More integration, for the part count.

[Laie]

I'm slightly upset by the amount of parts one needs to build a vessel: control module, reaction wheels, batteries and a power source, RCS and docking ports.

I've been paying attention recently and notice that even for very simple and straightforward vessels, all these odds and end contribute significantly to the part count. With more complicated missions of several dockable sub-units, that fraction can easily balloon to 15%, with RCS being the main culprit. And yes, it matters whether a vessel has 180 parts or 200.

Would it be possible that probe cores could have significant battery capacity, or that every solar panel and RTG also includes a small battery? One doesn't need much, but most core's capacity is just too damn little.

Probe cores should have torque according to their size and weight. The bigger ones leave much to be desired.

Every probe core should also include a monoprop tank. Even if empty by default, just having it available would help a good deal (not only with part count -- even the smallest tanks in the game are quite heavy and have tremendous capacity).

If the RCS thruster block had a fifth nozzle pointing straight out, I could often do with half as many.

I also wonder if some automatic welding would be an option, like fusing batteries and maybe even reaction wheels to the part they're attached to. This might even reduce the need for struts. Then again, there's not many parts where welding would even be possible: static solar panels each need their individual sense of direction and occlusion, for example.

[Daze]

A sort of stock welding mod... My dream

[klgraham1013]

I enjoy the customization this "problem" brings to the game. I understand the concern though, but I wonder if we should be calling for game optimization, rather than new or different parts.

[pellinor]

Automated welding already exists with the physicsSignificance flag. They just need to fix the conservation of mass issue. This and putting the flag in the craft file instead of the part definition would satisfy most welding needs.

[Laie]

I wonder if we should be calling for game optimization, rather than new or different parts.

If noone crossposts this to reddit our calls will go unheard anyway, so what the hell.

But to topic: much of the part count trouble could indeed be solved by bigger parts (especially chutes, legs, and intakes). Sturdier connections would require fewer struts. But both of that has been discussed to death already. I'm going after something different: pick up any non-trivial vessel and count the parts. Make a tally of how many of them are struts, and how many are these odd tiny pieces, that are often weight- and physicsless, yet increase the part count just the same. You'll be amazed at how much batteries and RCS thrusters contribute to part count. Not as bad as struts, granted, but bad enough.

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Automated welding already exists with the physicsSignificance flag. They just need to fix the conservation of mass issue. This and putting the flag in the craft file instead of the part definition would satisfy most welding needs.

Take any vessel. Cover it with cubic struts until it looks like a hedgehog. Watch your clock turn yellow and red. You can also use batteries, ocstat panels, rcs blocks... I notice a strong relationship between lag and part count, regardless of whether the parts are physicsless or not.

[Captain Sierra]

While "There's mods for that." is most certainly not an acceptable answer, it is an interim solution. There are many mods that add 5-nozzle RCS blocks. For the most stock-styled, look to RLA stockalike. Better probe cores? If size is not an issue, there's some really good large probe cores in Nertea's Station Parts Expansion. Also, someone updated Ubiozur's welding mod and it works like a charm. There's still some part movement lag when working in the VAB with large welded parts but the physics lag is gone.

On to the actual topic at hand, part optimization is very much needed, along with memory optimization and the rest of it. Unity 5 will help some with better physics multithreading, but that only opens more resources for inefficient processing (to be fair there's a hard limit to what Squad can do; too many parts will kill any computer with enough of them).

mechanical keyboard + sleeping roommate = I'll properly respond later

[MatterBeam]

Use procedural parts.

I'm not joking when I say Kerbin-jool missions can be done with sub-150 part rockets.

[Wanderfound]

Use procedural parts.

I'm not joking when I say Kerbin-jool missions can be done with sub-150 part rockets.

Much less than that.

Capsule, tank, nuke, battery, solar panels, four decouplers plus four large SRBs. Add another decoupler and a parachute if you want the pilot back alive. The vast majority of KSP ships are massively overengineered.

[Laie]

It's been a while. Now I'm playing a pretty stock-ish game again and, again, wish there was a sensible combination of capabilities in parts.

Like, can't every probe core have enough battery to last a while? Or the lab? The big battery is way up in the tech tree, and I don't see how the game becomes better if the player has to slap on a dozen small batteries. Part count still is a thing, after all.

Or my most recent pet peeve, docking ports with integrated lights. I think there's mods that do it, but why can't it be stock? It would be 100% sensible.