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I would recommend Chatterer and extended. It adds a lot IMHO. Here is a post on beauty mods which is food for thought. Simply add Spectra with CKAN and it will add dependents like EVE. Also Planetshine, KSPRC City Lights look nice. Firespitter has some fun plane parts including a biplane kit which works if you can get the landing gear in the right place.

For the sake of conversation, an unintended consequence of supporting KSP2 under TTWO would be to raise the asking price for the IP sale and thus obstruct the movement of the IP to a more suitable owner. Everyone who deserves to be involved knows what KSP could be and rewarding bad behaviour could be counterproductive. By the sound of it TTWO were asking for silly money from Paradox, because their managers are running around like a headless chicken trying to impress everyone but their customers these days and Paradox rightly demurred. I am not unhappy about that as I remember the Sword of the Stars 2 fiasco and Paradox's lack of commitment to the title when things got rough, which sounded like it got quite personal and unprofessional and left player owners completely in the lurch. So I don't regard them as an ideal IP owner, nor StarDock as I find both publishers' 4X titles lacking a mechanical awareness and focussed on space fantasy which is not compatible with KSP design (unless it involves krakens ofc). Simulation of mechanism and physics is core for KSP2 and needs someone who likes physics. I have enjoyed the down to earth mechanics of some Slytherine titles but they are a bit focussed on historic warfare and I am not sure they have that kind of money to throw around. I am racking my brains but cannot think of a publisher who would really fit the bill. Maybe Valve (Garry's Mod) or Microsoft (umpteen flight simulators) could handle it, alternatively Coffee Stain / Plaion (Goat Simulator). Just thinking out loud. Probably Microsoft would be my favourite.

If you want to have a conversation with the guy I dont see stalking as the best way to introduce yourself. Nate is just a human being like the rest of us, the idea he is somehow a conspirator and all powerful seems paranoid projection, of an inferiority complex, which is very fashionable but a bit mad. He has to work under the direction of PD and TTWO management and as for blaming the fate of KSP2 on a few hilarious design experiments, that is too much salt. Besides has noone heard of struts? Second word in the Kerbal, lexicon right after boosters. I agree it is a frustrating situation but not one of Nate's making and it is no fair to take it out on him, he just tried to make the game and he has my thanks for his noble efforts, sincerely

OK point of information. Some people have got the wrong end of the stick about the $140m figure and seem to think it applies to KSP2 alone, which it doesn't. The $140m figure is the estimated total value of all the projects cancelled by TTWO involving an estimated 600 layoffs and the source for this was this video from Spunie Bard discussing WARNs and Intercept layoffs, see timecode 0:16s. So lets nip this broken telephone thing in the bud.

TTWOs recent activity is all over the mainstream tech feeds, it is practically viral, admittedly not because its KSP2 so much but because its TTWO, which impacts TTWO's corporate image directly. The message is TTWO have gone sharkey and cannot be trusted, which bypasses petty tribal rivalry between gamer geek vs gamer thug and goes straight for the bread basket. If anything the impact on the criminally minded will be greater distrust than gullible geeks, if they have any natural cunning, though many dont, the impact on preorders could be significant.

What I will say is $140m is chicken feed compared to something in the order of $10bn projected income from GTA6 alone. So cutting these productions at this time, amounting to about 1% of projected 2025 income and an easily tolerable expense even in the current market with TTWO's turnover, is an irrational counterproductive overcompensation for post COVID market adjustments. Whoever did this saved TTWO a relatively small amount but shockingly contradicted TTWOs own assurances about Private Division titles, promising they would be safe and that gamers could trust TTWO. From a PR angle not only did they disappoint KSP2 players, they made themselves look intrinsically untrustworthy and liars to boot and now TTWO have the same kind of rep as Electronic Arts. From where I am sitting the damage from this uninsightful move not long before GTA6 release is going to cost TTWO a lot more than it saves. Frankly I am astonished.

Precedents are set by people seeking justice, which is what the law is meant to uphold. The judge has to take the letter of the law as their guide, it is the task of legal counsel to find a way to show the search for justice matches the body and intent of the law. I dont think many would argue that it was fair to buyers to stop development of KSP2 considering the marketing accompanying it at all stages, which promised further development e.g. colonisation of distant star systems. On a trades descriptions basis this is not honouring the agreement offered so is a breach. Regarding class action, it would be per jurisdiction e.g. US UK EU, the counsel would need to know their stuff and find a way to make the argument. One should not be disheartened by disclaimers, which are worthless if they are not aligned with the law.

I cant say I did but I did rename my KSP forum bookmark to "Kerbal Space Program : owned by Take Two Interactive" to remind me that things had changed and there was a risk attached. The basis of that was my distrust of hired publisher managers and the danger they may have a subjective lack feeling for the subject matter of KSP, which I think it always struggled against even with Squad. KSP is niche and at risk from such individuals seeing it as valueless because they don't understand the potential in niche markets and instead make careerist choices to bet on top selling genres like first person shooters, based on spreadsheets and bar charts, even though these are also risky as the success of a few belies the failure of others. This kind of mismanagement, first Star Theory and then Intercept does not bode well for the company as a whole. My guess would be TTWO profits reduced because they were freakishly high due to covid. This reaction is inappropriate and does not address reality. Its not like they are cutting out the rot, as those wielding the knives are the rot. I am reminded of the Homeworld saga, likewise a niche space IP mismanaged by relic. Took years but the IP eventually ended up with THQ, assets were sold and went to Gearbox because the creative director Brian Martel likes Homeworld, simple as that and cooperated with Blackbird which includes some of the original developers. Homeworld3 has just been published and development to improve it by listening to player feedback is ongoing, because the decision makers like the game and want it to be right for players. As a player you can feel that in the way they behave. What we need is for the KSP IP to be in the hands of someone who loves the game. Someone at TTWO may have done once but they clearly no longer have executive control.

Did someone say doom? I am just going to drop this link here given the title of the thread, as I noticed a Eurogamer article dated 28 May 2024. Dont know if it is referenced anywhere else? https://www.eurogamer.net/kerbal-space-program-2-team-will-be-laid-off-in-june-says-senior-team-member Comments are interesting. Honestly, feels like this is it, time to say so long and thanks for all the spaceships and expect KSP2 to fall into IP limbo. I really don't care about the money. It only matters to me as a legal means to exact revenge as it is an undeniable injustice to fail to deliver a product purchased in good faith. Legally speaking the consequences seem too slight for PD and TTI who are definitely on Santa's naughty list. Ironic that this is exactly what Private Division was set up to try to avoid and TTI managers ended up screwing their company, customers and shareholders over with short-termism anyway. Lets hope whoever is firing all these people, gets fired.

Some might find this interesting. https://www.pcgamesn.com/indie/explosive-origin-story-kerbal-space-program-revealed

Well I am just sitting here watching the astroturf grow. Personally I think its about time that game companies were held accountable for promises made. I am particularly thinking about Star Citizen which is a debacle of grand proportions with an online PR campaign presence to rival Wagner and I think that deserves a class action and or investigation by the FTC. The reason it hasn't had one is the law has not caught up with the market place, but it is only a matter of time and through innovative practice and legislation this will happen. It is inevitable consumer rights extend into this territory. So for that reason I would encourage the OP to take a look at it and ignore any naysaying. The only comment I have on this is it may be a bit premature, as KSP2 is still on sale and while Intercept has been dismantled by the sound of it that does not mean the game cannot continue to be developed. We have already seen one such procedure. In fact I am hopeful KSP2 will continue and would comment 70 personnel is just way too many people for this project which would be wasting a lot of money, as KSP2 at this stage should be all techies and a few admins. Early access should proceed with a skeleton crew. That is how an indy would do it and PD is supposed to be modelled on indy development because it is lower risk as it is more cost effective. You can't really have indy development if you are going to throw corporate HR structures at it. If you want to bring in marketing & community, wait until you have a product. It looks like Intercept was ramped up far too early which I am sorry to say was unrealistic for this stage of development. My guess is different aspects of PD have been working across purposes and this had to be rationalised and the legal situation regarding employment is why Intercept has been wound up, at the beginning of the new financial year for some reason but I dont presume this means KSP2 is toast unless I am missing something. I can understand wanting to wave the pitchfork of a consumer law confrontation to encourage prompt communications from PD but it sounds like an almighty screw up is taking place and all the people who would have been communicating and know anything about the situation have just lost their job title and noone has given any of them a new one yet. That is my guess, that unscrewing the screwing up has been screwed up but I will wait for further announcements before catastrophising. However if it turns out that KSP2 development has stopped then I will be grabbing my pitchfork and cheering on the OP.

Goes by the name of KitHack Model Club, FKA Balsa, because he used to like making models as a boy, which was really where KSP came from. Have to say KSP was a great contribution to health and safety since a game about rocketry is a lot safer than the real thing especially the amateur hobby. Countless kitchens and garden sheds would not exist today were it not for KSP, I feel sure. We owe him much.

OMG ... Is there any chance development can continue with a smaller team? Sorry about the treachery everyone!

Sure go right ahead. Feel free to make your report and explain what you would like people to know. The thread is intended for sharing. The K-Prize is anarchy self assessment now so you can award yourself the kudos you feel you deserve !

With KSP2 I find there are some bugs lurking and rather than get frustrated I give it a try, report one or two bugs then leave it for the next update. I am confident it will be fixed I just dont want to get too jaded with it while waiting. My hope is that when all in your face bugs are fixed and it is ready to play through to interstellar, it will still seem fresh and new!