Community Poll: Which existing features in KSP should be expanded on in 0.25?

[architeuthis]

The LV-N atomic rocket motor already has the same TWR the NERVA NRX/XE had IRL. Despite having a thrust of 330 kN (a lot more) at 750-850 seconds Isp (roughly the same), it was much, much heavier.

There can be only one conclusion: Kerbals don't use radiation shadow shields:)

In addition, the fact that you can use liquid fuel instead of hydrogen is a notable advantage - getting the same dV out of hydrogen as from an orange tank, for instance, would require a gigantic (not heavy, but gigantic) tank assembly. Building interplanetary ships with the LV-N is easier in KSP than IRL for that reason.

The Kerbal 'propellium' liquid fuel may very well be a hydrogen analog, after all there is an obvious parallel between the Kerbal S3 KS-25x4 Engine Cluster and the SLS core stage with its 4 RS-25 engines which are cryogenic. Also a NERVA type NTR wouldn't get anything like 800 s by using kerosene as reaction mass. Then again if the Kerbal LFB KR-1x2

is supposed to be the Dynetics Advanced Liquid Fueled Booster with 2 F-1 engines, which seems patently obvious to me, then both the cryogenic and rp-1 analogs are both running on the same liquid fuel.

The LV-N might be underpowered compared to modern on-paper NTR concepts, but it pretty much hits the NERVA XE (the only NTR ever actually built in full flight configuration) spot on in both TWR and Isp. Add the fact that it's easier to use, and there's no real reason for a buff right now, at least not from a comparison-to-IRL standpoint

I agree, the current LV-N balance is fine. I don't think they need a special fuel, but it would be nice if they didn't need an oxidizer.

[deadshot462]

New biomes for planets.

It would make it worth for me to bring a rover to another planet for long duration missions.

[Wyseman76]

A lot of things posted here can be found in a quick look through the wonderful mod community. So, these are things I'd like worked on.

1. 64bit support so we can use more mods.

2. Anything that improves mod support.

3. A way to turn mods off and on within the game so the need for multiple install copies is reduced.

4. Standardized resources, we really need this.

I'm sure I could think of others but it's late.

[goldenpeach]

I would like to see the tweekable expended: especially, I would want to be able to tweak more precisely the amount of fuel in a fuel tank: in a duna rover(still in development) I decided to escape kerbin SOI with a SRB(simpler and lighter). The problem is that ,with the current system, I have either not barely not enough delta-v(after I replaced the RTG with solar panels and batteries) or way too much delta-v(if I try to put RTG instead of solar panels.

[Iforgotthis]

Improved visuals on planets. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful, but about 70-80% of kerbin all looks the same. Thick forests, vast marshlands, mountainous valleys, etc. would all improve the impressiveness of the game.

It's not that the planets are ugly, they just look plain.

[Temeter]

I want connected iva's and interior. Imagine a full iva-only mission including docking and switching ships :3

[Pecan]

I voted 'other' because I'd like to see more information displays, re; the recent "should KSP have a deltaV display". There's lots of important, information already in the game that we can't see without mods. The analogue, logarithmic, Vertical Speed Indicator is big, intrusive and almost useless - put some good stuff there!

[Rarity]

I would personally like a little bit more...substance to the planets. Sure, we've got a few moholes and canyons but all the planets, including Kerbin, are quite bare.

[Woopert]

Aerodynamics. I want Space Shuttles and Dream Chasers to work. Right now they require lifting surface spam since the physics model doesn't recognize body lift. Once they finish that, assuming they do a good job with it, they can go on and focus on core features since it shouldn't require much more updating.

[KerikBalm]

Electric atmospheric propulsion... eve and duna solar gliders please (laythe too I suppse, but jet are so darn efficient, that its easy to get around laythe

Sure, we've got a few moholes and canyons but all the planets, including Kerbin, are quite bare.

Kerbin is where this is most noticable... there are almost no signs of civilization.

Meanwhile... Minmus, the Mun, moho seem detailed enough.

From orbit, Duna seems detailed enough, but once on the ground... its meh, too "low resolution" maybe more side channels feeding into the main channel, slope lineae, polar geysers, and stream beds/inverted streambeds around the edges of the "old sea floor" (I'd still like to keep the old sea floor smooth).

Eve.. meh... more channels to be more like titan?

Eeloo... haven't visited it... I'm not sure what you want out of an ice ball

Laythe - I don't know, how about some variations in the sand textures... have higher elevations have a different texture, as if they've been out of the water longer.

Maybe some darker spots from recent volcanic activity?

Hints of life?

voted for better aerodynamics, but biomes was my 2nd choice.

Edited May 9, 2014 by KerikBalm

[DeliciousPi]

See... I don't think FAR-like aerodynamics in the stock game would be a good thing. I *love* FAR, but... I feel as though this game already has a bit of a steep learning curve already with planes - I took me a long time to get the hang of them, but now they're my favorite form of spacecraft. I feel as though Squad should partner with FAR and promote it: casual players who like the stock aerodynamics can stay with them - that's fine. People like me, who like a bit more realism, can get FAR! Maybe there could also be somewhere in between, as others on this thread have suggested. I know that if FAR aerodynamics had been in the game when I first tried making planes... I probably would have gotten frustrated and given up, never finding my favorite form of transportation. Remember: a game like this needs a blend of accessibility and realism: FAR gives the realism but takes away some of the accessibility, in my opinion. Anyways, that's just my 2 cents.

[Rarity]

Electric atmospheric propulsion... eve and duna solar gliders please (laythe too I suppse, but jet are so darn efficient, that its easy to get around laythe

Kerbin is where this is most noticable... there are almost no signs of civilization.

Meanwhile... Minmus, the Mun, moho seem detailed enough.

From orbit, Duna seems detailed enough, but once on the ground... its meh, too "low resolution" maybe more side channels feeding into the main channel, slope lineae, polar geysers, and stream beds/inverted streambeds around the edges of the "old sea floor" (I'd still like to keep the old sea floor smooth).

Eve.. meh... more channels to be more like titan?

Eeloo... haven't visited it... I'm not sure what you want out of an ice ball

Laythe - I don't know, how about some variations in the sand textures... have higher elevations have a different texture, as if they've been out of the water longer.

Maybe some darker spots from recent volcanic activity?

Hints of life?

voted for better aerodynamics, but biomes was my 2nd choice.

Of course the Mun, and Minmus as well as some of the other intentionally barren bodies don't necessarily need to have sprawling cities built on them but yes places like Duna, Eve, Laythe, need more geological aesthetics. Kerbin doesn't even need an explanation. Moho could have volcanoes and oceans of lava. Well, maybe not oceans but some small lakes around volcanoes and coming into contact with it will kill you, or maybe if you ride along it in your rover it will cause an overheating effect if you get too close?

And not just ground features. Eve is supposed to be our Venus analogue, right? It doesn't have to be nearly as extreme, but drop to the surface of Venus and you'd probably have trouble keeping track of your hand in front of your face. I guess this counts as weather, but some more substance to the atmosphere would help a lot because as it is, the only real indicator of the pressure is the drag.

[MKI]

Biomes should come as often as possible THATS THE BOTTOM LINE

They shouldn't be a main aspect of an update ever, until the game is well into finishing career mode.

Adding currency/part costs to career is my personal choice for what needs to be added in .25

That should finish off the the basis of career mode in terms of finances.

[landeTLS]

I voted for aerodynamics. For the lv-n iwe always thought it should use just liquidfuel or liquidfuel and a tiny amount of blutonium stored in the lv-n. That would be the best. Id say liquidfuel is the kerbal LH2(liquidhydrogen) equivalent so it would be the reaction mass.

Edited May 10, 2014 by landeTLS

[cantab]

Moho could have volcanoes and oceans of lava. Well, maybe not oceans but some small lakes around volcanoes and coming into contact with it will kill you, or maybe if you ride along it in your rover it will cause an overheating effect if you get too close?

I believe Moho did once do something like that, or at least that anywhere on the planet your engines would start overheating even when they were shut down. But it got dropped in one of the updates.

And not just ground features. Eve is supposed to be our Venus analogue, right? It doesn't have to be nearly as extreme, but drop to the surface of Venus and you'd probably have trouble keeping track of your hand in front of your face. I guess this counts as weather, but some more substance to the atmosphere would help a lot because as it is, the only real indicator of the pressure is the drag.

The photos taken by the Venera 13 and 14 probes show visibility on Venus's surface to be good. I believe the air at the surface is too hot for any sort of rain or fog.

[stellarator]

I think that on .25 or .26 the gas planet 2 should be implemented to let us achieve more cience and... !FOR FUN!

[JDCollie]

I think that on .25 or .26 the gas planet 2 should be implemented to let us achieve more cience and... !FOR FUN!

I'd love to see the Kerbol system expanded, but it should probably occur after 64-bit implementation. As the Planet Factory mod and others have demonstrated, adding planetary bodies has a huge effect on memory usage. Still, I'd love to have more places to visit

[stellarator]

And 64-bit implementation, i think, will come in .24

[Pursuedtank]

I believe Moho did once do something like that, or at least that anywhere on the planet your engines would start overheating even when they were shut down. But it got dropped in one of the updates.

Moho had an atmosphere in 0.17 that used to make engines overheat, however it was removed in 0.18.

[ArmchairGravy]

My question: Are there any features left to implement after .24, or will it just be tweaks of existing features (aerodynamics, budget, biomes, etc.) after this?

[CaptRobau]

The science system is very unbalanced. One reason is because only three bodies have biome-specific science. This makes things like the Science Lab far too useless when taken to Duna for example, as it has no biomes (which is like the only place where the lab is useful). But as long as there are biomeless bodies, the science system can't be fully balanced (as some destinations will be less worthwhile due to having no biomes). So if biomes are going to be worked on, Squad needs to do it all in one go. It shouldn't be the hardest thing ever, since a modder made a pretty slapdash mod that added biomes everywhere. With more than a week and a larger staff, Squad could do it much better and much faster.

I'd love to see the Kerbol system expanded, but it should probably occur after 64-bit implementation. As the Planet Factory mod and others have demonstrated, adding planetary bodies has a huge effect on memory usage. Still, I'd love to have more places to visit

Yes, but is this because the modders have to do a workaround or because planets of themselves are really memory intensive. If the latter is the case, Squad can at the very least couple engine improvements (not counting 64-bit, as the game still has to function on 32-bit) to offset the memory increase. Because I haven't noticed any performance chances as planets were added in earlier updates.

My question: Are there any features left to implement after .24, or will it just be tweaks of existing features (aerodynamics, budget, biomes, etc.) after this?

Multiplayer is the big one that's been confirmed and that's still fully unreleased (a lot of other stuff is just rumors or off-handed comments).

Edited July 11, 2014 by CaptRobau

[allmhuran]

I'm surprised so many people want more biomes. Biomes in and of themselves aren't really very interesting at all, in fact with the current mechanics more biomes just means more grindy tedium. Perhaps people want them in order to be able to get science more easily? But you can get close to 5000 science from Kerbin, the Mun and Minmus alone... and that's without having any science parts unlocked, just from EVA reports, crew reports and ground samples. So it's not like science is "hard to get" at the moment.

Also:

I have to agree. It is something that bothers me too.

While having science this feature is only appearing textboxes at the moment. Don't get me wrong I appreciate that.

But in my imagination I always expected more activity in those features. It boggers my mind that Squad has a very good animator (danRosas), but is using him ATM only for promotional stuff like animated vids.

(emphasis added)

I had never actually thought of that and it's a really good point. Giving the Kerbals more personality and more stuff to do all in one hit, taking advantage of the skills of someone they already have on the team, just seems like such an obvious idea now that it's been suggested. I really hope Squad is considering this.

Edited July 11, 2014 by allmhuran

[No one]

Definitely Aerodynamics.

Biomes I don't really see the point of in general. I mean, all they really do is make science more grindy, they sort of add some challenge in that they encourage you to either design one ship with multiple landers or make landers reusable and capable of making multiple hops, but I think that this is much better accomplished by making one planet with lots of moons (As in, Jool. Though it could use more moons, doesn't Jupiter have like 50 or something? I'm not asking for 50, but we could use a lot more than 5). That said, some planets sort of deserve some biomes, like Moho could have a light side and a dark side, Duna could have poles and not-poles, but I definitely don't think that everything should have as many biomes as the Mun and Minmus. The Mun and Minmus should not have as many biomes as they do right now imo.

Nuclear fuel for the LV-N, meh. I mean, it should be added but to me it doesn't seem that important. If people are abusing the fact that it uses the same fuel as everything else then yes that should be fixed, but I never have. Also this should probably be relatively easy and take far less time to implement than the others. (They already have ion thrusters which run on Xenon, making another thing which runs on an alternative fuel shouldn't be that hard).

Making EVA take monopropellant wouldn't change that much, monopropellant is pretty light and it would be easy to carry enough for way more EVAs than would be necessary. Also, like the nuclear fuel, it probably wouldn't take that much time to implement.

Aerodynamics are glaringly bad at the moment and in dire need of fixing. Personally I'm just ignoring the existence of planes until they fix aerodynamics. Also I'm building massive pancake rockets which would be aerodynamically horrible because there's no reason not to at the moment.

[Franklin]

Better aerodynamics and risk to re-entry are two high demand/long-overdue updates we've been waiting for.

[theend3r]

GP2 and enviromental hazards like solar flares, volcanoes, quakes, tangible terrain scatter... etc. Essentially something to add a little variation to different enviroments.