Which version of the last couple of years do you think is best / has least bugs?

[archiebald]

A couple of years back I was playing 1.8.1, now I got a new computer so decided to get back into KSP with an install of 1.12.1.  Even knowing KSP of old, I am shocked how bad some elements are, especially the wobbly parts and docking ports, plus I already run with plenty of mods including Astrogator, KAC etc so I really don't need some of the "new" stock features added to 1.12.

I don't want to wait around in vain hope for everything to be fixed in 1.12.2....whenever that may happen, so, for now I think I will just go back to "The Best Most Recent Version".  I completely skipped over 1.9, 1.10 or 1.11 so would appreciate any comments on stability / bugs / features from any players with experience.

What would you consider the "best" version after 1.8.1 (or is 1.8.1 indeed the "best" and I should just go back there?) - , btw, I play with both Making History and Breaking Ground

[Anth]

1.7.3 maybe.

1.8 had the most bugs until 1.11 came along

[archiebald]

Thanks - good to know, but then the dev team surprised everyone I think by getting the 1.12.2 update release very quickly so for now I am a happy bunny.  Played it through and it seems to be stable (as stable as I have ever known KSP to be.

[Anth]

The only thing that I care about is that the new docking ports cause drift similar to robotics.

As long as docking port drift exists in 1.12 I consider it the worst version of KSP.  I know of several consequences of how drift will ruin existing crafts when docking port drift can affect an entire craft

Once I have played with 1.12.2 for a bit and see if I can get any more bug reports out of it I am going back to 1.11.2 with a modification to the part files to allow for eva construction on all parts that 1.12 allow. Then the next version of KSP that I will play will be 2.0

[MechBFP]

10 minutes ago, Anth12 said:

The only thing that I care about is that the new docking ports cause drift similar to robotics.

As long as docking port drift exists in 1.12 I consider it the worst version of KSP.  I know of several consequences of how drift will ruin existing crafts when docking port drift can affect an entire craft

Once I have played with 1.12.2 for a bit and see if I can get any more bug reports out of it I am going back to 1.11.2 with a modification to the part files to allow for eva construction on all parts that 1.12 allow. Then the next version of KSP that I will play will be 2.0

While I don't want to be pedantic, don't refer to KSP 2 as KSP 2.0, because people are bad at critical thinking and think "well you said all upgrades/DLC were free going forward so why don't I get KSP 2.0 for free??!??!" among other things along those lines.

Edited August 6, 2021 by MechBFP

[archiebald]

I've seen the demonstration that robotics drift, but has it been proven if dock rotation also fails in this way?

Actually, now I think of it, I have had a mod installed for dock rotation for years.  Don't use it much but never had any apparent issues, could it be the coding works better? 

 

[KandoKris]

0.90 Pre Aero changes that allowed open cockpits and stock robotics for SSTO's oh and intakes worked as flotation devices.

I fondly remember the awesome'ness of my then Fav craft, a little SSTO complete with ejection seats, moving cargo platform lift, opening doors and docking port locks etc etc. And Non of it caused aero problems with flight or burn up on re-entry no cheats required.

As for recent versions the landing gear was a probelm in 1.1x, terrain was an issue also untill recently

and making/breaking  DLC had real issues for me in the 1.12 till the hot fix (ring stations exploding)

Spoiler

I still hold onto the .Zip for 0.9 and the save file for nostalga flights of the below awesome little craft. So much fun .

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by KandoKris
version numbers

[Anth]

2 hours ago, MechBFP said:

While I don't want to be pedantic, don't refer to KSP 2 as KSP 2.0, because people are bad at critical thinking and think "well you said all upgrades/DLC were free going forward so why don't I get KSP 2.0 for free??!??!" among other things along those lines.

Ouch

2 hours ago, archiebald said:

I've seen the demonstration that robotics drift, but has it been proven if dock rotation also fails in this way?

I have proven that all parts on a craft with just 1 docking port cause drift with docking ports using a mod that I created. Link Below for the mod. It only works with fuel tanks and girder segments.

https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/28075

Docking port drift is less severe than robotic drift however there is also another bug which doesn't recover fully (there is some evidence that the parts do move back closer to their original position) now that the docking ports have drift built in

https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/28311

[Anth]

Also there is this bug report pointing to permanent twisting of crafts if they appear in the terrain or when docking has part of the craft under the ground. This had the ability to fully recover before 1.12 if no robotics was involved.

https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/28159

2 hours ago, archiebald said:

Actually, now I think of it, I have had a mod installed for dock rotation for years.  Don't use it much but never had any apparent issues, could it be the coding works better? 

This mod was amazing in helping me with making a base. All the mod appears to do is rotate a craft in relation to the docking port verses the other docking port. Simple and effective and immune to any drift issues.

[dok_377]

I am personally staying on 1.10 for the rime being. With all the changes that affect gameplay (like broken construction mode, inventory and docking port changes with a lot of bugs that come from those changes) it's really difficult to actually see something that will make me upgrade past 1.10. There aren't that many part revamps (and I'm using ReStock anyways), planet revamps are good to have, but considering that I will probably never send anything past Duna, it's not a big loss. And then again, we have Parallax as a last resort. For construction I'm using KIS and KAS, so I basically have the full functionality of 1.11 (and 1.12 ground anchors) in 1.10.  The only thing I need to keep in mind is the fuel transfer bug, but with the amount of pretty quick and easy workarounds - it's not a problem at all. 1.11 and 1.12 didn't really introduce anything new or game changing if you're not against mods. The only thing that those versions did is break the game even more and break it exceptionally bad. I don't know what happened, but the QA processes in Squad seemed to completely cease for those two versions. 

[cfds]

The QA process of Squad has pretty much all the time been: "throw it out untested" -> "block all complaints by referring to the bug tracker" -> "ignore the bug tracker".

Though completely reworking something as central as docking port behaviour for the last planned update, not testing it, and then partially fixing it (instead of just using the old behaviour for old docking ports and creating a set of new docking ports with the new behaviour) is close the lows of 1.0 and 1.1.

[panarchist]

On 8/11/2021 at 12:42 AM, cfds said:

The QA process of Squad has pretty much all the time been: "throw it out untested" -> "block all complaints by referring to the bug tracker" -> "ignore the bug tracker".

Though completely reworking something as central as docking port behaviour for the last planned update, not testing it, and then partially fixing it (instead of just using the old behaviour for old docking ports and creating a set of new docking ports with the new behaviour) is close the lows of 1.0 and 1.1.

QA isn't responsible for the bug tracker, or referring people to the bug tracker. That's Support's job.

QA is only as good as their test plan. QA typically doesn't write the test plan, just executes it. The original QA team under Ted had a test plan that covered a large percentage of the common and uncommon  scenarios. They were also unpaid volunteers. (I was one) Ted left shortly before the Take Two acquisition, and after that, a professional QA team was hired. I don't know what they typically test, but they're always working under a deadline, and have to test fixes to existing bugs as well as new features while also doing all the normal "smoke testing" associated with a release. It wasn't a large team, and no matter how good a job they do, people always complain.

It's fair to criticize how Squad and Private Division have managed the bug process, and communication to the player base - I also think it left a lot to be desired, though Squad has never had a large team and I can't imagine working under their circumstances with being acquired, having most of the original team leave over an 18 month period, and having a large chunk of resources allocated to the KSP sequel. This team isn't perfect, but they've always put out a playable product, and most of the bugs / deficiencies have been addressed by mods.

That all said, the complaints about docking port behavior are valid - pushing something that fundamental that close to the planned end of development seems... unwise.

[OHara]

I've been happily playing version 1.7.3 with the latest version as a side install to see what new things were there.  Now I'm thinking of shifting to a new permanent version so was hoping someone would have the definitive answer to the question.  Several bugs that appeared in a .0 release were repaired in the .1 release, so we can ignore those for this question.

I tried making a list of pros (+) and cons (−) for each version --- the pros/cons that I care about --- and think I'm concluding that 1.8.1 is best for me.

1.8
+ Updated to a long-term support version of Unity.  That makes mods generally compatible with 1.8+
+ Can edit action groups in flight
+ Aerodynamic control surfaces now have separate amplitudes for 'deploy' angle versus 'actuation' angle
− Since 1.8.1, cargo bays no longer protect separate craft, affecting some rescue missions and pre-robotics propeller craft

1.9
+ Free-flying camera with F2
+ the Set Position in the cheat menu
± Propeller & Fan blades respond as collective/cyclic to pitch/yaw/roll (Breaking Ground mod)
− Phantom forces from EVA Kerbals made pods tumble (resolved in . . .  1.10.1 I think)

1.10
+ Comets
+ Corrected drag from several Engines and the M.H. Structural Tubes
− Fuel transfer often fails due to a UI glitch (workaround by mouse-over the resource icon, per linked thread,  fixed in 1.11)
− Mining asteroids adds mass to the craft without removing any from the asteroid
± New part: surface-attachable Flag

1.11
− Plumes on several rockets are shorter that they used to be
+ Inter-stage fairings now let go when decoupled (previously would stick to the decoupled craft in some cases)
+ EVA Construction

1.12
+ Subfolders for craft files visible in the VAB/SPH

Edited December 10, 2021 by OHara
cargo bay protection lost at version 1.8.1