Why was this released?

[kspps4helpme]

I'm having a really hard time understanding why this game was released on consoles. Not that it wasn't wanted or that it should have never been on consoles but, why in world was this buggy excuse of a game allowed to be released on console? I understand there is a process where the games have to go through testing and then be approved by the console manufacturer but [snip] I'm feeling $40 in the hole after playing for a couple days. 8 complete freezes just today, unable to use maneuver nodes after a certain amount of time(completely random), massive frame rate drops at times. I love this game on PC so i just had to ask, "why?" Why wasn't more testing carried out to ensure players felt satisfaction in their money spent?

[Alshain]

Because that's how things are done here.  There hasn't been a PC release that didn't feel like it needs more testing, why would console be different.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

I feel for you man.

Buggy console releases are so frustrating, takes forever to get patched, and no hope of a player made mod/fix.

I'll never forget getting Skyrim for Xbox 360 and just being disappointed for months as game ruining bugs went unfixed leaving me unable to play my brand new 60 dollar game while PC players got constant patches to address problems. That experience kind of soured me on console gaming...kind of soured me on Bethesda too, to be honest. I've still never played Skyrim despite being a huge elder scrolls fan, it really pains me to think that the same thing is happening to prospective KSP players.

[Matuchkin]

You know what I think? I think that SQUAD should just stop with their updates, take a breath, and spend the next time squashing bugs. That'll give them less problems to focus on.

[Corona688]

The console version isn't under their direct control.

[Alshain]

45 minutes ago, Matuchkin said:

You know what I think? I think that SQUAD should just stop with their updates, take a breath, and spend the next time squashing bugs. That'll give them less problems to focus on.

I think that is more or less their intent for 1.2.  Though they are also optimizing and refactoring code, and there are at least a few new features.

[Scotius]

15 minutes ago, Alshain said:

I think that is more or less their intent for 1.2.  Though they are also optimizing and refactoring code, and there are at least a few new features.

Which, let's not kid ourselves here, will introduce new bugs. Which is inevitable with any huge piece of programming, and i do not begrudge Squad for it - it's how things are in software industry. Problem is, KSP was never particularly well suited for console gaming, and it shows now. This game was meant for PC's, needs precise control options and due to the code complexity (only now Squad is untangling the vicious snarl of custom-made patchwork that is KSP code) it needs to be patched easily and often.

[AlamoVampire]

Why? 

1. Money first and foremost.

2. Higher ups said do it.

3. Private agenda at squad.

its one, all, a mix or none of this. But my money is 1&2.

[Superfluous J]

Because if the money stops rolling in they all lose their jobs, or at the very best stop working on KSP and move on to an entirely different game.

[kiwi1960]

Yet another woe is me thread... the OP knew what the game was like on PC, so why bother buying it on console??????

You should just KNOW that is a game comes out on PC first, then the console game will suck... your controls are limited... that is why consoles, for me anyhow, SUCK!

Its not the game.... its the CONSOLE..... just as those with the PC version of the game complain about their computers having a hard time to run the game... its not so much the game... and as the computer. Consoles are for .... children.... IMHO.... they cannot NOT, and NEVER will replace the computer, because consoles are simple games machines... you cannot update them as easily as you can a PC, so you are stuck with what the manufactures sell you... unless you buy the latest Xbox or whatever.... problem is... by their very nature, consoles have to use outdated tech, and they are totally obsolete within six months. At least with a computer, you can buy a new video card, etc etc...

So why complain at all? Why pick on Squad at all?

Go look in the mirror.... take a good look at the person who spent $40 .... no one forced you to buy the console version.... right? NO, you decided it would be neat to play a high spec game on an inferior product. Also... blame the console makers... they saw people like you coming a mile away.

Squad was asked to do a console version and they did.... it is not their fault if the console cannot handle the game as well as a PC can.

Lastly... consoles are an abomination.... I hate them... NOW you know why.... but people blame the game rather than the toy they purchased to run these games. Why?

Have a nice day.

 

[Majorjim!]

Just now, 5thHorseman said:

Because if the money stops rolling in they all lose their jobs, or at the very best stop working on KSP and move on to an entirely different game.

They have made more then enough from KSP PC alone. They have enough to blow on employees outside work projects such as other game development and a music video/ studio.. If they put 100% back into KSP development and as we have been saying for two years, hired more coders this game would be a polished masterpiece by now and not the half finished buggy mess that it is.

P.S KSP is far and away my favorite game of all time. I just want to see it become all it can be. For everyone.

 

Just now, kiwi1960 said:

Go look in the mirror.... take a good look at the person who spent $40 .... no one forced you to buy the console version.... right?

That's not fair at all man..

 He paid full price for what should be a working product. There is nothing wrong with that. The responsibility lays squarely on the shoulders of Squad and FT.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Majorjim

[kiwi1960]

19 minutes ago, Majorjim said:

That's not fair at all man..

 He paid full price for what should be a working product. There is nothing wrong with that. The responsibility lays squarely on the shoulders of Squad and FT.

He also paid full price for the PC version of KSP, it has bugs... wheels for one... if anyone thought there would be no bugs in the console version... then that was foolish thinking... but still, he blames the game when everyone with a tech background knows its the consoles at fault.... which console are we talking about... how old is the tech it uses?

And example would be buying a CB64 when it was new and trying to run FALLOUT THREE or New Vegas... or 4 on it when everyone has moved to the PC and gotten better quality hardware.... consoles never stay ahead (much) with advances in video cards or RAM and the like... the day they announce its release... and confirm the specs.... is pretty much what you buy 5 years later, although the console may be new (when it was assembled) but the tech is still 5 years old... sure, 5 years ago, it could give the PC a run for its money... but not now... not when you can simply go and buy a new video card for your PC.... then only way you can do that with a console is to wait for them to release a new one... and buy it....

Meantime.... KSP is cutting edge tech... the class it is in means there is no other game like it out there.... and probably the best bet to run it exclusivity is a PC.... and even then... there are still bugs... so I repeat my statement.... why the hell would anyone want to buy KSP for a console when the console, by its very nature.... is an inferior product.

And I repeat,.... it is not the game at fault... it is the hardware.

 

BTW...... I have always hated consoles... when Squad said they were making a console version of KSP.... I knew this would happen... I knew, just KNEW... people would moan and groan about it. My prediction came true.... and has provided me yet another reason to hate consoles. Now us PC owners have to put up with a extra amount of moans and groans.

Edited August 1, 2016 by kiwi1960

[ag3nt108]

43 minutes ago, kiwi1960 said:

Meantime.... KSP is cutting edge tech... the class it is in means there is no other game like it out there.... and probably the best bet to run it exclusivity is a PC.... and even then... there are still bugs... so I repeat my statement.... why the hell would anyone want to buy KSP for a console when the console, by its very nature.... is an inferior product.

And I repeat,.... it is not the game at fault... it is the hardware.

 

42 minutes ago, kiwi1960 said:

BTW...... I have always hated consoles... when Squad said they were making a console version of KSP.... I knew this would happen... I knew, just KNEW... people would moan and groan about it. My prediction came true.... and has provided me yet another reason to hate consoles. Now us PC owners have to put up with a extra amount of moans and groans.

KSP runs just fine on my macbook Pro 2012, saying its cutting edge tech and the customer is at fault for buying on there platform is utter nonsense, Do you realise just how much of a PC fan boy you sound like posting this?

[p1t1o]

Wh..what is this!! Th-there's petrol everywhere! And are...are you playing with MATCHES!!?

[kiwi1960]

11 minutes ago, ag3nt108 said:

KSP runs just fine on my macbook Pro 2012, saying its cutting edge tech and the customer is at fault for buying on there platform is utter nonsense, Do you realise just how much of a PC fan boy you sound like posting this?

Not at all... I would have included the mac had it dawned on me... the point is, KSP was a windows game first, just as it was for the Mac.... and then Linux.... the point is that the computers running those systems can be upgraded.... a console cannot.

As for being a PC fan boy..... well, being 56 and a former Computer Tech probably does make me biased towards them... but my comments about consoles are 100% correct. I make no apologies for holding that opinion.

 

11 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

Wh..what is this!! Th-there's petrol everywhere! And are...are you playing with MATCHES!!?

I agree. I shall remain quiet now.... I made my point. I don't use matches, I have a lighter.... and right now.... its nowhere near me.

Peace out....

[RocketBlam]

1 hour ago, kiwi1960 said:

And example would be buying a CB64 when it was new and trying to run FALLOUT THREE or New Vegas... or 4 on it when everyone has moved to the PC and gotten better quality hardware.... consoles never stay ahead (much) with advances in video cards or RAM and the like...

I don't think this is a good argument. Yes, PCs get better, and their hardware eclipses platforms, but the game programmers know this. In fact they have an advantage designing for platforms precisely because they don't change. When you design for a PC, you have to design for older hardware because most people don't have the new stuff, and people can have oddball hardware configs you didn't plan for. With a platform, you know exactly what you're programming for and should therefore be able to make it more stable and perform better.

Edited August 1, 2016 by RocketBlam

[Umlüx]

the KSP console port is done by Flying Tiger Development, blame them. they already delivered some bad ports in the past, so.... nothing new here

 

[Majorjim!]

I agree that some of us knew it had the potential to be terrible on console but that does not mean people are foolish for buying a released product in the hope/expectation it would work. 

[Wjolcz]

Because it's either money or the "people wanted it" argument. Or the mix of both.

IMO KSP is not a console game material. I just can't imagine how one is able to build a complicated structure that is supposed to fly with using nothing but a console pad. Maybe with the WiiU pad, where you can drag-and-drop parts using the pen thing.

Anyway, the console release looks like an action performed mainly for that last cash injection for SQUAD. It's either that and we are getting close to KSP being "feature complete" (AKA abandoned) or getting a much needed overhaul.

I really do want to believe it's the second one, but the first option seems more probable, because of what's been going on with the dev team recently (asking the community to clean the bug tracker, not enough members of the team, etc.)

[The_Rocketeer]

There seem to be two different questions here:

1. Why was it released when it wasn't ready?

2. Why was it released on a limiting platform that can't deliver the PC experience?

In answer to 1, ever was it thus. It's simply better business to float something that's full of bugs and see if there's enough interest to make bugfixing economically viable than to spend the money bugfixing first and then find that your product turns out to have no market. There are many other facets to this, but I think this is pretty easy to understand.

In answer to 2, I think there's a presumption here that KSP is the same game with the same potential to all players. It isn't. For some it's a casual smash-and-crash experience, to others it's a really deep, realistic and intensive space exploration simulator. Neither is 'better', both are legitimate ways to entertain yourself with KSP, which as I have observed elsewhere is not a GAME but a TOY. The game you create for yourself with your own imagination.

Also, I think that selling an inferior experience on console (admittedly a dubious statement but bear with me), like the demo on PC, is actually quite a clever marketing technique. If gamers playing console KSP think that their console is limiting their enjoyment of the game, they'll buy another copy on PC just to be able to tap the freedoms it provides. The opposite is already demonstrably true - PC gamers buy the console version because they want things the console can offer that the PC (practically-speaking) can't, like playing as a casual/collective experience with family or friends. Ultimately this is good for everybody because it sells more licenses, which means more cash in the pot for more development and a better experience overall.

[Lich180]

For me, buying KSP on console was a no brainer. The only laptop/desktop I have access to can barely run Minecraft, let alone something like KSP. My gaming computer went out years ago, and I don't have the money to fix it. Got the PS4 for Christmas 2 years ago, so that's my main gaming rig. 40$ for a buggy but fun game, that has issues but is still very much playable, versus 500-1200$ for a good gaming computer, PLUS the cost of games. I don't have the cash to drop on a computer.

So I'll settle for an "inferior" system, that has access to games the pc doesn't, and still enjoy myself. I like gaming on pc for mods and random games found on steam, and I like consoles for the other games pc doesn't get, or that have larger communities on consoles.

And besides, KSP on console isn't really that bad. Yes, it runs rough, yes there are bugs, but it's still fun. People forget that not everyone can afford a gaming pc, while consoles are more affordable. 

 

[sal_vager]

Sorry guys but I have to close this, It's completely unfair to marginalize other gamers because of the hardware they use.

As for KSP on console, it's unfortunate that the initial release is in the current state, and anyone spending $40 on a game will understandably be upset if that game has issues.

It's not new for games, even console games, to have some bugs at release, but thankfully in these modern times it's much easier for developers to address these issues, instead of leaving their fans with an immutable cartridge or DVD.

And Squad is working with Flying Tiger on these issues, and just as with the PC release, the consoles will see updates over time.

 

Quote

The release processes on console and PC are quite different, and the console builds are based off of the PC ones. When we want to patch the consoles we merge PC commits and work on the custom code and assets that are needed to make it run on the consoles. The console builds then have to go through certification with the console manufacturer (Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo) before we can make them available. As a result the consoles are likely to run a little bit behind compared to the PC releases, but we will keep updating all platforms as we move forward.

 

All I can ask is that you're a little patient, and that you don't look down on others for how they choose to play their games, as it doesn't affect you playing yours.