Things that feel opaque

[Pthigrivi]

Just noticing in the squadcast that they're going to be looking at the balance and playability of the game and thought we could help point out some places where things don't yet feel intuitive. I think its worth acknowledging that there is going to be some fine grain stuff that at some point you're going to have to go to the wiki for, but it seems like major gameplay components should feel straight forward and understandable from inside the game. Here are some things that feel a little lacking in this regard:

Reputation:

I get that having more of it is good, I get that it makes more 'prestigious' contracts appear, and that it can be traded at the Admin facility, but I still don't feel like I can clearly see the quid pro quo for how it works. How much reputation do I need to get a Duna contract to appear? How does reputation effect contract payouts? Does it even? Why dont I know that? Its not just the meter, its understanding the way my rating effects contracts. I feel like there needs to be more clarity here so I have a sense of what my objectives and rewards are.

Experience:

What do I have to do to level up my dudes? I get that this is a fresh new and clearly incomplete system but even after going to the wiki I'm not super clear on this. It seems like if I take a guy to the moon and plant a flag he only gets points for the top task, and not those under it. So if I want to max my experience of the mun for Jeb I have to fly-by, back to kerbin, orbit, back to kerbin, fly low, back to kerbin, land, back to kerbin, plant flag, back to kerbin. Someone suggested kerbals level-up in-flight, which would be a huge help, but still I feel like there's no instruction at all on how to level up and Id love to see this addressed.

Highlighting:

This is a silly long-standing thing but the green highlight is pretty mild. I saw a hint before the last update that we'd be getting a clearer graphic on this but Id love this to be more obvious.

Delta VEEEEEEEEEEEE:

Please. Dont make me beg. Make it into an engineer special ability. Im cool with anything.

Where dem biomes at?

I know this is planned but a mapping system, just for the process of conducting science being able to clearly and easily see what biome Im in would be a huge help. Id further suggest that all the contracts that ask to conduct science experiments at specific locations instead ask to conduct them in particular biomes. Also you can call them Geomes. Im cool either way.

Do I have everything?

Ive been playing this a while and Im a bit ocd on science completionism, and right now the research archive is really hard to understand. I can collect crew reports in some places, eva's in others, seismometer readings only on land, temperature only close to with no specificity, gravoli readings dont seem to work in-flight sometimes and I dont know why... long story short its just really hard to tell what Ive gathered and what I haven't and when Im in a zone where Im missing something. Maybe the parts could glow blue when theres uncollected science to be gathered?

Are my engines choking?

This is one I've never seen people mention but Id love if I could see more clearly when engines are about to choke. Ive got a bunch of spaceplanes and hybrids of all sorts and I have to kind of memorize when to open intakes and kill airbreathing engines with different flight profiles. It would just be great if air breathing engines would show an overheat-like indicator to show when they were about to flame out.

I'll start there. I may think of others but if people can think of some maybe they'd be helpful.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Pthigrivi

[Scoundrel]

I agree with just about everything here. I'd also like add:

Reveal the Tech Tree:

It makes no sense to keep the next levels hidden since you can just go online and see the complete tech tree there. Tech isn't random, so I don't get why a player should have to switch between the game and a webpage just to figure out what their next tech move should be.

Vessel Stats in the VAB/SPH:

An add-on to the delta v request, I'd like to see something that shows the weight of the vessel and the thrust available for each stage so I know what my TWR. It kind of sucks to stage and discover that your upper stage doesn't have enough thrust to maintain a steady ascent. Of lower priority: the amount of lift generated would help with spaceplanes; the electrical charge requirement of systems and electric charge generation so we can design accordingly; and finally, acceleration and top speed for rovers (as calculated by the rover proper).

[Pthigrivi]

Another few off the bat:

Flight path after atmo and projected landing site:

This may actually become more complicated after the aero overhaul, or maybe this is the best time to do it? Its going to depend on orientation which is tough but even a rough estimation of flight path with drag factored in would be really helpful not just for landings but for aero-break maneuvers. Projected landing site and actual height above the surface would be huge bumps too.

Part recovery rate:

Id love to see some kind of indicator of how close I have to land to KSP to get X% for recovered parts. I haven't even found anything online that projects this. I know theres a long standing request for the possibility of lower stage recovery, maybe some of this could be handled during the aero overhaul?

Edited January 13, 2015 by Pthigrivi