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4 Years of Kerbal, and a lifetime a space [Added the List!]


ZooNamedGames

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I want to give a bit of a message to the developers of Kerbal Space Program. One not of complaint, inquiry or demand, but rather of praise and appreciation. I may not be a game developer, but I can rationalize the struggle, the hopes and sleepless amount of effort that goes into games, especially ones like Kerbal Space Program. I just want to share my adventure that came with Kerbal Space Program. I know of the strain the developers are under and I'm hoping this honest heart felt story will help let the developers know that there are members of this community who don't like what Squad is doing for us, but are happy, appreciative but are truly made better as people in this world because of their silly game of green men conquering their solar system in death traps we call "rockets".

4 years ago, I was a freshman in a brand new high school (2013). Life was changing, expectations rising and I struggled to find a place to fit into. My interests were at the time, video games, temporal physics and space. In Feburary of the following year, I was stuck in study hall thinking about how interesting it would be to have a game where you could snap rocket fuel tanks together and be able to test them out. Then I discovered a game called "Kerbal Space Program" through YouTube, it had been what I had wanted and exactly how I imagined it, and somehow even better than my imagination could show.

The game not only was a whole solar system of wonder and excitement to explore, but also mentally challenged and created the desire to not only learn about the physics required for the tasks I was undertaking but also looking back to space history. I knew of the space program (having lived only a couple hours drive from it my entire life). I had watched several space shuttle missions launch into orbit and occasionally heard them return from orbit (horrifying to those who didn't live in Florida) through their iconic sonic booms (I actually miss those), however it wasn't until I started playing Kerbal Space Program that I had a proper appreciation for the space program. I didn't have a true scope of challenge they had to manage when it came to space travel.

Nearly a year after buying the game, I decided to join this forum around the game to ask for technical support for a mod. Once I did that, I couldn't help but notice the other amenities that the forum offered, for showing off crafts, general discussions, and sharing of stories and experiences around Kerbal Space Program. So I decided to share a few of my builds with another user who was sharing his crafts which were replicas of real life rockets. Soon after he told me to branch out and post my own thread, and that thread helped root me into this amazing community. From there I have run several groups around mission control simulation and large collaborative projects and even run my own fan fiction series.

Come the beginning of 2016. It was another year. Finishing school, yet continuing the evolution train that is Kerbal Space Program. The game had just past release status by this point and I was hyped seeing all the new content and more importantly, seeing the community return and gain more life from the update. Despite the good news, life outside of the forum and outside of Kerbal Space Program was rough. I was reeling after a rather hard relationship and was also left struggling as to what to do with myself career wise seeing as I struggled with mathematics and all engineering based jobs in space required strong math skills, so I was left defeated. However I continued on, searching for something to do with myself and the answer seemed to be that I would go into flight school to become an airline pilot as that was both a mixture of my interests but was also an occupation that would work to my strengths.

Until December of 2016 when I'm filtering through a friend's Steam friend's list and I happen to see this person I know from the forums, @Tristonwilson12 amongst others I found. Shortly after he accepted my friend request, he greeted me and I said hello back. From there I learned that he was working on his company website, and being a person who takes interest in those I talk to, I asked what company that was and that's when he told me that he was running his own aerospace company and it had just gotten started. So I asked for details and he sent me the website and some information about it and a day later, I sent him my resume and it wasn't shortly after that he accepted me as Flight Director for his company. A role which the training for is long and thorough and is the peak of most people's careers and I had it at 19.

In 4 years, I went from clueless, aimless and without any refined hobbies or interests, to having a job that I hope to continue to be a part of for many, many years to come and will enjoy working on and am proud to wake up to every morning. That job, was made possible because a bunch of people in Mexico decided to work together and make a game about little green men exploring their creative solar system. This game gave me a purpose, a community to call my own, a hope, a focus, a desire to learn, a desire to improve, a desire succeed and so much more.

As a someone once said, "it can be hard doing your trade, especially when you don't see results of your work". Well I can safely safe, without a shadow of a doubt, that the developers of Squad, current, past, and future, that you have done a fantastic job. If I ever had the chance, I would love to work alongside this excellent team.

 

Thank you @Badie for helping manage this insane and fanatic community of rocket scientists you've helped create, and please send my thanks to the entire team... once again (is it a bad thing for me to give my appreciation for a good work too often? I hope not!).

 

That said, I'd like to also hear of others who have been impacted by this game, I want to try and keep a list so the developers can see in numbers alone how many in the community have entered some sort of astronomical work due this game.

Those made better by KSP: 

@ZooNamedGames; joined Triston's aerospace company after discovering my inner strengths

@Tristonwilson12; made an outstanding competition aerospace company. Amazing for his age.

@Just Jim; Given a place to focus energy in his life towards and eventually find himself a niche to call his own :) .
@adsii1970; given a place to commune with brilliant like minded minds.
@DarkOwl57; Given a place to recover after a traumatic event in his life and a light to look onto.
@_Augustus_; Created his own telescope consulting business again while being under 18. Way to go :D !
 

 

Edited by ZooNamedGames
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Just now, ZooNamedGames said:

thinking about how interesting it would be to have a game where you could snap rocket fuel tanks together and be able to test them out. Then I discovered a game called "Kerbal Space Program" through YouTube, it had been what I had wanted and exactly how I imagined it, and somehow even better than my imagination could show.

Oh. My. Goodness.

SAME! Like, EXACTLY THE SAME!

I thought up building rockets part by part, same as you! I searched for this sort of game to no avail, but then one day on YouTube (Same as you!) a video shows up: this video! And, same! Exactly what I was thinking of, yet waaaaaaaaaay better!

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1 minute ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Oh. My. Goodness.

SAME! Like, EXACTLY THE SAME!

I thought up building rockets part by part, same as you! I searched for this sort of game to no avail, but then one day on YouTube (Same as you!) a video shows up: this video! And, same! Exactly what I was thinking of, yet waaaaaaaaaay better!

Feels like it's a sin at this point but it was Markiplier's video on it back when he was a small Youtuber :P . Ah well :) , as cliché as he is now, he was entertaining and hell, I have to give it up to him for him leading me to KSP. So, I'll be the first to thank him for showing me the way to changing my life forever.

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1 minute ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Feels like it's a sin at this point but it was Markiplier's video on it back when he was a small Youtuber :P . Ah well :) , as cliché as he is now, he was entertaining and hell, I have to give it up to him for him leading me to KSP. So, I'll be the first to thank him for showing me the way to changing my life forever.

:D

And I remember now, that I saw the video late at night, then went to sleep. In the morning I was trying to remember what the game was called. "Something Space Program?" "Space Program Game?" "Zerbo Space Race?"

Thankfully, I remembered! Eight-ish updates, ten thousand screenshots, four and a half years (Wow, really?) and fifty thousand words of mission report later...

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Just now, Ultimate Steve said:

:D

And I remember now, that I saw the video late at night, then went to sleep. In the morning I was trying to remember what the game was called. "Something Space Program?" "Space Program Game?" "Zerbo Space Race?"

Thankfully, I remembered! Eight-ish updates, ten thousand screenshots, four and a half years (Wow, really?) and fifty thousand words of mission report later...

Thankfully I didn't have to remember the name for long since I had the game within a week after discovering it :wink: .

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Just now, ZooNamedGames said:

Feels like it's a sin at this point but it was Markiplier's video on it back when he was a small Youtuber :P . Ah well :) , as cliché as he is now, he was entertaining and hell, I have to give it up to him for him leading me to KSP. So, I'll be the first to thank him for showing me the way to changing my life forever.

Haha same here. Except I joined KSP 2 years later.

Fire

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@ZooNamedGames... Well said, nice!

I think most everyone here has heard already my story, so I won't get into much detail this time. But in a nutshell, I'm on disability, my back is all screwed up, and even though I'd love to try and find a nice, safe desk job somewhere, several doctors and a judge have permanently benched me, like it or not.

This all happened about 8 years ago now... and honestly, the first few years sucked! I tried to find stuff to do, but most of the time I found myself sitting home, bored out of my skull, and making everyone around me crazy.

Then this goofy KSP game comes along... and wow... it's not so goofy at all... in fact, it really IS rocket science... and astronomy... and little green astronauts... and building massive space stations.... and everything I really love!  Finally, I had something I could get really lost in, and tax my brain to it's max... and best yet... it never really ends!!!

On top of that, about a year after I joined this forum I started writing Emiko Station... having no clue what I was really doing... and to my amazement, I find I really like to write! It's really fun, and people are really seeming to like it... and now I have a second thing to keep me busy, and my brain really active, even if I am stuck at home.

This game, and this forum, means so much to me... and has really done so much FOR me.... I don't think I really could ever thank @SQUAD properly in just one lifetime.

:)

 

 

 

Edited by Just Jim
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Way to go @ZooNamedGames - and you have captured the essence of what everyone else feels about the game.

But I want to add a special thank you to @SQUAD for creating the forum on which we share our collective experiences with the world through this forum. I've met some really great people, have had a lot of good conversations, earned some "demerits" for my unashamed political views, and have even made a couple of forum members that have become cherished friends. In fact, some of you are closer in my heart than members of my own family.

As part of my disability, there are times when insomnia takes over and I simply cannot fall asleep. And it is at those times when I really just kinda surf the forum and see some of the really neat things other members do. I also read many of the stories and look at the image shared by other forum users are sharing. What we have in this forum, and make no mistake about it -- it's because of the game, is special. I belong to several forums but yet i spend the most time here on this one. Why? Because regardless of how we play the game, KSP is flexible enough to encompass a wide variety of playing styles and visions.. and as @Just Jim said...

14 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Then this goofy KSP game comes along... and wow... it's not so goofy at all... in fact, it really IS rocket science... and astronomy... and little green astronauts... and building massive space stations.... and everything I really love!  Finally, I had something I could get really lost in, and tax my brain to it's max... and best yet... it never really ends!!!

This game, and this forum, means so much to me... and has really done so much FOR me.... I don't think I really could ever thank @SQUAD properly in just one lifetime.

:)

[Edited by adsii1970]

 

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Well my KSP story is a little sad, and a little long too.

It was... I think 2 years ago now. I specifically remember the day, because it was one of the worst in my life. I woke up, and realized; It was still dark out. Why was I up before the sun? Did I lose track of the days and it was time for school? Then my mom comes upstairs and delivers the worst news I could think of. My grandpa had just died. I was shocked. Everything went sort of dull. I don't remember much, but the next thing I remember I was on the couch, crying my eyes out.

I remember grabbing the computer for some comfort, about to get onto YouTube. Then, when the page finally loads up, I see a video about this cool new game that was taking over the YouTube pages- KSP or something like that- by some dude I'd never heard of before. But hey; it had like 1 million views in a day; had to be good, right? So I load up, and then I get absolutely deafened by a high-five and an Irish accent. Yeah, I stumbled into the jacksepticeye realm.

I don't know whether it was the infectious joy of Jacks voice or the absolute stupidity of the game, but on that day, in the midst of all the sadness, KSP and Jack made me smile. And so on that day, 2 memories stuck with me: Jack laughing at the insane explosions, and KSP creating them.

So now we go to about 6 months later. I had gotten a steam account and was ready to purchase my first game. Prison Architect? Kerbal Space Program? Choices choices. Just as I was about to make my decision, though, my mind flashed back to that day. Knowing that KSP had managed to make me smile- even laugh a little bit- during that day, it made me feel inspired. And so I bought the game. And it was the best decision of my life.

Or at least... one of the best.

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I got KSP in late 2014 after my little brother bought it (I pretty much only buy games after my brother gets them). I've been interested in spaceflight and astronomy since I was five or so (14 now), but KSP finally made me realize it. I got good at making configs, and made some mods.

In late 2015 I discovered amateur astronomy and bought my first telescope, a Celestron NexStar 4SE. I now run a telescope servicing and consulting company, Landers Scientific, and I am in the process of writing a beginners' astronomy guide. In the worlds of both KSP and amateur astronomy I have made many friends from around the country - one even lives just an hour away and is around my age!

 

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5 hours ago, _Augustus_ said:

I got KSP in late 2014 after my little brother bought it (I pretty much only buy games after my brother gets them). I've been interested in spaceflight and astronomy since I was five or so (14 now), but KSP finally made me realize it. I got good at making configs, and made some mods.

In late 2015 I discovered amateur astronomy and bought my first telescope, a Celestron NexStar 4SE. I now run a telescope servicing and consulting company, Landers Scientific, and I am in the process of writing a beginners' astronomy guide. In the worlds of both KSP and amateur astronomy I have made many friends from around the country - one even lives just an hour away and is around my age!

 

Amazing! Another young entrepreneur! Man, why are you guys on the news, that's incredible to be running a company at your age, I would've if I knew I could :P:D ! Good luck with it!

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Update:

I've finally added the aforementioned list of those who have been positively impacted by KSP. I'm hoping to give a decent summary of your story. If you would like it reworded or removed please let me know. I hope this isn't too forward of me or anything, I only mean the best! Again I just want a place for the developers to see in a clean list just how many people out in the world they've made better.

That said, thanks for all the positivity and your own stories! Please continue to share :) This is amazing stuff. I'm proud to just be a member of this community much less be the person who can say they made this game :P .

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9 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Amazing! Another young entrepreneur! Man, why are you guys on the news, that's incredible to be running a company at your age, I would've if I knew I could :P:D ! Good luck with it!

No customers after 2 months in business unfortunately (if there were, the list of scopes in my signature would be more crowded). But the book I'm writing will probably make some sales....

Edited by _Augustus_
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1 hour ago, _Augustus_ said:

No customers after 2 months in business unfortunately (if there were, the list of scopes in my signature would be more crowded). But the book I'm writing will probably make some sales....

Hope things start looking up then :) !

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On 4/23/2017 at 6:08 PM, ZooNamedGames said:

I want to give a bit of a message to the developers of Kerbal Space Program. One not of complaint, inquiry or demand, but rather of praise and appreciation. I may not be a game developer, but I can rationalize the struggle, the hopes and sleepless amount of effort that goes into games, especially ones like Kerbal Space Program. I just want to share my adventure that came with Kerbal Space Program. I know of the strain the developers are under and I'm hoping this honest heart felt story will help let the developers know that there are members of this community who don't like what Squad is doing for us, but are happy, appreciative but are truly made better as people in this world because of their silly game of green men conquering their solar system in death traps we call "rockets

 

Please: less praise (after all, every one of us have already given them our support in monetary form; some people - more than once), and more push towards quality and accountability, otherwise they will keep sitting on their behinds focusing on commercially and politically appropriate localization efforts instead of actual game development.  "The old guard" is mostly gone, and the tendency towards bureaucratization of the whole thing becomes more and more apparent with every passing month.

Edited by Tau137
typoe correction
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2 hours ago, Tau137 said:

Please: less praise (after all, every one of us have already given them our support in monetary form; some people - more than once), and more push towards quality and accountability, otherwise they will keep sitting on their behinds focusing on commercially and politically appropriate localization efforts instead of actual game development.  "The old guard" is mostly gone, and the tendency towards bureaucratization of the whole thing becomes more and more apparent with every passing month.

Unlike some members of this community, I'm not mad at Squad. I know they just lost the majority of their development team and even then;

I got what I wanted out of this game. As an owner of the game, I'm proud to own it. It's given me enough satisfaction and happiness that I don't need to be upset with future updates seeing as the game they've provided has already served well past it's price. 

So don't ask me to belittle them because your unhappy with how things are. I'm satisfied with the game in front of me. It's your choice not to be. 

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7 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Unlike some members of this community, I'm not mad at Squad. I know they just lost the majority of their development team and even then;

I got what I wanted out of this game. As an owner of the game, I'm proud to own it. It's given me enough satisfaction and happiness that I don't need to be upset with future updates seeing as the game they've provided has already served well past it's price. 

So don't ask me to belittle them because your unhappy with how things are. I'm satisfied with the game in front of me. It's your choice not to be. 

Agreed!!!  So totally agreed!!!  :D

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8 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Unlike some members of this community, I'm not mad at Squad. I know they just lost the majority of their development team and even then;

I got what I wanted out of this game. As an owner of the game, I'm proud to own it. It's given me enough satisfaction and happiness that I don't need to be upset with future updates seeing as the game they've provided has already served well past it's price. 

So don't ask me to belittle them because your unhappy with how things are. I'm satisfied with the game in front of me. It's your choice not to be. 

Most definitely -

So, kiddies, take it from an old, grumpy, coffee-dependent fart, if you do not like this game as it stands then freaking get some mods that will change it into something more to your liking. There are mods that allow you to blow things up. There are mods that let you play multi-player games, and there are ways, through emailing a persistent file between several players where you can make KSP a turn-based multiplayer game. If you do not like the mods that are out there, then learn how to create your own mods. 

Squad created a fairly simple platform that allows for us to alter game play through mods. It was originally sold as a "sandbox" game (and this is the way I still play and prefer my KSP). I've played this game more than I have any other game since I discovered it in 2012. And @ZooNamedGames is absolutely correct.  I may not agree with every BUSINESS decision Squad has made but it is not my place to gripe about it. I bought a product and have spent (according to Steam) over 2,300 hours flinging stuff into Kerbin's atmosphere, oceans, and into orbit... If I have to pay a little for some DLC, then fine. I have no problems doing that...

Now get off my lawn... :huh:

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Well, I might as well throw my story out here.

As a kid in elementary school, I was bullied. A lot. For one reason or another, bullies tended to pick on me, and gradually I became the punching bag of the entire grade. Several times, I was so depressed that I had suicidal thoughts. (But that's not something that I can elaborate upon on those forums. :sealed:)

And then, I discovered KSP. It was just a little oddity my CompSci teacher bought for the class (in the form of KerbalEDU). I played once. I played more. And gradually, I played almost every class period.

When I got home, I bought KSP. I remember that day clearly - it was December of 2015, a month after the 1.0.5 release, and during the Steam Winter Sale.

Another month later, I registered an account on the forums.

It's now May of 2017. I'm 14 years old. I've been a proud owner of KSP for 1.5 years. I've gotten pretty good at it (in my not so humble opinion :sticktongue:). I still get bullied, though I don't really care anymore. And I've become interested in SpaceX and the aerospace industry (as @TheEpicSquared mentioned above).

<rant>

Bullies, if you're reading this (you know who you are): you can all just go frak yourselves. Nobody likes bullies. Period.

</rant>

Edited by TotallyNotHuman_
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