KSP 2 Feedback from a former KSP 1 Community Manager

[RayneCloud]

"Broken, but I love it." That's my review, left with a thumbs up on steam. Short, and simple. Here on the forums however, I'd like to go in to even more detail about my feedback at about 8 hours or so of gameplay.  I'm also going to break this feedback up in to sections, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. (Threats simply mean competition and other issues that could threaten the viability of the project. Not actual threats.) 

Strengths
* Visuals - Far and above KSP1 stock, and (while some would argue) at or at least on par with "Remastered" KSP1 (EVE, Scatterer, Parallax & TUFX)
* User Interface - A strong solid start and foundation, missing some critical features  but over all a clear and easy to read UI that seems to have accessibility for those like me with vision issues in mind.
* Sound - A solid home run and absolute 10/10 here. Absolutely amazing sounds design in the UI, RCS pops, SRB crackles, tire noises, etc 
* Dynamic Music - Yet again, an absolute 10/10 home run here. The dynamic sound track changing music on scene change is just downright amazing and I want to buy the soundtrack please.  
* New Parts - 367 total parts puts KSP2's part count well and truly above KSP1's at 333
* New Parts: Proc Wings - Procedural Wings are here to replace dozens of "modular wing" parts and in doing so, give us even MORE creativity and power in vehicle construction. This is just an amazing addition.
* Workspace and Vehicle Assembly - Far and above just flat out better compared to Stock KSP1, could use some work, and some better camera controls, but still a solid foundation.
* Planets - What a giant step up! Axial Tilt? Actual rings? Ground Scatter on a per biome basis? Easter Eggs galore, and so much potential. Well done. Leaps and bounds above KSP 1.
* The New KSC - Just amazing. The new KSC is sprawling and massive and just feels like a real life space center and campus. 
* Customization - Part coloring and customization is a fantastic addition. 
* Load Times - Another thing I see pointed out and also matters to me, load times are vastly improved. 
* VAB Updates - Part Manager, Trip Planner, Action Group Planner and Kerbal Manager, as well as the Change Anchor Part are all fantastic additions or overhauls to existing features.
* VAB Updates Part 2 - Snap Mode updates, as wel las symmetry updates and orthographic view, all good changes and refinements.
* Tutorials - These are adorable, and well suited for teaching new players, and young ones, getting in to space flight.  
* Aerodynamics - Fantastic feeling new aero, love flying and gliding planes.

Weaknesses
* User Interface and User Experience - The UI is missing several critical features and functions, The most disappointing of which, for me personally, is the Dv tools app in KSP 1. You've given us a trip planner, but that trip planner is lacking critical features such as allowing us to calculate Dv based on body, atmosphere and more.  This needs to be in the game sooner rather than later.

Spoiler

* No KSPedia - Massively Missed Opportunity that needs to be in KSP 2 to reach feature parity for UI/UX.
* No Missions and no Mission Builder - Another massive missed opportunity.
* No scenarios that are not based in tutorials. 
* The Kerbolar System was Not Expanded -  Another opportunity here to add planets akin to OPM and bring in analogs of the gas giants and pluto.  Sad to see the same kerbol system without new worlds to explore. 
* Water - Buoyancy issues, water rendering issues, parts floating and parts sinking and no way to tell why... the water looks pretty, but it's going to need a lot of work.
* Missing Thermal parts and thermal dynamics at launch - This was a mistake. This is a CRITICAL part of spaceflight and the absolute wrong decision to make. It should have been a priority to get in for 0.1.0 including radiator parts that we're missing from KSP1. 
* Even without science mods and science parts, we're missing the basics of Kerbnet including comm net lines, and planet scanning features that make exploration even more fun and rewarding by sending out mapping probes to find landing spots and easter eggs. I have no idea why this was left out, and if it's coming back or not,  
https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/KerbNet - Get this back in the game please.
*  Orbital UI/UX - There are a lot of issues here with maneuver node planning and ui elements not showing more clearly intercepts, approach distances, etc. 
* No Custom Flag Support - Please get this back in, it's crucial for player identity and connection with the game.
* Lack of Ease of Access in regards to Craft Sharing - This needs to be looked at as well, sharing craft is tedious and needs to be integrated into the steam workshop just like KSP1.
* Noodle Rockets - This is a CRITICAL issue that needs to be the single largest priority to fix and it needs to be fixed in the first post launch patch. We shouldn't have to resort to day one or day to mods to fix this. Large vehicles are very unfun to fly and struts seem to do nothing. This is heartbreaking to see back in KSP2 after the lessons learned from KSP1.  Auto Strut needs to be back ASAP.
* SAS - The SAS bugs out incredibly often and causes lots of flight issues.
* Total Control Input loss - this happens far to often and destroys the gameplay experience.
* Terrain Mesh issues - Floating Scatter, Kerbals Floating in the air above the terrain, and scatter sprites are broken. 
* Flight Camera - The camera is unfortunately completely unusable at times, bugging out, or just failing to respond.

Opportunities 
The opportunities here are massive. We know that with Orbital Vehicle Construction, Colonies, Delivery Routes, Interstellar Travel to new star systems, multi player and dedicated in-game mod support... we stand to see this game not only grow to meet feature parity with KSP1 but surpass it in terms of stock supported content. Building this game on a new architecture will see KSP 2 becomes the Skyrim of space modding, surpassing it's predecessor in mod functionality. The modding and community engagement aspects at play must not be forgotten about or underestimated. I might be biased as a community manager for several games over my career, but you're on the right track with your community engagement on the forums and social media. 

Threats (Things that could hurt KSP 2 as a project.)
* Price Tag - This was a mistake. It's incredibly high for an EA game and has no doubt cost a lot of sales. I worry about the future of the project if sales targets and goals aren't met.
* Lack of Communication before Launch -  The communication we got was good, but we simply needed more open communication from the team. I hope we get more as we move forward  
* Direct Competitor - Other direct space flight simulation games are coming to market and releasing out of EA and competing with KSP 2 by offering better features in some areas. 
* Not only is the Kraken not slain, it's back with a vengeance and I would argue worse than KSP 1 at its current version and this can end a gameplay session outright through frustration.

I think that's about it from me, and while I might have more, I think this gets all my points across. Overall, I'm happy, excited, optimistic and hopeful. The future is bright and I look forward to another grand adventure in KSP2. Working on KSP 1 was the entry point and absolute highlight of my career and I got to meet wonderful people, in Mu, Harv, C7, Nova, CptSkunky, Marco, etc. Talented, lovely, dedicated people that gave their all to KSP 1. I see that in this team, a group of people who truly care and I wish for your success in every possible way. I'm glad to be along for the ride again as a player and lover of KSP and a lover of space.
-RC
 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by RayneCloud
Added some small extras and spelling.

[RayneCloud]

Some Extra Bits
Planet Specific Issue: Jool should not have a surface at all, and should have multiple cloud layers. It seems as though part G force and Pressure Limitations also aren't a factor at the moment and that's quite disappointing.   

[XLjedi]

Excellent summary!

I would add that it was an entirely bewildering choice to include at initial launch a game gimmick that (with no warning or way to disable) takes over your backlit keyboard and in my case (Logitech G510) completely disables all keyboard backlighting which makes my keyboard completely dark and unreadable while this game is running.  

Oh, it caused my logitech mouse to go completely dark too, so I have no idea which mode is active.  Worse, if I tab out of the game to perhaps type on this forum, I still can't see my keyboard.

This is one that goes beyond the realm of gamebreaking.  They have managed to break my keyboard and mouse while their game is running.  Perhaps it would not have been so egregiously bad if there was an accessibility option to disable the game from usurping the keyboard and mouse backlighting that I'm sure some visually impaired folks might find rather necessary.  Thankfully, not my situation, but if I can't see MY keyboard, well...

 

[RayneCloud]

Thanks Xl (side note, I recently found all your kerbal x designs for KSP 1 and your two helo's are my fave crafts ever lol ) Also, I didn't know about that as I don't have a lit keyboard... that's... can you turn it off?

[XLjedi]

15 minutes ago, RayneCloud said:

Thanks Xl (side note, I recently found all your kerbal x designs for KSP 1 and your two helo's are my fave crafts ever lol ) Also, I didn't know about that as I don't have a lit keyboard... that's... can you turn it off?

Glad you like the helos!  They are favorites of mine as well.   Although, I think I might need to tweak the flight models a bit to bring them up to speed on the latest 1.0 version.

Yeah, that's the very odd thing about the keyboard lighting issue; not only is there no warning the game is going to takeover your keyboard/mouse lights, there is also no checkbox to disable it anywhere in the game options menu.   At first, I thought my keyboard was malfunctioning and wasted a fair amount of time searching for a solution while the game was still running.  Turned the game off and the keyboard/mouse lights came back on, problem solved. LOL

[Stoup]

1 hour ago, XLjedi said:

Excellent summary!

I would add that it was an entirely bewildering choice to include at initial launch a game gimmick that (with no warning or way to disable) takes over your backlit keyboard and in my case (Logitech G510) completely disables all keyboard backlighting which makes my keyboard completely dark and unreadable while this game is running.  

Oh, it caused my logitech mouse to go completely dark too, so I have no idea which mode is active.  Worse, if I tab out of the game to perhaps type on this forum, I still can't see my keyboard.

This is one that goes beyond the realm of gamebreaking.  They have managed to break my keyboard and mouse while their game is running.  Perhaps it would not have been so egregiously bad if there was an accessibility option to disable the game from usurping the keyboard and mouse backlighting that I'm sure some visually impaired folks might find rather necessary.  Thankfully, not my situation, but if I can't see MY keyboard, well...

 

I have a logitech keyboard as well- Do you have G Hub installed? If you go into the panels for your specific peripherals it should let you manage (disable) integration with KSP2_x64.exe. Works for me, but I agree that it should be implemented ingame too.

[RayneCloud]

A new Peace of Feedback: Planet Terrain - There are a LOT of terrain issues, including terrain that's ... how to put this... duplicated below the visible terrain. That's a huge issue and not sure if I covered it already or not.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Reading this, combined with my experience over the last two days, I just can't help but think this should be a Beta. 

They REALLY needed more time and people in the Beta if they actually had one. 

 

[RayneCloud]

12 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Reading this, combined with my experience over the last two days, I just can't help but think this should be a Beta. 

They REALLY needed more time and people in the Beta if they actually had one. 

 

It most likely did need more time, but I am over all enjoying what I have.

New Piece of Feedback: Kerbal helmet lights aren't in... But why tho????  Please IG? Put their little helmet lights back..

[XLjedi]

57 minutes ago, Stoup said:

I have a logitech keyboard as well- Do you have G Hub installed? If you go into the panels for your specific peripherals it should let you manage (disable) integration with KSP2_x64.exe. Works for me, but I agree that it should be implemented ingame too.

G Hub?  I think that might be what it's called?   My mouse and keyboard show in there and that's where I can program the keys for each and so forth.  Each device can be selected and there is another keyboard item for applets.  I don't see anything in there specific to KSP2 though.   Do I have to list that somewhere?  

Just searched on G Hub, and no that is not what I have installed.  I guess I will try installing that now.  I really shouldn't have to do this...  not too happy with the devs right now.

Edited February 26, 2023 by XLjedi

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

18 minutes ago, RayneCloud said:

I am over all enjoying what I have.

I am mostly enjoying it. I'm also trying to have a good attitude about the whole thing.  I've been part of an Alpha and several Betas and have played and enjoyed other EA titles.  My experience and instincts are to be patient and help the team identify stuff, enjoy the ride etc. 

But I'm finding so many things that don't work as advertised or that annoy me that I'm having to remind myself to be kind. 

[RayneCloud]

2 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I am mostly enjoying it. I'm also trying to have a good attitude about the whole thing.  I've been part of an Alpha and several Betas and have played and enjoyed other EA titles.  My experience and instincts are to be patient and help the team identify stuff, enjoy the ride etc. 

But I'm finding so many things that don't work as advertised or that annoy me that I'm having to remind myself to be kind. 

As I said in my review, "Broken, but I love it."

[LameLefty]

As someone who remembers and was part of the “I Survived the Great Forum Crash” of April (?) 2013, I have literally thousands of hours in KSP going back to 0.19. You’ve summarized basically all my thoughts based on my 10 hours-plus spent in KSP2 so far. Every bit of your feedback resonates and I agree.

There is so much potential in this game, but it’s hamstrung with some decidedly odd choices (non-sticky numerical elements when planning orbital maneuver and intercepts) and omissions (no dV tools in the VAB, no EVA helmet lights but boy-howdy, we have high-poly detailed animations for the jet pack controls! etc). 

I spent far too much time yesterday fighting bugs (my spacebar suddenly wouldn’t stage my rockets until I restarted the game; SAS took an unmanned lander with no propellant, spun it up to several hundred RPM and flung it out of Munar orbit; while designing a rocket in the VAB, the game got stuck and simply wouldn't go past the transition scene to the launch pad, freezing completely although I could hear sounds, requiring a force-quit - ultimately I had to revert to a save over an hour old, but I was later able to launch the same rocket I had been working on anyway … etc etc etc.).

There is no objective way I can recommend this game at $50 to anyone. Despite being on-par feature wise with KSP at version 0.19 when that game launched on Steam, that game cost $21 and was regularly on sale for $13 in the next year or two. Even accounting for inflation, this game SHOULD have launched at a price commensurate with other Early Access titles, say $25- $30. It feels very much like this game would have benefited from 6 months of deep hard-core beta testing in instrumented debug environments. 

[RayneCloud]

33 minutes ago, LameLefty said:

As someone who remembers and was part of the “I Survived the Great Forum Crash” of April (?) 2013, I have literally thousands of hours in KSP going back to 0.19. You’ve summarized basically all my thoughts based on my 10 hours-plus spent in KSP2 so far. Every bit of your feedback resonates and I agree.

There is so much potential in this game, but it’s hamstrung with some decidedly odd choices (non-sticky numerical elements when planning orbital maneuver and intercepts) and omissions (no dV tools in the VAB, no EVA helmet lights but boy-howdy, we have high-poly detailed animations for the jet pack controls! etc). 

I spent far too much time yesterday fighting bugs (my spacebar suddenly wouldn’t stage my rockets until I restarted the game; SAS took an unmanned lander with no propellant, spun it up to several hundred RPM and flung it out of Munar orbit; while designing a rocket in the VAB, the game got stuck and simply wouldn't go past the transition scene to the launch pad, freezing completely although I could hear sounds, requiring a force-quit - ultimately I had to revert to a save over an hour old, but I was later able to launch the same rocket I had been working on anyway … etc etc etc.).

There is no objective way I can recommend this game at $50 to anyone. Despite being on-par feature wise with KSP at version 0.19 when that game launched on Steam, that game cost $21 and was regularly on sale for $13 in the next year or two. Even accounting for inflation, this game SHOULD have launched at a price commensurate with other Early Access titles, say $25- $30. It feels very much like this game would have benefited from 6 months of deep hard-core beta testing in instrumented debug environments. 

Fully agreed with everything.

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

35 minutes ago, LameLefty said:

It feels very much like this game would have benefited from 6 months of deep hard-core beta testing in instrumented debug environments

The team would really benefit from an ingame bug report feature - or something that lets players report a game-state instance, rather than relying on screen shots, videos and forum posts! 

I haven't had any crashes (one freeze, but no crashes) but I don't think they even have a crash dump file that could be attached to a bug report). 

Edited February 26, 2023 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[The Aziz]

5 hours ago, RayneCloud said:

clear and easy to read UI that seems to have accessibility for those like me with vision issues in mind.

Speaking of which, do you have to lean in to read the dv requirements for the maneuver or amount of resources left in the stage? I know I do, and that's the opposite of accessibility.

[RayneCloud]

Just now, The Aziz said:

Speaking of which, do you have to lean in to read the dv requirements for the maneuver or amount of resources left in the stage? I know I do, and that's the opposite of accessibility.

That could use some work. 

[LameLefty]

1 minute ago, The Aziz said:

Speaking of which, do you have to lean in to read the dv requirements for the maneuver or amount of resources left in the stage? I know I do, and that's the opposite of accessibility.

As a “Gamer of a Certain Age” (*), I wear progressive lens eyeglasses. Not fun to have to tilt my head back to loo down through higher-power parts of my lenses to read those tiny fonts. The stage propellant quantities are really tiny, as is the text in the the maneuver info dead-center at the bottom of the screen. At least the stage prop quantities are a bright green, but the white decreasing maneuver dV line-gauge gets washed out against bright terrain, and there’s no numerical “countdown” showing the actual change on velocity, just the white bar.  That’s not really acceptable for any but the most gross, non-granular maneuvers. (**)

(*) My first home console was a Pong clone, and the youngest of my three adult children turns 25 next week …

(**) Which reminds me of another bug - when maneuvering around the Mun or in orbit, the music is great. But when you complete a burn and hit the trash-can icon to delete the now-unnecessary node, the music just stops, it doesn’t complete the measure and fade out organically. The same did *not* occur when around Minmus. The music cues continued and ended more organically and unobtrusively. 

[RayneCloud]

Additional Feedback: The Alarm Clock function from KSP 1 needs to be in KSP 2 , especially with the changes to pause, time warp, and with multiplayer. There's very real chances players will miss important burns or other updates to missions.

EVA Construction: I also hope that at some point in the future, we'll see this return, as again, it's part of bringing KSP 2 in to feature parity with KSP 1 and part of building the launchpad (  ) for KSP 2 to go even further beyond. If KSP 2 doesn't reach complet efeature parity with KSP 1, it's very hard to recommend to new players not to grab KSP 1 instead of KSP 2. 

[Billy1996]

Manouvrer planning doesn't work for me. I did all the indicated steps correctly start/stop burning  with green checks, but after that, my orbit doesn't matches manouvrer orbit and my ship keep fallen to Kerbin. Tried to reload save with no success.  

 

[RayneCloud]

Yeah, the node planner and node execution ui is very much bugged.

 

[radimov]

Hello greetings to everyone on the steam forum who thinks RayneCloud is a community manager for Intercept Games.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/954850/discussions/0/3772364949850227266/?ctp=13

Edited March 1, 2023 by radimov

[jost]

8 hours ago, radimov said:

Hello greetings to everyone on the steam forum who thinks RayneCloud is a community manager for Intercept Games.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/954850/discussions/0/3772364949850227266/?ctp=13

As far I'm aware nobody ever claimed this. "Former ksp 1 community manager" is quite clear since IG never did anything with KSP1. 

Edited March 1, 2023 by jost

[radimov]

3 minutes ago, jost said:

As far I'm aware nobody ever claimed this. "Former ksp 1 community manager" is quite clean since IG never did anything with KSP1. 

I'm sorry I haven't been here long and I don't know how to insert images.

https://i.postimg.cc/DfY9grvx/image.png

[jost]

8 hours ago, radimov said:

I'm sorry I haven't been here long and I don't know how to insert images.

https://i.postimg.cc/DfY9grvx/image.png

This looks like a steam forum screenshot. To avoid any confusion or missunderstanding:  I didn't see anybody making this claim in this forum.

Thanks for the screen and link though: I will continue to ignore discord and steam forums

Edited March 1, 2023 by jost