[MAJOR SPOILERS] Photos of anomalies

[Cailean_556]

My theory on the anomalies is that we have them "uncovered" at the moment, as part of the Early Access. Not sure as to the reason for this exactly - but I suspect it's to encourage players to explore (which was stated by Nate Simpson in interviews during the ESA Creator Early Access event). Once we have Science(TM) introduced, I believe we'll see these anomalies covered, at least partially, and we may have more placed in the Kerbol system. We will need to utilise earth moving (either actual or in a similar method to the upgrading of the KSC in KSP1 - using enough science you can "upgrade" the dig site, that is to remove some of the debris) to uncover the anomaly/monument.

Once it is fully uncovered, I believe we will need to conduct long-term research on the anomalies in order to yield some kind of narrative direction, thus creating a goal for us.

To me, the Mun Arch and its map of the Kerbol system is the "youngest" anomaly. It's in the best condition and is the only one that acts as a map. As the Mun is the closest body to Kerbin, it would make sense that a low-tech spacefaring species would attempt to reach it first - so having a map of the star system on the Mun to give such a race an idea of what's in their solar system makes sense.

The Minmus anomaly suggests that Kerbals are not the original inhabitants of Kerbin. The "Krakenoid", as I call them, in the centre represents Kerbin and their form share some similarities with the Kerbals. The larger and smaller circles on the floor of the anomaly represent the Mun and Minmus respectively. The spheres along the outside potentially represent the other major planetary bodies in the star system however it is interesting that they do not differentiate between the planets like the Mun Arch (which leads me to believe the Mun Arch was made *later*, after these Krakenoids built the anomaly on Minmus and after they had explored the star system).

The Duna anomaly suggests contact between an advanced species and lesser species OR it could suggest an evolutionary stage in the life cycle of Kerbals (i.e. Kerbals eventually become Krakenoids). Either way, there are (or were) representations of 4 species, 2 we have seen, the other 2 are missing or damaged. One is definitely a Kerbal, the other a "Krakenoid". The head on which they reside appears to be either an older and wiser "Krakenoid" or is viewed as some kind of deity as their features are more defined and less "cartoonish" compared to the Kerbals and the "Krakenoid" figures on that anomaly and as depicted on Minmus. The central planet and its gold device around its circumference, and the fact that its the same colour/material as the anomaly on Minmus suggests it's either referring to Kerbin (as the home to potentially not just two, but perhaps 4 species - or as a place of reverence to all 4 species) or its referring to the planet where this deity resides, or at least resided, as sort of an invitation ("If any of the species find this monument, you can find us on this planet", perhaps).

The Tylo anomaly is the odd one out to me, more so than the Duna anomaly. This does not depict your usual Krakenoid, as it appears to have much more defined tentacles than the "cuter" Krakenoids. The eyes are different as is the body shape compared to Kerbals or the Minmus-style Krakenoids. It also appears more like a care-free "Buddha"-type depiction as opposed to the leaner, more serious looking, "Wise Old Krakenoid" on Duna. Which suggests they could be an evolutionary stage, as opposed to another race (Kerbal > Kerbal/Krakenoid > Buddha Krakenoid > Wise Old Krakenoid). If its representative of another race, why are there 3 "Krakenoid" specices and the Kerbals are distinctly not Krakenoid but somehow involved with these species? I do have a theory on this as well, which I will share later in this post. The "Buddha" is hold two stars. I have seen some say this represents a binary star system (in which case it's potentially saying "Find this place, go there"). However I believe it's representative of two different stars. The larger orange one is Kerbol, the other is another star (Debdeb, maybe?) and the Buddha is holding them far apart - perhaps indicating they are very distant to one another. Either way, I believe it's an invitation, or at least an "address" at which you can find the Krakenoids, or what remains of their civilisation.

I believe the Krakenoids are a precursor species that, potentially, either evolved on Kerbin alongside the Kerbals or discovered them on Kerbin and visited them. There may have been a technological exchange and these anomalies were all built by a "pre-cataclysm" spacefaring Kerbal species (hepled by the Krakenoids). At some point, Kerbals experienced technological regression (my best guess is some kind of cataclysmic event) and the Kerbals were either abandoned by (or the Krakenoids felt as though they should isolate themselves for some reason), or perhaps the cause of the disappearance of, the Krakenoids. And, until Kerbals began to gain the ability to return to space over a span of time, they have remained forgotten.

An alternate theory is that the Krakenoids have devolved (or perhaps evolved) into Kerbals, whether due to time spent in space or some unknown cataclysm, and forgot who they were originally. Perhaps they came from another star system seeking a new home and, while they were exporing Kerbol, discovered Kerbin and decided to stay (or perhaps were forced to, maybe the Krakenoid version of Jeb was a little too eager to land their interstellar ship), over time evolution shaped them into a form that was better suited to Kerbin.

I think KSP2 will have a much more pronounced narrative for players to follow in the 'Exploration mode' that functions as KSP2's "career mode". I think it's going to provide us with lore and reasons to explore other planets - more closely than landing in a biome to collect some science points, having a bit of a look around and then leaving again to potentially never return unless you get a mission contract to return or decide to make an outpost on/around said planet at your own cost. I think, by the time we're ready to go interstellar, we'll have an understanding of what we're looking for and why. It's obviously a BIG reason, the resources we'll probably have to amass to develop and produce an interstellar-capable ship will be considerable effort just to say "Hi". At the end of the EA trailer, the veritable armada of interstellar ships suggests either a mass exodus or is a representation of what multiplayer is going to look like.

Given that the devs have said KSP2 will not have weapons added, I don't think our Krakenoids are going to be hostile. If anything, they may be extinct. However I feel that, if not on any planets in Kerbol, we are going to discover both lifeforms and intelligent life in KSP2.

Thank you for reading. What are your thoughts on the overall "story"/lore of KSP/KSP2?

Edited March 11, 2023 by Cailean_556

[AlexWPOG]

So we found something, what if they are zodiac signs? I’m pretty new to kerbal but that’s my thought the symbols on the crown

Edited March 13, 2023 by AlexWPOG
Missed somethin

[enzo_schmitz]

I found the Duna Face Easter egg in KSP2 after hours and hours of searching 

Spoiler

And it's location:

Spoiler

Now, somebody mentioned something about an easter egg on Eve? Tell me more!

Cheers,

Enzoishet

[Strawberry]

Just now, enzo_schmitz said:

I found the Duna Face Easter egg in KSP2 after hours and hours of searching 

  Reveal hidden contents

And it's location:

  Reveal hidden contents

Now, somebody mentioned something about an easter egg on Eve? Tell me more!

Yoooo this is likely one of the last easter eggs found congrats! Also someone found a road on Eve

Spoiler

14.6890, -34.3754

Also apparently there's a mountain that clips above the clouds on Eve but I dont think anyone has found that yet oddly enough

[enzo_schmitz]

5 minutes ago, Strawberry said:

Yoooo this is likely one of the last easter eggs found congrats! Also someone found a road on Eve

  Reveal hidden contents

14.6890, -34.3754

Also apparently there's a mountain that clips above the clouds on Eve but I dont think anyone has found that yet oddly enough

Thanks Strawberry! That Eve road is an amazing find. Maybe tomorrow I'll send Bill there to see if we can also find that mysterious flying mountain

[lennia]

Spoiler

So I noticed something interesting with the Duna monument. The big blue sphere on top with the star-like protrusions I think is pointing to a particular star. From that location, if you time warp it becomes apparent that there is a Duna "North Star" that I show below labeled A, and near it is another bright blue star (similar in color to the monument orb) labeled B.

 

If you line up the monument looking from the stone Kerbal's eyes towards the orb, it pretty closely points to Star B. I have it offset slightly here to show it, but when lined up better Star B disappears behind the 'compass' around the top orb.

 

What's more, the path that Star B takes during the night is extremely similar to the path that the shadow on the orb takes throughout the day. Below I lined up solid green lines along with a dashed line from that's the same on them all from mid-day. In these, the orb is 'pointing'/the stone Kerbal is looking to the upper-left, and we can see that the shadow's path (taken as the two points where shadow crosses the flat compass piece) points first in an 'above mid-day' line, then slowly lowers in position until night comes.

 

 

If we trace out Star B's path during the night, it does the exact same thing -- it stars out almost exactly above the rotation point (Star A) and moves in a downward (Dunaward?) direction until Kerbol rises with Star B nearly exactly below where it started the night.

 

At the moment, I think looking at it is all we can do, but once interstellar travel kicks on I think I've found myself a direction to point towards!


 

 

A bit unrelated, I've been wondering if instead of letters if the symbols in the crown are constellations or the various nebula visible in the sky. I'm not convinced yet, but below I've included my best tracing of the symbols along with some potential matches with nebula. There are three that seem like maybe they fit in order of how they appear on the crown, but I'm not entirely convinced.

 

 

 

[lennia]

Spoiler

It's also very difficult to show in the forum, but if you look up at the "Duna North Star" from the monument and do the second-to-fastest (x1e+05) Time Warp, there's a persistence-of-vision of the stars that has  central dot in the middle, then a ring from the first grouping of stars, then a second ring out at Star B. Taken all together it looks EXTREMELY similar to the central symbol on the crown (though, of course, that might also be a reference to Kerbin and its two moons).

 

[LameLefty]

There might be something to the “northern sky” aspects - both the Minmus and Duna statues are in the northern hemispheres and face north. I haven’t been to the Tylo statue (yet - I hate that stupid moon)  - does it face north as well? 

[Vl3d]

14 hours ago, enzo_schmitz said:

I found the Duna Face Easter egg in KSP2 after hours and hours of searching 

  Reveal hidden contents

And it's location:

  Reveal hidden contents

Now, somebody mentioned something about an easter egg on Eve? Tell me more!

Cheers,

Enzoishet

Finally! Thank you!!!

14 hours ago, Strawberry said:

Yoooo this is likely one of the last easter eggs found congrats! Also someone found a road on Eve

  Hide contents

14.6890, -34.3754

Also apparently there's a mountain that clips above the clouds on Eve but I dont think anyone has found that yet oddly enough

Location? (nevermind I saw coordinates)

Edited March 14, 2023 by Vl3d

[S_Coriolis]

On 3/13/2023 at 7:02 PM, enzo_schmitz said:

I found the Duna Face Easter egg in KSP2 after hours and hours of searching 

 

I've spent like 60h exploring every crater on Duna trying to find that face, of course it wasn't in a crater 
Thanks now I can focus on Eve

Edited March 15, 2023 by S_Coriolis

[enzo_schmitz]

3 hours ago, S_Coriolis said:

I've spent like 60h exploring every crater on Duna trying to find that face, of course it wasn't in a crater 
Thanks now I can focus on Eve now

I think you are amazing for spending that amount of time on exploring! I initially also landed in the craters first until I randomly noticed a rock rendering quite far away. I could have missed it so easily. And there are probably still plenty of mysteries waiting to be discovered!

[Sequence]

Not an anomaly, but relevant to the discussion...

Spoiler

 

Drake equation in top left. = >1

The Drake equation is a probabilistic argument used to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Sequence

[Cailean_556]

On 3/14/2023 at 1:57 PM, lennia said:

  Reveal hidden contents

So I noticed something interesting with the Duna monument. The big blue sphere on top with the star-like protrusions I think is pointing to a particular star. From that location, if you time warp it becomes apparent that there is a Duna "North Star" that I show below labeled A, and near it is another bright blue star (similar in color to the monument orb) labeled B.

 

If you line up the monument looking from the stone Kerbal's eyes towards the orb, it pretty closely points to Star B. I have it offset slightly here to show it, but when lined up better Star B disappears behind the 'compass' around the top orb.

 

What's more, the path that Star B takes during the night is extremely similar to the path that the shadow on the orb takes throughout the day. Below I lined up solid green lines along with a dashed line from that's the same on them all from mid-day. In these, the orb is 'pointing'/the stone Kerbal is looking to the upper-left, and we can see that the shadow's path (taken as the two points where shadow crosses the flat compass piece) points first in an 'above mid-day' line, then slowly lowers in position until night comes.

 

 

If we trace out Star B's path during the night, it does the exact same thing -- it stars out almost exactly above the rotation point (Star A) and moves in a downward (Dunaward?) direction until Kerbol rises with Star B nearly exactly below where it started the night.

 

At the moment, I think looking at it is all we can do, but once interstellar travel kicks on I think I've found myself a direction to point towards!


 

 

A bit unrelated, I've been wondering if instead of letters if the symbols in the crown are constellations or the various nebula visible in the sky. I'm not convinced yet, but below I've included my best tracing of the symbols along with some potential matches with nebula. There are three that seem like maybe they fit in order of how they appear on the crown, but I'm not entirely convinced.

 

 

 

They could be constellations - Kerbal ones, obviously. Some of those constellation/shapes are similar (not identical, just similar) to the gyphs on the Stargate (from the Stargate franchise) - which are depictive representations of constellations in the Milky Way galaxy - which also made me think the crown symbols might be referencing constellations.

I'm almost certain the concentric circles with the dot in the middle represents Kerbin itself - it's the only planet in the Kerbolar system to have exactly two moons (the circles representing their orbits), the dot obviously being Kerbin. The "Kerbin symbol" is unique in that it is the only one that is drawn using rounded lines (because, circle - duh...I know - work with me) - all the rest are drawn with straight lines at varying angles, and only 3 other symbols on the crown use dots. Interestingly, they all use exactly two dots - while Kerbin only has the one. If you think you've already found some of these constellations in the Duna night sky - you may be on to something.

But what is the significance of these 26 constellations? What does any of this mean? Are they a system of coordinates? Specific places to visit seems unlikely - the stars in a constellation can be ridiculously far apart in reality, only appearing close and making shapes based on the position of the observer. Is it intended to be some kind of universal language using a 26 letter alphabet? An equation? 

I'm hoping this little mystery will allow itself to at least start to be unwrapped when Science! (TM) is introduced. I really miss science.

[S_Coriolis]

Looks like the new update increased the brightness of the emissive parts of the monuments, I wonder what else changed 

• Updated placement, coloration, and collision for various celestial body landmarks 

[Sequence]

4 hours ago, S_Coriolis said:

Looks like the new update increased the brightness of the emissive parts of the monuments, I wonder what else changed 

• Updated placement, coloration, and collision for various celestial body landmarks 

I've confirmed the Tylo and both Duna monuments are in the same place. 

[S_Coriolis]

Golden Mun arch, Minmus monument and Duna face are at the same place.

Edited March 16, 2023 by S_Coriolis

[LameLefty]

Gah, the Face on Duna was a real PITA to find. With all due respect to @enzo_schmitz, the Map view shots weren't high-res enough for me to find it easily. I must have made about 20 landings in different little valleys and plains to try to locate it. Whew.

[The Aziz]

How do people even find these? We're talking about features that are meters across at most on... well, planet-sized planets. In the first days after release I've been scouting for things on Mun and Minmus, staying in low orbits and looking for weirdly looking pixels but there was nothing. I don't think you can even see them from ~10km orbit.

[LameLefty]

47 minutes ago, The Aziz said:

How do people even find these? We're talking about features that are meters across at most on... well, planet-sized planets.

The Munarches are on the scale of like 200m tall. For comparison, the pic I posted last evening from Duna, my ship is the new large lander with a methalox tank and a 2.5m Mainsail engine and those giant legs. The cabin is 12m AGL so the feature in the photo is several dozen meters across east-to-west and north-to-south. It's also substantially taller than my 12m lander. The ... other features ... on Minus, elsewhere on Duna and on Tylo probably 50 - 100m tall at least. They render in at around 30km. 

People have posted techniques above - very low orbits, pausing and moving the camera around looking for them. 

[The Aziz]

Trouble with very low orbits currently is that there's orbit decay. Either way I wasn't able to see anything.

[NotKerbol]

I think that this really supports what the original lore was maybe going to be for ksp 1.  there was an old alien civilization that for whatever reason went extinct or had to flee. they then left the anomalies for a future civilization to find. (There is more on this on the ksp wiki.)

[Angelo Kerman]

On 3/13/2023 at 7:57 PM, lennia said:

  Hide contents

A bit unrelated, I've been wondering if instead of letters if the symbols in the crown are constellations or the various nebula visible in the sky. I'm not convinced yet, but below I've included my best tracing of the symbols along with some potential matches with nebula. There are three that seem like maybe they fit in order of how they appear on the crown, but I'm not entirely convinced.

Spoiler

These definitely look like constellations, great spot! I have a mod in KSP 1 called Blueshift that I want to, at least in concept, bring over to KSP 2. Blueshift has a working miniature jump gate, and I could see its KSP 2 successor having these symbols on it...

 

[magnemoe]

On 3/15/2023 at 1:24 AM, Sequence said:

Not an anomaly, but relevant to the discussion...

  Hide contents

 

Drake equation in top left. = >1

The Drake equation is a probabilistic argument used to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations

 

That the Drake equation is =>1 is pretty obvious. 
You also has an ion probe with an kick stage. It has 4 who looks like the magnetometer from late KSP 1.  as payload, I was a bit confused as it look a lot like an box

[Socraticat]

The Tylo Buddha is surrounded by not 2, but 3 glowing orbs. 

Spoiler

Pardon my terrible aim. I didn't even notice until the editing stage.

How about a video of the long journey I took to this monument in a craft meant for Laythe?

Spoiler

 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Socraticat
added a viddy

[Heretic391]

My theory is simple, its wizardary. We will become a Kerbal wizard and we need those flashy crowns and gems for magic.

 

But in seriousness, what's the purpose of an interstellar ship if we have portals? Is it a way to travel to the other end and activate the other portal? Any thoughts here?