KSP Amazon Book

[LordFerret]

I just found this on Amazon, quite by accident. Anyone know anything about this? Obviously the five co-authors are right here in these forums. Any of them care to enlighten us a little?

Kerbal Space Program: Ultimate Player's Guide

[Alshain]

I never could understand why people would pay for a book for information that 1. You can get for free on the internet (or now, in the game) and 2. Will be obsolete after the next patch.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Alshain

[Pecan]

This book has been postponed, like my own, while waiting for 1.1.  It was originally scheduled for November last year IIRC.  Haven't heard any hint of it around the forums and I notice the authors don't mention any involvement here,

I wonder how much legal fun they're having though - Squad not only refused to let me use the name of the game, or theirs, or any screeenshots but also took FOUR MONTHS to fail to provide any attribution text.  That is, despite being asked several times, they couldn't work out that "Kerbal Space Program, its derived and associated works, are copyright Squad © 2011 - 2016, as asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988" was not only normal boiler-plate stuff but was actually good for them ^^.  To be as fair as I can, in the end they did say they couldn't stop me mentioning the name but that was all I got ^^.

@Alshain My reason for publishing on Amazon are so that I can make and distribute various ebook formats.  Unfortunately there is a minimum you have to charge for that, so I can't make it free - but it will be about a tenth of the price those people are charging.  On the other hand you CAN distribute new editions to existing customers, so future releases should not be a problem.  Meanwhile, there is no updated version of Exploring The System which, while only my way of introducing KSP rocket-design represents several months' work and is not otherwise available in-game or on the internet.

[p1t1o]

1 hour ago, Pecan said:

This book has been postponed, like my own, while waiting for 1.1.  It was originally scheduled for November last year IIRC.  Haven't heard any hint of it around the forums and I notice the authors don't mention any involvement here,

I wonder how much legal fun they're having though - Squad not only refused to let me use the name of the game, or theirs, or any screeenshots but also took FOUR MONTHS to fail to provide any attribution text.  That is, despite being asked several times, they couldn't work out that "Kerbal Space Program, its derived and associated works, are copyright Squad © 2011 - 2016, as asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988" was not only normal boiler-plate stuff but was actually good for them ^^.  To be as fair as I can, in the end they did say they couldn't stop me mentioning the name but that was all I got ^^.

@Alshain My reason for publishing on Amazon are so that I can make and distribute various ebook formats.  Unfortunately there is a minimum you have to charge for that, so I can't make it free - but it will be about a tenth of the price those people are charging.  On the other hand you CAN distribute new editions to existing customers, so future releases should not be a problem.  Meanwhile, there is no updated version of Exploring The System which, while only my way of introducing KSP rocket-design represents several months' work and is not otherwise available in-game or on the internet.

I don't think that they are obligated to respond to you at all, were they?

[LordFerret]

4 hours ago, Pecan said:

This book has been postponed, like my own, while waiting for 1.1.  It was originally scheduled for November last year IIRC.

You say it's postponed? That's not the impression I'm getting from that Amazon link... they're taking pre-orders (for $28.07) for a June 25th 2016 release.

[Luke Skycrawler]

18 hours ago, Alshain said:

I never could understand why people would pay for a book for information that 1. You can get for free on the internet (or now, in the game) and 2. Will be obsolete after the next patch.

Probably the same people who'll buy a bottle of water from a vending machine when there's a water fountain right beside it.

[Pecan]

18 hours ago, p1t1o said:

I don't think that they are obligated to respond to you at all, were they?

Squad?  No, they're under no obligation to respond.  It's unusual for a company not to respond to copyright requests though, although a 'no' is perfectly fine.  They couldn't even give me that for weeks.  It's practically unheard of not to provide attribution text though.  As in; you might not want someone to write about your stuff and you might make it as difficult as possible for them to write about it but if they're going to write about it anyway you damn well want everyone to know it's your stuff.

So; I asked if I could use specific screenshots (required a yes/no/<per case> response) and whether "xxxxx....xxxx" attrubution text was correct (required yes/<specific text> response).  These are neither hard nor unexpected questions, and I would have expected them to have been addressed already due to the press and other publicity KSP has received.  Still, no, Squad are not obliged to respond, any more than I am obliged to make up attribution text that I think might be correct.  "KSP is the property of a company that doesn't want to be named" or "The owner of KSP has declined to assert their copyright" are two very different statements; but both true.

@LordFerret It has been postponed from last year is what I said, when it had a November publication date (IIRC).  They were taking advanced orders for it then too.  Whether they will now actually publish in June or will postpone further I have no idea.

[Venusgate]

472 pages to say "git gud at gravity turns, nubs"

[Sereneti]

9 hours ago, Venusgate said:

472 pages to say "git gud at gravity turns, nubs"

or
Big Xenon tank, Small drone, ion-drive -> enough DV

[samstarman5]

On 5/21/2016 at 5:11 PM, LordFerret said:

You say it's postponed? That's not the impression I'm getting from that Amazon link... they're taking pre-orders (for $28.07) for a June 25th 2016 release.

Never take a release date as written in stone on Amazon. Amazon and third-party marketers that sell through that site have a bad reputation of making up release dates just to push sales.  It's not even at Amazon alone that you see this.  Places like GameStop and others do this dirty deal because a release date makes a product look more appealing to put money towards.  That is one of the big reasons why you do NOT ever pre-purchase.  All you are paying for is a place in line and not the product itself. The company has zero legal obligation to deliver the product to you at the promised time.

[egoego]

Reminds me of those books which where made by copying Wikipedia pages.

But you never know how much work went into this book. Maybe it's really good (there are good books about other games), but maybe it's just some kind of rip-off.

[pandaman]

When (if?) it gets released we'll know more.  If it covers game play in detail then it may be very susceptible to version updates making it out if date fairly quickly,  but if it deals more with 'principles' then it may have a longer lifespan.

[LordFerret]

7 hours ago, samstarman5 said:

That is one of the big reasons why you do NOT ever pre-purchase.

...as I sit here waiting ever so patiently for No Man's Sky to release. lol

[samstarman5]

19 hours ago, LordFerret said:

...as I sit here waiting ever so patiently for No Man's Sky to release. lol

Or Star Citizen.

[DJPowell1984]

I am Feeling bad to bring old thread.

I have this book, I have it for 1 year, and I Love this book, I wonder any update with new version book with Breaking Ground DLC and Robotic as I suck at robotic? 

Or I got wait for KSP 2 so I wonder anyone will write this book for KSP 2?

I hopefully this will happen as I prefer book over Wikipedia "KSPedia" as I like and enjoying read book.

[Vanamonde]

No way to know, DJPowell1984. We are not associated with those authors. 

[DJPowell1984]

8 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

No way to know, DJPowell1984. We are not associated with those authors. 

thank you, worth to try ask.

[jwenting]

In general with ebooks, don't expect to get free updates.

Treat them like you do physical items, what you see is what you get and that's it.

Sometimes authors do provide small updates for layout problems and typos but that's about it.

Which is more than fair, they need a source of income and providing free content in perpetuum is making that impossible for them.