I think Squad should release the pre-0.7.3 versions of KSP alongside 1.12

[2204happy]

Hello everyone (and hopefully any KSP developers),

It has been years since I have been on this forum, but I was alerted to the news that Kerbal Space Program will be having its final update via a ping in the KSP discord. I haven't played the game in ages, I have just been so preoccupied, but upon hearing this news, I have been overwhelmed by a massive wave of nostalgia, and I cannot wait to get back into the game now.

Just looking back on the history of this game is amazing, the first version I played was version 0.21, so I'm not as that much of a veteran as others, but even still, 0.21 was released way back in 2013, which was 8 years ago, time really does fly!

But on to what I mentioned in the title. I remember a while back (perhaps 5-6 years ago idk), on KSPTV, a developer (whom I believe was Maxmaps?), did a livestream where he played through the earliest versions of the game, versions prior to 0.7.3 that were never released, these had been found I believe on an old backup drive or something from HarvesteR, and I remember really wanting to play them, hoping that they would be released one day, unfortunately that day never came (at least to my knowledge), and I hope that by writing this there could be some slim chance that they might get released after all of these years, after all it would be fitting. I know this is far fetched but I feel I have to try, my past self would hate me if I didn't take this opportunity. 

And Finally, I would like to thank every developer who has worked on what is perhaps my favourite game of all time, I started playing the game when I was 11, and Kerbal Space Program has brought me hours of joy (understatement of the year!), and has been one of the most defining parts of my childhood. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

P.S: I can't wait for KSP 2!

[Minmus Taster]

Good idea.

[kerbiloid]

I would expect the lifespan of the interest about several hours or so.

Because the very early versions of KSP are just objectively poor and lack almost everything you got used to.

[Dientus]

Maybe so, but it is always good to know where you came from. It gives you satisfaction in where you are, and confidence in where you are going, even if it is unknown.

 

I think it would be nice to release them. I imagine some fans creating a short montage video of where it was to where it finished. A kind of 'look how far' measuring stick for KSP 2, and even other games.

 

[kerbiloid]

 

It's funny to read the of nostalgia thread from 2013.

Edited June 11, 2021 by kerbiloid

[cubinator]

I think I played around with one KSP 0.6 something at one point. And yeah, there isn't much to see. 0.7.3 shows pretty well what early KSP was like.

[jimmymcgoochie]

Nope.  Assuming copies of such ancient versions of the game still exist, they'll be slow, clunky, barely functional and generally rubbish compared to the new version which will be bigger and better in pretty much every way. A significant number of players (I'd suggest a sizeable majority) never played KSP back then and have no interest at all in playing it when instead they could play the version that's had a decade of improvements and additions.

Take off those rose-tinted glasses and focus on the brand new update that's about to arrive.

[kerbiloid]

Though, it would be nice to get in KSP 1.12 that primal command pod from the screenshots.

Spoiler

The orange one.

Or whatever that beautiful thing is.

Maybe it's a propulsion unit.

[OrdinaryKerman]

4 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

Though, it would be nice to get in KSP 1.12 that primal command pod from the screenshots.

  Hide contents

The orange one.

Or whatever that beautiful thing is.

Maybe it's a propulsion unit.

It's a fuel tank (probably what the FL-T400 looks like without its outer hull)

[Gamera Obscura]

On 6/11/2021 at 8:34 AM, kerbiloid said:

I would expect the lifespan of the interest about several hours or so.

Because the very early versions of KSP are just objectively poor and lack almost everything you got used to.

You're right. The oldest version I can remember playing is 0.23, but only because I distinctly remember the asteroids being introduced with the release of 0.23.5. I wouldn't call the old versions objectively poor, because they were still damn fun, but I couldn't imagine trying to play them for a significant length of time with all the QoL improvements that have been added in over the years. It'd still be neat to see them, though.

[Dr. Kerbal]

I agree. 

[Incarnation of Chaos]

Can we get raw source on a public github?

I know that probably isn't happening, but a man can dream.

[kerbiloid]

As it's in C#, probably who needed the source, already had gotten it.
So, why make it easy for random persons.

[Incarnation of Chaos]

On 6/15/2021 at 12:10 AM, kerbiloid said:

As it's in C#, probably who needed the source, already had gotten it.
So, why make it easy for random persons.

Because of the legal aspects primarily, you can't use disassembled/decompiled code for mods. If they provided the straight source however, all would be fair game.

[kerbiloid]

2 hours ago, Incarnation of Chaos said:

Because of the legal aspects primarily, you can't use disassembled/decompiled code for mods.

It would sound fresh ten years ago, when the mods just were starting being created with no API reference, lol.

2 hours ago, Incarnation of Chaos said:

If they provided the straight source however, all would be fair game.

Which game?

KSP-2? No, it has absolutely different API.

KSP-1? To demolish the sells of KSP-2 by open-source KSP-1? What for?
 

[Incarnation of Chaos]

14 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

It would sound fresh ten years ago, when the mods just were starting being created with no API reference, lol.

Which game?

KSP-2? No, it has absolutely different API.

KSP-1? To demolish the sells of KSP-2 by open-source KSP-1? What for?
 

KSP1? KSP2 has no reason for any release of source code

[kerbiloid]

Just now, Incarnation of Chaos said:

KSP1? KSP2 has no reason for any release of source code

Exactly. And there are even less reasons to legally create an open-source competitor of KSP-2.

[Incarnation of Chaos]

Just now, kerbiloid said:

Exactly. And there are even less reasons to legally create an open-source competitor of KSP-2.

Perhaps, but i doubt it would eat KSP2's sales that badly. Plus, it doesn't necessarily need to be open source. The license could be fairly restrictive, just enough to allow people to use it for mods.

[kerbiloid]

Just now, Incarnation of Chaos said:

Perhaps, but i doubt it would eat KSP2's sales that badly.

For the reason of excessive headache for beginning developers and additional money,
Squad avoided any protection and closed its eyes on the reverse engineering while this helps to make the current version of the game more popular.

Unlikely this will change for the existing mod ecosphere, but the game owner definitely doesn't need to propagate the usage of the old version of KSP-1 instead of buying the new one.

It's more interested in having more modders for KSP-2, not KSP-1.

So, probably they won't add some restrictions due to the reputation reasons, but it would be strange for them to help pulling the community back to the outdated version of their good.

[Incarnation of Chaos]

Just now, kerbiloid said:

For the reason of excessive headache for beginning developers and additional money,
Squad avoided any protection and closed its eyes on the reverse engineering while this helps to make the current version of the game more popular.

Unlikely this will change for the existing mod ecosphere, but the game owner definitely doesn't need to propagate the usage of the old version of KSP-1 instead of buying the new one.

It's more interested in having more modders for KSP-2, not KSP-1.

So, probably they won't add some restrictions due to the reputation reasons, but it would be strange for them to help pulling the community back to the outdated version of their good.

Oh yeah, but like i said it was more of a fantasy.