Hi,
Here's our official "What's new" for 0.18:
* Docking
Connecting vessels together is now possible! Build space stations, surface bases, or assemble huge spacecraft in orbit.
* Flight Planning
Getting to other planets and moons just got a lot simpler. Place maneuvers along your orbit to create a flight plan, and then just follow the guidance cues. No need to figure out angles or hold a protractor to the screen!
* Improved Map UI
New map icons show close approaches, intersections with other orbits, and a lot more, so you can focus on getting where you want to go, instead of worrying about how to get there.
* New Vessel Types and Vessel Renaming
Building a station? You can now rename and set your vessel as one of several new types, so it'll show on the map with the appropriate icon and name.
* Automatic Fairings
Rockets now look like proper rockets! Several parts now have automatic fairings that pop up whenever something is stacked below them, and then jettison away during flight.
* Much Improved Models and Textures
Many of the old parts have been completely redone, with carefully constructed meshes and hand painted textures, to give KSP a new look.
* A slew of new part types
Solar Panels, Docking ports, Batteries, Trusses, Ion Engines, Lights, Side-Mounted Parachutes, Crew Cabins, new Science Parts, and a heap more!
* Unmanned Probes
New unmanned pods for building probes and unmanned missions, plus a huge amount of new probe parts.
* Action Groups
A new way to control your ships! Instead of having everything done through staging, you can assign parts to groups that are controlled with a keypress. Set up Abort systems, or rig up complex contraptions. Or just let the game handle it automatically.
* New Input Modes
No need to have two hands on the keyboard and a third one on the mouse anymore. New input modes make for much more ergonomic controls, and it's all remappable!
* Two new celestial bodies
New places to explore, with interesting and varied terrain.
* New Resources System
Watching fuel drain has never been so much fun! New resources allow for completely new possibilities. Energy, Fuel, Oxidizer and other resources now flow through your ship. Manage them as you fly, and pump them across parts.
* Electricity
More power to the Kerbals! Many new functional electrical parts added, like Solar Panels, Batteries, and even a Nuclear Reactor!
* Lights
Landing on the nightside just got a lot less deadly, with new landing and floodlight parts.
* Functional Air Intakes
Turbines now properly require air to run, and Intakes can provide it for them, as long as there is an atmosphere around you.
* Music
KSP now has its own soundtrack, featuring many cool tracks, from smooth jazzy tunes to build ships by, to wondrous spacy themes as you explore the solar system.
* Much improved planets
Kerbin looks a lot better now, with hand-built terrain features. Moho and Eve also got major overhauls, and many others have also been improved.
* Performance Tweaks
New terrain optimizations and a system to prevent lag by slowing the simulation make for a significant improvement in performance.
And here is the official changelog including fixes found during testing:
Code:
==================================== v0.18.0 RC3 ======================================================
New:
* Stock Craft:
- Added the Aeris 4A. A just-barely-able-to-SSTO spaceplane.
Bug Fixes and Tweaks:
* Docking:
- Docking nodes now have a "Control from Here" option, to make off-axis docking procedures easier.
- Docking nodes can now specify a transform for the "control from here" action in the cfg.
* PartModules:
- A few tweaks to enhance modability on Engines, Solar Panels and generic animation modules.
* Parts:
- Tweaked a few cfg values for air intakes, landing legs and the sepratron motors.
* Credits:
- Updated credits scene to add music information and generally sped it up a bit.
==================================== v0.18.0 RC2 ======================================================
Bug Fixes and Tweaks:
* UI:
- Fixed the Action Groups menu not working.
- Fixed an issue with the resource transfer UI coming up in an invalid state when a resource was pinned to the screen.
- Fixed the Action Groups panel not scaling to the bottom of the screen.
* Parts:
- Added a NoCrossFeedNodeKey parameter to the stackBicoupler. Prevents fuel from flowing across stacks.
==================================== v0.18.0 RC1 ======================================================
New:
* Flight Planning:
- Implemented map cues for close approaches when targeting celestial bodies.
Bug Fixes and Tweaks:
* Docking:
- Fixed an issue which caused docking nodes to sometimes not be selectable as targets.
- Fixed an issue where very large/wobbly docked vessels could become misaligned after reloading.
* UI:
- Fixed the Parts list on the SpacePlane Hangar not reaching the bottom of the screen on some resolutions.
- Fixed the Stats Tracking and Version Prompt dialogs fighting for window focus when the running the game for the first time.
- Fixed the gauges on engine icons reading 50% when no fuel was available.
* Flight Planning:
- Fixed an issue which made maneuver gizmos non-draggable sometimes.
- Fixed an issue where placing a second maneuver after having passed the first one would get it placed incorrectly.
- Map cues for target objects will now only appear if the cues are inside the patch bounds.
* Parts:
- Corrected a misspelled parameter on some parts.
==================================== v0.18.0 x6 =====================================================
Bug Fixes and Tweaks:
* Physics:
- Fixed an issue which caused ships to sometimes respond weirdly to pitch, yaw and roll controls after switching vessels.
* Part Modules:
- Improved the part description texts on the editor tooltips.
- The Engine Nacelle part now has a functional air intake.
- Alternator Modules now produce resources based on the final engine thrust output, and only when they are operating properly.
- Command Modules no longer wait for their vessels to become focused before setting the part as an input source.
- Fixed the Decoupler module not properly saving its state (could cause a null ref on resume).
- Unmanned command pods now hold a small amount of electric charge on them.
* VAB/SPH:
- Part icons on the list are now rotated again.
- Part tooltips now keep a few pixels away from the cursor itself.
- Fixed the editor UI becoming active on refocus or cancelling load without a selected initial part.
- Fixed the editor camera becoming active on the same cases as above.
* Controls:
- Fixed the SAS toggle and hold keys not working properly.
- Fixed unfocused vessels not receiving control updates properly after resuming the game.
- Fixed the SAS losing sync with the Lin/Rot control modes if toggled manually while in docking mode.
* Main Menu:
- Fixed the "flights in progress" count on the game load dialog not counting all commandable vessels properly.
* Docking:
- Preattached Nodes now also have the option to enable/disable crossfeed.
* Flight Planning:
- Fixed the Burn Vector on the navball and DeltaV reading being incorrect if the maneuver was in a different SOI than you.
* Tutorials And Scenarios:
- Updated the tutorials and scenarios from 0.17 to be compatible with 0.18.
- Updated all stock craft to be compatible with 0.18
==================================== v0.18.0 x5 =====================================================
Bug Fixes And Tweaks:
* Docking:
- Undocking the primary docking node on a multiple-docking-port system will no longer undock other ports.
- When the primary docking node undocks, other docked nodes reset so that one of them can dock as primary.
- All docked nodes now have the "Undock" action available (and that will undock only that node).
- Updated IVA nav ball to have working target and maneuver node indicators.
* Persistence:
- Loading an sfs or craft file that contains more part module defs than the part has at loading time won't crash the game anymore (the surplus modules just won't load)
* PartModules:
- Manned Command Pods no longer generate power. They can store some amount of charge on themselves though.
- Engines from the LV-T 45 and above are now fitted with alternators, which will produce electricity while the engine is running.
- Fixed an issue with RCS thrusters and the ship center of mass which could cause them to not work properly if the vessel was moving quickly.
- Fixed an issue with the OX-4B solar panels that could cause a null ref spam if they got ripped off in an airstream.
- Improved the triggering logic on the Launch Clamps a bit.
* Control:
- It is now possible to leave SAS on and focus another vessel.
- ASAS modules run automatically on unfocused vessels.
- Fixed an issue which caused ASAS to not function properly after decoupling a secondary vessel.
* Resources:
- Fixed an issue with all-vessel-flow resources which caused resources to not flow properly if a few containers had very low but non-zero amounts on them.
- Fixed a problem with the IntakeAir resource which made radial intake parts stop working.
- Fixed a glitch with fuel lines that allowed disconnected parts to continue providing fuel to engines.
- Flow rates on the Resource UI aren't affected by time warp anymore.
* VAB/SPH:
- Fixed an issue which made it possible to start the editors with an empty ship.
- The Part Rotation keys now have their own bindings in the settings.
* Physics:
- Fixed an issue where animated parts wouldn't ignore collisions on the same vessel properly, causing "phantom forces" even when they weren't animating.
==================================== v0.18.0 x4 =====================================================
Bug Fixes And Tweaks:
* General
- On rails warping not allowed when the ship is throttled up.
* VAB/SPH:
- Remapping the Staging Mode Pitch, Yaw and Roll keys won't affect the part rotation keys on the editors anymore.
* Part Modules:
- Parts now have temperature indicators on the icon stack again
- Intakes now produce drag at higher speeds and mach numbers
- Fixed an issue that prevented engines from saving ignition states
- Fixed engine action groups linkage
- Some rcs tanks still had the old rcsTank part behavior. They're now displaying information correctly.
- Changed default start behavior for generators, so they could work independently of staging
- Fixed the solar panel colliders getting re-enabled on destroyed panels
- Fixed Gigantor panels not producing electricity due to an error in the part.cfg file
- Adjusted raycasts for solar panel blocking detection
* Resources:
- Engines now have gauges for each resource next to their icons.
- These gauges show how many resources are available to that engine.
- Fixed the resource search algorithms. "Stage Only" display mode should now work properly.
- All resource containers will display a dry mass value in the VAB. (The weight of the part with no resources)
* Action Groups:
- Action groups can now be given a cooldown time, and cannot be toggled again until the cooldown period ends.
- Action group cooldowns are persistent and time-warpable.
* Docking:
- Fixed a bug where decoupling pre-docked vessels could leave them uncontrollable.
- Decoupled vessels now get proper default names based on their vessel types.
- Fixed the Mk1 Pod not setting a "Ship" vessel type.
- Docking nodes now have an action to enable/disable resource crossfeed.
- Fixed an issue that could cause docking nodes to stop functioning if the game was saved and reloaded just after undocking.
- Clamp-o-tron Jr. now has a top stack node and can be properly attached in the VAB.
- Docking ports of different sizes can no longer be docked together.
- It is now possible to dock multiple ports simultaneously, and dock to ports on the same vessel.
* Parts:
- Mainsail and Poodle given thermal animations.
- More accurate collision model for large stack decoupler.
- Enabled surface attaching onto the regular decoupler.
- Fuel Lines and Strut Connectors now stay connected after decoupling (unless they were connected across the decoupled bits).
- Light modules now use interpolated dimming, and support the use of animations to enable emissives
==================================== v0.18.0 x3 =====================================================
New:
* Physics:
- Added a slider to the settings screen to control the maximum delta time allowed for a single frame.
- The MET timer on the UI will turn yellow (and red) if time is passing slower than normal (if max DT exceeded).
Bug Fixes And Tweaks:
* Part Modules:
- Fixed a serious issue in which non-controllable vessels would prevent your own vessel from receiving input properly.
==================================== v0.18.0 x2 =====================================================
New:
* Docking
- It is now possible to select a Vessel Type when renaming a vessel.
- VesselTypes are used to determine dominant vessel when docking (when possible).
* Parts:
- 2.5m fuel tanks have been redone.
- Added two new sizes of 2.5m tank (double and quarter length)
- Added big nose cone for 2.5m rockets.
* Part Modules:
- Added ModuleCommand. It controls whether a part is able to provide input to the ship.
- Crewed pods require a minimum set of crew aboard, and unmanned pods require power.
* Action Groups:
- Added Buttons to the Flight UI to show (and control) the state of the Lights, Gear, Brakes and Abort groups.
* Planet Changes:
- Enhancements of Eve, Duna and Tylo.
Bug Fixes and Tweaks:
* Docking:
- Fixed an issue where docking two vessels with the exact same mass would cause the game to crash.
- Added a DockingNode module to the Clamp-O-Tron Jr. (it seems we forgot about that one)
- Fixed a bug which caused docking nodes to not function properly if they had been connected to a decoupler earlier.
- Landers and other controllable vessels are no longer flagged as debris after decoupling.
- Vessels no longer rely on crew capacity to determine if it is controllable. Now, a vessel is controllable if it's got at least one operational control source.
* Flight Planning:
- Fixed the DeltaV Gauge not hiding when pressing F2.
- Fixed the sync icon's Separation value, which was being incorrectly calculated.
* Part Modules:
- Fixed an issue on the Generator Module which caused it to accummulate resource definitions as it was saved and loaded.
- Fixed an issue on the Generator Module caused by debugging code.
- Fixed an issue on the Engine Module which could cause it to lose references if it were the root of a vessel.
- Tweaked the module loading process to make sure it's not possible to end up with duplicated modules after loading.
- Part modules now display relevant information to the VAB on mouse over
- Fixed issue where the radial decoupler module could leave anchors in the VAB after removing the attached part
- Updated Gimbals to have gimbal locking right click actions
- Updated Right click action menu names to be more easily distinguishable on parts with multiple modules
- Added a new stage separator part. That will decouple from both sides. Extended Decouple module to support multiple connections.
- RCS modules moved over to using ISP calculations
- Intakes now support buffered operation and resource storage modes
- Increased accuracy of rotation saving for solar panels.
- Removed srf attachment flag from engines.
- Added action group interface to docking nodes
- Fixed an issue with vessels and modules that could lead to duplicate modules on parts, and could cause a game crash.
- Engine Modules no longer save propellant definitions to sfs or craft files.
- Generator Modules no longer save input/output resource definitions to sfs or craft files.
- Increased capacity of batteries.
- Increased power consumption of Ion Engines.
- Increased mass of RTGs slightly.
- Engines no longer show effects when disconnected
- Landing gear now have status indicator lights, in addition to landing lights.
- Added light modules, used for new spotlight and floodlight parts, in addition to landing lights
- Improved Special effects handling for Engines, Engines now have a flameout FX group and particle effect.
- Fixed issue that could cause fairings not to properly eject if the staging order was off
- Jet engines are now using power band behavior. Support for this is included in the engine module now.
- Solar Panels generate electricity based on the distance to the sun.
- Landing gear brakes now smoothly blend in and out, to prevent jerking or flipping.
- RCS modules now support events and actions
- Upgraded float curves to optionally support in / out tangents. Fixed clamping issues on existing curves.
- Changed naming on some actions and modules for clarity.
* Docking Controls:
- Fixed a bug where having a joystick axis mapped only to Staging-mode throttle would cause throttle to jump to 50% on Docking mode.
* IVA:
- Fixed the internal space coordinate maths. Now multiple internal spaces appear correctly in relation to the vessel.
==================================== v0.18.0 x1 =====================================================
New:
* Docking:
- New Docking Node parts allow connecting ships in flight.
- Docked vessels merge into a single vessel.
- Docking Nodes can be pre-attached in the VAB and SPH.
* Flight Planning:
- Place Maneuver Nodes to plan flight maneuvers in advance, and see the resulting trajectory for it.
- Maneuver Nodes can be tweaked in realtime using a Maneuver Gizmo.
- Once set, a Delta V gauge next to the NavBall provides guidance cues to fly the maneuver.
- Maneuvers can be chained to create complex flight plans.
* Targeting:
- It is now possible to set other objects as targets.
- It is also possible to target orbits on the map.
- Targeted orbits display Ascending and Descending Nodes
- Targeted vessel orbits also display orbital intersects, and cues to assist with rendezvous.
- New Target NavBall Mode, shows speed and velocity vectors relative to the selected target.
- The Waypoint vectors on the navball now point to/from the selected target.
* Part Resources
- Completely overhauled resources system for parts.
- Resources include Liquid Fuel, Oxidizer, RCS Monopropellant, Electric Charge, Intake Air, and more.
- New Resource Container parts, including batteries, new tanks, solar panels, and heaps more.
- New Resource Display on the UI, makes the state of resources much easier to visualize at a glance.
* Part Modules
- Many part types rewritten using the new PartModule System.
- Added Solar panel modules, which track the sun, and fragment when exposed to fast moving air
- Radial and Stack decouplers are now a module and have Gui Actions
- Added Generic Animation module with GUI Actions
- RCS module Added, with visual FX mode
- Added Engine module which supports full GUI actions, and utilizes resources to allow for custom defined propellants
- Jet engines now require intakes to operate
- Gimbal module added, with gimbal lock capability for action groups
- Heat Animation Module added (allows heat based animation on parts)
- Throttle FX animation Module (allows throttle based animation on parts)
- Full suite of Sensors that use a base Sensor module added
- Parachute module added. Supports repacking of a spent chute on EVA. Chutes can be emergency cut if deployed.
- Fairing Module added to all engines to cover them until they are activated
- Resource processing / generation module added. Converts resources from one type to another
- Landing gear module upgrade for better functionality and support for action groups
- Physical object behavior added. Allows for breakable parts (IE, the solar panels) More to come.
- Part Modules can be combined in a single part, to create compound functionality and emergent behaviours.
* Action Groups:
- A Massive overhaul to how parts work.
- Assign parts to groups in the VAB and SPH, to create advanced vessel functionality.
- Groups include Gears, Brakes, Chutes, Lights, RCS, SAS, an Abort Group, and more.
- Also, 10 Custom Groups which can be set to do anything.
* Staging:
- It is now possible to edit the staging sequence while in flight.
- Stages now only show parts that will respond to the stage activation (reduces clutter significantly).
* Docking Controls:
- New control mode for docking/orbital maneuvers. Works similarly to EVA controls.
- New Docking Mode Input UI Quadrant, shows Pitch, Yaw, Roll, plus X, Y and Z Translation Gauges.
* Completely overhauled Moho:
- No longer tidally locked. Instead, it rotates roughly twice for every orbit it makes
- Surface gravity changed to 0.25
- Orbit line color changed to better reflect its new design
* Greatly improved Kerbin:
- New types of tree meshes for various locations across the planet
- More varied biomes with more realistic and lush colors
- Slight modifications to the overall terrain
* Many, Many New Parts and Part Types:
- Solar Panels
- Lander Modules
- Probe Parts
- Ion Engines
- Batteries
- Overhauled designs on the existing parts
- And a lot more.
Bug Fixes and Tweaks:
- Fixed normal map loading
- Explosion effects now respect audio settings
- Aerospike engine attachement fixed
As you can probably tell from this, we are getting closer and closer to release time. However, we are not committing to any particular release date, as there is never any guarantee that we'll be able to keep it.
Please do not speculate on release dates.
Cheers
