Which one?

[Superfluous J]

I have no problem keeping up with KSP news and all I follow with any conviction is the forum.

Just look for the posts where people are complaining that they didn't hear about something, and you'll find out all the things that are going on in this one place.

[Minarkhaios]

Based on a "smaller change versus higher impact" ratio, my guess is on the visual enhancement mod (aka EVE).

It's a small(ish) update with huge(ish) impact on KSP.

And it also could be merged with the banana theory to add banana shaped clouds.

[Guest]

Just look for the posts where people are complaining that they didn't hear about something, and you'll find out all the things that are going on in this one place.

~:kommunity service:~

You can thank me later.

[HafCoJoe]

Tis a bit of a tease, regex. This is actually breaking info. As Max mentioned over the weekend, he's merely the harbinger. The real news (full details and such) will occur from our official sources, likely sometime this week.

So suspenseful... There are so many different mod types that could be stock! Rover parts, rocket parts, plane parts, resource mods, aesthetic mods*, time warp mods, music mods, science mods (please be the banana!), IVA mods* and the list goes on! You've given me a reason to comb announcements once again...

* I'm guessing one of these

Edited August 19, 2014 by Avera9eJoe

[Westi29]

Did something change in the last three days?

http://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/2dokyd/heres_something_hugo_made_well_miss_him/cjrjs7x

[–]ikerbalsMaster Kerbalnaught 10 points 3 days ago

I don't understand why they needed an intern to rework these parts. They could have just picked a mod like Spaceplane Plus and incorporated it into the stock game for free anyways.

permalinksaveparenteditdeletereply

[–]RowsdowerKSPCommunity Manager 14 points 3 days ago

Because the devs have been focused on bigger projects and right now, we're not interested in directly implementing community developed mods/parts into the game.

permalinksaveparentreportgive goldreply

[–]ikerbalsMaster Kerbalnaught 7 points 3 days ago

I hope you rethink that policy as modders are literally the most devoted fans and most talented assets that you as a game have. It would be a great way to reward them for their work and encourage others to join the modding community.

[HafCoJoe]

Did something change in the last three days?

http://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/2dokyd/heres_something_hugo_made_well_miss_him/cjrjs7x

[–]ikerbalsMaster Kerbalnaught 10 points 3 days ago

I don't understand why they needed an intern to rework these parts. They could have just picked a mod like Spaceplane Plus and incorporated it into the stock game for free anyways.

permalinksaveparenteditdeletereply

[–]RowsdowerKSPCommunity Manager 14 points 3 days ago

Because the devs have been focused on bigger projects and right now, we're not interested in directly implementing community developed mods/parts into the game.

permalinksaveparentreportgive goldreply

[–]ikerbalsMaster Kerbalnaught 7 points 3 days ago

I hope you rethink that policy as modders are literally the most devoted fans and most talented assets that you as a game have. It would be a great way to reward them for their work and encourage others to join the modding community.

On the topic of parts being added, I just rooted through your reddit link as well and here's something sweet that Rowsdower posted: [in response to Hugos cockpit] "This pic was actually cropped and enlarged from a bigger one full of the parts he made. More on that will be revealed closer to the update. As for who will handle the continuation? Simply put, I don't know. At this point, it's probably best left asking that after we release 0.25.". Much excite. Such more parts. Very hype.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Avera9eJoe

[TheKutKu]

It can only be, obvioulsy, The Snack mod, no sarcasm here, i really love this mod. The best life support mod IMO

[Tw1]

Though I do have hopes for KAS, something that would be quite the game changer would be that booster recovery mod. That would be useful, though it would make more sense to be added with some sort of re-entry heat calculation.

Or, that mission extension mod, which looked like it had some interesting extra ideas.

[monophonic]

Humm... We know there is the Administrative Building (whatever it was exactly called anyway) coming, the devs seem quite excited about it but won't talk about what it does. Now, they are talking about something that is bought from a mod maker but not an existing mod.

Personally, I think the two are interlinked. Some sort of administrative job it is then. Now, what could it be in the context of a space program?

An engineer? KER type job, but you must hire the kerbal to do the math. If you hire a math whiz, good, you get the exact numbers. If he isn't that good with numbers, okay, he'll tell you it might be up to X but is definitely at least Y, so you get a range but no exact values. Unless he's stupid, that is, then he'll give you exact numbers but they can be off the real value by some not insignificant factor. This is the one I wish for.

A bean counter? Also a hire, pick a good one and he'll find you the best deals on recovery services (boosting recovery income). Assign the wrong kerbal, and you'll end up paying premium to recover a ship from the launch pad.

A PR specialist? Money goes out, reputation comes in. Necessary to have one if you like very lucrative manned one way missions. Just choose wisely, or the ad campaigns may make your space program the laughing stock of the year, lowering rep instead.

Scientists? It's not enough to get the data from the science experiments, you also have to figure out what that means? A good one will invent a Mainsail from two temperature measurements and a launch pad sample, a bad one... umm... won't.

I'm sure there are a few more that could be come up with.

[NWDogg]

I doubt it's going to be any of the visual enhancements, those features could just as easily be added in by Squad themselves without outside help. I'm guessing it's going to be something that adds a functional feature to the game, that Squad wouldn't be able to add themselves without people going 'Oh, look, they basically took that from X mod'.

Resources shouldn't be added to stock, there are now a few different options available and a stock variant would impede on those. FAR and NEAR will never be added, even though they are great, because they essentially break the game (balance-wise). Mechjeb is obviously not going in. KER, Alarm clock, docking enhancement, etc would be super useful, but they unfortunately take away from the general 'theme' of KSP.

My best guesses at the moment would be either the new 'Snacks' mod, for a 'life-support lite' functionality, or attachment system. KAS has always been the one mod I could see being a part of standard KSP, without sacrificing the mystery or goofiness of the Kerbals, but instead enhancing it. Another contender IMO is Orbital Science by DMagic, great mod that would enhance the science and career modes, again without breaking the overall Kerbal theme.

[KerbMav]

I was going to say NEAR but Maxmaps' "This isn't like us taking in a feature that a mod has already done before, it's a whole thing we are buying from a skilled modder." has me completely confused. Not a feature that a mod has already done but still "a slightly modified version of a very well made mod".

Humm... We know there is the Administrative Building (whatever it was exactly called anyway) coming, the devs seem quite excited about it but won't talk about what it does. Now, they are talking about something that is bought from a mod maker but not an existing mod.

My attempt at translation:

They are not simply adepting the idea of what a mod has done before, but buying the finished mod and modify it to fit into their scope/design.

So I do not think it will be an unpublished mod, very unlikely as Squad would have no idea how the community thought about it.

My guess would be to look at the most popular mods (not in conflict with what Squad previously announced, like "no life support") that have not received an update lately.

[Ikaneko]

Please please please please please be spaceplanes+

[r4pt0r]

Chatterer please lol.

But has anyone asked about KAS or KAC?

the quote:

"This isn't like us taking in a feature that a mod has already done before, it's a whole thing we are buying from a skilled modder."

Leads me to think its a mod that has many facets and features, and i've heard that theres a bunch of stuff in those mods.

[Ringkeeper]

when does it make sence to take a mod and put it into the stock game? Thats the question you have to ask.

FAR, Spaceplane , MKS/OKS, Karbonite, KAS etc are all nice mods, but nothing the major part of players use.

You want to look for a mod that is used by a huge player base and simple enough that everyone, even the ones that barley reach orbit, can use and profit from.

A company doesn't pay for a mod that only some players can use.

[bsalis]

My guess? KER or Spaceplane Plus.

Leaning towards Spaceplane Plus, since i'm not sure they will integrate a mod that uses floating UI windows rather than something properly integrated.

[r4pt0r]

well at least we are guaranteed to have some actual firm information about this coming out of the devnotes today, right guys?

something akin to :

"we are working out the specifics, but we will be incorporating something along the lines of the _______ mod into ksp very soon, and we are delighted"

[Tex_NL]

Personally I lean towards one of three things:

* FAR/NEAR: What I can remember from what's been said over the last year SQUAD does want to improve aerodynamics.

* EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements: This has made so much difference visually.

* Dark Multiplayer: Haven't tried it myself but from what I've seen it does work. (Still think MP is a bad choice in this stage of development. But that's my personal opinion.)

[Cirocco]

my bet is also on SP+

it's likely Squad would go for a popular mod. It's much less of a risk to go with a mod that is widely used (and therefore pretty well tested) and widely liked. Therefore I think the big candidates are KER, SP+, FAR/NEAR, DRE, EVE and MechJeb (I might be missing a few but those are the names I've seen most often here on the forums).

Now let's look at the individual mods. Ferram has already stated that he knows nothing about FAR or NEAR being added to the game. While there is a very small chance that this was said as part of a non-disclose agreement (NDA) it is far more likely that he’s just telling the truth, so we’ll scratch that one from the list.

It is likely that if they’re buying/integrating a mod into stock, it means it’s something that is hard or time consuming for the team to put it in themselves. Note that while I am an engineer in real life, my knowledge of programming is limited so I could be spouting complete bull-manure here

First up, Kerbal Engineer Redux. KER is very handy, but for the most part it is a visualization of calculations that are already done by the game. I think that this is something that Squad could implement themselves. They also voiced objections to adding such numbers as TWR and Delta-V in the past.

MechJeb: MJ is widely used and can be very handy. I estimate it is of medium difficulty to program (it uses the calculations already in the game like KER, but does a lot more with them) but would take a lot of time to program. However, the biggest argument I see against MJ being incorporated into stock is that it is still somewhat controversial. A lot of people love it others brand it as the work of the devil. While undeniably a very fine piece of work (like just about all mods out there) adding something that is disliked by a large portion of the community as stock is probably not the best move. Again, objections to adding auto-pilot into the stock game have also been raised by Squad in the past.

DRE: Deadly Re-Entry is widely used and Squad have already mentioned in the past that they want to implement re-entry heat into the game. Because re-entry is not yet in the game (other than the visual effects) coding it would probably take considerable time and effort. It would be far simpler to just buy DRE and adjust it to fit stock. So probability points for DRE right there.

SP+: new parts! Squad does seem to like them new parts and spaceplanes really need some love. New parts I would imagine take considerable time and effort (being visual as in addition to simply calculations they would require hitboxes, art, etc.) so buying and integrating them would be a big timesaver. Squad also are in the process of improving spaceplanes, so it would make sense to add a spaceplane mod to stock. Also probability points right there.

EVE: Prettier planets! Would probably take considerable time and effort, has (relatively) high impact on the game for relatively low risk (who doesn't want a prettier game?). Squad has voiced no real opinion on this matter as far as I know, but I would imagine every dev wants his/her game to be prettier. However, I don't think visuals are high on the priority list right now. Normally you first try to ge tthe mechanics and stuff right before you start polishing. Priority-wise, I don't think this will be it.

So in conclusion: I would guess it’s either DRE or SP+. Both have arguments going for them, but the fact that the team currently seems to be working on spaceplanes, I think SP+ is just slightly more likely.

Next speculator please!

[Ippo]

SpacePlane plus is impossible because they had an intern working on it all summer.

[pizzaoverhead]

Via twitter:

Have some pretty hot and huge news about parts for you guys to look at on Monday. Non-Hugo related, but a huge plus nonetheless.

So it's a parts pack, not any kind of plugin aid. You know what'd be a huge plus for the long-planned spaceplane overhaul?

That's right, FAR!

[Guest]

KER/Chatterer/EVE.

[Cirocco]

SpacePlane plus is impossible because they had an intern working on it all summer.

I disagree. Yes, Hugo worked on spaceplane parts all summer, but that doesn't mean they can't add more. Besides, who says he hasn't been working on integrating SP+ parts too? Adding more pats doesn't mean you throw old ones out the window.

...

Actually, it might. Wasn't there talk about scrapping the MkIII line? I'd say they need something to replace those...

[Cirocco]

Via twitter:

So it's a parts pack, not any kind of plugin aid. You know what'd be a huge plus for the long-planned spaceplane overhaul?

That's right, FAR!

wow I totally missed that. Yeah, that pretty much confirms it for me. SP+ it will be.

[Red Iron Crown]

Spaceplane Plus would be interesting because it depends on the Firespitter dll, so that would have to be incorporated, too. That would solve so many mod install problems with older versions of the dll being packaged with mods, or it being installed in the wrong place.

Looking at the tweet pizzaoverhead linked, it's Tuesday now...where is the news?

[O-Doc]

Kerbal Alarm Clock makes the most sense. It will help your average player plan interplanetary missions more easily. It will also create a clear basis for a save slot feature and top level mission management in the admin building.