[0.90]Unclear wording: what do you mean with "in flight", devs?

[r_rolo1]

Game Version: KSP 0.90 32 bits ( not that it matters )

Situation: The phrasing "flying ( low or high )" or "in flight" appears to have two divergent meanings in 0.90

Description : As you know, in career mode ( and science mode where applicable ) until 0.25 ( including ) the "in flight" or "flying" meant a situation where you were inside a atmosphere ( as opposed to in orbit ( low or high ), suborbital or in escape trajectory ), like in "above surface inside a atmosphere" :

This two images are from a ported career game started in 0.25, btw. Not that it matters ...

The survey contracts introduced in 0.90, however, seem to have a different definition of "in flight":

In here "in flight" seems to mean "above surface" ( note the lack of " in a atmosphere" ), that is far different from the above quoted situations, a thing that can lead to confusions ( note that both of the above contracts would be impossible if the meaning of "in flight" meant that the test was being done in a "flying ( low or high ) " situation, one because there isn't a atmosphere in Minmus and the other because you can't make grav scans while in a "flying" situation )

Expected, behavior: The meaning of "flying" and "in flight" has no ambiguities

Suggested fix: Change the "Record X in flight above Y m" wording in the survey contracts for "Record X above Y m from the surface" . That removes any unclear meanings. Adding to that, maybe grav readings above x height could be removed if it is clear that the contract is meant to be made in a atmosphere ...

[Arsonide]

The original wording of this objective actually was what you suggest: "Record X below Y m from the surface". The problem was also that this is unclear, because low altitude surveys cannot be completed while landed. I needed to specify that the player also be above the ground. I considered checking for atmosphere and using "in a suborbital trajectory below x m" when it wasn't present, but this resulted in very lengthy objective titles that frequently took up valuable space in the contract app window.

[r_rolo1]

The original wording of this objective actually was what you suggest: "Record X below Y m from the surface". The problem was also that this is unclear, because low altitude surveys cannot be completed while landed. I needed to specify that the player also be above the ground. I considered checking for atmosphere and using "in a suborbital trajectory below x m" when it wasn't present, but this resulted in very lengthy objective titles that frequently took up valuable space in the contract app window.

Oh, a answer from the maker itself

I failed to notice that my suggestion would bring issues when the contract asks for something below X m :/ And yes, it would give very wordy titles if you have gone that way ... But "flying" describes a very specific set of situations in terms of other areas of the game, so it can't stay this way ( TBH when I noticed this I was "*edited profanity*, another batch of impossible contracts ... the launch clamps on the Mun were not enough already?", so I can only imagine the confusion of a newbie if it gets a situation like this ). Maybe it is the science tab that has to change names ( from "flying high/low" to "high/low in atmosphere" ( well, technically you don't need to be flying to get those, you just have to be there. Falling, flying or hovering make no difference, so calling it flying is somewhat a misnomer TBH ) , maybe? ) ....

Edited December 16, 2014 by r_rolo1