stephensmat

Actually, I was thinking they looked like plane parts. The 'supersonic' cockpit shape. They said there was only one creator between aircraft and spacecraft now...

I would prefer science to be here on Day One too. But it's not a dealbreaker for me, at first. When i started playing, I started with the sandbox. Had no idea what I was doing. Option paralysis was an issue because I had no measure of what each part could do. So I tried career mode and bankrupted myself quickly. Science Mode gave me a balance between the two, and let me learn how to upgrade my ships, bit by bit. Now, when I play a new Career mode, I have all these ships saved in my lists, ready to use. If KSP2 starts with a Sandbox mode, I'm fine with that. It's all beta-testing for new career. Plus, Science is how we progress in KSP2 once the 'motherships' are built. We get something that can make the trip to two planets, and money becomes less of an issue. In KSP2? Maybe the Kerbals go nuts is they're in space too long. Maybe the 'mining' means more than Science. Maybe we need life support modules. Whatever the progression is now, Sandbox mode is exploring for Stage Two and Three, until the Orbital VAB's become a thing.

I love a terraforming games. I was flat out addicted to doing it in Spore. Surviving Mars is also a favorite. I don't see any way to do it as a serious possibility in KSP. That's not what this game is for. Thing is, it's also not needed. Kerbals don't seem to mind walking around in Spacesuits. Unless the 'Life Support' in Colonies is a lot more intensive than we seem to think, then there's no practical difference between putting a base on a dead moon and a living, leafy world.

You know you're a Space Geek when this clip is the most beautiful thing you've seen all year. Seriously, if this sort of thing is available in KSP2 EA's first stage, then I'm so happy I could cry.

Procedural Generation means you can generate via algorithm. Good for wide range games like No Man's Sky, but this is something else. I admit I don't know much about this, but what if Modders could build some sort of tool to generate a System, and then 'lock' them, so that they're fixed for KSP2 use? Multiple systems are already confirmed, and you know that creating a Custom System is going to be the ultimate Mod. That's the thing that makes this game a fan-built Firefly.

Blue Danube for Orbital Stations, right? But yes, I'd definitely have this option to keep track of connectivity. Some games even let you add your own playlists as background music.

I've said it before, but I'd love it if they dropped the Tutorial videos early on YouTube, or made the Tutorials a demo. Let us chew on them for a week, figure out the basics, then get the game. Shorten the learning curve a bit. Honestly, that curve is what made me wait so long to get into KSP1.

Well sure, where else do we launch our Drone Ships to catch the returning booster rockets?

I'm sure this has been said before, but it really does look like those landing legs are adjusting themselves to compensate for the slope. We could do that in KSP1 by manually adjusting the 'tension' in the Landing legs. It'd be neat if we had this as an automatic option in KSP2.

Technically, we've got Orbital Construction now, in KSP1. An Orbital VAB lets you build a ship/station in a complete piece. Much easier to do, much easier to build 'symmetrically', less wasted parts and fuel. We're building on what we have now, which is what's meant to happen with a sequel.

Oh. Now I have to watch this video a dozen times, over and over, with a deep ache of need in my heart. Again.

I'm betting the locked seventh section is for DLC. To be clear, I don't care if it takes six months. I care if the control options is as useless on PS5 as KSP1's. Full K&M, or I stick to PC. And coming from me, that really hurts to say. KSP is pretty much the only game left that I play on a computer and not a console.

I wonder how long it will be for someone to make a Delta-V map of the KSP2 system...

The devs have already confirmed that this will not happen. Hmm. Okay, new idea: The Arches aren't Stargates: They're beacons. They unlock the new Systems. We unlock new planets by telescopes and scanning tech? Why not new systems via discoveries? There's precedent in movies/books. The Lunar Monolith from 2001 sent a transmission towards Jupiter, so humanity knew where to go next.

We know that 'routine' flights, like resupplies? In KSP2 they will happen in automatically the background. I'd glad for it, because Drilling/Refuelling Flights are the grindiest parts of KSP1 for me. I would accept Stargates as that sort of thing for Interstellar-level supply flights. It would have to be late game. It would have to be difficult to build or unlock. If it was a simple matter to build one, then it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying. It could be the final unlockable, or something mission-specific. Some games have long, involved missions to unlock a specific high-level weapon or piece of armor. I could see the KSP-verse having 'Lore Items' as their special prizes. But you'd want to make them optional for the people who want to stay 'pure' in their Hard-Scifi.

I doubt they'd make such a departure as Stargates. I think it's a map. I think it's lore. Most of the discussion about this image is that it's a brightly colored large circle, with a smaller one orbiting it. The current theory is that they're color-coding Planets with Moons. Green image for one of the moons of Jool, Purple of Eve and Gilly... What if it's not the planets. What if it's stars? Yellow star is Kerbol. Next system we visit in KSP2 has a red star, or even a green one... My guess? Each system may have a liveable planet.

I'm looking forward to Release Day for KSP2, only six weeks away (give or take a few days). A week ago, my main hard drive packed it in, and I had to reinstall everything. I had Steam backing up my saves on a semi-regular basis, but my main Career game got set back about six weeks. I took it as a sign, and scaled back my KSP1 playing, in prep for KSP2. Everything we're seeing suggests that the controls, gameplay, graphics, and HUD have been completely redone from the ground up. Game 'hangover' is something that usually only bothers me on Console, but give how many 'commands' there are in a KSP game, I'm inclined to make a clean break with KSP1, let muscle memory fade, and learn the new game fresh. So I wondered if anyone else was planning to do the same.

Anyone read 'Delta-V' by Daniel Suarez? His position was that Space was ultimately the only hope for a Capitalist system, because there's unlimited supply of everything 'out there' to exploit. Some of the other sci-fi like the Culture Books or Star Trek suggest that having access to infinite materials means space makes a post-scarcity economy, where money isn't needed. KSP1 follows both opinions in a practical way. The start of the Space Program has us counting pennies, and carefully weighing our science points. We move on to civilian access. Ferry these tourists to get the payoff, and while you're there you can run this experiment... By the time you get to the 'Mine and Convert Ore' stage, you don't need tourists anymore. You manage your Program right, you can have millions in the war chest. More than you'll use in a hundred launches. KSP2 is doing away with money, and focusing on materials. Going to the planets is how you build resources to get to the next frontier. It even lets the harvesting be automatic, once you do it a few times. This game isn't about Making Money, it's about the next frontier.

Maybe that's part of the Progression/Tech Tree. To get to this planet, you need a Radiation Shield. To get to this planet, you need a Satellite Network to warn of Solar Flares. To set up a colony here you need a greenhouse, because we can't use local soil. Not exactly life support, but things that matter in long-term flights. Things that hold you back until you do the work.

I never, ever, EVER, get tired of watching the landings.

Well, it's less about hype and more about waiting now. We've got a release date, and it's not even that far away. The sense of 'maybe today we'll know' is gone.

If KSP2 does well, there could be no end of Planetary options. By 1.0 they'll have Interstellar flight, and at least one more system. The game goes well, they'll add another System in DLC. And a third. Or a fourth. And then the modders will probably add another dozen, just to see if they can. We'll get every combination of planets/moons/stars eventually. It's just a question of what we'll want to do with any of them. I know people aren't as excited about Colonies as I am, but seriously, I'd looking forward to that more than makes sense.

Today, in Kerbal, I wept. My computer packed it in this week. Had to replace the whole Drive. My offsite backups got me most of my stuff back, but my Kerbal backup was months old. I've lost more than half my missions, 30% reputation, 15 million credits... All of which I can deal with, except I think I've lost half my designs. Those boosters and craft have been the workhorses of my game for months now, and i have to start over. I'm tempted to scrap the whole game and start again.

Completed the Supreme Mun 4 Journey. The same craft has apparently ticked most of the boxes for two other 'relay' flights. If I can get the same craft to Pol, then Moho, I can tick off two more. If I can get the same craft back from Moho to Kerbin, and then land the thing, (Which will be fun, since it's not really meant to land in an atmosphere) I'll be able to get five High Value Contracts with one (long) flight.