Boxed Version

[pandaman]

1 minute ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I can burn any program to disk. Doesn't make it "official".

Well I don't do much outside of a computer so I really don't buy much.

Well I'd feel it wouldn't be good enough since I know I can do better than print 2 screenshots, add a logo and the game name on the spine. I could do more!

True, it wouldn't be 'official' which would be a shame.  And yes if there was an 'official' boxed version that offered me more than just a disk containing what I already have then I would certainly consider it.

[Red Iron Crown]

I don't see a disc run happening any time soon, even that proposed Gamer's Edition came with a Steam key rather than a DVD. Digital delivery is not even the future anymore, it's the present.

[GeneCash]

Yes, I'd buy a disc.  The sole reason I didn't get the Gamer's Edition was because it didn't come with a disc.

Since I didn't have Steam, a Steam key would have been useless. I finally have Steam working, but it's such a hassle that I don't use it.

I want a disc for the same reason I bought a KSP t-shirt and all the KSP Shapeways figures (except Val, and I need to rectify that)

Edited August 15, 2016 by GeneCash

[ZooNamedGames]

4 hours ago, Red Iron Crown said:

I don't see a disc run happening any time soon, even that proposed Gamer's Edition came with a Steam key rather than a DVD. Digital delivery is not even the future anymore, it's the present.

Which is my problem; I hate solely digitally based anything. Photos, movies, GAMES. 

Anything I purchase I want to be able to hold in my hands if possible and a disc version would be possible.

Heres a seperate question; could a lead a group to design a box cover for this in Fan Works? Or would that violate something?

[pandaman]

I suppose Squad 'could' do a 'made to order' disc version available from the store quite easily if they chose to, it would be more expensive due to postal costs etc. but it's doable...

(Just burn to disc, print the cover and post it whenever @ZooNamedGames orders one .

Seriously though that could be a possibility. 

Edited August 15, 2016 by pandaman

[ZooNamedGames]

15 minutes ago, pandaman said:

I suppose Squad 'could' do a 'made to order' disc version available from the store quite easily if they chose to, it would be more expensive due to postal costs etc. but it's doable...

(Just burn to disc, print the cover and post it whenever @ZooNamedGames orders one .

Seriously though that could be a possibility. 

I'll be one of the first to buy one when they do so  .

[Red Iron Crown]

39 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Heres a seperate question; could a lead a group to design a box cover for this in Fan Works? Or would that violate something?

You might find this interesting:

Not sure why you'd want a group to do it, artistic endeavors are usually better left to individuals.

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

On 8/12/2016 at 5:58 PM, ZooNamedGames said:

Well a thread under the General Discussion just got closed about having a boxed version of KSP and it makes me wonder- would anyone else buy one if they could? I would! I'd like to help create one! But I doubt they'll call me on... that's closer to @KasperVld's department and potentially others who aren't on forum. Ah well.

But yeah, who else would buy one if there was one?

I might, if it had infinite installs per disk

[ZooNamedGames]

37 minutes ago, Red Iron Crown said:

You might find this interesting:

Not sure why you'd want a group to do it, artistic endeavors are usually better left to individuals.

Well I can do some bits of it but others have superior skills as to the details. 

[adsii1970]

5 hours ago, Red Iron Crown said:

I don't see a disc run happening any time soon, even that proposed Gamer's Edition came with a Steam key rather than a DVD. Digital delivery is not even the future anymore, it's the present.

And I, for one, am glad. I have a box of old games that I have no idea what to do with. At least this way, through Steam, if I don't want to have it on my PC anymore, I just delete the local content. No more boxes, piles of filler paper and instruction books... Best thing to happen to computer gaming since summer break!

[ZooNamedGames]

54 minutes ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

I might, if it had infinite installs per disk

Yeah the new limited number of install crap is... Well crap since all it does is punisher the buyer, if you worried about people making copies of your game then add a disc key or something else. I have personal experience with this as my friend's computer kept getting broken by viruses forcing him to reformat the computer until he could no longer install Spore. A great game and a purchase that eventually got the bin because of that limited install crap. 

[adsii1970]

2 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Yeah the new limited number of install crap is... Well crap since all it does is punisher the buyer, if you worried about people making copies of your game then add a disc key or something else. I have personal experience with this as my friend's computer kept getting broken by viruses forcing him to reformat the computer until he could no longer install Spore. A great game and a purchase that eventually got the bin because of that limited install crap. 

Normally, if you contact the company that publishes the game, you can get codes to do a "one time" key. I've done that with a few professional programs and games. Some, like Microsoft, will also sell you another multi-use key, but for a token price if you actually registered the game (like you should) the FIRST time you install it.

 

[ZooNamedGames]

4 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Normally, if you contact the company that publishes the game, you can get codes to do a "one time" key. I've done that with a few professional programs and games. Some, like Microsoft, will also sell you another multi-use key, but for a token price if you actually registered the game (like you should) the FIRST time you install it.

 

Well this didn't offer a disc key- it was just a limited number of downloads. Nothing you can do :/ .

Back in the olden games when games HAD disc keys I never registered them :| (but then again that computer didn't have internet access).

[razark]

I might consider a boxed version if it came with a manual.

Not a quick reference guide and a card with default key bindings listed.  An actual manual.  Chapters on introduction to rocket science, orbital mechanics, the equations and how to work them, flavor, descriptions of parts and planets, etc.  I miss the days when you bought a box and it came with a 100+ page manual that you could club someone to death with.

[Slam_Jones]

Let's put it this way: SQUAD is a company, and companies exist for one purpose: to make money.

The cost it would take to acquire/rent/hire the facilities to create the boxes and disks, which will always have a rather steep set-up cost.  So right off the bat, they lose money.  Then it comes to distribution.  They have to load them onto trucks, and get them to distribution centers.  Again, more money.  Then it comes to actually shipping you the product... more money!

And for what?  A cardboard box with some ink and gloss on it, and a disk that will be obsolete by the time you receive it.  Nobody (relatively) will buy it, because nobody (relatively) wants it.  Nobody needs it, and it is, to put it plainly, an extremely outdated and slow method of getting your data/game/etc.   This product, what with the box et al, is a very niche product, and unlikely to sell their stock, let alone make back any investments made getting it produced.

So what it boils down to is this: they won't make any money doing so.  Ergo, they won't be doing so.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Slam_Jones

[ZooNamedGames]

12 minutes ago, razark said:

I might consider a boxed version if it came with a manual.

Not a quick reference guide and a card with default key bindings listed.  An actual manual.  Chapters on introduction to rocket science, orbital mechanics, the equations and how to work them, flavor, descriptions of parts and planets, etc.  I miss the days when you bought a box and it came with a 100+ page manual that you could club someone to death with.

Like the colorful original Legend of Zelda manual. That was a story, not a manual.

4 minutes ago, Slam_Jones said:

Let's put it this way: SQUAD is a company.  Companies exist for one purpose: to make money.

The cost it would take to acquire/rent/hire the facilities to create the boxes and disks, which will always have a rather steep set-up cost.  So right off the bat, they lose money.  Then it comes to distribution.  They have to load them onto trucks, and get them to distribution centers.  Again, more money.  Then it comes to actually shipping you the product... more money!

And for what?  A cardboard box with some ink and gloss on it, and a disk that will be obsolete by the time you receive it.  Nobody (relatively) will buy it, because nobody (relatively) wants it.  Nobody needs it, and it is, to put it plainly, an extremely outdated and slow method of getting your data/game/etc. 

So what it boils down to is this: they won't make any money doing so, ergo, they won't be doing so.

Or they could have them made to order like most of the other Merch. They're not Ubisoft- they don't need 100,000,000 cases on the shelves. The cost will be minimal as its shipped from them, I can buy a disc case for a dollar or less depending on where I buy. As to the game; again, a simple update program will fix that issue so it'll be as updated as the current release. 

[MaxPeck]

Everyone is overlooking the obvious, and that's the fact that one of three outcomes would come from a CD version of KSP:

1. I insert the CD in my computer.  The CD remains rigid in space and the computer begins rotating rapidly and heating to absurd temperatures before flying off in a random direction at 1200 m/s.

2. I accidentally drop the CD while inserting it, and upon touching the ground it explodes and my house begins vibrating wildly before flying straight up at escape velocity.  It bursts into flames before it leaves the atmosphere.

3. I insert the CD.  The entire earth abruptly turns into a white glowing ball and the laws of physics stop working.   

 

[pandaman]

5 hours ago, MaxPeck said:

Everyone is overlooking the obvious, and that's the fact that one of three outcomes would come from a CD version of KSP:

1. I insert the CD in my computer.  The CD remains rigid in space and the computer begins rotating rapidly and heating to absurd temperatures before flying off in a random direction at 1200 m/s.

2. I accidentally drop the CD while inserting it, and upon touching the ground it explodes and my house begins vibrating wildly before flying straight up at escape velocity.  It bursts into flames before it leaves the atmosphere.

3. I insert the CD.  The entire earth abruptly turns into a white glowing ball and the laws of physics stop working.   

 

You mean (gulp) a KSP disc would be subject to KSP wheel physics!!!!!

[pandaman]

As I said earlier,  I think a physical 'boxed' edition would be nice to have.  And, as has also been mentioned, distribution costs alone would be a lot, which would mean a much higher price and (even if I didn't already own a downloaded copy) for me to pay a lot more I would want to at least feel that I was getting a bit more for the extra investment.  Which means extra content in some form,  be it books, models, or extra disc content or whatever.  And I suspect most of us would feel the same. 

[_stilgar_]

On 13.08.2016 at 10:10 PM, ZooNamedGames said:

Besides, what if I want to play KSP in 30 years? Squad no longer sells it, steam has changed and no longer supports games that old, then what do I do? I've lost access to the game. A game I spent a huge chunk of my teenage years on. 

But you are still going to have a working DVD drive and a computer that can use it? Really? That would be like, wanting to play the game from the 80s by plugging a tape recorder to your PC and trying to get it to play it. 

You can download the games from the 80s from the internet. If they were popular, they most likely have communities that make sure they work. Or, other community writes a emulator, so you can have your old computer in your new computer (like DosBox). 

I'm sure that in the 2046 it will be easier to download the KSP from the Internet (or other network) than to read the DVD with the game. 

[mattinoz]

I have maybe thirty year ago silent service disks somewhere. That sure would be fun to play on my iPhone just need to work out how to insert the 5.25" floppy. 

[Red Iron Crown]

14 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Or they could have them made to order like most of the other Merch. They're not Ubisoft- they don't need 100,000,000 cases on the shelves. The cost will be minimal as its shipped from them, I can buy a disc case for a dollar or less depending on where I buy. As to the game; again, a simple update program will fix that issue so it'll be as updated as the current release. 

Not sure I see this as a desirable bit of merchandise, tbh. Anyone who wants a disc with KSP on it already has the means to make one for cheaper than it could be sold, so it becomes a bit of a collectible and there are better things to make collectibles. Like the KSP mission patch thing for the proposed Gamer's Edition.

[ZooNamedGames]

8 hours ago, pandaman said:

As I said earlier,  I think a physical 'boxed' edition would be nice to have.  And, as has also been mentioned, distribution costs alone would be a lot, which would mean a much higher price and (even if I didn't already own a downloaded copy) for me to pay a lot more I would want to at least feel that I was getting a bit more for the extra investment.  Which means extra content in some form,  be it books, models, or extra disc content or whatever.  And I suspect most of us would feel the same. 

Well I'm the opposite. I'm purchasing a disk, why would I want to pay more when all I want is the disk?

As to distribution costs, again, make them paid to order. Burn the disks at the Squad HQ and have the buyer payer for shipping so Squad loses a whole $2 in the process paying for a disk case, and a blank DVD-R disk. Oh no! The costs are absolutely atrocious!

8 hours ago, _stilgar_ said:

But you are still going to have a working DVD drive and a computer that can use it? Really? That would be like, wanting to play the game from the 80s by plugging a tape recorder to your PC and trying to get it to play it. 

You can download the games from the 80s from the internet. If they were popular, they most likely have communities that make sure they work. Or, other community writes a emulator, so you can have your old computer in your new computer (like DosBox). 

I'm sure that in the 2046 it will be easier to download the KSP from the Internet (or other network) than to read the DVD with the game. 

You obviously don't know the retro gaming market. I bought a Nintendo PowerGlove and NES just to own. I could play emulators but that isn't the real experience. Owning something does not equal having it.

I'm looking into getting a Commadore 64 as we speak. Why? Not because it has anything unique or powerful but because I can. To own a part of PC history. 

1 hour ago, Red Iron Crown said:

Not sure I see this as a desirable bit of merchandise, tbh. Anyone who wants a disc with KSP on it already has the means to make one for cheaper than it could be sold, so it becomes a bit of a collectible and there are better things to make collectibles. Like the KSP mission patch thing for the proposed Gamer's Edition.

It's obviously desirable to a few and maybe offering officially will call forth others to but it.

Nevertheless it would be much cooler to have something official rather than burning it to disc and that's it.

[adsii1970]

Had a chuckle...I can almost see the packaging now... "Kerbalized Space Program v1.1: The bugged edition"

[Red Iron Crown]

20 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Well I'm the opposite. I'm purchasing a disk, why would I want to pay more when all I want is the disk?

As to distribution costs, again, make them paid to order. Burn the disks at the Squad HQ and have the buyer payer for shipping so Squad loses a whole $2 in the process paying for a disk case, and a blank DVD-R disk. Oh no! The costs are absolutely atrocious!

Don't forget the upfront costs that need to be amortized. You have to pay a designer to create the artwork. You have to pay the higher ups to review and approve it. If it's a console version, it has to go through approval from the console people, and someone needs to pay attention to that. Suddenly you have a few thousand dollars' worth of cost to spread over an item that realistically can't be sold for more than a couple of dollars to a tiny niche market.

A better plan is to spread the distribution even further. Give the users the data that goes on the disc, let those that want them to create their own with hardware they already own at no additional cost to the company or the user! They can even pick the disc and case artwork they like best!

20 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

You obviously don't know the retro gaming market. I bought a Nintendo PowerGlove and NES just to own. I could play emulators but that isn't the real experience. Owning something does not equal having it.

I'm looking into getting a Commadore 64 as we speak. Why? Not because it has anything unique or powerful but because I can. To own a part of PC history. 

Retro gaming is a tiny, tiny niche market, and even that one isn't interested in newer games like KSP. It's a collectibles thing, the stuff is only valuable because it is rare. (I remember when Power Gloves came out, once a few were in the wild and people realized how awful they were stores couldn't give them away.)

20 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

It's obviously desirable to a few and maybe offering officially will call forth others to but it.

Nevertheless it would be much cooler to have something official rather than burning it to disc and that's it.

Cool doesn't always equal profitable, unfortunately.