How many instances of KSP do you run simultaneously?

[kBob]

I run ksp_x64 with my main career, but recently I've been keeping an instance of ksp open so I can quickly switch to it to try something out without having to exit my career save and switch to sandbox...after all isn't that what large amounts of RAM are for?  It looks like I could safely have at least one more open (especially if I didn't run IE too) though I can't really think of a reason why, unless I wanted to run two different careers simultaneously.

[Wallygator]

i run zero "simultaneously". With 16g ram here it does not make sense. Plus, I can't seem to understand why multiple version running live would be of benefit unless I was a paid QA resource  

 

[kBob]

Just now, Wallygator said:

i run zero "simultaneously". With 16g ram here it does not make sense. Plus, I can't seem to understand why multiple version running live would be of benefit unless I was a paid QA resource  

 

Did you read my post? I explained why I found it useful, it's a lot quicker than switching back and forth between sandbox and career.  I certainly have plenty of RAM unutilized on a 16GB system to run two plus some other stuff (like right now I'm at about 70% utilization).

[Slam_Jones]

Personally I will run 1 instance of KSP at most.

The only time I've ever multi-boxed is trying it out with World of Warcraft, and even that was a bit underwhelming.  (Though I did it with 2 characters, while I've seen people run 20+ using macros and such  o.o )

I just don't see the point in a space agency game.  Personally, I always make new designs in new games anyway, as for me, I like the engineering challenge of "build it, make it work, then remove as much as possible while still making it work".  Also (personally, again) I usually have radically different design ideas in the two modes: career vessels tend to be linear, efficient, and cheap.  My creative ships tend to be more... aesthetically pleasing, at the expense of efficiency.

 

Then again, everyone plays the game differently.  What's fun for me won't be fun for everyone who plays the game.

 

Edit:  Maybe, maybe if I had one copy running on one screen with a different copy/mod setup on a different screen.  Even then I'd just feel silly, though.  Or maybe a local DMP server or something.  idk.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Slam_Jones

[magnemoe]

Only run one version but might run two, remember taking part in beta of elder scroll online, it was plenty of long load times so I played KSP on screen two. 
I also tend to hang on forums or facebook during long burns as the current one

[THX1138]

2 hours ago, kBob said:

I run ksp_x64 with my main career, but recently I've been keeping an instance of ksp open so I can quickly switch to it to try something out without having to exit my career save and switch to sandbox...after all isn't that what large amounts of RAM are for?  It looks like I could safely have at least one more open (especially if I didn't run IE too) though I can't really think of a reason why, unless I wanted to run two different careers simultaneously.

Oh my gosh! My POS computer barely manages one instance; what hardware do you have? How old is that hardware?

[kBob]

ASUS Rampage V Extreme x99 motherboard, i7-5930k (not oced at present), 16GB ddr4, 980ti, SSD...and a good tower case with lots of nice big well oriented fans (no water cooling).  I built it Jan 2015.  There some bits in it quite a bit older like the hard drives  .  Now if my old Sandybridge motherboard hadn't physically cracked (probably the strain of a heavy graphics card) I'd still probably be using it (well it's still around it works with the onboard graphics).  I like to build my systems to last awhile (I used to build and sell custom systems, so I only enjoy doing it now once in a few years).

[Kerbin vonKerbal]

I run one instance at once. I like not making my presence known by the kraken, thanks.

[Wallygator]

11 hours ago, kBob said:

Did you read my post? I explained why I found it useful, it's a lot quicker than switching back and forth between sandbox and career.  I certainly have plenty of RAM unutilized on a 16GB system to run two plus some other stuff (like right now I'm at about 70% utilization).

As a matter of fact, yes I did. I answered your origami post title question and added  my personal perspective. Clearly, my opinion, play style and personal experience differ. Nothing wrong or objectionable either way. My theory is, do what makes you happy. 

[maceemiller]

I only run 1 at a time but I have 3 games....ksp1.1.3, ksp1.1.2 and ksp rss 1.1.2

[magnemoe]

Multiplayer might be useful for this, having an long burn going on in one window while you do other stuff

[kBob]

2 hours ago, Wallygator said:

As a matter of fact, yes I did. I answered your origami post title question and added  my personal perspective. Clearly, my opinion, play style and personal experience differ. Nothing wrong or objectionable either way. My theory is, do what makes you happy. 

Sorry just seemed like the way you expressed it you were ignoring what I was saying, happens on forums when you try to keep answers brief  , thanks.

10 hours ago, Kerbin vonKerbal said:

I run one instance at once. I like not making my presence known by the kraken, thanks.

Well I've been doing it for 24+ hours with 0 crashes , in fact the only crashes I've had were when I was running only single instances, but of course ymmv.

[swjr-swis]

14 hours ago, kBob said:

I run ksp_x64 with my main career, but recently I've been keeping an instance of ksp open so I can quickly switch to it to try something out without having to exit my career save and switch to sandbox...after all isn't that what large amounts of RAM are for?  It looks like I could safely have at least one more open (especially if I didn't run IE too) though I can't really think of a reason why, unless I wanted to run two different careers simultaneously.

Sometimes I have fired up older career installs alongside, allowing me to check on details of a craft/station/base from an older career I'm trying to recreate or improve on with the benefit of seeing live how it behaves, or sometimes just to compare things side by side.

Another reason: when I want to make a small edit to the 'master' of one of my stock craft to send up in a modded career but without contaminating it with mod modules - I can be up and editing in the stock version in under 30s, and finish editing, saving and copying over the craft file in less than half the time it would take to restart the modded install. Half the time it will just stay open alongside - it's never 'just' one quick edit, is it .

 

For up to 1.0.5, there's a potential use to run an extra instance - a permanent map view open on a second screen that is synced with your main game. It's not been updated for 1.1.x yet, hopefully at some point it will:

 

[Cairol]

My CPU is already about to melt with 1 KSP instance open. And it seems to not stop simulation/CPU utilization when ALT+TABbing out of the game.
So even with my 18 GB RAM, I'm not keen to try running a second instance.

[swjr-swis]

10 minutes ago, Cairol said:

And it seems to not stop simulation/CPU utilization when ALT+TABbing out of the game.

Have you tried the in-game setting that makes this happen?

[Cairol]

12 minutes ago, swjr-swis said:

Have you tried the in-game setting that makes this happen?

Hm, you mean the "Simulate in Background" setting?
It actually does the trick.I thought it has something to do with threading. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

EDIT: Hm. It does reduce CPU load. But it still simulates in background. When I fly an ascent and TAB out and come back 20 seconds later, my rocket has gained altitude.
Seems to still not work as I imagined. But I guess this is a bit off-topic now.

Edited June 25, 2016 by Cairol

[kBob]

1 hour ago, Cairol said:

Hm, you mean the "Simulate in Background" setting?
It actually does the trick.I thought it has something to do with threading. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

EDIT: Hm. It does reduce CPU load. But it still simulates in background. When I fly an ascent and TAB out and come back 20 seconds later, my rocket has gained altitude.
Seems to still not work as I imagined. But I guess this is a bit off-topic now.

Well if you hit the esc key to pause the simulation it seems to use very little resources while paused or that's been my experience while monitoring what's going on in task manager.  Also for my purposes I'm using the 32bit version of ksp for my second instance as it uses a little less memory though that's not really your problem (and might not work anyway if a lot of mods are being used).  And I "officially" declare you to still be on-topic  (I actually personally often find very useful information when people wander a bit from the main topic  ).

2 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

-snip

For up to 1.0.5, there's a potential use to run an extra instance - a permanent map view open on a second screen that is synced with your main game. It's not been updated for 1.1.x yet, hopefully at some point it will:

 

I'll keep my eye on that mod, would be very handy, thanks.

[Mjarf]

Multiple instances of KSP woulf fry both my CPU and my brain...

[Guest]

One instance. I quite frankly don't see the point in running more than that at a time. My computer has more than enough resources to run more, but there is no reason to.

[kBob]

48 minutes ago, Jack Wolfe said:

One instance. I quite frankly don't see the point in running more than that at a time. My computer has more than enough resources to run more, but there is no reason to.

Well if you play in sandbox and do your testing in the same save sure.  If you don't and find yourself switching saves then give it a try it's nice if you have the computer to handle it, saves time (I just start them both up at the beginning of a session so the second instance is always ready for a quick alt-tab and click).

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, kBob said:

Well if you play in sandbox and do your testing in the same save sure.  If you don't and find yourself switching saves then give it a try it's nice if you have the computer to handle it, saves time (I just start them both up at the beginning of a session so the second instance is always ready for a quick alt-tab and click).

 

If that works for you, fine. I still see it as a solution to a nonexistent problem.

[kBob]

1 minute ago, Jack Wolfe said:

If that works for you, fine. I still see it as a solution to a nonexistent problem.

And I see it as a problem with a solution  .

[Vanamonde]

Thread closed by OP's request.