PS4 Announcement Discussion

[sal_vager]

Moderator or modder? Because until there's some proof otherwise from Squad it's all speculation, and so far Squads lead developer has said that the console version will need an overhauled UI, but no mention of anything removed.

Please reassure the skeptical that we're not going to get a UI intended for console play on the PC. I hope to see a KSP that realizes the potential of the PC platform and not something pared down and reduced in information.

No, not by any means. Our UI overhaul will indeed support development of a console-friendly UI, but that will be for the console version only. The PC UI will work just the same as it does now, maybe even get a few improvements for itself in the process.

Remember, KSP is a PC game being ported to run on a console. The port is branching off the main PC development code, not the other way around. We did need to work together for the Unity5 part though, because that affects everyone.

Cheers

[8bitgammers]

we are faced with something that is ether true or not. equally so.

even leaving it at that... we must react as if it is true, because it would effect us more if it were true.

Also, logic would tell you that since there are fewer controls on the PS4 controller, it is more likely to believe, having no other evidence, that they would have to make cuts.

this is compared to the counter argument that, by some unknown, they are able to make it work.

you would logically have to believe that they would cut corners here because you have no evidence that they could make it work... only evidence of the opposite.

- - - Updated - - -

Moderator or modder? Because until there's some proof otherwise from Squad it's all speculation, and so far Squads lead developer has said that the console version will need an overhauled UI, but no mention of anything removed.

modderator

[sal_vager]

Er, no, we must act as if it is false, as the only source for this claim is you

Also, complex UI's have been done in many console games, and are navigable with a controller, so the evidence of history is against you.

Acting as if it is true because of fear of the effect on us is scaremongering, post your proof 8bitgammers or I'll be removing your posts.

[8bitgammers]

Er, no, we must act as if it is false, as the only source for this claim is you

Also, complex UI's have been done in many console games, and are navigable with a controller, so the evidence of history is against you.

Acting as if it is true because of fear of the effect on us is scaremongering, post your proof 8bitgammers or I'll be removing your posts.

Woah!

you make a good point.

the devs are very capable of doing this.

I, in no way want to make people fear anything. I would very much want to believe that all will be very well. and it probably will.

but, I will say, in my defense. in asking for my reasoning... didn't you want to confirm the fear?

feel free to do whatever you want to my posts, but I just would like to remind you that they are only my opinions, and I would like for all opinions to be shared.

[BagelRabbit]

After taking a look at Flying Tiger entertainment, I'm really worried about this port.

The games that Flying Tiger makes seem, on the whole, low-quality and questionable at best. In my humble opinion at least, they don't seem to have the polish and reputability to try to take on a game like KSP.

Here are some of the top sellers from Flying Tiger:

[table=width: 500, align: center]

[tr]

[td]

Air Raid,[/td]

[td]

Loteria,[/td]

[td]

and Toy Raid.[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

The last of these, I should mention, is

pushing the limits of Apple technology and raising the bar on expectations for the next generation of iPhone games!

...according to Flying Tiger.

These are the best products from this company. To be fair, most of them are pretty old, but that means that Flying Tiger likely has less experience with newer game engines than the KSP staff do. In addition, the company does not seem to have any experience with the PS4 (or really, any model of the Playstation). The closest they've ever gotten to it is 'Toy Raid' for the Nintendo DS. Not really the same thing. [EDIT: The guys do apparently have experience with older PlayStation models, but I'm still concerned...]

I'm going to exert considerable effort here and not mention their "Hookups" Wallpaper... oh dang.

I'm not prone to doomsday speculation, but I think that SQUAD could have easily selected a better company here. And if Flying Tiger runs into serious problems and delays the release, or releases the game with nasty bugs, or if any other such problems occur, I'll be disappointed. This idea actually shows a lot of promise! I just want it to work out well.

We are discussing the same "Flying Tiger Entertainment," aren't we?

Edited June 18, 2015 by UpsilonAerospace

[sal_vager]

8bitgammers, opinions are one thing but claims with no facts, which may only be others opinions and also have no facts, are something else completely, there are many people who will make wild claims in the hope that they can be proved correct at a later date, they would prefer to be right even at the cost of harming the game they claim to enjoy.

Unfounded fears are just that, unfounded, and can be as real and as valid as unicorns and fairies, and no matter how many claim to see either, no evidence can ever be found as it was fabricated all along.

And why be afraid of things that aren't real? They cannot hurt you, you only hurt yourself by letting yourself be affected by them.

UpsilonAerospace, I won't lie, those pics from that site really don't inspire any confidence, but I've been told that there's several divisions to Flying Tiger, and their mobile division doesn't handle the console games.

If anyone can find something more recent from Flying Tiger I'd like to see it.

Edited June 18, 2015 by sal_vager

[sal_vager]

INDEED.

but just look at everyone being concerned. are you saying that this entire thread is encoring bad things?

if so, then please do some thing about it. because I do not want to be part of a bad thing.

I post the little solid info we currently have, as it's still very early days there's not a lot available, and like all things we'll know more in time.

People are entitled to their opinions, though like with yourself I do want everyone to back up their claims with some evidence, also it's like this after every big news item from Squad, there are those who are most vocal, while the rest of us are too busy having fun playing KSP

[Randazzo]

UpsilonAerospace, I won't lie, those pics from that site really don't inspire any confidence, but I've been told that there's several divisions to Flying Tiger, and their mobile division doesn't handle the console games.

If anyone can find something more recent from Flying Tiger I'd like to see it.

A look at their (even) older work shows some experience with ports to Sony products. There doesn't seem to be any recent work of theirs aside from the mobile games readily available. Still, if one considers that squad themselves have no previous game releases and did pretty doggone well with Kerbal, it's not a terrible stretch of the imagination to think the two of them might put out a reasonably acceptable port.

To be perfectly honest, the party I have the least faith in is Sony. I would expect them to do something to screw it up more-so than Squad or FTE. Total speculation, of course.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Randazzo

[r4pt0r]

UpsilonAerospace, I won't lie, those pics from that site really don't inspire any confidence, but I've been told that there's several divisions to Flying Tiger, and their mobile division doesn't handle the console games.

If anyone can find something more recent from Flying Tiger I'd like to see it.

Well their official site has "mobile" in it. Thats been my concern all along. Who are these guys? What qualifies them? Their first currentgen console job will be porting a complex PC game to a system they have never worked on.

I am excited for the PS4 version, but I cant see any possible reason to hire these untested amature devs for the project. PS4 KSP could be great, if done properly, and these dont at all look like the guys for the job. Bet they were cheap though.

Welcome to Flying Tiger

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A History to be Proud Of

We gave you hit after hit you loved on consoles such as JVC, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and Microsoft. Our new games on mobile phones must meet our high standards and live up to the highest expectations. Gameplay is king, and great playability is our goal. Welcome to Flying Tiger Mobile, the best one-stop place for all your entertainment needs.

Company History

Nevada based Flying Tiger Mobile (http://www.FTMobile.com) has emerged as one of the fastest growing wireless entertainment companies in the world.

With their emphasis on arcade classics, and their many years of development experience, the team at Flying Tiger Mobile is well-positioned to develop, publish and release games, screensavers, ringtones, or any entertainment software you need to anywhere in the world. Flying Tiger Mobile’s development partners include HudsonSoft Japan, Working Designs, Sega Mobile, Disney Internet Group, THQ, Puzzle Kings, Atlus, and Film Threat.

Developers

Are you looking to bring your entertainment title to the mobile market? Do you have an application that would suit the wireless user?

Reach Untapped Markets

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You must be registered with Flying Tiger Mobile as a developer.

It must be of high quality and very fun to play.

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It must provide a function or service pertinent to a mobile user (ie. entertain or inform).

NOTE: Once you have registered as a developer, you will receive information on how your game will be considered for distribution.

[sal_vager]

Something I do know, from discussing this TechnicalFool, is that the PS2 is a real pain to develop for, and a programmer needs to know his or her stuff to handle it, so that may be useful for any programmer working with later Sony hardware as there will be similarities in how Sony does things.

Also, from the articles posted by Maxmaps and HarvesteR, Maxmaps says that Flying Tiger have shown Squad that they can do this, and not make a "lazy port".

How are you bringing Kerbal Space Program to PS4?

We’ve teamed up with Flying Tiger Entertainment to bring the game to PS4. They have experience and have shown us time and time again that they were simply the right choice to make sure that the players receive a quality game on their PS4, and not a lazy port.

I take this to mean that they got it running, there's even this post by Maxmaps that reinforces this, and pics will come.

.

And HarvesteR says this.

t's worth mentioning though, that our moving to U5, which I think is fair to say is something everyone has been asking for quite a while, has been largely sped up by our collab with FlyingTiger, who are developing the PS4 version. The first step for them was to move the game into U5, and because that was something that affected the entire project, we felt the best way to go about it was to work together on upgrading the project, so the PC version wouldn't be stuck on Unity4 as they moved on. So contrary to popular belief, the move into PS4 is actually giving PC development a boost, not hindering it.

So Flying Tiger have knowledge of Unity5, even if their products don't make that obvious.

Edit:

Flying Tiger Entertainment has a Wikipedia page that lists some of their games.

Edited June 18, 2015 by sal_vager

[SkyRender]

Personally, I don't really care about a console port of KSP; I have it on PC and like it there. That said, the more logical system controls-wise seems to be the Wii U. If nothing else, the presence of a proper touchscreen would make construction much easier than with a traditional controller (not to mention mapping action groups and the like). Then again, the Wii U's specs are quite a bit lower than the other systems out right now, so there would likely be some down-porting issues.

[Xyphos]

imho, I'd rather have a mobile version on my Samsung Galaxy cuz I don't own any consoles.

then again, E3 announced Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy VII REMAKE for PS4 so... I might buy those and only those, play em and pawn it, back to PC.

[SkyRender]

then again, E3 announced Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy VII REMAKE for PS4 so... I might buy those and only those, play em and pawn it, back to PC.

Unrelated to the topic, but I'd suggest saving your money if those are your main reasons for considering a PS4. Square-Enix tends to port basically everything under the sun to PC, usually within 6 months of console release these days. KH3 might make it to PC, and the FF7 remake definitely will.

[RobotsAndSpaceships]

They hired a freaking flash game maker to do this. This is ridiculous. I'm feeling pretty done with Squad right now.

[sal_vager]

They hired a freaking flash game maker to do this. This is ridiculous. I'm feeling pretty done with Squad right now.

45 pages in, tons of info, posts from Maxmaps and articles from HarvesteR telling us the porting company has experience with Unity5, even a link to a Wiki page showing Flying tiger do more than just flash games, yeah, they're just "a freaking flash game maker", you're a little late R&S

[regex]

PS4 Death Knell

It's totally happening as we speak. Feeling ~honoured~ to be a part of it.

[Motokid600]

I could honestly care less. I don't own a ps4, but I will care if the console port ends up being problematic and isn't successful... What does that mean for Squad then? I hope nothing therefore I don't care, but if it hurts Squad then it's another case.

[r4pt0r]

45 pages in, tons of info, posts from Maxmaps and articles from HarvesteR telling us the porting company has experience with Unity5, even a link to a Wiki page showing Flying tiger do more than just flash games, yeah, they're just "a freaking flash game maker", you're a little late R&S

Wait that Wiki page actually strengthened your confidence in them? They have not released a real(non-mobile) game in about a decade.

[regex]

Not sure why anyone really cares about Flying Tiger anyway since they're only going to be doing the PS4 title, not the PC title. They can mess it up as fierce as they want for all I care.

[r4pt0r]

Not sure why anyone really cares about Flying Tiger anyway since they're only going to be doing the PS4 title, not the PC title. They can mess it up as fierce as they want for all I care.

Well myself as a stock player and PS4 owner, I would probably get it if its done well. I prefer minecraft on my PS4 as well. I played modded MC for a little bit, got into tekkit a little, but the console version is still fun.

So I would like it done right if at all possible.

[sal_vager]

Wait that Wiki page actually strengthened your confidence in them? They have not released a real(non-mobile) game in about a decade.

Not really, but it shows it's not just a Flash game shop, so I'll reserve judgement till I actually see something.

And not being a PS4 owner nor planning to I won't have to learn a console UI, though the thought of PS4 (and if we're unlucky, XBone) players on teamspeak when we eventually see stock KSP-MP sounds like lots of "fun".

Oh that reminds me, Russians love KSP, and there's a lot of youtube vids about playing MP games with Russians

[regex]

And not being a PS4 owner nor planning to I won't have to learn a console UI, though the thought of PS4 (and if we're unlucky, XBone) players on teamspeak when we eventually see stock KSP-MP sounds like lots of "fun".

I'm looking forward to griefing servers with ~missiles~ once MP hits. Gonna be a great time for sure.

[r4pt0r]

I'm looking forward to griefing servers with ~missiles~ once MP hits. Gonna be a great time for sure.

Seconded. FOR THE GLORY OF ROME!

[Motokid600]

Not sure why anyone really cares about Flying Tiger anyway since they're only going to be doing the PS4 title, not the PC title. They can mess it up as fierce as they want for all I care.

I feel the same way, but could the ps4 port flopping hurt Squad in any way?

[sal_vager]

Probe powered SRB claw missiles, just jettison the probe after they hit, no shutdown...

Don't know Motokid600, if Squad just takes a cut of PS4 sales they'll earn if it sells, thing is KSP filled a niche a lot of players didn't know they'd be so interested in, and the same may be true of console players.

Edited June 18, 2015 by sal_vager