[WIP] KerbalSocial - just an idea at this stage

[theonegalen]

The only thing that comes to mind is that there should be a reason to have stupid or cowardly Kerbals. I like that they affect each other, but really all this algorithm would make me do is to pass over any Kerbal that had low courage or high stupidity when selecting them in the Astronaut Complex.

Maybe a stupid Kerbal would adjust to long duration or solo flight better, seeing as how they are more easily entertained? While less stupid Kerbals would get bored quicker. After all, it's the intelligent ones that would start looking out at the universe and thinking how insignificant they were next to the stars and having existential crises. But intelligent ones might give better science results (say plus/minus 20% of the normal total from totally stupid to totally intelligent) - it's like the difference between having the trained geologist Harrison Schmitt on Apollo 17 vs the trained pilots (and of course Dr Rendezvous, Buzz Aldrin) of Apollo 11. Both could pick up samples, but Schmitt knew better what samples to look for.

Too bad we can't assign certain crew to certain jobs: commander, pilot, mission/payload specialist. A cowardly specialist who is the only one who can get that satellite in Duna orbit working would bring the rest of the crew's morale down, but we'd need him on the mission.

[Ippo]

You know, what we would need would be the ability to drastically reduce the number of applicants.

If the applicants were not an endless stream, but maybe just a handful a year, *then* you would be forced to work with stupid kerbals.

Let's be honest, applicants for space programs are rarely stupid and cowards... IMHO, the only way to make them fit properly is to FORCE you to work with what you have.

[waterlubber]

One month necro not too bad, but here's my suggestion:

Lay off on the direct vision of complex attributes, e.g don't have a bar that says "BOB HATES JIM. STEVE LIKES TO BITE JIM". Instead, integrate the Kerbal Face Expression System (the facecam) and possibly positioning in the capsule, and the kind of capsule. For example, sitting in a hitchhiker next to your friends might be more valuable than sitting near your enemies in a mk. 1 for years. Also, have news clips. For example, clicking on "crew report" can give something like this, or possibly something like "Emotional Report"

Jeb and Bob are getting along, but Bill seems saddened by something. When Jeb asked Bob for some snacks, Bob gave them happily. Bill, seeing Jeb not asking him for snacks, frowns."

As you can see, both Bill and Bob have the admiration effect towards Jeb. Jeb is friends with Bob. Bill is admiring towards Jeb, but this causes hatred towards Bob. Bill is lonely, missing his friend Kirrim.

Subtle things like this can let you in, and hopefully let you try to mediate by promoting, etc.

[ymir9]

This should definitely be reversed. Stupid Kerbals should be more resistant to insanity. As it is there are no advantages to stupidity in the mod community, other than in the Snacks mod.

[JPLRepo]

Hey codepoet. Are you still actively working on this? I have my own package of luxury items that I am working on that could go really well with this allowing them to modify the sanity levels etc.

[codepoet]

Hey codepoet. Are you still actively working on this? I have my own package of luxury items that I am working on that could go really well with this allowing them to modify the sanity levels etc.

I have not looked at this for a while. There are a few reasons why. I wrote on this thread some of the problem that have cause me to stop working on it.

In particular I have been waiting to see what emerges in terms of a standard in mods for adding attributes to kerbals - especially as squad were working on this area. Another big problem is what happens when a kerbal looses their sanity? What is a consequence that affects the mission but is not as dramtic as the either kill themselves or do not? How can a crackers kerbals performs badly and so negatively influence the mission?

[Papa_Joe]

I have not looked at this for a while. There are a few reasons why. I wrote on this thread some of the problem that have cause me to stop working on it.

In particular I have been waiting to see what emerges in terms of a standard in mods for adding attributes to kerbals - especially as squad were working on this area. Another big problem is what happens when a kerbal looses their sanity? What is a consequence that affects the mission but is not as dramtic as the either kill themselves or do not? How can a crackers kerbals performs badly and so negatively influence the mission?

As a partial response to this, there is an API mod out there called KerbalStats. I was looking into leveraging this for my next mod Roster Manager. It adds a persistence file that is extensible, and provides modders with ways to "extend" kerbals. One of the issues I recently worked on was renaming and changing kerbal professions. KerbalStats manages this using "active managment", meaning that the kerbal's profession is stored in the persistence file, and then reloaded when the game save is loaded. I used a different method, or kind of a hack if you will, to add ascii 1s to the end of the name to "spoof" the profession generator by altering the hash of the name. I will be adding support for KerbalStats to maintain compatibility, and to allow for custom professions, as there are some mods now doing that.

This may be a way to make some of what is discussed here possible. However, the points that codepoet raised here and in the other thread, are still valid... What would the result be?

Anyway, my 2 cents...

Edited March 11, 2015 by Papa_Joe

[codepoet]

Yes I have noticed KerbalStats. Before that I encouraged Ippo to make progress with CrewFiles in order to make it useable for other mods. But then Squad started enhancing kerbals, so I wanted to let it all settle down rather than to start using a system that was going to be in conflict with other mods.

[Rath]

How about kerbals can gain admiration for another kerbal even if they aren't on the mission, But only if they reached some milestone. E.G. Jeb landed on the mun, now he goes on a mission with Rodney Kerman for the first time but Rodney Kerman already admires him

[codepoet]

How about kerbals can gain admiration for another kerbal even if they aren't on the mission, But only if they reached some milestone. E.G. Jeb landed on the mun, now he goes on a mission with Rodney Kerman for the first time but Rodney Kerman already admires him

I like this idea because it could be tied in with remote tech - so relationships between kerbals can develop in a certain way IF there is a communication link between their vessels. However such development is obviously not as intense as if they are sharing a living space.

[Cdr_Zeta]

Hello,

Keep the ideas goin ... I dont think the stupid/courage indicators fluctuate???

Distance between Kerbalnauts definitely a factor...resources low or hi...no comms periods...they could use more resources when goin crazy.

Commander Zeta