KSP and Pebble Watch mod?

[nohelmet]

So, I love KSP and I have a Pebble Watch, which supposedly one can program to connect over bluetooth and do pretty much anything. So I was wondering - could we make the two work together? Perhaps with the help of something like Telemachus ?

Let's just brainstorm. How could a smartwatch make KSP more fun?

Perhaps we could show the time to next maneuver? Or perhaps (depending on the mods installed), time remaining for this EVA? Perhaps we could use the watch buttons to somehow control flights?

What do you think? It seems there's bound to be something super-awesome in there that could be done. Let's together figure out what that could be!

[bigdad84]

I also have a pebble, I think it would be an amazingly cool feature to add! Or when you're doing those long interplanetary burns, you can leave the computer and just glance at your watch.

[nohelmet]

Oh yes, so we could just hook up the burn begin and end time! That'd be fun. I think we can use the computer's bluetooth to connect to the watch (that is, once the user has installed the right stuff). I've never written a plugin - but surely they can read the burn start and end time somehow, yes?

[Andersenman]

Since obtaining information from a wristwatch occupies your hand and eyes, and both are needed constantly for playing KSP, you would probably want to keep it for use when you are away from your PC. Maybe less so if it can produce audible output, but still.

So how does one play KSP away from keyboard? Since space flight is mostly waiting, something that is usually skipped with time acceleration, the only thing I can imagine would be real-time missions. Something like the guys who did the Mun landing. Or perhaps an ISA Mapsat mission that keeps running while you're out and somehow connects to the Pebble to tell you it has found an anomaly.

Apart from that, I'm not sure how much the rather specific usability would enhance playing KSP.

[aeTIos]

Uh, what about the awesomeness/geekiness factor?

[jfx]

Glorious PC gaming master race machines usually don't have casual mobile connectivity aka bluetooth.

[nohelmet]

OK, a number of good points here. The watch may not be a good fit for "normal" KSP playing, where we focus on the screen all the time (though it would still be awesome and that might be enough. Besides, it *is* possible to glance at the watch while playing).

But it could work very well for "real-time" KSP, or for long burns, or perhaps some other ways of playing we may come up with. Perhaps during an EVA we could hide some of the screen controls, and use the watch for display instead?

Another thing we could do would be a "real-time lite" challenge, where we may warp, but never more than some limit. This would spread out the game over a day (perhaps this might be a good way to force us to get off the computer and do some chores instead). How about it? I imagine we may then use Kerbal Alarm Clock to have the game pause before maneuver nodes (so it's OK if we can't come to the computer immediately), and we can use the watch to be able to know how long until we can return to the game. I imagine that if warp is limited, we may play a bit differently, having the extra tension of trying to find a "quick" way to the mission's target!

How do people here feel about this "real-time light" idea? Or can we imagine other variants where a watch might be useful?

[Andersenman]

I imagine that if warp is limited, we may play a bit differently, having the extra tension of trying to find a "quick" way to the mission's target!

Orbital mechanics rarely favour quick ways, if ever. Pretty much anything else than Warp drive rewards or even demands efficiency and patience. As for EVA … either your remaining RCS or possibly something in conjunction with a life support mod that limits a suit's energy and implies a finite EVA time. Then again there is not much activity on stock KSP that demands significant EVA work where a suit's capacities could run dry … save for "get out and push" shenanigans where you need to concentrate on aiming the Kerbal with the mouse and pressing W to push – looking at your watch would be more hassle than benefit, easily even treacherous … like using your mobile while driving. An example for a modded EVA scenario would be using KAS to transfer the gains from a Kethane refinery to a waiting tanker-to-orbit in Kerbal Multiplayer.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Andersenman