What addon functionality ought to be in the vanilla game?

[Lheim]

Just a quick topic I'm interested in hearing people's thoughts on. While I fully agree that some addons ought to remain user choice, there are certainly some awesome UI and usability tweaks out there that oughta come into the game. We've seen Subassembly manager already do so.

For me, I'd like some sorta rocket stats in game - delta-v, at least, and a way to see some information pinned on the screen during flight.

SelectRoot would also be very cool. Kerbal Alarm Clock, Action group editing on the fly, improved nav ball..

What else, folks?

[Superfluous J]

KAC needs to be in the game if career mode is going to work in any way even approaching realistic. We don't send a probe to Jupiter and wait for it to arrive before launching the next ship to the space station.

SelectRoot would be nice, and I think it's pretty clear that resources will be in the game so Kethane is hopefully covered and then some. Extraplanetary Launchpads (or some way to build things off Kerbin and set up bases that do what you expect bases to do) also seems important. I'm also a fan of the navball docking indicator due to its simplicity and ease of use and understanding (over the also fantastic docking port alignment indicator and the equally nice Lazor docking cam). And though the devs will never do it (I think), SOMETHING that gives you an accurate and updated delta-v (like MechJeb and Kerbal Engineer do, at least most of the time) is important for any serious attempt at an interplanetary network of bases and ships.

As to visuals, I'm a bit invested in it but the City Lights and Clouds mod adds a whole lot of pretty to Kerbin and I don't like looking at Kerbin without it now. Kerbin needs some sort of proof that it has life!

[kiwiak]

Definitly some kind of info about orbit stats, visible in rocket view. Now i use kerbal engineer redux all the time.

[Seret]

+1 for rocket stats a la Kerbal Engineer. Designing rockets is either guesswork or a lot of messing about in spreadsheets without it.

[ravener]

kerbal engineer

KAC

KAS (or something resembeling it)

procedural tanks

procedural fairings

[hobbsyoyo]

Kerbal Engineer for sure. Maybe something along the lines of Chatterer or the mod that simulates comm networks.

Beyond that, I don't know as I don't have too many mods. (I would appreciate suggestions for new feature mods and part packs though)

[Monkeh]

Engineer redux.

Engineer redux. And the redux of an engineer thing.

Simply essential.

Mapping gives so much content and further missions.

Cargo bays.

The little lights from b9 are so nice.

Chatterer.

[Superfluous J]

I would appreciate suggestions for new feature mods and part packs though

Actually the mods in this thread are all good candidates In particular if you have trouble docking any of the 3 docking alignment mods I talked about. My favorite (and the most vanilla feeling) is the navball one. And if you want to run more than 2 missions at a time Kerbal Alarm Clock is not just necessary, it's ... well yeah. I guess that's what it is. Necessary.

[Wyloch]

Absolutely Engineer's functionality.

And absolutely NOT mechjeb...never used it, but I've read about what it can do.

[Zamaszysty]

KAC is a must, or at least some equivalent.

[Lheim]

Chatterer.

Absolutely! I recently got this, and it adds something indefinably cool to doing missions.

[ElJugador]

Protractor and Kerbal Engineer, definitely

[Paul Kingtiger]

Another vote for Engineer here, with it you can plan craft. Without it's guess, trial and error.

You would need a good tutorial to explain what all the numbers mean.

[Pulstar]

I also agree with Kerbal Alarm Clock, I would also say protractor or similar but KAC mostly has the biggest reason why you need protractor covered, since it gives you time to transfer windows.

KAS for fuel lines, power lines and grappling hooks. Those last would be really good to land on something like Gilly and stay put. Makes sense mostly once resources get added with in-situ fuel production which Kethane now allows.

At least basic vessel stats in the VAB like from Kerbal Engineer and similar would be nice. Not necessarily delta-v per stage but mass and thrust are a must, seeing how long you can burn the engines at maximum thrust before you drain the tank would be welcome as well.

Procedural wings and fairings.

Last but not least I would really love seeing stock counterparts of electric propellers or rotors from the firespitter mod along with balloons. Airship probes on Eve or Jool would be fun.

[Buback]

While i wouldn't want mechjeb as is, for career mode, a mechjeb-lite would be a good reason to train and bring back kerbals alive. maybe a veteran kerbal could do an auto-land, or calculate an trajectory after aerocapture.

At first, you have to do all the work, but as you complete tasks and they gain experience, you can have them auto point to prograde/retrograde, and next maybe preform a burn as laid out in the map.

[JumpsterG]

... a good reason to train and bring back kerbals alive. maybe a veteran kerbal could do an auto-land, or calculate an trajectory after aerocapture.

At first, you have to do all the work, but as you complete tasks and they gain experience, you can have them auto point to prograde/retrograde, and next maybe preform a burn as laid out in the map.

I like this. Just keep it simple, the more complex features of Mechjeb can be buggy or inefficient since computing things on the fly is not easy.

[Amram]

And absolutely NOT mechjeb

Its almost time that we coin a new term similar to Godwin's Law, only insert Mechjeb as the topic it relates to. A topic about what should be added, and before its ever brought up, its bashed and stated that it shouldn't. Remarkable similarity there. Its also apparently every bit as polarising.

Aside from several very good suggestions previously mentioned, i'd park my vote for FAR. KSP is so desperately in need of aerodynamics its not even funny anymore and FAR's methods are fairly robust and complete by this point. It actually makes the aero part of AEROspace engineering fun instead of tedius and twitchy and all round odd. Aircraft and SSTO spaceplanes aside, just getting the aerodynamic effects of nosecones and fairings would be a HUGE plus.

[vexx32]

Oh, aye, the aerodynamics system needs a complete rewrite, really.

[bigyihsuan]

KSPX. Definitely. Although most of the parts are being added into the game, though....

As for plugins, Mechjeb. It's one of the only plugins I use that is useful.

[CvVtjRtb]

[]

Edited August 2, 2019 by CvVtjRtb

[Gauss H2K]

Aside from several very good suggestions previously mentioned, i'd park my vote for FAR. KSP is so desperately in need of aerodynamics its not even funny anymore and FAR's methods are fairly robust and complete by this point. It actually makes the aero part of AEROspace engineering fun instead of tedius and twitchy and all round odd. Aircraft and SSTO spaceplanes aside, just getting the aerodynamic effects of nosecones and fairings would be a HUGE plus.

If we're going that route, deadly reentry for career mode is another suggestion.

[Filippe999]

Kerbal Engineer and Interestellar should definitely be added to the game.

[TechnicalK3rbal]

Eva place able struts and things, KAS-like wires and resource transfer.

Also ,vresources and the ability to reprogram action groups on-the-fly.

[Leatherneck]

Absolutely! I recently got this, and it adds something indefinably cool to doing missions.

Can you hide/minimize the UI for it?

[Kasuha]

Kerbal Alarm Clock or at least persistent maneuvers.

Enhanced navball.

FAR or revamp of aerodynamics.

That addon which allows reconfiguring action keys in flight

That addon which allows changing conic display mode