directly to a Kerbal without getting back in. (Yes, I think the infinite fuel exploit should be patched) These are great Reasons too! The point about being reckless with eva fuel is awesome, and I didn't even think about different eva fuels. Maybe an EVA pack that use jet engines, so it's literally a jet pack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bej Kerman Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 It's an alright suggestion, it's just being suggested for the wrong reasons. There should be an actual application for it, not just this... 6 hours ago, Rutabaga22 said: I hate doing spacewalks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 21 hours ago, DunaManiac said: You can't get rid of jetpacks! What about all those hapless kerbals on the mun? What will they use to get back in the cabin? Ladders? Who's ever heard of those? Jokes aside, for me the biggest problem with eva is not that it's difficult to control, but that it's imprecise. A tether would not solve that problem. A better way to do it would be to make jet packs more precise so that you could suspend yourself in one place while using eva construction, or adding handrails on more parts by default. Adjust the jetpack thrust limiter down in the kerbal r-click menu on EVA to get all the precision you desire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobinator133 Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 This gives me a related idea - maybe the EVA pack could be unlocked a bit later in the tech tree? It always seemed a little silly to me that you could have Jeb crawl out of a tiny pod in a rocket just barely able to breach the atmosphere and then make him fly around with an incredibly advanced jetpack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 A tether lets Kerbal just relax and enjoy, instead of staying alert every second. A tethered Kerbal can't fly away and can't run out of fuel, that's the purpose of tethers since early days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vl3d Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 Yes to tethers, yes to ladder assisted spacewalks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryaja Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 Wait with tethers, It would be way easier to deorbit the capsule you left in orbit without fuel a long time ago, If you could drag craft with the EVA pack and tether of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandaman Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Tethers are a very useful safety feature, whether or not the Kerbal in question has a jetpack. Umbilicals can offer an alternative to back/jetpacks. And are a viable option that enables 'short range' EVAs without needing to use up storage space for bulky jet/backpacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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