I'm retiring from KSP.

[sedativechunk]

Hello all,

Well, I'm not sure where (or should I say who) I can talk to about this, nor will some of you care (which is fine if you don't). But I just kinda feel the need to say it because of how deep I used to be into this game. After about 820~ hours of KSP since May 2014, I am officially retiring from Kerbal Space Program. I'm finished with the game and I am hanging up the pilot wings for good!

I'm not dying, I'm not quitting video games. Nothing is wrong with KSP, the game is fine, the 1.0 update was great. It feels weird. But... I feel like I've accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish in this game. I've been to every planet and every moon countless times, including most of the outer planet mods. Taking off, building new rockets, landing on planets, trying challenges, new mods, I've done it ALL. And I just don't feel the same fire or enthusiasm to play this game anymore. I took a good long break for a while and came back but I still don't feel much of a spark. And finally I came to the conclusion that I am finished with KSP.

I don't think my whole life of 25 years on this planet have I ever felt like I was totally finished with something! But KSP, that's it! It's funny, but I feel satisfied with my time on KSP and it feels like it's time to move onto new things, both on and off the computer. It's weird because it almost feels like closing a chapter in my life with the amount of time I played this game. So yea, this is it. But thank you SQUAD, for making this wonderful and educational game on spaceflight. We need more kids enthusiastic about the exploration of space. I thoroughly enjoyed this indie game and put more time into it than the AAA, big-budget titles out there. And I will always recommend it to others that haven't tried it!

If it wasn't time consuming and I had the motivation to do it, I was thinking of having a send-off, fly all my ships into Kerbol like the series finale of Battlestar Galactica. But let's say I did it in spirit! I will probably drop by the forums from time to time and continue watching Scott Manley videos here and there. But, I feel like I've had my dose of KSP, and now it's time to retire. Good luck to you all!

[worir4]

I bet you will be back for 1.0.5

[The_Rocketeer]

Imagination exhaustion. It happens.

Last time I really closed the door on a videogame was World of Warcraft. Make of that what you will!

[Rath]

Imagination exhaustion. It happens.

Last time I really closed the door on a videogame was World of Warcraft. Make of that what you will!

Never opened that door.

[John FX]

Would you still be quitting if each time you started career there was a new solar system generated by a seed which was not laid out straight away in the map screen meaning you had to explore it with telescopes and probes?

Well good luck to you in whatever you move on to.

[Thegamer211]

Would you still be quitting if each time you started career there was a new solar system generated by a seed which was not laid out straight away in the map screen meaning you had to explore it with telescopes and probes?

Well good luck to you in whatever you move on to.

Oh my god we need a mod that can do that.

[Mat2ch]

Hello sedativechunk,

you are not alone with this feeling. I completed going to all moons and planets yesterday with my marathon of probes. And now I'm empty. After finishing exploring everything I expected to get a note "you've done it all" or a contract to explore something special, but nothing happens.

I've got over 1000 hours in game. I built bases, stations, SSTO space planes, pushed asteroids, pulled asteroids, threw things back at Kerbin, made cars, trucks, a quadroengine thing with kOS which stays up just by controlling the engines and much more. I have the feeling that there is not much to explore left. And exploration takes time, too much for me right now. (Have a look here, I've written about it)

What makes me wanna stop playing also the little things. The lack of polishing, an empty Kerbin, the stuttering when flying my 100 parts rocket up through the atmosphere and seeing the heat effects kick in. I have to rely on MechJeb for all bigger projects, because otherwise its uncontrollable. Kerbin lacks roads, bridges, settlements, quarries. SpaceStations and Bases lack a reason for existance, even though this shall change, I still can deny the contracts and do it without. A game has to be rewarding. First time making an orbit all alone, this is rewarding. First time docking in space without Navyfishs docking alignment mod: It is rewarding! But after that it becomes annoying. I remember my first landing on the moon. That was a really good feeling! But since then it's all been the same. I always wanted to make a craft that can get back from Eve to orbit. But it's just too hard for me and I lost interest, all the testing, all the failures and then the bad performance, it took the fun out of it. And I don't get what ion engines are for now. It takes much too long for a dV change with them, not fun for me. The Nerfs aren't as good either. Ever did a 5 minutes burn? Boring, very.

This is not about KSP or Squad at all. I still love this game. It taught me so much about space, space exploration and travel I would have never learnt this on my own. I love showing it to other people, showing them how a rocket works and watching them making their first orbit and to see them having the same rewarding feeling afterwards.

For now I'll let it rest. I will test the new parts. I really love building planes. And now that I've got my own point of interest (a landed asteroid) on Kerbin I will fly over and "analyse" it with a rover. But I think I'll let it sit until 1.1. I love planes, but I also love cars and cars will be better in 1.1, not in 1.0.5. And maybe a good multiplayer will get me back. I love the idea of playing with others and learning from them.

[robcro]

Would you still be quitting if each time you started career there was a new solar system generated by a seed which was not laid out straight away in the map screen meaning you had to explore it with telescopes and probes?

Well good luck to you in whatever you move on to.

Thats an amazing idea. I'd love that.

[SRV Ron]

KSP has been setting on the back burner since Ark Survival Encountered came out. Day 170, which equals the number of hours in single player and have a variety of pets and crafted items to make life easier in that game. Waiting on version 1.05 before starting a new Career game on the new gaming computer that Ark forced me to invest in.

[mattbv]

Well, eventually these things happens. Good luck moving on =D

As I'm still a rookie on KSP, my journey is far from over.

Cheers

[Boris_T_Roach]

I know just how the OP feels

KSP has taken a bit of a backburner for me too, where as I used to spend hours trying to get exploration missions consisting of fuelling tankers, landing craft, orbit stations and rover drop ships to a world, I dont any more, sad but there you go;.;

KSP helped out when I was seriously ill by giving me something to do while stuck in hospital/at home, and all in all, its been the best $15 I've spent on a game ever.(bought it in alpha at about 0.11)

Boris

BUT... dont think you're safe , I'm still in space only this time in Elite : Dangerous, been blasting, trading, smuggling and exploring for since last xmas and having fun too

[Just Jim]

Actually, I was starting to feel like you around the time the upcoming 1.1 update was first announced. So I decided to take a break and play something else for a bit, mostly Neverwinter Nights II, one of my favorites, and good for killing about 3-4 weeks.

I'll be right back to playing KSP when 1.1 or 1.0.5 is released.

[Temeter]

Yeah, at some point it's just a bit much and you start playing less. Had the same experience some while ago, before returning to the game from time to time.

Taking a break, and enjoying other games is the right thing to do. That said, if you want to go back to KSP and find new challenges at some point, I heartily recommend Real Solar System and the Realism Overhault Mod.

[Majorjim!]

Never say never. Wait...

[Frozen_Heart]

KSP has been setting on the back burner since Ark Survival Encountered came out. Day 170, which equals the number of hours in single player and have a variety of pets and crafted items to make life easier in that game. Waiting on version 1.05 before starting a new Career game on the new gaming computer that Ark forced me to invest in.

I adore that game. Got completely addicted to it for quite a few months. Only problem is the grinding.

[KerikBalm]

Have you done an Eve SSTO?

They are just barely possible with the new Aero... but so far nobody has landed on eve, and then ascended to orbit. They hypereit their way to the surface with very flimsy landing gear, and of course start from pretty much the highest elevation possible.

Nobody has been able to deorbit, land on a place with high enough elevation, and then get back to orbit... but it may just be possible...

Have you SSTO'd Tylo.. both the de-orbit and reorbit?

Done a fully re-usable to moho/Eeloo and back mission without ISRU?

Made an SSTO spaceplane that can lift over 100 tons?

Crazy gravity assist trajectories to single stage to laythe and back with the new aero (ie, with the severely and rightfully nerfed jet engines)?

If you have, kudos.

[TheAurora]

I have had similar feelings of exhaustion. I have tried to leave it before, but KSP is a drug! It keeps bringing you back. I can't watch a space movie without withdrawals and thinking " Hey, I can build that in KSP!". I can't imagine what my life would be without it. Good luck on your future endeavors, but if you come back don't be surprised .

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

With such a well explained goodbye I am sure that you will eventually come back to play KSP as it evolves.

The question is not if, but when

However, the community will welcome you with open arms

[SmashingKirby148]

Have you though about making a youtube channel and starting a series? And I don't mean career mode, I mean like a full on series. Alien invasions, Kerbol dying, Colonization...

Ah well. This is the first post I've seen by you, and I haven't seen you before, but good luck to you.

[federicoaa]

I had same feeling some time ago, lost the enthusiasm, then saw Scott Manly playing RSS - RO, got into that and I'm hooked again XD

[Smitty2558]

Would you still be quitting if each time you started career there was a new solar system generated by a seed which was not laid out straight away in the map screen meaning you had to explore it with telescopes and probes?

Well good luck to you in whatever you move on to.

That is an amazing idea. A modder needs to see this.

[boxman]

Imagination exhaustion. It happens.

Last time I really closed the door on a videogame was World of Warcraft. Make of that what you will!

Does not help that Squad is no longer releasing any new parts that actually spark new creativity.

Instead of releasing simple unique parts like what docking ports did to the game, they are now going the other route and releasing entire cargo bays with doors.

Imagine if they instead just gave us the hinges and separate parts for the cargo doors?? Then we could have used these parts for non intended purposes in a more creative way and that would also lead to more unique looking ships. This is exactly the reasoning squad used in past, but suddenly they changed their mind completely and released dumbed down parts that can only be used for the task they are intended for.

A long time ago they also said they would release a tweakable rotor/ball bearing, which they even implemented but had to be activated by editing a config file. It was said that this would be enabled and included in stock game soon, as they just had to fix a bug that caused stability issues when time warping when using this rotor/ball bearing.

But then of course now like a year has passed and no mention of it at all and the devs behind it are probably long gone as well, since they seem to hire modders as devs only to fire them few months later and hire a new one.

It is really sad that nothing has been added to spark creativity with building since version .18. I want to make my own unique creations and not just use all prefab stuff that they keep adding now.

[Voculus]

I know the feeling of being burnt out. I have no life, and thus, 2000 hours of KSP under my belt. I haven't played seriously in a few months, but as soon as we have the Unity 5 update, I'm diving back in, with all the mods I've ever dreamed of, and no more OpenGL, which sometimes drags my framerate into the teens, with two 780s in SLI!

Take a break, then come out of retirement, Sedativechunk!

[Caelib]

KSP burnout ... happens to everyone I think. After a few months and a fresh update, you may decide to come back when you get bored with something else.

[The_Rocketeer]

Does not help that Squad is no longer releasing any new parts that actually spark new creativity.

...

Then we could have used these parts for non intended purposes in a more creative way and that would also lead to more unique looking ships.

I've seen cargo bays used as VTOL bays, landing gears, DIY cockpits and IVAs, hell, even as ballistic missile tube bays in submarines. While I agree that Squad's parts all seem part of the 'set' these days, I don't think this argument holds water in the face of the diversity of awesome mods, which were after all part of Squad's vision for their end product, and which broaden the scope of KSP tremendously. I'm part purist - I love stock KSP - but on the occasions when I think it gains something from a mod that's not present (I deliberately avoid the word 'lacking') in stock, I would much rather use the mod than see Squad do their 'official' version of someone else's idea.

This game has enough issues for Squad's devs to be working on without reworking mod concepts into stock parts. As ever, imagination is the key - I don't see any part as a shortcut, I see them all as opportunities.

(Hot tip - I recently noticed that the newer landing gears can have parts attached to the wheel trucks, which stay in place when the gear is retracted)