Mako

By my understanding, Squad no longer owns any part of KSP or Kerbals, having sold the property to Take-Two Interactive. Therefore, it is solely up to Take-Two to make merchandise happen as they're now the only people who can legally do so. This comes up from time to time since Take-Two's purchase over a year ago, and the only "official" word we have received so far is that it's being worked on. That was said by Squad's PR person quite a while ago, and I've never seen any official word from Take-Two themselves. I'm a bit surprised, really. Take-Two has proven time and again that they love money much more than they love delievering a good product, so over-priced, cheaply-manufactured, licensed merchandise seems like the kind of thing they would love to send your way.

This is neat! I was mostly unaware of and unfamiliar with nomographs until this thread caught my attention. They seem like something I could really geek out over. Nice work!

KSP is not an "Xbox One + Windows 10" title, so any Xbox achievements would not be unlockable on PC. The best you can hope for is for Steam achievements to someday be implemented, but that hasn't happened yet (as far as I'm aware -- I don't have the Steam version).

While this build-an-engine-from-scratch approach would most likely be ideal for a game such as KSP, I don't think we'll see it happen. It would take a lot of time, a lot of money, and a team that's capable of creating such a thing. Could Take-Two make those things happen? I'm fairly certain they can afford it. But is there enough profit in it to warrant it? That seems to me to be a lot less likely. Even if we were to entertain such ambitious hopes, we'd be looking at a thing that likely wouldn't be available for 4 to 5 years. Even if they've started already, we probably wouldn't see anything until 2022 at the earliest, and even then it might just be early looks at something still in a pre-release state. As much as I'd like to see something like this, I just don't see Take-Two taking one chance on such a niche product that would require the amount of resources as I'd love to see devoted to something like KSP. I dont even think it's possible even if they can figure out a way to incorporate recurring purchases into this new, rebuilt-from-the-ground-up KSP... ...One finger curls on the monkey's paw... KSP 2.0! Now with color-coded loot drops for parts, microtransactions, and DLC skins! Only $60! Add the season pass* for only $20! Preorder your copy and get these fantastic pre-order only part skins! Buy the SOLAR SYSTEM EDITION to get the season pass* included for only $75! Or the GALAXY EDITION with the season pass*, a set of unique GALAXY EDITION skins, a copy of the soundtrack, and 4 digital wallpapers for only $90! Or, for the little Kerbalnaut who just has to have it all, the UNIVERSE EDITION! It includes the season pass*, a set of unique skins, soundtrack, wallpapers, an "I bought the most expensive version of KSP 2.0" t-shirt (One Size Fits All), a disapppinting Kerbal figurine, and you can download the game a week before everyone else for just $150! *Season pass content and release date to be announced at a later date. Honestly, I'd almost be okay with it going that way. At least then Take-Two's purchase of KSP would start to make some sense. As it stands I just don't see how they plan to make money off of one niche title that came out of early access and had its big debut/fanfare about 2 years prior to their purchase of it.

I haven't used a lot of mods for KSP personally, but judging by the general lack of freaking out over mods on the forums, I have to guess that KSP mods themselves aren't causing PC issues. That being said, people usually browse websites to find mods, and websites themselves can be the transmission source of malware/adware. KSP mods all largely come from a few generally regarded as safe websites (again, judging by the lack of people reacting negatively on the forums). However, mod sites for other games, especially extremely popular games like Minecraft, can sometimes be a source of problems. How well do you trust the places you use to find and download mods? Compromised websites can potentially compromise your PC even if you never actively download a single thing from them. Any mod can have malicious code in it, but, as others point out, most/all KSP mods should be making their source code available which reduces the risk of malicious KSP mods. It seems highly unlikely that KSP mods are responsible for the issues you describe. I would strongly suspect unsafe browsing habits by one or more users to be the problem. Also, be wary of any free software you have to install with an installer. For mods or just in general. It's become a not uncommon practice, even for some decent, legitimate free software, to have installers install malware/Potentially-Unwanted-Programs alongside whatever you're actively trying to install. If you just click next/continue through the installer without carefully reading each screen, you might inadvertently allow the installer to install unwanted software. This might turn out to be a good learning experience for you and your brother both in how to detect, remove, and avoid problematic/unwanted software. I wish I could recommend further reading, but I'm going by the accumulation of many years of personal experience and many learning experiences of my own. Good luck to you and your brother.

The trouble with asking for an answer is that they might not even have an answer. Maybe they want to update the console versions to be in parity (as much as possible, at least) with the PC versions, but don't know if they'll be able to. Should they tell you yes, and then fail to deliver? Should they tell you no, and upset you that way instead? Or should they remain silent, do what they can, and see what happens? There is no good answer if they can't guarantee an outcome, and my bet is that the only thing they can guarantee is that they won't do more work. That would be very easy for them to deliver on. Not having an answer or even any idea or hint about future plans is pretty frustrating. As a PC player, I'm frustrated I don't have any idea about the future of KSP; I can only imagine how console players feel. The only thing I can say is: if you want development to continue, no news is good news. The only product Squad works on is KSP, and they don't even own it now. They no longer have a product to sell directly. So if Squad wants to keep making money, it's in their best interest their keep working on KSP. That's about the most hope I can offer. And just going by track record for PC or console, I suspect it's much more than Squad will offer.

@pandaman has it right, there is no information. At least in this the console versions are the same as the PC versions; there's no news about the future of the PC versions either.

Also Redshell customer tracking, which according to Redshell's website is to allow devs/publishers to track effectiveness of advertising and sales of software. It's all fairly innocuous stuff, but it is customer tracking and it didn't show up until Take-Two's new EULA. I don't think it's some conspiracy or anything like that. All I'm saying is that apart from an external QA team which obviously wasn't given much time to work on 1.4 and Making History before release, tracking software has been Take-Two's only other known notable contribution to KSP.

Well, since the issue is identified as a deficiency in the version of Unity that is currently used, I'd say it's not getting fixed until Unity fixes it AND Squad updates KSP to a version of Unity that has it fixed. I'd guess it would be over a year at least before KSP switches Unity versions again, if it even happens again before development winds down. I wouldn't be surprised if it never gets fixed at all, honestly. Unfortunately the subset of joystick users of the subset of Linux users is probably small enough that the priority of such a fix is pretty limited in a limited resource environment. Since playing the game without a joystick is completely possible, as long as the game works okay on Linux I suspect Squad won't (maybe even can't due to inexperience) work on a fix outside of implementing a new version of Unity (if that ever happens again). It's not like Take-Two seems to be throwing resources at KSP. Who knows what they're doing with regards to KSP (besides adding third-party tracking software).

If I had to guess I'd say sometime after the heat death of the universe, but before Half-Life 3.

Exit the game, or at least Alt-Tab away from it. Open your web browser of choice and log in (or make an account if you don't already have one) to KerbalX, CurseForge, or really just any file hosting site. Come back to this forum and make a post with a description and a link to your file upload in the Missions and Challenges part of the forums.

For Laythe surface to orbit launches there's no need to hyperedit anything; just test from Kerbin. If you can get off of Kerbin at sea level you can get off of Laythe.

Practice landing on Kerbin. Seriously. Duna's atmosphere is rather thin compared to Kerbin and Laythe and that's probably why you're having trouble slowing down. Landing practice on Kerbin would give you a better idea of what to expect. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken in this, but I've always tested Laythe landers/planes on Kerbin. Good luck.

At this point in development, it seems extremely unlikely. Once upon a time there was likely a plan for a gameplay purpose to the stats, but it seems like that was left behind a long time ago. At this point, if a gameplay purpose for stats gets added I suspect it would be as shallow as career mode itself. That being said, I do run a meritocratic space program: only those that excel at both stats get hired...

I don't think so. The problem with revealing easter eggs to people is it ruins the moment of discovery. The discovery is the fun. If you can make a mission that causes people to discover an easter egg, I don't think that will ruin the fun of the easter egg. The trick is to somehow still make the easter egg a surprise to the player. I think a mission that makes use of the easter eggs could be fun.

I get the naysaying, and while I'm not yet convinced as I haven't tried it myself, the review I read for Shadow was better than I expected since the performance was better than the reviewer expected. Of course I didn't dig deep into the review, but the reviewer mentioned they had tried similar concepts in the past and said that Shadow was the first one they tried that actually seemed viable and ready for consumers. The catch is you have to live relatively close to one of their server farms to reduce latency, and you must have an internet connection capable of at least 15Mbps. As far as I saw, Shadow is only available in California in the US, and four countries in Europe at the moment. As others have said, this is not a new concept. I set up remote login for Windows probably about 15 years ago and cloud computing has been around for a while as well. And now it seems like multiple companies think that it is possible to provide an acceptable gaming experience to folks who only have access to a lower-spec system. In the case of Shadow, it's a bit more than I want spend (US$35 - $50 a month depending on monthly or yearly subscription) and you only get 250gb of space to install games (or whatever you want to install, it's your own Windows 10 environment and space for however long you subscribe). With big budget Triple-A games coming in at 80gb+, you could be spending a lot of time downloading and deleting and installing games if you want to play a variety of things. All of that said, it seems to me overkill for KSP. The processors seem like server grade Intels and I'm not sure of the core clock speed. They're probably fine for most games, but perhaps not as good for a CPU dependent game like KSP. Also, no one needs a GTX 1080 to play KSP. Ram, at 12gb, would be sufficient for many, I suspect. But overall it's overkill for KSP. If you have a 4k TV you really want to play games on, no newer console, a potato for a computer, a good internet connection, and live close to a server farm, maybe this could be worth it to you. But I think that there is probably limited appeal for something like this. And I'm curious, and I bit skeptical, about how well it really does work.

It's not just Cloud GPUs. It's basically logging into a remote server that is a decently high-end gaming rig. You send keyboard, mouse, and controller inputs to the server, and it feeds you high quality, low latency (in a perfect world) audio and video. Eventually it'll be a paid subscription so you can play all your games as if you had a $1500+ computer from practically any system... provided you have a decent internet connection. I applied for Beta access since it's free, but haven't been selected yet. I figure it's worth a shot at no cost. I believe there is a similar service called Shadow, run by the French company called Blade, that is already available as a paid service in very limited areas. You pretty much rent a high-end gaming rig with your own Windows 10 install, if I recall correctly, for a not insignificant amount of money each month. This stuff is pretty neat, and it seems like the tech is getting to a point where it's viable provided your internet connection is decent. I'm interested to see how well this idea catches on. I don't know if I'd ever want get away from building my own systems, but if hardware prices keep rising as they have been this might actually have some appeal.

It's Take-Two's game. If they want another developer to work on it, they can ditch Squad in an instant. If they want to bolster Squad by providing additional resources, as they have in the case of the QA team that Squad has told us about, they can do that too. If Take-Two wants to delay release because the product is not up to their standards, they can make that call at any time. Yes, Squad is the developer, but they are working for Take-Two. Take-Two calls the shots. If Squad says they need more time for an update, Take-Two can choose to listen and respect Squad's recommendation, or they can choose to say Squad has to meet the deadline. If Squad doesn't meet expectations, they might find themselves no longer the developer of KSP. As I said, I get that everyone is making business decisions, but I also think it's a shame that quality suffers for it. This release could have been delayed to spend a little more time finding and fixing the most obvious problems. Take-Two either chose to release anyway, or Squad told Take-Two everything was ready and Take-Two trusted them. Either way, it is indicative of the attention and care that Take-Two is currently giving to their property. Which as I said previously is not completely unreasonable given the limited popularity and small community that KSP has. But I like KSP and want the best for it, so I'm internally conflicted between what I want for KSP and what I expect as logical business decisions.

With all respect to your insight into the industry, which is very welcome, I have to stop you there. Take-Two publishes GTAV which is still printing money for them. There is no shortage of resources available if the really wanted to do something. In fact, they delay much higher profile releases all the time. The reality is that KSP is a tiny thing with a small audience compared to their other properties. I'm not saying that as a business they shouldn't treat it as such, rather I'm saying that if they wanted to treat it better they have the capability. At the end of the day it comes down to making business decisions. I believe we both agree on that much. Take-Two will always make choices that are best for its business, as opposed to an indie developer without a publisher that may choose to make choices that are best for its products since it doesn't have to answer to shareholders. Ultimately my point still stands: if Take-Two was serious about making sure KSP releases were very professional and high quality they have the resources to do so. Pleasing customers and earning the good will of a small community is obviously worth less to them than meeting their fiscal year end deadline to please shareholders. I'm not saying I expect them to act otherwise. I'm saying that excusing the release quality, or lack thereof, based on the idea that Squad is small and lacks resources is not really understanding the whole story. The release is the result of business decisions. Business decisions don't make games better, but they can allow companies to continue making games. I do understand the situation, but I also think there's plenty of room for improvement if Take-Two cared to try.

Maybe this used to be true when Squad was working on KSP for themselves, but now that Take-Two owns KSP Squad has whatever resources Take-Two chooses to provide. So far we've been told that Take-Two has provided access to a QA team to assist Squad with development. If Take-Two wants to provide more resources, they can at any time. They are certainly big and rich enough to make anything happen. They could also have given Squad more time on this update and expansion if they wanted, but it seems like they thought it'd be better for business to stick to an apparently arbitrary release date. This is no longer scrappy little Squad working by themselves on the unexpected, runaway hit KSP, it's Take-Two's product and what they do with it and how they release updates is directly indicative of Take-Two's priorities. For better and for worse...

Looks like it's getting to be that time of year again. The trick to a good hard boiled egg is to add a little vinegar to the water when you boil them. It makes them so much easier to peel and enjoy. However, if you're going to dye them you might want to skip the vinegar; it can mess up the shell. I like to dye them, but these days I like eating them more. The problem is I'm starting to look like the ideal pre-1.0 rockets...

Well, the console players would disagree and say that those versions should be the priority. It is, of course, a matter of perspective. Personally, I can only say that everyone needs to be patient and give them the time to get things right. Otherwise, well, you know what we get when they don't give it as much time as it needs... as do the console players... Check the KSP Weekly posts in the Daily Kerbal section of the forum. They're posted each Friday around 21:00 UTC. A summary of today's Weekly: Squad says they, and Blitworks, are working on patches for 1.4, Making History, and the console versions.

Well, that is the general idea, right? But here's the thing: for KSP a whole lot of unique stuff had to built on top of Unity. Stuff that can go wrong from one platform to another because of how complex KSP is. So while Unity should "just work" for everything, it rarely does in KSP. Feel free to look into bug reports from past updates where all of a sudden something that works fine on Windows and Linux versions breaks on Mac versions. I feel like every update has had some PC platform specific issues, while other platforms have been fine. Oh, good example: 64-bit worked very well on Linux long before it was stable on Windows. That was a Unity issue, not even a KSP specific issue, so even Unity doesn't work perfectly as advertised. And that's before you build something as complex and complicated as KSP on top. I'm not sure what you mean in relation to KSP. Squad has been the only developer on the PC versions of KSP. Console version ports were mistakenly trusted to Flying Tiger Entertainment, and when that went predictably poorly it ended in FTE's dismissal. Now, the console ports are being developed by Blitworks, with some QA performed by Squad. Squad, and by extension I assume Blitworks, has some additional help from Take-Two in the form of external QA assistance. So, as is not uncommon with PC developers, a port company has been involved in the console versions. Two in this case, since the first was too ill equiped and inexperienced to handle the task. I probably misunderstood what you meant, but do you think that another company should be involved in some way? You do realize that the news on that third party micro blogging site is included in the KSP Weekly posts in the Daily Kerbal section of the forums, right? Basically, outside of the Announcements section, the KSP Weeklys are the place on the forum where you find the info the OP is asking for.

Making games takes time. Fixing bugs takes more time. Remember, even though gigantic, rich Take-Two owns KSP, it's still indie dev Squad that is maintaining 8 different versions: Xbox; PS4; Base game Windows, Mac, Linux; and Making History Windows, Mac, Linux. Sure, Blitworks is doing the heavy lifting on the Xbox and PS4 versions, but Squad still has to devote some time and attention to those versions. So that leaves Squad mostly working on the PC side of things which is 6 different products. If you count 32-bit and 64-bit as different, and they can be (they at least should both be tested to some degree), that's 8 different products (9 if Mac has 32-bit and 64-bit options, I'm not sure). And if you factor in the language options, that's possibly 9 different UIs and 27 translations across the base game that have to be looked at if anything in that area needs to be fixed (double that if Making History has all 9 languages available). So Squad is dealing with up to 9 products that all should be getting tested, and at least 9 languages that potentially need looking at. Supposedly they have help from Take-Two in the form of a QA team, but it takes time for them to get stuff done. Remember: Squad has never been exemplary with communications even in the best of times, and there's a lot of work to do. Operating under a deadline does not really work out in Squad's favor, it seems, so hopefully they take their time and get it right. They're doing their thing, and we just need to be patient. It's all any of us can do, really. You know, besides ineffectually screaming into the void...

Are you talking about the devs, or Take-Two? Because the first group seem like they actually value doing a good job and they likely don't gain a penny more for doing a bad job than for a good job, and the second group is a publicly-traded business that often seems to care more about pleasing shareholders than customers. This certainly doesn't seem like a cash grab on the part of the devs -- they likely get paid the same whether they do a good or a bad job and whether the DLC sells well or not at all. And if it's a cash grab by Take-Two I'd be shocked if it was enough of one to cover the cost of buying the KSP IP and paying Squad to keep working on it. It's easy to be cynical about a rough product launch, but I don't think this is simply a cash grab. If it were, it'd have to be the worst one ever: the devs don't benefit and look bad, and Take-Two doesn't make much money after expenses and tarnish their reputation and that of the IP they just bought. The cash grab scenario just doesn't make any sense or seem worth it to anyone involved. However, since the product has been released for sale in the current and soon to end fiscal year, if the sales aren't great Take-Two can show a loss for this fiscal year (where KSP is concerned) and this can benefit them by reducing taxes, and if sales are good and show a profit Take-Two can show it off to shareholders. In this scenario, either way is good for Take-Two, and (if it means a rushed release to get it out before the fiscal year end) not so great for Squad and customers.