How many Kerbals are there?

[Jafiki91]

So, this may be a stupid question, but I can't seem to find an answer to it anywhere.

How many different Kerbal names are there in the game? They can't be randomly generated because different players end up getting a lot of the same Kerbals (everyone has seen Jeb, Bob, and Bill) Is there a file that contains all of the Kerbal names somewhere?

[hyperformer]

judging by common sense, there should be realitively infinite names for the kerbal kind(by realitively infinite I mean that it is very unlikely to see the same name twice), because squad does not have the time or stupidity to enter 100s of names into a file all day. I do know that there are now different last names for the kerbals, that I have seen a couple of times, so i know that squad has self ceated those.

[ThatBum]

If you look in your persistence file under the FLIGHTSTATE tag, there should be a bunch of names there, along with their personality traits. I'm guessing those are the Kerbals that have been generated and you've used in that save at least once. I dunno where the complete list is, probably cooked into some binary file somewhere.

The Kerbal Crew Manifest mod may help you.

[Tw1]

Infinite Kerbals!

Jeb, Bob and Bill are there from the start. They are special, with the orange suits.

But the rest are random, constructed from a set of syllables.

I like it, everyone's Kerbals are unique. If only they didn't look so similar...

[icemasterpt]

They are so united, to the point that they just dont look all alike, but also, are all Cousins =D Kerman family must be a really huge one!

[SmallChange]

If you look in your persistence file under the FLIGHTSTATE tag, there should be a bunch of names there, along with their personality traits. I'm guessing those are the Kerbals that have been generated and you've used in that save at least once. I dunno where the complete list is, probably cooked into some binary file somewhere.

ThatBum is correct, to my knowledge.

[iamaphazael]

Not infinite exactly, but rather large. In addition to the "prefab" names (the original three, plus some historical/fictional names like Buzz, Neil, Luke, Kirk), there are two lists of syllables that get randomly combined to form new names. So, strictly speaking, the number of possibilities is not infinite, but is given by (number of first syllables)*(number of last syllables). I'm not sure how big either list is, but I'd guess they're somewhere in the 30-50 range.

I believe that either the list of premade names, and possibly also the lists of syllables are user editable, although I'm not sure where they live. Then again, I may be wrong, and the only way to change names may be by editing an already-generated character in the .sfs file

[Tw1]

Not infinite exactly, but rather large.

Aww, that was hyperbole. And now you've gone and circularised it....

(Lame orbit puns, yay. I need to cure this insomnia...)

[Vanamonde]

The names are generated by taking syllables from a list. I believe HarvesteR said there are around 5000 permutations.

[NeoMorph]

Plus you can add your very own Kerbals to the manifest with a little editing. I've got some special ones planned for my comic series.

[iamaphazael]

Aww, that was hyperbole. And now you've gone and circularised it....

(Lame orbit puns, yay. I need to cure this insomnia...)

(Just kidding. I actually laughed at that)

[tfm]

My current save seems to be missing Bill, Bob and Jeb. Much to my saddness. I am assuming in my first attempt I killed them off. Can I add them back in by modding the persistence file and moving the 3 to the top from another save file? Anyone done this?

[tfm]

I gave it a try and it worked. The best thing to do is set up a 3 kerbal capsule on the landing pad, note their names and then copy your new grab of the 3 favs and replace them. Otherwise they can suddenly be on the MUN taking someone else's spot.

So I got the legends back. Woot!

[Tw1]

I once went to all the effort to get Bob of a station to send him to become the first kerman on Moho. This involved designing a plane like lander to return him to kerbin, EVA-ing him out of the station (to lagy to dock there), and rendezvousing with him in orbit. Then, after ending his flight in the tracking station, I loaded my Moho rocket on the launchpad. He wasn't there.

So I went and learnt that the "Crew (number)" listed in a ship on the file corresponds to a kerbal's postion on the list, and another number, their position in the capsule.

Now, he's walking on the hot rocks of Moho. And actually smilling about it too,

[iamaphazael]

One thing I've noticed is that theres a bug where sometimes the game will spawn a second version of one of the "original three", so you can have two Jebs in different places, but that things get strange when you end the flight of one of them. It usually also removes the other copy from wherever they are as well.

[Tw1]

. It usually also removes the other copy from wherever they are as well.

I've seen this as well. Other Jeb is in one of my stations.

Trying to put two Jebs in the one ship would make it try to write "Crew 0" twice in the one ship. Maybe this is not possible.

[Deadpangod3]

Now I have an urge to go in the files and change jebs name to chuck Norris...

[CalculusWarrior]

Aww, that was hyperbole. And now you've gone and circularised it....

(Lame orbit puns, yay. I need to cure this insomnia...)

Haha, that made me laugh

I've also found the Bob, Bill, and Jeb sometimes are brought back to life after you've killed them off. I haven't noticed this with any other Kerbals, it it just this 'Terrible Trio'?

Edited April 30, 2013 by CalculusWarrior

[Tw1]

Emptypostcantdelete

Edited May 1, 2013 by Tw1

[Tw1]

Nup, all Kerbals.

When a Kerbal dies before its time, the disembodied spirit drifts, unconsciously, to the site of its memorial (grave) on Kerbin. Then it reforms from the earth, a new body, which emerges, all groggy, a certain time later.

Only on life-filled Kerbin is there enough background physic energy for this to occur.

That, or the game just brings them back after a while.

I'm glad you guys like my orbit pun,

Edited May 1, 2013 by Tw1

[FluffyBob]

Kerbals seem to be reincarnated for me after a simple game restart. I seem to get a lot of duplicates. With about fifteen Kerbals about on missions right now I have two or three duplicates. I also find that the duplicates often dont get a mugshot, so I will get a command pod showing two Kerbals but in IVA I get three.

[Kerbface]

I want a Kerbal named Tom so I can send him off in a little tin can and leave him stranded in a trajectory heading out of the solar system.

[Tw1]

I want a Kerbal named Tom so I can send him off in a little tin can and leave him stranded in a trajectory heading out of the solar system.

I'd love to do a kerbal version of that song some day. If I have the time, and technology.

"♪♪ heeere, am I sitting in a tin can... faaaar above the Mun.... ♫♪"

I'd probably loop the part of the song where liftoff and orbit are achieved, two or three times. That part is not long enough to show those things in video.

Edited May 2, 2013 by Tw1

[Splode]

It's a shame it isn't a list of names, similar to X-COM.

It'd be fun to have my Kerbals named after people I know.

[Tw1]

But it is! Kinda.

The names of generated Kerbals are stored as a list in the persistence file.

Open that up, and you can re-name anyone you like.

But always be cautious when editing that file.

Alternately, I think crewmanifest was going to let you do that in an update.

Maybe it does. I haven't checked for a while.