KSP2 uploading through network a lot

[paintsincode]

I have noticed that while playing KSP2 my network (I live rurally and my upload speed is bad) gets throttled to death.

Anyone else seen this or have a solution? 

https://prnt.sc/mjGx-kWbrQwy

I submitted feedback as well.

[Fullmetal Analyst]

yeah its weird, i noticed it too, KSP2 should basically have 0 network usage...

[SimonTheSkink]

If I had to guess it’s uploading customer data. Which if it is, thats kind of disgusting. 

[VlonaldKerman]

Would love for someone with more technical experience than I to determine exactly what it’s doing.

[Dakota]

Looking into this, will get back to you.

[Fullmetal Analyst]

1 hour ago, SimonTheSkink said:

If I had to guess it’s uploading customer data. Which if it is, thats kind of disgusting. 

after all it was in their EULA

[paintsincode]

9 minutes ago, Dakota said:

Looking into this, will get back to you.

That's great thank you.

 

1 hour ago, SimonTheSkink said:

If I had to guess it’s uploading customer data

That was my initial assumption but it did not stop uploading even while just sitting doing nothing in the VAB.

For what it is worth - I disabled outbound traffic from KSP in Windows Firewall and have encountered no negative effects from doing so - so while we wait at least there is a solution to make it so my partner can stream netflix while I blow up my little kerbonauts

[Dakota]

It definitely does seem high, which is why we're looking into it. Got some details for you:

The game sends out telemetry data upon launch, but it also collects telemetry data on vessels after you build them so if a crash happens we have some insight into what kind of vessel you created. Right now the telemetry system records a lot of data from each vessel, but we're looking to reduce the amount of data sent by this part of the system in the future.

 

[Fullmetal Analyst]

3 minutes ago, Dakota said:

The game sends out telemetry data upon launch, but it also collects telemetry data on vessels after you build them so if a crash happens we have some insight into what kind of vessel you created. Right now the telemetry system records a lot of data from each vessel, but we're looking to reduce the amount of data sent by this part of the system in the future.

would be appropriate to warn people about this on first launch, and give them an option to enable/disable this

at least thats what some other games do

Edited March 17, 2023 by Fullmetal Analyst

[VlonaldKerman]

5 minutes ago, Fullmetal Analyst said:

would be appropriate to warn people about this on first launch, and give them an option to enable/disable this

at least thats what some other games do

Agree- most people would probably leave it on anyways to help development, but seems appropriate to have this toggle-able regardless. Thanks for investigating this! 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

1 hour ago, Dakota said:

The game sends out telemetry data upon launch, but it also collects telemetry data on vessels after you build them so if a crash happens we have some insight into what kind of vessel you created. Right now the telemetry system records a lot of data from each vessel, but we're looking to reduce the amount of data sent by this part of the system in the future.

That is interesting.  I wondered what possible good the Launcher Report Feature was doing given that we're only allowed to write text and send Jpgs.  i.e. without crash logs or data, it's just anecdotal info.  Wish I'd known a while ago!

Good to see the team is getting actionable data.

[K^2]

5 hours ago, Fullmetal Analyst said:

yeah its weird, i noticed it too, KSP2 should basically have 0 network usage...

A lot of games send usage metrics these days. It's typically very sterile information to do with game's performance, any error states, etc. A game like KSP2 might send things like craft configurations as well and some flight statistics. And this can generate a lot of noise if it's cranked to 11. We've had some multiplayer games where we had more telemetry than gameplay packets sent when everything was enabled.

I would say this is not at all unusual or unreasonable for a game in the early access, since part of the goal here is to collect some data about the game's stability and performance to improve on it, but also, I really wish companies would be front and center with notification that the game will be doing this, and preferably a tick-box to disable it presented on first start of the game and later accessible through menus, and not just doing this by default because EULA says they can.

I think, most of us would allow the game to collect this kind of data, but transparency would go a long way here.

 

P.S. If the network noise is causing problems to your network, it's usually fairly straight forward to just block the traffic, and most games will work just fine. They might still try to send the data, but it won't get beyond your own computer, so it's typically not a significant impact on performance, and won't suffocate your internet bandwidth. Good to know that this is, indeed, the case for KSP2, as @paintsincode indicated. A checkbox in the game would still be a better solution, of course. That way it doesn't have to interfere with something like LAN multiplayer in the future.

Edited March 17, 2023 by K^2

[mcwaffles2003]

41 minutes ago, K^2 said:

I would say this is not at all unusual or unreasonable for a game in the early access, since part of the goal here is to collect some data about the game's stability and performance to improve on it, but also, I really wish companies would be front and center with notification that the game will be doing this, and preferably a tick-box to disable it presented on first start of the game and later accessible through menus, and not just doing this by default because EULA says they can.

I think, most of us would allow the game to collect this kind of data, but transparency would go a long way here.

This, very much, this

[SimonTheSkink]

@paintsincodeWell at least you found a solution, that much is good. Either way I can understand the need for a developer to get raw data to help fix bugs, but giving people the option to opt out is just as important. 

[cfds]

1 hour ago, SimonTheSkink said:

but giving people the option to opt out is just as important. 

Or even better, to opt in.

[Vl3d]

While I do agree with you, I'm happy KSP collects telemetry. Having a clear window into what players are doing in the game is a foundational step to make the game better. I would be very curious to see the KSP1 lifetime gameplay statistics. We do know for example that most players did not travel beyond Kerbins' SOI.

[Periple]

Doing EA without telemetry would be almost pointless, it would just be a marketing exercise.

I do think they should be very clear about this and allow players to opt out. 

[paintsincode]

8 hours ago, Dakota said:

but we're looking to reduce the amount of data sent by this part of the system in the future.

Thats great to hear - love the game, looking forward to future updated.

Thanks