KSP Today and what I expect from the future (specifically KSP2)

[ZooNamedGames]

We have just crest the horizon of KSP 1.4 and are only a mere 3 days away from KSP's first paid add-on being released, Making History. Some would say it's a major milestone for the game while others would argue otherwise. All I know is that in the half decade of owning this game, I've only had a chance to gather my experiences and try to share my thoughts on KSP's current string of events and it's inevitable future in the form of KSP2. As you're reading this, understand this is just my opinion based on my experience with KSP and other games. So please bear that in mind as you reply.

Since Take Two (T2) entered the KSP world by acquiring Squad last year, the community has been buzzing with mixed opinions, ranging from hopeful to extreme pessimism over the event. Now we have the first update since the merger, 1.4 and we get a new verity of features, and functions. Most are good features that I haven't heard much conflict over, however there is one aspect that reeks of micro-transactions that others have caught onto as well. That being the newly added 'custom textures' function. On the surface this great but having seen the impact micro-transactions have had on games like Minecraft, the Sims 3 and 4's 'Stuff Packs' and T2's own GTA V with 'Shark Credit Cards'. Understanding that companies need to make money, and accepting that, this is something that stinks of the lowest cash grab. Granted, based on experience, and more importantly, the order of names that appear on the loading screen as of KSP 1.4, I have an odd feeling the potential future of 'texture packs' will be a choice made by 'Private Division' (PD) , a sub-division of T2 rather than Squad. In appearance, Squad has taken the back seat in development. I have no doubt that Squad will still have a voice and a part of KSP's development, but that part will be considerably smaller than it once was.

However due to the prevalence of mods in the community, even the best PD made texture packs simply won't be able to compete long term as getting content of equal quality for free simply can't financially compete. Although DLCs will also include some new feature's like Making History's mission builder, there's only so much PD can add to KSP. Not to mention the internal mess that is KSP, I don't see a long life for KSP and expect the DLCs are just a means of keeping the game profitable to fund development for something much worse in my eyes.

What can possibly be worse than horde of $0.99 texture packs? KSP 2. Based on my experience and discussions with others, I have become adamant that T2's entrance into the KSP scene was not because they simply 'liked' the game, but because they saw a major chance to take a concept and remake it better to suit their needs. This remake, will be heralded as KSP 2, the sequel (though not qualifying as a sequal) to KSP. Now, the game will come with a lot of new shiny appeal to the game. Likely built on a better engine, cleaner internally making updates easier, updated and overhauled modes of the game like career and science mode along with a slew of other updates. Sounds fantastic! However, knowing what I mentioned earlier about how DLC cannot be financially effective in an environment where mods can do the majority of what DLCs could achieve, I have fully expect to see mods of KSP2 to be throttled or otherwise limited in their functionality. As the easiest way to make something that's better than the competition, is to simply ensure that your content is automatically better with an edge over all the competition. This becoming especially useful if PD wants to spend the least amount of time developing content (and in turn, save themselves money) while still keeping an edge on the competition. To what end mods will be throttled or limited I cannot say without knowing more about the internal developments of the game; this is just a notion based on experience and what I've seen in the game industry as of the last decade.

And for anyone curious why T2 wouldn't outlaw mods outright to ensure they have a monopoly on the market, then you can look to T2's debacle with the GTA V community as they tried to limit mods (or at least one specifically) for GTA V.

Again, to reiterate, I'm ok with PD needing money to pay for the development and therefore bring us new content. However Squad managed to go the better part of 4-5 years running on game profits alone and understanding that those profits have died down, DLCs are an acceptable solution. However it is the warning signs of the more toxic implementations of texture packs that scare me, as well as the fear of what PD/T2 will do to ensure they keep an unfair advantage over the modding community (which they simply can't ban away). I'd trust PD/T2 but knowing their past history and the mess that is the EULA right now, my faith is abysmal, however, if PD/T2 steps up their game and manages to make up for these short falls and prove they are better than to stoop to the lows I've mentioned, then I will readily change my opinion.

 

That said, this is a lot of speculation, but considering I've heard very little from PD/T2 on the subject of KSP and it's future, I have little to go on. Yes, Squad employees have announced a lot of content, but seeing as Squad has taken the backseat in the credit roll, I'm less interested in what their seeing as much as hearing the plans from the first few names on the credit crawl of the loading screen.

 

But again, this is just all my thoughts and ideas (especially my fears). But I'd like to know what everyone else thinks of the future of KSP both in the near future and the longer haul. Also, thanks for reading and have a nice day.

Edited March 9, 2018 by ZooNamedGames

[53miner53]

I think we can look forward to a lot of small updates and optimization for KSP, as well as a couple of DLCs. 

KSP2 would probably be new engine, better graphics, and a bunch of DLCs. Probably would be worth it for us to get it, but costly if we want everything. 

[Tyko]

2 hours ago, 53miner53 said:

I think we can look forward to a lot of small updates and optimization for KSP, as well as a couple of DLCs. 

KSP2 would probably be new engine, better graphics, and a bunch of DLCs. Probably would be worth it for us to get it, but costly if we want everything. 

Agreed..assuming this DLC sells well I expect to see more. If they do ever release a KSP2 built on a better engine/graphics/etc...I'll buy that too. Knowing how much time I've spent enjoying KSP, I'd gladly pay AAA prices for it too. I look at home much my Steam library has cost and realize that a half dozen games represent 90+% of my playtime. KSP is one of them.