So... KSP dead?

[Vegatoxi]

In 2013, when i first meet KSP, it was something really new and unusual. I played almost 600 hours between 0.23 and 1.0 and it was really fun. I read DevNotes every week in anticipation of new cool stuff. But then hit a black line between 1.0 and 1.1 - lack of updates, lack of mods ( a lot of my favorite mods was abandoned) DevNotes become boring. Hype is ended, literally. Then 1.1 was released and broke everything, first of all - legacy shaders was removed and i couldn't play. Then BD armory and a lot of relative mods was abandoned. Then i heard that a lot of SQUAD team was leave. And what we have now? Almost no new info about future of KSP. A lot of mods abandoned because of KSP stagnation. No roadmap. And etc.

So if compare 2013 with now... seems KSP is dead, or at least at death's door.

 

Edited December 7, 2016 by Vegatoxi

[NSEP]

No, updating just goes slower. You can call games dead when the devs have been unactive at least 2 years.

And it is possible for the devs to start returning to the game and bringing it back up.

Games don't just die.

[Spacetraindriver]

KSP is currently not at its highest at the moment but it certainly is not dead! Adding more stuff means you are running out of stuff to add. KSP is now officially "out" so updates won't be as frequent because its not in development 24/7. They have just refined the game. I'm sure they're brainstorming ideas for the next version.

[Atlas2342]

 

You might want to read this.

2 minutes ago, NSEP said:

Games don't just die.

Especially not this one

[Dres]

Ah, the good old KSP is dead/dying/not what it used to be thread. But I digress.

I would say that KSP is far from dying, it still has a growing playerbase, updates are still being released. I would argue that 1.2 is the most stable release I've had in a long time. Compatibility issues are inevitable when updates are released.

Mod abandonment is understandable when you think about the behind the scene changes behind 1.1 and such, modders are real people and sometimes the work can be too much for them. Eventually, someone comes around to pick up the torch and carry on. 

And yes, a lot of people have left the dev team. But other people have joined too! We still have people like RoverDude, who help bring us better updates, and while the team is definitely smaller than it was before, its pretty solid.

 

So in short, I definitely think KSP has a lot more of a life to live.

[NSEP]

And bug fix updates are pretty frequent, one per 2 months or so. Never forget those!

[MaxxQ]

22 minutes ago, Vegatoxi said:

In 2013, when i first meet KSP, it was something really new and unusual. I played almost 600 hours between 0.23 and 1.0 and it was really fun. I read DevNotes every week in anticipation of new cool stuff. But then hit a black line between 1.0 and 1.1 - lack of updates, lack of mods ( a lot of my favorite mods was abandoned) DevNotes become boring. Hype is ended, literally. Then 1.1 was released and broke everything, first of all - legacy shaders was removed and i couldn't play. Then BD armory and a lot of relative mods was abandoned. Then i heard that a lot of SQUAD team was leave. And what we have now? Almost no new info about future of KSP. A lot of mods abandoned because of KSP stagnation. No roadmap. And etc.

So if compare 2013 with now... seems KSP is dead, or at least at death's door.

 

Ummm... BD Armory is NOT dead:

It's just being carried on by someone new.  Just because the originator of a mod has stopped working on it doesn't mean the mod is dead.  I'd say roughly 50% of the mods I use are ones that have been carried on by someone other than the originator, and I've got something like 70+ mods installed.

As for the rest, KSP just released a new patch today/yesterday, so it seems that there are still people working on it.  Also, have you noticed the ad up top of the main page where Squad are hiring?

Edited December 7, 2016 by MaxxQ

[Red Iron Crown]

If I dug a grave every time someone told me KSP was dead or dying I'd be near the Earth's core by now.

[p1t1o]

22 minutes ago, Red Iron Crown said:

If I dug a grave every time someone told me KSP was dead or dying I'd be near the Earth's core by now.

God that sounds like a lot of work! Why dont you just take a penny like everyone else and get rich instead!

[GluttonyReaper]

51 minutes ago, Vegatoxi said:

No roadmap

Has KSP ever had a roadmap?

[Tex_NL]

And to proof once and for all KSP is not dead (yet); KSP 1.2.2 has been release just 16 hours ago.

 

[Gaarst]

1 hour ago, Vegatoxi said:

In 2013, when i first meet KSP, it was something really new and unusual. I played almost 600 hours between 0.23 and 1.0 and it was really fun. I read DevNotes every week in anticipation of new cool stuff.

Game was in Beta so makes sense that there were lots of releases

Quote

But then hit a black line between 1.0 and 1.1 - lack of updates, lack of mods ( a lot of my favorite mods was abandoned) DevNotes become boring.

1.0 was the "official release" (not saying it deserved that title), it makes sense that the devs would stop rolling features every week or so. We have 4 (necessary) patches, and one update to prepare 1.1. The time between each leaves time for mods to be updated and to actually enjoy the game for a few months.

Also, lack of mods? Did you even check out the Add-on Releases? If some mods you use get abandoned, check for new ones.

The DevNotes were still fine, but they took more time to do their thing so they were a bit emptier than during Alpha or Beta.

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Hype is ended, literally.

Speak for yourself. While I gave up on hype after 1.0, most of the players are still on board the Hype Train™ whenever an update is announced.

Quote

Then 1.1 was released and broke everything, first of all - legacy shaders was removed and i couldn't play.

I don't see how a shader being removed can prevent you from playing, but hey, we've had weirder bugs.

Quote

Then BD armory and a lot of relative mods was abandoned.

I don't know, the Spacecraft exchange is still full of people building jet planes, dropping missiles and butchering other Kerbals, that has never changed.

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Then i heard that a lot of SQUAD team was leave.

Grammar aside, that was bad news. But we're still to close to actually know the consequences on the game's development. Nothing says they won't find good devs and continue just fine.

Quote

And what we have now? Almost no new info about future of KSP.

We've never had many concrete info on the future of KSP except when just before an update. Though I agree this has gotten a lot worse since 1.2 release.

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A lot of mods abandoned because of KSP stagnation. No roadmap. And etc.

See above about abandoned mods. See above for no roadmap.

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So if compare 2013 with now... seems KSP is dead, or at least at death's door.

In 2013 KSP was in Alpha/Beta (can't be bothered checking the dates right now). It's like saying a 10 year old is dead because it doesn't grow as fast as a 6 months old baby. It makes perfect sense that the update pace slowed down.

 

Anyway, you still have a game with hundreds (if not thousands) of mods to play with, even if development is stopped. So in the end, who cares?

Edited December 7, 2016 by Gaarst

[Starwaster]

17 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

God that sounds like a lot of work! Why dont you just take a penny like everyone else and get rich instead!

Because nobody likes to be crushed to death under a pile of pennies?

[Xavven]

1 hour ago, Vegatoxi said:

... seems KSP is dead, or at least at death's door.

 

[citation needed]

[Vegatoxi]

12 minutes ago, Gaarst said:

I don't see how a shader being removed can prevent you from playing, but hey, we've had weirder bugs.

Cuz it turns 30+ FPS into 15.

[GDJ]

1 hour ago, Vegatoxi said:

In 2013, when i first meet KSP, it was something really new and unusual. I played almost 600 hours between 0.23 and 1.0 and it was really fun. I read DevNotes every week in anticipation of new cool stuff. But then hit a black line between 1.0 and 1.1 - lack of updates, lack of mods ( a lot of my favorite mods was abandoned) DevNotes become boring. Hype is ended, literally. Then 1.1 was released and broke everything, first of all - legacy shaders was removed and i couldn't play. Then BD armory and a lot of relative mods was abandoned. Then i heard that a lot of SQUAD team was leave. And what we have now? Almost no new info about future of KSP. A lot of mods abandoned because of KSP stagnation. No roadmap. And etc.

So if compare 2013 with now... seems KSP is dead, or at least at death's door.

 

I suggest you do a little more reading. I'm pretty sure any mod you have that's "dead" can be replaced.

BDA is far from dead, it's now BDA continued
Quizztech is now Quizztech continued
Procedural Parts and fairings are still here
Firespitter is alive and functioning
 

I can go on and on.

[wumpus]

23 minutes ago, Tex_NL said:

And to proof once and for all KSP is not dead (yet); KSP 1.2.2 has been release just 16 hours ago.

 

While this is great, I'm convinced the real life of a game can be found in the mods.  The "official" game has to appeal to virtually everybody (and compared to just about any other game, I can't think of anyone rage quitting over all the changes they've made).  The mods can greatly appeal to a small sliver of that small sliver of the general population that loves KSP.  The mods extend the game in many ways that the official releases just can't (although I'd think that Kerbal Engineer should be engulfed much like hyperedit and so many others).  Realism Overhaul is probably the most extreme, and collects enough mods to appeal to many kerbalnauts while not really following Harvester's original vision of a "light hearted orbital".  And if you really hate your processor, you can presumably fix the gravity as well.

I also have to object that the whole idea that once a game hits peak popularity, or even is no longer actively developed it is dead.  A game is dead when it is no longer played, and KSP doesn't have specific servers that require connection to play.  It will live on as long as a PC (or Mac/PS4/XB1) can be emulated and somebody has a copy of KSP (obviously plenty of the old versions *are* dead, unless Havester pulls them out for old times sake).

Is Starcraft[1] dead?  When was it last updated?

Counterstrike?

On a thread on a different forum I pointed out ongoing mod development of Morrowind (a 2002 game with two more recent games in the series).

Civilization 2 (not 5,4, or 3.  TWO as in 1996). https://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/civ2-general-discussions.11/   Last comment, yesterday (I prefer 4.  Gotta love Nimoy doing the voice work.)

 

Kerbal Space Program has a certain advantage as there doesn't appear a clear roadmap to a KSP 2.0 (perhaps KSP-VR someday).  This implies that while there won't be another direct boost to KSP, there also won't be anything effectively replacing it.  I suspect this game will have a seriously long tail.

[afterword]

I'm also confused as to what more can be done in sandbox.  I've felt that the exodus of devs is due to completion of the sandbox.  Career mode obviously needs work, but that is a different set of skills.  What more do you want?

Multiplayer:  It seems multiplayer is a critical feature to some people.  Except that space travel is *slow*.  How do you deal with multiple players wanting to run time at different speeds?

Realism: Realism overhaul exists, as far as I know Ferram aerospace still improves the [much better than it used to be] stock aero model.  Principia exists (with n-body gravity), but I don't know how stable it is.

Interstellar: Interstellar travel is fundamentally different from interplanetary model and typically requires technology that doesn't even exist in the lab.  Expect this to stay as a mod.

Here's a hint:  of the above can can be found in mods (no idea if the multi-player hack is current), and would likely change the game too much to expect the entire player base to move to such new play.  I'd also like to see less bugs, but I'd like to see that in all software across the board.  And a pony, and my very own rocket.

Edited December 7, 2016 by wumpus

[dangerhamster]

Oh noes, KSP dead? You heard him everybody stop playing right away.......

Even if Squad vanished overnight the game would carry on, would say more but @wumpus just put it very eloquently.

[Epox75]

KSP is a game that goes along with size of your brain... the bigger the brain is the bigger the game is.   

Edited December 7, 2016 by Epox75

[Vegatoxi]

1 minute ago, Epox75 said:

KSP is a game that goes along with size of your brain... the bigger the brain is the bigger the game is.  

But your brain is limited by a braincase

[Gaarst]

1 hour ago, Vegatoxi said:

Cuz it turns 30+ FPS into 15.

I don't see how having 15 FPS can prevent you from playing.

[monstah]

2 hours ago, Red Iron Crown said:

If I dug a grave every time someone told me KSP was dead or dying I'd be near the Earth's core by now.

Almost 3 and a half million times!  

[p1t1o]

KSP in its twighlight, post-v.1.0, post-64bit, post-unity upgrade years, is more alive than alot of games still in Early Access or otherwise mid-development.

Also:

1 hour ago, Tex_NL said:

And to proof once and for all KSP is not dead (yet); KSP 1.2.2 has been release just 16 hours ago.

/thread

Edited December 7, 2016 by p1t1o

[Red Iron Crown]

13 minutes ago, monstah said:

Almost 3 and a half million times!  

You might be a mathematician but you're no geologist. The core isn't a point.  

[monstah]

"Almost"...

EDIT: Yes, make it half as that then, Mr. Accuracy Trumps Humour.