stephensmat

Aaaand I think we've run out of things to talk about until the next preview hits.

It's been two years since I asked this last, but does anyone have any definitive word on whether or not KSP2 will also be native to Linux?

I doubt it'll be a delay announcement. They haven't tied it to a Release Window yet in the first place. Why would they tease bad news? Also, they haven't teased any of the 'Features Videos'. They've just released them, or not. Teasing an announcement means it's likely a new category. Something they haven't shown us yet. So I'm betting it's the release date. If they wanna go big, maybe it'll be a serious overview of the game; showing multiple features. But I aim lower, so I'm hoping for the Release Date only at this point.

Agreed, but I wouldn't mind a reward for finding one. Something cosmetic, or a cash/science bonus. Nothing vital, but... a nod to others in multiplayer that you found something.

Replace the Duna 'Blueberries' with 'Potatoes'. Watney's Own, Iowa seeded. Or have that be a whole thing when we get around to colonization of Duna, at least.

What we lack in numbers, we make up for with fervor. KSP2 was never going to be a AAA blockbuster game.

Why would they? We have an army of people eager to post and dissect things for them.

They're teasing that there's something to tease. If it was another delay, they'd say so in a release on the website. Y'know, like last time. They want us watching this. I'm hopeful for a release date, or a new trailer. If it was another 'Dev' Video, they'd just release it, the way they have all the others. They're teasing in a new way, and hopefully that means something new to be revealed.

Well, new tweet. ...feeling decidedly silly at the ten seconds I spent looking for clues in this. I think I need to switch to Surviving Mars for a while, maybe play a little Shipbreaker.

I'm betting new systems will be DLC as we go. And I'm fine with that, if the Kerbol system is a decent game length.

Today, I crashed a Hail Mary mission four times, and landed it once, and then Blew it up anyway. I sent a Science Lab with landing legs to Eve, loaded up with all the science I could muster, and an inflatable heat shield to get it down. Two Kerbals on board. Likely to stay a long time, but I took science measurements all the way there, and again on the way down to the surface. Landing the thing was a nightmare. No matter what I tried, the heat shield put her into a spiral, and she spun in, burning up during the first four tries. Finally, I got through the 'blackout' phase, and the Heat Shield wiped me out the next three times. Don't know what I'm doing wrong, but it's hard to jettison that thing without it wiping out the ship. Finally, I managed to split the difference. I saved all my fuel for the 'heating up' phase, and used up all my DV. I still spun when I put out the shield, but it held together enough. I cut loose the shield while the damn thing was upside down, but it made a clean disconnect at last. Chutes out, and I'm floating down at 5.6kph. Slow enough for my landing legs to make it. Now, having used up all my fuel, I had left my landing site up to the chutes, and I came down on an incline. I slid along for a while, (unable to save while I'm moving). I'm getting close to another manoeuvre for another ship, so I try to hurry it up by time warping. I've done it multiple times on Mun and Minmus. Eve isn't Minmus. I blow out my landing legs as soon as the speed increases; and here we go again. Took another four tries, but I landed her. I'm typing this now while it's still sliding, but I won't be rushing it this time. https://i.imgur.com/yaMEqc0.png The base is stupidly basic, but I'm fine with that. My goal is to put one of these on every moon/planet, to be ready for all the contracts where I have to 'plant a flag', or 'transmit science from'.

Kerbals are small, require minimal life support, have an extensive space program, but no discernible cities, and are eagerly exploring the universe for a new system to live in. KSP is the Three Body Problem. The Kerbals are Trisolarans!

It'd make sense if KSP2 had different biomes with actual hazards/benefits. We already know they're not going back to the 'all purpose ore' for the sequel. If there were actual dangerous terrains that Kerbals could get caught up in, it adds a whole new dimension to the idea of colonization. Too dangerous? Too hot? Too many lava flows?

There are hundreds of parts in KSP1, and I doubt I've used a third of them ever. A game this heavily invested in the editors needs a lot of freedom to imagine.

Would it be a good addition? Hell yeah. Do I think it's going to be offered? No. Come to think of it, aren't there mods for KSP1, with 'outer planets' or something?

Rovers.

I get that delays are a sign of problems, but please remember that even for Video Game producers, the last few years have thrown all schedules out the window. Also, KSP2 hasn't gone silent, it's been giving us regular updates on what's happening. We're seeing gameplay footage, having clear explanations of features... The game is well past the concept stage. Games that over-promise are the ones that let you down. KSP2 should be ready now, but a lot of things should be.

I can't believe it worked. So, if you've been following (And lets be honest, you probably haven't), then you'll know I lost a ship. The Bowman was my first craft to reach Jool. Still not sure how I lost her, or the three Kerbals aboard. So I had to build the SS Bowman-A and keep going. The Bowman was my first craft with Nurv engines. So far the most miserable part of the construction process has been putting the engines together, and keeping them secure, wobble-free, and most importantly, aligned in the same direction. I often get about 20 degrees off axis for what I need them to do. It's been frustrating. Then today, I asked myself: What if I launched three Nurv Engine Cores, plus Mark-3 fuel tanks; all in one piece? I know. I figured it'd never work. I can't believe I got it off the ground. But it launched, and didn't come apart until it got to high-atmo. It was enough to make me keep experimenting. The thing cost almost a million credits to build, I lost the first one because it kept falling apart on the pad, and I must have spent three hours fiddling with struts, auto-strut settings, and stagings on the boosters. I had to keep a tight grip on it, and put it into a spin every time I jettisoned boosters, or the parts would collide when they fell away, but lo behold, I got there. Meet my newest invention. I call her 'The Chariot'. She's got 7700 DV, she's powered by multiple RTG, instead of Solar panels, she's got her own rotation rings and RCS, a top-notch probe brain, and a Sr Docking port on the front. Put it all together, and it makes her the first Reusable Space Booster I've ever built. Her function will be to ferry smaller craft and Landers/station segments/etc, and put them in various positions around the system, before Returning to Kerbin for her next flight. Now that I've been able to launch one, I can almost certainly launch another, which means I have the beginning of a small fleet of 'interplanetary tugboats', available as needed, in a single launch. Still can't believe it worked.

I didn't even notice, but 3 days ago I felt an urge to watch the trailer again. I ended up watching it four times. I didn't even start playing this game seriously until the Cinematic trailer 3 years ago. I'm only just starting to get good at it.

I... I appear to have lost a ship. I don't even know how it happened. I was working on a totally different set of contracts around Duna and Ike the last day or two, and when I got back to my game this morning, my reputation score was down ten points, and I had lost all contact with my ship in orbit of Jool. Three kerbalnauts and the largest ship I'd ever built... And I don't know what happened. It was in a stable orbit, or at least I thought it was. Did I cut it too close? Did I accidentally click 'terminate' when I was getting rid of booster debris? It could have happened two days ago, so there's no way to just 'reload'... Oof.

Went back and checked. It was 20%, not 25%. My bad. It was a quote from Stephen Petranek, in the Nat Geo Documentary "Mars: Inside SpaceX"

Boom today, boom tomorrow. That can be fun too. I saw a documentary on Nat Geo that said before SpaceX, 1 in 4 launches ended in mission failure. The reusability plan really smashed the curve. They're rolling SLS out to the launchpad as we speak for Artemis 1. If there's a boom there, we won't see NASA again for ten years.

SpaceX isn't afraid to learn from failure. Second launch might have a better chance, but the first is what they'll learn the most from. I, for one, can't wait to see it launch, let alone land.

Today's achievement: The SS Bowman arrived at Jool. It's a qualified success. I intended to use Jool to swing me around into orbit of Pol, where I could land a Digger to refuel. That was... unsuccessful. But I made it to Jool. I'm also not sure if the power will hold out, even with all the solar panels. (My first time going to the outer-system.) It's been my pattern to send a ship with a science lab, and have them churn out science points while I put together a Digger/Refueller, and send it after them to fuel them up for their next flight. I'm thinking about cancelling this policy, because my contracts seem to involve 'Get Science From this place' or 'plant flag here'. So my policy seems to have upgraded. I might leave a mothership in orbit of each planet I visit, as a Semi-Station. I also kept the boosters from my latest Mun and Minmus missions, to build another craft. (I've been adding docking ports and probe guidance to my Boosters since before my first Duna flight.) It's relatively easy to add a 'core booster' with a lab and storage space on the front. I named her the SS Waterman, after the lead in Ben Bova's Mars Trilogy. Once it arrives at Duna, I'll have a 'mobile station' in orbit of Mun, Minmus, Ike, and Gilly. Ready for Contracts around each Planet/Moon, and churning out science at all of them. To answer several contracts I'm also sending more 'official' Station Cores to each planet, ready to expand into space stations. I'm guessing this will end with a station around/on each planet and moon. I need to figure out a recovery for the Bowman, so I can fuel her up for a proper tour of Jool's moons. But that's tomorrow's tale.

I've only done one asteroid capture, and it was a small one. My next contact is a Class D. Assuming I manage to navigate right, do I need to worry about the grip I can get? I can mount 3 Advanced Grabbers on my craft, but does that have any advantage over just one?