Should there be other planetary systems in later versions of KSP?

[RocketScientist00]

Hi guys, thanks for answering my question about having aliens in KSP.

I'm thinking, do you want other planetary systems in future versions of KSP? Like another star system.

Please answer.

[Serratus]

Yes? Why wouldn't we want it But we really need to have some real colonisation options first. Can't really explore another system if You have to continuously launch from KSC... Or building a fricken CPU-breaking juggernaut of an exploration ship!

[Comrade Jenkens]

I'd love to have other systems in the future but only after the 1.0 release of KSP. (Or even as an expansion so that the many people who don't want them don't have to get them.) As with the post on aliens they are not high on the list of things I want to see right now as there are many more important things for the devs to do.

[Nobody]

I agree that other solar systems would be nice but it shouldn't be a priority until the game is nearly finished or a DLC item after it is finished.

[RocketScientist00]

Thanks guys for answering, maybe there should be other space centers on other planets of the Kerbol (Sun) system so that we can go to the other planets of other star systems.

Please watch out for other forums that I will discuss with you all.

[r4pt0r]

i dont think other systems have any place in ksp. at the least they would be a lightyear away, and at max timewarp would take forever. then there is the fact that getting the dv to achieve something resembling a stable orbit in a new system after burning out of the other one would be a ridiculous amount. at that point you guys are going to want off-planet construction and resources to mine, hopfully neither of which will be in stock game.

[Devinci]

The more the merrier and the more we learn about orbital mechanics and rocket science.

[KN_Namida]

My honest opinion? I don't think there will ever be any other planetary systems in KSP. The reason?

Let's start by assuming that in KSP all of the celestial bodies are more or less 10 times smaller than our Solar system real counterparts. You know, Kerbin has a radius of 600 km while Earth is 6,000 and so on. Then, if another system was ever added to KSP, it would be more or less 3 or 4 light years away from Kerbin, that distance divided by 10, just to keep things realistic.

A light year is 9.4605284 × 10^15 meters, so in ksp another system would be (3 or 4 light years /10) = from 2.838 x 10^15 to 3.784 x 10^15 meters from Kerbin. Now let's imagine you're travelling in a straight line towards that star at a constant speed of... make it 10 km/s. and using x100,000 time acceleration, of course. It would still take you from 2,838,000 to 3,784,000 real seconds, or from 33 TO 44 REAL DAYS to reach it. You just couldn't do it.

Also, KSP is trying to be a realistic-ish kind of sandbox/simulator, that's why we have everything scaled right in the Kerbol system, realistic-looking rocket parts, etc.

Mankind, as of now, has not yet found a practical way to get out of the Solar system in reasonable time periods, and extra-solar exploration is still just a dream. So that's why I think we will not see anything of that kind in the future of KSP, at least in the main game. I wouldn't mind a pair of new planets though, you know... It's been an year since Eeloo was added and we haven't heard any news regarding GP2, the asteroid belt, or anything else really...

[jlrdsr]

But why does the other solar system have to be 3-4 light years away? Thats how it is for us on earth, but the kerbol system isnt a replica of our own solar system, so why cant we have another solar system about say 0.5 light years away, and also add a faster time warp speed, mabey x100 000 000? That way it wouldent take toooo long to to travel to the other system. And why cant the kerbol system be part of a small star cluster? Then you could have about 5-8 systems less than 10 light years away, then you will never run out of places to send rockets to

[Tex]

Always try to be optimistic! I completely agree with Jlrdsr on this: Nothing is quite realistic in the Kerbol system. If Squad feels the need to add interstellar capabilities, then it will be made possible, and we'll just have to wait and see what they have in store for us.

[r4pt0r]

Always try to be optimistic! I completely agree with Jlrdsr on this: Nothing is quite realistic in the Kerbol system. If Squad feels the need to add interstellar capabilities, then it will be made possible, and we'll just have to wait and see what they have in store for us.

wonderful since they dont feel that need what so ever

heres an excerpt from their pcgamer interview:

" Do you have plans to add more solar systems, or even randomly generated solar systems?

Falange: That’s something we get a lot, and it’s actually something that I’m not very particularly [interested] about implementing. It’s not that can’tâ€â€we could, theoretically. But I think that KSP being a game where you can build your own spacecraft, play the game in your own way, and have essentially a completely different experience from everyone else… the only thing tying these experiences together is that the universe is the same. So if we were to add procedurally generated planets outside the current solar system, you would end up with places and destinations that don’t exist for anyone else. And then it would fail in terms of you being able to relate to someone else’s experience. You wouldn’t be able to say, “Hey guys, I landed on Duna, this was really cool!†And everyone knows what Duna is and what it stands for. Instead, you’d get, “Hey guys, I found this planet, it looks kinda like this.†And people would be like, “Oh... I’ve got completely different planets on mine.â€Â

Holtzman: The game is science fiction, but one of the things that Felipe has really driven is that he wants the science to come first and the fiction to come second. So when you start talking about multiple solar systems, you get further into the realm of fiction.

Falange: Right, because you’re talking about interstellar distances, which means time-warp isn't enough anymore, no matter how fast you’re going. Now you need some sort of warp drive, and that falls into the realm of sci-fi. And that then requires us to break the laws of physics, which would in fact make everything much trickier. so thankfully it wont happen.

[Canopus]

I don't think we need them either. They will expand the current system and than it will be big enough.

[KN_Namida]

I don't think we need them either. They will expand the current system and than it will be big enough.

Totally agreed.

[lajoswinkler]

Expanded Kerbol system is all I think it's needed. I've been using Krag's Planetary Factory mod for a while and let me tell you that the KSP universe doesn't feel small to me anymore.

Few bodies on large orbits around the central star and you've got yourself a feeling of vastness of space.

I agree with Felipe. Realism first, and fiction is to spice things up.

[rkman]

I don't know Squad's current stance on it but in the past they have stated there will be other solar systems (procedurally generated).

For that purpose they have been/are trying to implement some sort of interstellar drive into the game.

[Terran]

I think it would make an excellent expansion, and it seems like a logical, natural progression of the theme of the game.

But it's an issue for after the game's finished. It's better that the team concentrates on the Kerbol system, for now.

EDIT:

I don't know Squad's current stance on it but in the past they have stated there will be other solar systems (procedurally generated).

For that purpose they have been/are trying to implement some sort of interstellar drive into the game.

You have a source for that? As cool as that would be, that seems like a rather large reversal in stance.

[SRV Ron]

Flying to another solar system, if ever implemented, should involve a bunch of research by the Kerbals. They would need to;

1. Use their telescopes to locate a star system that is close to the Kerbal System. The definition of close would be a 10 to 50 year journey in Kerbal Time.

2. Require the Kerbals to get the technology needed for interstellar travel. There is one mod out there that has a ship using nuclear explosive propulsion. (Not LV-N chemical rockets.)

3. Require carefully planned maneuvers since even other star systems, like planets, are moving as well.

4. Missions would have to be self sustaining and involve colonization to be successful. Of course, long range probes could be used for the first exploration before sending manned missions.

5. Programming wise, the ship would need to go beyond the orbit of Eeloo and Kerbal's SOI before an additional time warp acceleration could be applied.

Still, this is a long ways off where the current game needs to be finished before adding the interstellar capability.

[r4pt0r]

I don't know Squad's current stance on it but in the past they have stated there will be other solar systems (procedurally generated).

For that purpose they have been/are trying to implement some sort of interstellar drive into the game.

I quite literally posted a quote of their current stance on the issue as of December 23rd, 2013 eight posts above this one

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/12/23/kerbal-space-program-dev-on-random-solar-systems-the-joy-of-failure-and-the-cult-of-steam/

lets avoid blatant dis-information

Edited January 19, 2014 by r4pt0r

[lawrencesuperhero]

I sure hope so more to do, what else would you do after you setup bases on all these planets. Id also like to find life out there at some point to.

[G'th]

As I always suggest in such open ended games as this, I don't believe they should necessarily add such a thing to the game just because, but they still should always provide modders an easy way to code in such things. Certain things might not be necessary right now, or even in the future really, but allowing such things to be modded in (By providing the building blocks for modders to put together) would be nothing but beneficial, as while Squad may never add say, aliens or other star systems, modders will still be able to put them in.

[Bekiekutmoar]

Implementation of more star systems would be a huge plus in my opinion. It should be released as a paid DLC, so Squad would have a financial motivation to fabricate more solar systems, and those who are opposed to multiple systems could refrain from buying the DLC. Ofcourse, this would be something for the long-term.

[Skyler4856]

Depends on implementation of interstellar travel. Warp Drives? No. Antimatter/fusion rocket? Why not?

[Tery215]

It should only be added when/after/if humans figure out a very feasible way to send anything zooming through another planetary system. Fairly in the spirit of things.

[m4v]

The only way I can see them adding an new system is by making Kerbol system a binary star system, the new system will not be procedural, so everyone can relate to it and it will be ridiculously close (in interstellar scale) so it might be possible (emphasis in might, I didn't do any math) to visit it without sci-fi technology.

That said, I don't want a new system, I want Squad to expand the current one, it should never feel small or boring.

[Themohawkninja]

Sure, another couple of systems would be nice.

That being said, you would need to solve the issue of time. If Squad were to keep with the motif of (A) scaling everything down by a factor of 10, and ( making other bodies/systems similar to real life ones, then that would mean that the nearest system would be ~0.42 light years from Kerbin, which is 3.97x10^15 meters, which (at let's say 15 km/s, a relatively low speed that will get you out of the Kerbol system with current tech) would take your ship 2.64667x10^11 years, which even at 100,000x warp is 2.64667x10^6 years.

The best way of doing this would probably be either (A) Teleportation-like FTL drives, or ( the ability to skip ahead many years to get to the destination.