Devs, for future updates that break saves.

[KerbMav]

I also have a copy of .20 that I will keep for when I want to use mods until they are updated.

Will all mods definitely be unusable with a new version of the game?

[stupid_chris]

Ill refer you to Majiir, the current owner of the Kethane plugin:

I don't think mods break as much as the above posters claim (and I've made my fair share of fixes). Mods will usually break when a feature is substantially rewritten, so I'd expect any mod involving crew to break. Mods that deal with flight state could break. On the other hand, some mods don't interact with major game systems; for example, I'd expect a lot of part code to work just fine since that mostly interacts with Unity. It depends on the details, of course. The breaking nobody likes to talk about is when the KSP devs change some part of the public API (like fixing a misspelling in a function name) and plugins have to be updated to fix it. (Sometimes a change in the assembly means plugins only have to recompile.)

Since there are no major changes to plugin loading announced, I imagine many mods will work fine. You never know, though; a while back they made some tweaks to FlightGlobals, which almost every plugin uses in some capacity, and we all had to rebuild.

Source

[ASnogarD]

Personally I dont mind the Devs breaking saves, I would rather lose saves or even short term ability to use mods than have the developer spend too much time trying to avoid save /mod breaking changes or worse put features on hold because they could break saves/mods.

I feel the changes usually bring in enough new toys to play with that re-building is fun again.

This also ties into the devs tying themselves down to a specific release time, they shouldnt be too pressured to releasing updates in a rough estimated time frame as this can lead to rushing features to have something to show, and pulling out stuff as they wont be complete in time for the due date... unnecessary pressure at this stage of development.

I do feel feedback on progress, or snippets of what the devs are working on are sufficient at this stage.

[KerbMav]

Ill refer you to Majiir,

Thank you - not being a modder I rarely visit this part of the forums other then reading up on a certain mod.

What he said ...

... I agree with.

[allmappedout]

As I've said before, everything we're doing now is just practice for 1.0. Don't fool yourself into thinking things won't break again. Saves, crafts, everything is up for grabs as development progresses and features are added.

This. I've learned not to become attached to my things in KSP. I find myself getting to a point where I'm effectively just building monuments, as soon as I find a new version is coming, and I stop doing science(!). I prefer the freedom that comes with a new release, to start afresh and learn from your past achievements.

Plus, game breaking bugs are usually* big awesome reasons for the game to get better, which is always a bonus

*like, sometimes, maybe.

[bonyetty]

Anticipation and surprises are some of the best things in life aren't they? Shhhh, please keep it a secret for me SQUAD. At least ill love ya for it if that counts for anything.

[alteffeight]

I don't think Squad has any obligation whatsoever to cater to requests for release dates. You're talking about a game that hasn't released yet. You're playing stable development builds, essentially. These will constantly rewrite parts of the game, break things that used to work, and create new things that work even better. I'm sure Squad has some sort of internal development cycle, but with such a small team and budget things are likely to constantly be in flux.

Just a friendly reminder that you paid money for access to early, alpha-quality development builds - you did not subscribe to regular updates to a finished product.

[AfailingHORSE]

Unless you have a steam copy, you could just not update.

You dont have to update automatically with steam either. And its rather simple.

Right click on game (in this case KSP) -> Properties -> Updates tab -> Automatic updates drop down box -> And there will be an option that says "Do not automatically update this game."

If you make a copy of the save folder for backup purposes to OUTSIDE the steam folder, that folder will not update when you decide to do the update.

[Capt'n Skunky]

If you make a copy of the save folder for backup purposes to OUTSIDE the steam folder, that folder will not update when you decide to do the update.

It doesn't have to be outside the Steam folder. Steam will only update the copy in the "Kerbal Space Program" folder.

Cheers!

Capt'n Skunky

KSP Community Manager