Are Kerbals Androgynous?

[Giggity0ne45]

This is perhaps a mix of suggestion and thought, but there have been discussions before on the physiology of Kerbals. Currently, Kerbals are modelled in a sort of "generic" cookie cutter manner. There's no "fat", "tall", or, as the focus of this question, "gendered" Kerbal to speak of. During the KerbalKon discussions last year, Tanuki-Chau asked the devs if there would ever be a "female" version of a Kerbal. If I remember correctly, it's something the devs sort of put off for consideration in the future, but that they thought it would be an interesting idea.

Consider though, with no form of varied Kerbal currently present in the game: What if Kerbals were androgynous, like Gethenians from "The Left Hand of Darkness"? What effect on gameplay, or perhaps the lore of Kerbal Space Program could you see stemming from such an idea?

[Specialist290]

First, welcome to the forums!

Here's the latest official statement from SQUAD:

We've stated our intention to put female Kerbals into the game at a point in the future. There was no pressure behind it. Remember that while we take the advice and opinions of a vast group of people very seriously, we are the ones making the call on what and why something makes it into the game.

As a general preemptive notice to the thread as a whole: Feel free to discuss the implications of how kerbal androgyny might affect their society, but let's try to keep things respectful and away from any of the disputes that have sunk previous threads on the subject.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Specialist290

[Sirine]

Baby Kerbal?

[Giggity0ne45]

I've always thought of Kerbals as a playful, curious, and advanced race of beings. It just strikes me as odd that despite the emphasis Squad developers give on the various game mechanics like the upcoming Administration facility, Mission Control, and R & D facility, the acutal Kerbals that we fly with ( or torture with fear via explosions ) don't have as much focus or individual variety besides their names. I asked if Kerbals were androgynous to see if that would factor into the development of a variety of kerbals.

Then again, we do have a sort of "Kerbal" generator already through the Kerbalizer service Squad offers. It would be interesting to see models loaded from that and inserted into the game.

[KandoKris]

Then again, we do have a sort of "Kerbal" generator already through the Kerbalizer service Squad offers. It would be interesting to see models loaded from that and inserted into the game.

Yes yes Yes Wish it added them to the game

Theres also a mod texturereplacer Which allows for female kerbals Just not many of them

Edited September 23, 2014 by KandoKris
forgot to add forum thread http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/60961

[xtoro]

Kerbals multiply when they get wet. They split like cells, they're all clones...

[xtoro]

But really, I doubt the devs really put much thought into it at first other than names, and then giving the 3 some yellow suits. Texture replacer can give your guys more personality for sure.

Here are my kerbals in my game, Bob, Jeb and Bill

[Tw1]

I believe the reason they haven't had much variation until now is development effort has been being put into things which have more functional impacts on the game.

Until relatively recently, there hasn't really been any reason to hurry to broaden kerbal variation. However, as more kerbals with specific roles are being added, many feel that there would be merit in speeding this up.

The main impact of having them all look the same in game-as they are already- is mainly that it's really easy to confuse one kerbal with another. This can be a small impact if you like to roleplay, are planning around eva fuel levels, or have one eva'd kerbal carrying all the science, but it's not that inconvenient. It's not hard to check their name, and generally one kerbal is as good as another.

If kerbals were all had identical body structures, that could also affect their ability to identify each other. To be distinctive, a kerbal would have to modify their clothes, or their hair, etc, to stand out. If this was all there is too it, it would be easy for one kerbal to impersonate another. This could have varying effects depending on kerbal psyche. It is possible that kerbals would develop powerful identification technology, and/or become very attentive to details to avoid confusion and crime.

There are other ways to identify different beings. Sound of voice, smell/pheromones, body language, speech patterns/vocabulary...If kerbals are physically identical, they could likely rely on behavioral cues to distinguish each other.

Being physically identical would have some benefits. It would be very easy to size all clothes, products, buildings, etc, to fit the adult kerbal. (With some variation to cope with children, and disabled kerbals hopefully.) It could make identification of diseases, and physical developmental problems quite easy. However, there could be social consequences for these differing individuals- this could be positive or negative, again depending on kerbal psychology.

It would also level out the playing field when it comes to things like sport, modelling, and dancing, where the body you start with is a big factor in pursuing those areas. However, I'm not convinced it would really be possible for them all to be exactly the same. Some kerbals would vary due to health, fitness, etc, unless kerbal physiology is set up so the body can't change beyond a certain template.

Having one/no gender would make for a very different society to what we experience. A lot of the difference would depend on the nature of kerbal reproduction, if they seek partners, etc.

[mattinoz]

I think it would be hilarious if the distinguishing feature between male and female Kerbals was one of them had a nose.

Even better if it's the males who have the nose so all the Kerbals so far are female.

[Red Iron Crown]

I think it would be hilarious if the distinguishing feature between male and female Kerbals was one of them had a nose.

Even better if it's the males who have the nose so all the Kerbals so far are female.

If they give them noses they're going to want to breathe, and then we're going to have to start carting oxygen around in our spacecraft.

[mattinoz]

If they give them noses they're going to want to breathe, and then we're going to have to start carting oxygen around in our spacecraft.

This is why the males and their "overhead" have been left out of the space program to date.

Edited September 23, 2014 by mattinoz

[Javster]

Not this again...

[Master Tao]

A very brief overview of The Left Hand of Darkness:

The Gethenians in the book are a species where most adults are neither male nor female. Instead, they become male or female at certain points in relationships and then return to an androgynous state. The book explores how that biological difference affects society.

Somehow I suspect that presentation of ... and gender would be a bit too political for KSP. It's an interesting concept and I'd loved to see it explored in an MMORPG. For Kerbals, I think it wouldn't affect their society as we've seen it. They seem completely engrossed by space exploration, so it feels like they wouldn't have any interest in the political intrigue found in The Left Hand of Darkness.

[DundraL]

This is such a nice forum. Elsewhere I see gg/sjw "debate". I shudder to think of that coming here.

I highly think this is a hands off type of situation for squad...

For example: Find a way to graphically denote a female kerbal as female that cant be considered sexist.

Constantly bringing this up puts pressure on squad in an awkward way that there is no good solution to fix. Do not want.

Constantly bringing us this subject on forums invites the aforementioned "debate"... DO NOT WANT.

So overall, while I know your intentions are to improve an aspect of the game, I personally would like to keep discussion of such things to a minimum. =)

Edited September 23, 2014 by DundraL