Devnote Tuesdays: The Really Hot Edition

[Seshins]

Really looking forward to re-entry heat! great job SQUAD. Im not sure if its actually been offically answered but what are the future plans for the IVAs?

[MartGonzo]

Re-entry heat?

wow that one came out of the blue, last time I heard that mentioned it was a vague "hope to be adding in the future"

[cicatrix]

Everyone is happy about reentry heating but we haven't yet heard about what will SQUAD offer to counteract it. I mean will there be heat shields? What will happen if a part overheats?

[Ringotuna]

Re-entry heat?

wow that one came out of the blue, last time I heard that mentioned it was a vague "hope to be adding in the future"

Nearly everyone has been asking for it since the big Beyond Beta reveal, especially those from ‘place that can't be mentioned here’ who angrily demanded Max to put it in the game

It is a nice feature and I'm glad Squad has decided to add it in the 1.0 update

Edited January 28, 2015 by Ringotuna

[Starwaster]

Everyone is happy about reentry heating but we haven't yet heard about what will SQUAD offer to counteract it. I mean will there be heat shields? What will happen if a part overheats?

You're kidding right?

No heat shields and parts overheating?

Jeb: "This landing could get pretty interesting."

Bob: "Define interesting."

Jeb: "Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die?"

Bob: "Just get us on the ground."

Jeb: "That part'll happen pretty definitely."

[WuphonsReach]

New drag system, re-entry heat, stock fairings, female kerbals, rebalancing everything... Guys, you're really overstretching here. Drag overhaul ALONE would take at least one update to check if everything is fine and working as intended.

I think that's my biggest concern with Squad moving straight from 0.90 to 1.0. There really needs to be a 0.95 beta release with all of the new content folded in followed by 1-2 months of bug fixes and feature polishing / balancing prior to doing a 1.0 release.

Expecting everything to magically be perfect without doing another beta test of new features is hubris.

If they stick with "1.0 or bust" then it's going to go splat and the game press is going to beat them up for it mercilessly.

[tntristan12]

You're kidding right?

No heat shields and parts overheating?

Jeb: "This landing could get pretty interesting."

Bob: "Define interesting."

Jeb: "Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die?"

Bob: "Just get us on the ground."

Jeb: "That part'll happen pretty definitely."

You forgot the most critical part of that entire exchange!

Bob: "Was that part of my ship? Did part of my ship just fall off for no gorram reason!?"

[FlowerChild]

You forgot the most critical part of that entire exchange!

I thought the most important part would be:

Bill: "Jeb? Come in Jeb..."

But in all seriousness, I'm a little worried as the feature being referred to specifically as "reentry heating", may tend to imply that shielding may not be part of this. It's a very specific way of referring to something.

Edited January 28, 2015 by FlowerChild

[Sarayakat]

The 1.0 patch sounds better the more I hear about it. It would be nice though to hear that you guys are working on the memory leaks people are experiencing as well as whichever x64 stability issues are within your purview. I know that x64 stability is primarily a unity issue, but if it has gotten worse with the last two patches (which it has) then clearly there are things being done on your end which need fixing. The game keeps growing whilst the players ability to utilize memory for modding keeps shrinking. Might we get some info as to what, if anything, is being done to address these issues?

[Jovzin]

And what about that Memory Leak Bug ?

Guys I really do hope it is on your priority bug hunting list.

As it is a really game breaking for people.

I am not happy that I have to count how many times I can do launch / revert to VAB or switch between ships till I crash. Because memory is rising.

Because of this my interest in playing KSP is slowly decreasing which I am not happy

[Twreed87]

I think that's my biggest concern with Squad moving straight from 0.90 to 1.0. There really needs to be a 0.95 beta release with all of the new content folded in followed by 1-2 months of bug fixes and feature polishing / balancing prior to doing a 1.0 release.

Expecting everything to magically be perfect without doing another beta test of new features is hubris.

If they stick with "1.0 or bust" then it's going to go splat and the game press is going to beat them up for it mercilessly.

They could just, you know, find all the bugs in QA and Experimentals, which is the point of those two teams. Everyone is acting like this'll be treated like every other release. When .24 or .25 came out, they tried to make them as stable as possible, but they had the "Early Release" thing to excuse anything that might slip through. They won't have that this time, so if Squad makes the decision to ensure this release is as flawless as possible, that's what they'll do. They may take some extra time with this one, or they may increase the size of the Experimentals team (if they haven't already), but all the necessary testing can be done by the testing teams. It's how most games work, ya know.

[Capt Snuggler]

I am so so happy to hear about improved aero and re-entry heat. These features have been very dear to me and I've had many heated discussions (mind the pun) about it on the forums.

To hear now that it is being actively worked on and is coming in the next patch has filled me with so much joy.

I'm down with the flu at the moment and this has really made me feel allot better.

You guys are so great. Thank you squad! Thank you everybody!

(Would love if we could get some sneak peeks of heat shields that will presumably be added...)

[basic.syntax]

I think the solution to re-entry heat damage, should be to mange your re-entry speed and descent angle, not stick more parts on crafts.

[Darnok]

Re-entry heat! I know that's going to make a lot of people very happy...

and many Kerbals very dead

[Axelord FTW]

Engine nicknames? Eh, I liked "S1 SRB-KD25k" better. Or not...

That's this thing since you probably don't recognize that name what-so-ever.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/w/images/thumb/e/e0/SRB.png/58px-SRB.png

In any case, easy sounding and recognizable names are needed. No Nebuchadnezzar Engine or Diodorus Booster plz.

Let's not even deign try to call any of the XL Engines after someone's mom. That would be rude.

We got the poodle.

Might as well keep on with animal names, which are easily memorable and easy to place.

Dodo

Wolf

Duck

Buffalo

Bison

Giraffe (perfect name for the S1 SRB-KD25k, by the by)

Moose

Orca (S3 KS-25x4 Engine Cluster?)

Warbler (PB-ION Electric Propulsion System?)

[KerbMav]

"Poodle" can also mean "hireling, sidekick, gofer".

[micha]

Jim (Romfarer): First of all, I just want to thank everyone who commented on the Engineer’s Report features last week. The part where you listed up the things you were “always†forgetting when building rockets and planes. This week I’ve been going over the comments and turned it into actual features for the app. It’s not too late to come with more suggestions though as most of the tests still have to be written. But i just want to stress that the point of the app is not to hold your hand while you build, it is more a tool to alarm you of possible issues which may be hard to spot during construction but would lead to major grief later on. Such as “hatch obstructed†this was a really good suggestion.

One big point I'd like to ask about the upcoming Engineer's Report is that it's optional. Ideal for me would be the status display while building/flying (TWR, total dV, number of parts, mass, etc etc), but have the actual Report part be a button the player has to click (and could do so at any time during the building process). Perhaps for the very first rocket it should pop up automatically (similar to how the Scenes have their respecitve pop-ups now the first time you enter them) so that new players don't overlook it.

Having the Report pop up every time you hit Launch would get very old very quickly. and totally break the immediacy of the game. For example, a parts-test often only requires a probe core, a SRB (suitably tweaked), and the part(s) to be tested. LOTS of usually required stuff missing.

Apart from that, progress is looking great, and I'm very excited about the next release!

[monophonic]

One big point I'd like to ask about the upcoming Engineer's Report is that it's optional. Ideal for me would be the status display while building/flying (TWR, total dV, number of parts, mass, etc etc), but have the actual Report part be a button the player has to click (and could do so at any time during the building process). Perhaps for the very first rocket it should pop up automatically (similar to how the Scenes have their respecitve pop-ups now the first time you enter them) so that new players don't overlook it.

Having the Report pop up every time you hit Launch would get very old very quickly. and totally break the immediacy of the game. For example, a parts-test often only requires a probe core, a SRB (suitably tweaked), and the part(s) to be tested. LOTS of usually required stuff missing.

Apart from that, progress is looking great, and I'm very excited about the next release!

I seem to remember it was to be an app that you have to click open from the toolbar. As in it would replace the current craft information app, where you check your part count, weight and craft dimensions. Technically I guess a renamed and vastly improved version of that app. Sorry for being too lazy to look for the source, I think it was in the previous dev notes or the one before that.

[CaptainKipard]

I'm glad to see we're still on course for full price next update.

[SaturnV]

My only hope is that Max add more animation to reentry heat damage, don't just let damaged part vanished into nothing. Burning, turning black or something before disappeared would be enough.

[StainX]

Will there be Chatterer or Clouds included in 1.0?

And Mulitplayer!?

[Kuldan]

My only hope is that Max add more animation to reentry heat damage, don't just let damaged part vanished into nothing. Burning, turning black or something before disappeared would be enough.

I second that... it always looked odd to me that my ship just returned from Jool Orbit directly into Kerbins Atmosphere (even with DR on if you manage to survive) - and the craft looked pristine as if it rolled down the assembly line 5 minutes ago after landing. Scorch marks would be AWESOME! (and should not be that hard, as you would only have to apply a shader/texture layer/blend to the affected areas for scorching..which you have to calculate anyway for the new reentry heating..)

[vexx32]

Will there be Chatterer or Clouds included in 1.0?

And Mulitplayer!?

Multiplayer is not, as far as anyone knows, going to be in 1.0. It's always been planned as an addition post-1.0.

As for clouds, we've heard nothing yet.

[Sochin]

Here is one for the Devs,

What about that UI overlay bug that royaly nerf's save games?

[Frozen_Heart]

Looking forward to the re-entry heat. I just hope that its not too harsh, otherwise creative designs might be punished.

Though hopefully this will be the end of hitting Kerbin's atmo at 90 degrees coming in from the Mun. I always make my re-entries as gentle as possible even currently.