Approaching Patch One

[Dakota]

39 minutes ago, ShadowDev said:

One thing that would be nice is some documentation for us modders. having to read through and guess what does what is creating issues.

Even though we are using an unofficial loader, having something to explain the details more would go a long way for us. 

Working on this internally with the engineers responsible for the mod support. Will give an update once we have something substantial to share.

[Stoup]

I also appreciate that you're being clear about the fact that bug fixes for an update 2 are already in the pipeline. Just because something seems finished, doesn't mean you're just gonna plop things out as fast as you can in a chaotic torrent. Kudos! Level heads must prevail

[ShadowDev]

2 minutes ago, Dakota said:

Working on this internally with the engineers responsible for the mod support. Will give an update once we have something substantial to share.

Thanks. this is great news in its self. keep up the good work 

[cocoscacao]

It must feel amazing to see just how much the players abused your game already with crazy designs. Thanks for the update, and enjoy the weekend  

Edited March 11, 2023 by cocoscacao

[FleshJeb]

Sounds like things are coming together. Great comms today. Best of luck, you guys.

[binaryFloatingInt]

When context and reasons are honestly explained, it's always better to know.  

[LeroyJenkins]

@Nate Simpson and @Dakota - Thank  you for the great updates today. Please pass on a big thank you to the whole IG team for staying focused on the first patch. I think if it slips a bit to ensure quality, the community will understand, as long as it is communicated before Thursday. Open and frequent communication builds a stronger customer base than going dark. Just my suggestion. Here's to slaying the Kraken...

[binaryFloatingInt]

it's not rdy for modding, they been official about it, I doubt they will give any support... 

[RocketBoy1641]

1 hour ago, Nate Simpson said:

Good afternoon, fellow Kerbonauts!

We continue to make good headway on performance improvements and bug squashing. In fact, we managed to sneak a few additional fixes into the first patch, including a fairly high-impact resource flow optimization. We also fixed the "Kraken drive" bug that created insane reverse thrust when an engine’s nozzle was obstructed - so if you’re working on a Kraken ship, the "unique" physics on which it depends are about to go away forever. We may not in fact have killed the Kraken yet, but we have definitely stubbed its tentacle.

As to the timing of Patch One... QA is thoroughly testing the build right now, and as soon as they give us a thumbs-up, we’ll release it. Right now, our goal is to release that patch next Thursday (March 16th). Provided QA does not uncover any show-stopping bugs over the next few days, that date should hold. If they do run into something unexpected that needs to be fixed, that date will slip. We have done a fair amount of hand-wringing around whether we should announce the target date for this patch when there is a non-zero chance of a delay, but we know this topic is very important to you all, so we're doing our best to keep you all in the loop. We’ve also already completed a nice queue of fixes to go into the second patch, but we’ll talk more about that after we’ve got the first one out the door.

To help tide you over until then, we’ve got a new performance-focused dev blog post from Mortoc, our senior graphics engineer. If you’ve been wondering how we test performance and what we’re doing to improve it, this one’s definitely worth a read.

Finally, I just wanted to give a holler of support to the many people who have undertaken the weekly challenges - last week’s air-launched rocket challenge was a sight to behold, and we’re on the edges of our seats to see what mayhem will take place during this week’s Minmus challenge. If you want to take part (or just bask in the ingenuity and/or madness of our community), check out the Weekly Challenge Discord channel. Our Community Team has also picked out a few choice gems from the last week and added them to a Community Highlights post here. Yes, the shopping cart is in there. The shopping cart that flies.  

See you on Minmus!
 

To borrow from another SciFi franchise:  "This is the way".  Seriously, I didn't want 20 hot fixes over the interim time.  I want well planned, well though out, well executed sprints that are through the proper testing to avoid new major headaches.  "This is the way" it is done.  My $50 USD is far better spent on this type of process than the have "fix" now that many were complaining in a less than helpful way that missed any sort of constructive or actionable material.

1 hour ago, The Aziz said:

Careful with that

Rolf.  One Kracken nethers at a time.  They don't regrow quite like Hydra heads.

[Blueprint24]

1 hour ago, Nate Simpson said:

Good afternoon, fellow Kerbonauts!

We continue to make good headway on performance improvements and bug squashing. In fact, we managed to sneak a few additional fixes into the first patch, including a fairly high-impact resource flow optimization. We also fixed the "Kraken drive" bug that created insane reverse thrust when an engine’s nozzle was obstructed - so if you’re working on a Kraken ship, the "unique" physics on which it depends are about to go away forever. We may not in fact have killed the Kraken yet, but we have definitely stubbed its tentacle.

As to the timing of Patch One... QA is thoroughly testing the build right now, and as soon as they give us a thumbs-up, we’ll release it. Right now, our goal is to release that patch next Thursday (March 16th). Provided QA does not uncover any show-stopping bugs over the next few days, that date should hold. If they do run into something unexpected that needs to be fixed, that date will slip. We have done a fair amount of hand-wringing around whether we should announce the target date for this patch when there is a non-zero chance of a delay, but we know this topic is very important to you all, so we're doing our best to keep you all in the loop. We’ve also already completed a nice queue of fixes to go into the second patch, but we’ll talk more about that after we’ve got the first one out the door.

To help tide you over until then, we’ve got a new performance-focused dev blog post from Mortoc, our senior graphics engineer. If you’ve been wondering how we test performance and what we’re doing to improve it, this one’s definitely worth a read.

Finally, I just wanted to give a holler of support to the many people who have undertaken the weekly challenges - last week’s air-launched rocket challenge was a sight to behold, and we’re on the edges of our seats to see what mayhem will take place during this week’s Minmus challenge. If you want to take part (or just bask in the ingenuity and/or madness of our community), check out the Weekly Challenge Discord channel. Our Community Team has also picked out a few choice gems from the last week and added them to a Community Highlights post here. Yes, the shopping cart is in there. The shopping cart that flies.  

See you on Minmus!
 

Thank you for the update!!! SCIENCE MODE ASAP! Lol I’m playing KSP1 until I have a goal…. Love the game, love you guys, happy with my purchase, just REALLY want science and goals. Hell, even a bunch of cool missions would do for now!! Something with an endgame.

 

great work, thanks again!

Matt

[RocketBoy1641]

48 minutes ago, Dakota said:

Working on this internally with the engineers responsible for the mod support. Will give an update once we have something substantial to share.

Hey, I hear you.  I want my mods EA Day 1, just like the rest of us..... but; from a perspective of someone working with molders, they would need to make sure certain aspects are good before opening the mod door to make feedback less useful.  The question becomes was it the mod or the game.  So, let's get a little more under our belt as there are also things that could seriously scrap modder work if a significant EARLY change had to be put in.  They want our mods.  But let's make sure we communicate mod stuff at the right time.

[The Aziz]

11 minutes ago, RocketBoy1641 said:

 

Rolf.  One Kracken nethers at a time.  They don't regrow quite like Hydra heads.

Hell yeah they do. Don't you know the 

 

 

[RocketBoy1641]

51 minutes ago, cocoscacao said:

It must feel amazing to see just how much the players abused your game already with crazy designs. Thanks for the update, and enjoy the weekend  

That is the best factor of release.  Not knowing how the consumer will come up with novel ideas that weren't forseen.

1 minute ago, The Aziz said:

Hell yeah they do. Don't you know the 

 

 

My brother teaches his 1st year CS students this.

[Radioactiveness]

Excellent news, I look forward to being able to achieve that little bit more and go that little bit further with each update/fix/release. Thank you for the update!

[cocoscacao]

Just now, RocketBoy1641 said:

That is the best factor of release.  Not knowing how the consumer will come up with novel ideas that weren't forseen.

As a web developer, that part is the worst nightmare. I don't even want to imagine how much that effect is amplified in games industry 

[RocketBoy1641]

1 minute ago, cocoscacao said:

As a web developer, that part is the worst nightmare. I don't even want to imagine how much that effect is amplified in games industry 

Maybe the sarcasm in my "best" was lost.

[Kerballlistic07]

With this patch, will the system requirements go down and/or the performance be boosted?

[razark]

I really hope y'all are able to get the patch out on Thursday, and then take a long weekend to rest up.

[Vinhero100]

2 hours ago, Nate Simpson said:

I think the plan is to release the patch notes on the day it goes out, but if I discover otherwise I'll update you here.

awesome, hoping to see one of my biggest game breaking problems in there (undocking causing a mission failure)- and maybe the invisible trajectory line bug when entering the next SOI in the spacecraft's trajectory? but understandable if not. Thanks to you and the team for all of the hard work you've been doing since before/especially after release! I've had my fair share of frustrations with the first EA version of KSP 2. However, I trust that this game will be more than a worthy successor to KSP 1 when it gets to V1.0 

Edited March 11, 2023 by Vinhero100

[Jpup]

Throwing my hat in the ring as one of the normally 99.99%ers that don't respond but represent a large portion of the community.... thanks for the active dialogue and transparency..... helps us loyal KSP fans stay engaged and track dialogue so we can encourage our friends/acquaintances to adopt KSP2.0 at the correct time to maximize player experience for them and for them to spread it to their friends!

It's also great to see that outside of specific and relatively good questions the feedback for this approach is good! Keep it up, yall are doing great!

Edited March 11, 2023 by Jpup

[eagleswing12]

Seriously - this is a genuine question-

why was this build approved for early access? It was broken, buggy, and borderline unplayable on ALL hardware. How did the team think this was worth of release, let alone a 50$ price tag? I genuinely hope either the price decreases or the quality significantly increases. I can feel the love that has been added, but- keeping the same physics engine as KSP 1?? how do you possibly expect to have performance improvements if it’s on the same engine! Seriously- how was this game released?

[Speeding Mullet]

3 hours ago, Nate Simpson said:

See you on Minmus!

Minmus Elcano is still one of my favourite ever KSP missions.  Look forward to visiting Minmus for the first time in KSP2 and crashing as much as I did in the first one!

Spoiler

Good luck over the next week with Patch#1 and I can't wait to see what you all have been working so hard on.  With that in mind, remember to take time out for family and to relax.  Thanks for all the communication and very interesting dev blog!

SM

[kicka55]

3 hours ago, RaBDawG said:

I'm genuinely curious, Nate.  How did the Team play this game and think:

1. It was ready for EA. 

2.  It should carry a $50 price tag.

A honest letter to fans just cutting through the BS and laying out exactly what happened, why we are dealing with this unacceptable, by any studios standards, launch.  And how the Team is going to change to adapt and move forward would go a long way.   

1. I believe the date was set in stone by the publisher.

2. The publisher sets the price I guess.

Overall I think some people will complain it launched too early, others will complain it launched too late. The question that comes to my mind is why does it bother YOU so much? If you expected more and are disappointed simply refund and move on. If it reaches a state you're comfortable playing with you can jump into it. Saves you a lot of grey hair! This is just a game... nobody gets hurt. Some of you ask questions as if this was politics and you're investigating a scandal lol.

Edited March 11, 2023 by kicka55

[FlickAndSnorty]

3 hours ago, RaBDawG said:

I'm genuinely curious, Nate.  How did the Team play this game and think:

1. It was ready for EA. 

2.  It should carry a $50 price tag.

A honest letter to fans just cutting through the BS and laying out exactly what happened, why we are dealing with this unacceptable, by any studios standards, launch.  And how the Team is going to change to adapt and move forward would go a long way.   

This isn't just directed at you, I promise, but I've seen this exact comment from so many people on almost every post from the devs, talking about the Day 1 build, the price, and all asking Nate "Why?" and it's boring now, so prepare for a rant about why comments like this are so unnecessary, and finding the first two answers, are nothing more than a quick google search to find what a publisher does versus a game studio.

Take Two ( the guys that own 2K and Rockstar) also own Private Division, the publisher of KSP 2. When I refer to either TakeTwo or Private Division, just know I'm using them pretty synonymously in this.
 

Quote

1. It was ready for EA. 

The publisher (TakeTwo) set the deadline.

There are many more moving parts than "this is the deadline".

- Publisher takes out funding to pay for salaries and other costs associated with the development of the game.
- Developer bids to win the game, and begins developing it on the budget and deadline initially allocated by the Publisher.
- Publisher has a deadline set by its funders to give them a return on their investment, and so forces a deadline for release.
- Developer cannot realistically hit a new deadline as their entire development cycle will have already been planned out (We also kinda had a global pandemic that screwed with a lot of this).
- Developer is now forced to produce an EA build that they're not happy with
- Publisher now sells this EA build at a price they, the publisher sets.

In this entire process, not once does the Studio (Intercept Games) get control over pricing, marketing, sales, budget or deadline. They may be able to advise the publisher on realistic goals, but the publisher makes the final decision, not the studio.
 

Quote

2.  It should carry a $50 price tag.

Again, Publisher sets the price. Not the studio.
 

Quote

A honest letter to fans just cutting through the BS and laying out exactly what happened, why we are dealing with this unacceptable, by any studios standards, launch.  And how the Team is going to change to adapt and move forward would go a long way.   

I get it, you're frustrated. As was I on launch day.
I've got 1.1k hours on steam for KSP 1, and another 1k on modded versions. This game has been a part of my life since I was a child, and will continue to be so for hopefully many, many years to come.

Is an apology necessary from anyone at Intercept though? absolutely not. They're acknowledging players frustration every time they make a post. There's 0 need to kick someone while they're down.  Offer them a hand up by submitting helpful feedback on their feedback form, engage in the discord  and forum threads, and be a part of the what transforms the game into the vision the community shares with Intercept.

Intercept also very clearly have their hands tied. They can't outright tell everyone "Hey guys, the folk at take two that own our publisher, and have funded this games development set unrealistic time scales for the budget they gave us, and also rinsed you for $50 are at fault, here's footage of gameplay on our dev build that shows what's coming".  They'd get dropped instantly by TakeTwo and the game would be given to a new studio, or worse, would just get dropped entirely.

This is also, again an EA build. If this is v1.0, then get the pitchforks out. I'd be right with you. But it's not. it's a day 1 build and will be so until Thursday 16th (unless anything changes). Hopefully anyone else looking to add to the dog pile about the price, state of game and ask for an apology about the game, decide to direct it at Take Two and Private Division, instead of the developers who are doing everything they can, and are doing so incredibly publicly.

Nate, and everyone else at Intercept, keep doing what you're doing - Keep the communication and honesty going, and keep the feedback channels open, I'm sure the first few updates are going be tough, but the turnaround time for what you're producing is nothing other than phenomenal!

 

[tg626]

4 hours ago, Nate Simpson said:

If you want to take part ... Discord

No

 

OTOH the post overall pleases me. Manage expectations, patience rests on a bed of information. Better to slip past a tentative release date than to say nothing and leave us to our darkest imaginings.

Edited March 11, 2023 by tg626