Building Facility Minor Improvments

[1kvolt]

Hello.

Can you, please, add a Mass and Parts Count indicators in hangars? I know I can see mass from Launch Pad but it is so uncomfortably to launch unfinished ships to see how much it weights. And when parts go off limits (about 300-320 for my computer) the Game is freezing and even may crush, so I always have to know a number of used parts. And, if there will be economics (parts already have prices, so I think it will), then I hope to see a Full Price indicator in hangars too.

[Javster]

MechJeb gives you a bunch of info, and so does Kerbal Engineer

[comham]

This is something that really ought to be stock, though, it's so basic.

[NoMrBond]

You'd need the price indicator once budget comes in at least

"Your program cannot afford this launch vessel" (as long as there is no Clippy, you look like you're trying to build a rocket, would you like some DIE DIE DIE)

You can get the part count in the load menu for a saved ship/plane/rover/thingy already, and the mass if you wheel it out to the launchpad and check the vessel information tab in the map view, but neither of those are particularly convenient even though the information is already available.

[MKI]

The part count should be put in, mass should also be put in, and whole whole cost should also be put in.

My only question is where in the UI would they place it? Near the symmetry buttons?

Yes mods have them, but this is something that is just impractical to look for.

[NoMrBond]

My first thought would be to make it an actual part of the VAB building, like a Jumbotron with a couple of numbers on it (mass/cost/parts) in some kerbal fashion. However this would mean needing to swing your view around to wherever the billboard is which could become a bit of a chore, or just outright annoying depending on the layout of what you're working on

Otherwise as a more conventional pop-down/up/in from one of the edges sort of like how you mouse hover over the altimeter and you get extra options now, but with an option to lock it out so the stats are always visible, hell even having the from the map view in the top right so you can click on it to get the mass/parts just like you can in the map view outside would be fine

[comham]

My first thought would be to make it an actual part of the VAB building, like a Jumbotron with a couple of numbers on it (mass/cost/parts) in some kerbal fashion. However this would mean needing to swing your view around to wherever the billboard is which could become a bit of a chore, or just outright annoying depending on the layout of what you're working on

I think that's a fantastic idea. In-world GUI's are great, and budget isn't something you have to check as often as, say, ammo in a FPS, so it's worth that minor inconvenience. Have two on opposite walls to cut down on spinning around maybe.

[BudgetHedgehog]

KER can show price, MJ can show part count, both can show weight.

[1kvolt]

Thanks for replyes and advices, guys. I know that I can see mass on Launchpad and part counts in save/load screen. It's enough when you build your crafts with intuition only. But I'm trying to use some math and physics, I think it's more interesting than to do a couple of crash launchs to know would your rocket fly or not. And in this case I need to see dynamic Mass and Parts counts.

We have a Center-of-Mass, Center-of-Thrust, Center-of-Lift already. Also we have a lot of engineering info for parts - and game use them in simulation! - so why wouldn't we have a little bit more info on our current projects? Game already use them, so all you need is to show them to a player. I think it's very easy to add, saying, a small button near Center-bla-bla buttons and a small window with info in right upper corner.

Mods is good option when the game is not in beta status and is not update offen. And even then I don't like to use them just because I don't really know what they have changed in my game.

[Red Iron Crown]

You should give Kerbal Engineer a try, as mods go it's very unobtrusive and makes no changes to the underlying game, and the modders are very good about quickly updating to maintain compatibility with new KSP versions.

I agree that it's a bit silly that none of this information is available directly in the stock game. Mass, delta-V and TWR are fundamental calculations for rocket design, we shouldn't have to resort to a mod or external calculation for them. Part count is critical to game performance and is given in game anyway, no reason it shouldn't be done in the VAB itself.

Unfortunately, IIRC the devs are reluctant to overload the game with hard numbers, so I'm not sure this functionality will ever make it into the core game.