KSP Age Groups?

[klesh]

17 hours ago, JK_Kerbineer said:

I've seen mainly two age groups for KSP: In college and 40-50 years old. I was wondering how many other ages people actually play this game ( because for a game like this, most people playing when they are 40-50 doesn't make much sense). 

P.S I'm not saying there is anything wrong playing KSP as an adult. I'm just wondering why a good portion of its players are adults.

I'm 40, but I can select 2 groups.

[Epicdreamer]

Unfortunally I grew up too late to wittness the space race. Luckily space race 2.0 seems to be happening recently.

I've been playing an endless amount of videogames ever since I got a secondhand press-play-on-tape-C64 back in the eighties. And getting into videogames more and more while growing up I searched for those unique, uncomparable game experiences. Those rare gems of digital originality. The last decade or so I lost a lot of interest in videogames since imho recycling game concepts for the sake of sales is not how my attention is caught. For example: playing a modern shooter doesn't feel far of a 15 years old ps2 shooter. Main difference is that they look (a lot!) better as computational development carries on. I still play decade old games sometimes, because they give me that unique experience.

To me KSP is one of those unique gems.

But I'm getting off topic....on topic and for the record: I'm 42 years old.

[something]

No idea what these age groups are good for. School may last 9 to 13 years, depending on your residence and education. College doesn't exist in most countries and what to vote for people aged 18-24 not in college?

Then 25-40? Seriously? What do have CEOs and grad students in common? Also the varying size of those groups doesn't really allow for interesting conclusions.

[ZooNamedGames]

I'd modify the second option. Just because you're 18-24 doesn't mean your in college, seeing as I'm not.

[322997am]

In my stem private hs, everyone plays this game

[JK_Kerbineer]

3 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I'd modify the second option. Just because you're 18-24 doesn't mean your in college, seeing as I'm not.

Sorry, I meant that if you are 18-24 OR in college. I'll change it

[JK_Kerbineer]

19 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

This again?  There's a search feature.  Use it and discover this question has been asked at least annually as far back as KSP goes.

Well, to be fair, KSP is growing exponentially-ish  so the answers might be different.

Also, I don't dare necro a thread from that far back.

 

 

[Spricigo]

On 20/10/2017 at 7:49 PM, JK_Kerbineer said:

because for a game like this, most people playing when they are 40-50 doesn't make much sense

Sometimes a nice and fun game is just a nice fun game.

[JK_Kerbineer]

8 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

Sometimes a nice and fun game is just a nice fun game.

I know, but the way they removed the grind from making real-life rockets and made everything in general look better, you'd think this was mostly a game trying to get kids interested in space (They literally have a version of KSP to teach kids about space). I know I am sounding confusing, but I think you can agree that KSP has a certain play style and look to it, that makes it fun to play, instead of just plain frustrating, which might attract kids to play this.

Edited October 22, 2017 by JK_Kerbineer

[Kerbart]

Your second question needs an “N/A” option. The results are now being polluted with answers from everyone not in that age group but being forced to pick either one as it’s a required question.

[steve_v]

20 minutes ago, JK_Kerbineer said:

I think you can agree that KSP has a certain play style and look to it, that makes it fun to play, instead of just plain frustrating, which might attract kids to play this.

Add some realism mods, and look again.
And who says only kids like fun anyway?

[Epicdreamer]

And age is but a number. The kid in me is still very much alive! Or you could say I'm still 16, with 26 years of experience 

[something]

9 hours ago, Spricigo said:

Sometimes a nice and fun game is just a nice fun game.

There are 60+ year old Counter Strike gamers. There's an article on a German newspaper about a 78-year-old dude - they call them Silver Gamers.

Edited October 22, 2017 by something

[Just Jim]

On 10/20/2017 at 8:31 PM, Just Jim said:

...and no more shooters. I already know I'm a good shot...

I need to semi-retract this statement... I forgot about one. I'm not sure if it falls under the definition of "shooter" or not, but I do love to play Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator 3 every now and then.  

Edited October 22, 2017 by Just Jim

[A Soviet Tank]

I'm in Yr11 at school (that's about 15-16 years old) and I've been playing KSP since 2014. I spent a year teaching myself orbital mechanics, just to play this game, and honestly, it really paid off. I thought there'd be more people from my age group who were into KSP, but I guess most people my age would rather play CoD or something else that requires less patience.

[JK_Kerbineer]

13 hours ago, steve_v said:

And who says only kids like fun anyway?

 

Kids have short attention spans, so if it is too difficult, they might just give up.

[Spricigo]

14 minutes ago, JK_Kerbineer said:

Kids have short attention spans, so if it is too difficult, they might just give up.

Same for adults. 

[razark]

21 hours ago, JK_Kerbineer said:

I think you can agree that KSP has a certain play style... to it,

I think you'll find that there are many different play styles involved.  Some like more realism, some (for some reason) actually like the "lol kurlz r dumb" lolsplosion style.

I spent my whole life immersed in the space program.  KSP feeds into that.  And this space program has a hell of a lot less paperwork and stupidity involved than the other one I deal with.

 

21 hours ago, Kerbart said:

Your second question needs an “N/A” option. The results are now being polluted with answers from everyone not in that age group but being forced to pick either one as it’s a required question.

Indeed.  Being 41, I am unable to honestly answer the entire poll.

 

8 hours ago, JK_Kerbineer said:

Kids have short attention spans, so if it is too difficult, they might just give up.

Maybe if the world stopped treating kids like they're supposed to have short attention spans, they'd find that some of the kids are quite capable of holding interest in something.

Edited October 22, 2017 by razark

[adsii1970]

Ok, your poll doesn't work. I am 47. Your second question is invalid for folks with similar ages of youth.

11 hours ago, Just Jim said:

I need to semi-retract this statement... I forgot about one. I'm not sure if it falls under the definition of "shooter" or not, but I do love to play Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator 3 every now and then.  

Um, is launching torpedoes considered a "shooter" game? If so, I play Silent Hunter IV - Wolves of the Pacific. Just this morning, I sent a 11,100 ton Imperial Japanese "Kyuryo-kan" type transport (Large Fleet Reefer Supply Ship) to Davy Jones locker. Only took two torpedoes, surprisingly.

Edited October 22, 2017 by adsii1970

[adsii1970]

On 10/20/2017 at 4:49 PM, JK_Kerbineer said:

I've seen mainly two age groups for KSP: In college and 40-50 years old. I was wondering how many other ages people actually play this game ( because for a game like this, most people playing when they are 40-50 doesn't make much sense). 

P.S I'm not saying there is anything wrong playing KSP as an adult. I'm just wondering why a good portion of its players are adults.

As a 47 year old, your statement kinda strikes me as offensive. Let me explain why...

Many of us grew up watching the last moon landings on television. I do not remember much from my early childhood, but by kindergarten, I watched everything Apollo related  (I was two when the last Apollo mission flew), Skylab related, and even kept up with every shuttle launch. I even had the honor of watching the shuttle Colombia land at Edwards Air Force Base in 1993.  I have been a subscriber to Seti@Home since I discovered it in the late 1990s, and read the JPL press releases and the routine NASA press releases every Friday. In fact, it gets interesting at the university - I have more in common with the interests of the STEM folks than I do those who teach similar courses to what I teach. Most recently, I've been approached by the STEM director with the idea of teaching a "cross disciplinary" course using human interests in Mars to tie it into a history course. So...

It has always been my dream to get into space. My first "space simulator" was Lunar Lander followed by Shuttle Commander. I have watched most sci-fi (not sci-horror or sci-fantasy) movie I can get my hands on. I also read a lot of science fiction and can recommend about two dozen books if anyone asked. But in the end, I am still captivated by space now, at 47, as I was when I was 6.

I discovered Kerbal Space Program when .18 was the "early development" game that could be purchased through Steam. I fell in love with the free demo of the game and have steadily played it ever since. It encourages me to think outside the box, I've met some really neat people on the forum, and if Squad dropped the project tomorrow, I'd continue to play it as it currently is for years in the future. For me, KSP is a game that transcends age, race, religion, and nationality. For you are all my brothers and sisters (and in the case of @Azimech and @LordFerret, grandpas) through this really great game.

[razark]

18 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Um, is launching torpedoes considered a "shooter" game?

Depends.  Manual or auto-targetting?

Because if you're actually figuring out AoB and speed to hit a target, then it's not just a "shooter".  I've been known to break out a slide rule at times for SH4.

[adsii1970]

10 minutes ago, razark said:

Depends.  Manual or auto-targetting?

Because if you're actually figuring out AoB and speed to hit a target, then it's not just a "shooter".  I've been known to break out a slide rule at times for SH4.

Compass and protractor and a good calculator. It can take me up to ten minutes (when I first started this, it took me nearly 25) to calculate the shot.  I tried auto-targeting but didn't like the way it calculated the "firing solution." If you catch an enemy ship and can broadside the target - I like hitting them a quarter length from the tip of the bow. Smaller ships usually go down with one or two torpedoes.

Hitting amidship doesn't do it on some of the Japanese vessels - they actually have torpedo armor (Yeah, I have a few books about the specifications of various World War II vessels, and I use them for "confirmation" of my target). I go for the thinnest broadside armor...

Edited October 23, 2017 by adsii1970

[LordFerret]

The vote thingie is funky... even though I've voted my category, it tells me Part 2 is mandatory to answer. Huh?

Anyway, I'm 61. I 'found' KSP when my cousin pointed out a school project her son had done using KSP. I grabbed the demo to check it out. Shortly after, I bought into v0.23.5. The rest is history.

 

As for space stuff, I've been following my entire life.

 

[Azimech]

Turned 40 this year, gaming took off with the C64 and soon Sid Meier's Solo Flight was my first flight sim. Played lots of anything but the 3D shooter revolution in the early nineties really got me hooked on games like Descent. I've always been in love with space sims, flight sims, racing games etc.

I loved Orbiter but felt something was missing.

Played Elite: Frontier II for many months back in the nineties. That's why I was interested in Pioneer, a game that's been in development for a very long time but at a very low pace. Someone on the forum mentioned KSP. I haven't touched Pioneer ever again.

[steve_v]

26 minutes ago, Azimech said:

the 3D shooter revolution in the early nineties really got me hooked

Likewise. Bit of a gaming revolution there, with some true classics that have been copied (usually badly) ever since.

22 minutes ago, Azimech said:

Descent

Still play this from time to time, the D1X/D2X source ports are rather nice too. Frenetic, disorientating, and oh so much fun.


KSP is unique though, space + flight sim + engineering sandbox, what's not to like...
Except the goofy feel that keeps creeping in (which is probably what some refer to as "fun for kids"), but you can mod it away or ignore it for the most part.