KSP 1.2.2 versus 1.3.0

[Jacke]

I'm coming back to KSP after a while away.  I saw 1.2.2 come out near the end of 2016, but I was too busy to get that involved.  And now 1.3.0 is here (with 1.3.1 coming in pre-release soon, but a release not likely for a while I'd think).  I've been skimming the forums to get a feel for how things are.

I think 1.2.2 and 1.3.0 are both being played and (very important) supported by mods.  Apparently due to most of the changes in 1.3.0 being the new multi-language features.

But I'm not sure 1.3.0 is mature enough.  I've heard of the stock fairing bug.  And I wonder whether there are other issues.

So I'm interested in what others' thoughts and experiences are with 1.2.2 versus 1.3.0.

[Xyphos]

1.3 is worth it, while there are new bugs introduced, the overall quality of life and game performance has increased. Tho the fairing bug isn't consistant, it does occur too frequently. my last vessel launched just fine when the last two didn't.

however, if you do update, be sure to click the "useful mods" SpaceDock link in my signature and install the Drill Fix patch, or your mining drills will be missing their deploy/retract/toggle action groups. FullAutoStrut is also useful if you intend to use AutoStruts.

Edited August 13, 2017 by Xyphos

[Jacke]

2 hours ago, Xyphos said:

1.3 is worth it, while there are new bugs introduced, the overall quality of life and game performance has increased.

Thanks for the advice, @Xyphos.  I'll definitely look at your useful mods.

I am really interested in hearing about the 1.3 bugs and any workarounds.

Edited August 13, 2017 by Jacke

[Xyphos]

Just now, Jacke said:

I am really interested in hearing about the 1.3 bugs

well the drills and fairings are the only ones I've experienced, and the drills can be patched as I stated before.
tho 1.3.1 is expected to release soon within a week or two, you can either wait till then or try it out now.

[NSEP]

From my experience, 1.2.2 never crashed on me, even with Realism Overhaul, i bet i have 80 mods installed for Realism Overhaul yet it never crashes, but 1.3, so far crashed several times in stock.

1.2.2 is pretty much the best for me so far.

[klgraham1013]

1.3 doesn't have terrain seams.  That was enough for me.

[OhioBob]

8 hours ago, Xyphos said:

Tho the fairing bug isn't consistant, it does occur too frequently. my last vessel launched just fine when the last two didn't.

I've heard the fairing bug only occurs only under certain conditions.  Unfortunately I don't remember what it was.  I think it might be when struts are connected to parts under the fairing, but I'm not certain.

[Jacke]

Not personal experience, but I've heard that closing the top of the stock fairing so it touches the payload is a workaround.  The projected segments glow blue instead of green when touching the payload.

[invision]

i use 1.2.2 and its just so stable with mods i dont want to mess  with it

[HunHarcos]

1.2.2 is better. Heck, 1.2 is even better and more stable than 1.2.2. 1.2 never crashed, 1.2.2 crashed only once, during startup of the game. But that was my fault.

[Confused Scientist]

1.2.2 never crashed for me as far as I can remember (I didn't play with mods) and my 1-month old 1.3 install with a fair number of mods has only crashed twice. Either way, beats previous versions (I downloaded 1.1 after I alt-tabbed to the forums after my game crashed.)

[Xemina]

I agree with @Xyphos

[wumpus]

On 8/13/2017 at 5:05 AM, Jacke said:

Thanks for the advice, @Xyphos.  I'll definitely look at your useful mods.

I am really interested in hearing about the 1.3 bugs and any workarounds.

1.3 is non functional for me.  Reverting to 1.2.2 is fine.  I was away long enough that I couldn't use old saves in 1.2.2, but a new game fixed that.  This seems pretty rare, but since I didn't want the language packs, once things worked in 1.2.2 I wasn't interested in fixing my 1.3 issues (although I'll likely try 1.3.1 to see if that works).

Last I heard, RSS/RO works with 1.2.2 only.  It is another reason I am happy on an earlier release.

[Edit: the above may have been due to mods.  I upgraded to 1.3.1 and had similar issues, then moved all mods from gamedata to a safe directory.  Then 1.3.1 worked.  I suspect 1.3.0 would have worked with similar treatment (note that my saves were too old to work with 1.2.2, so I expect the mods were pretty old).

Edited October 15, 2017 by wumpus
note for 1.3.1

[Snark]

On 8/12/2017 at 11:05 PM, Jacke said:

So I'm interested in what others' thoughts and experiences are with 1.2.2 versus 1.3.0.

My own two cents would be:

• If you're starting a game fresh, go ahead with 1.3.0.  It's more up-to-date, it's better supported, you'll have fresher versions of mods, yadda yadda.  I've been playing 1.3.0 for a few months and it's been perfectly stable for me.  And all your favorite mods will be available for 1.3.0.  And if they're not available at this point... it probably means they're dead, and you'd likely eventually end up needing to switch to something else anyway.
• If you've already got a 1.2.2 game going and are heavily invested in it, no rush to upgrade.  1.3.0 doesn't offer anything super new and compelling, and 1.2.2 is perfectly playable.  Go ahead and finish out your 1.2.2 career or save or whatever, and move to 1.3.0 when you start the next one.

 

[OhioBob]

I haven't had any problems with stock KSP in version 1.3.0.  However, if you plan to use any addon planet packs, there could be problems.  The problems aren't with KSP per se, but with the mods needed to run the planet packs.  KSP 1.3 made quite a few changes that not all the mods have caught up with yet.  Even if a mod says it's compatible with 1.3, there may still be some unresolved issues.  If you play a pretty much plain vanilla game, you'll be just fine using KSP 1.3.  However, if you play a heavily mod game, there could be some bugs. 

[Bill Phil]

On 8/13/2017 at 4:20 AM, NSEP said:

From my experience, 1.2.2 never crashed on me, even with Realism Overhaul, i bet i have 80 mods installed for Realism Overhaul yet it never crashes, but 1.3, so far crashed several times in stock.

1.2.2 is pretty much the best for me so far.

Huh. Strange. 1.3 is the most stable version I've ever seen (been playing since 2012).

[Jacke]

Thanks all for replying.

Last KSP version I played to any extent was 1.0.4 with the Better Than Starting Manned career total conversion.  I ran a heavily modded game (manually with JSGME) but strove to hold as much as I could to the spirit of BTSM so my games were similar to other players.  Barely got beyond the Kerbin system into Kerbol SOI and some unmanned landings on Mun and Minmus.

So I've still got a lot to explore, especially as it's now up to me to mod a better career than stock.  Am interested in RO/RSS and added and alternate planets, but in the future.

I think I'll go with KSP 1.3.0.  I'm not carrying forward any savegame, any bugs still in or added by 1.3 can be worked around, and I get the benefits of the improvements like fixing terrain seams.  Should be able to shift to 1.3.1 after it comes out and mods upgrade for it if needed.  And for all the other reasons @Snark and others pointed out.

[selfish_meme]

Only very recently I opened the saved game in my sig, The Dunatian, it was from 1.05, it seems to work perfectly in 1.3, which I did not expect. The terrain has changed slightly though.

[NSEP]

13 hours ago, Bill Phil said:

Huh. Strange. 1.3 is the most stable version I've ever seen (been playing since 2012).

Weird, strange, odd. 

You run 64bit mode? I always run that.

[Theysen]

That's easy.

 

Does RO run with 1.2.2? Yes.

Does RO run with 1.3? No. See above.

 

Seriously though I think 1.3 has a very tidied up feel to it and modding it feels also very safe and performant.

I don't mind switching between versions at all

[Bill Phil]

41 minutes ago, NSEP said:

Weird, strange, odd. 

You run 64bit mode? I always run that.

No. I run 32 bit. 

[NSEP]

3 hours ago, Bill Phil said:

No. I run 32 bit. 

Well, i only run 64bit so that might be it. Maybe not i don't know.

[Curveball Anders]

5 minutes ago, NSEP said:

Well, i only run 64bit so that might be it. Maybe not i don't know.

I haven't had any issue with 1.3_64, and I played almost daily since it was released.

[NSEP]

Just now, Curveball Anders said:

I haven't had any issue with 1.3_64, and I played almost daily since it was released.

Hmmm, ok. Then i really don't know what it is.

[KerbMav]

On 13.8.2017 at 10:37 PM, Jacke said:

Not personal experience, but I've heard that closing the top of the stock fairing so it touches the payload is a workaround.  The projected segments glow blue instead of green when touching the payload.

What actually does happen when the bug hits?