Four things for pro KGV*

[NASAFanboy]

There are genders.

However, the astronaut recruiting center cuts the hair of their astronauts daily, as long hair can prove to be dangerous and annoying in space, especially on Zero-G. This is a policy that is well-enforced. Also, Kerbal spacesuits tend to be bulkly and slow, as like the ISS suits. This makes it impossible to tell gender.

There are female names in the generator.

Names like Loding, and such sound more female than male. However, due to the above policies, it is impossible to tell females from males.

Yes, there are female kerbalonauts. They just don't show you.

Look at NASA today. Do are female astronauts have lipstick and all that crap? No, they cut their hair short also (As seen in Gravity onboard the ISS). Are the spacesuits skin-tight? No! And nethier are the advanced pumpkin suits.

Leave it like that. Females are here, all right.

Edited December 19, 2013 by NASAFanboy

[Monkeh]

But I want my Jessica Rabbit Kerbal!

I also want windows steaming up due to ermm....extra curricular...ermm 'activities' with the male crew. I want to have to dispose of sanitary waste via a new part. I WANT IT ALL!

[-RanZ-]

This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen... how can people be obsessed with the gender of video game characters??? jfc, this is the dumbest thread I have ever seen.

[Benjpalmer]

I still don't see the point in Female Kerbals. What does it add other than "Political Correctness"?

[jcraft]

Question: How do you intend to make them appear female?

Your only option within this game is to give them long hair and lipstick which, no doubt, some would consider sexist...

Different body and face structure. That's it. Here is a great example how female kerbal could look like (Timmon26 sketch):

[Palleas]

What about blue and red kerbals?

[Retread]

Why, exactly, does everyone assume our current crop of Kerbals to be male? It's not like they're anatomically correct. The only clues we have to their gender are the names, and it would seem simple to add "Betty", "Abigail", and "Xenia" to the mix.

[aramil]

My 5 year old thanks jeb is a girl. Because "she is funny". It does not stop her playing/enjoying the game with me.

Fine give out girl names, but really they are green bags of goo that like to be strapped to rockets and do science.

Are they male/female/asexual? Are the aliens in close encounters of the 3rd kind m/f/a? Does it really matter? Do they have to be any?

[PeteMcCartney]

How old are most of you? 12? 15? 17? What do any of you know about discrimination? Something you saw on tv? Read about in school? Ever been judged by your race? Or your gender? Forced to the sidelines not because you're slow but because you're a white guy in a black school?

Just stop regurgitation what you've heard other people say on the radio and consider what it would be like to be excluded not because of ability but because of something superficial.

I had no idea that we had the world authority on discrimination partaking in the thread. Please enlighten us all as to how we can best hope to emulate your evident perfection...

(btw, your questioning the ability of young people to discuss this matter is a perfect example of age discrimination. Perhaps you'll concede they know about that...?)

[Andrew Hansen]

<SNIP>

That's an awesome proposal. I personally support the adding of female Kerbals. In answer to all the complaints about lipstick and breasts, my response would be that they could have rounder faces (like the above picture) and longer hair. No need for breasts. I've used Universe Replacer to add female face textures to Kerbals and they already look pretty good. Of course, it depends on the textures. Some of them have lipstick.

It wouldn't take much to implement female Kerbals into the game. I mean, a rounder head might be nice, but even that isn't necessary. If just by swapping textures in Universe Replacer you can achieve a female effect, it would be pretty simple to do the same in stock KSP.

Also, usually when I play KSP I imagine that I'm creating my base/space station/whatever-it-is for rich Kerbals to go on expensive holidays (ahem, like what HOCGaming is doing) across the solar system. It just isn't the same when only male Kerbals can go. I mean, obviously you need some couples to have a romantic honeymoon out in space!

[-RanZ-]

I had no idea that we had the world authority on discrimination partaking in the thread. Please enlighten us all as to how we can best hope to emulate your evident perfection...

(btw, your questioning the ability of young people to discuss this matter is a perfect example of age discrimination. Perhaps you'll concede they know about that...?)

zing!!!!!!

[sarkun]

I can't believe anyone would have anything against female Kerbals (regardless how they make them - adding hair or eyelashes or just making their heads more round...).

The way I see it, more diversity is always better.

[Guest]

Didn't Squad pretty much confirm female Kerbals already? AFAIK, they've been in Kerbalizer for quite some time, there's even one on the banner. Personally, I'm indifferent to the idea, though. More visual variety for the crew would be nice (seeing as the all look the same ATM), but there are more pressing issues to be addressed. Though we have Kerbalizer, perhaps this code could be used to not only quickly generate a large variety of Kerbal faces (art is also already in there), but also allow custom-made Kerbals to be imported into KSP. That would give Kerbalizer a lot more utility than just forum signatures and nice pics.

[Luckless]

Why, exactly, does everyone assume our current crop of Kerbals to be male? It's not like they're anatomically correct. The only clues we have to their gender are the names, and it would seem simple to add "Betty", "Abigail", and "Xenia" to the mix.

That, and the highly masculine facial features...

If my 8 year old cousin has no interest in KSP because she doesn't want to play a game that only has boys in it, then that is a clear sign to me that something needs to be changed.

[richiespeed13]

That, and the highly masculine facial features...

If my 8 year old cousin has no interest in KSP because she doesn't want to play a game that only has boys in it, then that is a clear sign to me that something needs to be changed.

No offense intended, but if your 8 year old cousin will not play a game because there are no girls, it seems like she has already fallen into the "girls should play with barbies" trap you just mentioned.

I 100% agree that it should be no problem at all to have female Kerbals, but that excuse is quite shallow. If a young girl had a genuine interest in Astronomy she would be all over KSP regardless of whether the characters have a gender or not.

[Scrogdog]

User Rodian and I already brought this up months ago (both of us being in marketing), not because of in-game issues, but so that female users would have something to relate to.

We didn't get very far.

[Luckless]

No offense intended, but if your 8 year old cousin will not play a game because there are no girls, it seems like she has already fallen into the "girls should play with barbies" trap you just mentioned.

I 100% agree that it should be no problem at all to have female Kerbals, but that excuse is quite shallow. If a young girl had a genuine interest in Astronomy she would be all over KSP regardless of whether the characters have a gender or not.

She enjoys astronomy, but prefers to play a game that she feels she can relate to the characters more. I see no problem at all with her view point. She does enjoy several very geeky kids games, but always chooses a female avatar.

[BubbaWilkins]

In the Kerbal Universe, there are no races. There is no inequality. There is no discrimination.

All Kerbals were created equal to be judged solely by their individual performance and accomplishments.

They have three characteristics: Courage, Stupidity, and Badassitude.

A truly open mind would recognize this and not try to impose the flawed characteristics of our human society in a universe where these issues do not exist. Shame on anyone who wishes to destroy that.

[PeteMcCartney]

I don't believe anyone has anything against Kerbals of a particular gender, it's the idea of introducing gender (as a concept) into an area where it doesn't belong.

If Squad were to implement an overtly (stereotypical) female version of the current Kerbal, then people would have issues with that and there would be uproar all over again. Surely, it's better to consider them as genderless and move on.

[jcraft]

The way I see it, more diversity is always better.

This. I really don't understand one thing about the whole "female kerbal controversy" - always when this kind of discussion surfaces it must always go along the "feminism" and "equality" line, and no one seems look at it from simpler perspective - that it just would be fun to have female kerbals... and kerbals with beards/moustaches... and kerbals with different kinds of hairs... and even kerbals with different skin tones. It would be much more interesting to interact with these little green guys when every each of them would look different.

Edited December 19, 2013 by jcraft

[Geschosskopf]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fQfztRYAWys/UiaghN_vTqI/AAAAAAAAAeU/fKqHL1XWR9g/s1600/equality+and+equity.jpg

But as my sig says, "Nihil iniquius quam aequitatem nimis intendere", "nothing is so unjust as taking equity too far". This is an old legal maxim from back in the days when there were separate courts of law (run by the state) and equity (run by the church), but it's applicable to arguments like this.

[Andrew Hansen]

This. I really don't understand this thing - always when this kind of discussion surfaces it's must always go along the "feminism" and "equality" line, and no one seems look at it from simpler perspective - that it just would be fun to have female kerbals... and kerbals with beards/moustaches... and kerbals with different kinds of hairs... and even kerbals with different skin tones. It would be much more interesting to interact with these little green guys when every each of them would look different.

Well said! And it'd be fun to take a couple on a romantic holiday through the stars as I said earlier (but there's been so many posts I'm saying it again!).

With so many responses to this topic in just a matter of a few hours, it seems obvious that this is surely a controversial topic in the minds of KSP players.

Many people have been saying that Kerbals are just Kerbals! What's the big deal? They're little green men who can survive forever in space. Perhaps they're fungi.

Well, my answer is that as the game develops, Kerbals are going to become more and more human. Once life support is implemented, people will no longer be able to say that Kerbals are plants/fungi. It will begin to seem very strange that there are no female Kerbals. That's why I think this should be implemented. And it really isn't very hard to do so.

While they add that, we might as well have Kerbals with mustaches and lighter green colors and darker green, as jcraft said in the quoted text above.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Andrew Hansen

[richiespeed13]

She enjoys astronomy, but prefers to play a game that she feels she can relate to the characters more. I see no problem at all with her view point. She does enjoy several very geeky kids games, but always chooses a female avatar.

I completely understand, especially as she is a young girl. But you would think outright refusing to play the game is a little over the top.

But on the whole, it would be nice if she could pick a female Kerbal, even if the only difference is a female first name and a slightly different shaped face.

[jchad]

Bigger rockets>This

[r4pt0r]

my face this whole thread: you guys are all too PC. Kerbals look just like 60's us astronauts and that's how it should be.