steam or direct download

[Ignath]

ha, well got it on steam, a sale is a wonderful incentive!! just a quick question save another thread, i heard its better to start in sandbox mode, get used to the game then start a career, is that true?

Career will limit you to very low level technologies to start...like only maybe 10 parts to choose from. The rest of the parts will need to be unlocked with science and funds over the course of your career. If you're interested in seeing all that KSP can do without limitations and build some CRAZY contraptions and try to get them up, try to start with Sandbox.

I myself started playing before Career or Science mode existed so I started with Sandbox, but once Career came out I moved to it. It's more limiting (and challenging), but I had enough experience in Sandbox.

[crestofawave]

As RIC said above, you don't have to run Steam at all in order to run KSP. I bought the game via Steam but I haven't played it through steam for a long time (I originally bought 0.22 just before 0.23 was released and ran those via steam but once 0.23.5 was released I started running it separately). I copy the entire "Kerbal Space Program" folder from the steam folder into C:\KSP with a name that indicates the version number and purpose of the install, e.g. just after an update I create C:\KSP\Clean_1.0.4 (or whatever) which is a complete copy of the install. Then I copy that to create several different installs, Current_1.0.4 (my normal game), Dev_1.0.4 (an install specifically for mod development tweaked to allow debugging of mods in VS), RO_1.0.4 (an install for realism overhaul) etc.

When a new update is released I run steam, tell it to delete all game content and then reinstall it (this results in a full download rather than an update but it ensures you get a totally correct install). Then I create the new Clean_<version> and Current_<version> copies (and other copies when appropriate mods are updated). This allows me to continue playing old modded versions until the mods are updated for the new version.

can i ask you about that, i have done the same, copied the entire folder so i don’t need to connect to steam all the time, but every time i play it from the folder it updates a patcher? is there a way to stop this so i can play it on a non internet machine?

[cantab]

For a new player, I suggest first checking out the Tutorials then starting a Science mode save. In Science mode you get a steady progression in terms of available parts, so you won't feel overwhelmed at the range like you might in Sandbox. But you also get no limits on rocket size, no locked features, and no penalties for failure, unlike in Career mode.

[Padishar]

can i ask you about that, i have done the same, copied the entire folder so i don’t need to connect to steam all the time, but every time i play it from the folder it updates a patcher? is there a way to stop this so i can play it on a non internet machine?

Just run the KSP.exe directly rather than Launcher.exe

[novastorm4332]

On 8/20/2015 at 7:33 PM, regex said:

Steam doesn't limit you in any way when it comes to KSP, it is merely a delivery device. I have many installs separate from Steam that were all spawned from my Steam install and never have to load up Steam when playing KSP.

How do you spawn installs separate from steam?

[linuxgurugamer]

6 minutes ago, novastorm4332 said:

How do you spawn installs separate from steam?

Copy the full KSP game directory somewhere else