KSP is Dull

[Uncle Mort]

That is, it's mainly greys and whites. Where's the colours?

I grew up reading SF and the best book covers had artwork by Chris Foss. Fantastic spacecraft in bright colours, checks and patterns.

See here:

http://www.chrisfossart.com/

Granted, there is a big orange tank and the yellow monopropellant tanks but little else. Some mods add a little colour but I would like my designs to not only be practical but also aesthetically pleasing. Am I the only one?

[lyndonguitar]

I kinda disagree with this, I don't know, but I actually wanted a more uniform color, KSP has too many varieties and when putting too many stuff your crafts will look ugly as hell with the rainbow colors

I wanna make it kinda like spacecrafts in real life, the Dragon Spacecraft, Soyuz, Apollo, the ISS, Space shuttle. They all have their color, white, black, silver, gray, light blue. for me that's awesome.

Like these pics

EDIT: Maybe we can have a paintjob feature of sort, kinda like how in the sims, you can paint every furniture with different textures to your liking

Edited May 15, 2013 by lyndonguitar

[Gniuz]

Must admit all that black any one would think your in space...............

[Brotoro]

I suspect that if the parts are all manner of bright colors, you'd end up getting some eye-wrenching combinations because you have to choose parts and position them based on function, not artistic design sense. Although it might be nice if the devs eventually add a feature that lets you apply a tint of choice to anyof the standard grey/white parts.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Brotoro

[Gniuz]

can you not edit the colour of parts in a config file?

[erkha343]

It's a planned feature, not on the wiki, but along ago the devs talked about this, pre .13 time

[Flixxbeatz]

Isn't that Space Shuttle's tank is unpainted? And most of the spacecrafts I saw IRL are either white or gray. Or gold-ish something.

can you not edit the colour of parts in a config file?

It's in the skin. the png files. They can be easily modified before, but I don't know now.

[lyndonguitar]

Isn't that Space Shuttle's tank is unpainted? And most of the spacecrafts I saw IRL are either white or gray. Or gold-ish something.

Lol, it's not unpainted, they painted it white, and white doesn't mean its unpainted.

If you are talking about the External Tanks, the big tanks which are color orange. they painted it white during the first two missions, to provide some protection, but they later found out that it is Ok to not have protection, so they stopped painting it, also to reduce weight.

on topic: Most of the spacecrafts have an important reason as to why they are colored that way. Not for aesthetics, but for real purpose, protection, shielding, detection, reflectiveness, etc

[Uncle Mort]

can you not edit the colour of parts in a config file?

I wouldn't know where to start.

[42undead2]

I wouldn't know where to start.

Because you can't. It's a texture file. Not a CFG file.

[Ben Kerman]

I wouldn't know where to start.

You can't, the .cfg file only sets a part's properties like weight, part type(s), sounds etc.

If you want to change it's color you, as stated above, need to change it's texture, which is located in the parts folder as a .png or .mbm file.

The .mbm can be edited, but it is really hard. Iirc there was a guide on that somewhere on the forums (might have been deleted during the forum crash last month, though).

[Uncle Mort]

I agree that individual parts shouldn't have different block colours because that could constrain how you put them together. But maybe dashes of colour, stripes and the like. For example the HOME mods have yellow strips and the DSM mod, coloured tanks:

Seems to work OK.

[Xeldrak]

I like the colors in KSP - they look like real spacecraft. I often add scaffolds, dishes and solar panels just for the looks Brightly colored parts would ruin all this.

However - these artworks by Chris Foss are rather awesome

Edited May 15, 2013 by Xeldrak

[Sathurn]

While a paint studio might be a nice feature. The colors currently seem realistic. Real space craft are painted white, or unpainted for a good reason, to minimize solar radiation absorption or save weight.

And having all the different textures in ram would be a game killer.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Sathurn

[Trux]

Does white paint save weight :S

[GROOV3ST3R]

KSP too dull for you? How about this:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/16925-PLUGIN-PART-0-19-1-Aviation-Lights-v2-0-%2814MAY13%29

Go on, add some flashing colors to your life

[nats]

If you are talking about the External Tanks, the big tanks which are color orange. they painted it white during the first two missions, to provide some protection, but they later found out that it is Ok to not have protection, so they stopped painting it, also to reduce weight.

Eh? they would have painted it white for aesthetic reasons surely and then realised what a waste of money it was when it was being thrown away every time so they stopped it to save some cash. I honestly cannot see any weight issue with a layer of paint? And protection from what - the weather it will receive from a few days on the launch pad? Methinks you are making things up.

As for the op message no I wouldnt like bright colours. I also love Chris Foss but I wouldnt like that kind of thing here. This is meant to be representative of NASA and a real space program, not science fiction. If you want bright sci-fi ships wait for Elite Dangerous or Star Citizen next year.

I agree with a poster above that for me there is too much variation in colours already - I like the white, the grey, and the black, and perhaps a little bit of the yellow/red to enhance areas of interest such as SAS or RCS. But no I wouldnt like to see bright coloured ships - I grew up with 2001, Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica - I love white and grey ships!

Although having said all that I must admit the inside of the cockpits are a little too dullish grey for my liking - noticed that in the new KSP Weekly shots. I would prefer them to be whiter.

Edited May 15, 2013 by nats

[Uncle Mort]

Flashing lights? Thinks... that might work. <dashes off to download yet another mod>

[Tw1]

Wouldn't mind a little more colour. Not enough gold on KSC's probes.

Spacecraft are colours like white and silver to reduce heat absorption, I'm pretty sure.

[Zacho]

"The first two, used for STS-1 and STS-2, were painted white to protect the tanks from ultraviolet light during the extended time that the shuttle spends on the launch pad prior to launch.[6] Because this did not turn out to be a problem and to reduce weight, Lockheed Martin ceased painting the external tanks beginning with STS-3, leaving the rust-colored spray-on insulation bare, saving approximately 272 kg (600 lb) of weight."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_external_tank#Versions

Paint adds up on something that big.

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

Does white paint save weight :S

Yea, thats why most airlines use white paint and "light" paints. It is to save weight. Boeing, when they heard about Air New Zealand's all black 777, they were hesitant.

[Trux]

Yea, thats why most airlines use white paint and "light" paints. It is to save weight. Boeing, when they heard about Air New Zealand's all black 777, they were hesitant.

Huh you learn something new everyday, I thought it was just white for heat distribution and the like.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

I think they should include a Soviet texture pack, featuring colours such as 70's beige, Not-so-shiny Grey and bread mould turquoise

[RoboRay]

That is, it's mainly greys and whites. Where's the colours?

I grew up reading SF and the best book covers had artwork by Chris Foss. Fantastic spacecraft in bright colours, checks and patterns.

I like the dull, drab stock look with the colors used by most real-world spacecraft. But if you want colorful ships, there are mods. Here I am, practicing my orbital rendezvous techniques back before we had the docking, targeting and maneuver planning systems:

[lyndonguitar]

Does white paint save weight :S

????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_external_tank#Standard_Weight_Tank

"The original ET is informally known as the Standard Weight Tank (SWT) and is fabricated from 2219 - a high strength aluminum-copper alloy used for many aerospace applications. The first two, used for STS-1 and STS-2, were painted white to protect the tanks from ultraviolet light during the extended time that the shuttle spends on the launch pad prior to launch. Because this did not turn out to be a problem and to reduce weight, Lockheed Martin ceased painting the external tanks beginning with STS-3, leaving the rust-colored spray-on insulation bare, saving approximately 272 kg (600 lb) of weight."