Kerbal Space Program Breaks Ground with a New DLC!

[lodiped]

1 minute ago, razark said:

Sadly, that's the way it is.

Squad added aircraft parts in 0.15, and there are no mods that add airplane parts now.  And once they added in the communication network, whatever that old mod was ceased to be updated.  Even now, I kind of miss the mods that were wiped out when Squad added a delta vee display.

 

 

3 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

Are you assuming Infernal Robotics is going to stop existing when this drops? Did replica part packs vanish when Making History dropped?

You guys totally missed the point. While previous updates were all inside the base game or only added varied parts (which is totally ok, like I said in my post), this update will be restricted to the DLC and will add a whole bunch of substantial features. IF and only IF infernal robotics or SEP use just one small item of this update in their updates, it could potentially mean people would have to buy the DLC.

Of course they have all their ground work done and I hope they won't migrate to use ANYTHING AT ALL from this DLC. But on the other hand, having something based off of the stock game is very inviting for potential new modders and even for old mods I imagine.

It's very difficult for me to make somewhat bad regards like this about a game I love so much but hopefully you guys can see where I'm coming from.

[MaverickSawyer]

2 hours ago, Triop said:

Wut ? New DLC ? Robotics ?

ALL ABOARD !

Oh, boy. Hadn't even thought of just how much fun you're going to have with the robotics.

 

Space can wait again, can't it?

[Xavven]

I don't buy the argument that the devs shouldn't add something to stock or in DLC just because a mod already exists for it.

If car manufacturers adopted that philosophy then you wouldn't get a stock stereo, because "just buy an aftermarket one!"

[TBenz]

47 minutes ago, lodiped said:

While previous updates were all inside the base game or only added varied parts

Mission editor? Different launch sites? Making History wasn't exactly "only added varied parts".

47 minutes ago, lodiped said:

IF and only IF infernal robotics or SEP use just one small item of this update in their updates, it could potentially mean people would have to buy the DLC.

Of course they have all their ground work done and I hope they won't migrate to use ANYTHING AT ALL from this DLC. But on the other hand, having something based off of the stock game is very inviting for potential new modders and even for old mods I imagine.

That comes down to the modders. 

I doubt any of the existing mods will convert to the DLC systems. A full refactor is never the most fun thing to do, and if the stock system works differently than that turns into an outright ground up rework. And even if they do, I think it's a safe bet that someone will maintain a non-DLC fork. 

While mod support is a great thing, it's hardly Squad's job to make sure that all of their paid DLC is designed in such a way that no mods would ever want to be dependent on them. You're essentially asking Squad to make sure their DLC isn't good enough to encourage people to buy and use it.

Edited May 7, 2019 by TBenz
grammar

[keptin]

As an adult with a paycheck, I'm happy to purchase DLC content like this if it means continued development of the game. Thanks devs! Keep it coming!

[Pacca]

I just realized that stock rotating parts where announced immediately after I built my first successful jointed rotating space station. Thought that was funny X3 

 

But I'm very excited for the robotic arms and new surface features; I've always been a fan of over the top probes, and I really need good reasons to build rovers! Excited to start recreating articulated landers and rovers as well :3 

[OldMold]

This is great! I echo the sentiment that over the years and thousands of hours of gameplay, this is the most entertainment I've gotten from any game I've ever purchased, by a long shot. This DLC looks fantastic, and adds more depth to the game (SEP is a must have for all my games).

My major hope for the future of KSP is an engine update. Since the strategy with DLCs seems to be focused on adding parts, and the game engine struggles with high part count vessels, performance will soon become a limiting factor. I really really REALLY wish that at some point in the future the engine gets optimized for high part vessels. It kills me that big ships/stations slow to such a crawl, feels like I'm playing a game from the 90s.

Edited May 7, 2019 by OldMold

[sicko kerman]

Nice I'm a console player but I'm still getting Gonna watch YouTube vids about it

[Chryssalid 8492]

38 minutes ago, sicko kerman said:

Nice I'm a console player but I'm still getting Gonna watch YouTube vids about it

Aye got to see how they work to upgrade our designs.

[Jesusthebird]

Thats strange wording to say the least.. Its pretty much expected that a game company would release updates like bug fixes and enhancments for free to a base game purchaser especally for a pre-release..hard to beleive charging for bugfixes and slight enhancments would be a good business model.

So having said that implys including content like missing history, ect..woops

Seems like a dlc premium pass is sounding better and better to me now

[klesh]

11 hours ago, GregroxMun said:

I really do not like the futuristic space suit *at all*. It clashes with everything in the stock game, making history, and even the new parts, which are *rightfully* stockalike.

 

I can't unsee it.

 

Spoiler

 

[Pacca]

Funnily enough, I actually kind of hope the new suits do have tron lighting. Not for aesthetic reasons or anything, but just because it'd make it easier to keep track of them in the dark. I remember my first ever interplanetary stranding on Ike; having something other then just the forward facing lights could actually have been quite helpful there...

[Xurkitree]

We did bois

[Phoenix84]

3 hours ago, razark said:

Sadly, that's the way it is.

Squad added aircraft parts in 0.15, and there are no mods that add airplane parts now.  And once they added in the communication network, whatever that old mod was ceased to be updated.  Even now, I kind of miss the mods that were wiped out when Squad added a delta vee display.

 

Those mods exist because players felt there was a mechanic/part/function missing from the base game, so they added it. Once that mechanic has been integrated into the base game, the reason for the mod's existence is gone. The mod did its job, and now it's finished. (Yes, that's not always the case.)

What I see from this announcement is at least 3 mods I no longer have to use. That's fantastic for me, as that's 3 less mods to deal with interactions/conflicts with other mods. For mods like SEP and KIS, they are very glitchy, but until now they've been very vital to my gameplay, which is why I still use them. If I can stop using them, and get the same gameplay value, I will stop using them (this is not an insult to the mod's authors, as a modder, I understand their predicament).

If a modder wants to continue to maintain their mod, that's up to them. Their reason for keeping the mod in existence can be varied, like perhaps the mod is superior or more expansive in function, and if there are enough players that feel that way it's worthwhile to maintain.

I'm a modder for Space Engineers (who's had one mod implemented in vanilla, sub-par IMO). As a modder, when I see a mod implemented two things go through my head:

1) Is this a better implementation than the mod, or least decent enough I can stand to abandon some feature? If so, I will stop maintaining the mod.

2) If the vanilla feature is not better, can the mod improve the new vanilla behavior? If so, I'll expand it and improve what's lacking.

As a player, similar thoughts still go through my head, but it's more like:

1) Is the vanilla functionality "good enough" for me, including possibly dropping other mods I like that depend on it? (in the case of KerbNet, it was good enough for me to stop using RemoteTech)

2) Is it worth waiting for mods to update, and deal with more possible mod interactions? For the 1.7 update, I still haven't made that decision regarding the orbital information and Kerbal Engineer. I'm very used to KE, but if the vanilla details are good enough, I may stop using it. On the flipside, I don't feel vanilla alarm/warp stopping is good enough to stop using KAC. I don't trust it enough, but I trust KAC.

In summary, I don't think it's a bad thing that mods die when the concept is implemented in vanilla. IMO it's part of the mod lifecycle. It's also better it dies this way, than it dies alone without being integrated, and something really is lost. Plus, as a modder, I consider it a huge complement if an idea I implemented was good enough to eventually be implemented into the game in some way. It means my idea was valuable enough to the community.

Snark back on page 4 said it perfectly, so I won't repeat it all here.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Phoenix84

[Tirehtoori R.I.P]

so they are finally gonna add robotic parts into the core game       INCOMING Mechwarrior Walker SEASON 8 guys :DDD

[HUG]

Doesn´t seem like many people playing on PC want that thing due to them having mods. Since you need to update all those mods permanently and modders don´t keep up with the updating process I gave up on them, too stressful and anger causing for way too little outcome. So yes I´d appreciate it but my favorite platform has become the console version and there you will find masses of people who really want this stuff without only complaining about it (as long you keep the sun untouched ) so is this planned and if yes is there a rough assessment for the release date?

[klesh]

Here's some healthy speculation. 

 

Does this image from the OP hint at this long lost surface sample animation finally being used?

 

[NBDesigns]

Hurrays all around 

Can’t wait 

[razark]

13 minutes ago, Phoenix84 said:

Those mods...

So, the takeaway is that mods may or may not cease to exist once the game adds similar functionality?

[cfds]

Putting stock robotic parts behind a paywall is completely justifiable, but surface science on the different bodies is not an extension to the game play, this is definitely a missing core feature of "creating and managing your own space program".

[MechBFP]

3 hours ago, lodiped said:

 

You guys totally missed the point. While previous updates were all inside the base game or only added varied parts (which is totally ok, like I said in my post), this update will be restricted to the DLC and will add a whole bunch of substantial features. IF and only IF infernal robotics or SEP use just one small item of this update in their updates, it could potentially mean people would have to buy the DLC.

Of course they have all their ground work done and I hope they won't migrate to use ANYTHING AT ALL from this DLC. But on the other hand, having something based off of the stock game is very inviting for potential new modders and even for old mods I imagine.

It's very difficult for me to make somewhat bad regards like this about a game I love so much but hopefully you guys can see where I'm coming from.

I honestly can’t. If you don’t like the new versions, then stick with the old ones with the old versions of the mods then. No one (not Squad, and not the modders) is going to cater to your incredibly specific needs here. 

[razark]

10 minutes ago, cfds said:

Putting stock robotic parts behind a paywall is completely justifiable, but surface science on the different bodies is not an extension to the game play, this is definitely a missing core feature of "creating and managing your own space program".

Why?

[Sir Mortimer]

15 hours ago, UomoCapra said:

Deploy experiments for the long-term study of Minimus and let them collect data while you explore further sights.

How will this work? Will it be similar to how the Sentinel telescope works (deploy experiment, then leave it there, and when finished you can collect the result)?

[Bill Phil]

Could probably make a Canadarm.

Or would that be Kanadarm?

[razark]

4 hours ago, lodiped said:

While previous updates were all inside the base game...

The Mission Creator was quite outside of the base game, wasn't it?

 

4 hours ago, lodiped said:

...this update will be restricted to the DLC and will add a whole bunch of substantial features.

That's the point of DLC/expansions, isn't it?  If DLC doesn't add anything substantial, it's just rolled into a game update like new/update parts.

 

(Perhaps I'm not catching what you mean by "update"?)

 

 

4 hours ago, lodiped said:

IF and only IF infernal robotics or SEP use just one small item of this update in their updates, it could potentially mean people would have to buy the DLC. 

"If".  We have no evidence at this point that they will, or even that they can, use DLC related anything.  Wild speculation about what might happen is not sufficient for a collective pants-crapping at this point.