KSP's legend of being all about explosions and destruction...

[VincentMcConnell]

is really no more. Honestly, when you think about it. I could see why the original 'old breed' of KSP used the whole idea of Kerbal Space Program being a game with a lot of explosions and failures. At that time, it wasn\'t as advanced. When you think about it now, though, KSP has all of these plug ins, advanced controlling systems etc. The game has a much higher success rate these days. I wonder if the reputation of 'explosion this, explosion that' will ever die off.

[Ascensiam]

Eh? I am still a purist, people can play however they want, they are people, the game is what it\'s always been. When you say mods ruin it it\'s like you\'re saying the mods are the game. No, Team Kerbal makes the game, which i am playing, and i still have 5-10 explosions before i can perfect a design.

[VincentMcConnell]

I didn\'t say mods ruin it... I think the more controlled aspects are better anyway. I like my missions to go nominally, not blow up. In fact, I said quite the opposite of what you thought... The devs have improved this game to a near frightening degree since it first came out. Hell, even in the last six months, I\'m shocked at how much it\'s changed for the better. Look at us. We\'re only a few weeks away from having our Kerbals open the hatch and step out into space to float around under our control...

[Lord Wasteland]

Even with plugins, still lots of disasters, before the design is ready...

[Ascensiam]

Even with plugins, still lots of disasters, before the design is ready...

You should only count it as a disaster if the crew dies, else it\'s just a loss.

I didn\'t say mods ruin it... I think the more controlled aspects are better anyway. I like my missions to go nominally, not blow up. In fact, I said quite the opposite of what you thought... The devs have improved this game to a near frightening degree since it first came out. Hell, even in the last six months, I\'m shocked at how much it\'s changed for the better. Look at us. We\'re only a few weeks away from having our Kerbals open the hatch and step out into space to float around under our control...

You specifically refer to plugins, the way you\'re talking about development i\'d als like to remind you that explosions too are going to get much better, and more methods simply means more ways to create a massive fireball, trust me, this will stick with the game forever.

[Lord Wasteland]

You should only count it as a disaster if the crew dies, else it\'s just a loss.

Let\'s see per each new design, 2 disasters, 3 losses, one partial-failure, and one success, which augments the design is ready.

[Extemporary]

You think addons and plugins cause fewer explosions?

[softweir]

A rather large majority of the community got a lot of fun out of the booms. But that\'s human nature rather than anything intrinsic in the game: pratfalls and banana-skin comedy are almost universally appreciated - chimpanzees enjoy physical comedy at least as much as we do!

In particular, people love amusing but safe outcomes to mistakes, especially when learning a new skill - the billiard ball that pops off the table and into a beer mug is much better enjoyed than a simple missed pot.

I think that what is happening on these forums is not that the game is changing, but that an increasing percentage of the population are learning the skills needed to avoid accidents, and are now able to get satisfaction from success rather than comedic failure. The plugins help - A LOT - but they aren\'t the complete explanation. (For instance, I can now generally manage a Münshot without using MechJeb OR the patched comics system, simply because I have greater experience.) This leads to a change in the atmosphere on the forums, though I hope we will never become intolerant of laughter at silly accidents!

[xclusiv8]

Ever since the space plane facility was erected I\'ve had more explosions than i can count.

[purple100]

I have fun building ungainly rockets that lose control and explode mid-air. Landing on Mun for the 40th time is boring.

[Tim_Barrett]

This is basically what most of the community went through:

Came for the explosions, stayed for the rocketry and science :thumbup:

(also it feels good to get something productive done on your first try)

[VincentMcConnell]

(also it feels good to get something productive done on your first try)

I agree. I just did the final flight dynamics checkout of the rocket I\'m using for my first spacewalk when .16 comes out. It uses the stock pod (because it may only be possible to do EVA with the stock pod. Not sure.)

I followed a detailed checklist I made up and it reached the ideal orbit and went nominally the first try. All that was missing from this flight and the real one was that the hatch was not opened and no Kerbal stepped into space at 75KM from the surface. Think of it like a dress rehearsal.

[Commander Zoom]

Part of it is that back when Explosions Were Big, there was literally nothing else to do yet (well, that and orbit Kerbin ... with no time acceleration... for as long as you could stand). No Mun, no Minmus, no persistence, only the most primitive of planes...

[VincentMcConnell]

Sometimes I do entire missions with no time warp. It\'s fun lol.

[ping111]

Part of it is that back when Explosions Were Big, there was literally nothing else to do yet (well, that and orbit Kerbin ... with no time acceleration... for as long as you could stand). No Mun, no Minmus, no persistence, only the most primitive of planes...

Oh, you\'re so amateur. Back then, orbiting was the FUN. It was so hard, because the atmosphere was like a brick and you had to wait forever in insane anticipation that your orbit succeeded. I had a clipboard FULL of notes and tables about orbiting.

[NovaSilisko]

I came for the rocket science and stayed for the rocket science

[VincentMcConnell]

I came for the rocket science and stayed for the rocket science

Me too. A friend recommended the game to me back in July of 2011, but I didn\'t want to play since you couldn\'t go to the moon. I decided not to download it. Well, months went by. In December of 2011, I was planning to hook solid rocket boosters up (very calculated of course) and launch two unmanned wagons into the sky. I was designing all sorts of guidance systems, motor designs etc. I planned that if both flights were successful, either myself or my friend would launch aboard one of the 'Radio Flyer' wagon boosters. Due to lack of funding for all of the things we needed, I realized fairly quickly that it would be impossible.

I wanted rocket science, though. So I remembered back to July and said, 'I think I\'m going to give that Kerbal game a try.' I came in at 13 and now I\'m hopelessly addicted to this game... lol

[Stevenator1]

I\'m hopelessly addicted as well, I just have never made a name for myself in the public eye. I have played since (I think) version 6 or so. The ones with no mun, minmus, ships, fins, landing gears, persistance, or really anything. Back then it was fun. Now it is just sheer over-abounding joy!

The new plugins have really made it (slightly) a more Orbiter-like experience. I can calculate my launches, my stages, I can use the Kerbal Engineer plugin to find the best thrust/mass ratios.

I am probably going to go into the modding and plugin developer scenes. I am an extremely proficient programmer, but it never even entered my head that I should program for this game until a few days ago.

But back to the topic of this discussion - It is still completely for the explosions and destruction. . . But in new exciting ways!

[VincentMcConnell]

Mostly just the mod makers make names for themselves. Look at Nova. He\'s a dev now and I bet he\'s making thousands a week. Lucky son of a gun.

[Stevenator1]

Indeed it is mostly mod and plugin makers that can do that. Which means, in order to make myself famous, it is time to make a mod!

I\'ve had so many ideas in my head, I\'m not sure what is possible in the realm of the current coding of this game however.

I shall check the sdks, and see what can be came up with!