UI/UX suggestion: VAB/SPH rotation helper

[Kavaeric]

Originally posted on the Discord but someone suggested I x-post it here, so...

KSP2 improves on orienting parts by introducing orthographic views and using cylinders instead of spheres to mark attachment points to better read orientation. However, during my many many years of playing KSP and watching others do the same, I've noticed that a common pain point is figuring out which key to press when rotating a part in place mode. It's easy to observe many players fumbling with WASDQE figuring out which key is the right one to press to get a part in the orientation they want.

I feel as though some sort of helper or reference element would help curtain this frustration. I was largely inspired by how Nintendo gives clear information in its UI prompts to help orient their players.

As VAB/SPH assembly is oriented to an "absolute" direction, it should be (relatively) straightforward to create some floating elements that orient the user similar to the gizmos used when in move or rotate mode. I feel like the challenge of implementing this would be instead ensuring that the UI element is clear without obstructing the view too much; perhaps the element is toggle-able in settings, or the user has to hold down a key (like alt, which coincides with forcing node snapping)  to display the helper.

Edited May 16, 2023 by Kavaeric

[Sea_Kerman]

in addition boosting the spacing of the actual rotation gizmos might help, they're very fiddly and cramped at the moment.