KSP-TV SquadCast - Release list and discussion

[Spuds]

FYI your formatting is getting eaten by the board. (snip)

FTFY. Lots indent tags though.

[Wanderfound]

Edit: Maybe the secret feature ties in with the enhanced explosion effects! When you crash, you'll get a nice satisfying explosion. What if it left a crater? A reminder of your abrupt lithobraking! No mods have attempted deformable terrain. It would be very complex to code but a basic gameplay feature as described! That would be really cool! Imagine slamming an asteroid into the Mun and creating a brand new crater! That would be amazingly fun! I wonder what the "MASSIVE feature in the future" could be? I think terraforming is out of the question as it wouldn't really fit the Kerbal style. Maybe mining perhaps? It would need to affect terrain in some way. Anybody got anymore ideas?

Ooh, I like.

Next month's challenge: who can make the biggest crater on the Mun? Bonus points for survival.

[WololoW]

--Seecret feature

--Max cannot reveal it, he does not have the authority

--"we believe it is really cool, one of the coolest things in the game" --Max

--Complex from the code, but "basic" from the gameplay aspect

--Veterans, who are REALLY GOOD (read: regex, ferram4, Scott Manley) will not encounter it

--Creates the framework for a MASSIVE feature in the future

--No mod has done it

--HarvesteR had extreme amounts of fun playing with it

--NOT CLIPPY

--Max derives happiness from seeing everyone speculate

Replay for when you crash, which ties into multiplayer in some way...

[Wanderfound]

I wonder if they've set up the difficulty panel for mod integration? It'd be the perfect place for "FAR/DR yes/no".

[ub43]

Secret: losing!

[Renegrade]

FTFY. Lots indent tags though.

Nice, thanks! I like the indenting, it's very organized.

Lots of features coming up, many of 'em sound neat.

[Spuds]

I for one, am ecstatic about all of the features. Except 1:

I'm iffy about the addition of the Misc Strategies. Some of them make sense, like having better contract rewards or getting more money for vessel recovery. But things like increasing the engine efficiency and decreasing drag seem a bit unrealistic. Maybe unrealistic is the incorrect word, but I don't think that having a buff that changes the way a craft interacts with the physics engine is good in a game that is rather educational. It gives off the impression that increasing engine efficiency is easy, as well as combating drag. I'm all for all of the other ideas that they have about the admin building, but this one seems like a bad choice. What do you guys think?

[HafCoJoe]

Added the high res pics

[razark]

What does "Age of Empires style marketing" mean?

[juanml82]

There are nice updates and they probably involve a lot of hard work. But for an end user perspective, I don't feel too excited:

Enhanced navball: Good, it had to be included. It's already available through mods.

SP+ and Punch it: Same thing. Cool, already available.

Admin building: The issue is what's reputation useful for. If it's only as an exchange good, I'm not too excited about that facility. This will likely be further developed in the future.

First Person EVA: That is cool. Not coming in the next update though.

New sounds and particles: This is good.

Difficulty options: Ok, Squad will make me start another career to try it out. Not overly excited, but I like the idea of purchasing and prototyping. Plus, it may reduce parts cluttering in the VAB: no reason to purchase the ants engines, for instance, so they don't show up.

Kerbal XP, as of 0.25, relies on reputation being important. It is a WIP and it can lead to more exciting things in the future, though.

Unity 5 will be the feature, when it becomes available.

I agree with Spuds about Misc Strategies. What's the in-universe explanation for lower drag? I don't see it as a matter of education, as I'm not playing to teach anyone, but as a matter of immersion.

[Superfluous J]

I hate to be a stickler but it's QA. Quality Assurance. It's not Q&A, that would be Question & Answer

Excited about the magic boulder. I found out it was a thing when I heard that they removed it. I'm looking forward to seeing it again for the very first time.

[HafCoJoe]

I hate to be a stickler but it's QA. Quality Assurance. It's not Q&A, that would be Question & Answer

Excited about the magic boulder. I found out it was a thing when I heard that they removed it. I'm looking forward to seeing it again for the very first time.

Fixed! Thanks 5thHorseman. I always say "Q and A" whenever talking about it, so I wrote it down half minded. What would make me happy is if the magic boulder was re-implemented as a differently textured asteroid with a deadly hit box. That way I could possibly de-orbit it or such nonsense.

Additionally I wonder, will the "place tracking" for kerbinauts track if they've been to easter eggs/monoliths? Please let it be so.

What does "Age of Empires style marketing" mean?

Don't know. Can someone else explain?

[XeroCoolUSN]

I think the secret might be for noobie Kerbals to Panic (either lose control or all inputs are randomized)

[HafCoJoe]

Replay for when you crash, which ties into multiplayer in some way...

Good guess... That'd be awesome.

[Daishi]

Don't know. Can someone else explain?

I think re: the AOE market, he means a simple resource transfer system where you manage surplus resources for something you need (often at a loss based on global\map supply and demand). In the screenshot (bottom right), I can sell both wood and food from my inventory (center-left at the bottom) for coin, and then use that coin to purchase what I want. The rates shown are 125 coin for purchasing 100 each of food or wood; and selling either 100 units of food or wood will net you 75 coin.

The value of each resource fluctuates independently based on how much you have, how much your enemies have, and how much you've sold or purchased in the past. The more you spam the sale of a single resource, the less you will get for your money (until it regulates itself back again, or crashes based on the stockpiles of other players). It's not uncommon for late-game sales to average 15 gold for 100 food, because most players already have massive reserves of food for sustaining long-term sieges or battles. There is simply no market for buying more, so the sale price is meagre

Quotes on the unknown thing

- "You can play 1000 hours and never run into this if your good"

- "Harvestr was having fun doing this over and over again"

- "This is something no mod has ever done. Flat out. We are super happy about it."

- "It's cool. Good players might not run into it, they might want to for fun.

Rocks? Buildings? Wacky-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-kerbals?

Edited August 30, 2014 by Daishi

[HafCoJoe]

http://i.imgur.com/BCFJmVd.jpg

I think re: the market, he means a simple resource transfer system where you manage surplus resources for something you need (often at a loss based on global\map supply and demand)...

Hmm... So like materials and a 2-1 trade in Settlers of Cataan. But a 1-1 trade... nevermind. You're cool if you get that. I'm going to link your post in the top. Thanks for the detailed description.

[Daishi]

Hmm... So like materials and a 2-1 trade in Settlers of Cataan. But a 1-1 trade... nevermind. You're cool if you get that. I'm going to link your post in the top. Thanks for the detailed description.

No worries, happy to help

[tater]

I've heard "marketing" used this way before to mean trade/sales. In North American english, anyway, marketing is promoting, advertising, branding, etc..

[Lheim]

A system you won't encounter if you fly well.. that lays groundwork for a massive future update.

I'm calling it right here. New kerbal stats - and if you get too low a rep, you only get psychotic screaming ones and have to attach probe cores to all your ships to even control them.

[samstarman5]

There have been subtle hints that one day the kerbals will actually start piloting the ships and planes. You will have the option for direct control, but handing over control to them can free you up for handling navigation and mission management during burns and heading changes. This might even come in handy in long-term missions so you don't have to babysit them and have time to get other missions underway while the long one is on the way. If you get a good crew, then all you have to do is tell them, for instance, to establish orbit around Jool or Duna, and wait for the message that they have arrived on mission. If you have a so-so crew, you can elect to take a chance that they can manage it on their own, or sacrifice getting other valuable missions underway and babysit the long-term mission all the way. I would elect to let them have the wheel, as taking the chance and then getting the message that they arrived on mission would be a rush. Getting the message that Herp Kerman panicked and tested the craft's kinetic abilities into Duna's north pole would be quite hilarious, if a bit discouraging. And, who knows? There may be a survivor for a rescue mission, a survivor that for once wasn't put there because of your own hiccup.

If direct control did require attaching computer cores to the rocket, that would be just fine with me. Those things alone are quite light, and except for anything in the Jool and Eeloo neighborhood, won't require too much in the way of solar panels to keep powered.

But now I am just on flights of fancy. It is a nice thought, to be sure.

[Scotius]

A lot of awesome news Only thing i did not like are temporary buffs from the new building. I get that KSP is only semi-realistic game, but temporary research? That's illogical and counterintuitive. Especially since Squad is promoting their game as educational. Incorporating rules from fantasy role-playing games is not sending right message about how science works. Making those buffs permanent, but much more expensive would make more sense. Sooner or later everyone run out of science nodes to research, and points start to pile up uselessly. If we could invest them in improvements, it would be incentive to still perform Science at endgame.

[Sky_walker]

I think the secret might be for noobie Kerbals to Panic (either lose control or all inputs are randomized)

Hahaha, that would be great. and makes sense in that it's connected to other announced features.

There have been subtle hints that one day the kerbals will actually start piloting the ships and planes. You will have the option for direct control, but handing over control to them can free you up for handling navigation and mission management during burns and heading changes. (...)

But now I am just on flights of fancy. It is a nice thought, to be sure.

Makes sense. And it's connected to the "panic" thing (first time ever Kerbals get control over the craft). It'd also address one of the most popular requests for a mod integration - MechJeb - only in a different way than most people expect and with SQUAD own code.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Sky_walker

[Melfice]

Replay for when you crash, which ties into multiplayer in some way...

Doubt it's a replay.

Scott crashes often enough, so he'd run into it.

[qromodynmc]

Everything is fine,I just didnt get the "less drag,more fuel effiency" thing. Why they can be changed with strategy,Not with the hardware.

[Michaelo90]

The temporary buffs seems really strange, I'd prefer doing research to improve the parts permanently instead. For example, for engines, you could have the choice to improve ISP, thrust or weight in 1% steps, capping at 10% improvement. That would make much more sense than a temporary buff.