Comets, using the new asteroid generation system

[kerbonaut101]

Nah, they just jittered around a lot. To make them behave semi-realistically I had them set to simulate in world space so they would be "blown" away from the sun (as in, the particle effect aiming away from the sun and emitting outward), but it really didn't like that. I think it could be fixed if you set their simulation mode to local and instead calculated the force being applied to them to fake the same effect, but that'd be a nightmare of mathematics figuring out what the force should be at what given time...

I guess we'll need a collaberation between Squad and Mensa International to solve this one. lol

I guess when you play the game you dont really think about all the complicated maths thats going on in the background. But i suppose with enough time it could be figured out

Edited March 31, 2014 by kerbonaut101

[Piscator]

It's not literally an atmosphere. It's just that the atmosphere portion of KSP's systems could be re-purposed for comets.

The coma and the tail, as far as the game is concerned, would function like an atmosphere.

Actually, it is quite literally an atmosphere, even though a very thin and non-permanent one. But that's just semantic nitpicking. I agree with what you wrote.

Comets seem like quite an obvious thing to add, since a large part of the necessary mechanics already seems to be in place and the benefits would be considerable (new challenges; re-enacting real-life missions; gathering science in new, interesting ways; long-term playability due to randomness). It seems too good to miss.

[kerbonaut101]

new challenges; re-enacting real-life missions; gathering science in new, interesting ways

this is the reason to add anything new, imagine trying to reenact the Deep Imapact or Star Dust missions (welcome to the forums! )

Edited March 31, 2014 by kerbonaut101

[makinyashikino]

Fantastic idea! It should provide more science than a normal asteroid though, due to their origins from the Oort(Koort?) cloud outside the solar system, they would provide info about the early conditions of the system. Also, there should be a little prince easter egg on one.