KSP 0.21 Update News

Hi again,

So, here we go again. We are now starting work on the 0.21 update to KSP, so I'm writing this post to let everyone know what you can expect on the next big update to the game.

Keep in mind that the following items are our proposed goals only, and as we all know, plans can and often do change. This means these are neither promises nor commitments, they're just the things we are going to be working on, as of this writing.


As most of you already know, 0.21 is an important update for us, because it's the first proper update primarily focused on Career Mode, the least developed area of the game at the moment. Needless to say, we are all very excited about what's coming.

So without further ado, here are our main goals for the next update:

* Revised Flight-End scene flow.
In preparation for Career gameplay, we are rethinking the way flights are ended. Gone is the 'End Flight' button in the Pause Menu, cause of many a tale of accidental space station deletion. Now, you'll either get to return to the Space Center (as before), or when applicable, Revert to an earlier state (to launch or to the editors). More information on this here.

* Player Progress Tracking System
Another step forward into Career Mode, this is an internal game system that will be used to track players as they progress towards advancing Kerbalkind to being a proper space-faring civilization. This is a core system, so don't expect much in terms of new content from this... It will pave the way towards some very cool new features down the road though.

* Overhauled Space Center Scenery
Time to go over the most underdeveloped part of the game. Gone will be the placeholder terrain, and in comes proper scenery for the space center. And because it's the same terrain as in flight, we don't need to reload it when going for a launch. This should cut down transition times from KSC to flight quite a lot.

* The Astronaut Complex Facility
Another huge feature in the making, the Astronaut Complex is a new building at the Space Center, that gives you an overview of all your available <s>victims</s> brave explorers, and lets you recruit new ones from a list of applicants.

* Crew Management
Along with the Astronaut Complex, this adds the ability to select the crew for a vessel before launch (from the launch sites or from the editors). Pick from the list of available crewmembers, and assign them to any (yes, any) part on the vessel.

* Overhauled Space Center Facilities.
We're also re-doing the VAB and SPH models, to bring them up to par with the facilites we already did on the previous updates.

* More Upgrades to Parts and Part Modules.
Continuing our work with moving all our parts to the new Modules system we implemented in 0.18, this update will feature yet more parts completely re-coded to the new system, allowing for many new possibilities from both stock and mod parts.


These are our highlights for the update. Of course, there'll also be the usual batch of tweaks and bugfixes.

Again, please do keep in mind none of these items imply a commitment from our part, and any or all could be delayed or modified at any time, as necessity demands. And as always, please refrain from asking about release dates.

Stay tuned for more news and details about these and other topics on our dev blogs.

Cheers