A new backstory to find

[έķ νίĻĻάίή]

So, currently there isn’t much point in overplaying ksp.

I heard that there was a proposal to make a whole backstory for ksp using the Easter eggs, but the developer went.

Twas thinking, will a backstory be implemented to ksp 2 for us to find? It would give the game much more point, as we would want to find out where and how kerbals were created etc. And also, maybe there could be an minecraft sort of “end” to the game such as we find the lost generation ship that brought kerbals to this world. Yknow, the juice that would make the game that bit more interesting.

(ok I get it now)

Edited December 16, 2019 by έķ νίĻĻάίή

[DStaal]

I've said before in a couple of threads:

I wouldn't mind more hints to a backstory, odds and ends to find and maybe other easter eggs of different types.  However, what I don't want are *answers.*  Hints encourage exploration, theorization, and open-ended gameplay.  Answers encourage a path to the goal and a set narrative.  KSP in general thrives on the open-ended gameplay, so answers would hurt the game experience.

[έķ νίĻĻάίή]

7 hours ago, DStaal said:

I've said before in a couple of threads:

I wouldn't mind more hints to a backstory, odds and ends to find and maybe other easter eggs of different types.  However, what I don't want are *answers.*  Hints encourage exploration, theorization, and open-ended gameplay.  Answers encourage a path to the goal and a set narrative.  KSP in general thrives on the open-ended gameplay, so answers would hurt the game experience.

 

Edited December 16, 2019 by έķ νίĻĻάίή
Ok I get it

[DStaal]

The answers still exist.  That colors your perception of the game and how you play it.

[mcwaffles2003]

25 minutes ago, έķ νίĻĻάίή said:

”Do you want to know the answer?”

Spoiler

 

5:15

[pandaman]

Obviously the 'answer' is always 42.  But no two 'questions' will be the same.

We each need to discover our own individual 'question' That's the beauty of the open ended nature of KSP.

AFAIK, There is not (and should not be IMO) any set 'story' or 'history' to discover, only hints, relics and artefacts to discover.  Connected anomalies etc that give clues to help us find more of them and encourages and gives us an 'excuse' or 'reason' to explore new places are great, but I don't think we need an 'end of game' answer.

[steuben]

3 hours ago, έķ νίĻĻάίή said:

So, currently there isn’t much point in overplaying [KSP].

You're playing it wrong... kind of. Well, I say that half seriously.

As for the question at hand, backstory no, back'verse yes.

Let me expand on that a bit to explain the difference.

Backstory everything that happens to a character to before the story starts. For example Jeb is the top test pilot for Keuthan Aircraft, working for a mid size manufacturing firm because of PTSD and approaching burnout. Val is one the top Naval Squadron Commanders, and one of the top 15 fifteen pilots in the Naval Air Service. Bill is a recovering addict and a tool pusher but got a break and cleaned up, for the most part, when the offer to work with the program finally found him. I could go on, but you get the point.  Those are just one line descriptions, full backstories really should be a few paragraphs for minor characters to pages for major characters. The Star Wars canon is a good example of this.

And that is a mere bagatelle you may say, or at least you may say if you are of certain cultural persuasions. But, backstory implies forestory, or plot. That is where the real skill of the craft lies. The run, gun, and brown of modern FPS don't need much, either backstory or plot. But, for example, Alien Legacy is a game heavy on both backstory and plot. The mechanics of the game guide the player towards the plot. In this case about half the weight of the game is in the plot, the rest in mechanics. The extreme of this could be XenoSaga, very high on cut-scene*plot/gameplay ratio.

Back'verse, or 'Verse, is everything. It includes that which is explicitly and implicitly in the game, in the manual, or never published but used as developer's notes. For example Cthulhu Mythos, Middle earth, Conan, Buffyverse,  Star Wars, Dunivese, or the Whoniverse. All of these include that which directly plot related mentioned in book/movie/episode. For the sake of explaination I am going to slice plot and characterization of this, essentially all that is Backstory. But, this does not mean plot details. For example, out of the Star Wars' Verse the standing record for the Kessel Run is approximately 12 parsecs, with all the risk that implies. The safe route is at least 20, and maybe more depending on the ship. But... there is of course the villain of another story in which a child warren rat of an industrial world rises to become a top ace pilot and counter-insurgent operative to avenge his orphaning because some farm-boy got off a lucky shot. In that story the main events of the first Star Wars movie become the mere colour details of the 'Verse rather than the backstory. It really does depend on where in the 'Verse you stand what is backstory and what is 'Verse.

Part of what makes KSP 1 what it is, is the lack of a backstory, any kind of backstory. And only the barest of publicly available 'Verse notes. Though, I do wonder how canon the singing skulls (Dia de Muertos at the Kerbal Space Center, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlodzmClw0o)  are. 

Sure, one can just up and say, "sod this. Im'ma gonna make my own." But, there is a reason why fandom is occasionally fan dumb, and flamewars start, and the threat of backdraft is such a minefield.

Now, all that being said. I am not saying hard no, for KSP 2.  But, to do it right, and with in a decent production schedule, takes skill and resources. I'm not saying that Star Theory and Private Division haven't been putting what's needed into it. They have been playing things really close to their chests. But, this is one of those areas where you either have to go all out, or put in a polished minimal effort. There unfortunately no real middle ground.

[fulgur]

(1) No.

(2). NO.

(3). NO!!!!!1!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111!!!!!!!!!

(4) Because if you have a backstory and universe and everything world-built, what will happen to the fanworks? You can have First Flight and TSoES in the same game! You can have K:JO and FSP! Without a backstory, you can make up whatever you like! And that is why this game is so popular, and remains so. Now go make up your own story around the anomalies, and compare it to TSoES, and see if you want a backstory to remove one, or both, of those wonderful ideas.

[mcwaffles2003]

I just don't get when KSP became a story game. Does every game need a story? Does chess have a story? Does NBA 2K have a story? Does factorio have a story?

Do LEGOs (the blocks), erector sets, Kinex, or Tinker toys have a story? You can use the pieces to make a story of your own but do they really need a story?

 

[έķ νίĻĻάίή]

Ok, ok, ok, I get it now

[Skorj]

7 hours ago, mcwaffles2003 said:

 Does factorio have a story?

...  You can use the pieces to make a story of your own but do they really need a story?

 

Well, yes, Factorio does have a story, in the way you may be suggesting: it's the story of you building a rocket starting with stone knives and bear skins.  Some people call that second-person storytelling.  The end goal of the game is fixed and clearly explained, though you can of course ignore it.  Further, there's a series of milestones you'll hit along the way, just because of how the tech tree works.  Most people experience similar stories when playing, at least until the first time they beat the game.

I'd like the same sort of "story" for career mode.  A more clearly defined progression (should you choose to care about game-provided goals), to guide players better and tend towards more shared experience.  I say that because it's how you simplify the learning curve without dumbing down the game.  The more convergence there is in people's first playthrough (assuming you're the sort who likes career mode in the first place, not talking about sandbox at all here), the easier it will be for new players to find help and walkthroughs, and maybe more that 5% of people will land on the moon.

Heck, I would like it if those missions (and I think I'm just talking about a more structured mission generator) even provided some more color.  Not story in the sense of KSP having some fixed plot, but something better than the few repeated lines in the current mission generator.  I'm talking about the difference between "rescue J Random Kerman form the Mun" after which he becomes another identical Kerbal in your crew, and "Legendary Kerbodyne researcher Lee Kerman was stranded on the Mun when his latest experiment exploded" and rescuing him unlocks some key bit of tech and adds him as an NPC with occasional dialog in the R&D facility.  A handcrafted mission everyone gets, instead of mostly random grind.

I think you can add a lot of flavor and shared experience to career mode without forcing it into some overarcing story.  Whether your head canon is the first Kerbals ever to explore, or you're rebuilding after losing the war with the Red Kerbals of Duna and revenge shall be yours, bits of flavor like rescuing a specific guy for a specific benefit still fit.

[Clockwork13]

In my opinion a backstory doesn't really fit KSP. I honestly think explaining how kerbals came to be and all that would diminish part of what makes them enjoyable, kind of like how when a joke is explained to you it stops being funny.