Release Date Update from the KSP2 Team

[theJesuit]

2 hours ago, Dr. Kerbal said:

I have a feeling that this game was more than I thought it was going to be. Great job of going beyond expectations!
i now worry my computer might die due to this game lol

I'm expecting my 7 year old laptop to be crushed, so KSP2 realistically is going to cost a couple of thousand NZ dollars for me

[stephensmat]

1 hour ago, theJesuit said:

I'm expecting my 7 year old laptop to be crushed, so KSP2 realistically is going to cost a couple of thousand NZ dollars for me

Yup. In the same boat. My graphics card was messed up, so every time I played KSP1, the screen would keep switching itself off every two or three seconds while I was in 'map' view.

Now that the crypto market has finally crashed, I was able to replace my graphics card at last, and it runs fine. KSP2 is going to need an upgrade.

[Dr. Kerbal]

7 hours ago, stephensmat said:

Yup. In the same boat. My graphics card was messed up, so every time I played KSP1, the screen would keep switching itself off every two or three seconds while I was in 'map' view.

Now that the crypto market has finally crashed, I was able to replace my graphics card at last, and it runs fine. KSP2 is going to need an upgrade.

Who knows though, I've heard the game developers have gotten more efficient with graphics and processing power.  But on the more realistic side, my PC is probably gonna catch on fire.

[Casper_83]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:00 PM, Nate Simpson said:

Hi everyone – this is Nate Simpson, Creative Director for Kerbal Space Program 2. We have made the difficult decision to move the release date of KSP 2, which will now launch in early 2023 on PC with our console release later that year.

We are building a game of tremendous technological complexity, and are taking this additional time to ensure we hit the quality and level of polish it deserves. We remain focused on making sure KSP2 performs well on a variety of hardware, has amazing graphics, and is rich with content. We’ve built a spectacular team at Intercept Games – a team that includes, as previously mentioned, key members from the development team behind the original Kerbal Space Program. We have the perfect combination of experienced, passionate, and skilled developers to fully realize this game’s ambitious potential.

We are forever grateful to the KSP community for sticking with us on this journey, and we appreciate your continued support as we push towards the finish line. We can’t wait for everyone to play the game, and we’ll keep sharing more information with you in the coming months.

 

Ohhhhhh no,

I hope I am wrong about this.

Only 3 games I have heard similar statements like this.

Stronghold 3 (Massive letdown and probably the worst game in the series)

Cyberpunk 2077 (You know)

KSP 2 (Please universe, let me be wrong)

 

[pandaman]

32 minutes ago, Casper_83 said:

Ohhhhhh no,

I hope I am wrong about this.

Only 3 games I have heard similar statements like this.

Stronghold 3 (Massive letdown and probably the worst game in the series)

Cyberpunk 2077 (You know)

KSP 2 (Please universe, let me be wrong)

 

Well, I can't comment on the other two games as I haven't played them.  But I am very optimistic about KSP2.

I see real enthusiasm and passion in Nate and the team when they give us stuff to look at.

I have worked very closely with creative people for many years and I see that same passion and enthusiasm in them too.  So I have seen first hand the results it can bring.  No guarantees of course, but I don't doubt they will give it the absolute best shot they can.

 

[obnox twin]

On 8/5/2022 at 9:15 AM, theJesuit said:

NZ dollars for me

I feel you buddy and I am happy theres another kiwi here

[Bosun]

On 6/2/2022 at 12:17 AM, Master39 said:

There's simply no reason to focus the attention of the public on something that is not going to be available for almost another year.

This is why I've never understood the current environment of announcing releases.   Most all the studios I know are releasing announcements on their upcoming projects before they ever have a clear idea of whether not 
1) What they said they would do is feasible with the resources they have, and 
2) What they said they would do is achievable in the timeline they've given

Now, I would imagine it would make sense, integrity-wise, to let only investors and a limited public base know that development is underway, and give no release dates at all until: 
1) The game was in or close to the Beta stages of development so that
2) You could accurately estimate how much time was left on development, because there would be a small enough, manageable amount of development left to speculate a timeline for. 

It would fit a good PR run to announce the release date about 6 months (or so) from when the game would be finished, unless some major breakages happened in Beta - but Alphas are where you ideally discover those, if you're doing it well.  

If you don't have a version of your game that is playable by a mass public, even with a few minor glitches - you shouldn't be promising a release date, because you simply don't know, and promising a customer a product that you don't have, in a timeline you don't know, in a production you're not even certain is possible yet - seems like not an ideal model for salesmanship.  

If I had a kid came to me, to pitch their idea of a product, or project for the shipyard, and they gave me even a range of time it may take to develop or finish, it's too easy to ask one or two questions about very real possibilities, and get them entirely flubbed on further estimation.    Most PMs are happy to give a time estimate as if nothing will go wrong, or give you an 'outside' estimate as if they know what the outside even is.  "Ok, what happens if you find out that part is not available until the following week, or the shipment is delayed...or this subcontractor has to reschedule to the afternoon?"  They flail, their timeline falls apart, over a simple question that they have no control over the variable of.  I ask those questions not to discourage them, but to help them understand that, at the stage of planning they are at, any estimate of time they give is fairly moot.  It's better to tell the customer, at that point, things they can reliably claim, like, "I can tell you that once the labor and part are on site, and together - it will take them 2 days.  However, we won't know when that will be, until the product ships and we get a tracking number for it...because I can't schedule the labor until I have a day picked out to install, which I can't pick until I know the product will be here within a reasonable doubt - which requires the product ship first, and I get a tracking number that is valid and gives me updates.   

Make the small, reliable claims first.   You'll meet those claims, and as you get closer, you can focus your final date one notch at a time, until you're ready to tell folks when it will be.  

Until you start the process, you have no idea how long it will take, because there are simply too many variables to account for.  Even if you've done it a thousand times.  Ask any ship captain how often they get out of a dry-dock on time per the initial estimate of the work.  It simply isn't possible to estimate a timeline for work until you have a regular pool of progress data to draw from, and estimate from.  That will need to be, at a minimum, a measured 50% of total development needed before you even have a rough ballpark on a napkin, of how much time it's gonna take to do something that is unique, and not just an exact copy of a project that's already been done. 

But, alas, they can keep on saying release dates, and we'll keep on waiting because it's an awesome game.  But it will also just keep being a mosquito near my ear, that the game industry will keep breaking the core tenants of salesmanship, project management PR, and taking the trust and faith of their fanbases for granted... and no one ever does it differently.  
 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Bosun

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Bosun said:

1) What they said they would do is feasible with the resources they have, and 

If they did we wouldn't have the entire indie market.

Like, every game worth playing of the past 10 to 15 years.

 

1 hour ago, Bosun said:

you shouldn't be promising a release date

They didn't promise a release date, they gave a whole year as a launching window, which is a very different thing.

 

1 hour ago, Bosun said:

If I had a kid came to me, to pitch their idea of a product, or project for the shipyard, and they gave me even a range of time it may take to develop or finish,

... and the range is a full year for a project that has already been in the works for some years already, you know that kid did the homework correctly, it's a realistic expectation, and extending the release to a whole year would get praise for you for the ability to anticipate potential problems, or, more realistically, you would reprimand them because they're not able to commit to a smaller time-frame (this second option is what usually happens).

 

1 hour ago, Bosun said:

I ask those questions not to discourage them, but to help them understand that, at the stage of planning they are at, any estimate of time they give is fairly moot. 

You are thinking about asking those question only now, after the fact, because hindsight is 20/20.

 

1 hour ago, Bosun said:

It's better to tell the customer, at that point, things they can reliably claim, like, "I can tell you that once the labor and part are on site, and together - it will take them 2 days.  However, we won't know when that will be, until the product ships and we get a tracking number for it...because I can't schedule the labor until I have a day picked out to install, which I can't pick until I know the product will be here within a reasonable doubt - which requires the product ship first, and I get a tracking number that is valid and gives me updates.   

If you tell the customer something like "barring a global pandemic, my boss gambling the whole project and studio trying to play a bluff to one of the world biggest publishers, or a meteorite hitting the city the project should be on time"

You will probably loose the client, the project, the studio and your job.

 

1 hour ago, Bosun said:

Make the small, reliable claims first.   You'll meet those claims, and as you get closer, you can focus your final date one notch at a time, until you're ready to tell folks when it will be.  

Good if you're Bob making a wooden sculpture for the town hall, a little less if you're not a single person but a complicated relationship between the small games arm of a giant publisher, that just released a game that under-performed, and the big hit you were counting on had the projection just downsized a bit (Ancestors, August 2019 and Outer Worlds October 2019), and you want to ensure investors that you are building a momentum, that the game is going to release before the next fiscal year. On the other side of the relationship you have a third party studio heads, realizing the cake they're part of is bigger than they thought and now wanting a bigger slice and they're ready to gamble they're whole studio, trying to use the project itself as a bargaining chip, and then you have the actual devs, that probably laughed when the higher ups told them the game was going to be released in 6 months.

 

You're not talking about a kid with a dream asking you for money, but a complex relationship between big companies, with numerous player on the chess board each one playing for its own interests.

 

1 hour ago, Bosun said:

But, alas, they can keep on saying release dates

You're saying that as if they ever gave you dates to begin with, this video is the most precise they've ever been and it's just "early 2023", not a date, basically just a "first half of the year" with a subtle hint toward the first quarter.

 

1 hour ago, Bosun said:

But it will also just keep being a mosquito near my ear, that the game industry will keep breaking the core tenants of salesmanship, project management PR, and taking the trust and faith of their fanbases for granted... and no one ever does it differently.  

I'm more in the camp of "every case should be taken on its own" over-generalizing every situation is a bigger problem these days than the things people generalize about.

Reducing the whole gaming industry to "Game devs are bad and break salemanship rules" simply dismisses all the argument, reasons, and solution to all the very different set of problems you're now putting in the same general description.

A AAA studio working for a big publisher is going to have different problems compared to a first party studio of a platform holder or a garage indie studio at their first game. Just saying "Devs are bad at business" makes it actually impossible to talk about, discuss, argue or solve any of the occurring problems.

[stephensmat]

I get that delays are a sign of problems, but please remember that even for Video Game producers, the last few years have thrown all schedules out the window.

Also, KSP2 hasn't gone silent, it's been giving us regular updates on what's happening. We're seeing gameplay footage, having clear explanations of features... The game is well past the concept stage.

Games that over-promise are the ones that let you down. KSP2 should be ready now, but a lot of things should be.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:15 PM, theJesuit said:

realistically is going to cost a couple of thousand NZ dollars for me

Um... 

Welcome to PC gaming? 

;D

[theJesuit]

4 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Um... 

Welcome to PC gaming? 

;D

Maybe.  But it was also a work laptop for 3 years, and now is the family PC too for online learning, work and business.

AND i bought it in 2014 so I've had fairly good milage.

[Singhnaut]

On 8/4/2022 at 4:15 PM, theJesuit said:

I'm expecting my 7 year old laptop to be crushed, so KSP2 realistically is going to cost a couple of thousand NZ dollars for me

I got this one for $500 from best buy:

CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme Gaming Desktop Intel Core i5-11600KF 16GB Memory NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 500GB SSD Black GXi3200BSTV3

[Andrew the Astronaut]

It's fine Nate, we all love KSP2 and even though it's delayed, probably not as much as New Glenn or SLS LOL, take your time!

[mattinoz]

Hey @Nate Simpson any word yet if "PC" means all the personal computer platforms KSP 1 runs on or just a limited version of those platforms?

 

[yeetythethird2020]

Better than never thanks nate!

[Superluminal Gremlin]

Look on the bright side

If KSP 2 is a flop, im sure the modding community can turn it into something respectable. Right?

Right!?

[Mat2ch]

Finally!

But since nobody dared to ask... uh... Linux?

[RealKerbal3x]

3 minutes ago, Mat2ch said:

Finally!

But since nobody dared to ask... uh... Linux?

Check the FAQs here:

 

[Mat2ch]

23 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Check the FAQs here:

[...]

 

Thank you.

Sadly this means in 99 % of all cases: No Linux version ever.

[AVaughan]

I would have thought they would want at least some sort of Linux compatibility so that the game is playable on support the Steam Deck (at least for the final release.  Given that they appear to still have plenty of work still to do, I can understand if they want to focus on just a Windows build for the time being).

Assuming they are still using Unity, it really shouldn't cost them much for a native Linux version, so I think their is still hope there.  

[Vanamonde]

More updated release date to be found here: