KSP2 EA Grand Discussion Thread.

[James Kerman]

This thread is for all those things you’d like to say about the KSP2 EA Launch that don’t really require their own thread! 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Vanamonde
Fixed my goof.

[Ghostii_Space]

Had us in the first half, ngl 

[Minmus Taster]

I'm gonna cut to the chase here. Kerbal Space Program 2 isn't a good game or even an OK game. It's THE BEST FRICKING GAME EVER MADE. PERIOD.

Il put my full thoughts in a spoiler tab, go play the game and form your own opinion before having other people make it for you.

Spoiler

I launched a basic orbital rocket called Cricket 1 to see if my potato could even run anything on the game and that mission was one of the most beautiful experiences I've had playing a game. Everything went wrong with the mission itself, once I got to orbit I accidently decoupled the capsule from the upper stage and Jeb was hurled into the void trying to push the capsule down himself. But I don't even care, I had a blast during the flight testing the limits of my poor computer and seeing all the weird kraken attacks unfold before my eyes. This game may have it's problems but at it's core it's just GETS what makes KSP such a beautiful series. From Jeb smiling through his eternal solace in LKO to actually beautiful moments where you see the (incredible) new skybox as the ( also incredible) soundtrack plays. I could gush on and on and this was just my FIRST mission. I hope this game overcomes the challenges that it faces now because hidden under the bugs and bad performance there is something truly magical in this games spirit. Ok, enough rambling from me, have some pics of Jeb's doom;

How are you finding the game?

[RedderThanMisty]

2 frames per second... in the KSC menu. Using a GTX 1080 and Ryzen 5 3600. On minimum settings at 720p

What is going on here? The only area that I can get acceptable performance is in the tracking station and main menu. And when I tab out, it straight up crashes every time.

Edited February 24, 2023 by RedderThanMisty
More comprehensive initial impressions

[regex]

I was really hoping we'd moved beyond the absolute mess of tanks we had in the last game, but here I am, adjusting fuel levels just to get a part that kind of looks nice.

Edited February 24, 2023 by regex

[wafflemoder]

yeah. with procedural wings I was kindof hoping we'd get other procedural parts. even if it was just one of each size profile.
kindof expected this tbh

[Alexoff]

 

[SolarAdmiral]

So, 1.5hr in, mostly have just been building and flying to orbit. Really great so far. Performance has been pretty good, 13700K - RTX 3070Ti, all setting highest, easily over 120 fps everywhere except launching through the atmosphere where its about 50 fps. Even with some fairly large rockets (XL size, 4 Mammoth 2s, 4 Clydesdale boosters).

Thing I most miss from KSP1 so far - Inline docking port and shielded docking port. (I think I have seen them in videos, have they just been taken out of this build for some reason?)

Biggest feedback so far. I find the lighting in the VAB very dim and feel a bit of eye strain after focusing on builds. I wouldn't mind some brighter lighting for building!

I haven't been able to pick up all the camera controls for the VAB yet. I don't know how to move camera from side to side, or switch focus between vessels in the workspace, so I will now be going to check the tutorials for this.

I'm not really sure how vessel naming works with the new workspace. Are all vessels renamed when changing the name, or just the active one. Could be clearer.

It is going to take me an embarrassingly long time to remember to switch the launch location to the runway instead of the launch pad when launching a plane. (Maybe the runway could become the default launch for horizontally built craft?)

Wishlist item, a bigger beefier more powerful Rapier engine. I'd love to build bigger SSTOs without needing dozens upon dozens of engines to get it off the ground. A medium or even large Rapier would be fantastic.

[Nazalassa]

From all I've seen of livestreams (mostly people who have good computers) KSP2 is completely well... There's no word , in English or any other language I know, to describe, not how bad it is, but... Like it looks awful.

I don't regret my decision of waiting to see how it performs before buying KSP2.

[magnemoe]

Just watched Scott Manley land in the Mohole. 
Two issues, first the landing light do not light up the surface, second is that its now an flat patch of ground down in the center, however he clipped trough the ground fell towards the singularity and was kicked out at 145 km/s  

[Casellina X]

8 minutes ago, SolarAdmiral said:

I haven't been able to pick up all the camera controls for the VAB yet. I don't know how to move camera from side to side, or switch focus between vessels in the workspace, so I will now be going to check the tutorials for this.

Click and hold the middle mouse button and then drag, if I recall.

[Sequence]

My initial impressions are good. Getting 42fps at KSC during launches running at 4k with all settings maxed when using single engine spaceships, and 90 fps in space (4070 ti, i5 13600K, 32Gb ram). Haven't tried any complex ships yet using fuel flow and multiple engines yet through. But I'm happy that the game performs well if you build with the current limitations in mind. 

[fragtzack]

 

 

• The Private Division "Launcher" is horrible. Shame on you Private Division. Can only imagine there was dev arguements over this decision, a decision that obviously made by non-developers types.
  • We don't want an intermediate software step after clicking launch in Steam. Please provide method to bypass PD launcher.
• The opening sequence was great. Love the cartoon style and humor.
• The new Kerbal Space Center looks great! Including the interfaces to move around.
• The tutorial system looks great. Love the voice, cartoon style and small humor added in. 
• One bug discovered in the second tutorial: The tutorial locked up (probably because I was clicking too fast and not letting the voice finish). The whole game didn't lock up though, was able to exit the problem tutorial and relaunch tutorial without issue.
• The VAB improvements are incredible and love it!
  • Blueprint views are great addition
  • The VAB camera controls are now logical.  VAB camera controls in KSP1 was always a head scratcher for me.
  • The icons and motif/fonts in the VAB fit well within the look/feel of rest of game.
  • The merging of saved constructions into current vab build is nice improvement over ksp1.
  • "undo" and "redo" arrow icons are the win!
• The new staging/deltaV/fuel-O2 HUD overlay is a welcome improvement over ksp1.
• The node planner is lacking the ability to watch the proposed PE/AP change in real time.
• First orbit report:
  • Launch looked great
  • Stages went well
  • Orbital burn went went well
  • Game performance ran smooth this time, no issues with frame rate
  • Game graphics look great at launch pad, during launch and during descent
• Reentry into Kerbin atmosphere after orbit caused no heat up, no heat shield was required.
  • what - How can they release this game without even modeling reentry heat mechanics. There is no purpose or need for heat shields. Wow.

 

Stopping the review here, besides the major things the devs published as missing such as science, colonization, etc...There is core functional things missing in the basic flight mechanics that just makes this a very early access stage. Things such as modeling atmospheric heating mechanics . Not really worth reviewing until more spit and polish is added. Reentry heating mechanics is not an optional things. what. 

 

 I am still a fan of KSP2, but can't see myself spending hundreds of hours like in KSP1 at this current stage of game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by fragtzack

[Entr8899]

1 hour ago, Minmus Taster said:

I'm gonna cut to the chase here. Kerbal Space Program 2 isn't a good game or even an OK game. It's THE BEST FRICKING GAME EVER MADE. PERIOD.

Il put my full thoughts in a spoiler tab, go play the game and form your own opinion before having other people make it for you.

  Reveal hidden contents

I launched a basic orbital rocket called Cricket 1 to see if my potato could even run anything on the game and that mission was one of the most beautiful experiences I've had playing a game. Everything went wrong with the mission itself, once I got to orbit I accidently decoupled the capsule from the upper stage and Jeb was hurled into the void trying to push the capsule down himself. But I don't even care, I had a blast during the flight testing the limits of my poor computer and seeing all the weird kraken attacks unfold before my eyes. This game may have it's problems but at it's core it's just GETS what makes KSP such a beautiful series. From Jeb smiling through his eternal solace in LKO to actually beautiful moments where you see the (incredible) new skybox as the ( also incredible) soundtrack plays. I could gush on and on and this was just my FIRST mission. I hope this game overcomes the challenges that it faces now because hidden under the bugs and bad performance there is something truly magical in this games spirit. Ok, enough rambling from me, have some pics of Jeb's doom;

How are you finding the game?

Are you sure you're playing the same game as everyone else?

[Minmus Taster]

Just now, Entr8899 said:

Are you sure you're playing the same game as everyone else?

I'm judging it by what's in it's heart to stay positive. No point saying what's already been said about performance and bugs (though I do hope they work on that soon ). And frankly I wasn't expecting to to run on my potato and it did and that's all I needed from it today. I've had closure after 3 years, my soul can rest easy tonight  

[modus]

I...kinda like it, because I like KSP and I was looking foward to KSP2.

There is a lot of room for improvement, but I was fully expecting that.

[Majorjim!]

21 minutes ago, Sequence said:

My initial impressions are good. Getting 42fps at KSC during launches running at 4k with all settings maxed when using single engine spaceships, and 90 fps in space (4070 ti, i5 13600K, 32Gb ram). Haven't tried any complex ships yet using fuel flow and multiple engines yet through. But I'm happy that the game performs well if you build with the current limitations in mind. 

Sorry but 40FPS with a 4000 series card is not ‘running well’…

  These are numbers with very very low part counts. There is a HUGE way to go to even come close to KSP 1 part performance and the devs already claimed that the game was running better part performance than KSP 1.. 

[Entr8899]

6 minutes ago, Minmus Taster said:

I'm judging it by what's in it's heart to stay positive. No point saying what's already been said about performance and bugs (though I do hope they work on that soon ). And frankly I wasn't expecting to to run on my potato and it did and that's all I needed from it today. I've had closure after 3 years, my soul can rest easy tonight  

Ah, so it's just wishful thinking and choosing to ignore all criticism?

[drhay53]

I agree that the graphics just feel.....weird. Something is off that I can't quite put my finger on. Playing on a 3070ti and a ryzen 5 3600. That said, the stock rovers and planes feel pretty good to control, and exploring KSC is pretty fun. No real plans on anything major to do, just exploring.

[DeadJohn]

Regardless of having to tweak the fuel amounts, that interface uses dark gray numbers on a darker gray background. Poor readability and I hope they improve that portion of the UI.

[Monger]

I'd be really happy to have your problems

[DwightLee]

First off, Thank you Devs, the game is beautiful, fun, fairly intuitive ( mostly )

The hardest part for me is unlearning KSP 1, and I want to make sure I couch all my responses to this game until I give the new game my full attention, I wont complain about how something is not what it was like before.

 Made a craft and took it to orbit and recovered it, ( took me a while to figure out how to recover it ) but it all functioned well, second flight learned how to put the solar panels into the control system so I could one click open them.

Game is running great on my system, I9 10900k  , GTX 3080 , 32 gig ram

Not being a twitch player, nor is this a twitch game I'm not worried about 60fps or anything like that, just how smoothly it feels and runs while playing without even displaying specific FPS ( which is the important part ), and so far no problems ( yet )

Going to start making larger craft, a Mun orbiter, and later  today a Mun lander.

 

So far so good, sound is off the charts good, graphics are better than I expected, and I am learning in the VAB but getting used to the parts manager so wont complain about that yet, I think I am actually starting to like that.

The one thing I would like addressed at some point is the resolution for screen size. My screen is 5120 x 1440 and it would be nice if that was an option in settings.

[minerbat]

Here i would like to give feedback about some things i like and dont like after the first 2 hours of gameplay, as well as my personal performance

my computer specs are:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X 8-Core Processor
RAM: 32 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

i dont know a lot about the different CPU and GPU types and how good they are compared to each other but this is what i have. i turned most graphics settings to low so they are not on their default values. I tested different situations using a 100 part rocket (using a variety of parts to represent a realistic scenario of something that players might build).

launching at KSC daytime: 8 fps... (higher when looking at the sky, lower when looking at the ground)
launching at KSC nighttime: 15 fps (same thing applies)
orbiting kerbin: 20 fps (higher when looking at space, lower when looking at kerbin)
VAB: 45 fps
orbiting sun: 60 fps

it seems like launching is the most laggy part, which is to be expected. it is definetely a low fps, but at least it is not regularly freezing and stuttering which i honestly find more annoying. i started playing ksp 1 on my laptop which was about the same performance so for me personally i think this is playable, even if not great. also interesting how fps doubles when launching at nighttime. i am probably going to be doing a lot of night launches then...

 

now some great things i found so far:

* the sound design, it is ABSOLUTELY AMASING!

* the redesigns of the various objects! i love that most places which were less interesting in ksp 1 have gotten their own unique things. rings on dres (one of my first interplanetary missions is definetely going to looking at them up close), as well as the canyon making a return, but now there are 2 of them! also the giant crater on bop, interesting looking ravine on vall, mountain on eve and many other things. i also wonder whether the mohole is still there

* the new parts. there are only a few, but they seem great. the new nuclear engine, the hydrogen fuel, the nuclear reactor, the big landing gear, the medium rover wheels, rover cockpit and more!

* planetary visuals. i sadly had to turn them down for performance but they still look great!

* flight UI. it will certainly take some getting used to as an experienced player, but it seems to be an improvement overall!

* introductory video (and tutorial animations, though i saw those on youtube rather than in game). some people seem to dislike the voice but i think its pretty cool. and to people saying it is childish, "cartoon" does not equal "for kids"

* load times are much better

 

some slightly less great things (i know its early access):

* performance. for me its playable, but not great, and other people might not consider 8-20 fps to be in the playable range. i would also like to be able to turn clouds back on

* visuals on the ships. this is more a mediocre thing rather than a real bad thing, but i think the visuals of the ships are a bit overdone. i think i prefer the old style look a bit more but that is mostly personal preference. personally i think somewhere in the middle is what i would want.

* part manager. it is good that it is an option like that, but i do prefer the system where you click on a part and it gives you that specific part's options right next to it. even more so in the VAB. why not have both as an option?

* fairings... like WHAT IS THIS SYSTEM? the one in ksp 1 worked perfectly and this is such a downgrade. if i have any number one complaint other than performance it is definetely whatever this is

* likely a bug, or me doing something wrong, but i cant seem to manually control the rocket using engine gimbal, wing flaps or reaction wheels. RCS works and SAS can use all of them just fine, but my wasdqe keyboard input does nothing... (ok while i was typing i reloaded and that seemed to fix it...)

* game launcher. why when i click the shortcut on my computer does it start a launcher where i have to click another button to start the game. when i click KSP 2 on my computer i expect it to start KSP 2 like it did with KSP 1

* kerbal manager in VAB. it doesnt work great. when i recovered Bob from my first flight he did not appear back in the list and valentina is just not showing up entirely.

* VAB background audio. the game has great sound and the VAB UI and construction too. it is very satisfying. But i would like the happy construction music from ksp 1 to be there too. it makes it feel more welcoming and like home where as this random beeping sound really does not do that. also there is an incredibly annoying whistle...

 

so there is what i hope is pretty good constructive feedback from my first 2 hours of gameplay and i hope this is usefull in some way. as i play the game more i will surely find more good and bad things so i will probably make more of these kind of posts in future if they are helpful. now if you will excuse me? i have a mun lander to build

Edited February 24, 2023 by minerbat

[regex]

4 minutes ago, Monger said:

I'd be really happy to have your problems

Feel free to make your own thread about them.

[Minmus Taster]

5 minutes ago, Entr8899 said:

Ah, so it's just wishful thinking and choosing to ignore all criticism?

Ignore? I don't ignore the games (many) issues and hope they get fixed. But I also think that this game is fun and is a good continuation of the first games ideas assuming that it becomes stable by final release. I just wanted to highlight what was good about about what's there and not comment on the technical aspects, because frankly I wouldn't know what I was talking about. I understand the frustration and I am a little let down that the game is in this state myself but all I can do is have fun with what I have and hope it gets better. And I'm not saying this as an owner of a NASA supercomputer. I run KSP2 on an 8GB laptop and I'm just happy I get to experiment with it while it develops.