How finished is KSP in your opinion?

[Robotengineer]

With all of the talk about console ports and 1.1, I'm curious how finished this forum thinks the game is.

I happen to think it's about 80% finished.

What are your thoughts?

[Korizan]

Define Finished.

Personally I am more interested in what squad thinks of their game.

Does it match the vision or is the vision still evolving.

[Robotengineer]

Define Finished.

Personally I am more interested in what squad thinks of their game.

Does it match the vision or is the vision still evolving.

Finished as in what you think of as finished.

[problemecium]

IMO, they should have left 0.90 as 0.26 and called the 1.0 update version 0.90 beta. 1.1 doesn't seem like it'll finish everything either, so that'd probably make it 0.91.

[sal_vager]

None of us really have the right to define KSP as "finished" or not, that is Squads prerogative, they have said they have met their original design goals, but it is clear they want to keep expanding.

Though one definition of "finished" is that Squad has worked to make sure each update is in a playable state and as complete as it can be for its own feature set, even if more content is scheduled for later updates, the ones we play are "finished" enough that we can actually play them.

If Squad stopped now, and all development ceased, we'd still have a playable game in that sense 1.0.x is "finished", just as 0.25 was "finished" and later when 1.1 is released it'll be "finished" as well.

[Robotengineer]

None of us really have the right to define KSP as "finished" or not, that is Squads prerogative, they have said they have met their original design goals, but it is clear they want to keep expanding.

Though one definition of "finished" is that Squad has worked to make sure each update is in a playable state and as complete as it can be for its own feature set, even if more content is scheduled for later updates, the ones we play are "finished" enough that we can actually play them.

If Squad stopped now, and all development ceased, we'd still have a playable game in that sense 1.0.x is "finished", just as 0.25 was "finished" and later when 1.1 is released it'll be "finished" as well.

So you consider each version to be it's on separate finished state of the game? Interesting view.

[goldenpsp]

I think the 1.0 release of the game was more "finished" than many high end triple A titles I've played at release.

[sal_vager]

Not sure it's an "interesting view", it's basically how Squads been modelling their development method since at least 0.13.2 when I joined, and probably since the 0.7 public beta.

It's like a miniature alpha/beta/gold with each release, Squad was always aware that because they were just a few guys and so new to making games that any release might be their last, so they always made sure each was playable and presentable as much as was possible in its current state.

Good thing too as we wouldn't have been able to actually "play" KSP otherwise, I don't think Squad would have gotten this far if they had taken a more conventional route, as we'd only have had access to a truly broken alpha with no polish or fixes at all for a large part of KSP's development.

In traditional game dev all bug fixing is left to the end, it's rarely undertaken during development.

[Korizan]

Finished as in what you think of as finished.

What I think doesn't mean a thing.

For example Squad could have called it quits at 1.0.

They could say, we might fix a few major bugs but we are moving on to the next project.

Or they could say, we might consider making an expansion that would be released in 6 months or a year.

The point is you purchase a game as is with no guarantee it will be patched or even expanded upon.

Which brings me back to my original statement in that I am more interested in what the squad thinks.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Korizan

[razark]

Finished as in what you think of as finished.

If we go by features/content, it's about 150% finished.

I think it should have U, V, W, X, Y, and Z features.

What it has now is V, W, X, A, B, C, D, and E features.

[TicTacToe!]

About 60-70%.

What I think doesn't mean a thing. The point is you purchase a game as is with no guarantee it will be patched or even expanded upon.

Of course your entitled to your opinion, but I really disagree with this general "SQUAD don't owe us a thing" deal. Strictly, you're right, they think 1.0's a release so it is, but at least when I buy a game I trust the devs to hold to that "unspoken promise" if you will, that the game will be seen through to completion and bug-free-ness.

[razark]

Something like this:

...

Or even like this:

...

More like this:

[Tank Buddy]

I put 70%, but the bottom line is the game isn't completed. With all the bugs and unimplemented features, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement.

[Frozen_Heart]

I don't really think it is a game that can be finished. There will always be something to improve or add. In its current state it is still an amazing game.

[Temeter]

The game is basically finished.

It is stable, reasonably performant, has very tight game mechanics, can entertain for hundreds of hours without the feeling of something big lacking. Career mode has some minor flaws, but KSP is already an incredibly well working game in Sandbox, posing challenges in a very natural way. If that's not a complete game, then what is?

Then again, games aren't ever done. There is always something to add to it, some parts to polish. It is only expanding on the games basis though, which is 100% there.

[DocMoriarty]

I voted 60% finished because:

- There is a lot of stuff that is there but could be dramatically improved. For example look at the planet rendering of http://www.outerra.com/ and imagine we could land on a Kerbin that looks like this!

- A lot of inconsistencies in part design. For example why is the little and large yellow mono tank side-attachable but the 1.25m one not? Typical incredible SQUAD sloppiness! But there are lots of inconsistencies like that. Why do just about every engine and stuff have a 'toggle on/off' action group but fuel cells need 2 seperate groups, one for start and one for stop. Doesn't make sense.

- 1.x is probably the most buggy KSP version ever, at least since i play.

- Still lots of problems in VAB/SPH and the group action bug when detaching / attaching parts, problems with symmetry and mirroring of parts, ...

- Important immersive features missing like chatterer with it's chatter and environmental sounds. KSP could be twice as good with chatterer being stock game.

- We can have like 15 missions parallel. But in later game missions take longer because of going to other planets. So why is there nothing like Kerbal Alarm Clock in stock game yet so that multiple parallel missions can be handled? Instead we get parts nobody requested

- Whenever a new line of parts (size) is introduced, only half of the stuff needed is actually created? For example, where is the Kerbodyne SAS module with Kerbodyne-worthy 80-100kn? Where is an Mk3 or Mk2 SAS module? Instead we get 0.675m jet engines nobody requested and an unnecessary overhaul of the other engines. I mean how much time to spend in space compared to on Kerbin?

- and so on and so forth ...

And thats just a few points that i can think of within the 5 minutes it took me to write the message, there is probably a lot more to say.

[Korizan]

About 60-70%.

Of course your entitled to your opinion, but I really disagree with this general "SQUAD don't owe us a thing" deal. Strictly, you're right, they think 1.0's a release so it is, but at least when I buy a game I trust the devs to hold to that "unspoken promise" if you will, that the game will be seen through to completion and bug-free-ness.

While I agree a game should be bug free the way games are being released has changed a lot in regards to perceptions of what a complete game is.

KSP is one of many new titles that you can purchase in BETA and play it, and with that you open up a whole new list of issues to include players who liked a beta version better because they could do such and such but it was later removed as it didn't fit with the Dev's vision of the game.

And of the course what this thread is entirely about, is the game complete.

Well it is complete when squad says it is complete.

Then as others have stated bugs are removed AFTER the final version is released.

OR perhaps this is all about the confusion that gets created when there are no standards and communication between developers and players fails.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Korizan

[KasperVld]

Define Finished.

Personally I am more interested in what squad thinks of their game.

Does it match the vision or is the vision still evolving.

We've always said the game will keep evolving after 1.0. Reaching 1.0 for us meant that we left early access and that we felt the game could stand on its own, it was never meant to be the final version of the game. We have mostly fulfilled the original design document (no idea survives a test in reality without a scratch) but we want to see the game grow further. The game became much more popular than anyone at Squad had anticipated, and we want to give back to the community that allowed that success. That sounds a lot like marketing-speak perhaps, but I know it to be true

Interesting question Korizon, have some rep

edit: to answer the question in the poll, the game is not finished but I can't put a percentage on it.

Edited August 29, 2015 by KasperVld

[Scarecrow88]

Still too many bugs in it to be considered anywhere near finished, regardless of content or future platforms.

[regex]

I won't consider KSP finished until a competitor comes along and shows them what a decent spaceflight sandbox looks like. Orbiter doesn't count because no VAB/SPH and no Linux client.

[Hagen von Tronje]

I voted "Other."

I think it's a nonsensical question. It will be "finished" when Squad ceases development and the modding community collapses. It's impossible to place a percentage value on an indeterminate total.

Further, the game models reality, or a reality. There's no expected number of levels or playtime, literally every aspect of the game is limited only by hardware, programming restraints, and desire to make it happen. Is it finished now? It's got much more content than most "finished" games, yes. Is there room for more? Many, many times more, if everyone involved is interested in that much.

Either way, you're asking for a fraction of an unknown.

But I clearly do not share the dissatisfaction that many express. Between stock and mods there's more to do with the game now than I have hours in the day to do it, and yet all signs point to there being even more of this to come, and engine upgrades that will make modding even greater than it already is. What can I say, it feels good to like something enough to overlook a few things, especially knowing many of them will get fixed, for free, and I need only have patience (not hard with this much to do already!).

[musicpenguin]

80% finished, Most of the game is done but lots of room for polish and improvement.

Would like to see more time put into Career mode and some more parts.

[klgraham1013]

I'd say 80%, but that's mainly because I think Career needs a complete overhaul. If career isn't considered, I'd say about 95% done.

edit: This is my opinion. The consumer's opinion is ultimately most important, because they are buying your game.

Edited August 30, 2015 by klgraham1013

[EladDv]

not finished now. not in my opinion or anybodys opinion even not squad. everyone has a different idea of what "finished" even means- i am satisfied with the current game but i love the new 1.1 update and i would love multiplayer. quantifying this isnt possible or responsible in my opinion

[Jett_Quasar]

As far as game play features go it's done IMHO. The only thing left is bug fixes, game balance, and optimization. Any additional features for KSP v1.X will be completed by the modding community (which has already been done pretty much). Put the game out on all platforms once it's stable and be done with KSP version 1.

Then start working on KSP version 2 with new features, better graphics, more destinations etc...

JR