227 points

KSP 2 should have been a huge slam dunk. Take everything from the first one, redo the menus, up the graphics, and add some new stuff. It blows my mind they messed it up so badly.

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55 points

And optimizations…

fuck it needed optimizing…

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14 points

It has gotten better but man still so much undelivered. Im just sad and im tired of being sad. Im fully pledging to never buy a big publisher game unless it absolutely proves itself first and even then im still gunna be hesitant cause vote with your money and all that. Honestly outside of KSP2 Ive already been purchasing and playing mostly indie games for the last 2 years anyways

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5 points

I think I’ve gotten about as much out of KSP1 as I’m ever going to get. I really like the USI mod, but the lack of optimizations keeps me from doing anything really complex. By the time I have all of the facilities on the Mun to have full manufacturing (or… munufacturing, if you will), the game is already lagging to the point of unplayability.

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41 points

Its because they fired or otherwise pushed out every single original developer towards the tail end of KSP1.

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9 points
*

To be fair, KSP 1 was pretty bad on the technical side. And they were laymen, creating what they wanted to create.

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9 points

They were non-game developers doing a videogame. But they were pretty good programmers for what they put out. It’s still the best and most popular space exploration sim game ever made. The thing does the thing they said it was going to do, it will probably melt your computer during edge cases, but everywhere else it’s a solid game. They even managed to confine the kraken to very extreme circumstances. If it is a hack job but it works, then it isn’t a hack job.

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2 points

Well those execs need to be pushed… out a window.

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27 points

As far as I’m concerned the inclusion of the “anti-DoTA” clause in their EULA murdered it for me. I was so excited. KSP is one of my favorite games of all times, largely as a result of the vibrant and very technically advanced modding community. Same goes for essentially all of my favorites; Rimworld, Backpack Hero, Factorio. The free labor that expands the games in major ways extends the value of my money and let’s me have fun forever in them.

Putting in a clause in a EULA which automatically and irrevocably assumes all ownership and rights to any code or assets that are created for a game is just too far. Assuming rights at all is a huge issue for me, but I can accept that it is beneficial to assume royalty free licenses to the mods, I’ll even begrudgingly accept clauses that allow developers to gaffle features and optimizations from mods without giving remuneration or even acknowledgment. But wholesale ownership that revokes all rights and licenses for the independent 3rd party creator. Fuck that. I will never support a game that I find out is treating the people who keep games alive and relevant for decades for free like that.

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20 points
*

up the graphics

Add some geology formation algorythm better than mere octaves.

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14 points

The same could be said of multiple games these days. KSP, payday, cities skylines, etc.

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12 points

Wow that is insane, I didn’t know they fumbled it so bad. I remember when it was announced and the fan base was so pumped. I played a little of the first game but never got super into it.

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4 points

Man I was so excited for KSP 2, I couldn’t wait to build a moon colony with friends. Shame they never delivered what they promised

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12 points

that, and fix some of the spegheti code from KSP 1. I love the game, but no one argued that it wasnt a hack job

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9 points

It definitely was a hack job. But it was a little hobby project that a non videogame company decided to be cool about and develop it. It was also an early access for wicked cheap.

The sequel was given way more manpower, experience, and money right from the start.

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9 points

The sequel was given way more manpower, experience, and money right from the start.

Which was then squandered by bad management by scrapping almost two years of work to startover with entirely different staff. Let’s not kid ourselves, from a managerial POV, KSP2 is a perfect template of all the “what to do to ensure a video game fails at launch”.

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2 points

for sure! i bought it really early on, and it was amazing.

Just wish that they hadn’t bodged it so bad.

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7 points

I wonder why developers never put much worth in what people actually want or you know, just talk to them and ask?

Or is this some kind of “users have no idea what they want” situation?

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6 points

The fact that they released a game with wobbly rockets and then charged $50 for it shows they didn’t know what the hell they were doing. It should have been free for early access with a simple way to report bugs. I’m not gonna pay that much to do QA work for them.

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117 points

I remember the first time I successfully landed on the moon and brought my kerbals back. It was one of my most cathartic experiences.

It’s sad to see the sequel get abandoned like this.

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I actually was recording when I made the most gnarly mun landing ever in KSP. I ran out of fuel, was going too fast to not explode. I moved Valetina to hang on the outside of the craft, and moments before impact, I had her jump off. The resulting explosion from the module was juuuust enough counter force to prevent Valentina herself from hitting the ground too hard and she lived to plant a flag. To date, it’s the most impressive thing I’ve personally managed in the game.

https://youtu.be/v2CdIZXO0tQ?si=NKeFV52Q5Edqugw5 (skip to about 22:30 for the “landing”)

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11 points

You did that to recover her later, right? Right?

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That’s the plan. We’re still working out how. How long can Kerbals live without food and water? 🤔

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6 points

Just watched. That was amazing.

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27 points

It’s sad to see the sequel get abandoned like this.

Especially when KSP has had such an active and vibrant community for a decade

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23 points
*

I remember the heroic explorer Jebediah Kerman was on the way way back from the moon. The touchdown was flawless landing, the science was beyond value and the moment brought all the world together.

They had doubted sending Jeb but he silenced the doubters to low grumbles.

But then as the rockets were burning for the reentry burn and the orbit was decreasing, but the brain boxes had made a drastic mistake and undershot the fuel. A perfect mission and Kerbin’s greatest hero was potentially doomed all is a moment of low delta v.

He was so close. Getting nearer and nearer to home, but it wasn’t to be! Soon he was getting further and further away! Drifting into the darkness yet again.

The agency went into full swing immediately. How much food does he have, how much water, how much air!? How long until we have another rocket that can take off!? We only built one rocket there is no back up. Never before had a two kerbin rocket has ever been flown, never before had a rendezvous been attempted, never before had a rocket flown remotely. PR was there talking to the press was doing their best to save a near hopeless situation.

Then get this! I remember it like it was yesterday. Jeb wasn’t bothered at all. Out there all on his own he said he wanted to go on a space walk. It got approved knowing that he might as well enjoy his final moments before the highly likely death. But this is Jebediah Kerman we are on about now. Not for a moment did he believe he was going to die, he get out into space and begins to push the rocket using with his bare hands! The brain boxes can’t believe it!!! Its working. The orbit had done just enough to scrap the atmosphere. Jebediah was coming home! Only Jebediah. Then even the doubters had to say of Jebediah, he was truly the greatest of all astronauts.

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6 points

Okay I need a KSP blog about various (mis)adventures such as this!

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4 points

The one an only Jebediah Kerman, my guy.

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56 points

Is Kerbal Space Program 2 worth playing for someone who had fun with but was bad at 1?

Reviews are - not good.

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88 points

Not really, the first one was better in pretty much every single regard.

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14 points

I haven’t really been following because the first was just beyond me…how did they fuck up part 2?

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27 points

They released the game early access, so everyone was expecting a perfect game from the start because of how much development went into 1. Honestly, while 2 had issues, the game engine is much better than 1, they just needed to bake it more, like several years more, before releasing it hot off the heels of 1.

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9 points

Man that’s been the case with these sequels to games I really loved. Happened to Cities Skylines as well, and at first it seemed like that’s happened with Helldivers but it turns out it was so good it just ruined the servers.

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38 points

Nope. It’s hot garbage and I say that as someone with over 2000 hours in KSP.

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1 point
*

Better last KSP 1 and full-out modding?

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-3 points

It’s absolutely not “hot garbage”, but it’s definitely not done.

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5 points
*

It’s terrible. They released an Alpha at full price. They changed how building rockets was done, for the worse. Performance was horrible even on my 3080 and aside from prettier graphics, there was nothing really new to explore. If it were cheaper, I’d be kinder. If it performed decently I wouldn’t mind but they released a POS of a game knowing full well KSP1 owners would buy it and it made us all look like suckers. They knew they released an incomplete game at full price and didn’t deliver. That sir is hot garbage.

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37 points

In its current state? Not unless it gets heavily marked down (KSP2 does have better tutorials and a more accessible progression system).

With the studio being shut down, it’s likely that what we have now is all we’re getting.

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16 points
*

Hmm maybe I’ll check on it in 5 years. Cos holly hell that price! Priced like a AAA game.

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14 points

Priced like a AAA game.

It is a AAA game. It stopped being an indie when Take Two bought it from Squad.

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45 points
*

I hope that they will share the source code on some kind of GPL to make this game not dead, shot down studio isn’t going to make any update and who will get the money?

Edit: they will still make the updates

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11 points

Take-Two still receives the proceeds from the sales, depending on employment contracts probably pays royalties to the devs. Also, it’s their intellectual property so there could be consequences for leaking the source code.

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40 points

Well another studio took over from Intercept Games to work on KSP 2 a while ago, right? Star Theory, iirc.

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10 points

stay theory was shut down and absorbed by intercept games

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3 points

Oh yes, I forgot it went that way…

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7 points

According to the wiki page… “In May 2024, Take-Two announced it would shut down Intercept Games but continue to update Kerbal Space Program 2 under the Private Division label.”

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3 points

I wonder how will they manage that logistically. They are firing every single developer from IG. Who exactly in Private Division is going to be doing the updating? I suspect they will just brush a little of the code that is ready, then completely abandon the product in a year or so.

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