KSP: "Not Planning to be at PAX East this year"

[DrCHIVES]

I reached out on the KSP Facebook page on their plans to attend PAX East this year.  I have never been to one of these types of gaming conventions before, but with the idea that KSP2 has attended past PAX events, I was interested in planning the trip to Boston for the event.  Considering that KSP2 is, by all up to date accounts from the developers, to be releasing before the end of the year, I figured that they must have something promotional wise to present at PAX this year.  PAX East will mark less than 8 months from the 2022 timeframe dropped by Nate Simpson when they last delayed the release.  I received a reply from that message earlier today with disheartening news.  Intercept games, the developing studio behind KSP2, has no plans to attend PAX East.  I am no marketing expert but, knowing that they have attended the past PAX events promoting KSP2, seeing them not eager to showcase their game months before release is concerning!  I hadn't expected to receive a negative answer and was simply seeking reassurance before purchasing a Hotel and event passes.  However, I feel that the answer I received told me more than I had asked.  I began to think what this means for the release of KSP2.  When you start adding all the pieces together (very limited info in show and tells, all in-engine renders or footage still stamped with "Pre-Alpha", no major uptick in promotional content, still no ability to pre-order, no significant gameplay footage...)  I think it is safe to say we should be expecting another delay from the developers sometime in the near future.  I find it very hard to believe, at this stage, that the game could be finished and released before December.  I would be sad at another delay but I DO want them to take the time they need!  I just wish we all had a magic 8 ball with an actual release date to look forward to.  Perhaps I wish they had never dropped that trailer back in 2019 as it was very clearly premature and the waiting is killing me haha.

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by DrCHIVES
typo

[TheOrbitalMechanic]

Hmm, could be worrying. There's still plenty of time in the year, though. Maybe a later convention like E3 or PAX West could kick off marketing for a release (very) late this year?

[t_v]

Could we get a comment on this @Nate Simpson @KSPStar? This is indeed worrying news and as of the last few days/weeks, there has been considerable speculation on the forums that the game is in fact going to be delayed again. If you are uncertain whether the game will delay and want to wait before making that decision, please at least communicate that so that the worst case scenario is not assumed. 

[DrCHIVES]

16 minutes ago, TheOrbitalMechanic said:

Hmm, could be worrying. There's still plenty of time in the year, though. Maybe a later convention like E3 or PAX West could kick off marketing for a release (very) late this year?

You are right, there is still time to hype the games release following a missed PAX East opportunity.  However, I believe E3 was cancelled as an In person event.  not sure how an online event would work...  Gamescom will return this year in August in Germany.  I would certainly expect something from them there with or without another delay in place, as that is where they dropped the initial trailer for the game as well as the world largest gaming convention.  I Imagine there is time enough to promote the release date then assuming a November or December launch.

[Minmus Taster]

They could just make a trailer for the release or put it in a feature video when they want to release the date.

As for the delay speculation even I'm a little worried about that at this point, and I've been quite uh desperate optimistic on the release date.

[sunnypunny]

Hmmm well with E3 going online and Gamescon in Germany I'm guessing they'll only do PAX West (since the studio is near there). That's in September so now looking at an Oct-Nov release at the earliest.

Thanks for this info, you're doing the PR team's job for them

[shdwlrd]

Why would you think this is worrying? With the latest show and tell with the procedural radiators, they were made for the fact that there was no good way to control late game heat generation with the parts they had on hand. (Whether they were the KSP1 parts or new parts that they created, it doesn’t matter.) That is telling me that they are far enough along in the development process to start balancing systems for the game. Game balancing usually happens during the end of the development cycle and during the beta cycle.

Since Nertea was one of the artists that made the radiators. (He was hired by Intercept not too long ago.) This is telling me that they are ending alpha soon or are in the beta already and making parts to solve problems that their current part selection can't handle. So the latest show and tell is a big clue to where they are in the development process.

You have to remember, Intercept is very sneaky with the info they drop. You have to read between the lines with the posted articles and comments at times. NDA's are a B and they will never tell you anything without approval from their PR staff. (Including if they have plans to attend a con or not.) 

So why worry? Unless you have a true financial stake in KSP2 releasing on time, there is nothing to get upset or worried about. Would it be disappointing if there is another delay. Well, yes, it would be. But disappointment is apart of life. I'd rather be disappointed by a game being delayed than by a situation that directly negatively affects me.

[Pthigrivi]

1 hour ago, shdwlrd said:

Why would you think this is worrying? With the latest show and tell with the procedural radiators, they were made for the fact that there was no good way to control late game heat generation with the parts they had on hand. (Whether they were the KSP1 parts or new parts that they created, it doesn’t matter.) That is telling me that they are far enough along in the development process to start balancing systems for the game. Game balancing usually happens during the end of the development cycle and during the beta cycle.

This is my read. If they have time to worry about luxuries like procedural radiators, (and don't get me wrong, anyone who's gotten deep in NFT and FFT knows this a real need), it means they're not scrammed for time. They could much more easily pick a few gigantic radiator models and let us deal the the inefficiency.  If they think this is better Im happy to see it, and more happy that they're taking the time to think deeply about heat management. 

On the broader topic, if it were me, I would hold all my powder and trickle feed avid fans until 3-4 months before release, then whip people up. Release date only when I was 100% confident, and that last 2% is hard to be sure of. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Pthigrivi

[MechBFP]

Can anyone enlighten me as to why I should care at all about this? We are taking about PAX right? This is still the same Penny Arcade Expo as always right?

[Deadmeat24]

3 hours ago, Pthigrivi said:

On the broader topic, if it were me, I would hold all my powder and trickle feed avid fans until 3-4 months before release, then whip people up. Release date only when I was 100% confident, and that last 2% is hard to be sure of. 

Game devs have learned from past experience not to say things until the last minute when the game is in a near finalized state. Say too much early on and then it's not exactly what you said it would be? Get ready for anger.

[Gargamel]

“If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.”

 

- Henry Ford. 

[Gargamel]

14 minutes ago, Gargamel said:

“If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.”

 

- Henry Ford. 

Sorry, work got busy and it posted.  
 

What I mean by this is..... let them do their thing.    The teams are lead by, and composed of some of the biggest fans of KSP there are.  We all know this game is in good hands, and they aren’t making this game as a cash grab, they want the best KSP experience they can have too.  
 

Personally, I don’t understand the need to know everything about the game right now.    In fact, I’d be happiest with overly vague descriptions of some of the features and simple “Yeah, we’re still working on it!” Updates.      Even after years go by.   
 

I want my KSP2 experience to be one of wonder and discovery.    I don’t want to boot up the game knowing what to expect, I want my joy to come from the journey, not the destination.   If I sit here meta gaming every aspect of what we do know, then my game play experience will be diminished, and that’s not what I want.   
 

To twist the meaning of an aspect of Zen a bit, whether or not they release more info about the game, it won’t change my (or your) life one bit, so I don’t worry about it till it does affect me.  
 

Feel like I should say “Namaste” at this point.  

[Vl3d]

I think the bigger issue is the lack of NEW information about the game.

We know KSP1, we know the part mods and the planet packs, we know the gameplay loop for building colonies, mining resources and for going interstellar. It's been done before.

But everything else is classified: we know next to nothing about KSP2 - multiplayer gameplay, quests and lore, what we can find on the planets, the automation features, life support.

At this point KSP2 just feels like a modded KSP1 Interstellar.

And all the speculation is hurting the community.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Vl3d

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

At this point KSP2 just feels like a modded KSP1 Interstellar.

But integrated in the game, with a better and more solid basegame to support it and a shipping container full of new QOL improvements. (and graphics and terrain generation from this decade).

I wouldn't say it's "just" anything, it's exactly  what I dream about when I instal those mods

 

5 minutes ago, Vl3d said:

And all the speculation is hurting the community.

The speculating, arguing and discussion about new and suspected features, when it was happening, has been the best part of this whole forum section for the past 2 years.

[Guest]

i'm not too happy about a potential delay but it does give me a chance to pick up some more complex mods though!

[Pthigrivi]

Oof now E3 cancelled entirely. No digital either. 

[jimmymcgoochie]

23 hours ago, Vl3d said:

At this point KSP2 just feels like a modded KSP1 Interstellar.

I find this kind of attitude really irritating.

Take KSP. Add a whole lot of parts mods to give new fuel types and propulsion systems (nuclear fission and fusion, ion/plasma, antimatter etc.). Add an interstellar planet pack. Add off-world vessel production. Add life support. Add the ability to harvest a lot of different resources in certain places e.g. helium-3 from gas giants. Add graphics mods to make the ground, water and sky pretty and the parts shiny.

And once you’ve endured the 30 minute load times and the slideshow FPS whenever you build something with more than 50 parts or try to fly in an atmosphere, consider the fact that KSP will have all of that as stock PLUS the performance will be drastically better PLUS you won’t need to worry about updating all those individual mods as and when updates happen PLUS it’ll include more features that probably haven’t even been announced yet PLUS a fully integrated colony/base system that can be automated and left to get on with it PLUS built-in multiplayer PLUS all of the stuff they’ve already shown.

As for the release date, it’ll be ready when it’s ready. Whether that date is tomorrow or December makes little difference to me, it’s not like KSP has suddenly disappeared or turned awful in the meantime and *controversy alert* there are other games out there too. I’m looking forward to KSP2 as much as anyone, but I’m not losing any sleep over the idea that I won’t get hold of it until the end of the year and if it happens sooner then it’ll be a nice surprise.

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

Take KSP. Add a whole lot of parts mods to give new fuel types and propulsion systems (nuclear fission and fusion, ion/plasma, antimatter etc.). Add an interstellar planet pack. Add off-world vessel production. Add life support. Add the ability to harvest a lot of different resources in certain places e.g. helium-3 from gas giants. Add graphics mods to make the ground, water and sky pretty and the parts shiny.

And once you’ve endured the 30 minute load times and the slideshow FPS whenever you build something with more than 50 parts or try to fly in an atmosphere, consider the fact that KSP will have all of that as stock PLUS the performance will be drastically better PLUS you won’t need to worry about updating all those individual mods as and when updates happen PLUS it’ll include more features that probably haven’t even been announced yet PLUS a fully integrated colony/base system that can be automated and left to get on with it PLUS built-in multiplayer PLUS all of the stuff they’ve already shown.

Not only that, now that is the base from which a new layer of modding can start from, if KSP1 mods struggled to add colonization, in KSP2 that's the stock basepoint to start from, mods will probably focus on deepening single aspects of the already existing colonization system, Factorio-like complexity in resources and part production? A complex economy and market between colonies? City skyline like management for the colonies? An economy based on transportation routes as complex as a Transport Tycoon game? That's the kind of things you can work on when you can give colonies for granted, and that's just for colonies, every new feature that was an heavy mod is going to become a new foundation element to start a whole new tree of possible mods from.

[PlutoISaPlanet]

On 3/30/2022 at 8:00 PM, TheOrbitalMechanic said:

Hmm, could be worrying. There's still plenty of time in the year, though. Maybe a later convention like E3 or PAX West could kick off marketing for a release (very) late this year?

With E3 canceled, I guess Pax West is the only other option?

[MechBFP]

8 minutes ago, PlutoISaPlanet said:

With E3 canceled, I guess Pax West is the only other option?

Contrary to what people seem to think, a marketing campaign can indeed start outside of a convention.

[darthgently]

On 3/31/2022 at 4:29 AM, Vl3d said:

And all the speculation is hurting the community.

It isn't hurting me.  Nor is the dev team not doing as I dream they would do hurting me.  No offense, but small segments claiming they represent the "community" can actually hurt a community.  Quite a bit sometimes.  I find it enough of a chore to represent myself accurately; I'm not going to venture into representing the "community", especially without the community's agreeing to be represented by me.  I totally understand wanting to know more about KSP2, but we have to understand what we have control over and what we do not and deal with it

[DrCHIVES]

On 3/31/2022 at 3:45 AM, Gargamel said:

Sorry, work got busy and it posted.  
 

What I mean by this is..... let them do their thing.    The teams are lead by, and composed of some of the biggest fans of KSP there are.  We all know this game is in good hands, and they aren’t making this game as a cash grab, they want the best KSP experience they can have too.  
 

Personally, I don’t understand the need to know everything about the game right now.    In fact, I’d be happiest with overly vague descriptions of some of the features and simple “Yeah, we’re still working on it!” Updates.      Even after years go by.   
 

I want my KSP2 experience to be one of wonder and discovery.    I don’t want to boot up the game knowing what to expect, I want my joy to come from the journey, not the destination.   If I sit here meta gaming every aspect of what we do know, then my game play experience will be diminished, and that’s not what I want.   
 

To twist the meaning of an aspect of Zen a bit, whether or not they release more info about the game, it won’t change my (or your) life one bit, so I don’t worry about it till it does affect me.  
 

Feel like I should say “Namaste” at this point.  

I apologize if my post came across as me having doubts as to the state of the game.  This was not my intention.  I have nothing but extreme confidence in the ksp2 dev team!  They are some of the biggest ksp fans out there and it shows in their dev vlogs.  @Nate Simpson is a freaking beast and I get super giddy anytime he talks about the game whether it be in videos or here on the forums.  All my intentions were, was to point out that we might be waiting a little longer than 2022 based on information I received.  I just have been seeing everyone talk about 2022 and I guess I wanted to help out with the expectation management.  

[Brofessional]

1 hour ago, PlutoISaPlanet said:

With E3 canceled, I guess Pax West is the only other option?

Gamescom is where they first announced the game in 2019. Of course they don't necessarily need to appear at any expo to announce a date or other info.

[PlutoISaPlanet]

3 hours ago, MechBFP said:

Contrary to what people seem to think, a marketing campaign can indeed start outside of a convention.

 

1 hour ago, Brofessional said:

Gamescom is where they first announced the game in 2019. Of course they don't necessarily need to appear at any expo to announce a date or other info.

 

Very true. I just have a feeling they will appear at one of these conventions, but they don't have too.

[Newgame space program]

On 4/1/2022 at 11:23 AM, DrCHIVES said:

I apologize if my post came across as me having doubts as to the state of the game.  This was not my intention.  I have nothing but extreme confidence in the ksp2 dev team!  They are some of the biggest ksp fans out there and it shows in their dev vlogs.  @Nate Simpson is a freaking beast and I get super giddy anytime he talks about the game whether it be in videos or here on the forums.  All my intentions were, was to point out that we might be waiting a little longer than 2022 based on information I received.  I just have been seeing everyone talk about 2022 and I guess I wanted to help out with the expectation management.  

Don't worry man, I (and the other guys I think) understand now thanks to your clarification!