Is KSP DLC Breaking Ground worth the money?

[Yeet_TheDinosaur]

Hello, everyone in the forum. I am a person who got KSP not long ago (a week ago) and I'm really enjoying it. But after the DLC came out, I'm wondering: is it worth it? I went to steam and looked at some reviews, and few of them say that the robotics are bad as hell (worse than mods?), the features don't appear in old saves, the deployed sciences take a lot of time and the features are too small and lacking numbers. But generally, the reviews are saying that they are pretty good. So these are my options right now:

DONT buy the DLC

Or

Ask my parents to buy me one (they promised me)

And because I'm pretty young and lack maturity than you guys who are really smart and are grown-ups, I am asking you guys whether the DLC is worth AUS$15. If you bought it, great! Tell me your opinions about the DLC! Is it worth the money? Is the robotics really bad? Are the new sciences good? 

SO yeah, thank you for reading my (again) badly punctuated and my second post.

[Frank_G]

I play since 2013 and i am having a real blast with the new DLC. If you like experimenting with robotics, are interested in creating animations and automated processes, i can really recommend buying it. You also get nice extra gameplay options with the new surface features and science things and new things to explore. For me, it makes a real difference.

Edited June 1, 2019 by Frank_G

[Yeet_TheDinosaur]

2 minutes ago, Frank_G said:

I play since 2013 and i am having a real blast with the new DLC. If you like experimenting with robotics, are interested in creating animations and automated processes, i can really recommend buying it. You also get nice extra gameplay options with the new surface features and science things and new things to explore. For me, it makes a real difference.

Thank you for your opinion FRank_G. I'm considering it even more now.

[KerikBalm]

Robotics are great, I never used infernal robotics, so I can't compare relative to a free mod... But robotics by themselves, ignoring the existence of mods, is worth it.

There's a few things that I hope they change: locked autostruts from some parts... This sometimes stops robotics from moving.

The surface features are a nice touch, I imagine that mods will greatly expand upon them.

The surface science bases is fun at first, but I think it can be improved. Its power unit + control station + maximum 3 experiments.

They don't seem to be able to share resources with craft. Mini Isru would be great.

I think mods again will greatly expand upon it.

 

[aagun123]

Not stronger then Infernal.

i prefer Infernal.

 

 

The same weight about 0.9 tons

 

The same weight about 3.5 tons

Edited June 1, 2019 by aagun123

[Goody1981]

2 hours ago, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

I am asking you guys whether the DLC is worth AUS$15

Hey Yeet

Just to let you know, I'm another Aussie player and I bought the DLC yesterday but it cost AUS$20 (on GOG). I think it's US$15..... (unless you're somehow able to get it for AUS$15....then go for it! And tell me where! haha)

And I think anything KSP is worth it! The greatest game.

[Guest]

Ye, me thinks it’s $15US cos it cost me near $20AU  but having said that, the robotics seem fine. It takes a little while to figure out but once you get going you can make super large solar arrays that fold down into a tiny space! If you want to go the mods route you can get a heap of really good stuff for free but I like keeping my games pretty stock so that’s why I bought the DLC. There are some super cool mods tho! If you don’t want to pay $20 start researching the mods! You won’t be disappointed ^_^

[Pthigrivi]

The overall answer to your question is absolutely it is! I'm really enjoying all of the new additions, especially the robotics and the surface features. The surface experiments seem cool too but I just started a new career so I haven't messed around with those much yet. Kerik is right there are definitely a few early bugs to work out but thats pretty standard fare for new releases, especially one this complicated. Im impressed its in as good shape as it is and I think in a patch or two they'll have it all ironed out.

That said, I happen to remember your folks were very recently on the fence about buying the base game. I'm so glad they did! I've been playing for about 6 years now and I've never gotten so much time, fun, and genuine learning about rocketry and orbital mechanics out of a game. There's TONS to do in the base game, and you'll be certainly be able to get your feet wet. I think you could easily wait a few weeks, explore some mods, and then after a patch or two when Breaking Ground has some of the kinks worked out see if your parents think spending more on the expansion is a good idea. Honestly even if you had to wait till Christmas you couldn't possibly get bored. 

Welcome to the game! 

Edited June 1, 2019 by Pthigrivi

[jrolson]

Wait for a sale...

[Yeet_TheDinosaur]

4 hours ago, KerikBalm said:

Robotics are great, I never used infernal robotics, so I can't compare relative to a free mod... But robotics by themselves, ignoring the existence of mods, is worth it.

There's a few things that I hope they change: locked autostruts from some parts... This sometimes stops robotics from moving.

The surface features are a nice touch, I imagine that mods will greatly expand upon them.

The surface science bases is fun at first, but I think it can be improved. Its power unit + control station + maximum 3 experiments.

They don't seem to be able to share resources with craft. Mini Isru would be great.

I think mods again will greatly expand upon it.

 

 

3 hours ago, aagun123 said:

Not stronger then Infernal.

i prefer Infernal.

 

 

The same weight about 0.9 tons

 

The same weight about 3.5 tons

So the robotics isn't bad but isn't the best, right? Even though the robotics are bad, we can still wait for the update(s) or so I hope.

3 hours ago, Goody1981 said:

Hey Yeet

Just to let you know, I'm another Aussie player and I bought the DLC yesterday but it cost AUS$20 (on GOG). I think it's US$15..... (unless you're somehow able to get it for AUS$15....then go for it! And tell me where! haha)

And I think anything KSP is worth it! The greatest game.

 

1 hour ago, Dale Christopher said:

Ye, me thinks it’s $15US cos it cost me near $20AU  but having said that, the robotics seem fine. It takes a little while to figure out but once you get going you can make super large solar arrays that fold down into a tiny space! If you want to go the mods route you can get a heap of really good stuff for free but I like keeping my games pretty stock so that’s why I bought the DLC. There are some super cool mods tho! If you don’t want to pay $20 start researching the mods! You won’t be disappointed

And.... yeah it's actually $AUS 20 instead of 15. Sorry everyone ^.^. I think I will blame my dumb brain and the stupid $AUS to $US.

43 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

The overall answer to your question is absolutely it is! I'm really enjoying all of the new additions, especially the robotics and the surface features. The surface experiments seem cool too but I just started a new career so I haven't messed around with those much yet. Kerik is right there are definitely a few early bugs to work out but thats pretty standard fare for new releases, especially one this complicated. Im impressed its in as good shape as it is and I think in a patch or two they'll have it all ironed out.

That said, I happen to remember your folks were very recently on the fence about buying the base game. I'm so glad they did! I've been playing for about 6 years now and I've never gotten so much time, fun, and genuine learning about rocketry and orbital mechanics out of a game. There's TONS to do in the base game, and you'll be certainly be able to get your feet wet. I think you could easily wait a few weeks, explore some mods, and then after a patch or two when Breaking Ground has some of the kinks worked out see if your parents think spending more on the expansion is a good idea. Honestly even if you had to wait till Christmas you couldn't possibly get bored. 

Welcome to the game! 

Oh. Did you read my first post? And you remember it? Thank you! Also, thank you for the tip. But fortunately for me, I had a deal with my parents (actually it was dad, but let's ignore it) that they will buy me the new DLC (I didn't specify how many ) when it comes out. Therefore, I don't need to worry about all the pleding thing.

 

Overall, thank you for all your advice ^.^. Generally, you're all saying that it's worth $AUS20 (or $US15) and it's awesome. About the thing that the robotics is wobbly? I think it would be resolved. Probably Squad will release patches that stabilizes and strengthens the robotics. If they don't, I'm pretty sure that this awesome community will find a use out of it. I'm certain. Finally, thank you for reading this long reply.

Have a safe Sunday (In both real and KSP life).

[Ratwerke_Actual]

Congrats on getting the game.

Take a bit and master what you have. If history is any lesson, the DLC will be on sale in a few weeks.

[Gargamel]

6 hours ago, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

say that the robotics are bad as hell (worse than mods?)

4 hours ago, aagun123 said:

The same weight about 3.5 tons

When you to start to think about what this means, you come to realize, using it as an example is pretty ridiculous.  That's 3.5 tons, and given the panel is about 1m IIRC, being held about 5m out from the servo motor.     That's completely unbelievable.  These types of masses are usually only handled with overhead industrial cranes, not small robotic arms.  The amount force being applied to that little servo motor is pretty intense.  I'd have to say this example is only showing that Stock robotics are more realistic and IR is way overpowered. 

6 hours ago, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

the features don't appear in old saves

Well, that really shouldn't matter to you, as you just started playing, and haven't had a chance to build up a huge campaign yet.  Starting from scratch again is one of the things I do enjoy about the game. 

6 hours ago, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

the deployed sciences take a lot of time

This is a good thing.   One of our biggest gripes about the game is the lack of things to do on a planet.   If I wanted a click and shoot style game with instant gratification I'd go play SimpleRockets a platformer.   I'd much rather have the things I'm trying to do take a bit of time.

 

53 minutes ago, Ratwerke_Actual said:

Take a bit and master what you have.

This would be my suggestion.   There's a lot to do in the game without the DLC, so I'd get the basics down first (orbiting, rendezvous, docking, landing, returning... you know.... the "basics" ) before picking up the DLC. 

[KerikBalm]

3 hours ago, Gargamel said:

The amount force being applied to that little servo motor is pretty intense.  I'd have to say this example is only showing that Stock robotics are more realistic and IR is way overpowered. 

Yea, I wouldn't compare stock-DLC to IR in that way. That is a matter of part balance. You can tweak the motor strength yourself (its just text editing number values)

What I would compare is the ability to program them, what they can do, and how buggy they are.

I think stock will win (I haven't tried the programming yet, but it looks more intuitive than IR). Also, so far no kraken attacks with the robotics I've used (I use the axis groups, nothing to complex yet, just propellors /helos, and tilt engine VTOLs)

[merlinux]

11 hours ago, aagun123 said:

Not stronger then Infernal.

i prefer Infernal.

 

 

I havent use IR in years, but I did peek at the thread multiple times recently. And I thought the current itteration of the mod relied on a fork of KJR or I may  haved missed something... In the case that you also have KJR with IR in your modlist, your comparison is very unfair...

KJR (kerbal joint reinforcement) for those who don't know is an amazing mod which strengthen the joints on parts. The features of the mod were (kind of) implemented to stock with autostruts and rigid attachment a while back.

But yes @Yeet_TheDinosaur the DLC is totally worth it

Edited June 1, 2019 by merlinux

[Klapaucius]

It took me a long time to get my head around how KSP works, and after 1000 hours, there are still heaps of things I don't know. My suggestion: spend some time with good tutorials and lots of time messing about to get your building skills up.  These are advanced parts with a lot of tweaking needed, and you will need to have a firm grasp of the base game to use them effectively.

 

So, may answer is hold off for now.  The DLC did not exist 2 days ago, and yet amazing things have been done in KSP for years.  Also, it is likely some bugs will be ironed out later on. I'm finding some odd things happening in this latest release.

 

I don't know how far along you are learning, but I learned from this very under-appreciated tutor. It was done in an earlier version, but it is mostly the same. He is very good.

 

 

[Guest]

Totally worth it

And welcome to KSP... One more thing... I would recommend that you don't use the DLC until you land on the mun

[Gargamel]

17 minutes ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

until you land on the mun

And return.   In KSP, the term landing has variable meanings. 

[Guest]

Just now, Gargamel said:

And return.   In KSP, the term landing has variable meanings. 

And return of course... 

[Yeet_TheDinosaur]

1 hour ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Totally worth it

And welcome to KSP... One more thing... I would recommend that you don't use the DLC until you land on the mun

 

48 minutes ago, Gargamel said:

And return.   In KSP, the term landing has variable meanings. 

 

47 minutes ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

And return of course... 

So... I shouldn't buy the DLC until I go to the Mun (and return). Do you mean in a sandbox or in science/career mode? But even though I go to the Mun and return (it's gonna take a while), my parents are likely to have forgotten it. So I think I'll buy it now and use it later.

Then have a nice day of crashing stuff into KSC!

[Lisias]

14 hours ago, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

DONT buy the DLC

Or

Ask my parents to buy me one (they promised me)

I'm a long time user of Infernal Robotics. I still use Infernal Robotics. And I bought it.  

If you ever used IR before (for any reason), or tried some of that already classic stunts to emulate joints and articulations, or both, you will enjoy this for sure.

I will not drop IR for this, but I concede that it's more polished and now it's a standard - so I will ending up using both. There's a few things on IR that suits me better, but I intend to use BG to things I wanna share. The KAL-1000 Controller is excellent, by the way - to me, it's the single best feature of the whole package.

But even if you don't care about Robotics, the Science expansion adds some fun to the game. I'll still be using KIS for a lot of things, but the new Science Experiments definitively worths the money - as long you enjoy spending time on the ground. If you only want to fly things, perhaps this feature will not worth for you.

If you don't care about Robotics neither surface wandering, so perhaps Making History would be a better option for you due the new parts and even Mission Builder, if you wanna share missions with people (it's a highly underrated feature, in my humble opinion). The Mission Builder adds some memory footprint, however, so if you are low on RAM, it's better to skip this until you have a better rig.

 

14 hours ago, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

And because I'm pretty young and lack maturity than you guys who are really smart and are grown-ups,

You are barking up the wrong tree, son  

Maturity and growing up are rarely related nowadays. I'm just a big kid most of the time!

Edited June 2, 2019 by Lisias
Hit 'save" too soon.

[Gargamel]

2 minutes ago, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

So... I shouldn't buy the DLC until I go to the Mun (and return). Do you mean in a sandbox or in science/career mode? But even though I go to the Mun and return (it's gonna take a while), my parents are likely to have forgotten it. So I think I'll buy it now and use it later.

You do what does the best for you.    That's the beauty of open world games like this.   You can do it how ever you want.   Even if you get the DLC now, you'll still need to learn the basics, maybe not first, but pretty soon.   The most recent DLC won't effect your beginning game that much to be honest, but it won't get in the way either.  Maybe having the parts available now will allow your mind to learn it in a way the rest of us haven't.    Either way, you'll be happier in the long run with it, but you won't get much use out of it right now. 

5 minutes ago, Lisias said:

I'm just a big kid most of the time!

That describes most of us on here

[Klapaucius]

29 minutes ago, Lisias said:

If you don't care about Robotics neither surface wandering, so perhaps Making History would be a better option for you due the new parts and even Mission Builder, if you wanna share missions with people (it's a highly underrated feature, in my humble opinion). The Mission Builder adds some memory footprint, however, so if you are low on RAM, it's better to skip this until you have a better rig.

I concur. Mission Builder is great AND it also allows you to place craft on any celestial body. So, if you want to just practice building Mun landers without having to do a full launch sequence every time, you can do so. You can put yourself in orbit, or place yourself at the bottom of an ocean.  It also gives you the Dessert Airfield and launch area.  I began KSP just before Mission Builder was released, and I had a lot of fun and learned a lot by using it to place me in different environments: Eve, Laythe, Gilly etc.  I would actually go so far as to say, buy it first.  It is on sale on Steam right now.

 

Mission Builder gets a very undeserved negative reputation from some very vocal folks for whom it did not fulfill whatever expectations they may have had. But it offers a lot by giving you the whole solar system from the get go. That does not mean you should not also learn to fly to all those bodies, Of course you should, but it expands the gameplay a lot.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Klapaucius

[Geschosskopf]

14 hours ago, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

I am asking you guys whether the DLC is worth AUS$15

I'd say so.  There are quite a few nice new things for themselves but the big picture is what this does for modders.  Modders can now use stock-ish (as in +DLC) starting points instead of having to do the whole thing from scratch.  This helps a lot with mod longevity, which is always an issue as time goes by.  We now have, as part of the stock game, some important things like wireless resource transfer and an inventory system, besides the headliner robotics.  I fully expect these things to be exploited by modders in the future.

[VoidCosmos]

On 6/1/2019 at 3:06 PM, Yeet_TheDinosaur said:

Hello, everyone in the forum. I am a person who got KSP not long ago (a week ago) and I'm really enjoying it. But after the DLC came out, I'm wondering: is it worth it? I went to steam and looked at some reviews, and few of them say that the robotics are bad as hell (worse than mods?), the features don't appear in old saves, the deployed sciences take a lot of time and the features are too small and lacking numbers. But generally, the reviews are saying that they are pretty good. So these are my options right now:

DONT buy the DLC

Or

Ask my parents to buy me one (they promised me)

And because I'm pretty young and lack maturity than you guys who are really smart and are grown-ups, I am asking you guys whether the DLC is worth AUS$15. If you bought it, great! Tell me your opinions about the DLC! Is it worth the money? Is the robotics really bad? Are the new sciences good? 

SO yeah, thank you for reading my (again) badly punctuated and my second post.

Its good. Not bad.

11 hours ago, Lisias said:

You are barking up the wrong tree, son  

Maturity and growing up are rarely related nowadays. I'm just a big kid most of the time! 

Hahahahahahaha.... @Lisias you are right!!!! 

[Matrix Aran]

Yes.