I wrote a review of the KSP Beta!

[teamdelibird]

Hey everyone,

I picked up KSP during the Steam winter sale and have hardly been able to put it down. I ended up writing a review of it and wanted to see what people think. I'm aware of the KSP community but not necessarily a part of it yet, so I'm curious if my experiences with the game were similar or different to yours, and what you think about my thoughts about the game?

Here's the link to it, on my friend's website: You Can Never Have Too Much of a Good Thing: A Kerbal Space Program Review

I am genuinely interested in your thoughts and in being part of the game's community, so in the interest of proving I'm not just self promoting, here's the text of the review below. But if you really like it, please click through so my friend who runs the site will let me keep doing stuff like this!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Is ‘this obviously needs more rockets’ something you say on a daily basis?†– Steam curator “PC Master Raceâ€Â

This was the quote that convinced me I had to try Kerbal Space Program. Everything is better with more rockets.

Ok, so I don’t actually say that on a regular basis. But it's a sentiment most of us can identify with- we all love things that go boom (clearly, or else Michael Bay wouldn’t still be making movies). Kerbal space program is an entire sandbox game built around things that go “boomâ€Â. Sure, if you do it right, things generally won’t end in a fiery explosion. But then, Kerbal Space Program makes doing things right a pretty serious challenge.

Kerbal Space Program is, to put it in simple terms, “NASA simulatorâ€Â. You are put in charge of the space program for a fictional race called the “Kerbalsâ€Â. Your space program is based out of an Earth-like planet called Kerbin, which revolves around a sun, much like in our own solar system. There are 6 other planets that also revolve around this sun, and each planet, including Kerbin, has its own moons and assorted unidentified objects like asteroids orbiting around it. The physics in this game are built to closely mimic the same basic newtonian physics that govern our solar system, and the level of technology you have to build rocket ships and space planes is fairly similar to what we have right now on Earth. No crazy “warp drives†or “flux capacitorsâ€Â- just parts to build things like rockets, landers, satellites, and other spacecraft akin to what we have today. This means you’ll have to build complex rockets with different stages of thrusters, decouplers, parachutes, landing gears and other assorted parts in order to achieve the thrust and stability you need to land safely on distant celestial bodies.

Welcome to the celestial neighborhood!

The realistic physical and technological limitations make for incredibly deep gameplay. You’ll have to build staged rockets, much like in real life, and each stage has to be capable of providing enough thrust to actually get where you need to go. Not enough thrust? Your rocket will fall over before it leaves the ground, burning up all of your astronauts in a fiery explosion. Even if it has enough thrust to get off the ground, you’d better hope it’s structurally stable enough, or it’ll fall apart as it reaches high speeds in the atmosphere. It also has to be balanced, or it’ll begin flipping and spinning out of control, often ending with a fiery, deadly explosion. And don’t forget to pack a parachute so that when your rocket does eventually come down, you can recover your astronauts safely. In general, any mistake you make in Kerbal Space Program can result in a deadly ending to an attempted mission. For example, I wasn’t sure if Kerbin’s first moon, called “Munâ€Â, actually had an atmosphere. Of course, Earth’s moon doesn’t, but not everything translates over from our solar system to KSP. As I fell toward the mun, completely out of fuel, I tried in vain to activate my parachutes, but alas there was no atmosphere to stop my poor Kerbal’s descent and the brave Jebediah Kerbin was lost that day.

Believe it or not, Bill actually survived this “launch†and lived long enough to crash into the Mun the very next week.

This game has absolutely no training wheels and a very steep learning curve. I spent around 7 hours just learning the game’s controls and trying to achieve orbit around Kerbin. At around 30 hours of playtime, I’ve managed to land on Mun safely- with no fuel to return to Kerbin. There are difficulty settings, but turning down the difficulty doesn’t make the physics any more forgiving- it just allows you to revert botched flights, gives you stock ship options to choose from, and makes your facilities indestructable (yes, even at normal difficulty falling rockets can destroy your space center facilities). You’ll lose countless rockets and astronauts as you trial-and-error your way up to building decent, stable rockets- the kind that only catastrophically fail every dozen launches or so. Then all of the sudden you’ll find yourself making more daring missions- graduating from orbiting Kerbin toward orbiting or even landing on the moon. And when you’ve mastered space around Kerbin, there are 6 other planets to reach. All along the way there’ll be catastrophes, but at least those catastrophes end in epic, fiery explosions- hell, the spectacular failures make the game that much more enjoyable.

The majestic “Fail Whale†a clumsy ship destined to run out of fuel in a horribly botched attempt at orbit. Say hello to Sidlong for me, would ya?

The beautiful thing about Kerbal Space Program is that despite the unforgiving difficulty, it’s a sandbox game- you can just keep building and just keep retrying- at least in two of the three game modes. “Sandbox Mode†comes with all the parts in the entire game right from the start. Just build rockets to your hearts content- see where you can go with everything opened up to you! The next step up is science mode. Here you start with just a handful of spaceship parts, and must accomplish scientific tasks like surface samples and crew reports in order to gain points to put towards researching new parts. This is arguably the best mode for beginners- a solid introduction to most of the concepts of the game without the insane, overwhelming number of parts in Sandbox Mode. Finally there’s career mode- the point where the game crosses from “Sandbox†to “Simulator†and ramps up the difficulty. Whereas in Science and Sandbox modes you can try anything you like, as much as you like, career mode places a cost on each of the spaceship parts as well as limiting your technologies like in Science mode. It also gives you bare-bones facilities with severe functional limits and you’ll have to pay to upgrade them. You’ll have to take on contracts from other companies- things like collecting data on certain celestial bodies, launching communications satellites, and testing certain ship parts under specific conditions- and fulfill them in order to gain funds towards pricier spaceships, gain reputation to put towards administrative policies, and gain science in order to research new parts. It’s a careful and delicate balancing act that adds a whole new level of depth to the gameplay, as well as a whole boatload of new objectives to strive for.

Yes, this ship, like most, ended up tumbling out of control and crashing with a fiery explosion

The soundtrack to the game is limited, but enjoyable. The music for different areas of space creates a cool, “hushed awe†kind of ambiance, with electronic sweeps and the graceful magnificence of the string section of an orchestra. In general, though, I would often just turn the music off and listen to my own music- but this is one of those games where it almost feels right to choose your own music, as if you were in control of the CD player on your interplanetary trip. It’s actually a feature I’d like to see implemented in the final release of the game. The graphics aren’t anything to write home about for sure, but they’re certainly good enough, especially considering everything else the game engine is doing. The controls are exactly what they’re supposed to be- they’re by no means especially responsive, but that’s a function of the style of gameplay- 80 ton rocket ships aren’t going to fly like fighter jets. The controls felt realistic, and that’s exactly what I want from a game like this.

Kerbal Space Program is an odd game. Certainly, I would not recommend it to everyone; not even a majority of people. Its steep learning curve and lack of concrete objectives make it unplayable to many people- especially more “modern†gamers who expect objectives spelled out with step-by-step instructions on how to do it. Kerbal Space Program does none of that, instead opting to let you learn for yourself. It’s also a game with literally no story, and no developed characters, so if you prefer story-driven games you should pass on KSP. In some ways it reminds me of classic games, like the original Legend of Zelda, which throws you into its world and forces you to learn for yourself the ins and outs- and to me this makes KSP a fantastic and immersive game. If you really like science- especially branches like physics and astronomy- play Kerbal Space Program. If you like challenges, and figuring things out for yourself with no handholding, you’ll love KSP. And if exploration is your favorite part of videogames- reaching new places just for the sake of the challenge, the prestige, and the mysteries of the unknown- you need to play Kerbal Space Program right now. For the people who can get past its steep learning curve and intimidating openness and depth, Kerbal Space Program is a fantastic gaming experience, one that has endless depth and incredible longevity, and it is indeed one of the best and most enjoyable games I’ve played (and will continue to be playing) for a long time.

Notes: This is an early access game currently in beta; the game may be different in the final release but these are my current impressions. I also played without mods, because I’m stuck on Mac for the moment. This game has a very dedicated fan community and countless mods- stuff ranging from making it even MORE realistic, to making it so you can build mechanical dragons to fight kerbal-vikings (

), so if you play on PC, try some of them out!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you read this far, thanks! Hope you enjoyed my thoughts on the game, please tell me what you think!

[Dakota2063]

very well said.

[teamdelibird]

thank you!

[ColourOfFire]

Being on a mac doesn't hold you from playing with mods. I play KSP on a 2011 MBP with 4g RAM. It works fine, just stay away from multiple massive part packs.

[Axelord FTW]

If you read this far, thanks! Hope you enjoyed my thoughts on the game, please tell me what you think!

Starting with quoting a quote is somewhat poor.

Not each planets have moons or asteroids orbiting around it, clarification needed.

I like that the first screenshot has the clock sitting at 7 years for some reason. No problem with that, just an observation.

I'd like to say that while KSP certainly has depth, its learning curve isn't all that steep but that's, like, my opinion, man.

I'm starting to feel somewhere about one third of the way that your MichaelBayan-centric language is a bit heavy. 'Fiery explosion' comes up 4 times throughout. You also have a lone 'deadly explosion' in there which yearns for a more fire related adjective (but don't listen). While explosions and other such structural anomalies are sure to pop up in a review about a game centered on huge flying drums of explosive material, it's still a bit UNF, if you know what I mean.

I'd like to point out that at no point does the game fall into being a simulator. Adding funds and strategies to the gameplay indeed bring something else to complicate the player's life, it's still not an actual sim. Some of the physics and behaviors in the game are really unrealistic. Some of these quirks are there by choice, other by necessity and some still because not everyone has a supercomputer laying around.

I should point out the difference between controls that feel 'realistic' and controls which are consistent, which is what mostly you felt. Because the stock (vanilla/un-modded) aerodynamic model is poor and because reaction wheels (ship and part based torque) are nowhere near what you could expect aboard a real spacebound object.

[/nitpicking]

[/red marker]

P.S. I cross-read a lot so I may have missed something.

P.P.S. It's otherwise a well done review.

[Starhawk]

I was very impressed by the review. I think the writing style and the flow make for a very easy read and you get your ideas across very well.

I'd like to point out that at no point does the game fall into being a simulator.

There is currently an entire thread in these forums devoted to debating whether KSP is more of a game or a sim.

Good work! Keep writing!

[teamdelibird]

Being on a mac doesn't hold you from playing with mods. I play KSP on a 2011 MBP with 4g RAM. It works fine, just stay away from multiple massive part packs.

I know I can play with mods, but from what I understand it's a much more involved process to install them? At least, going off of experience installing mods for other cross-OS games like Civ V. I just haven't had time to do it, plus I'm having a lot of fun with vanilla KSP.

[Starwhip]

Very good, but the text size makes it hard to read. (On the forum, anyway, I'll see what it's like on the other site.)

Also, there is something called a "\n" character, made with the spacebar ENTER key, what? I might suggest using it.

[Robotengineer]

Good review, perhaps it won't fare as badly as I thought with critics when 1.0 gets released.

---

I know I can play with mods, but from what I understand it's a much more involved process to install them? At least, going off of experience installing mods for other cross-OS games like Civ V. I just haven't had time to do it, plus I'm having a lot of fun with vanilla KSP.

I play(ed) on a Mac until I got a Linux distro. It's not that hard to install them manually, RAM is going to be more of an issue than anything though. If you want an easy way to get mods, there is a program. Comprehensive Kerbal Archie Network It's saved me a ton of time, and it works on OS X with the command line, just follow the instructions on the github. Not all mods are on there, but most of the most popular ones are.

[Randazzo]

Adding funds and strategies to the gameplay indeed bring something else to complicate the player's life, it's still not an actual sim. Some of the physics and behaviors in the game are really unrealistic.

I believe he's referring to the "career" aspect of it being more like a simulation, having to actually play space program director. If Kerbal were a "real physics sim" it would have as small of an audience as Orbiter.

Also, there is something called a "\n" character, made with the spacebar ENTER key, what? I might suggest using it.

An ENTER key character?

[Starwhip]

Yes, it's called "newline" and is used for string formatting.

When you hit the enter key it adds that character to your string, assuming you've got a string and not just looking for a press of the enter key.

So

string1 = "Hello!"
string1 += "\n Goodbye!"
print(string1)

would return

Hello!
Goodbye!

[ColourOfFire]

I know I can play with mods, but from what I understand it's a much more involved process to install them? At least, going off of experience installing mods for other cross-OS games like Civ V. I just haven't had time to do it, plus I'm having a lot of fun with vanilla KSP.

It's not at all more difficult. All the mods I've tried and use have a .zip download with a gamedata folder, just put the contents of that in your KSP gamedata folder and that's it.

Games with mods that need to be installed from .exe can be a pain, lots of messing about with Wine etc. but installing mods on KSP is a breeze.

- - - Updated - - -

Good review, perhaps it won't fare as badly as I thought with critics when 1.0 gets released.

---

I play(ed) on a Mac until I got a Linux distro. It's not that hard to install them manually, RAM is going to be more of an issue than anything though. If you want an easy way to get mods, there is a program. Comprehensive Kerbal Archie Network It's saved me a ton of time, and it works on OS X with the command line, just follow the instructions on the github. Not all mods are on there, but most of the most popular ones are.

I actually felt getting CKAN to work was a lot harder than just downloading .zips and putting them in the right place...

[Ikaneko]

I can give a pretty good review of KSP Beta:

REALLY short. Like, barely existant short.

[KerikBalm]

There are 6 other planets that also revolve around this sun, and each planet, including Kerbin, has its own moons and assorted unidentified objects like asteroids orbiting around it.

->There are 6 other planets that also revolve around this sun as well as procedurally generated asteroids orbiting around it. Many of the planets have one or more moons orbiting around them. You can redirect asteroids, and even have captured asteroids orbiting a moon that orbits a planet orbiting the sun.

The physics in this game are built to closely mimic the same basic newtonian physics that govern our solar system, and the level of technology you have to build rocket ships and space planes is fairly similar to what we have right now on Earth.

-> The physics in this game are built to closely mimic the same basic newtonian physics that govern our solar system, although they have been simplified such that lagrange points do not exist. The level of technology you have to build rocket ships and space planes is fairly similar to what we have right now on Earth.

the brave Jebediah Kerbin was lost that day

Do not dishonor the courageous Jebediah KerMAN's memory by forgetting his name!

I wasn’t sure if Kerbin’s first moon, called “Munâ€Â, actually had an atmosphere. Of course, Earth’s moon doesn’t, but not everything translates over from our solar system to KSP. As I fell toward the mun, completely out of fuel, I tried in vain to activate my parachutes, but alas there was no atmosphere to stop my poor Kerbal’s descent and the brave Jebediah Kerbin was lost that day.

Doesn't the tracking station show information about a body, including (somewhat inaccurate) atmosphere details? I think this should be mentioned.

Maybe also a mention to using the wiki, and many players use external tools (I know I've used spreadsheets and graphing programs to assit in my designs)

I also played without mods, because I’m stuck on Mac for the moment.

This will drive off mac players - I use a mac (I would have tried orbiter too, but there's no mac version). Installing mods is literally a drag and drop matter. Drag and drop the files into the right folders -> done.

Change this to just a statement that you haven't got into mods yet, because you being on a Mac has nothing to do with it an give the wrong impression.

[Excalibur.]

Like it!

[worir4]

I can give a pretty good review of KSP Beta:

REALLY short. Like, barely existant short.

Does this involve, " MOAR BOOSTERS!!!!" ?

[Robotengineer]

Does this involve, " MOAR BOOSTERS!!!!" ?

"MOAR BUGFIXES!!!!" more likely.

[teamdelibird]

->There are 6 other planets that also revolve around this sun as well as procedurally generated asteroids orbiting around it. Many of the planets have one or more moons orbiting around them. You can redirect asteroids, and even have captured asteroids orbiting a moon that orbits a planet orbiting the sun.

-> The physics in this game are built to closely mimic the same basic newtonian physics that govern our solar system, although they have been simplified such that lagrange points do not exist. The level of technology you have to build rocket ships and space planes is fairly similar to what we have right now on Earth.

Do not dishonor the courageous Jebediah KerMAN's memory by forgetting his name!

Doesn't the tracking station show information about a body, including (somewhat inaccurate) atmosphere details? I think this should be mentioned.

Maybe also a mention to using the wiki, and many players use external tools (I know I've used spreadsheets and graphing programs to assit in my designs)

This will drive off mac players - I use a mac (I would have tried orbiter too, but there's no mac version). Installing mods is literally a drag and drop matter. Drag and drop the files into the right folders -> done.

Change this to just a statement that you haven't got into mods yet, because you being on a Mac has nothing to do with it an give the wrong impression.

I will fix some of the inaccuracies, especially with regards to mods on Mac! I had such a horrible time trying to make Civ V mods work that I assumed that most games were like that.

The tracking station does give information like that, but I had not yet figured that out I think. This was my absolute first attempt at even getting NEAR Mun.

Thank you everyone for both the kind words and the constructive criticism! My friend is annoyed at me for spiking the bounce rate on his site or something stupid like that, but who really cares? It's the most-read article on there anyway.

- - - Updated - - -

Starting with quoting a quote is somewhat poor.

I wanted to just address this one bit in particular, although all the rest of your criticism is definitely valid and helpful and I have taken it to heart (in a non-personal, not-upset kind of way)

I thought about this for a long time, and normally I wouldn't do it- it's the only time I've started a review like this. But I just could not get that quote out of my head. To me it almost seemed to sum the game up perfectly. I didn't want to just write the same thing unattributed in my review, so I decided to quote it (I am a scientist so proper attribution is a really big deal to me). I get that it's not generally the best way to do things.

Edited February 5, 2015 by teamdelibird

[Robotengineer]

Not to squash your potential modding hopes, but you will hit the RAM limit pretty quickly depeniding on what mods you use. I would keep the Console and Activity monitor apps open while playing KSP if your comp can take it. KSP will use up to about 2.5GB of RAM and stay relatively stable, but anything above that will crash soon. If you will be using lots of part mods, you probably need ActiveTextureManagement. For mod ideas, I would start with ATM (ActiveTextureManagement) and KER (KerbalEngineerRedux). The first to help with stability, the second for info addicts, like myself. If you are currently enjoying Stock KSP, don't get mods until you are bored. Just some advice.

[ColourOfFire]

Not to squash your potential modding hopes, but you will hit the RAM limit pretty quickly depeniding on what mods you use. I would keep the Console and Activity monitor apps open while playing KSP if your comp can take it. KSP will use up to about 2.5GB of RAM and stay relatively stable, but anything above that will crash soon. If you will be using lots of part mods, you probably need ActiveTextureManagement. For mod ideas, I would start with ATM (ActiveTextureManagement) and KER (KerbalEngineerRedux). The first to help with stability, the second for info addicts, like myself. If you are currently enjoying Stock KSP, don't get mods until you are bored. Just some advice.

Not that quickly. I'm currently running:

-Boxsat

-Chatterer

-Contract Configurator

-Remotetech

-Deadly Reentry

-Kerbal Engineer

-FAR

-K2 Command Pod

-KW Rocketry

-Mission Controller

-Near Future (Electric, Propulsion, Solar)

-Procedural Fairings

-Stage Recovery

-SXT

-Vens Stock Revamp

I didn't bother with Active Texture Mangement. It runs very smooth, hasn't crashed one so far. If you use B9 you might be in instant trouble just because of the massive amount of parts, but it's not like you have to be crazy careful and use ATM all the time.

- - - Updated - - -

I will fix some of the inaccuracies, especially with regards to mods on Mac! I had such a horrible time trying to make Civ V mods work that I assumed that most games were like that.

If you're going to review more games you really really should never make leaps like that again. Just because a thing works a certain way in game A says nothing about game B and can put people off pretty easy. If you're not sure, google it or don't write about it.