What has KSP done for your life?

[Spartwo]

Since I discovered KSP, I drink more and sleep less.

what's sleep?

[bigdad84]

Ahhhh... KSP.. Let's see.

KSP Has:

Made me sleep deprived

Lose weight

Teach me orbital mechanics

Become more interested in space than I ever thought possible

Gave me that final reason to upgrade my computer

[BostLabs]

I'd say KSP has kindled my interest in space. That and it has reminded me that I'm not a young man anymore and cannot stay up to midnight or beyond and not pay for it the next day.

[Wayfare]

Since I discovered KSP, I drink more and sleep less.

Pretty much this.

Also, coming up with new and inventive ways to solve engineering challenges with the parts at hand keeps me on my drunken toes.

[zekes]

convinced me i want to build rockets for a career

[rasheed]

Eh, time on an other game reduced from 8 hours to 0.

KSP U ATE MY GAMING TIME !

[NoMrBond]

You know all that math you never think you'll use in the real world, well, they were right, I've been using it for KSP instead.

I've done more solving, modelling and fitting in KSP than since university calculus & statistics.

It's actually hard to go back to a lot of other games now, because often they're very shallow and don't require me think, consider or plan and I hadn't really noticed until I spent so much time with KSP, which rewards those qualities.

Edited August 22, 2013 by NoMrBond

[spikeyhat09]

ive seen at least 2 other threads like this before

[Joshington]

KSP has pretty much been the only thing that has gotten me interested in science, particularly astronomy and space. It also increased my respect for NASA, after learning what they had to go through in the space race.

[samstarman5]

When KSP illustrated for me what was truly meant when an orbiting object is always falling, that was the ding moment for me that there was more to the game than building and launching model rockets. Even with certain limitations, such as the absence of extra-gravitic effects on a body in space beyond just the main it is orbiting, KSP is a dreadnought of scientific discovery with a whole lot of room for just plain old fun. Consider that things you realize in the game usually required a doctorate for engineers and techs working in the mission control centers around the world, as well as the people manning the craft such as Mercury, Soyuz, and the Space Shuttle. Of course, while there is more yet to learn before you can apply it to real life, KSP offers such a huge stepping stone it is beyond remarkable.

ive seen at least 2 other threads like this before

And we will see more. Threads like these are a nice reminder of the obscure reasons why we love KSP, and why new people should stick around to try one more time when they are feeling discouraged.

It actually scares the **** out of me knowing that future aircraft and rockets are going to be designed by somebody who picked up his design habits in KSP

Considering what a person learns in troubleshooting problems with a rocket they build in KSP, I would say that is exactly the kind of person I would want designing real life rockets.

[roosterr]

This is a great thread redkosmos and I understand your sentiments and hopefully I can answer without writing a book.

Strange as it may sound, KSP has changed my life, for the better.

A little background: I am 43, wife, house, 2 kids, 10 chickens, and a 3 legged dog (really), an above average paying job, and a successful home business we run on the side. It looks like I am touting accomplishments here, but really my point is that I am not your typical young basement dwelling "gamer". At one time in my life many years ago, I kind of fit that mold though. I am a pretty productive guy, always have been.

I have always, since a child, been into aerospace stuff. I was a hobbyist rocketry in elementary school, and RC plane and flight sim guy for years in my younger days. Although I have had pilot training, I have never been a pilot or worked in the industry. I do attend airshows as much as possible. You certainly could call me an aerospace spectator.

Fixed wing aircraft I am very knowledgeable for a non-pilot non industry guy. I have many friends that are pilots and have worked in that field.

Since having children, and starting a new business, I have sort of dropped out of the aerospace scene. Although I have been following Scaled Composites (spaceshipone, spaceshiptwo, etc) since they were modeling their 3d concepts, along with SpaceX, I quit RC, I quit airshows, I quit flight simmming, and actually lost interest in fixed wing aircraft for the most part.

Since I found KSP two years ago, it has been a re-birth of my old fascination. I already know as much as I want to know about traditional fixed wing craft and it never dawned on my to look at how modern rockets and rocket science worked. Even so, would I be able to understand it all if I researched in online? Maybe, but no where as near as fun and educational building virtual concepts, etc. KSP rekindled an old flame but with a new twist.

Now from the moment I wake up, to the time I TRY to sleep (KSP on brain) I think of new missions, new designs, and scour the internet for new real-life missions, rockets etc. All because I now understand what I am reading on the subject. KSP has been the ultimate teacher. And dont think I am obsessed (OK Maybe), but my personal and professional life has not suffered. I am able to find a few hours a few nights a week to get my thoughts onto a new craft or new mission. It is one of the few things that actually stimulates my brain in a good way these days, next to my wife and kids.

I have replaced my RC plane building habit that required a shop, made noise, cost money, and I spend more time on the bench than in the air. That was all good though, but now my life has changed, and KSP fills that void perfectly. My biggest wonder is how do I find time to be on this forum so much??? (A: I wont go into details, but my excessive forum posting is short lived, but I should be working on something else right now).

Thanks for asking I had to get that off my chest.

PS. KSP is educating my two young boys too

[Turbojohn]

I'm 17 years old.

I want to become an astronomer.

When I started playing it, when Kurtjmac uploaded his first video of the game, I was already interested in space related things.

This game teached me orbital mechanics, I had no idea how it worked, and it's surprisingly not as complex as I thought.

It teached me, that when we finish a mission after hours of designing, launching, the sense of accomplish something is REALLY worth all the hard work you put into it.

I never had a similar feeling in my life. School doesn't teach that, most games don't do it.

It's a nice thing, that I'm sure applies to real life too.

(Although in real life there is allways the danger of the unexpected ruining everything)

[TheHengeProphet]

KSP gave me a better understanding of orbital mechanics. And it has also destroyed the value of many space-involved films, to me, considering I know what is going on just... isn't really how things work. _{Cinematics...}

KSP has also driven me to research rocketry mechanics much in the same way that Dwarf Fortress drove me to research geology and metallurgy, deepening my appreciation for such subjects!

[Drunkrobot]

I've recently passed my GCSEs (What 14-16 year old's do in school here in the UK), and I'm going into my A-levels (the last step towards university) when the summer ends. I'll be doing three topics-Maths, Physics and Chemistry. One videogame I own has had at least SOME influence on what I'll do with those three A-levels-guess which one!

The world needs more games like KSP. Videogames aren't just art, they're science too!

[RedKosmos]

Wow! These are all great! Glad to see I'm not the only one. Does anyone have any rocketry or aerospace projects outside of KSP?

[Toshogu]

KSP has made me really appreciate what NASA has done before my birth, and within my lifetime. They literally pull off the impossible time and time again. I am still trying to hit Duna. Interplanetary transfers are a bitch.

Also KSP has made me appreciate the absurde abuse of Energy in science fiction movies. Look @ the recent movie elysium. They had a man portable missle that could reach orbit. and even the Hoopty mobile the ghetto rats had could get to LEO no problems. That is an abuse of energy.

[Toshogu]

ALSO... it made me use higher math that I haven't used since highschool. Always thought calc and trig were useless. 16yrs out of highschool, never used it once. To play KSP you have to use alittle bit of it here and there =P

[RedKosmos]

I am still trying to hit Duna. Interplanetary transfers are a bitch.

Use this, it helped me get there

http://ksp.olex.biz/

[bracknellexile]

Before I first discovered KSP, I had a partner, social life.

Now... now there's just me and the wee green ones.

Now I'm not necessarily saying KSP was the cause but....

[Inchoately]

KSP erased the concept of free time from my life.

KSP re-sparked my interest in space. It has also sucked up all of my gaming time.

KSP has taught me that, unlike in my twenties, I really cannot function on four hours of sleep per day.

That doesn't stop me from trying though.

This game pretty much just changed how I think about space. I mean, I already knew about satellites and things in orbit traveling really fast, but you never think about it, really. Now I do because I'm the one trying to get things into orbit to do various things up there.

KSP gave me a better understanding of orbital mechanics. And it has also destroyed the value of many space-involved films, to me, considering I know what is going on just... isn't really how things work. _{Cinematics...}

All this.

I'm only ~70 hours into this game (in two weeks, oh my...), but I already love every aspect of this alpha. I cannot Image how much better the final game will be...

I'm a bit of "hardcore" in terms of challenging games, so KSP with its nearly vertical learning curve is the perfect game for me. Just yesterday i sat about 4 hours in the VAB to build various modules and space tugs for my munar space station, and the procedure is always the same. Build a module, run a quick test at the launch site, change some parts, test, change, test, change, test, (and so on, many hours later), till I end up with a spacecraft/module with 5% of its original design/functions. Also the whole process of launching a huge object into space, put it into orbit, rendezvous with your space station and dock it successfully without a single quickload is so damn rewarding... it's massive. The last game that soaked me into on this scale was the World of Warcraft beta back in 2005, no other game managed that until I discovered KSP two weeks ago.

Besides the non-existent free time and my sleep deficit, I cannot stop watching Scott Manley's YT-videos. Every.Single.One. He is one of the reasons why I cannot stop playing this game, because you can see the possibillities while you realise how much you need to learn to be as half as good as he is. Side-effect: You actually learn on-the-fly how basic orbital mechanics and physics work in general. If this were part of my physics class back in my school-days I probably wouldn't had take chemistry instead...

That said, I see limitless potential using KSP for educational purposes (combined with YT-tutorials, kids love YT )