0.25 Discussion thread

[HafCoJoe]

It says in the list of planned features that autopilot is not coming to stock KSP so you can scratch that off the secret feature . I think it's something to do with scorch mark textures or maybe craters. Lets not aim too high . IMO.

[Rowsdower]

Yea, they're not. Click "How to improve KSP" link in my signature - you'll see a post that sparked the whole topic titled "Total Realism" that right now got 32 pages - one of the things that gave birth this post was our (me, regex and few other people) disappointment in how much devs energy goes into making clips that never make it to the game instead of the game itself.

Keep in mind that we've all got our different areas of work around the company. Dan is not expending any energy that would otherwise go into development because his focus is not on development.

EDIT: Oh and for that matter, Max also confirmed that there will be no cinematic for 0.25 anyway since he's focused on something else at the moment.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Rowsdower

[qromodynmc]

Keep in mind that we've all got our different areas of work around the company. Dan is not expending any energy that would otherwise go into development because his focus is not on development.

EDIT: Oh and for that matter, Max also confirmed that there will be no cinematic for 0.25 anyway since he's focused on something else at the moment.

I hope you guys are not offended because of some user's complain about cinematics

[montyben101]

I hope you guys are not offended because of some user's complain about cinematics

So you would rather watch a 2 minute clip from the devs rather than have a new cool feature in the game?

[Rowsdower]

I hope you guys are not offended because of some user's complain about cinematics

Not at all. Dan's focus has been elsewhere. It has nothing to do with any comment or complaint whatsoever.

[qromodynmc]

So you would rather watch a 2 minute clip from the devs rather than have a new cool feature in the game?

They are the developers,I just have respect for their choice,I cant complain.

[EnderSpace]

Ok let's Look at this in better view

Cinematic - I think it will show New EVA , Admin Building , Navball and the mysterious feature ( remember asteroid redirected mission it show Mission Control and who will work there and also the brand grapple.

0.25 - after few week ( I think ) there will be early access for few people and then we will know everything be patient , I know it's a huge update but no need to sound rude.

Also Enjoy!

[Sky_walker]

Ok let's Look at this in better view

Cinematic - I think it will show New EVA , Admin Building , Navball and the mysterious feature ( remember asteroid redirected mission it show Mission Control and who will work there and also the brand grapple.

Ekhm... no, it won't:

EDIT: Oh and for that matter, Max also confirmed that there will be no cinematic for 0.25 anyway since he's focused on something else at the moment.

Keep in mind that we've all got our different areas of work around the company. Dan is not expending any energy that would otherwise go into development because his focus is not on development.

Well done managing stuff than.

Usually when cinematics are done in a companies of that size - it's done by people who could otherwise focus implementing content into the game - hence the disappointment, as these clips don't even make it into the game itself. But I'm glad to see it wasn't the case.

[cantab]

I understand that but why go to the trouble of making a model (unless it was easy) when they can focus on something IMPORTANT like new parts or clouds or something like that

Marketing is important. Important enough that whole companies exist that specialise in handling the marketing of other companies. I think KSP''s own lead developer worked for a company like that, Monkey Squad or something they're called.

[I_Killed_Jeb]

So you would rather watch a 2 minute clip from the devs rather than have a new cool feature in the game?

because everything is a zero sum game

[juanml82]

About deformable terrain, how much can that be caused and seen outside the KSC? Crash land on Ike, cause a small crater, when are you seeing it again? And besides, you'd need asteroids to do serious damage to the terrain.

I'm leaning more towards more Kerbal expressions and maybe interactivity while on IVA

[r4pt0r]

would asteroids do serious damage? what is their terminal velocity at sea level? they fall obscenely slow in atmosphere I thought, cuz stock aerodynamics.

[Sun]

Since we are getting a revamp of all plane parts, does that also mean that the Mk. 2 pod and the Mk. 3 pod will FINALLY get interiors?

[HafCoJoe]

Since we are getting a revamp of all plane parts, does that also mean that the Mk. 2 pod and the Mk. 3 pod will FINALLY get interiors?

I sure hope so. The Mk2 pod is my favorite. Despite it's lacking innards.

[Daishi]

You can't be serious.

If they'd ever implement destructable buiuldings - it would look like that: You hit it above velocity threshold, you see one gigantic particle effect and then small 3D model of destroyed building. That's all. Stop dreaming of realistic destruction modeling, cause we don't have that even for the spacecrafts themselves.

Well, I hardly think a particle effect and a sudden change to a bombed out shell would enhance the game very much. I was only implying if they did want to do building destruction, it would have to be at a high standard to keep players\Harvester coming back to repeat it. And at the state Unity is in with the physics bottleneck, that isn't going to happen. Who wants to keep crashing into the VAB just to see it instantly change into the same piece of rubble?

I'm just saying :|

[cantab]

would asteroids do serious damage? what is their terminal velocity at sea level? they fall obscenely slow in atmosphere I thought, cuz stock aerodynamics.

They do. But most of the bodies in the system don't have an atmosphere.

[O-Doc]

The 2min clips are pretty important for marketing the game. Those resources are being well used. It's best to do the cinematic about game features during the feature development. That way, you get more bang for your buck. The team gets to visualise the concept better during development and market that feature as it is being released. Then, when the game goes 1.0 you get to put a proper 1hr presentation together for games conventions and the like.

If SQUAD aren't putting at least 10% of their resources into marketing they would be doing something wrong. Given they are a marketing company, they know the importance of developing marketing assets better than most.

[Yakuzi]

The latest Squadcast mentions SQUAD is trying to get cargobays in for 0.25, though they might not make it in till 0.26. This comes somewhat as a surprise, since Porkjet said three weeks ago that cargobays "certainly will" be in 0.25 as "they are arguably the most important parts of this pack".

[Superfluous J]

The latest Squadcast mentions SQUAD is trying to get cargobays in for 0.25, though they might not make it in till 0.26. This comes somewhat as a surprise, since Porkjet said three weeks ago that cargobays "certainly will" be in 0.25 as "they are arguably the most important parts of this pack".

Plans change. Problems happen and fixing them takes longer than expected sometimes.

And Porkjet does not work for Squad in any capacity that would give him authority to state what will and will not "certainly" be in any given update. He was (I assume) genuinely expectant of that but obviously something since then has changed.

This is a side effect of Squad being more open with their development plan. This is a good thing, not a bad thing.

[Yakuzi]

Plans change. Problems happen and fixing them takes longer than expected sometimes.

This is a side effect of Squad being more open with their development plan. This is a good thing, not a bad thing.

I never said it was a bad thing, I'm just surprised the squadcast reveals mk2 cargobays as an additional feature for 0.25, whereas they were originally part of SP+. Considering these parts function in the modpack using the existing animation code, I find it particularly surprising Squad mentions the Mk2 bays from SP+ potentially wont make it into 0.25.

If this was about adding cargobays for mk3 or other sized parts I could understand the delay until version 0.26.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Yakuzi

[juanml82]

I never said it was a bad thing, I'm just surprised the squadcast reveals mk2 cargobays as an additional feature for 0.25, whereas they were originally part of SP+. Considering these parts function in the modpack using the existing animation code, I find it particularly surprising Squad mentions the Mk2 bays from SP+ potentially wont make it into 0.25.

If this was about adding cargobays for mk3 or other sized parts I could understand the delay until version 0.26.

I understand they use firespitter for the animation, so either Squad would need to bundle the firespitter dll with the game or they need to recreate a similar functionality.

I might be wrong, though.

[Captain Vlad]

*fingers crossed for cargo bays, just so he has someplace to put all his spaceplane's batteries and RCS fuel*

[ialdabaoth]

You can do it really easily without the firespitter dll, actually.

Something like TweakEverything would be a much better inclusion into stock.

[Red Iron Crown]

You can do it really easily without the firespitter dll, actually.

That begs the question of why Porkjet used the firespitter dll in the first place. The only other parts in SP+ that call an animation module are the cockpits and crew cabin (for lighting changes), they use the generic animation calls. Only the cargo bays use firespitter, so it would seem that something about their functionality requires it.

[Franklin]

I imagine he used it for the same reason anyone does. It's an out-of-box, pre-coded animator. Why reinvent the wheel. I think the light source toggling is in stock, which explains why he used firespitter for just the cargo bays.

edit: Although the stock gear bays animate, so I wonder what the functional difference is between that and firespitter. Someone who actually models parts could explain better, I'm sure.