They are going to delay in one more year or two aren't they?

[The Aziz]

And then get flooded with inevitable tsunami of bug reports and missing (read as: planned for regular release) feature/part suggestions?

[Gholmes66]

Can't we just warp to node? 

[Bej Kerman]

9 hours ago, pandaman said:

From what I can see everything still seems to be indicating a 2022 release

This has been the story since before the first delays.

[TheOrbitalMechanic]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but if Alpha and Beta development stages could be oversimplified as meaning, respectively, "theoretically playable, but far from finalized/finished" and "basically finished, but needs final balancing", couldn't "Pre-Alpha" mean anything from "there's only five rocket parts in the whole game" to "we just need to add one more planet"? I mean, Jurassic World Evolution 2 was announced in July or so and came out in November, and the first few bits of footage they showed in between had a Pre-Alpha label on them. Not to mention the fact that the KSP 2 devs could be showing us old footage. Of course every game is different, we still don't know for sure, etc., etc., but I don't think a summer/fall release is at all out of the question, especially with what they've shown recently.

[SciMan]

On 12/26/2021 at 8:21 AM, Gholmes66 said:

Can't we just warp to node? 

This is the approach I'm taking with it, sort of.

I've basically stopped playing KSP. Not because I don't like it tho. Quite the opposite.
I did this so that when KSP 2 DOES release (and trust me, it's not like fusion power where for the past 50 years it's been "just 10 years away"), I'll be quite happy with my new game that hopefully gives me enough different things to do on planets that I don't get bored of a planet after landing in 8 biomes like often happens with KSP.

Despite having thousands of hours in KSP, I have plenty of OTHER games I'm more than happy to be playing, so keeping myself occupied until KSP 2 comes out (while reminding myself that it's still coming by posting on the KSP 2 discussion subforum) seems to be the right play in my mind.

 

That being said, I wouldn't at all mind it going into some form of "early access" period where most of the features are in but maybe not all the planets or star systems or even rocket parts are in the game yet or something like that. They would have to have the colonization and a few of the high tech engines and the automated resupply mission piloting thing in the game to get me interested tho.

EDIT: Also, at least with AAA studios, these days the term "Beta" doesn't mean what it means in software development any more. What it really means is "Limited availability time game demo, with us also maybe collecting some sort of telemetry about the game so we can maybe tweak some things or fix some bugs 6 months after release even if they're game-breaking bugs". What I mean is that even if literally everyone that plays that beta reports the exact same bug, with steps for reproducing that bug, then you can probably expect that the game on release day will still have that bug 19 times out of 20. And that's why I stopped pre-ordering AAA games.

Edited December 27, 2021 by SciMan

[mattinoz]

On 12/25/2021 at 8:34 AM, Pulstar said:

Depends what the current bottlenecks or milestones missing are. The pre-alpha I anyway treated as either a proof of concept or something from an earlier build, test scenes and the like. I would assume that internally they are in alpha already, just not sharing anything from the current builds. Of course I would also sleep better at night if I saw a "alpha build" watermark slapped on some new footage eventually.

Pre alpha could refer to a minimal build used to isolate part of the game the developers are working on in detail.

the last series of videos included a collision and other mapping graphics you’d never expect to see in game 

[The Aziz]

If anything, alpha build may appear if Intercept decides to show up at a game convention with their booth or something, to show a (perhaps playable) demo to the fans. With most if not all available features (which, as always, will be a subject to change). You don't call it "alpha" if it's just a simple scene slapped together only to showcase a single feature. Whatever we've seen so far, most likely wasn't even from the main build of the game. 

And unless they're going to surprise us with early spring release, which I doubt, next big event is PAX in April. And I don't think they would want to miss that, places like these are the perfect opportunity to pump up the marketing campaign, release some trailers etc.

Edited December 28, 2021 by The Aziz

[Guest]

They have at least a couple of versions of the UI alone showing up in the footage, I think that "Pre-Alpha" has nothing to do with what they are actually doing but simply a sticker put there to remember that we're being shown is not the final product and likely it says "Pre-Alpha" just because that's what the set that label to when they were showing the first footage in 2019 and there hasn't been a real reason to change it since, especially when reveals are being set up by a couple of community managers and not the marketing guys of the publisher.

[Schmidtrock]

I'll be looking forward to it whenever it releases. This coming year would be a nice surprise and well received.

[K^2]

On 12/29/2021 at 4:00 AM, Master39 said:

They have at least a couple of versions of the UI alone showing up in the footage, I think that "Pre-Alpha" has nothing to do with what they are actually doing but simply a sticker put there to remember that we're being shown is not the final product and likely it says "Pre-Alpha" just because that's what the set that label to when they were showing the first footage in 2019 and there hasn't been a real reason to change it since, especially when reveals are being set up by a couple of community managers and not the marketing guys of the publisher.

People tend to be a bit more precise about this labeling even when it's a less official release in a show-and-tell format, because we know that it's not just the fans of the game watching, but also other industry people, to whom the terms "pre-alpha," "alpha," and "beta" are meaningful. I can't speak for Intercept, but it'd be very unusual for them to do different. So I suspect that the fact that we're seeing "pre-alpha" means the actual stage of production is pre-alpha, but I also expect KSP2 to have a comparatively short alpha stage. So as I said earlier, I don't see this as an indication of delay. If we still see "pre-alpha" labeling in the summer, I would start asking questions about it.

[AtomicTech]

Maybe a few months at most

[adsii1970]

I'm no insider by any means, but I will say that I have seen a lot of games use alpha and pre-alpha images and video clips for demo purposes nearly all the way up to the game's actual release. there are a lot of gaming franchises that come to mind, such as The Sims, SimCity, Cities: Skylines, Star Trek - Online, and nearly every Silent Hunter, oh and about a hundred more we could all name. Why? making a good set of game promotions take a lot of work. I've held a lot of jobs in my 51 years of life. My CV reads like an instruction manual of what not to do. At one point, I was trained in brand identity and marketing for a major non-profit agency.

Recently, I began applying what I learned, with the help and support of our community managers, into the TOTM images for the past two years. My artwork simply builds off what the art department does. But let me tell you, what I do takes minutes to do. What they do takes hours, days, and weeks. So, if the marketing team comes up with something that looks good and performs well in select markets, they run with it. So, yeah, flipped images are often reused. Recycled images or previously unreleased images that may draw out a "wow" factor are also used. Anything to boost the interest in pre-sales interest is fair game.

Give it time. The game developers and the marketing team know what they are doing. I'd rather have a few month's delay (even a year's delay) if it means a great gaming experience than to have a game that comes out and needs a patch the same day I buy it. Tropico 6 comes to mind. One of the buggiest games I ever played because they rushed it to make it out by the projected release date. And I bought it, downloaded it, and had to wait three days for a patch to play it. And even after the initial patch was downloaded, Steam downloaded four additional patches to fix what the initial patch didn't fix!

And guess what? I have less time spent on it than I do Tropico 3 a game that had numerous setbacks on its release date. For those of you who remember, it's release date was reset six times and ended up taking a lot longer to release than originally projected. Turned out to be one of the best versions of the entire franchise! Long live El Presidente! I am equally sure that KSP2 will be worth the hype and wait. I look forward to playing it with great enthusiasm. 

[Staticalliam7]

Honestly, I'm just glad that ksp2 actually exists and that they are putting this amount of work into it. I really don't care if it comes out this year or next year, the fact that they are working on it so diligently is enough for me.

[Redneck]

On 12/24/2021 at 7:17 AM, John1211 said:

I saw that the release date suppose to be somewhere in 2022. Although all of the footage from the game is "pre-alpha" footages which means it's not even in its alpha stage. as a developer, I can't see how the heck are they going to release a final product in less than a year if it's not even on its beta stage.

i totally agree. it will be interesting to watch the reactions from people that said "take your time, we want a good bug free game"

[The Aziz]

I'd be disappointed like everyone else but it doesn't have anything to do with these three words at the bottom of presented footage lol. And there's plenty to do this year in terms of games so even if somehow for whatever reason it gets pushed even further into the future, I won't be bored, so that time will pass quickly.

at the same time I wouldn't mind to see your surprised faces when it goes out as promised over a year ago with no signs of change (especially now that showcases slowed down significantly because they're working hard).

[Catto]

I'm thinking spring 2022. That's when most big games release.

[Brandon10044]

11 minutes ago, siklidkid said:

I'm thinking spring 2022. That's when most big games release.

Spring 2022 would be amazing, and it's what I'm hoping for as well! However, due to the fact it's already Mid-January and we haven't really heard much of a precise release date/window other than 2022, I wouldn't be surprised of a Summer 2022 release date as well.  Not to be rude. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by Brandon10044

[Catto]

Alright. Just as long as the game even releases 

[HebaruSan]

The main features from the original announcement are still on the main game info page, so we can compare them to what has been shown publicly to guess how close they are to wrapping up those plans. Taking a look at the Dev Diaries and Show and Tell forums, those 34 threads break down roughly like this (subject to revision if I missed something):

• Improved Onboarding: 2 threads
• Next Generation Technology: 3 threads
• Colonies: 2 threads
• Interstellar Travel: 0 threads
• Multiplayer/Modding: 0 threads
• Other: 27 threads of planets, terrain, effects, character design, and cool technical stuff

It seems like they're still working on the foundations that are needed to make the game work in general; you need to have Kerbals and parts and planets before you can combine them to build colonies. Clearly some work has been done on the tutorials and fleshing out the future tech stuff, but I see no information there about progress on interstellar travel or multiplayer. I don't like forecasting based on such limited information, but eleven months does seem like a pretty tight timeline for what remains.

[TheOrbitalMechanic]

1 hour ago, HebaruSan said:

It seems like they're still working on the foundations that are needed to make the game work in general; you need to have Kerbals and parts and planets before you can combine them to build colonies. Clearly some work has been done on the tutorials and fleshing out the future tech stuff, but I see no information there about progress on interstellar travel or multiplayer. I don't like forecasting based on such limited information, but eleven months does seem like a pretty tight timeline for what remains.

I don't think we can accurately estimate how completed the game is at this point, as they are certainly still withholding information about what they have done so far. We've seen colonies, we've seen interstellar engines, and we've heard some (although not much, I will admit) about the progression systems for each, so I think they have the systems down at this point, but are choosing not to share them. A few shiny planet shots keep people engaged just as well, and don't give away too much about gameplay too early.
The current marketing strategy seems to be more "keep people from panicking that the game is canceled" than "build up hype for release", and so I think their silence on certain details now is more indicative of a marketing decision than the state of the game. Once marketing really kicks into gear again, which I figure will happen around PAX East in April (fingers crossed), I'm sure we'll get more details on some of these things.

Edited January 13, 2022 by TheOrbitalMechanic

[Alexoff]

Developers: do not post anything about the game

Players: It's because the game is about to be released and it's going to be great!

Also players: well, at least the game hasn't been canceled yet

[TLTay]

7 minutes ago, Alexoff said:

Developers: do not post anything about the game

Players: It's because the game is about to be released and it's going to be great!

Also players: well, at least the game hasn't been canceled yet

I'm pretty sure we'll be getting lots of info and possibly a release date at PAX in a few months. I wouldn't expect too much between now and then. They're probably racing to try to get it sorted in time. I miss the updates, but it'll be ok.

[Alexoff]

19 hours ago, TLTay said:

I'm pretty sure we'll be getting lots of info and possibly a release date at PAX in a few months. I wouldn't expect too much between now and then. They're probably racing to try to get it sorted in time. I miss the updates, but it'll be ok.

It's very sad that fans have to revel in their hopes and dreams as believers. Developers should have had a community chat like they did in 2019 right after the game was announced. Since we can argue whether we believe or not in the game with very little information on hand.

[Redneck]

On 1/13/2022 at 1:28 PM, HebaruSan said:

The main features from the original announcement are still on the main game info page, so we can compare them to what has been shown publicly to guess how close they are to wrapping up those plans. Taking a look at the Dev Diaries and Show and Tell forums, those 34 threads break down roughly like this (subject to revision if I missed something):

• Improved Onboarding: 2 threads
• Next Generation Technology: 3 threads
• Colonies: 2 threads
• Interstellar Travel: 0 threads
• Multiplayer/Modding: 0 threads
• Other: 27 threads of planets, terrain, effects, character design, and cool technical stuff

It seems like they're still working on the foundations that are needed to make the game work in general; you need to have Kerbals and parts and planets before you can combine them to build colonies. Clearly some work has been done on the tutorials and fleshing out the future tech stuff, but I see no information there about progress on interstellar travel or multiplayer. I don't like forecasting based on such limited information, but eleven months does seem like a pretty tight timeline for what remains.

yes sir! Exactly what i was thinking as well. I will say this much...if they pull that crap like squad did when KSP1 came out and say multiplayer will be introduced later on in development and then not deliver on it (we all know multiplayer has to be dev'd in parallel with the game)   ....they wont get a penny from me until they do. Not playing that game again! THAT is a promise come hell or high water! Not happening

Edited January 18, 2022 by Redneck

[Scarecrow71]

I may be in the minority here, but I'm not at all anxious over when KSP2 is gonna drop.  There are so many things I still want to do in KSP that I can't possibly complete them all before KSP2 is here.  So I'm just focusing on doing that stuff, which frees me from worrying about KSP2.  When it gets here, the devs will get my money.