Will KSP2 have lore or a storyline?

[Dr. Kerbal]

Will KSP2 have like a lore story behind the Easter eggs? Because I know sometimes other games do this so I was just curios.

[shdwlrd]

Definitely no storyline, but Easter eggs referring to KSP1, it's possible. Obviously nothing has been said about it.

[Incarnation of Chaos]

Pretty sure this was a confirmed no.

[jastrone]

13 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

but Easter eggs referring to KSP1, it's possible

 probably other easter eggs too just not mattering to the story at all such as the mun arch or the island runway.  and one thing that would be really funny would be puting the ksp1 space center where the old space center is in ksp1

[avalancha]

I know this will be an unpopular opinion in this community, but I think that a story with cutscenes and motivation and a goal is the #1 thing that the first game was missing.

I know I know "but multiplayer!" "but interstellar travel!!1!" I know, I know, this is what we the existing playerbase want. But when I put my wife in front of the game her first reaction was "so... what happens now?". KSP could get SO MANY users with a "hands-on" campaign imho. The loose campaign and sandbox could still exist in parallel, that's not a counter-argument. 

[Dr. Kerbal]

6 hours ago, avalancha said:

I know this will be an unpopular opinion in this community, but I think that a story with cutscenes and motivation and a goal is the #1 thing that the first game was missing.

I know I know "but multiplayer!" "but interstellar travel!!1!" I know, I know, this is what we the existing playerbase want. But when I put my wife in front of the game her first reaction was "so... what happens now?". KSP could get SO MANY users with a "hands-on" campaign imho. The loose campaign and sandbox could still exist in parallel, that's not a counter-argument. 

Like Mars Horizon?

[Bej Kerman]

7 hours ago, avalancha said:

But when I put my wife in front of the game her first reaction was "so... what happens now?".

See how much further you can go. KSP doesn't need stories or cutscenes, not if you have the attention span and creativity. It's a lego kit that teaches you astrophysics, not a film with elements of astrophysics, to put it in other words.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Bej Kerman
gramr

[shdwlrd]

7 hours ago, avalancha said:

I know this will be an unpopular opinion in this community, but I think that a story with cutscenes and motivation and a goal is the #1 thing that the first game was missing.

I know I know "but multiplayer!" "but interstellar travel!!1!" I know, I know, this is what we the existing playerbase want. But when I put my wife in front of the game her first reaction was "so... what happens now?". KSP could get SO MANY users with a "hands-on" campaign imho. The loose campaign and sandbox could still exist in parallel, that's not a counter-argument. 

Since everyone does like the whole write your own story with KSP, I don't see a true story from the devs being laid out. I can see some small animations suggesting what your next step should be in the beginning and something small and unintrusive when you reach a milestones throughout the game.

[Guest]

Like @Bej Kerman said, KSP is a sandbox game to teach astrophysics, so I wouldn't expect any storyline.  

1 hour ago, Bej Kerman said:

gramr

noice

Edited March 30, 2021 by SpaceX_Boi
gotta luv adding the detailzzz

[jastrone]

2 hours ago, Bej Kerman said:

gramr

gamer

[Bej Kerman]

3 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

Since everyone does like the whole write your own story with KSP, I don't see a true story from the devs being laid out. I can see some small animations suggesting what your next step should be in the beginning and something small and unintrusive when you reach a milestones throughout the game.

Sounds good on paper, but NMS shows that being interrupted so the game can celebrate for you isn't too fun. It'll probably be a mod, and if light cutscenes are your thing, great. I just hope the base game avoids any form of inflight interruptions be it cutscenes or milestones.

[shdwlrd]

54 minutes ago, Bej Kerman said:

Sounds good on paper, but NMS shows that being interrupted so the game can celebrate for you isn't too fun. It'll probably be a mod, and if light cutscenes are your thing, great. I just hope the base game avoids any form of inflight interruptions be it cutscenes or milestones.

I don't know. I was thinking of Cities Skylines for an example. It does a good job of letting you know when you hit the population milestones when notifications are off. Fire works in the middle of your city. It's simple and unintrusive. (Too bad it doesn't do that when the other growable areas rank up.)

I would prefer to know when my civilization reaches a milestone. I hate it when I'm plugging along in a game and unaware when new stuff opens up. 

You have to remember that when the progression mode was described, there would be boom events tied to certain points during the progression. That means that these events may not be in your control. Which without some type of notification, you can be going on for a long time before realizing that there is new tech to use.

[Dientus]

3 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

I don't know. I was thinking of Cities Skylines for an example. It does a good job of letting you know when you hit the population milestones when notifications are off. Fire works in the middle of your city. It's simple and unintrusive. (Too bad it doesn't do that when the other growable areas rank up.)

Using this style wouldn't be so bad, but I wonder how would that be implemented in ksp2? I'm thinking for example, if you are making your first Muner landing, you wouldn't see fireworks over the main launch pad back on Kerbin and having fireworks over the landing site could be a bit distracting and definitely not realistic.

 

[Wizard Kerbal]

8 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

something small and unintrusive when you reach a milestones throughout the game.

Like the Xbox achievements, 

DING! 

One does not simply return

Congratulations! You landed on Eve!

Edited March 31, 2021 by Wizard Kerbal

[shdwlrd]

3 hours ago, Dientus said:

Using this style wouldn't be so bad, but I wonder how would that be implemented in ksp2? I'm thinking for example, if you are making your first Muner landing, you wouldn't see fireworks over the main launch pad back on Kerbin and having fireworks over the landing site could be a bit distracting and definitely not realistic.

 

I was thinking something akin to when you complete a contract. A blurb of text and ends up in a mailbox for later viewing.

[MKI]

The story line of KSP is the one you build yourself as you play the game.

I see a full story line as potentially limiting whatever head cannon you have for the game. The wide expanse is as much a canvas as it is a playground, where you are the director.

 

The current "story" related to science reports and contracts are non-nonsensical fun. But I wouldn't really consider them part of the story. I'd consider them just more stuff to explore. The story is whatever head cannon you have for a mission. I send Jeb up with Bill and Bob, so together they can keep their nerves together. While Val pushes the envelope and goes into long duration deep space missions with a crew of scientists. None of this is scripted, but all of it is story.

 

[Bej Kerman]

17 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

I don't know. I was thinking of Cities Skylines for an example. It does a good job of letting you know when you hit the population milestones when notifications are off. Fire works in the middle of your city. It's simple and unintrusive. (Too bad it doesn't do that when the other growable areas rank up.)

KSP 2 has boom events if that's what they're called, and I anticipate that the game will have a way of telling you that children are being made.

[Guest]

21 hours ago, jastrone said:

gamer

Grammar.

10 hours ago, MKI said:

The story line of KSP is the one you build yourself as you play the game.

I see a full story line as potentially limiting whatever head cannon you have for the game. The wide expanse is as much a canvas as it is a playground, where you are the director.

 

The current "story" related to science reports and contracts are non-nonsensical fun. But I wouldn't really consider them part of the story. I'd consider them just more stuff to explore. The story is whatever head cannon you have for a mission. I send Jeb up with Bill and Bob, so together they can keep their nerves together. While Val pushes the envelope and goes into long duration deep space missions with a crew of scientists. None of this is scripted, but all of it is story.

 

Agreed.

Edited March 31, 2021 by SpaceX_Boi

[pandaman]

Each to his/her own, but for me KSP just does not lend itself to a set storyline, and it would put me off a lot, especially with cut scenes.   I want to play and explore as I want, not follow a pre determined path, like in so many FPS single player campaigns that are basically movies where you need to 'tick boxes' to get to next scene.

A notable exception being a walkthrough tutorial 'campaign' that takes you as far as maybe Mun and Minmus landings. 

As for some sort of 'lore' or 'connection' between the anomalies then that could be interesting.  Even if it is not officially expliained, and only implied due to repeating objects (monoliths etc) or similar design and architectural styles.

And yes a 'puzzle' of sorts that can be 'solved' by finding and analyzing anomalies could be an intetesting bonus feature.

[Tw1]

One of the great things about Kerbal is how free you are to shape your own story. Maybe a few very simple things, like kerbals cheering when you land, or launch something of a certain size for the first time maybe, but that could also end up distracting, and take away from your own feeling of having achieved it. It's more real when you just watch what happens.

I wouldn't say no to a procedurally generated news paper pop up listing your recent accomplishments, especially if that also  gave you some sort of payout for what you had accomplished in the past munth or year or whatever...

 

One thing the game must not do is add in an ancient aliens plot. I enjoy it in other games, but kerbal should be about pioneering. I want to be the one taking the first steps on these planets, in the name of scientific discovery, not chasing after something else. 

[avalancha]

On 3/30/2021 at 6:50 PM, Bej Kerman said:

not if you have the attention span and creativity. It's a lego kit that teaches you astrophysics, not a film with elements of astrophysics, to put it in other words.

You're argument runs straight past my post and off into the distance  that's exactly what I meant, you and I we have that attention span and creativity, but lots of others don't. I'm saying that Kerbal has such a unique baseline already, it could hook that many new players with cutscenes and handholding, you wouldn't even believe it!

[Alexoff]

The story is not really needed, but it would be nice to have some important milestones with cartoons and maybe even the last mission, which would be followed by credits and the ability to continue to play freely

[Bej Kerman]

2 hours ago, avalancha said:

On 3/30/2021 at 5:50 PM, Bej Kerman said:

not if you have the attention span and creativity. It's a lego kit that teaches you astrophysics, not a film with elements of astrophysics, to put it in other words.

You're argument runs straight past my post and off into the distance  that's exactly what I meant, you and I we have that attention span and creativity, but lots of others don't. I'm saying that Kerbal has such a unique baseline already, it could hook that many new players with cutscenes and handholding, you wouldn't even believe it!

Your argument has also ran off into the sunset, and it seems to be winning the race. Cutscenes and handholding would hook in only a few of those attention-span-lacking players and drive out the majority that believe KSP's story is your headcanon. You're arguing that LEGO would pull people in if it had extra Michael Bay and lens flare. You argue that your wife has no clue what to do now, but that seems to be because you just dropped the game in front of her without explaining that it's a LEGO set, nor without giving her adequate time to gain her bearings.  Cutscenes and hand-holding go against KSP's sandbox-and-imagination design .

[shdwlrd]

26 minutes ago, Bej Kerman said:

hand-holding go against KSP's sandbox-and-imagination design .

And is the reason KSP why people try it and say it's too difficult. For a game as complex as KSP is, some hand-holding would be helpful for player retention.

[Dientus]

51 minutes ago, shdwlrd said:

And is the reason KSP why people try it and say it's too difficult. For a game as complex as KSP is, some hand-holding would be helpful for player retention.

I disagree. Tutorials are for hand holding, not the main game. I have no exact numbers unfortunately but everywhere I see someone saying 'its too difficult' it's because, well, it's rocket science.

 

If tutorials are not enough (like ksp) then YouTube and mods fill in the rest. Don't want to fly? Load up MechJeb. Don't understand transfer windows? Check the infamous cheatsheet and watch someone do it on youtube. 

 

1 hour ago, Bej Kerman said:

but that seems to be because you just dropped the game in front of her without explaining that it's a LEGO set,

I understand what you mean, but I think LEGOS is oversimplification of what ksp is and what ksp2 will be. Saying it's Lego and expecting them to fly interstellar with the proper amount of delta-v without an understanding of what it is goes to the other side of the spectrum.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Dientus
finish post... darn mobile phone