Coming back soon and not sure what to expect

[Syntax]

So I've been away from KSP for about 3 years. I've always missed playing it, but I fell away and got caught up in other projects.

Last time I played was in 1.2. KSP2 hadn't yet been announced and Making History and Breaking Ground were but glimmers in the devs' eyes. I was good enough at the game to feel comfortable with landing on Mun and Minmus, rendezvous and docking, I had several mods installed and had played around with planes and VTOLs a bit. I had probably a couple hundred hours docked, but I never got around to leaving  the Kerbin SOI... Though I was on the brink of such a mission before I put the game down back in 2016.I was watching a lot of Scott Manley videos to prepare

Now I have some time and I'm looking forward to getting back into it in the new year, but I feel like I'm starting from scratch. So I figured before I jump back in, I'd ask the ol' community for a primer. Any pointers, advice, suggestions, guidance, recommendations, resources are welcome! Here are some prompts in the form of things I'm curious about:

What new stock features are there?

What still sucks in stock? In 1.2, aero forces and wheels were the achilles heel of the game. At least there was the Far mod for the former... 

ARE WHEELS FIXED?? 

Which major mods have been deprecated or abandoned, and what awesome new ones have come out? Is spacedock still the go-to repository?

Is the community still as active as it was 3 years ago? 

Are people excited about KSP2?

Is KSP still under active development, or has that slowed/stopped to work on the sequel? 

Who's who in the community these days? I think I've seen that Manley is still active as a YouTuber... who are some others to look out for as I take aim at the rest of the solar system?

[Bill Phil]

KSP2 is not developed by Squad, thus KSP development is expected to continue.

I'm personally excited for KSP2. Interstellar travel, colonies, an Orion Drive. Oh yeah, I can't wait.

My understanding is that wheels aren't fully fixed but they're more usable now.

They added Delta-V readouts, orbit parameters,  new SRBs, and some other cool stuff to stock.

If you count the DLC as stock then they've added robotics parts, propellers, and historically inspired parts.

To me the game hasn't actually changed at its core in a long time - though there were some rocky versions. 1.4 really shook things up for some mods, not to mention some glitches which I was lucky enough to not run into myself.

I haven't played 1.8.x yet but I think that some of the 1.7 versions were pretty good.

Leaving Kerbin's SOI isn't too tough - missions to Eve are real easy to do, if you don't land. Gilly is a good target if you want to go there. Duna isn't too bad either. Use the tools like Kerbal Alarm Clock (compatible with the version you use) to time your launch windows.

[The Aziz]

They are currently in the process of revamping the game visually. Many parts got new, refreshed look, few celestial bodies got new terrain textures, we got cool looking skybox, so I can safely say it's far from abandonment

[MR L A]

14 hours ago, Syntax said:

Is the community still as active as it was 3 years ago? 

No.. I've noticed it being a lot quieter now than it has been in the past, but its certainly not dead and as far as I can tell, a fair few seem to have gone of KSP in lieu of KSP2... for some reason?

14 hours ago, Syntax said:

Is spacedock still the go-to repository?

No, for the love of all that is Kerbal use CKAN!

 

14 hours ago, Syntax said:

Which major mods have been deprecated or abandoned, and what awesome new ones have come out?

SETI - if you ever used that. It had some great features, but unfortunately the creator has gone AWOL and left NO permissions for continuing the mod... the annoying part is that the version is set to "any" meaning it lies about compatibility

[Guest]

1. There are a fair few QoL improvements: dV readouts (per stage, incorporated into the burn indicator etc), and so on.

2. No material changes to aero.

3. Wheels are not fixed but they're better. It's still not possible to park a craft and trust it to stay completely put. 

4. Pass on mods, I usually play almost pure stock.

5. It's pretty active.

6. I think the initial excitement has quieted down a bit at this point, especially since KSP2 got delayed.

7. No comment on the who's who, most people here are very cool

I will add one big one though: the Breaking Ground expansion is terrific. Having servos, props, rotors, hinges, pistons, and other gadgets opens up a whole new range of craft you can build, from elegantly packed unfolding rovers to helicopters, submarines, highly efficient VTOLs, electric planes you can fly on Eve or Duna, and so on and so forth. I was getting a bit bored with KSP but that re-ignited the spark. 

[MR L A]

1 hour ago, Brikoleur said:

4. Pass on mods, I usually play almost pure stock.

Same.. sort of. The only mod that adds parts that I use is ScanSat... other than that I use things like Chatterer, RealPlume, KAC... gameplay enhancements really