Kerbal Usage Tracker

[technicalfool]

Just an idle suggestion really. There are so many applications that include a checkbox for "send usage information to [insert developer here] so we can improve the quality of this product", that I'm wondering how much sense it would make for KSP to have such a thing?

With this feature, the game could track:

How many people are using the game.

What parts are being used at launch.

How many frames per second people are achieving at launch.

What mods people use.

...and any other useful metrics that Squad might want to peek at. Maybe have the crash logger auto-upload the crash log for stock installs.

For privacy concerns, make it an opt-in feature. For bandwidth concerns, it doesn't need to be constantly blitzing the central server, just periodic uploads.

[Guest]

Actually, there's the stats tracking dialog. Dunno what it sends, but it does something like that.

[technicalfool]

Actually, there's the stats tracking dialog. Dunno what it sends, but it does something like that.

Well, according to the dialog, it sends "Game ID", which I guess is a UID based on your purchase order. It also sends platform information (Windows, Mac or Linux), version information, and IP address. A bit thin, perhaps. I'm suggesting including a whole lot more information, so long as it doesn't include so much info that you could call it spyware. Knowing what parts are popular could help Squad decide what bits to nerf or buff, for instance.

Also, are some of those stats available on the web? If not, could they be? I'm sure mod authors would like something a little better than download count to see how popular their mods are. Press-types can get usage figures without prodding Squad to ask. Curious people like me get to nose around for the sake of it.

[pizzaoverhead]

From the dev blogs, it sounds like this is already in place:

I’m still working on the in-game stats page in the website that will let us know how far the players are going in the game (it will only be available for us to see it, I just have to make that clear.)