Crowdfunding things for new Kerbal versions.

[Miro Beero]

If there was a list maintained by kerbalspaceprogram.com that had all the things that people think should go into Kerbal and become part of the standard.

Example:

Full Kethane pack

Some Kind of Tac Life Support

FAR

DRE

Interstellar

KAS

Clouds/Textures/Cities and lights

Alarm Clock

... and so on (whatever they are...)

Now imagine that they put a price tag beside some of those items for a speedy development.

Would you crowd fund $1.00 towards an item to get it moving?

I think I am just tired of mods breaking each time there is a new update. I've paid my 15 bux for this game through steam, but I am willing to throw a dollar here and there if it means to add new content to games that the community agrees should be there.

What would the above cost me even at a dollar? like $8-$10? Peanuts.

So would you ? If it existed?

[Boomerang]

Because this isn't how game dev works? SQUAD might be a bit slow and inefficient, but that's due to inexperience and a very small staff size. They've got a road map for what they want to do with the game and that'll dictate what gets added. Many of those mods are outside the scope of what they're aiming to include in a 1.0 release and at least the resource extraction is something that is entirely off the table for the stock game unless they come up with a novel way of implementing it.

Besides that, good luck getting everyone to agree with what they want added to the game. For every person who wants better aerodynamics, there's going to be a person who's used to stock soup-atmo and is going to hate seeing it changed. Ditto for just about everything else on your list. The great thing about mods is that they allow us all to customize the game to what we enjoy.

The question you ought to be asking is whether SQUAD would agree to your proposal. And I would strongly suspect that the answer is no. They've got enough on their plates without fickle customers being in charge of what they work on.

[Miro Beero]

Since I bought the game for a price that I consider a bargain, I was trying to come up with a 'win win' from a point of view that no matter what they add to the game right now on "their roadmap" I will not pay a dime for it.

I guess the main calculation for squad is that how many "New" customers will purchase the game when they reach 1.0 vs how many Kerbal fans will keep playing the game for the content squad wants to add (as the current customers do not add any value into the pocketbook anymore)?

[swiftgates24]

The only things I'd have them add are things that make the game look better (E.V.E., 4k textures, Distant Object Enchantment, B.A., etc.). Anything other than that should be done by themselves so it feels stock. Mods are to go in depth with certain aspects. Adding detail to every bit of the game would make it too large and complicated. That's why they're doing DLC/Expansions for some things.

Edited October 12, 2014 by swiftgates24

[arrowhen]

No. I don't want my mod list chosen for me by a committee. I'd rather Squad concentrate on making the core game a solid, stable modding platform and let individual players customize it as they see fit.

Also, if you don't like updates breaking all your mods, just wait a week before you upgrade.

[Draft]

What? No. This is the opposite of reasonable or appropriate.

[Epthelyn]

You could just wait 2 days or so until the mods are updated, and either spend that time playing something else or explore the new features within the update.

The community never agree on anything. Ever. Squad made a game that allows people to mod it relatively easily, and that allows players to pick and choose between a number of different features which may (or may not) one day be added to the game but for the time being are freely available with a little patience after update.

[TouhouTorpedo]

I think those calling out on "shouldn't be stock" are making a bad flat assumption here. You're assuming the game should only ever have one flat configuration officially.

Obviously that's a bit easier to maintain, but the game aside from some core functions is all the same format as plugins anyway, except compiled into the main dll. Having interchangeable or removable official components would probably help with the bloat issue, and it'd be somewhat handy for modders if some stock component had a better mod alternative you can pull out and replace it. Although it's a taboo here by now ever since DLCgate, this sort of method would allow a DLC model also. Of course, that doesn't make anything for Squad from older users who got the game some time ago - the terms we older users bought by say we get this stuff for free. Then again, a lot of new people rolled in since then thanks to steam so I doubt they'd lose much on it.

[r4pt0r]

snip--- They've got a road map

unrelated to the thread, but I'm going to need a source for that.

[nismobg]

I would like to see the "road map too" thats been mentioned. And crowdfunding extra content can significantly skyrocket the game ahead.

[Darkstar616]

They really need more staff, this game is going to take forever if they refuse to hire people

[sumghai]

They really need more staff, this game is going to take forever if they refuse to hire people

From a business, economic and technical standpoint, throwing more money and staff at the game won't necessarily speed up development.

The more staff that is hired, the more time and resources that existing staff would need to train the newcomers up to same level of familiarity with the code as they themselves possess - time and resources that could actually be used to actively develop the game itself.

One example of this problem was with some of the new Mk3 spaceplane part revamp that didn't quite make it into 0.25 - the developers have stated that they had three modellers/texturers who each had a different personal art style, and had to spend time talking, planning and prototyping with each other so that everyone was on the same page. If one simply threw in, say, two more modellers/texturers to "maek moar partz quicker", it would actually slow down official part creation.

[Miro Beero]

From a business, economic and technical standpoint, throwing more money and staff at the game won't necessarily speed up development.

Not right away. But in the long run it would.

Think of my initial post/idea this way.

If they have a so called road map of what they want to work on, then the workers they currently have hired are there for the road map. Let the crowdfund hire new staff and put the things they never considered in for a roadmap, but (as a gamer) they would think it would be cool to be in the game.

The only things I'd have them add are things that make the game look better (E.V.E., 4k textures, Distant Object Enchantment, B.A., etc.).

Here we are in a bit of agreement. So look, you have 2 bux for textures already ;-)

[sarbian]

Wait a couple of day :

https://twitter.com/Maxmaps/status/519991226670387200

Should have a blog for you guys early next week with the plan for 0.26. Fully disclosed this time around. No secrets.

https://twitter.com/Maxmaps/status/520058187756888065

But before all that we're gonna drop some knowledge on you. Not the 0.26 plan. A post on the actual gameplan from here to 1.0

[TouhouTorpedo]

From a business, economic and technical standpoint, throwing more money and staff at the game won't necessarily speed up development.

The more staff that is hired, the more time and resources that existing staff would need to train the newcomers up to same level of familiarity with the code as they themselves possess - time and resources that could actually be used to actively develop the game itself.

One example of this problem was with some of the new Mk3 spaceplane part revamp that didn't quite make it into 0.25 - the developers have stated that they had three modellers/texturers who each had a different personal art style, and had to spend time talking, planning and prototyping with each other so that everyone was on the same page. If one simply threw in, say, two more modellers/texturers to "maek moar partz quicker", it would actually slow down official part creation.

If they need another modeller they should just hire another stock-a-like modder imo. Plenty of good ones out there. They did this with Porkjet and got some pretty awesome results. Bac9's work (sure he's not a stock-a-like) was also pretty fantastic and same with clara. Some internal model work didn't go so well this update (MK1 fuselage's are so full of flaws it's untrue) and MK3 didn't even make the cut compared to those standards, but the external modellers work on the Admin building is full of inexcusably bad mistakes, Massively off aspect ratio textures, huge gaps in the model (how did this even happen) smoothing glitches, poor use of the texture atlas (did he even get to play the game to compare it to the other buildings?) and just seems to be a poor effort overall. I hope squad learns from this and next freelance they get should be one of the modding community, as there are plenty of capable people who's mods showcase their capabilities.