How can kerbals be made more distinguishable?

[Red Iron Crown]

In the game as it is, kerbals are completely interchangeable in that their stats of courage and stupidity are irrelevant to anything but the expressions on their faces. I admit that if a kerbal is not one of the Original Three then they tend to not form any lasting impression on me at all. So I'd like to discuss ways in which the individual kerbals could be made different from each other in meaningful ways.

I don't really have a suggestion for what should be done, but I can think of some things I'd like to avoid:

- Ship performance being affected by kerbal stats. IMO the capabilities of a ship should be entirely based on its construction, not which particular kerbals are crewing it.

- Kerbals leveling up. KSP is not an RPG, I'd prefer it if kerbals were not in a quest for experience points so they can improve their stats.

What are some ideas for gameplay mechanics to make kerbals more different from each other?

[Whirligig Girl]

I'm just going to put this here.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/51831-How-to-make-Kerbals-awesomer

[Red Iron Crown]

I'm just going to put this here.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/51831-How-to-make-Kerbals-awesomer

Aside from variable looks, most of that list is just differing equipment/tasks for kerbals in which they're still interchangeable. Not that it's a bad discussion, just not exactly the subject I had in mind.

[Vaporo]

Aside from female Kerbals, (which I really hope happens, by the way) The obvious changes are hair styles and slightly differing facial features. For example, Kerbals could have:

Taller or shorter heads.

Head shape variation. (A while ago someone suggested that female Kerbals have rounded corners on their heads. Actually, it was in the already-referenced http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/...rbals-awesomer suggestion)

Wider or thinner mouths.

Chin prominence.

Missing/gold teeth.

A variety of hairstyles.

Hair color variation.

Facial hair?

Eyebrows/eyelashes.

Skin tone variations. (Maybe these could change with exposure to different environments. Being exposed to sunlight gives either a darker green (tanning) or brownish tint (sunburn) depending on the Kerbal's preprogrammed coloration variables.)

Eye size.

Eye shape.

Eye color.

Age/wrinkles.

Scars?

Different builds. (ie, shoulder width, body width, chest thickness)

Arm length.

Leg length.

Body length

Fatness.

Muscularity (more or less muscular.)

Hair on the arms/hands of some naturally muscular Kerbals.

Nose shape. (they don't have noses right now, so all noses, if they are used, should not be very prominent in order to make sure that they always look recognizably like the Kerbals we have now.)

Of course, any of these would have to be applied with moderation, otherwise you risk making them not look like Kerbals or simply look ugly (of course, having a few ugly Kerbals could give an interesting mechanic where ugly Kerbals are less likely to be accepted by their peers, so they work harder to compensate.)

Maybe Kerbals could also have armbands on their Eva and Iva suits to indicate their rank.

Edited June 6, 2014 by Vaporo

[r4pt0r]

i think the game needs only a few things:

-variation in the headshapes(i suppose genders might be ok. squad needs canon for this stuff, i believe in the spore theory)

-variation in hair/facialhair(and a personal request for a random eye-patch possibility, the funny part being both eyes work and they flip it up and down in IVA sometimes)

-1 kerbal per launch can be marked as mission commander, either by clicking him in vab, or him being the first kerbal in the vab que. he would get a red stripe(or something else unique) on EVA/IVA

-deepen the astronaut complex: ANY KERBAL should be able to pilot, and i do not want smart/brave kerbals to get spacecraft performance buffs(better ISP, better torque) over stupid/cowardly ones. but perhaps the smart ones would process data for transmission faster, or do lab cleaning faster. there should be SOME kind of gameplay effect for their stats.

[pizzaoverhead]

Stats that affect gameplay. You want to have some reason to pick one kerbal over another for recruitment.

For example:

• Athleticism could affect running speed and distance, jumping height, being able to roll or otherwise prevent themselves from ragdolling when falling from higher distances.
  
• Repair skill could determine the performance of a part being repaired, or whether it can be repaired at all. Low repair skills could result in less efficient solar panels, wheels with a lower breaking tolerance.
  
• Observation or research skills could add to or remove from the value of crew and EVA reports.
  
• Mass: For tiny craft, this could be a deciding factor.

[Red Iron Crown]

In addition to some of the good ideas already mentioned, maybe some sort of per-kerbal history. It would be nice to know which kerbals are veteran spacers and which are the rookies.

[r4pt0r]

perhaps it could remember (and list in some fashion) SOI's they have entered, time in Kerbin(or other) orbit, time spent landed on the various bodies, ect?

[pizzaoverhead]

Final Frontier is a great example of what can be done with a per-kerbal history.

[Dwight_js]

You know... I think that the Kerbals have suffered just about enough from this "they all look the same to me" attitude. This discrimination will not stand!