An Open Letter to Flying Tiger Entertainment

[BagelRabbit]

Dearest Flying Tiger Entertainment,

[subject matter removed at the request of many. Please continue to discuss the port, though; I feel as if this discussion is important to KSP's future.]

Sincerely,

Upsilon

Edited August 29, 2015 by UpsilonAerospace

[Starwhip]

This certainly sums up my concerns about the ports. The only reason I'm not (or was not) active in these concerns was my assumption that it would take as long as it takes to port the games to the various consoles. If Flying Tiger really does go for a deadline release of the console versions rather than a working content release, then I say now that I will be, er... well, I'll be blunt, extremely angry with them.

Hopping on the Hope Train.

[worir4]

Good lost. I do agree they should have a forum representative as they can be included as a developer now. It would help communication and let us straighten things out.

[RocketPilot573]

Those are all very good, constructive suggestions there. I have not thought about #2 much before reading this, but good point, these people are still rather mysterious to all of us forum goers.

[Warbird]

If someone contacted me and gave me unsolicited advice on how to do my job I doubt I'd feel obliged to give them a response; especially if it was as condescending as that.

[basic.syntax]

Flying Tiger was contracted by Squad to perform this work, Squad will have final say on when it looks good enough to ship.

[federicoaa]

I don't believe in the "no experience = not good results" argument.

Squad did not have any experience in games, and their first one we can all agree is quite good

Also, Hellogames first PS4 game is no man's sky and looks fantastic, so what makes us thing Flying Tiger can't make a good job?

We can only wait and see the results, and trust the developers know what they are doing.

[Hotaru]

I don't believe in the "no experience = not good results" argument.

Squad did not have any experience in games, and their first one we can all agree is quite good

Also, Hellogames first PS4 game is no man's sky and looks fantastic, so what makes us thing Flying Tiger can't make a good job?

We can only wait and see the results, and trust the developers know what they are doing.

In my mind it's more like a "no experience = no particular reason to expect good results" argument. Sure, we don't know for a fact they can't do it, but we have no solid evidence to suggest they can do it either.

That said, I have an idea that somebody at Squad might know something about Flying Tiger that we all don't. If that's the case, it's entirely possible that Squad has a reasonable reason to expect good results, even if we don't know what it is. I hope that's the case.

[regex]

I don't believe in the "no experience = not good results" argument.

Squad did not have any experience in games, and their first one we can all agree is quite good.

What we can agree on is that they had a killer idea but that does not automatically equal a good game. As for execution, it took them a long time to get to where they are now and there were plenty of mis-steps along the way.

E: and IMO KSP is literally half the game it could be. The modding community is its saving grace.

[cantab]

Flying Tiger was contracted by Squad to perform this work, Squad will have final say on when it looks good enough to ship.

My thoughts exactly. It is Squad, not Flying Tiger, who we should call on to ensure the console releases of KSP are satisfactory.

Based on their history with the PC version *cough* 1.0 *cough* I'm not confident.

[Renegrade]

-snip-

I noted that they're the ah, geniuses behind Interstate '82. Way to kill a franchise, Flying Tiger...

Based on their history with the PC version *cough* 1.0 *cough* I'm not confident.

Ditto. Maybe 1.1 will be more like a proper release (although I guess in a way, proper releases have gone out of fashion entirely at this point. I must be rather gauche..).

Edited August 29, 2015 by KasperVld
Slander

[KasperVld]

In my mind it's more like a "no experience = no particular reason to expect good results" argument. Sure, we don't know for a fact they can't do it, but we have no solid evidence to suggest they can do it either.

I think you make a valid point here perhaps, but then we come to the age old conundrum of the glass being half empty or half full. I think that in such a case it's best to see the glass as half full and avoid pre-emptive criticism that has no solid ground to stand on

[r4pt0r]

I think you make a valid point here perhaps, but then we come to the age old conundrum of the glass being half empty or half full. I think that in such a case it's best to see the glass as half full and avoid pre-emptive criticism that has no solid ground to stand on

Devs were talking up this port in the dev notes few weeks ago, can we see a some alpha footage? preferably an over-the-should view showing how the controller inputs are working in the VAB or game itself.

EDIT: very well then, I want this to go well. I dont want it to be like the PC 1.0 release, if you follow me.

Edited August 29, 2015 by r4pt0r

[KasperVld]

Devs were talking up this port in the dev notes few weeks ago, can we see a some alpha footage?

I have no information of any alpha footage being available at this point, perhaps when the release gets closer.

[Kerbart]

I think you make a valid point here perhaps, but then we come to the age old conundrum of the glass being half empty or half full. I think that in such a case it's best to see the glass as half full and avoid pre-emptive criticism that has no solid ground to stand on

In a scenario like this we shouldn't be discussing if the glass is half full or half empty. Obviously, the glass needs to be filled all the way up.

[daffy]

It really doesn't matter what we say, how we say it, or to whom we say it to. KSP was an excellent game, and we had a ton of fun over the years with updates, conversations, predictions, and fixing. Those times are very likely over though. The game is going out of the door now, and like every other title that ever does the same....(Come on guys and girls, how many titles can you really find that "did it differently than the other guys"), it will get some interest, maybe grab a bit of traction, and then it will be stuck into the digital shelf of 'To-be-played-later'.

I'm sure I'll upset a few people with these thoughts, but I would challenge you to explore any other community out there, past and present, that has not witnessed almost the same path for their platform. You will have those like me, who have been involved in gaming for many years, and you will have those that are niche fans. You'll have those that are old and young, and God will you have those that spend their hours challenging anyone or everyone, line by line, that may just slightly criticize the developers or ideas of the 'Best-Game-Ever-Created'!

I don't fault anyone in this. For what....$17 bucks??? I've had more fun than I deserve, and it's been a really fun game to experience and play. I fully support their desire, and aspirations to expand into other markets with it, and hope that it only makes them and the title even more popular. I hope they profit from it enough to purchase private jets for each member that ever typed a line of code. I don't begrudge success one bit! I just have many experiences I guess, with this sort of sequence of events, and then it's all over. Maybe they'll put it out, and start on something new.....

[KasperVld]

In a scenario like this we shouldn't be discussing if the glass is half full or half empty. Obviously, the glass needs to be filled all the way up.

Well, I wonder how we'd achieve that. We could've done an in-house port but then the negative of that would be that it'd take a lot of time away from the PC version and we'd have to bring in new (inexperienced?) developers. Alternatively, one could contract a major, well known studio to do the ports, which is by no means a guarantee of a satisfactory result either.

For now, personally, I'm definitely optimistic about Flying Tiger's work on KSP and I'll keep my optimism unless someone is able to prove me wrong.

[r4pt0r]

And the others will keep their pessimism unless someone is able to prove them wrong.

So mention to the big bosses that some footage would be neat-o(when the release gets closer, of course)

[Yukon0009]

I don't mind Squad porting KSP over to multiple consoles, but please remember to have quality over quantity/ speed.

Also having an active Flying Tiger representative on the forums would be nice.

[KasperVld]

And the others will keep their pessimism unless someone is able to prove them wrong.

So mention to the big bosses that some footage would be neat-o(when the release gets closer, of course)

On a slightly off-topic note I wouldn't want to go through life with a constant pessimism regarding the things I enjoy.

I don't mind Squad porting KSP over to multiple consoles, but please remember to have quality over quantity/ speed.

Also having an active Flying Tiger representative on the forums would be nice.

You can consider me and Badie representatives of Flying Tiger when it comes to updates/announcements for the console versions of the game

[Kuu Lightwing]

On a slightly off-topic note I wouldn't want to go through life with a constant pessimism regarding the things I enjoy.

I tried that. Do not recommend.

[Renegrade]

I think you make a valid point here perhaps, but then we come to the age old conundrum of the glass being half empty or half full. I think that in such a case it's best to see the glass as half full and avoid pre-emptive criticism that has no solid ground to stand on

No solid ground? Interstate '82. *cough* *hack* *cough* *gag* *choke*

Oh gods, I nearly just died. i'82 was terrible..

[Yukon0009]

You can consider me and Badie representatives of Flying Tiger when it comes to updates/announcements for the console versions of the game

Out of curiosity, roughly how many FTE employees are there? Is it a bigish company or something like Squad?

[John FX]

I think you make a valid point here perhaps, but then we come to the age old conundrum of the glass being half empty or half full. I think that in such a case it's best to see the glass as half full and avoid pre-emptive criticism that has no solid ground to stand on

The glass is twice the size it needs to be at the moment. The question about whether the glass is half full or half empty depends on the future state of the liquid inside it...

Myself, I prefer to not be wholly optimistic or pessimistic, I try to be both. I try to accurately evaluate the possible outcomes and be prepared for them. I try to mitigate the outcomes my pessimism proposes and encourage the outcomes my optimism proposes. To ignore either would be... insufficient.

IMO KSP is literally half the game it could be. The modding community is its saving grace.

QFT. I doubt I would have played the game after the first month if it was not for the excellent modding community surrounding KSP. The stock game could be so much more without ruining it`s flavour.

[softweir]

There is only one issue I have with the OP:

Please be at least slightly accessible to the general public.

Why? Nobody on this forum is ever going to buy a console port of KSP*. We are PC gamers; that we are even here is proof of this. To divert resources from development and marketing in their target market would be (at best) silly and contentious. Why contentious? Because every scrap of text they post here will be analysed and creatively misunderstood and will create friction and bad feeling all round. They wouldn't dare to report anything or answer any questions without spending hours second-guessing how the critics and haters will interpret it. It would do nothing for their sales into the console market, would waste time, and would potentially create bad publicity.

I think the very best approach they can have on these forums is the one they have adopted: a dignified silence.

---

* OK, that's not quite true! Some people buy multiple versions of KSP as a way to demonstrate loyalty. I bought a second copy on Steam, partly out of loyalty, partly out of utility: I get to keep my KSP Store account and can download from there if need be. Nevertheless, most people will only buy one copy, and not many multi-copy-fans will have a console they can use to buy console versions.