Chilkoot

A little trick (depending on what you're aiming for) is to use targets and waypoints, as those show up in the navball, and you can adjust your approach so that the target is very near your surface retrograde. Eg, if you drop a flag on Mun/Minmus and call it "Land Here", then set that as your target, it shows up on your navball and you can use that to fine-tune your approach. With a little practice to get an intuitive understanding of how that works, you can usually drop a rocket within about 10m of the flag/waypoint, though it's harder on bodies rotating very quickly like Minmus specifically.

I... I think I need a cigarette now..

It's extremely unlikely that that level of precision landing will be required for anything in KSP 2. There may be bonuses or benefits for dropping something dead smack on the button, but alienating 99% of the player base via difficulty is not something developers typically strive for.

I think the Kraken has had its day. It was frequently funny in the early days of an indie KSP, but with a fully funded and polished game like KSP 2, Kraken attacks will more likely be perceived as bug. I don't expect a lot of tolerance for quirky, game-breaking physics sim mechanics in this release.

This just means you're not trying hard enough.

You can't do that and not tell us what game this is! The only "biggie" I know of landing this week is the new Total War installment...

You can do these kind of automated RTLS and propulsive-landed boosters in career mode (KSP1 obv) using KoS. The end effect is largely identical to what SpaceX does with F9 and FH, and it's extremely satisfying when you nail it in-game. Be warned, the ∆v cost is higher than you might think. From a very early interview with one of the mod consultants, we heard that parts in KSP 2 are now scriptable, but whether there will be an interface for that in the game is another question. I'm a big proponent of adding user-generated automation sequences as they add a whole new dimension to the simulation (literally no one is flying rockets IRL of course), but it remains to be seen if and how that would be implemented in KSP 2.

I'm still at 100% hype level! Feed from me, if you must.

Because the Earth is a diva and won't let anyone else take centre stage. "Just remember, it's my gravity keeping you here, and all y'all orbit me, got it? Don't make me go all Thea on your asses." -Earth, probably.

This was an April Fool's joke posted in I think 2020 or perhaps 2019.

I'm hoping the procedural wings lead to lower part counts, fewer joints, fewer individual drag calculations, etc. While I don't believe there's anything implicit about their inclusion pointing to improved modeling, there's a case to be made that as a part in general they could lead to smoother gameplay for most designs.

You mean like this from a couple years back?

This would be pretty darn awesome, as a next-gen console is about 1/4 the price of an OK gaming right now. What remains to be seen is how the unmodded play experience will be, as it's unlikely there will be much if any modding possible on the next-gen consoles.

Phrasing!

Mostly red light district and black-market He3 bar. Gotta finance that launchpad somehow, right?

Definitely agree on the wait-and-see at this point. No min specs published yet, and PC hardware prices are completely bonkers. I'd also suggest that - on the console side - the game will be optimized to run well on the slower Series S, as Xbox is holding its own against PS this generation, and there's a lot of dev focus on the Series S hardware. We don't have specific numbers for the Series breakdown, but here's what the last few months look like for PS5 (black) vs Xbox Series (green): Also with the dearth of PC hardware right now, there's going to be motivation for Intercept to keep the min spec pretty low to reach a broad audience. I'm champing at the bit to upgrade, but I'm going to hold off until we have a better idea what performance is like, especially with mods

It doesn't have any calendar date at all, so it could be at the bottom of the list due to its "TBA" status. We just don't know - the guidance only says FY23, and that's the only real info provided in this chart.

Have you seen the Steam KSP2 forums? 'Tis a silly place...

Piezoelectric sonic propulsion. Only works as a low-altitude boost phase, up to about 0.1 atm pressure. Testing has shown the most effective sonic payload is Rush's 2112 overture.

The original announce trailer from Aug 19, 2019 displayed a provisional PEGI rating (original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rPc5fvXf7Q): The latest show-and-tell has an ESRB rating pending stamp (original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci7-5SsstFs): I am not an expert on this stuff, but I believe that "Rating Pending" is a very different beast, and points to something rather imminent.

This is exactly the impression I get from the interviews and reveals as well. I could be misreading it, but glad to see someone else taking away the same gist of things at least.

Take 2's Q3 earnings call is at 4:30PM EST tomorrow (Mon, Feb 7). KSP2 might be just big enough to be on their financials radar via Private Division, and there's at least a non-zero chance for some shareholder guidance on progress/release.

Spot on. There may be no clickable spend to unlock things at all. EG: You want ISRU life support parts for your Duna base? Establish a Mun polar station with X population to unlock in-situ regolith H2O extraction (obviously made-up example). We don't know much about the new progression system except that it will be tied to both exploration and colonies in some capacity. I welcome the era of no more KSC science cheesing rovers or god-like orbital research facilities. As a player I want to be forced to get out there and *do* stuff, and be rewarded for the same.

Hm... a large-enough catapult could act like a mass driver to send kilotons of ice-cream back to Kerbin. And with the right calibration atmospheric entry could be used as both an aerobrake AND deep fry cycle...

This is super helpful - thanks so much, and thanks to the others here for the insights. Part of my mistake has been trying to figure this stuff out while in a career game, which is not a forgiving learning/tinkering environment. Gonna flip over to sandbox and try exactly what you've outlined above, then find a way to ramp up to sustainable production in a way I can "afford". The concept and paradigm of WOLF is really well done. Bob, if you're reading this, serious kudos to you on this brainchild. The way you manage to shoehorn so much new gameplay into KSP 1 is pretty astounding.