KSP Weekly: Edwin Hubble

[Mako]

3 hours ago, Arizal said:

You talk a lot about the new mission builder, but I probably won't use it that much, as I am still a beginner and mostly want to play in career mode. Is there someplace where I could see an overview of the features planned for the expansion?

The reason why the mission builder is mentioned so much is because it is the primary feature of the expansion. The expansion pack is called Making History, and should feature some Squad-made playable missions inspired by real missions from Earth's history along with new parts that are inspired by real historical rockets. 

The mission builder is what will enable Squad to provide in-depth scenarios that play more-or-less like the historical missions they're based upon. The new parts will enable Squad to present the player with more-or-less reasonable facsimiles of historical rockets with which to play out those missions. And of course, both the mission build and the new parts will be available to the player to exercise their creativity and produce and share with the community their own missions and vessles. Even if you're not too interested in making missions, you still have whatever missions Squad provides with the expansion and the possibility to play any community-created missions that might be of interest the you.

I believe it has been stated by Squad that the missions do not interact or affect career mode, so if you're only interested in career mode the main thing this expansion will add will be new parts. That being said, since this is an expansion and not a stand-alone title, Making History will require the base game to function and it will require the base game to be updated to allow the expansion to integrate into the game. This is potentially of interest to people who are not at all interested in Making History because some features of the expansion, like the ability for parts to fail, will become built into the base game with the update. If that sounds like a problem, don't start worrying: parts will not start failing randomly in the stock game, however modders can provide that sort functionality using the built-in support (and before anyone points it out, yes, I'm aware mods have already provided this functionality since long before Making History was announced). This is one example of the features Making History will bring to the stock game whether you purchase the expansion or not.

For more specific details, there is the Making History Grand Discussion Thread (I haven't read it, so I have no idea how informative it is), and there is this and all the preceding KSP Weekly threads.

[Third_OfFive]

Wait a minute... So you're telling me you're going to update the game, and you're NOT going to shove it behind a paywall as a DLC? 

Maybe Squad isn't dead yet after all...

[HebaruSan]

4 minutes ago, Third_OfFive said:

Wait a minute... So you're telling me you're going to update the game, and you're NOT going to shove it behind a paywall as a DLC? 

No, they're working on a paid expansion. @Mako was telling you that the core game will receive a few small improvements as well to make the expansion possible.

[Mako]

To further clarify what I and HebaruSan said, those few small improvements from the expansion that are implemented in the base game update will most likely remain unused by Squad in the base game. For example, something like the part failure feature will be turned off for players of base KSP 1.4, but will be something players with the expansion pack can engage with in the new mission mode. I brought it up as a point of interest because anyone who wants to mod the game can make use of those features without needing the expansion pack. At least that has been my understanding so far.

It is worth noting that the 1.4 update, while necessary for the expansion pack, will also implement a newer version of Unity. So there still is some work being done on the base game that may bring noticeable improvements when playing stock even without the expansion pack. I'm not sure if the expansion pack requires any of the newer Unity version's features, and if it doesn't then technically the work is being done to improve the base game that isn't strictly necessary for the expansion. So potentially we're all correct.

Hooray for small victories.

[Third_OfFive]

1 hour ago, HebaruSan said:

No, they're working on a paid expansion. @Mako was telling you that the core game will receive a few small improvements as well to make the expansion possible.

Oh..

So when's the funeral?

[Mako]

14 minutes ago, Third_OfFive said:

Oh..

So when's the funeral?

Well, it takes a few days to set everything up and none of us were prepared for you to just send that old joke out to die like that.

How about Friday?

 

Seriously, though, work progresses. Whether you like the work being done or not does not change the fact that it is being done. There's some things I'd like to see more than the Making History expansion, but it seems like it's time for this project to focus on earning additional revenue if it's going to remain under development in any way. There is also an argument to be made for development coming to an end, but that seems unlikely to happen before this expansion pack is released. 

[ryguy81538]

All I wish is that the navball didn't minimize when I switch from map view. Don't why they ever implemented that seeing as I, as well as 99% of the community, fly the majority of the mission back and forth and having to bring it back up constantly is a major inconvenience. It was just fine the way it was.

Edited November 28, 2017 by ryguy81538

[Third_OfFive]

3 hours ago, Mako said:

Well, it takes a few days to set everything up and none of us were prepared for you to just send that old joke out to die like that.

How about Friday?

 

Seriously, though, work progresses. Whether you like the work being done or not does not change the fact that it is being done. There's some things I'd like to see more than the Making History expansion, but it seems like it's time for this project to focus on earning additional revenue if it's going to remain under development in any way. There is also an argument to be made for development coming to an end, but that seems unlikely to happen before this expansion pack is released. 

Well to be fair, it's not all bad, I'm kind of just being cynical. I've just been rather upset since Porkjet left and Squad was bought by Take Two.

[HebaruSan]

1 hour ago, ryguy81538 said:

All I wish is that the navball didn't minimize when I switch from map view. Don't why they ever implemented that seeing as I, as well as 99% of the community, fly the majority of the mission back and forth and having to bring it back up constantly is a major inconvenience. It was just fine the way it was.

There's an option for that in the settings.

[monophonic]

13 hours ago, Third_OfFive said:

Well to be fair, it's not all bad, I'm kind of just being cynical. I've just been rather upset since Porkjet left and Squad was bought by Take Two.

Squad was not bought by Take Two. KSP and the kerbal franchise were. Squad is continuing development of KSP as an independent contractor for Take Two.

That means Take Two is really interested in KSP and other possible products inspired by it. It's not like some other acquisitions in the past where a publisher bought a start up studio that had an interesting game in the works and put them to make Generic First Person Shooter part 1138 instead.

[razark]

I am now eagerly awaiting the release of Generic First Kerbal Shooter.

[Deddly]

12 minutes ago, razark said:

I am now eagerly awaiting the release of Generic First Kerbal Shooter.

 

[Guest]

pffft, this has been an FPS game for a LONG time... as in 1-2 FPS when operating a 600-part spacecraft, especially in earlier versions.

[razark]

2 minutes ago, Deddly said:

<video>

Meh.  That's just a mod.

A real First Kerbal Shooter would have guns that look like they're made from trash and occasionally explode for no reason at all.

[JK_Kerbineer]

2 minutes ago, razark said:

Meh.  That's just a mod.

A real First Kerbal Shooter would have guns that look like they're made from trash and occasionally explode for no reason at all.

Take one of my rockets. Rotate it left 90 degrees. Boom, KSP FPS mode.

[StrandedonEarth]

1 hour ago, monophonic said:

part 1138

You just gave yourself away, Mr. Lucas. Now we know what forum handle you’re hiding under!

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

11 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

You just gave yourself away, Mr. Lucas. Now we know what forum handle you’re hiding under!

Hmm. A content-count in the 500's. Perhaps charge him with Criminal Avoidance of KSP?

We'll have to check his hours played.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Cpt Kerbalkrunch

[monophonic]

8 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

You just gave yourself away, Mr. Lucas. Now we know what forum handle you’re hiding under!

Assume false secret identity: check.

8 hours ago, Cpt Kerbalkrunch said:

Hmm. A content-count in the 500's. Perhaps charge him with Criminal Avoidance of KSP?

We'll have to check his hours played.

Sorry, store buyer here. No steam account to spy on for you. 

(confession: I haven't even seen THX-1138 ever. I really should dig out a copy.)