KSP2 Video and Interview thread

[Klapaucius]

Several posters have put up links to interviews etc. Since watching the developers talk (as well as some great Scott Manley speculation), I thought it would be good to create a thread for collecting good information in one place.  Feel free to add stuff..but...just very relevant or official and with new information that can be backed up.  Please post links, but leave opinions and discussions for other threads.

 

Just with these four videos most of my (big) questions have been answered and I am pretty happy with those answers. The main thing for me is that it is still very much rooted in science.

 

So: 

Trailer

Developer Trailer

Gamescom Interview

Scott Manley thoughts

[chaos_forge]

Scott Manley also reacted to the Gamescom interview on Twitter, saying he was surprised they kept the wet noodle physics for rockets in the sequel:

There's also the FAQ on the KSP dev blog: https://kerbaldevteam.tumblr.com/post/187123836334/kerbal-space-program-2-coming-in-2020

And finally, PC gamer also interviewed the KSP2 devs: https://www.pcgamer.com/kerbal-space-program-2-interview/

[Kaerbanogue]

Amazing gameplay! The dev and the gameplay reveal a lot of features.

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More realistic launches with sparkles to ignite rocket boosters, almost certainly a recoloring parts and kerbals EVA suits feature, 4 new spaceship designs, planetshine shaders on crafts and celestian bodies, new tanks (round and triangle boys), a quick look at the new KSC (which looks quite huge but also very unfinished)

I can't wait to see an official gameplay video... 

[KerbolExplorer]

The FPS where horrible but it's a pre-alfa so it should get fixed in the future

And wow they changed the launch place a lot!

[NoMrBond]

There's another developer interview with beanscom as well

 

[NoMrBond]

Quite a bit of familiar material and also in Dutch, but has a few actual in-game scenes I haven't seen in other videos;

 

[EchoLima]

https://www.pcgamer.com/kerbal-space-program-2-dev-reveals-how-baby-kerbals-are-made/

Some info about colonization and offworld construction

[Klapaucius]

A very informative article that @Spaceception posted in another thread.

 

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/interviews/an-in-depth-conversation-with-the-creator-of-ksp2/

 

[nikokespprfan]

  On 8/25/2019 at 6:27 PM, Kaerbanogue said:

Hi guys there's this interview that had been released today, but it's in german... 

Any german folk to tell us if something new is said? 

https://youtu.be/ftLT_puDtxo

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  On 8/26/2019 at 1:38 PM, nikokespprfan said:

Here is the german transcript stolen and edited from the subtitles

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INTRO by interviewer:

Auf der diesjährigen Gamescom 2019 ist Kerbal Space Program 2 angekündigt worden. Der absolute wahnsinn da ist mir erst mal der kopf explodierte und ich bin großer fan des ersten Teils, denen ich laut Steam über 500 Stunden gespielt habe.

Und ich freue mich auch dass es geklappt hat auf der Gamescom ein Interview bei Private Division mit den Entwicklern von Kerbal Space Program 2 führen zu dürfen. Vielen dank noch mal an Private Division dass das so kurzfristig möglich gewesen ist und seht ihr jetzt das Interview.

Ich wünsche viel Spaß.

Dev: Hi, mein name ist Nate Simpson. Ich bin der Creative Director von Star.Theory Games und arbeite gerade an Kerbal Space Program 2.

Interviewer: sind nett dich kennenzulernen. Kannst du kurz eure ziele für Kerbal Space Program 2 zusammenfassen?

Nate: Nun Kerbal Space Program 2 erweitert das originale Konzept von Kerbal Space Program, insbesondere im Hinblick auf den Maßstab. Das ganze findet in einem wesentlich größeren Universum statt in dem man mehrere Sternensysteme erkunden kann und so mussten wir beispielsweise auch den Technologiebaum vergrößern um es dem Spieler zu ermöglichen über neue Technologien diese weit entfernten Sternensysteme auch erreichen zu können. Zum Beispiel neue Antriebstechnologie, neue Treibstoffvarianten und größere Variationen bei den Raumschiffkurs. Dazu kommt noch ein neues Kolonie-bausystem was ist ein ermöglicht sowohl auf Oberflächen von Planeten als auch im Orbit Großraumstationen zu bauen. Wenn diese Kolonien oder Raumstationen dann eine entsprechende Größe erreicht haben wird es dort möglich sein neue Raumschiffe zu bauen die dann sogar noch größer werden können. Das ermöglicht es gerade in der Progression des späteren Spielverlauf riesige Raumschiffe zu bauen die dann genügend Treibstoff mit sich führen können um lange genug Beschleunigen zu können, dann letztendlich zu wenden und abzubremsen um zu weit entfernten interstellaren Locations zu gelangen.

Interviewer: Cool he.

Und eine Sache wollen wir natürlich nicht vergessen denn das ist ein ziemlich großes Ding nämlich der Multiplayer. Wir haben die Architektur des Spiels komplett überarbeitet sodass Multiplayer überhaupt erst möglich werden kann während wir gleichzeitig darauf geachtet haben dass es weiterhin möglich ist das Spiel zu modden und auch noch besser zu machen als vorher.  Das war eine ganz wichtige Priorität für uns und die Modder werden sehr zufrieden sein wenn sie feststellen wie weit sie in die Kernsysteme des spiels eingreifen können.

Zu guter letzt haben wir den Zugang zum Spiel auch ein bisschen vereinfacht. Dabei war es uns sehr wichtig dass es immer noch ein anspruchsvolles Spielerlebnis bleibt genauso wie das erste Kerbal Space Program ein sehr anspruchsvolles erlebnis gewesen ist, denn das ist letztendlich auch ein grund dafür warum das erste Kerbal Space Program so großartig gewesen ist.

Wir sind aber der Meinung dass einige der Konzepten nicht so schwer begreiflich sein müssen für Leute die das Spiel zum ersten mal sehen. Dazu haben wir beispielsweise eine neue form von Tutorial integriert die über kontextbasierte Animationen die relativ intuitiv angezeigt werden, einem neuen Spieler die Mechanismen des spiels visuell erläutern anstatt durch viel text.

 

Interviewer: Wird es so etwas wie Lebenserhaltungssysteme geben so dass man für die Kerbal Sauerstoffversorgung, Wasserversorgung und Lebensmittelversorgung sicherstellen muss.

Nate: Ich kann so viel sagen dass die Notwendigkeit Kerbals am leben zu halten eine Feature ist dass wir jetzt einführen werden. Genaueres kann ich dazu aber zu diesem Zeitpunkt noch nicht sagen aber ich kann soviel sagen. Falls du die mods zum Thema Lebenserhaltungssysteme ausprobiert hast; so etwas detailliertes wird es nicht geben, aber wie gesagt ich kann nicht allzu viel dazu sagen denn es gibt da ein paar geheimnisse.

Interviewer: Geheimnisse! ... Moment mal, ja nächste frage!

Interviewer: Du hast bereits das Bauen von Raumstationen und Kolonien erwähnt. Wie genau wird das Ablaufen?

Nate: Der Basisbau läuft in einem neuen Editor der ganz ähnlich dem Vehicle Assembly Building funktioniert. Das ganze findet allerdings statt auf dem jeweiligen Gelände wo man dann letztendlich bauen möchte und wir haben das ganze BAE oder auch beziehungsweise Building Assembly Editor genannt. In der frühen Progressionsstufe steht Basisbau allerdings noch darin aufblasbare Module in einem Fahrzeug zu der entsprechenden Location zu bringen. Man fliegt also mit einem Fahrzeug hin, landet das Fahrzeug, entfaltet entsprechende Module und diese Module können dann auf der Oberfläche platziert werden als Basis.

 Im weiteren Spielverlauf ist es dann möglich gesammelte Ressourcen zu verwenden. Dazu gibt es dann spezielle Ressourcensammel- und Verarbeitungsmodule um Ressourcen entsprechen für die Erweiterung der Base zu nutzen. So kann eine Kolonie auf eigene Weise organisch wachsen und jede Kolonie hat außerdem eine Bevölkerung die natürlich auch über die Zeit wächst, und je größer diese Bevölkerung wird bist du eher werden neue Module freigeschaltet die man dann wieder an der Base platzieren kann, bis man letztendlich in der Lage ist auch Fahrzeuge und andere Raumschiffe in einem neuen Vehicle Assembly Building dass man in der Kolonie platziert bauen zu können.

Und dann wird es natürlich richtig spannend, weil man dann mehr Möglichkeiten zum Raketenbau bekommt.

 

Interviewer: Kannst du ein bisschen genauer auf neue Fahrzeugbauteile und vielleicht auch neue Antriebssysteme und dergleichen eingehen?

Nate: Tatsächlich haben wir einen Experten in sachen Antriebssysteme. Sein name ist Dr Uri Shumlak von der University of Washington.

Und ganz ehrlich weißt du, na ja ich nehme sämtliche Schuld auf meine eigenen Schultern wenn diese Antriebssysteme in irgendeiner form nicht so 100 prozent der realen Vorgabe entsprechen sollten. Wir haben unser möglichstes getan um dafür zu sorgen dass diese Maschinen in der realen Wissenschaft verwurzelt bleiben, selbst wenn wir damit nur eine geschichte erzählen. Da ich aber zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt noch nie eine funktionierende Rakete mit metallischem Wasserstoff als Antrieb gesehen hat, kann ich natürlich auch keine Garantie dafür nehmen dass dieselbe rakete in unserem Spiel auch in irgendeiner Zukunft irgendwie noch was mit real existierenden Raketen dieser art zu tun haben werden.

Bleiben wir mal bei der Technologie mit dem metallenen Wasserstoff. Dabei geht es darum dass der metallene Wasserstoff tatsächlich bei normaler Zimmertemperatur stabil bleibt. So ein Stoff wurde erst vor einigen Jahren im Labor erzeugt. Das ist also eine brandneue Technologie aber die Tatsache dass es ihnen gelungen ist ein kleines bisschen von diesem Material herzustellen reicht uns aus um das ganze als möglichen Treibstoff für unsere Kerbal Raketen zu benutzen. Mit einem solchen treibstoff könnte man nämlich Raketen entwickeln die doppelt so viel Schub entwickeln können wie herkömmliche Chemische Raketen.  Leider verbrennt dieses Material bei 6000 Grad Kelvin was so ziemlich jede Materie sofort zum Schmelzen bringt. Daher liegt eine große Herausforderung darin den mettalischen Wasserstoff zu verdünnen damit die Temperaturen nicht ganz so hoch werden.

Einige der Fahrzeuge im Trailer insbesondere am anfang das Lunar Lander Module verfügen übrigens über genau diesen antrieb, nämlich ein vakuum-zertifiziertes metallenes Wasserstoffantriebssystemen.

Tja das ist gerade mal die erste fortschrittliche Technologie die man nach den normalen Flüssigtreibstoffraketen bekommt also da gibt es wirklich einiges was man noch entdecken kann.

Darüber werden wir sicher zu einem anderen Zeitpunkt noch genauer sprechen können.

 

Interviewer: Du hass erwähnt dass das Spiel für neue Spieler ein bisschen einsteigerfreundlicher werden soll. Kannst du das ein bisschen genauer erläutern. Wie genau habt ihr das umgesetzt.

Nate: Bei unseren ersten Tests dazu haben wir einfach sehr sehr lange handgeschriebene Passagen um Zeichnungen verwendet um bestimmte Konzepte zu illustrieren. Und sobald wir einen neuen Mitarbeiter im Team engagiert haben, haben wir diese handgeschriebenen Tutorialkonzepte an demjenigen ausprobiert. Dabei gab es nur ein kleines problem denn auch unsere neuen Mitarbeiter waren oft schon Fans des originalen Kerbal Space Program.

Immer wenn wir dann einen Noob gefunden haben, haben wir natürlich sofort diese Konzepte ausprobiert oder auch an Familienmitgliedern oder Freunden, und es stellte sich heraus dass wenn man diese Gameplaykonzepte in der richtigen Reihenfolge und bezogen auf eine bestimmte Problematik die derjenige versucht gerade lösen präsentiert, dann ist es gar nicht mehr so schwierig das ganze zu verstehen.

Und es ist schon sehr erfreulich zu sehen wie Leute die ursprünglich Angst vor Kerbal Space Program hatten aufgrund seiner Reputation als sehr komplexes Spiel, wird sich sogar etwas über orbital mechanics gelernt haben.  Und ja so ist uns dann gelungen letztendlich diese leute ziemlich schnell ins Spielgeschehen einzuführen.

 

Interviewer: Aus wie vielen einzelnen Bauteilen kann ein Fahrzeug maximal bestehen?

Nate: Über die maximale Anzahl der Bauteile bei einem Raumfahrzeug kann ich leider noch nicht so viel sagen weil wir gerade auch noch dabei sind die Physikberechnungen für feste Objekte zu verbessern.

Wir wollen sicherstellen dass das Spiel Spaß macht und man sich nicht extra einen neuen Computer anschaffen muss, damit das ganze flüssig läuft.

Wir haben da tatsächlich noch die ein oder andere Stellschraube an der wir drehen können um die Physikberechnungen noch weiter zu optimieren, nämlich genau diese Physikberechnungen die früher auf der CPU abliefen und dafür gesorgt haben dass die Framerate im ersten Teil doch relativ häufig sehr stark eingebrochen ist. In unserem pre-alpha gameplay dass wir veröffentlicht haben sieht man durchaus ein paar Framerateprobleme. Allerdings sind wir sehr zuversichtlich dass wir diese auch noch in den Griff kriegen bis das Spiel dann letztendlich veröffentlicht wird.

Interviewer: Kannst du ein bisschen was zu den interstellaren Reisen erzählen. Wie viele Sternensysteme wird es beispielsweise geben die wir besuchen können?

Nate: Na ja die Frage zu beantworten wie viele Sternensysteme es geben wird, fühlt sich für mich ein bisschen an wie ein Spoiler. Ich möchte schon gerne dass die Leute das beim spielen selber entdecken können. Daher kann ich dann nicht allzu viel zu sagen. Es ist ein ziemlich großes Universum mit vielen Möglichkeiten coole Dinge zu entdecken und wir legen großen Wert darauf dass du davon vieles selber entdecken kannst als ein normaler Teil deiner Progression durch das Spiel.

 

Interviewer: Dann hinten die Wichtigste letzte Frage: kann ich das Spiel sofort haben?

Nate: Sagen wir es mal so falls du es bekommen hast das fertig ist dann schickt bitte zu.

__________

Outro by Interviewer:

Noch eine kurze Info. Zum Ende dieses Interviewmöglichkeit hat sich wirklich sehr kurzfristig ergeben und ich hatte ungefähr 20 Minuten für dieses Interview Zeit gehabt. Daher war es mir leider nicht möglich alle eure Communityfragen in diesem Interview unterzubringen.  Ich hoffe trotzdem dass ihr aus dem Interview ein paar Informationen herausziehen konnte und würde mich freuen wenn es euch gefallen hat. (General Like, Comment, Subscribe talk.)

and here is the english translation, edited for clarity.

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INTRO by interviewer:
At this year's Gamescom 2019 Kerbal Space Program 2 has been announced. The absolute madness. my head exploded and I'm a big fan of the first game, which I've played for over 500 hours, according to Steam.
And I am also pleased that it worked out that I had an interview with Private Division at Gamesecon with the developers of Kerbal Space Program 2. Thank you very much to Private Division for making this possible on short notice and now you are seeing the interview.
Enjoy your time.

_____
Dev: Hi, my name is Nate Simpson. I'm the Creative Director of Star.Theory Games and I'm currently working on Kerbal Space Program 2.
Interviewer: Nice to meet you. Can you briefly summarize your goals for Kerbal Space Program 2?
Nate: Now Kerbal Space Program 2 extends the original concept of Kerbal Space Program, especially in terms of scale. The whole takes place in a much larger universe in which one can explore several star systems and so we had to, for example, enlarge the technology tree in order to allow the player to reach these far away star systems on new technologies. For example, new drive technology, new fuel variants and larger variations in the spaceship course. In addition, there is a new colony-building system which makes it possible to build large-capacity stations both on surfaces of planets and in orbit. When these colonies or space stations have reached an appropriate size, it will be possible to build new spaceships that can grow even larger. This makes it possible to build huge spaceships in the progression of the later game, which can then carry enough fuel to accelerate long enough, then finally turn around and decelerate to reach distant interstellar locations.
Interviewer: Cool hey.
And of course we do not want to forget one thing because that's a pretty big thing, namely multiplayer. We've completely redesigned the architecture of the game so that multiplayer can be made possible while at the same time making sure that it is still possible to mod the game and mod it even better than before. That was a very important priority for us and the modders will be very pleased to see how far they can intervene in the core systems of the game.
Last but not least, we have made access to the game a bit easier. It was very important to us that it still remains a challenging gaming experience just as the first Kerbal Space Program was a very challenging experience, because that is one of the reasons why the first Kerbal Space Program was so great.
But we think that some of the concepts do not have to be so hard to understand for people who are seeing the game for the first time. For example, we have integrated a new form of tutorial that uses context-based animations that are relatively intuitive to visually explain the mechanisms of the game to a new player rather than a lot of text.

Interviewer: Will there be such a thing as life support systems so you have to ensure oxygen supply, water supply and food supply for the Kerbals.
Nate: I can say so much that the need to keep Kerbals alive is a feature we're going to introduce now. But I can not say more about that at this point, but I can say so much. In case you tried mods on life support systems; it will not be so detailed, but as I said I can not say too much because there are a few secrets.
Interviewer: Secrets! ... wait a minute, yes next question!

Interviewer: You have already mentioned building space stations and colonies. How exactly is this going to happen?
Nate: The base building runs in a new editor that works quite similar to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The whole takes place however on the respective area where one wants to build. And we we called the whole BAE or also respectively Building Assembly Editor. In the early progression stage, however, base building will mean bringing inflatable modules in a vehicle to the appropriate location. So you fly with a vehicle, land the vehicle, unfold appropriate modules and these modules can then be placed on the surface as a base.

Later in the game it is possible to use collected resources. There are then special resource collection and processing modules to use resources for the extension of the base to use. This way, a colony can grow organically in its own way, and each colony also has a population that grows over time, of course, and the bigger that population becomes, the sooner you unlock new modules, which you can then put back to the base, until you finally are also able to build vehicles and other spaceships in a new Vehicle Assembly Building that you can place in the colony.
And then of course it gets really exciting, because then you get more opportunities for rocket construction.

Interviewer: Can you take a closer look at new vehicle components and perhaps also new drive systems and the like?
Nate: Actually, we have an expert in drive systems. His name is Dr Uri Shumlak from the University of Washington.
And honestly you know, well I take all the blame on my own shoulders if these propulsion systems in any form should not be as 100 percent of the real target. We have done our best to ensure that these machines remain rooted in real science, even if we are only telling a story. Since I've never seen a functioning rocket with metallic hydrogen as a propulsion system at this time, of course, I can not guarantee that the same rocket in our game in any future will somehow still have something to do with real existing rockets of this kind ,
Let's stay with the metallic hydrogen technology. The point is that the metallic hydrogen actually remains stable at normal room temperature. Such a substance was only produced in the laboratory a few years ago, so this is a brand new technology. But the fact that they have been able to make a little bit of this material is enough for us to use it as a possible fuel for our Kerbal rockets. With such a fuel you could namely develop rockets that can exert twice as much thrust as conventional chemical rockets. Unfortunately, this material burns at 6000 degrees Kelvin, which causes almost any matter to melt immediately. Therefore, a major challenge is to dilute the Mettalic hydrogen so that the temperatures are not quite as high.
By the way, some of the vehicles in the trailer, especially at the beginning, the Lunar Lander Module, have exactly that drive, namely a vacuum-certified metal hydrogen propulsion system.
Well this is just the first advanced technology that you get after the normal liquid fuel rockets so there is really something you can still discover. We will certainly be able to talk more about this at another time.

Interviewer: You mentioned that the game should be a bit more beginner-friendly for new players. Can you explain that a bit more. How exactly did you do that?
Nate: In our first tests, we just used very long handwritten passages around drawings to illustrate certain concepts. And as soon as we have hired a new employee in the team, we have tried these handwritten tutorial concepts them. Only there was a small problem with that, because our new employees were often fans of the original Kerbal Space Program.
Whenever we found a Noob, of course, we immediately tried these concepts, or to family members or friends, and it turned out that if you were to present these gameplay concepts in the right order and in relation to a specific issue that the player happens to be solvingat that time, then it is not so difficult to understand it all.
And it's very gratifying to see how people who were initially scared of Kerbal Space Program due to its reputation as a very complex game, will even have learned something about orbital mechanics. And yes, we finally managed to introduce these people pretty quickly to the game.

Interviewer: How many individual components can a vehicle consist of at most?
Nate: Unfortunately I can not say that much about the maximum part count, because we are still in the process of improving the physics calculations for solid objects. We want to make sure that the game is fun and you do not have to buy a new computer to make it run smoothly.
We actually have a few knobs that we can turn to optimize the physics calculations even further, namely exactly these physics calculations that used to run on the CPU and made sure that the frame rate in the first game was relatively often very strongly broken. In our pre-alpha gameplay that we have released you can see quite a few frame rate issues. However, we are very confident that we will get them under control before the game is finally released.

Interviewer: Can you tell a little bit about interstellar travel? For example, how many star systems will we visit?
Nate: Well, answering the question of how many star systems there will be feels like a spoiler to me. I'd like people to discover it while playing. Therefore, I can not say too much then. It's a pretty big universe with lots of opportunities to discover cool things, and we put value into being able to discover a lot of it yourself as a normal part of your progression through the game.

Interviewer: Then back the most important last question: can I have the game already?
Nate: Let's say that if you managed to get it then please send it to us.
...
Nate: I really appreciated being here, I appreciated you in depth questions.
__________
Outro by Interviewer:
A short info. The end of this interview opportunity has really come at very short notice and I had about 20 minutes for this interview. Therefore I was not able to accommodate all your community questions in this interview. Nevertheless I hope that you could extract some information from the interview and would be glad if you liked it. (General Like, Comment, Subscribe and Outro- talk.)

 

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It seems this is the proper place for good information, instead of Some more KSP2 footage. So how about this, let's keep this one for storing informative references, and keep the other one for discussion of the new news, and well, also posting the links. This way readers from some time in the future can easily find all the info they might want without clutter.

Edited August 29, 2019 by nikokespprfan

[Delay]

The most important passage in that text has got to be the performance section.

They're trying their best to make the game run well on all systems and they admit that the pre-alpha gameplay shown at Gamescom is not a good example of that. But they also say they still have lots of room for optimization.

[nikokespprfan]

About the performance section:

  On 8/26/2019 at 9:44 PM, nikokespprfan said:

Wir haben da tatsächlich noch die ein oder andere Stellschraube an der wir drehen können um die Physikberechnungen noch weiter zu optimieren, nämlich genau diese Physikberechnungen die früher auf der CPU abliefen und dafür gesorgt haben dass die Framerate im ersten Teil doch relativ häufig sehr stark eingebrochen ist. In unserem pre-alpha gameplay dass wir veröffentlicht haben sieht man durchaus ein paar Framerateprobleme. Allerdings sind wir sehr zuversichtlich dass wir diese auch noch in den Griff kriegen bis das Spiel dann letztendlich veröffentlicht wird.

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should translate to

  Quote

We actually have a few knobs that we can turn to optimize the physics calculations even further, namely exactly these physics calculations that used to run on the CPU and made sure that the frame rate in the first game was relatively often very strong(ly broken).

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where everything between parentheses was not added the first time. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[chaos_forge]

Here's a twitter thread from someone who got a peek at the game:

https://mobile.twitter.com/badnewsbaron/status/1166829617514041344

Not an interview or video, but probably still relevant to the thread

[NoMrBond]

Content creators dinner following the Star Theory presentation (via Scott Manley's phone);

 

[razark]

  On 8/29/2019 at 4:19 AM, chaos_forge said:

Here's a twitter thread ... but probably still relevant to the thread

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Interesting.

But:

  Quote

Colony population does not grow over time. Colonists are brought in manually. Colonists also... multiply when...

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So, do they grow or not?  That statement is not self-consistent.

Edited August 29, 2019 by razark

[Gydra54]

  On 8/29/2019 at 4:33 AM, razark said:

Interesting.

But:

So, do they grow or not?  That statement is not self-consistent.

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I think they mean that colonies don't slowly grow without you doing anything. So you even if you timewarp 100 years into the future, the colony will have the same population. The colony only grows when you supply more colonists or accomplish things in the game.

[razark]

  On 8/29/2019 at 4:46 AM, Gydra54 said:

I think they mean that colonies don't slowly grow without you doing anything. So you even if you timewarp 100 years into the future, the colony will have the same population. The colony only grows when you supply more colonists or accomplish things in the game.

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Yeah, I (think I) understand.  I just oppose the way it's worded.  Should be "Colonies don't grow unless you manually bring Kerbals in or <certain conditions are met>".  Simply stating that they don't grow is not quite sufficient to cover the actuality.
(But, I might be being a bit too pedantic.)

[Klapaucius]

Hey guys, trying to keep this thread clean with links only. Feel free to repost links in other threads to promote discussion.

[nikokespprfan]

  On 8/29/2019 at 4:23 AM, NoMrBond said:

Content creators dinner following the Star Theory presentation (via Scott Manley's phone);

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Scott mentioned that he would put a backup up at youtube or something? Most twitch streams get deleted after 14 days I believe, so if there is a backup, we should post that backup.

[NoMrBond]

  On 8/29/2019 at 9:25 PM, nikokespprfan said:

Scott mentioned that he would put a backup up at youtube or something? Most twitch streams get deleted after 14 days I believe, so if there is a backup, we should post that backup.

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Righto;

 

[nikokespprfan]

PAX West interviews:

Das

Snark

  Reveal hidden contents

  On 8/31/2019 at 3:38 AM, Snark said:

Okay, gang, here's the scoop! 

My interview was with Nate Simpson, creative director for Kerbal Space program 2 and major KSP nerd (apparently he was notorious around the Star Theory office for being bonkers about KSP, long before KSP2 was even a thing; there's a story around that, but I digress).  @linuxgurugamer tagged along.

I managed to get through all the questions listed in the OP, in the time allotted-- just barely squeaked by.  Questions and answers below.

Note:  For a few of them, the answer is listed at "don't know" or "not sure".  That has a very specific meaning in this context-- it means that Nate, himself, didn't happen to know the answer off the top of his head (for example, he's not an engineer, so technical questions about specific implementation details are often outside of his knowledge, you'd need to talk to an engineer for that.)  So when I report an answer as "don't know" or "not sure", that's what it means.  In cases where Star Theory hasn't come to closure on something, then I'll describe that as "TBD" instead.

What appears below is a combination of my memory and the notes that I typed during the conversation, so Nate's answers aren't necessarily verbatim quotes, but they're as close as I could make 'em.  Please remember that I'm a total noob at interviewing people (I'm not a streamer, this is the first time I've ever done anything like this, it's not like I actually know what I'm doing), so it's possible I could have garbled things a bit here and there.  Hopefully not too much. 

I've highlighted the bits that I found particularly eye-opening and/or exciting.

• Q:  Will single-player still have all the same familiar game modes, i.e. sandbox, science, career?
• A:  No.  There will be sandbox (pretty much same as now), and then there will be another mode called "progression" which is sort of a combination of science and career modes, aiming for the best of both.
• Q:  Will science and R&D still work pretty much the same way?
• A:  Yes.
• Q:  What's the tech tree like?  Is it still "kerbals first, probe cores later"?
• A:  Still TBD.
• Q:  Will there still be the same sorts of science experiments?  New ones?
• A:  It's changed in a few ways, but not at liberty to say more than that at the moment.
• Q:  Still biome-focused?  Are they still called "biomes"?
• A:  Not sure.
• Q:  Will any KSP 1 features be dropped, and if so, which?  For example:  ISRU, CommNet, asteroids, heating, etc.
• A:  That's a bit complicated to answer if you ask "any", since there are tons of features in KSP 1 and not all of them are going to work exactly the same way in KSP 2.  But for the ones specifically mentioned here:  yes, ISRU will still be a thing, with a way to detect from orbit.  There are still asteroids.  There's still CommNet, and it still needs LOS.  Heating's a thing, though the dynamics may change a bit and can't talk about those details right now.
• Q:  How customizable will the UI be?  (navball position, etc.)
• A:  They want to make it very flexible.  They're trying to make the UI more easily moddable than before.  As for player-customizability, details are still TBD.  They're aware that players can be very particular about how UI elements are arranged, and want to make people happy.
• Q:  When will Star Theory people start engaging with players in the KSP forums (e.g. to answer questions, get feedback, etc.)?
• A:  Don't know an exact date, but Soon™.
• Q:  What's the plan for Mac and Linux support?
• A:  We want KSP to be available to as many players as possible at launch, but can't say more specifically than that right now.
• Q:  Will KSP work on a locked-down PC?  As in, can be installed by an admin user, then run by non-admin users?
• A:  Don't know, would need an engineer for that.
• Q:  Will we be getting KSP 2 merchandise?  When?
• A:  There will definitely be merch, don't know when though.
• Q:  Will we have the ability to refuel or transfer resources to craft on a planet/moon surface without the need to dock to them?
• A: <knowing nod, he gets why this is important>  Absolutely yes.  No comment on the details, though.
• Q:  Will we see parts inspired from existing real-world spacecraft that have yet to be featured in KSP 1? Such as the Orion capsule, etc.
• A:  No plans for Making-History-style replicas, but definitely "inspired by" types of craft.
• Q:  Will the Making History parts be included?
• A:  Currently no plans to bring those in, in particular.  There are some parts that appear to have become so indispensable that they may bring them in, though.
• Q:  What about part sizes?  Will new sizes be available?
• A:  Two new sizes.  No comment on how big.
• Q:  Will any new parts be based on cancelled concepts like NASA's Constellation program or un-built proposals like Lockheed Martin's Mars Base Camp?
• A:  There are echoes of Constellation.  We use this stuff as our reference materials, so there's a lot of "inspired by" stuff.
• Q:  Will there be periodic equipment failures / maintenance?
• A:  No.  <grinning> I expect modders will jump right on that, though.
• Q:  Will there be specific hazards to exploration (e.g. sand traps for rovers)?
• A:  Definitely yes (to hazards that is, not necessarily to sand traps).  No comment on details.  By the way, there are lava planets, wink wink nudge nudge.
• Q:  Will there be camera tools to make it easier for people to put together their own cinematics?  (flyby, etc.)
• A:  Putting in lots of work on the camera system, but can't be more detailed than that right now.
• Q:  Will we have any form of automation?  For example, if I were to launch my Daedalus and then swap over to some other craft, would the Daedalus continue accelerating?
• A:  <big grin> Absolutely yes.  That's a really important feature and is a big deal to have.  Continuing to accelerate while switching control elsewhere is a thing.
• Q:  Will it be possible to fly multiple ships in atmosphere at the same time?  For example, to emulate a SpaceX booster recovery?
• A:  Would really like to enable that and are trying to do that.  Still working on it.
• Q:  Underwater exploration:  what can you find?
• A:  You should go explore and find out!  <grin, wink wink, nudge nudge>  Exploring will have rewards, hint hint.  There are going to be many bodies of liquid.
• Q:  What about jet engines and airplanes?
• A:  Stock parts are mostly still there.  No comment about new airplane parts.
• Q:  What about the aero model? Will it be like KSP 1, or something more like FAR?
• A:  We don't want to confuse players who are used to flying in KSP 1, so it'll have a very similar aero model.
• Q:  Will part damage work like in KSP 1?
• A:  No comment.
• Q:  Will it be possible to start a new career on a planet other than Kerbin?
• A:  No.
• Q:  Will it be possible to start a new career at a further tier in the tech tree?  i.e. start a career at 1970s-equivalent rather than 1950s-equivalent
• A:  No.
• Q:  Will the "anomalies" of KSP 1 still exist?  Will there be new alien artifacts on new planets?
• A:  Get out there and find out!  <grin, wink wink, nudge nudge>
• Q:  Is there life more than trees and cactus and Kerbals in KSP2?  Can the Kerbals find something out there?
• A:  Get out there and find out!  <grin, wink wink, nudge nudge>
• Q:  Will we get something like air augmented rockets for use on worlds without oxygen in the atmosphere?
• A:  Interesting idea.  No current plans to do so, will look into that.
• Q:  Will there be flags and decals?
• A:  Planning to, yes.
• Q:  Will kerbals get more stuff that they can do while EVA?
• A:  No comment.
• Q:  Will we get KAS/KIS functionality in the stock game?
• A:  None currently planned.
• Q:  Will there be Ansel support?
• A:  Don't know.
• Q:  Will it be possible to build a colony on Kerbin, e.g. so the player can make their own alternate launch sites?
• A:  Absolutely yes!
• Q:  Will there be mods for console, e.g. some sort of modhub?
• A:  Don't know.
• Q:  Will we see more variety of biomes / geology?  e.g. volcanism, very dense atmospheres, completely liquid planets, etc.
• A:  Absolutely yes.
• Q:  Will the kerbals get more vocalizations, to go along with the new emotes?
• A:  No talking.  Lots of screaming, though. [Snark note:  I heard a demo of this the other day.  It was hysterical.]
• Q:  Are vessels still a tree structure?  Can there be multi-path / loops?
• A:  Don't have a detailed answer for that.  Things are still in development.
• Q:  Will there be a playable demo?
• A:  Don't know.
• Q:  Will we be able to mod new science "situations"?  e.g. if we wanted to have experiments for low / middle / upper atmosphere.  In KSP 1 it's an enum and therefore unmoddable.
• A:  Not specifically aware of any obstacles to that, but I'm not the authority on that.
• Q:  Will there be bigger asteroids?
• A:  Possibly.
• Q:  Will you use Unity ECS?
• A:  Don't know.
• Q:  Will there be tools for porting KSP 1 part mods to KSP 2?
• A:  Not planning to.
• Q:  Will something like PartTools be a thing?
• A:  There will be a replacement for PartTools, designed to be easier to use.
• Q:  Are you using PBR shaders?  Will you be providing any tools to help people convert existing mod textures to PBR?
• A:  Heavy use of PBR, yes.  No conversion tools.
• Q:  Will you include FleX support for GPGPU acceleration?
• A:  Don't know.
• Q:  Will there be tools to aid interplanetary missions?  i.e. transfer window planner, something better than guessing angles
• A:  Yes, absolutely.  No comment about specific details, though.
• Q:  Will there be persistent rotation?
• A:  Yes.
• Q:  Will sound be muffled as you gain altitude?
• A:  Yes.
• Q:  Will rocket plumes change with gaining altitude (i.e. pressure-dependent)
• A:  Yes.

 

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[Danilo Coelho]

There is this gigantic live from Scott Manley. Lot of new stuff: 

 

[Klapaucius]

 

[Spaceception]

So I heard somewhere here that there was supposed to be a new trailer shown at PAX west, any idea when that's supposed to drop?

[The Aziz]

I'm getting lost with the amount of similar threads popping up in this section, but I think this one goes here, assuming it wasn't already posted elsewhere

 

[Klapaucius]

 

  On 9/1/2019 at 9:09 AM, The Aziz said:

I'm getting lost with the amount of similar threads popping up in this section, but I think this one goes here, assuming it wasn't already posted elsewhere

 

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Thanks for posting. Really good stuff in that interview.