todofwar

Ok, let's say established and fully self sustaining colony that has no more need of earth. They may lose out on some features like high end computers, but can be free of any further interference.

If a new colony, like Mars, was trying to gain independence I wonder if their best move would be to trigger Kessler syndrome and lock up the earth for a while

Well I will wholeheartedly agree that it's better they spend time developing new versions than supporting old ones, so if that is the choice then oh well, old versions aren't worth slowed development. Maybe I'm naive, but I like to think the community will understand the old versions aren't supported, but again I still remember those old days of zero updates or support post launch

I don't know why it keeps coming back to resources spent supporting older versions. Back in the olden days you got a cd and lived with all the bugs that it may have come with. This idea that games need constant support is nonsense. Just host a set number of versions, someone already pointed out a few good benchmarks, that you can download once you have purchased KSP. No support, no help from Squad, and a nice disclaimer on the site you download from informing you of that. There's another game, Rimworld, that I really enjoyed up until a certain version where just too much got added into the game. And while I'm sure many people appreciate it, I stopped playing because it lost the charm it had. That all happened in alpha development so there's less of an argument to be made, but for KSP we're not going to have the ability to go back and get KSP 1. I still play Borderlands 1 occasionally, sometimes you want to go back to an older game for whatever intangible reason. This constant development has allot of upside, but this loss of older versions is an unnecessary downside. And again, you only need a handful of versions. Bare minimum, go with KSP 1.0, 2.0, etc. Maybe include one additional in between version, but not necessary.

So, what would an actual space war look like? Would you want to deploy battleships in your own orbit knowing if there is a battle you could trigger Kessler syndrome? How hard would it be to hit another ship with torpedoes if both are in orbit? And why would you even go to war in space even assuming you have colonies on multiple planets? Would dominating a planet's orbit really grant you control of that planet?

No one is forcing you that's true, but from what I understand we're never going to see a full on sequel to KSP because they will increment us up to KSP 2.0. While this system is great especially for KSP I think that many people, myself included, often enjoy playing older games in a series. For example, I still prefer Rome Total War 1 to Rome Total War 2. Sure, keeping 1.05 around won't make sense at first, but what happens when we hit KSP 3.0 and it has GPS satelites and communications relays and a few other features that add complexity to the game, but someone just wants to fire off some rockets without all that extra stuff. They either complicate your initial game setup by including all these options, or they just agree to curate KSP 1.0 (or whichever one is most stable but close as possible to 1.0, 1.1 will be a different engine so I would assume that disqualifies it) then people can always go back and play the older versions. And as @Stone Blue mentioned, abandoned mods can live on for the older version. It may even incentivise modders to get their old, formerly abandoned mod to at least work with the closest benchmark version that they know will be supported for a long time.

New features aren't always wanted. Sometimes people might prefer a simpler less graphically intense version. And of course there's nostalgia. It wouldn't be realistic to support every release, but as I said before having just one or two per numbered release would satisfy most people

I actually think this is a plausible idea of they just leave the MEV up in orbit, and use big dump boosters to get more fuel for it into LEO. Maybe put a hangar in orbit (doesn't have to be pressurized, just a large container to prevent parts from slipping away) where you can periodically service it, and for really damaged satellites bring them to the hangar for more extensive repairs.

Sort of along these lines, maybe establishing a network of stations, one at LEO for repairs and maybe assembly of components that don't fit well on a rocket, one at EML1 from which you start assembling the space elevator (actually possible on the moon), one on the moon itself, and one at ELM2

This is all speculation as we don't necessarily know what caused humans to start the whole science thing. I guess it kicked off after agriculture, but I think ag is not entirely necessary so a shallow sea might not be needed. It was mentioned in the other thread their tech could focus on husbandry, and even if they don't eat grown plants they could still lead a stationary lifestyle reliant on coral and kelp rope. The seasons do affect ocean life, so understanding how to predict them will be important and spur some scientific inquires

I think mods might be one of the biggest reasons for this. You can state in your mod a set version you support, and continue to refine and add features rather than catch up to ksp versions. Obviously there are about a million downsides to this but I think there could be a certain niche that appreciates the option. Maybe a super in depth colony mod for example.

Well you could get away with cheaper launch systems. A pile of bolts and panels will tolerate higher g forces and vibrations than a delicate satellite. And you can send really sensitive components like mirrors seperately. Also cuts down the design requirements of the satellite itself, doesn't have to withstand a launch.

Another possibility would be a LEO dockyard, somewhere you can repair and upkeep a set of orbiters that never land. You could also have equipment to build satellites and other equipment, which could cut down on some costs since individual components are probably easier to launch on a rocket than sensitive equipment.

I definitely would like to see this implemented. It sounds like Squad is planning on keeping this as a gradual development process forever, with KSP 2.0 being just another update rather than a sequel, which I think is an awesome strategy if they can monetize it effectively but I know I like to go back and play age of empires 1 even though I have every sequel in that series. Maybe they can pick the most stable version of each numbered release and maintain that? So 1.05 will always be available, for example, but 1.1 might not be supported because now you're on your way to the sequel. So in the future you'll have 1.05, 2.07, 3.0 etc as versions you can go back to. And I'm sure fans would be happy to curate them.

I think pressure should be implemented, it would give real challenges to penetrating gas giants and if you make one of the planets more Venus like it can give real challenges to successfully landing a probe and retrieving it. So it's definitely something with a wide impact even for people who never build subs

@cubinator and it's actually quite logical anyone encountering an alien for the first time would try and describe it by comparison to terrestrial animals the observer had seen, so especially in books it's ok. But when movies make them clearly little more than a half assed mash up it gets a little less excusable.

It wouldn't evolve, but if we assume it's engineered it makes the problem easier actually. Lots of creatures use electricity for offense, so maybe it has the ability to weave conductive webs and charge them. Also, pretty much all eukaryotes have proton pumps, all you need is a biological cathode gun and you have the ingredients for an ion engine. It would probably be photosynthetic, and direct itself through nebula with a large open mouth to collect hydrogen particles.

Sort of, but you'll also have to build rockets planes and maybe subs to explore an entire alien star system, not just one planet

What does EML2 buy you though? I would imagine you would want any refueling station in LEO since you burn so much dV getting to that point compared to the rest.

That annoyed me so much! They clearly established he can "see" with sonar, the whole world on fire thing. I calmed myself by saying the ninja's clothes dispersed sound waves so they didn't show up to his sonar either. But yeah, I don't usually care about science when a movie clearly is not trying to be accurate, but if you have a race of space unicorns that feed on living stars do not try and build suspense by having one of them in danger of burning to death in a mundane station fire!

So this is a pretty big suggestion that probably will never happen until KSP 3.0, but here goes. You are a group of Kerbals sent to explore a new star system. Most of the game progresses the same way, except instead of funding there are resources that must be collected which will require exploration. This would involve bringing allot of the ISRU and life support mods into stock of course. Also, you have a science meter that you need to fill up to finish your mission, which involves lots of trips to the other planets with many biomes. You only get one set of Kerbals (you're not colonists) so they are a precious resource. Having more stay behind in KSC means better resource gathering and faster rocket building, having more go out on missions means more efficient science gathering. And finally, each time you start a new game the system is procedurally generated, and you are allowed to choose your starting resources (do you bring more equipment for fast initial science gains or do you bring more mining equipment? More engineers or scientists or pilots?) and home base (which planet do you choose? Some are easier for life support maintenance while others have lower gravity and others have more resources). The only part I can't figure out how to fit in is the tech tree, but maybe the computer you brought with you lost most of its memory so you're stuck relearning everything.

So, the ISS is nearing the end of its lifespan, and while we may not build anything quite as big anytime soon I'm curious what people think the next large scale construction project should be. I'm torn between a Lunar research station and a LEO microgravity station capable of simulating gravity on Mars, Venus, Europa, etc. By having pods at different distances from the center you could actually simulate multiple gravity levels with a single rotating section. Another option could be an interplanetary ship, which can do crewed flybys of Mars or Venus, maybe even Jupiter. But without landers I'm not sure what the point would be. Note that this is what you think it should be, not what it will be. I think in reality we're not likely to see something on that scale for a long time.

I never noticed it until it was mentioned here, but yeah how the hell do ships brake in sci-fi? Do they have a whole set of thrusters facing forward that are capable of matching the acceleration of the rear thrusters? Can engines somehow exert a pulling force on.... vacuum? Even Void Destroyer, a game which tried to incorporate newtonian physics into space battles, allowed you to brake without burning retrograde. Now I have a whole new thing to shake my head at!

What happens to humans when exposed to the vacuum of space. Related to this, people on the Internet claiming everyone who gets exposed to space should instantly blow up. In Guardians of the Galaxy, there's a seen where a character is exposed to space probably long enough to do some real damage but not necessarily kill him outright. Everyone on a different forum complained he didn't instantly blow up like a popped balloon.

Ok, let's start from the begining. Let's assume we have a squid like creature with highly social behavior that begins using shells and rocks as tools. It gets ever more sophisticated tools, and languishes in the "shell age" for thousands of years. Than it manages to achieve underwater agriculture, and starts booming in population. It notices the light in the sky is important, and tied to some kind of seasonal pattern. Eventually above water observatories are built to better understand seasons. These dry out except for inhabited places, and one day an unfortunate lightning strike lights one ablaze. Now they start to look into this whole fire thing and get the industrial revolution going.