Will KSP be 'immortal'?

[Sirrobert]

TBH I woul prefer that KSP would not become immortal, simply because it would mean that the game had no sequels or no sequels of worth bigger than the original. Don't get me wrong, I like KSP, but the game, due to it's indie-ish start, is tied to a game engine that limits it greatly ( and we can even say that a pretty decent part of the Unity engine evolution in the last years was forced by KSP needs ). I would definitely love to see a KSP in a game engine that is more suited for it, but that will not happen in this version of KSP ...

Sequals and immortality have nothing to do with each other

[Awaras]

It just needs to last long enough for SQUAD to start making KSP2: The search for moar boosters.

[Red Iron Crown]

Potential KSP2 names:

KSP: The Mun Strikes Back

KSP: First Boom Part 2

2KSP2Explosive

KSP2: The Wrath of Kerman

The Rocket Warrior

The Dark Kerbonaut

[Madrias]

Immortal? No. Long-lived, yes.

The graphics will help it live longer, and the creative nature of the game keeps it from falling aside, but I don't think it'll be a game that keeps being picked up by more than just our generation of gamers. All it'll take is someone, whether it's Squad, or some other developer somewhere out there, to make a similar game not tied down to Unity. Unity is good for some things, but the very nature of what KSP does to pull loopholes hurts KSP's long run. Sure, it's a great little game that's fun to play. The question remains: Will we be able to convince later groups of gamers to play it.

[Eddyisrich403]

We can only hope.

[Daffs]

Potential KSP2 names:

KSP: The Mun Strikes Back

KSP: First Boom Part 2

2KSP2Explosive

KSP2: The Wrath of Kerman

The Rocket Warrior

The Dark Kerbonaut

Or a three parter:

Friendship of the Kerbals

A couple of rockets

The return of the Kerbal.

[timsfitz]

The tests just came back. Inside KSP, there is the blood of kings.

[leax256]

http://www.tauniverse.com/

17 or so years and still going strong

[NWDogg]

It all depends upon what SQUAD decides to do with the 'Kerbal' license. If they want to, I can see the Kerbals evolving into their own franchise. Cartoon series, merchandise, maybe a feature-length movie, spinoff games (Kerbal Kart Racing, anyone?) the sky is really the limit. These little guys, if given the personality and world to do so, can become incredibly popular on their own merit.

As for the game KSP, I can see it being around for several more years. It is, what I consider, a pioneer in the 'creative building' genre, along with Minecraft and a handful of other indy titles. This genre is almost entirely new to gaming, and is already forking into multiple sub-genres other than space exploration and survival. I foresee in a decades time, multiple triple-A titles within this broad genre, covering everything from racing and combat to casual farming games and rpgs, and KSP will be remembered as a forebearer to these. For this reason alone, KSP will be relevant for years to come.

Finally, if everything I've said doesn't happen. If the genre doesn't kick off, if SQUAD sells KSP to EA to make a micro-transaction ridden mess of a mobile clicking game, the fundamentals of what this game has done will be expanded upon. Someone will eventually realize the upper limits of Unity, and a group of dedicated enthusiasts will set out to create a new real-world, real physics space simulator with in-game rocket building and off-world excursions. It will most likely be coded in a custom engine (or use one much better suited to complex physics calculations), and will probably resemble something in between KSP and Orbiter. So yeah, one way or another, KSP will be with us for a very long time, if only in spirit.

[BlackAdder128]

I would say yes. While KSP is a niche program, it currently dominates its niche: nothing else can touch it in what it does. I don't think the niche will die, which means the only threat to its immortality is replacement by something superior. SQUAD has done an exellent job: I find it difficult to believe that KSP could be wholly supplanted in the next 10 years.

[SkyRender]

Some games have a brief flurry of excitement and just vanish from the awareness of the gaming community after a while (a classic example of that being StarTropics; it was heavily promoted by Nintendo and sold well, but was quickly forgotten after the NES era). Others find a niche and stay there forever as an Ur example of that niche (like the original Civilization). Many are lost in the mix of an over-populated genre (who even remembers half of the adventure games that came out for PC during the 90s?). And then there are the games that are one of many in their genre but that stand out and end up getting a dedicated and long-lasting fanbase (one of the best examples being the original StarCraft, which is still much-beloved and played to this day by thousands). I see KSP finding its way into that last category.

Edited August 26, 2014 by SkyRender

[FenrirWolf]

Immortality for a game isn't found in continued releases by the developer. As far as I'm concerned, immortality means having a community that will still find ways to play the game even if the last update is 15 or 20 years old. People were finding ways to play X-COM and making fan remakes for that long, even though the official sequels for most of that time were nowhere near as popular.

20 years from now, the space sim community may not be playing "Kerbal Space Program," but they will find that they can't talk about the history of their genre without mentioning KSP. That's immortality.

This guy knows what's up.

[Rowsdower]

^^^

I was just about to say the same, FenirWolf. Ultimately, it's the community that will decide a game's "immortality." I have a feeling that the KSP community will be giving players reasons to pick up and play the game for a long time to come.

Normally launch dates are when sales begin though, so having early-access kinda takes away from that. Even going to v1.0 will be "just another update" so theres really nothing to hype or publicize that they wouldnt have done already with the previous updates.

An early access game getting to 1.0 is actually a big deal, especially one with the scope that KSP has. At the very least, it's a big deal to us, as well as others who might be waiting for us to get to 1.0 before they consider playing the game.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Rowsdower

[Wallace]

I think the space sim genre is here to stay, and I think Kerbals are pretty cute lil characters and we are sure to see more of them in future.

I don't think KSP will be considered one of the classic games Mario or Zelda, but I don't think people will forget it any time soon, I can see it being kept going and one day a sequel when the technology moves on. I think we will see more games involving building planes and spacecraft will be along soon, there's already Space Engineers, and I'm sure there will be more and I think KSP will be seen as the genre defining game, like Doom is for FPS, and Command and Conquer is for RTS.

I can see one day in the future, when KSP is done and released, Kerbals having a spin off game, maybe they will take up some other engineering challenge.

[SorryDave]

20 years from now I'll be saying to my son, "Remember KSP before it was released? Now that was a great game"

Maybe I'll be on some forum for Orbiter Remastered saying that I wish it was more like KSP 2.

[Mufasa]

It may not be a 'Classic', as 'Classics' have to be of mass popularity, but it will be a forever remembered gem. Much like certain games are too us now.

Do any of you know Chrome Hounds? That was a glorious gem that died a terrible SEGA death.

Examples of 'Gems' but not 'Classics':

-King Arthur's Gold (PC)

-Robot Arena 2 (PC)

-Chrome Hounds (Xbox 360)

-Battle Zone (N64)

-Battle Tanks (N64)

-Neo Scavenger (PC)

-Supreme Commander (PC [First one NOT the second])

[Jett_Quasar]

Of course it will be immortal... It's never going to leave beta! LOL

JR

[merendel]

Nope.

It doesn't have the art style, or the mass appeal, to be anything more than a temporarily fun, niche game. Once development stops, I'm betting the shelf life of the game in popularity will be about five years.

You'd be surprised at what an active moding community can do to keep a game alive even after development has finished. Morrowind for example stayed extreamly popular even after newer games in the series came out in part thanks to a moding community that kept things going. theres a decent chance mods could keep KSP going for quite a while after the dev's one day call it done and throw in the towel.

[Yemo]

Yes, it has the potential.

Outstanding gameplay + genre innovation + litte competition + modding

MoO2 has only the first, is nearly 18 years old, but just do a youtube search...

And even if it does not come to that much glory, it already is among the great pc games simply for the special game concept/play. ThemeHospital from 1997 is still the only viable game with its setting...

As merendel said, modding support goes a long way.

Neverwinter Nights is as old as Morrowind (12years), CS was born as a mod 15 years ago, Transport Tycoon from nearly 20 years ago lives on and is further developed to this day as OTTD and Simutrans...

Edited August 26, 2014 by Yemo

[boa3532]

every game has its permanent niche my friend. Even Jazz Jackrabbit has active forums, technically speaking

Holy smokes... there's a game I haven't heard mentioned in a VERY long time!