Kerbal Space Program 1.0 Enters Experimental Testing

[longbyte1]

Squad is still rushing for full release? But... but... what about... nice shaders?

[basic.syntax]

No matter where they call a stopping point, there is always something more we could want.

I think we can look forward to some graphics updates, when they start digging into Unity 5.

1.0 is stronger on features, than shiny graphics.

[CG_Kerbin]

Wow really this is awsome well done squad your game is amazing congrats all around (where can we see who's going to be a tester?)

[2001kraft]

I'll build a hype-loveshack in KSP to celebrate 1.0 female Kerbals.

​perv

[TMS]

Squad is still rushing for full release? But... but... what about... nice shaders?

They'll be added during the 0.28 or 0.29 development cycle - assuming that's when Unity 5 is tackled.

[StainX]

OMG OMG OMG, can't wait!!!!

Where is that Hypetrain Ticket-O-Mat!?

[mavlymax]

Well done Squad, you are inching closer to the full release.

[NoMrBond]

Internally at SQUAD's QA, 100 testers would be doubtful. This game is developed by a very small team.

The list can be (basically) viewed on the bugtracker, if you ignore the public submissions, the Manager and Dev divisions hits ~130ish people who can officially submit on the QA builds?

[DMSP]

Good job Squad!

[SquaredSpekz]

All Aboard!

[RenatsMC]

Here comes 1.0

Waiting impatiently Im so excited

Edited April 3, 2015 by Master Tao
save the reaction images for the Hype Train thread

[BrainiacBlue]

Well done Squad, you are inching closer to the full release.

Inching is not the word I'd use. More like sprinting through the beta-but-not-really-because-there-have-been-no-beta-updates stage to reach here. I maintain a slim slice of hope flavoured cake that we will get a .91 to chew on before the final release that KSP will be judged on. Then again, the cake is usually a lie.

I'm probably being overly negative (it could be great), but if I can complete the tech tree in under 5 missions and require contracts for mindless busywork I will judge my fears to have been fully justified. Just... don't move too quickly, remember to take steps back and look at what you have done. And with that I tentatively step aboard the hype train. CHOO CHOO!

[Tw1]

I'm probably being overly negative (it could be great), but if I can complete the tech tree in under 5 missions and require contracts for mindless busywork I will judge my fears to have been fully justified. Just... don't move too quickly, remember to take steps back and look at what you have done.

Same here. As I've been saying for some time, career mode is still flawed.

The problem is conceptual- they made career a series of impediments regulating what the player can do until they've progressed by fulfilling some else's space plans.

They didn't make it about planning and managing the kerbals, exploration and utilisation of space. That happens, but it seems secondary.

When it was just sandbox, imagination ruled. People went to the planets, because it was awesome to explore, built complex vessels because it was fun to embrace the challenge, built stations and bases because it was fun to be a pioneer in space.

All they needed to do was stick the right meters on things, and provide a way of measuring what the space program was achieving, )So we'd earn/lose money depending on how cost effective we were,) and add a few more activities to make the experience complete.

Instead, we've got a set of task lists to tick off- unlock the parts, build the buildings, visit all biomes.

Then fly around doing someone else's missions until you're bored of it.

It's not that what career mode has is bad per say- fulfilling some contracts can be a fun, working with limited parts an engaging challenge. But it just doesn't come together to create a fulfilling whole. And even though we may see great improvements in future expansions, that is a problem when this is this the 'complete' game.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Tw1

[Twreed87]

I maintain a slim slice of hope flavoured cake that we will get a .91 to chew on before the final release that KSP will be judged on.

!

We're not. We're just definitely not. People need to accept that fact. 1.0 is being tested right now, by a team of more than 100 people. That's all the testing it needs. It's being done by people who actually know how to test and report bugs. The stuff they get from people after they release it to the public is largely worthless (game suggestions submitted as bug reports, duplicates, it's probably more work to sift through it than it's worth). The point of the regular releases was never so we could test the game, we were never testers. We're just customers.

[EtherDragon]

Squad, you guys rock! I haven't been this excited since Science mode was first introduced! Also, you have great timing, as I've been riding out my current filmed episodes of Let's Play KSP.

oh man

I have so much to do...

once this hits steam, it'll be a content provider storm of new content with a whole new and fresh audience!

too...

much...

video work...

to get done!

It's ok, breathe, it's ok... prioritize - Number One: Korbital Mechanics 101, Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion (and how to use them in KSP!)

[BrainiacBlue]

We're not. We're just definitely not. People need to accept that fact. 1.0 is being tested right now, by a team of more than 100 people. That's all the testing it needs. It's being done by people who actually know how to test and report bugs. The stuff they get from people after they release it to the public is largely worthless (game suggestions submitted as bug reports, duplicates, it's probably more work to sift through it than it's worth). The point of the regular releases was never so we could test the game, we were never testers. We're just customers.

My concern is not a bug related one, but a game design one. Currently the career mode sucks as a game in itself, if the game were sold just as career I would not buy it, as much as I love Jeb, because it simply is not well designed. I know that the tech tree is being overhauled and that there is probably a bunch of stuff going on that we don't know about, but SQUAD have no experience in game design. In career mode atm I feel like a janitor for the Kerbals doing their busywork and building their stuff. I don't feel like I control a space program. Most of that is due to the arbitrary limits imposed by building and tech upgrades that make no sense from a gameplay perspective. The tech tree is being dealt with (from the sounds of it the buildings thing is not) but purely by testers, not by the community at large which has so far made some pretty good calls on what SQUAD should and should not do (i.e., the tech tree needs redoing, kerbals shouldn't be able to magic up extra dV, we need new landing gear) that SQUAD cannot make themselves inside their developer bubble.

Hopefully the testing team can detect problems beyond bugs, but if they cannot then my fears are likely to come to reality based on what information is currently available. I'm now off to see if the vending machines on these trains have snacks on them.

[Greenfire32]

I'll congratulate Squad on coming one step closer to official release, but I also have my concerns.

• Lots of bugs that shouldn't be present in a 1.0 release. Remember back when games shipped on cartridges. If they had half the bugs that KSP has now, they would tank. And tank hard.

• Other features that really should be present such as life support (or the option of it!)

• For a space-faring race, Kerbin is pretty...barren...

• Satellites and bases have no purpose. Also colonies?

So there's more that can and should be added before we get to official release, but nonetheless. Congrats.

[magnemoe]

I'll congratulate Squad on coming one step closer to official release, but I also have my concerns.

• Lots of bugs that shouldn't be present in a 1.0 release. Remember back when games shipped on cartridges. If they had half the bugs that KSP has now, they would tank. And tank hard.

• Other features that really should be present such as life support (or the option of it!)

• For a space-faring race, Kerbin is pretty...barren...

• Satellites and bases have no purpose. Also colonies?

So there's more that can and should be added before we get to official release, but nonetheless. Congrats.

Games on cartridges was also had way less features than modern pc games, less than most modern mobile games even. Compare notepad and word.

1.0 is not the release version, its the feature complete version and the end of the early access version.

[klgraham1013]

1.0 is not the release version, its the feature complete version and the end of the early access version.

Does leaving early access not equate to release for average Joe consumer?

[basic.syntax]

1.0 that we will be getting is Squad's decision, but it won't satisfy everyone who was hoping to see x, y, or z in 1.0.

But there is still HOPE for x, y, z - due to KSP's general success so far, Squad has promised to continue adding stuff, with 1.1+

[WeirdCulture]

My concern is not a bug related one, but a game design one. Currently the career mode sucks as a game in itself, if the game were sold just as career I would not buy it, as much as I love Jeb, because it simply is not well designed. I know that the tech tree is being overhauled and that there is probably a bunch of stuff going on that we don't know about, but SQUAD have no experience in game design. In career mode atm I feel like a janitor for the Kerbals doing their busywork and building their stuff. I don't feel like I control a space program.

What exactly do you expect from managing a space program?

[Greenfire32]

Games on cartridges was also had way less features than modern pc games, less than most modern mobile games even. Compare notepad and word.

I think you missed the comparison I was making there. It's not about how many more features you cram into limited space, it's about how official releases have to be pretty much perfect in terms of construction. That means no or very little bugs, all planned features present, and stability, stability, stability.

1.0 is not the release version, its the feature complete version and the end of the early access version.

Eeehh you're halfway right on that. Squad has it on record multiple times now that 1.0 is the release version, although they still plan to add updates afterward.

1.0 that we will be getting is Squad's decision, but it won't satisfy everyone who was hoping to see x, y, or z in 1.0.

But there is still HOPE for x, y, z - due to KSP's general success so far, Squad has promised to continue adding stuff, with 1.1+

Exactly. However, I think there are some fairly basic things that have yet to be added to the game before we can consider it 1.0

Things like multiplayer are extra, yes. But things like population for Kerbin, cloud coverage, satellites and bases that actually have a purpose? THOSE are what I would say need to be added before we get all "official release" up in here.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Greenfire32

[Superfluous J]

I think you missed the comparison I was making there. It's not about how many more features you cram into limited space, it's about how official releases have to be pretty much perfect in terms of construction. That means no or very little bugs, all planned features present, and stability, stability, stability.

In making your point though you are ignoring the fact that it's far easier to stabilize and bugfix a program that is tiny enough to fit on an old Atari 2600 cartridge than it is one large enough to download off the Internet on a modern broadband connection.

It's like saying someone should recount their stack of pennies to be sure they have exactly 18,734 of them. You had no problem recounting your 17 pennies back in 1983 so what's the problem now?

[razark]

It's like saying someone should recount their stack of pennies to be sure they have exactly 18,734 of them. You had no problem recounting your 17 pennies back in 1983 so what's the problem now?

It doesn't matter if the bank is handing me 17 pennies or 18,734. Their count should be correct, and if it's not, something is wrong.

[Melfice]

It doesn't matter if the bank is handing me 17 pennies or 18,734. Their count should be correct, and if it's not, something is wrong.

You already have the pennies.

They're not at the bank. You have them at your place.

In 1983, you had 17 pennies, in stacks of varying sizes. Over the years, you added to the pennies until you had 18,734.

Over the years, you also changed the way the stacks were built up. Some stacks got added. Some were made smaller. Some were even made branching!

And now you need to know if there are still 18,734 before you bring your stacks of pennies to [insert place here].

Greenfire says that verifying the amount should not be much harder than it would have been back when you had 17 pennies.

5th states the exact opposite.

Hope that cleared things up for you!