Kerbal Notspace Program

[NSEP]

It seems like a big chunk of the KSP community does not even go to space ingame. But why? Im not hating them, i personally think everyone is free to do anything, im just asking a friendly why? 

Edited May 11, 2017 by NSEP

[StahnAileron]

With the right mods, staying on Kerbin is actually enjoyable. Scatterer makes daytime, dawn, and dusk on Kerbin quite gorgeous. I'd play with Eve, but I would need to figure out how to turn off the faux-city effects below certain altitudes (or barring that, completely). It's immersion-breaking when up-close to one of those areas.

In my old 1.0.5 career game, I would just design VTOL science planes and do the science collection missions around Kerbin. I used KerbinSide to make it less tedious. (Having more than one location to launch from and land at.) I was only in space long enough to set up ScanSATs and RT constellations for the local Kerbin system (Kerbin, Mun, Minmus).

So yeah, KSP is a bit more Kerbal Flight Simulator for me. There's something about just cruising around Kerbin and staying under 30km. (At least with some visual mods.)

If anything, I have yet to really leave the Kerbin area and go interplanetary. In that old 1.0.5 career with KerbinSide, I did launch a solar survey probe (DMagic Orbital Science survey mission). That's about as far as I got. My end goal in KSP is really to just colonize the Mun and Minmus. (I advocate lunar colonization in real life. IMHO, Mars is overdoing it in the near-term.) Lack of endgame gameplay mechanics has deterred me from really doing it. If I ever get my head wrapped around EPL, maybe then.

The last thing I did that I wanted to do but didn't get around to it was finally build a space station. This was mainly because 1.2.x could handle high part counts better than 1.0.5 ever could.

[Human Person]

I guess people who don't go to space simply haven't got enough boosters. This applies not only to KSP, but also to real life.

 

Boy, if I had enough boosters, I'd be going to space every day of the week.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Physics Student

[Overland]

I Brought KSP for the space

Stayed for the trains..

I dont love going into that inky blackness of nothing and pressing time acceleration until I get to some place where I need to take action

You cant use time acceleration with trains.. You keep your eyes on the road, listen for the sliding of the rear wagon..carefully survey the terrain..plot routes.. Manage acceleration and braking and suchlike

The fact that its got space in the title and capability of it means....something

.like able to shoot fuel tanks over the horizon to a train in need.. 

But all up for me..its been almost 3 years

The xbox Mc2 steering wheel planted on my desk ..pedals and throttle get used in KSP and eurotruck 2 all the same

Its been the best game purchase ive made

Better than any specific simulator

Its grown both as a land train living ecosystem of awesome... And changed my rail enthusiast roots to include and even learn the 100 year history of the land train

Its become its own thing

KSP, there is many like it

But this one is mine

And unless other games include a map to drive on 1000 of kms wide

Ksp remains my land train platform of choice

 

It all started here by accident after a plane crash in inaccessable terrain

It became much much more

 

Btw

Poll needs a more inclusive "kerbin is my home"

For the car truck train drivers

For the submarine and boat captains

One does not simply.. Mess around on kerbin

Edited May 7, 2017 by Overland

[NSEP]

11 minutes ago, Overland said:

I Brought KSP for the space

Stayed for the trains..

I dont love going into that inky blackness of nothing and pressing time acceleration until I get to some place where I need to take action

You cant use time acceleration with trains.. You keep your eyes on the road, listen for the sliding of the rear wagon..carefully survey the terrain..plot routes.. Manage acceleration and braking and suchlike

The fact that its got space in the title and capability of it means....something

.like able to shoot fuel tanks over the horizon to a train in need.. 

But all up for me..its been almost 3 years

The xbox Mc2 steering wheel planted on my desk ..pedals and throttle get used in KSP and eurotruck 2 all the same

Its been the best game purchase ive made

Better than any specific simulator

Its grown both as a land train living ecosystem of awesome... And changed my rail enthusiast roots to include and even learn the 100 year history of the land train

Its become its own thing

KSP, there is many like it

But this one is mine

And unless other games include a map to drive on 1000 of kms wide

Ksp remains my land train platform of choice

 

It all started here by accident after a plane crash in inaccessable terrain

It became much much more

 

Btw

Poll needs a more inclusive "kerbin is my home"

For the car truck train drivers

For the submarine and boat captains

One does not simply.. Mess around on kerbin

I totaly get all of your points. And i added Kerbin is my home to the poll

[rkarmark]

The space center is my home. Building planes bussing the towers, crashing repeat or doing rovers

I cant remember when i last were more than 100 km away from the space center

It just never gets borring

[Snark]

Here's a somewhat related thread that's worth reading.

...That thread is slightly different from this one (it's about "people who choose not to leave Kerbin's SoI" rather than "people who stay in the atmosphere"), but it's still a highly enlightening window into the myriad different play styles that KSP players have.

Lots of really interesting posts from a variety of KSP players-- that thread was a real eye-opener for me when I first read it.  Really helped me to understand fellow players better-- I never realized before just how different people's play styles could be.

[NSEP]

25 minutes ago, Snark said:

Here's a somewhat related thread that's worth reading.

...That thread is slightly different from this one (it's about "people who choose not to leave Kerbin's SoI" rather than "people who stay in the atmosphere"), but it's still a highly enlightening window into the myriad different play styles that KSP players have.

Lots of really interesting posts from a variety of KSP players-- that thread was a real eye-opener for me when I first read it.  Really helped me to understand fellow players better-- I never realized before just how different people's play styles could be.

Thanks Snark! This is focused on staying in the atmosphere, but i will check that thread out!

[jhousen]

Been to Eeloo and back a few times.  Still nothing compares to an airship over booster bay at sunset.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

I still go to space, but in my next save I'll be setting up a polar base to simulate life on Duna, before venturing forth beyond the edge of the Kerbin SOI. All modules air freighted in.

[Streetwind]

I think the answer to this question is similar to the answer to the question "why do humans want to go to space? It's cold and empty and awful up there!"

The answer, of course, is: "Because we can"

Myself, I'm very much a "classic" KSP player. I build rockets, launch them into space, and land them on other celestial bodies (when I can be caught playing the game instead of editing MM configs, anyway). But if there's one thing I learned about humans, then that if something is possible, somebody is going to do it. Heck, even if something is impossible, someone will attempt it anyway, just to check if the assumption is true. So I'm absolutely not surprised to see people build boats, trains, helicopters with physical bearings, merry-go-rounds and what have you. They do it because they can.

[KerikBalm]

On 5/7/2017 at 5:46 PM, NSEP said:

Thanks Snark! This is focused on staying in the atmosphere, but i will check that thread out!

Indeed, there is an intermediate... while I do occasionally do fairly hefty interplanetary missions.... and I occassionally make relatively short visits to Mun or Minmus, or even set up bases there... most of my actual time outside of the VAB is spent just getting to LKO... which with spaceplanes often means I spend most of my time in the atmosphere (excluding time that passes during timewarp).

Indeed, since moving to a 3x rescale of the solar system (and some other custom changes by me), just getting to LKO is hard, and it took significant time before I even went to a moon of Kerbin... I still haven't gone interplanetary on the 3x rescale (well, I think I put something on an escape trajectory to Duna before I took a break from KSP to play Arma).

So there's multiple levels here:

4) Visiting the SOI of another planet/ Escaping Kerbin SOI / Interplanetary

3) Visiting the SOI of a moon of Kerbin

2) Escaping kerbin's atmosphere/ LKO (well there's a difference here, but I don't think there's anyone who will get to space but not press forward and try to get to orbit)

1) Staying within Kerbin's atmosphere

 

I spend most of my time at level 2 or 3 (excluding hyperedit/ the alt-f12 orbit-cheating to test designs on other bodies)... for many of the reasons mentioned in that other thread.

[Ser]

The stuff you can do in space is really boring sometimes: launch, circularize, transfer to another CB, circularize, land, takeoff, return to Kerbin. It's fun for the 1st hundred times but then it gets boring. So I prefer to mess with planes on Kerbin as much as possible, especially after the latest A.S.E.T. stuff made it super amazing. Anyway you'll just have to go to space one day if playing career but soon KSP update comes out making you to start everything over.

[KerikBalm]

Well, yea, but the designs for doing that are where the fun is. I spend more time in the VAB/SPH than anything else.

Also, all that stuff you want to do on kerbin... you can do it on Laythe, and then you have the added challenge of figuring out a way to get it to laythe, and to the surface safely.

Sure I will test surface bases on Kerbin, and stuff that can load/unload from a mk3 bay on kerbin, but then I deploy them on Mun, or Laythe, or Duna... etc.

Spoiler

Here's a 100% stock surface base I tested on Kerbin:

but its even more fun to try and deploy this on Mun, and be able to move it around.

So first I made a dropship, and loaded up modules in space:

 

 

Then deployed them on Mun:

After that, I also started sending stuff to space and testing designs for deployment on Laythe, Duna, Tekto (from the OPM)

I also added TAC life support and KPBS to allow fancier surface bases.

Submarines on Kerbin? Why not tackle the challenge of submarines on laythe:

Spoiler

All stock except for the electric ducted fans. FYI, there are a ton of RTGs in that fairing section to recharge the batteries.

 

 

 

[Superfluous J]

I haven't even loaded the game in about a month.

[IllyrianTheGreat]

Add one more option "rocket parts are ugly and there is little to do in space after you learn the basics"

[NSEP]

2 hours ago, IllyrianTheGreat said:

Add one more option "rocket parts are ugly and there is little to do in space after you learn the basics"

No, im adding a other option. Because that is oddly specific.

There are mods that solve that problem, try Ven's Stock Revamp it makes rocket parts look more realistic. And then you have challenges, these provide good and exiting mission to do.

Edited May 11, 2017 by NSEP

[TheKosanianMethod]

I like playing with BDArmory. I enjoy going to full burners and running to the pole. I guess you could say... I feel the need...

... the need for speed!

I feel no shame. 

[322997am]

I still go, but I go less as boats and planes are fun.

[Servo]

Replica craft are my bread and butter in KSP. I've done Apollo, N1, and other space replicas, but for the past several months, I've been building planes for Jet of the Day, and now X-jet of the Day. My precious little KSP time has been dedicated to those projects. That said, I'm gearing up for a Jool 5 mission, hopefully followed by a grand tour.

[Cadet_BNSF]

I have my self more or less grounded from going to space until I can get a functional spaceplane. I still send probes to Mun, but it is the same design every time, and they are only sent to gather science for furthering the development of spaceplanes

[rdwulfe]

I still go to space. I still make planes. I still make rovers. I still do a ton of things. I take breaks from the game every so often. The wonder of KSP is the fact that you can do MANY activities. It's a sandbox, that's the point.

 

[FungusForge]

I'm a little bit of option 2 and a little bit of option 7. I've not been everywhere but got bored because I couldn't do the things I wanted. Space is hard and its super easy to just never leave Kerbin, especially when you realize that's its the prettiest of the planets, and the most fun to idly mess about.

On 5/7/2017 at 7:55 AM, StahnAileron said:

I'd play with Eve, but I would need to figure out how to turn off the faux-city effects below certain altitudes (or barring that, completely). It's immersion-breaking when up-close to one of those areas.

Those can be disabled by removing the citylights.dll from the EVE folder. Same can be done with celestial shadows (CelestialShadows.dll), which I would also recommend. It looks cool seeing the Mun eclipsed from orbit, but then you get down on the surface and find yourself in an inky black void where no illumination can find you.

[Spacetraindriver]

I'm actually quite afraid and annyoyed at the Kraken, which decides that any attempt at colonization I try need to be rendered futile. I'm also developing a love for boats in KSP, considering water used to be a blue brick. 

[Azimech]

I stopped playing the game 3 years ago. All I do is design stuff and the only reason for me to go to space is to test a new design. I uploaded a new spaceship last week but looking at the 259 uploads I have on KerbalX, only 20 are meant for space.

I've been everywhere and built outposts etc. but ultimately ... space is boring. At least in this game.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Azimech