Wandering Kerbals

[DoctorFoo]

Not sure about if anyone else out there would want this (or if it's been mentioned before), but what about an addition to the game or mod that would have the Kerbals, instead of always sitting idle in their craft until summoned, go outside of their own accord and "wander" around the immediate area, either inside something like a defined bounding box or on some kind of "track" (procedurally generated or defined by user input). It would give landing sites, colonies, and space stations a little more life and might even be employed to have them performing certain tasks, such as gathering science or repairing rover legs/wheels on their own (that's about all they really can do in EVA at the moment in the stock game).

Of course the Kerbals would need to return to their craft before they're out of RCS propellant (if on orbit) and would need to be recalled before a maneuver so as not to be left behind, and you'd need to be careful not to hit any of them when docking or landing.

Thoughts?

[Greenfire32]

I support this, but ONLY if Kerbals wander when landed and when the player is not focused on the ship (like if you were on a Munar surface EVA and brought more than 1 Kerbal with you). Ships in motion (orbits or otherwise) should remain 100% under the control of the player. Nothing would ruin a Munar transfer like your co-pilot decided that a space walk should happen right in the middle of your transfer burn.

[DoctorFoo]

I support this, but ONLY if Kerbals wander when landed and when the player is not focused on the ship (like if you were on a Munar surface EVA and brought more than 1 Kerbal with you). Ships in motion (orbits or otherwise) should remain 100% under the control of the player. Nothing would ruin a Munar transfer like your co-pilot decided that a space walk should happen right in the middle of your transfer burn.

I agree, it would need to be something the user would have to initialize or upon certain static conditions (ie. craft firmly on the ground after X minutes, in a stable orbit with no upcoming maneuvers, etc.), and their should definitely be a "stay in your seats" option you can activate.

Edited June 18, 2014 by DoctorFoo
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