Scarecrow71

Are you asking about this being in addition to a section of the community at launch saying this was going to happen?

Without having any knowledge of the situation, and without having any insider information about Intercept... Stuff like that happens in some industries all the time. It isn't all that uncommon for people to come and go, especially on large projects. The company I work for has layoffs and firings and people walking out all the time, and nobody really questions it. The gaming industry, I imagine, is pretty ruthless and everyone is always looking for a bigger payday or more money or more responsibility. It wouldn't surprise me or cause any weirdness (in my opinion) to see people coming and going all the time.

By that logic, I didn't follow KSP1 until it was already at 1.8, so the history of the devs and Squad and whomever else was involved doesn't matter, right? My point is that Nate's history is working against him. Whether or not it is right to blame him for whatever shortfalls KSP2 had, he was the public face of the game AND he has a history of making these kinds of promises with games that failed. That all works to his disadvantage, right or wrong.

Dakota doesn't have a history of this happening while he's in a customer-facing position. Nate, unfortunately, does. You cannot sit there and tell us that Nate, throughout MULTIPLE failed games, is completely in the clear for responsibility. The odds are simply astronomical that he has been oblivious in all of the situations.

And no seller in history doesn't at least ask for it. I've already stated it isn't the buyer's issue...but that doesn't stop the seller from.starting there. There is no "if" here. Everything in his video is backed up with facts and corroborated by individuals close to what happened.

You are correct. But the seller isn't going to give the IP away, and they are going to want to recoup losses. So while it may not be any business of the buyer's, it still plays into the negotiations and how much the seller is willing to part with the IP for.

Click!

Keep in mind that everything I typed was pure speculation. I saw earlier in this thread that someone said roughly $100 million for the purchase of the IP, and that's where I went. Said post: Guess I'm curious why you didn't ask your question when Lisias put that amount out there, but decided to ask when I did?

You would have to make use of Custom Flag Loader mod: The big issue with this mod is that it is showing as viable for 0.1.4 on Spacedock, so it's unknown (at least to me) if this would work in 0.2.1. There is a post in the thread I linked above that gives instructions on how to get it to work in 0.2.0, so check that out: The mod author hasn't been on the site since March 2023, so you can't really ping them and ask. You could maybe head to the modding Discord and see if he hangs out there?

I don't disagree with this...but I'm wondering if it will be 0.2.2. Could they just label this 1.0 and be done with it?

So let's take this thread seriously for a few moments. We know that Take Two, per IGN, is looking to offload the IP and shelve the studio. So what would it actually take for someone - or, more likely, some group - to take control of the IP? For starters, a boatload of money. If we semi-use the figures we were given from Shadowzone's video, we're looking at no less than $17.5 million every year for, we'll say, 4 years of development alone. To recoup that cost alone, Take Two would need to get $70 million. That's just to recoup development costs for KSP2. And then they have to take into account future sales of KSP1...which, admittedly, probably aren't going to be all that much. Most people who want it already have it, and it goes on sale enough on Steam that getting additional cash there isn't going to be much. But Take Two, being a company, will want some compensation for that. Once we get beyond the cost of recouping development, Take Two isn't going to part with what is a decently popular game - albeit in a niche genre - for nothing. They are going to want to be enticed to get rid of the IP, so the group will need to come up with probably - and this is a major spitball here - another $10-30 million dollars. Someone here in this thread already mentioned $100 million to purchase the IP, so we can easily go with that number and feel like we'd at least be in the ballpark to start negotiations. Now let's say we've got the cash and the negotiations went well, and some entity ends up with being able to purchase the IP. Now come some of the sticky parts of the contract just to purchase it. This cannot be a "community" purchase; the contract will need to specify at a minimum the name of the entity purchasing the IP, along with the senior investors (those people who put up the most cash individually). And that's just the contract to purchase; the entity has to be set up legally, with all investors, its own board, president, ceo, etc., named explicitly in its own legal documents. This alone means that it can't simply be a community project with anyone able to do anything with it. You'll need to know who exactly the employees/members of the new entity are, and only they will have the access to the code and such. And then they get to decide what happens with the IP once they own it. So let's say we get beyond setting up the entity, naming the investors (of course, in this scenario, I'm one of the higher-ups because, well, I'm writing this little diatribe), generating the capital needed, and the purchase goes through. What now? Well, we need to do all the things associated with creating a development studio, which involves: Finding and either purchasing or leasing a suitable building. Even in this era of remote-work possibilities, a central building for employees to work at and collaborate is the best way to go Finding suitable employees And paying them appropriately Acquiring the right equipment Notice I said the right equipment. Anyone can walk into Best Buy or Fry's or wherever-else and buy a computer. But to develop an actual game you need state-of-the-current-art development machines, as well as lower-end testing rigs. You also need desks, printers, network equipment, modems, internet...all the things that people I think take for granted that they have in their houses but aren't aware are needed on a much larger scale for a business. Cables, cords, lights, building expenses to include maintenance. This all costs money. I am quite sure there is more to it than that; I'm not a business-setter-upper kind of guy, so I'm guessing at the bare minimum here. And as I said, this all costs money. Take Two gave Intercept Games a budget of $10 million per year, and that number was way low. We're looking at twice that at minimum, and then throw in a contingency fund just to make sure, and we are at $25 million per year for development. Given a 4 year time frame, that's another $100 million. We're almost a quarter-billion into this, and not one line of code has been written. Which brings me to... ...scope of the project. So many different ways this can go, but project meetings have to happen to nail down a definitive scope for what the next iteration of KSP will look like. Considering I've installed myself as one of the higher-ups in this project (again, I'm writing this fantasy, so I'll live in it however I want), the scope would end up something like: Reskin KSP1. Update graphics, fix known bugs, and include the most popular mods as part of stock. There are 3 kinds of mods available: Mechanical. MechJeb and KER, to name a couple. Parts. Near Future, Tantares, Restock+. The Community Tech Tree might fit in here. KIS/KAS. Maybe Un Kerballed Start. Graphical. Parallax, EVE. Things that make things look nice. Once KSP1 is reskinned it gets pushed out as KSP2.5. KSP2 is removed from Steam and Epic, and KSP2.5 is added. Anyone who purchased KSP2 and didn't refund - that is, they still have it in their library on either Steam or Epic - gets KSP2.5 at a serious discount. Anyone who doesn't have it, can purchase it at full price (don't ask me what that is; I'm not sure what the appropriate amount would be, and that would be up to accounting to determine). A second development team is already hard at work on what I'd call Kerbal Space Program: Beyond. This includes everything in KSP2.5, but adds: New resources. ISRU and resource management is part of KSP2.5, but now we need new types of fuels and other resources. Colonies. Creating both ground and orbital, as well as being able to have extra-Kerbinular VAB's and launchpads. Interstellar. With more than just a singular extra-Kerbolar system out there. This would have to take advantage of both Near Future parts AND additional parts to help with the long journeys between star systems. An updated "science" collection mode. I'm on record as stating we should toss science points almost entirely out the window, focusing instead on achievements and milestones (such as first launch, getting to orbit, etc.). More of an Achievement Tree than a Science Points tree. How this functions, again, I don't know. People far smarter than me I'm sure could figure this out. Better missions. And more of them. And a random mission generation system that draws on what we learned with the contracts thing from KSP1, but in a better way. As mentioned under #3, more parts. Better parts. And more of them being procedural. I'm looking directly at fuel tanks here, but I'm sure there are other parts that could be procedural that I am not thinking of. Joystick/HOTAS support. Come on, man; how can you not have this already? I prefer the keyboard/mouse combo, but I'm one guy. And I fully appreciate that some people can't use that combo for whatever reason, so let's make the controls easier for people. Notice I didn't say anything about multiplayer or consoles up there. Multiplayer is scrapped entirely, and will never see the light of day. There are just too many issues with multiplayer in this kind of game. Time Warp alone causes issues, and because a small portion of the community wants this (and by small, I mean as compared to the totality of the community), it's not worth the effort. I know there are people that want this, and I'd love to give it to you. But for now, there are just too many problems with it. Consoles, on the other hand, are a special kind of hell that needs more support than can be given currently. The game will eventually come to consoles, but I'm not sure when. Better to just say "We know you want it on consoles, but for now we cannot promise that will happen. We will work to see if it's possible, but please don't get your hopes up". Or something like that. We are talking about no less than 4 years of development, plus however long it takes to get negotiations done and the studio set up. Minimum total of 5-6 years. MINIMUM. That's before you see your first sale on KSP:B. Quarter billion in the hole, 6 years out. Dang, that's a lot of money and a long time. Are there things I'm missing? I'm sure of it. Do those things complicate this exercise, or potentially make it easier? I'm sure of that too. But I'm just one dude spitting out a fantasy without going through and writing up an actual business plan (which would really be before the first contact with Take Two takes place).

You mean like the rest of this thread?

Wasn't there a forum user who claimed to be in talks to acquire the IP and code right before the last earnings call? @Meecrob, I believe?

Discord isn't going anywhere as it isn't controlled by Take Two. The forums...yeah, not sure.

[snip] Again, you brought it up. Which means you made the conversation pointless. Again, reading comprehension. The layoffs are effective June 28. The studio officially closes on that date. TT may or may not release a statement at that time. How is that me not understanding what is happening? And who else are you talking to that you have somehow assumed I said anything about people going back to the office? Go ahead and show me where I said anything about that. It isn't relevant. Yes, it is a studio that got shut down but not really by TT. How does that happening all those years ago have anything to do with anything I have actually said? 2 completely different sets of circumstances...and I'm not even the one that brought it up. Again, you keep mentioning things without context and then saying I don't understand or I'm being pointless What I think you are failing to realize is that you and I agree that the game is dead, and that TT is unholy, and that we were lied to every step of the way. And I can't figure out why you feel the need to tell everyone that they are wrong while sitting on some high horse. Boggles the mind.

[snip] So let me clarify that for you. The thread is about refunds and if one should go about getting one. Primarily for Steam. But you literally brought up Epic and how if someone bought on Epic you wished them good luck. I was merely pointing out, for anyone who didn't already know, that Epic has the same refund policy Steam does. With the same option to talk to a human being if you get shafted by the automated system. If talking about Epic's policy is pointless, then it's on you for bringing that pointless topic up. Speaking of things that are pointless in this discussion... No, I have not chosen some arbitrary date for no reason. The layoffs and the building closure are effective on June 28. That was set by the company itself as outlined in the WARN notice we are all aware of and have read. I am waiting until that time - or, rather, giving them the extra 2 days to the literal end of June - to see if they release a statement or not before deciding if I'm going to ask for a refund. Why? Because if they do release a statement, I can read it and see if there's anything in there that could potentially be used to help bolster a case for a refund this far out of policy. Will there be a statement? Probably not. If there is, will there be something in there I can use? Again, probably not. Does it hurt to wait to see what happens knowing that the likelihood of a refund at this point is pretty close to zero? No, it doesn't. Which begs the question: Why do you care if I wait or not? It has literally zero impact on you and what happens in your life, so why do you care? Why throw all this anger in my direction over something that means zero to you? You feeling lonely and need attention?

Don't mistake my patience for hope. I have no illusions that the project is dead, and that the game won't get completed. I am merely waiting to see what, if anything, TT or PD say at the end of June before deciding if I refund or if I keep it as a reminder. And it has been dead since Star Theory. All those decisions back then killed the game.

Positive reinforcement is cheating.

I believe the refund goes back to the credit card that made the original purchase.

I've started learning Unreal. I won't be able to create a full game, but at least I'm learning something!

Beneviento House (Resident Evil Village)

Perhaps the ban is what you need