BUG: KSP Launcher Cannot Finish 1.1.2 Update

[Roninpawn]

While updating to 1.1.2 through the launcher I noticed an error in red. The rest of the install carried on fine so I didn't look too hard. I got into 1.1.2, put a plane on the Tier 1 airstrip (one up from dirt) and all three wheels of a plane that worked in 1.1 were completely embedded into the ground. Throttling took ages to create speed because it wasn't just visual, the wheels are failing to function at all as wheels, and are basically just a rigid part grinding against the surface. When I hit around 22km/s the steering wheel in the rear exploded. So I went back to see what this updating error was, and if something had broken the install.

I'm unhappy to report that the error is the launcher's updater trying to update a file that the updater itself has in use and won't release. (see screenshot above) I'm going to assume that this log file that wants renamed is just a log file, and doesn't affect the rest of the update process. Which means I have a good clean copy of 1.1.2 - the version that patched broken wheels from the 1.1.1 patch for the broken wheels in 1.1 - and this new version has broken wheels on a whole new level.

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Career mode doesn't work so long as you can't use the first wheels the game gives to you. You can't build your first plane. You can't do any of the site survey missions that take players to new biomes where they can legitimately collect more science. (You can, but players mustn't be expected to build crazy rockets, out of early-game parts, to deliver them to locations below 18km -- and I don't believe that's not how you intend it to be played.) Between getting an orbit and starting to run Moon missions all you can do is test parts and move tourists around. Building planes is not an option right now, even though it is exactly the intended path for players to follow and exactly what Mission Control emphasizes at that stage of the game.

Dear Squad, THIS is the game of your game. You don't seem to pay much attention to the game of your game. Version after version, since 0.24, and well past 1.0 now, I have watched as this team has favored adding new parts and new game mechanics, tweaking the physics, altering atmospheric drag formulas, and developing virtually every other area of the sandbox in which the game takes place OVER THE GAME THAT TAKES PLACE.

Your playtesters clearly do not have a script to follow to test career mode, and they should. This team, and I'm talking about the development team, needs to have more than just a soft-idea of what players will be doing with their newly unlocked parts as they progress through the career mode of the game. Mission control should be a central priority for you, as it is the conduit through which new players see what they should try next, as well as what the game believes them able to do with the tech they have, or will be getting soon. And at least some portion of your playtesters need to have a checklist of basic milestones to fulfill in each and every new iteration of the game that is passed down to them to verify that the path of the game -- most importantly the early game -- still works no matter the version. Because that's the GAME of this game. It's important. It should be the MOST important.

I'm taking time to write this because you could not have released this version, or the two that preceded it if you had already taken this idea to heart; if it truly was a priority to you. Releasing, but over and over again, in this state evidences a mind that has been so focused on implementing a more expansive sandbox that it has come to devalue game progression to the point that it's okay for the Career paths to be completely and utterly broken -- if just for *this* release. It is not okay. It hasn't been okay since 1.0. And it should not be okay to you any more, or ever again.

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I will make myself available if you'd like to hire me to direct playtesting.
That role is supposed to be filled by an impassioned critic who rubs you the wrong way.
Someone who won't quietly let things like this slide. Who will demand your attention and challenge you to make it better every time.

Right now, you're in the hug-box.

[Robi]

The launcher is not allowing access to output_log.txt. So I just ran the patcher by itself and not the launcher. and I didnt get an error message! BUT.. it only updated from 1.1 to 1.1.1 and will not update to 1.1.2. 

[squeaky024]

6 hours ago, Robi said:

The launcher is not allowing access to output_log.txt. So I just ran the patcher by itself and not the launcher. and I didnt get an error message! BUT.. it only updated from 1.1 to 1.1.1 and will not update to 1.1.2. 

Yeah this is what happened to me as well. I tried running the patcher multiple times, even on its own and with admin but it would only patch to version 1.1.1.1250 in 64 bit.

Literally any wheel I use explodes anything no matter how simple the design but that's for another thread and I can live without them for a while anyway. Mostly I'm just wondering what to do with the KSP version and if I need to go download the whole game again or something for 1.1.2

edit: I hope I didn't miss anything in the stickys but the thread about the launcher not updating doesn't exactly seem relevant to this issue, and my game is a new install on a new computer and I started with version 1.1 here.

edit 2: I also doubt OP is on version 1.1.2 because when updating from the launcher mine stopped at exactly the same percentage but still said update successful... yeah right its the wrong version!

Edited May 5, 2016 by squeaky024

[Roninpawn]

Thanks to both of you for pointing this out. I didn't look hard at the version number after updating. I really hope the case here is that the updater isn't updating to the latest version and I can just download the full 1.1.2 from the KSP shop. I never used the launcher/updater when KSP was in alpha because it only ever half-worked. Only started using it come KSP 1.1. Between not getting early access to the 64bit when it was in testing (while others on Steam had the option) and the lack of care that's gone into the maintenance of the proprietary launcher, I'm starting to wish I hadn't gone out of my way to purchase direct. Thought I was helping the developers by cutting out a middle man.

Feels like Squad got a little extra, and I got a lot less.

Thanks again though, you guys.

[EDIT: Confirmed. 1.1.1.1250 -- Time to download the full version direct and never use the launcher again.]

Edited May 5, 2016 by Roninpawn

[Roninpawn]

Downloaded 1.1.2.1260 direct from the Kerbal Store and tested it. The first wheels you unlock in career mode, and by extension all planes built of them, are still utterly unusable. Wheels merge into the runway on spawn and explode at ~25m/s on the dirt runway. They can technically be dragged all the way down the top tier runway in sandbox mode at 160m/s and attain flight, but can't be landed on at all. A 50m/s descent with a buttery smooth touchdown controlled exclusively by trim results in complete and instant destruction upon contact with the runway.

Additionally, crew in the Mk1 Crew Cabin don't appear in the lower corner anymore, and further I cannot see the interior of the crew cabin from their POV. 'c' followed by 'v' just kicks me back out to the exterior view. Not sure if it's true for Tourists, but it's true for Bob Kerman. 

Oh and custom .png flags with alpha channels become transparent when you mouse over the cockpit.

That's what I found in a half an hour with 1.1.2. So, when's 1.1.3 out?

[Roninpawn]

Final update on this thread.

I have at last managed to install 1.1.2 with functional wheels. If you update and wheels don't work, start from absolute scratch. Download from the Kerbal Store. Extract to a new directory. Don't use the launcher (as a general rule since they don't keep up with it) just open KSP_x64.exe. Test that wheels work in a fresh sandbox before importing your saves. If it works, try moving over your saves. If that works, congratulations you've put more time into installing the latest version than you have in enjoying the game.

That is all.

[squeaky024]

Yeah this update made me switch over to the steam version for the ease of updating. I was fortunate to have bought the game back at the end of 2012 so I had to option to transfer my purchase. I haven't tried a landing yet but wheels seem to work on the runway at least when I tested a stock rover.

[Integrals]

After a long break from KSP I come back to the same issue. Looks like my break is going to be a bit longer.