What was ksp like when it first came out

[Jr6150x]

Who the heck needs landing legs?? Back then fins would suffice, with there horrid crash tolerance and all.

[Monger]

I remember KSP from the time where there was no sun - but strangely enough, the whole planet was illuminated. There was no moon and no stars. It really felt like a god was creating the universe step by step: first there was directed light (which meant that no one was able to see big parts of Kerbin for a few weeks, at least not in sunlight). Then they added rotation, then the Mun, the universe skybox, the sun (yes, in that order. First we had light, then a sun), the atmosphere got multiple layers and was made less dense, then Minmus was added and a whole solar system.

I remember that the Universe skybox was one major step ahead, because it allowed at least some kind of orientation. Navigating without an orbital map (and of course any navigation point) and without any point of orientation (everything dark around you, especially behind Kerbin) is really irritating. I am trying to remember if there was already a Navball back then, but can't remember.

[Rickenbacker]

I remember being really impressed, even though the game had basically no content when I first played it (as soon as it was for sale). Then, when they added the Mun, I remember using lookup tables to match speed and altitude to figure out if I was in orbit, burn for the Mun and finally landing on it using fins as landing legs. And being really disappointed that I couldn't make a little Kerbal come out of the capsule for a stroll! Had loads of fun with it back then, and I'm STILL having loads of fun, but it's a lot easier now .

[Sabor]

The only thing I miss from back then is the water. It had really nice effects similar to Flight Sim X, Maybe a modded FS2004.

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

I joined at 0.13.1 (not the demo IIRC)

Everything was much harder , 2 liquid engines, 1 fuel tank, 1 radial decoupler, 1 decoupler, 1 type of booster, no landing gear. no patched conics, no Minmus (and thus, no minty toothpaste ) you could fly to to the centre of the sun!, no mods!!and the old ASAS texture was awesome (I want it back, perosnally) and SAS (In my experience) did nothing to help steer your rocket, and you had to land on the Mün with winglets, no EVA or IVA kerbals where 2 times the height (3 of them inside a 1.25m capsule) and All hail the immortal trio of bill bob and jeb!

[styckx]

It's amazing the advancements this game has made since the early days.. Heck, it wasn't even all that long ago you had to use struts to hold stages together so they didn't launch like a slinky.

[TheDarkStar]

I started way back around the first few releases (0.9?). At the time, you could either use SRBs or the one liquid engine (with the one size of tank), along with (maybe?) parachutes. It was technically possible to orbit, but there was no timewarp, so it took a while. With no navigation view, you had to put in the numbers to see if you were actually orbiting or not. Also, it was difficult because the atmosphere didn't fade away - iirc, it had one atmosphere of pressure up to 40km and then it was gone.

[Monkthespy]

Was also at around the start, I think it was somewhere around .8 or .9, because I remembered when we finally got the map view on the next update. That was fun, before the map view you just had to hope to God that you burned long enough to get into orbit. Without timewarp or quicksaving, you couldn't figure out if you were actually in orbit. You had to eyeball it.

About the water: When I first looked at the water I really did like it... then I landed on it and found out it was really like painted concrete.

Also, wasn't there palm trees at the KSC?

[R0cketC0der]

I'm not sure if it was already posted, but here is a thread where some old versions can be downloaded: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/24858-Old-versions-of-KSP-(some-versions-still-wanted!)

[Talon2000uk]

Ahhh 0.7.3 oh how I miss you. Well no not really. It was a lot of fun to faf about with but but Squad have done an awesome job in the last 3 years turning KSP into an amazing game and a very popular one too.

I'm looking forward to the next 3 years.

[MedwedianPresident]

I started playing in good ole .12, and I realized immediately that the game had great potential. I watched as the community grew from 500 to like 50.000 people.

[EuSouONumero345]

It started on the Orbiter forums, isn't it?

When I first downloaded it, it was amazing, I was like "wait...can I build this? OOO I can! THISISDABESTGAMEEVAR"

And now, it changed sooo much, it makes me feel nostalgic.

[Flixxbeatz]

To sum it up: Attaining orbit is already an achievement. I went live on forums just a few days before 0.11 came out (hooray for orbital view!) so I got to play a bit of 0.10, so yea... the struggle is indeed real. Not to mention that there was no timewarp, so you have to leave your computer on for a while to see if you're successful or not.

Also, the stock parts can be counted by hand (always used mods before). The water was SOLID. And the kerbals are freakin' immortal.

Will miss the simplicity of cfg file and texture editing way back then tho

[Ultraflight]

My first experience with Kerbal Space Program was in 0.12.

There weren't any fuel lines, no small engine/small tanks, no legs, one capsule with no EVA or IVA, no planets or Minmus, you could fly through the sun, (danny2462's done that in a 0.13 special)

Aye, it was a very... simple time to say the least.

My first rocket was called the "Untitled Space Craft", and consisted of a cluster of solid rockets around the capsule, with no symmetry. Needless to say, it overheated and exploded early on into the flight. The fact that it lacked parachutes did not help. I read the tutorial, and discovered the joys of liquid rockets. So I promptly built a small ship with a liquid upper and solid lower stage, which got up to about 15 kilometers when the engine burned out. I added MOAR FUELS to it, and succeeded in reaching space. At that point, I left the game to read some tutorials, and learned of the Mun. I promptly decided I was going to land something there. So I built a stupidly large rocket (remember, I hadn't orbited yet), and lifted off for the Mun- only to realize I put an SAS on the wrong side of a decoupler. It didn't go very farther. I then tried to orbit after yet more tutorials, and succeded with a design I named the "K-1", a simple number with upper stage and tricoupled lower stage, no boosters. I was filled with excitement after I watched my crew float down from orbit in the night sky... and then they exploded on landing. The night landing bug, in-freaking-deed.

[Kulebron]

And here is a picture of a rocket on the old launch pad. Note the noticeable absence of trees.

When did they come around? I guess I didn't notice this with low settings on laptop.

[dryer_lint]

Geez, when I purchased KSP it was already in 0.23.5... I'm such a newbie. I did, however, play the demo for a while. You could walk under the VAB, the only place to land on (crash on) was the Mun, you only had one command pod with only one Kerbal per ship, the SAS system sucked, but I still got addicted to the game right away.

[Dizzle]

I heard about this game from a thread on another forum. This was my first post after trying the demo:

"3/4/2012

VERY interesting, but it's going to take me a while to get the hang of it.

Test 1: Failed to launch.

Test 2: Went straight upward for 3 seconds, then immediately flipped over and killed everyone.

Test 3: Wriggled through the air a bit, then had to eject engine and deploy chute to avoid flipping over and killing everyone.

This game is fun."

[Polar Bear]

I remember the landing gear we all loved, that would snap off if you treated it anything like the landing gear we have now. It made Mün landings so much more rewarding. I remember how when kerbals died you'd have their little portrait become a static type thing and it would say KIA.

I started playing around .15, back then I had no clue how orbit's worked and I'd just fly straight up, then I found Scott Manley, or szyzyg as it was, and I was so excited to finally reach orbit, then the Mün, then when I landed on the Mün, so rewarding! But now that you do those things so often, it becomes very bland, and almost a bit tideous, I guess I gotta try someting new

[Flixxbeatz]

Evolution of the Launch Complex in one picture

[dryer_lint]

Evolution of the Launch Complex in one picture

Whoa, are those palm trees and lakes?

Are those cheesy, realistic-looking roads?

What are those weird hills in the background?

Old KSP looks amazing.

[scotty93]

I remember that sense of achievement when you finally got to the moon. Not even talking about landing there yet, just being in orbit. Back when you had to 'eyeball' a Mun-shot.

Then using your three engines as landing gear, hoping to find a good flat area somewhere in your descent path. Hoping you don't tip over or an engine breaks off, so you can go home.

[Stilgar2300]

I started in .16. I don't have any pictures but I'm still in therapy over all the kerbals I lost by crashing into that damn tower. I used to design these massive rockets and move the saves so I could launch em on the runway. Those were dark days

[NecroBones]

I've heard many horror stories about the tower. Watching youtube videos from those days, even when the launches are perfect, I can see why it was a huge hazard. Many of my designs wouldn't even fit between the center of the pad and that tower, at all. I'm glad it's gone.

[Itchono]

Fun Fact: The launchpad did have palm trees in the first few versions of KSP (all the way up to 0.10.1 I think) until HarvestR lost the files for the original launchpad while making 0.11. The palm trees were never to be seen again.