How KSP changed my life

[milankragujevic]

How KSP changed my life

I wasn’t interested in space at all. Also I believed that some flying man in the sky created the world.

But since the MSL landed on Mars, I got interested in space. I started watching some NASA videos, and soon enough I knew a little about space.

Then I read an article (this article actually) and it got me interested, so I searched for “gamers solve aids problem†because I wanted to see how that game works. Or whatever.

I stumbled upon this video and in related videos I saw Kurt’s (kurtjmac) tutorial on KSP.

It was in May 2012.

KSP was in version 0.16 and they didn’t have docking, probes, space station cores, or even interplanetary travel. But for me it was the best thing in the world. I remember playing KSP straight for 8 hours, then going to sleep while watching tutorials on my tablet, and first thing in the morning I would sit on the computer and start KSP.exe

Yes, I was pretty much addicted.

After I started playing it I posted some screenshots on my Facebook wall (before it was called Timeline) and Igor Nedeljković saw it.

He introduced me to Felipe, Squad, and KSP forums. I had no idea who made KSP, I just wanted to play it

As I played KSP more and more, I got bored of my rockets exploding and I wanted to make scientific rockets. So I started watching NASA documentaries, on a excellent YouTube channel called EvolutionDocumentary that got deleted unfortunately. Soon I knew a lot about SRB’s, MIR, ISS, Shuttle, MSL, MER etc. BUT I WANTED TO KNOW MORE.

I read a few books about space, and I really liked “The Story of Space Station Mirâ€Â. I then started learning Russian and since I now know some words, and understand the basic sentence making, I could understand some of the great old Soviet documentaries about Space.

As I read and watched more and more, I got interested in Space even more. I started reading texts on Phil Plait’s blog, and I soon learnt many things about space.

After all that I found a book called “Satellite Technology: Principles and Applications†in which I learned a lot about orbital mechanics and how Satellites actually work.

Also I watched BBC documentary “How Satellites Rule Our World†in which I learned how satellites are manufactured and also something about how they work. A lot actually, since I had no idea how satellites handled multiple signals coming and going…

You may see a pattern here: I didn’t learn nothing in school, and actually you can learn stuff by watching videos. That’s how I learn the most.

Well, when I was younger I wanted to be a programmer, now I want to be a space engineer. No, not an astronaut, as I'm much less likely to actually get a job, and also their job is much harder and more dangerous. But hey, I dream of visiting space. Maybe commercially, but at least a suborbital flight.

Also when I grow up I plan on going to Russia to live there a few years, as I want to practice my language and to visit many space museums there. But this about Russia is for another post.

So, yeah, thanks Squad for changing my life.

Note: Links removed, copy-paste from my blog

Edited April 22, 2013 by milankragujevic
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[astropapi1]

Guess who's going to study aerospace engineering now!

This game has changed my life.

[milankragujevic]

Hmm... This thread is buried by now, so refresh. I think people should read this. If this is considered spamming please delete my post.

[AmpsterMan]

This game changed my life as well. It has truly lead to a greater appreciation of how the universe works.

[SmallChange]

Where along the way did the flying magic man fall out of the picture?

[ROFLCopter64bit]

Well, if you wanted to be a programmer and now a space enginner, you could combine the two and program the rocket's navigation modules

[HockeyToad28]

Guess who's going to study aerospace engineering now!

This game has changed my life.

Exactly my plans.

[Peenvogel]

I've been a space aficionado ever since I was a kid. Also I played a lot of video games. KSP is the best of both worlds. Seriously, I've easily played more than a thousand games over the last three decades but KSP is different from all them. This game really makes an impact that is even greater than Rome Total War which used to be the number one in my top three best games ever list. Often I wondered if there ever would come a runner up and after so many disappointments (hyped generic games) KSP took be by surprise. To me, this is one of the BEST games ever (yet) and I'm not saying this lightly... and thinking about the future possibilities (mining, colonizing etc.) makes my head spin. KSP redefined the word quality and game play imho.

[Asheron04]

Peenvogal took the words right out of my mouth. Except my favorite was Medieval Total War. I have been playing ksp since it only cost $5. I have always had a deep facination with space and this game helps to satisfy some childhood dreams that could never come to fruition. There is so much to do now since when ksp first came out that I cant make up my mind! I just landed my all stock mobile base on the mun (pictures to come) and I have to say it was one of the mosy satisfying accomplishments ive had in Ksp. After I have sufficiently satisfied my mun curiosity, its off to minmus and beyond! Happy launching my fellow kerbalnauts!