Any reason why KSP is mainly piloted space exploration?

[USAGuerrilla]

(Re: EVA and all that) - They do bounce off but it shouldn't be at any significantly higher speed than they were closing. Much as I detest videos it might be necessary to see one of your EVAs because this sounds like you're having bugs, not difficulties :-(

It does sound like a bug (some people mentioned it before) but bug free software doesn't exist. As I couldn't save my game I would like to have a tether (anybody with some potion of sense on EVA next to a ship will have tether just in case). I mean nobody want's to die due to some stupid mistake.

[DJEN]

God forbid someone wants something different than you, rite? Besides, Orbiter doesn't have any of those things without mods anyway.

You are very right, NovaSilisko. That was a mistake of mine.

[Sabreur]

Probes are sent for two reasons - safety, and weight.

The first reason is safety. Our solar system is full of things like extreme heat, corrosive atmospheres, abrasive sands, static electricity, and radiation, all of which can kill an astronaut. Until we send a probe, we don't know what's out there. In KSP, none of that exists - a kerbal can walk on the surface of Eve in the same spacesuit he'd use to walk on the Mun. Also, horrible as it sounds, there's no reason to keep your kerbals alive outside of your own conscience.

The second reason is weight. Food, water, air, temperature control, waste disposal, protection from radiation, exercise, companionship - real astronauts need all these things, and these things are heavy. Especially if the trip will take a long time (which trips to other planets inevitably will). Probes still have needs, but nearly as much as an astronaut. As a result, it is much easier and cheaper to send a probe first. KSP's astronauts have minimal needs - you can send a lone Kerbal in a tiny pod on a ten-year mission without a problem. You can still save on weight by using a probe - but not by much, and there's no reason to save money right now.

What I'd like to see is randomly-generated hazards on each planet, and heavy protective equipment needed to survive those hazards. It wouldn't be practical to protect against every possible hazard simultaneously - there's so many possible hazards that full protection would weigh hundreds of tons. Instead, you'd have to tailor your missions to each planet - but since the hazards are randomly generated, you'd have to send a probe first to know what the hazards are. Heat, radiation, acid, abrasive sandstorms, electromagnetic interference, static electricity discharges, angry monoliths, whatever. You might even make it so that you can't research astronaut protection in career mode until you've sent a probe and found a planet that requires that type of protection. Nobody is going to fund radiation-proof spacesuits at first, but they will when you learn that Duna is a celestial microwave oven.

[USAGuerrilla]

What I'd like to see is randomly-generated hazards on each planet, and heavy protective equipment needed to survive those hazards. It wouldn't be practical to protect against every possible hazard simultaneously - there's so many possible hazards that full protection would weigh hundreds of tons. Instead, you'd have to tailor your missions to each planet - but since the hazards are randomly generated, you'd have to send a probe first to know what the hazards are. Heat, radiation, acid, abrasive sandstorms, electromagnetic interference, static electricity discharges, angry monoliths, whatever. You might even make it so that you can't research astronaut protection in career mode until you've sent a probe and found a planet that requires that type of protection. Nobody is going to fund radiation-proof spacesuits at first, but they will when you learn that Duna is a celestial microwave oven.

That's a really AWESOME idea!!!

[Fizwalker]

EVA IS BLOODY AWFUL IN THIS GAME!

1) No tether.

2) Extremely sensitive (small adjustments cause astronaut to bounce away from the ship at a very high speed).

3) Extremely powerful.

*Snip*.

1) What? You want this to be easy?

2)Kerbals ALWAYS over engineer things.....

3)Moar Powah! Can't go wrong with MOAR POWAH!

Yes, we Kerbals are a reckless lot. Why should we not go before the unKerballed probes.... ? Yes, more of us Kerbals might SURVIVE, but where is the fun in that?! How many times has Jeb piloted a ship doomed to failure and spectacular explosions only to return and pilot our next design into oblivion?! JEB MUST GO ON!

[optimusjamie]

Here's how I see it.

KSP isn't meant to be perfectly realistic. It's meant to be realistic enough to be challenging, but not too realistic to be enjoyable/accessible. That's why I quit Orbiter- the level of realism just wasn't fun for me.

[USAGuerrilla]

Well at least heaving tether will help with bouncing bugs. It's a kind of lame after spending a lot of time to loose kerbal due to a bug (I couldn't enter vehicle sometimes it just bounces off).

Edited June 5, 2014 by USAGuerrilla

[USAGuerrilla]

I figured out how to code plugins for KSP and I think I have a plan to change EVA. Will fix it so I can use it the way I want! It won't bug others!