Is KSP the biggest game ever

[TheMarineParrot]

So I was thinking about the largest game maps ever and then KSP came to mind, wouldn't KSP even if we don't count empty space and Jool or even count just kerbin itself be big enough to classify as the biggest game ever. Were is Squads awards.

[Alshain]

Well... I mean Minecraft is REALLLLLLLLY BIG. You can fly around Kerbin, but even using fly hack in Minecraft, it takes an incredible amount of time to go from one limiting side to the opposite.

[Robotengineer]

I think SpaceEngine is bigger, but if you don't count procedurals, KSP might be the biggest.

[Superfluous J]

I'm not 100% sure but I thought in Frontier Elite you could technically fly from one star to another on conventional drives, though it would take a LOOOOOOOOOONG time even at full time warp. It was a long time ago that I played that game though so I may be misremembering.

[NFUN]

So is Elite Dangerous. This type of measurement is tricky. KSP is mostly empty space with only a few points of interest that were somewhat randomly created, Minecraft is randomly and procedurally generated, Elite: Dangerous is procedural from a seed, etc. If everything is empty or random, than size doesn't really matter and is a poor metric.

[stibbons]

Elite: Dangerous claims to use a realistically-sized replica of the Milky Way. EVE has on the order of 5000 star systems. The original Elite had 8 galaxies each with 256 star systems, in 1984.

The Kerbol system arguably has a much broader scale than those games - as far as I'm aware it's the only one with fine terrain detail on any of the bodies. But for sheer size, not even close.

[impyre]

Starmade is pretty huge, both in terms of the vastness of space, but also in terms of planet/asteroid surface/volume. Much larger than KSP.

[Moesly_Armlis]

So I was thinking about the largest game maps ever...

So this excludes random generated scenery. A map has the complete picture otherwise it is unfinished.

It is all in the details. There is not much in scenery detail in KSP, it all looks the same. But many explosions later there can components (with physics programming) scattered throughout and could then be considered interactive scenery.

The level of detail in the physics programming of the interactive scenery could be what distinguishes KSP.

The distance between interactive scenery on the 1 1 1 plane could be a method for measure.

Very interested in finding out the winner of this.

[Mandelbrot]

I think the release of No Man's Sky will render this question moot.

[ChrisSpace]

Minecraft is only a mere 64,000 by 64,000 kilometres, so small it could fit within the orbit of minmus.

KSP is a good contender, and it's 'box' technically never ends, although at some point the altitude meter flips back to metres (m)

Space Engine has a visible boundary where the galaxies stop generating, however one can fly beyond that barrier into the blackness, and continue on forever

Orbiter, like KSP and Space Engine, also has an infinite 'box', however there is nothing new beyond Neptune (or pluto/eris/sedna if you have mods installed)

Universe Sandbox is also technically infinite.

So, yes, there are infinitely sized games, however in terms of 'distance to the furthest thing', Space Engine is the undisputed winner

[Deutherius]

I think the OP meant "the amount of land/sea you can explore, measured in square distance units", kinda like "The map of GTA V is 5x bigger than the map of GTA: San andreas" thing you see a lot in reviews and stuff.

In which case, yes, KSP would have a LOT of ground to explore. It's mostly empty, though, so one could argue that your average game with an average map size probably has a lot more interesting stuff to be found.

[BFGfreak]

What about EVE Online? doesn't that have a joolian ton of systems, each with planets, stations, asteroid belts, and juicy cargo ships.

[Cebi]

What about Arma 3 Altis? No procedurals...biggest man made map i ever explored. KSP feels to me too empty safe for anomalies. But it isnt taking away any fun for me.

[eddiew]

Well... I mean Minecraft is REALLLLLLLLY BIG. You can fly around Kerbin, but even using fly hack in Minecraft, it takes an incredible amount of time to go from one limiting side to the opposite.

IIRC, Minecraft is something like 7 Neptunes worth of area, at 1 square metre granularity, with 256 depth levels. KSP just doesn't have that level of accuracy at all, it's all interpolations based on relatively coarse bump maps. Although it probably does have 256 depth levels

[ddenis]

Empty size is nothing, more impotant awesomeness/meter^2 and in this case KSP isn't the greatest.

[thederper121]

If we're talking about stuff to explore, considering Space Engine is an entire universe I'd think Space Engine wins.

[Anister]

Largest non-proc gameworld is prob EVE Online.

[Torham234]

This thread again? It must be about third time this year. Space Engine hands down. Elite is just an insignificant speck of nothing inside the vastness of Space Engine.

[Anister]

This thread again? It must be about third time this year. Space Engine hands down. Elite is just an insignificant speck of nothing inside the vastness of Space Engine.

Dang straight, but isn't it proceduraly generated?

[Torham234]

Well, I guess it is, but it is persistent. You can bookmark places you visit and they will be around every time you return to that place. Even land features like rivers and mountains.

[Astroman29]

SpaceEngine has a lot of planets that are not procedurally generated, I think. I mean confirmed exoplanets, but I'm not sure tough.

[Pipcard]

Can SpaceEngine even be classified as a game, though?

[Astroman29]

Can SpaceEngine even be classified as a game, though?

I don't see why not. You can spawn ships, altough they seem to have infinite fuel. But you can still put them in orbit and stuff, just like in KSP and Orbiter.

[EtherDragon]

If we can include procedural generation:

Then currently Space Engine. Followed closely behind by Spore.

Spore has a simplified, but huge galaxy to explore, with most planet and moon as places you can explore.

Coming Soon (includes procedural generation):

Elite: Dangerous will have planetary landings in the future, and it also models the entire Milky Way Galaxy.

No Man's Sky will be right up there, too - and I can't wait for this game, it looks amazing!

If we exclude procedural generation:

I would say Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is the biggest "game" so far. The entire real solar system, including the surface of every planet and moon, is navigable. Also, it's easy to add your own bases and destinations to explore via scenario edits (without any mods).

Edited April 21, 2015 by EtherDragon

[TimePeriod]

Real life included in terms of games?

Cold war era comes to mind.

That was a pretty big game about going to space.