After four and a half years, we're finally at the point where we've accomplished every goal we set up when we started this project. Thus the next version will be called 1.0. This doesn't mean we're done, though, as updates will continue since our fans deserve that and much, much more!

I'm Maxmaps, the game's Producer. With me is the team of awesome people here at Squad. Ask us anything about anything, except Rampart.

Proof

Edit1: Messaged mods to get it approved! Unsure what happened.

Edit2: Still answering at 20:00 CT!... We will need to sleep at some point, though!

Edit3: Okay, another half an hour and we have to stop. Busy day tomorrow!

Edit4: Time to rest! We have a big day tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who asked a question and really sorry we couldn't get to them all. Feel free to join us over at /r/KerbalSpaceProgram and we hope you enjoy 1.0 as much as we enjoyed making it!

Comments: 2945 • Responses: 67  • Date: 

nhaines2336 karma

Thank you for your amazing level of engagement with the community and your spectacular release notes with every new release. The game stands on its own but it's a lot of fun to know that you're all here on reddit and involved with the discussions and the fun.

NASA lent their logo and some SLS and asteroid (and kerbalnaut!) recovery parts to 0.23.5, and now ESA has licensed their logo for 1.0. How did you approach these space agencies and how receptive or enthusiastic were they about licensing their logos for in-game flag use? Were there any conditions or concerns that they needed to be addressed in-game?

Maxmaps3625 karma

That's been a doozy every time. Each agency has their unique requirements we are more than happy to comply with. We even had to send a fax once. A fax.

Phase_Runner303 karma

Where the hell did you find a fax machine? And please tell me there's a story behind that.

Maxmaps878 karma

We don't have one at HQ. Turns out just by luck a friend's dad had one still connected and functioning at his office simply because over the years no one thought to uninstall it.

salmonmarine1615 karma

Any plans for launching from planetoids other than Kerbin? I love that functionality in SimpleRockets and I'd love to see it in KSP, at least in Sandbox.

Also, I painted this for the /r/kerbalspaceprogram art contest, and I thought maybe you guys would get a kick out of it!

http://i.imgur.com/sO0Co6W.png

Thanks!

Maxmaps974 karma

That art is phenomenal and hilarious! Solid kerbal attitude right there. As far as launching from other places go, no current plans for anything like that, as Kerbals would need quite the infrastructure to manage such feats.

y0rsh1074 karma

1) What happened to the Delta-V readouts that were planned? This was one 1.0 feature I was looking forward to the most. 2) How long do you predict the team will keep working on KSP with future updates and whatnot?

Maxmaps1349 karma

1) The dV readouts were actually part of a much larger feature to expand on the skills for engineer and scientist kerbals. After many revisions and work on them, we decided to hold them for a little longer, as they were simply not up to standard.

2) We're really encouraged by the love from our fans and their support, so we don't see ourselves stopping anytime soon. I don't have a precise number, but we still have plenty of stuff to make. Multiplayer, for example...

On a personal note, thanks for your art, y0rsh. It's amazing.

VanillaChief990 karma

How long will active development go after 1.0? (2.0, DLCs)

Maxmaps3575 karma

We have plans to continue updates for the forseeable future. We won't do DLC, if we ever ask you for even a penny again, it has to be something huge and that adds a lot of gameplay to the game. We like expansions like Morrowind and Age of Empires II had, not DLC.

AquaWolf9461837 karma

What is the bug that you've found that made you laugh the most?

Maxmaps1343 karma

Arsonide: While implementing part recoveries, I was given a contract to recover a solid rocket booster in orbit that ignited and took off on its own when I got within a few hundred meters. I haven’t laughed so hard at another bug.

RoverDude: One time during testing, I ran across a bug that spawned multiple Valentinas, making each one a new zombie flagged as debris… I once had about a dozen on the launchpad while debugging it and testing a repro case...

KasperVld: The mohole is technically a bug but has taken on a life of its own. People spend large amounts of time getting specialised spacecraft to Moho’s north pole to descend into what is basically a very deep hole.

Ted: Hmm, there are a myriad of bugs that have made me chuckle or crack a smile. One of my favourite was a bug with Valentina and vessel switching where her face would go relaxed and due to a texturing artefact she would have little ‘fangs’. Another good one is when we were refining and balancing aerodynamics there was a short while where our planes would rip themselves apart going about 1000m/s at seal level.

HarvesteR: I think my all-time favorite was infiniglide, in which given enough control surfaces, you could generate potentially infinite thrust just by flapping your wings. The ways people would abuse that was always new and entertaining.

the32ndpie652 karma

Hi Maxmaps and Squad! Thanks for releasing 1.0 right before my last exam. I'm sure my grades won't suffer...

But really, thank you for making such an awesome game and for being so nice to your fans!

Here are my questions:

1) Is interstellar exploration within the scope of the game beyond 1.0? (Is it even possible?)

2) What's the most you've slept in the past week?

3) What's your favorite band?

Maxmaps742 karma

Exams are important! Study! 1.0 will be there when you're done!

1) We currently see Interstellar as outside of scope.

2) I managed 5 hours on Friday. It was great.

3) Currently, The Heavy

kerbal_konstitution511 karma

Will I ever be able to launch a kerbal in a command chair?

  • Also, Max, can you talk about how your training in PR prepared you to be KSP's producer?

Maxmaps476 karma

While the external command seats function in a very different way to regular crewing of vessels, we have plans to add this functionality. It's just never been too high priority.

Ervilhardent489 karma

What is squad's stance on paid mods?

Maxmaps1523 karma

It's a can of worms we're not in the position to dare to peek into. Our current policy doesn't allow charging for mods, but we encourage people to donate to their favorite mod authors.

Senno_Ecto_Gammat459 karma

Squad - what are your honest-to-goodness intentions/plans for post 1.0 KSP regarding the following?

  • Unity 5

  • 64-bit on Windows

  • extra content

  • mods

  • patched conics

  • The LV-N

  • Your own jobs at Squad

Thank you and have a nice day.

Maxmaps643 karma

  • We'll upgrade the game to it.
  • Goes hand in hand with the previous question.
  • We will continue to make it.
  • Are amazing.
  • We polished the system in 1.0
  • It doesn't use oxydizer anymore
  • We will carry on making stuff.

CalculusWarrior360 karma

What will be the fate of Roverdude and Porkjet? Will they stay on the dev team and continue to polish up the game post-1.0, or are they going to become 'mere modders' once more?

Maxmaps605 karma

There's no such thing as a mere modder. Modders are vital and a big part of the reason why KSP is where it is. There's plenty of stuff for them to do still! Plus Porkjet, Arsonide and RoverDude are amazing to work with.

DDF95353 karma

Have you returned from Eve?

Maxmaps589 karma

I personally haven't been able to send anything heavier than data packets back from Eve. It just doesn't let go.

c0mv4d3r278 karma

With all of the controversy surrounding Steam and modding, I was wondering what your thoughts were about the modding communities surrounding Kerbal?

Maxmaps396 karma

HarvesteR: I think we are blessed with such a fantastically active modding community with KSP. I started out as a modder myself (wow, that was over 10 years ago… I feel old), and for KSP, I knew we just had to have as much modding support as possible. I never could have imagined though, the extent to which it would have grown. It’s just mind-boggling these days to look at not just the sheer quantity, but the really impressive quality of the mods people are coming up with.

KasperVld: the modding community is absolutely amazing. We’ve developed a game for everyone, and then the modding community came along and made a game for every single person. I hope that makes sense, what I mean is that there are so many different preferences: life support, huge rocket parts, outer planets, laser weapons. I sometimes think that no two players have the exact same collection of mods installed. The mods allow everyone to customize the game to their personal preference, something that I think we could never achieve.

RoverDude: As a modder myself, I’ve found the entire KSP modding community to be pretty incredible, both in terms of just being helpful, and also in the level of collaboration I’ve seen and been fortunate enough to participate in. My favorite example being Karbonite, where it went from an idea I had to a launched product in less than two weeks, with half a dozen modelers (including some fantastic models from Nertea, nli2work, and others) swarming to make something really amazing for the community. I continue to be amazed by the stuff the other modders crank out - it really adds a lot to the game, and why I’m happy I was able to do my bit to help giving them more extensible tools when we made the resource system.

Porkjet: The modding community in KSP is the friendliest, most helpful, and most encouraging Internet community I’ve ever seen. The level of ingenuity and hard work they are putting into their mods is mind blowing. I am very happy and thankful for all the help and inspiration I got from other modders over the years!

Arsonide: The great thing about the modding community is that it pushes the boundaries of the game ever further. It really fosters a very strong community around the game, because it gives it even more longevity. Each modder brings something unique to the table, whether that is a set of new planets, or new contracts, or a giant banana. Someone out there will be interested, and it will make their gameplay experience more enjoyable for them. I think that is pretty awesome, and it has done great things for the game as a whole.

KerbalKat272 karma

What are your plans for expanding the system? Do you have any plans for making any new planets? Also, what are your plans beyond KSP? Are you going to develop more games in the future or stay with KSP or both? Finally, what are your thoughts on the paid modding system in steam workshop? Thanks for reading, and you guys are the best! Love KSP!

Maxmaps293 karma

There's no short term plans to expand the solar system. As far as plans beyond KSP... nothing we can share just yet. There's still a lot we can do with KSP, though. The community deserves it.

jeremiah256265 karma

I've been meaning to get KSP but never got around to it. For newbies, is it a game you can play casually or do you need to be able to devote a minimum number of hours in to keep up on what is happening?

Maxmaps340 karma

HarvesteR: It definitely doesn’t require a steady time investment. I know what you mean, I’ve got several games here I just can’t really play well because they require way too many hours in a single sitting if you want to even start enjoying them. KSP is (hopefully) not like that. You can have a quick sit-down and build yourself a crazy new spaceplane or a massive rocket, and have fun for however much time you can spend, and you can always save and return later. The game is fully persistent, and being single-player, there’s no worry in having to catch up to anything.

KasperVld: that really depends on your goals. If you wish to make crazy rockets and see how high they will go then you’re good to go from the beginning. Start a sandbox game and have at it! If, on the other hand, you wish to recreate real space missions or even go further than the current state of the real life space programs you’ll need to invest some time learning rocket design and orbital mechanics. There are many guides out there to help you achieve this though!

Arsonide: Kerbal Space Program is a game that scales very well with player skill. You can get super into it, to the point of doing asteroid redirections and grand tours, or perhaps you just like blowing up the launchpad and watching the fireworks. Either way you will be having fun!

Pineapplechok257 karma

What is the most unexpected thing to come up during playtesting?

Maxmaps507 karma

KasperVld: back when I was testing an update in the 0.19 era I crashed a simple ship into the ground, after which the game slingshotted me into deep space at several times the speed of light. It was perfectly reproducable and I then spent two hours flying further and further into space, just to see how far the altimeter would keep counting. In the end I gave up, the altimeter won.

Ted: While we knew the new aerodynamics were going to be pretty accurate and intuitive to play with. The most unexpected thing that came up in playtesting for me was just how accurate, intuitive and enjoyable the aerodynamics system has become. I previously loved my satellite, Mun and Duna missions, I now thoroughly enjoy making planes and flying about with them.

forescience243 karma

During finals week? Really?

Maxmaps389 karma

Mwahahahahahaha

jebediah1618176 karma

Let me start by saying you guys made an absolutely awesome game. I wanted to know if you guys decided to spend some time studying physics to make the game, or does somebody on the team have a background in physics?

Maxmaps227 karma

Arsonide: In the process of implementing the satellite contracts, I had to learn a few new things, but the great thing is that now, the contracts can convey those things to a new player visually. You don’t have to know how to calculate the semi-major axis of a stationary orbit to place something into a stationary orbit, and I actually did my first stationary orbit while testing the contract. That visual learning process is something that surprised me, and is something very unique in this medium.

RoverDude: While not physics, I spent a ton of time reading white papers on NASA ISRU plans, asteroids, and watching Armageddon ;)

Ted: For the aerodynamics and thermal overhaul I had to learn what felt like a hell of a lot about that topic. I should think Mike, who implemented the overhauls, had to learn a significant amount more.

notextinctyet171 karma

What are some features that did not make it for 1.0 but you are excited for in the future?

Maxmaps254 karma

The improvement to Kerbal skills to make scientists and engineers even more useful is one I'm crazy excited for.

Spaceman510153 karma

Could you tell me about the Dres-teroids?

Maxmaps284 karma

RoverDude: Well now that the cat is out of the proverbial bag, the Dres asteroid ring was an idea we had during development. It served a couple of purposes - first, Dres was one sad and lonely place, so it needed some love. Also, I liked the idea of having a static asteroid ring where players could do some pretty epic asteroid mining operations. Side note - looks like you folks absolutely destroyed my two month bet on how soon you would discover Dres had a procedural asteroid ring ;)

notextinctyet123 karma

How comfortable are you with career mode balance? Do you think you'll do a lot of further tweaking of balance and progression in future versions?

Maxmaps141 karma

Arsonide: Balance is always a moving target, but I'm very comfortable with where we have ended up. The contracts all have rewards proportional to the effort required to do them, science is more focused on doing experiments, the strategies all have different purposes, and the pacing of the facility upgrades has been flattened out a bit. All in all, it feels much more cohesive.

Ted: Balance is primarily reactive, with only the initial changes being decidedly proactive. So while in 1.0 we’ve made many balance changes and significant revisions, we’ll still be making changes for some time from community feedback and further playtesting with 1.0.

tinaun119 karma

One of my favorite kerbal space program related things ever was Harv's old development history blogposts on the old ksp tumblr. Any chance of those being completed sometime in the future? It's a longshot but they were really interesting.

Good luck on 1.0 and all the updates to come!

Maxmaps97 karma

Unsure, as those take a decent chunk of time, but we'll see!

tonymoose27116 karma

What's something you thought would be a good feature but didn't add, and for what reason?

Maxmaps237 karma

We originally designed the basic version of kerbal skills to give % increases to performance. We listened to our community and decided against it.

VanillaChief116 karma

Were Kerbals harmed at making this game?

Maxmaps204 karma

KasperVld: So. Many. But that’s a big part of the spirit of the game.

HarvesteR: Oh yes, very many. It’s ok though, they don’t seem to mind, and there seems to be an undepletable population of them.

Arsonide: Yes, but it’s all for science.

Ted: I’m a bit of the scrub when testing and revert where I can - bonus is that revert is a goldmine for persistence-based issues. So very few Kerbals die where I can prevent it, though testing the overhauled aerodynamics significantly increased it!

RocketPilot573111 karma

Will there be a 1.0.1 to fix issues found during the stream?

Maxmaps326 karma

There already was! We've been watching the streams and fixing up whatever breaks live. For example, the bug that /u/illectro ran into when dropping something from a cargo bay was fixed about 10 minutes after he showed it.

Video proof of glitches is amazing for fixing stuff, so shoutout to Danny2462.

tonymoose27102 karma

Do you ever plan to improve the water, similar to the Better Buoyancy mod?

Maxmaps153 karma

There were some improvements to it in 1.0!

xDaze100 karma

In 1.0 (or even in 1.x) will be possible to do clamsheel like fairings? If not why the current system is limited to "confetti" fairings explosion?

Maxmaps176 karma

We'll add the option to divide them in two panels after release. Since they produce debris that is not actually persistent, we are okay with leaving the very flashy, rather kerbal method alone for now.

FutureMartian9798 karma

Do you have an exact time that 1.0 will be released tomorrow?

Maxmaps239 karma

Roughly seconds after we hit the giant red button at the office labeled 'release 1.0'. We will try to make sure its up as early as possible, but we have to make sure everything is perfect before we do.

deadshot46294 karma

What are the current hurdles with KSP Multiplayer? What is the expected timeframe of completion from today? (1 year, 5 years?)

Maxmaps130 karma

It will still take a couple updates. There are very specific hurdles, such as the fact that we give the players control over time itself, or some broader ones like the regulation of player interaction that is needed. We'll get to all of them, though.

exp722290 karma

Has Elon musk ever called you and said. "Why isnt my rocket landing in real life? it landed in the game like a hundred time!"

Maxmaps152 karma

He plays in ultrahard mode, and he already has the best people possible helping him.

VFisEPIC85 karma

What is your favorite community mod and why?

Maxmaps135 karma

KasperVld: Of the ones I currently have installed I’d have to pick between AntennaRange and Tweakscale. Both are great mods for very different reasons. One mod I should really try some time is Kerbal Attachment System.

Max: HotRockets. I just love the way the engine exhaust looks with it.

Porkjet: Kerbal Engineer - I love the absolute control it provides over building and fine tuning crafts to perfection as well as the many flight informations.

Arsonide: Chatterer! It is the first thing I install after a new version.

RocketPilot57384 karma

Will the Magic Boulder return?

Maxmaps93 karma

It's currently on vacation, unsure if it will.

Mr_Wrann84 karma

Is there a reason why Jeb in particular isn't afraid of anything? And also why is he the best Kerbin?

Maxmaps196 karma

Arsonide: Jebediah. Kerman.

Porkjet: I think Kerbal is a pretty cool guy, eh kicks space krakens and doesn’t afraid of anything.

HarvesteR: Way back in the day, before Kerbals knew about the Mun and the far side of the planet was a minefield to all who dared tread its surface, there was Jebediah. And Bill and Bob too, but this is Jeb’s story. Jebediah was awesome back then, just as he is now. Not necessarily because of anything particularly interesting back then, the whole universe was in a very placeholdery state at the time. But when Kerbals came to be, they had to be given names, and when names had to be picked, I picked the first ones that came to my head from the early days of playing with fireworks (don’t). Of these newly created victims brave intrepid explorers, one was chosen to be in the pilot’s seat of the placeholder pod. That was Jebediah, and he was henceforth awesome.

The_DestroyerKSP82 karma

Whats your favourite feature added in any update?

God, this game has progressed so much since 0.13, remember Kerbalkon, 0.18 update crashed the servers? Good times

Maxmaps102 karma

KasperVld: Probably docking: I’m a space station nut and what little time I have left to play the game these days is almost always spent ferrying up a new science lab, truss section or habitation module to a space station.

HarvesteR: My all-time favorite is still the EVAs. Every time I get to work on them there’s always a smile on my face. There’s something very hilarious about mistreating Kerbals in a test scene and throwing rigidbodies at them. A close second, even though it’s a much smaller feature, the crewmember name generator. I still find some new combos sometimes that make me crack up.

Max: The science system. I just love going to the wildest reaches of the solar system and bringing back samples.

Arsonide: Mine has to be when the planets were made round, and multiple destinations were added. It completely changed the dynamic of the game.

Ted: Quite probably EVAs from a player-perspective. Being able to take these little green explorers out of their protective shells to float and scrabble around in the vast emptiness of the game’s small Kerbin, Mun and Minmus system was just game-changing for me. It magnified the amount I looked forward to getting to the destination.

UNX-D_pontin79 karma

Can we get stock radiators?

Maxmaps158 karma

RoverDude: In 1.0 we actually tweaked solar panels to also act as basic passive radiators. But I can definitely see the case for some more interesting things around heat mechanics and ISS-style thermal control systems.

VanillaChief73 karma

Do you have plans for a new project?

Maxmaps125 karma

Kerbal Space Program is our main focus and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, there's no telling what may come afterwards, though.

carwahl72 karma

I have seen your game all over reddit, but I've never played it. How can you pitch it to me to accuratly describe it and make sure I'll buy your game? P.S. it looks awesome and I'm going to buy it even if your sales pitch sucks.

Maxmaps222 karma

Lego rockets with realistic physics crewed by fearless, hyperenthusiastic green people. Explosions everywhere and we'll sneakily teach you orbital mechanics to boot.

kolboldbard72 karma

What is the most unexpected thing you've seen people use your game for?

Maxmaps195 karma

It keeps popping up on news shows as a simulation of real life launches and spacecraft!

ArcticTroll70 karma

At what point did you realise that KSP was going to be something big?

Maxmaps151 karma

I don't think we're done realizing it. Stuff like working with NASA, or being mentioned by Elon Musk keeps happening and our already blown minds explode again and again.

Venthe69 karma

1) Will RAM consumption problems be addressed? If so, will it be through DXT Compression or Just in time loading or something else?
2) Are you planning to focus on the eye candy in future or just the gaming aspects (offloading glitter to modders)? If so, maybe you could point which one would be worked on? Eg. (Voxel) clouds, atmosphere scatter, Ambient Occlusion, new shaders (Reflection maps) or something even better?

Maxmaps76 karma

1) It's addressed in 1.0 2) We threw in a bunch of eye candy in 1.0, we're trying to add more cool stuff, though.

alanslickman66 karma

Can mined ore be recovered for funds or can it only be converted into fuel? If it can be recovered, does it have a high recovery value like the precious metals that will be mined from real asteroids?

Maxmaps134 karma

RoverDude: Ore is dirt cheap ;) so it’s really not the most profitable thing to recover. You could probably get more funds out of converting it to LiquidFuel (and become Kerbal Refinery Program). But I expect that some enterprising modders will quickly make a mod for this. Again, one of the best parts (IMO) of the resource system is that it’s a framework for the modders out there to make us some really awesome stuff, with all of the heavy lifting already done.

Gregrox62 karma

Does it at all feel weird to you guys that you're finally coming out of early access?

Maxmaps94 karma

HarvesteR: It certainly feels different. Technically, this release is no different from the 25 previous ones, but there is something about going for 1.0 that definitely feels special. I have to say though, I’m very pleased with the features we managed to get into the game for this release. There’s always more stuff we want to add to the game, but it really feels like the game has reached a definite state of completion now.

Kasper: Early Access has been fantastic to the game, it gave us the opportunity to develop the game with the community, and now we’re ready to present the game to the world. In terms of development it may feel natural, since the developers have fulfilled their design goals, but coming out of early access is a big mental step.

Ted: The somewhat undiscussed nature of Early Access from a developer’s point-of-view is that you’re always going and always developing, testing and designing significant changes and features. Moving to reach a final realised vision of the game you want. Of course, the game you have in your head and the game that those that play it get in theirs is not always the same. So in Early Access, there becomes this sort of gap between the features players see being part of the final game and the features that will be. Leaving Early Access means that KSP will be finally realised and people will play it for the game that it is and not the game that it will be. The clear and present dividend of this is that we can continue working on the game, improving, refining and balancing to really polish KSP 1.0 and beyond.

DreadNot_Z59 karma

Can we expect multiple star systems in the future?

Maxmaps149 karma

Multiple star systems fall out of the scope of the game for now, but there's no telling what the future holds!

In the meantime, I suggest trying the Interstellar mod. It's really great.

CaptRobau57 karma

To all the individual devs: which feature that you added to the game (not just 1.0) have you been most proud of?

Maxmaps123 karma

Arsonide: I feel proud of all of my additions, but I swell with pride when I see the satellite contracts. The animated orbits really help turn a very complicated concept into something that is easily digestible.

RoverDude: Like Arsonide, I’m incredibly happy with all of the pieces I have had the chance to add in, but of all of the sub-systems, I’m incredibly happy with how the entire resource discovery and scanning experience and thermal management turned out, and it’s been amazing watching the reaction of the folks observing the various twitch streams today.

HarvesteR: Hm, good question. There have been very difficult features that weren’t really that enjoyable to add, and other very small features that I feel inordinately proud of… If I had to pick one I felt most proud of though, it would probably be the planetarium / patched conics solver. For a guy who consistently flunked math class from 7th grade onwards, and only finished high-school through an equivalency course, that piece of code required some serious maths. At first I was going mostly by trial and error, but as it all came together, I realized just how much I had learned in the process, and that using math and logic alone, we were literally building a little universe. I still get a little grin at times when I cross SOIs.

tonymoose2753 karma

Do you ever plan to add propellers for aircraft?

Maxmaps63 karma

This isn't something we have short term plans on, but it may change.

smart01351 karma

Are you 100% sure that KSP never ever gets some kind of life support? Not even the version thats developed by roverdude right now?

Maxmaps74 karma

We're not 100% sure on that anymore, we've been listening and we can't say anything for sure, but it's certainly back on the table.

neronix1749 karma

What are the plans for beyond 1.0? Is there a list of some kind available so we can see what features the team would like to implement, not necessarily confirmation of those features, just ones you'd like to add?

Aimed at MaxMaps specifically: When do you expect to return to your glorious modelling career? I heard a rumor you were in talks with Calvin Klein and Armani?

Maxmaps93 karma

Any lists like that are super dangerous, as if it turns out something we came up with isn't really doable/not fun, then we've effectively broken a promise.

Also dude, have you seen me? I think you have the wrong Maxmaps.

SwissCheez47 karma

How do you feel about the abuse of millions of Kerbals for the sake of science?

Maxmaps106 karma

KasperVld: pretty good!

Ted: ahem alleged abuse I think you meant to write.

Arsonide: It is a necessary but unfortunate evil.

HarvesteR: I’ve never heard any of them complain.

Max: A little sorry?

FameGameUSA46 karma

Will the post 1.0 schedule be the same as the pre 1.0 schedule IE: 3 or 4 content updates a year?

Maxmaps58 karma

No plans to change the schedule.

kordusain43 karma

When will you add a delta V readout in VAB/SPH?

Maxmaps52 karma

Once we have an enhanced system for engineers and scientists we are happy with.

FinalEdit42 karma

Oh god it's been two hours, but whatever, here goes.

I just want to say you've produced possibly one of the finest games ever made and have inspired an interest in space in multiple generations of people.

You've planted a seed in me and have inspired my intellectual interests as well as my gaming interests.

Thank you, so, so much. KSP is frickin' amazing.

Oh, fuck it also I've literally just jumped into the thread but if no one else has asked:

What are update plans with regards to in-game music?

Thank you once again.

Maxmaps39 karma

Thank you for your kind comments, they really do mean a lot to us in the team. We might be able to do more stuff musicwise, we always talk about each planet having a theme, but from a creative standpoint that is a surprisingly large ordeal.

BlockBuilder5738 karma

What do you think was the greatest and silliest thing to implement over the years?

Maxmaps66 karma

My vote would be persistence for the greatest, kerbal expressions for the silliest.

MacerV26 karma

With this update a lot of the mods in the community have been adopted/integrated into the stock game. How do you think this will affect the modding community moving forward?

Maxmaps45 karma

RoverDude: One thing I’m pretty happy we were able to do do with 1.0, both in resources and to an extent aero, is either provide great frameworks for modders to work off of (like the ability to add new resources, including atmospheric and oceanic), and in the case of Aero, the ability to allow mods to completely override that functionality. As a modder myself, I made resources in the way I would have wanted from a modder’s perspective. So if anything, I see some of these newer systems serving as springboards for the modders out there to make even more amazing things.

VFisEPIC24 karma

Will you ever reintroduce the storyline that was in the earlier versions? the one with the magic rock, Kraken, etc.?

Maxmaps49 karma

We've found that adding to the storyline and background actually limits the player's ability to just make their own, it's one of those odd less is more things.

Sage205021 karma

Have you guys ever considered teaming up with the guy who made dwarf fortress to make the most obfuscating game known to man?

Maxmaps35 karma

Kerbal Fortress. Oh god.

a_bit_of_byte20 karma

Hey guys!

Love the game. I've been meaning to spend a lot more time with it to really learn how it all works. Maybe with school ending soon I'll finally get a chance to sink my teeth into it. :P

Now, for my question. Do you think KSP is a genre-defining type of game? When I was looking into Besieged (which I also recommend), it was described as "the KSP of medieval warfare..." Do you think it deserves to be the metric against all other physics sandbox games are measured against? Or does it do something so different that you guys are surprised to see this trend in the first place?

Maxmaps24 karma

That feels too big for us. It is downright humbling.

deadshot4629 karma

What was the reason for postponing the resource system AFTER career mode? Doesn't adding resources severely affect career mode balance?

Maxmaps15 karma

Arsonide: The resource system is something that had to be done right. If it is too complicated, or too simple, it’s not fun. Fun is the most important thing! What RoverDude has created is fun, but it took time to get to this point. The balance of career takes the resource system into account. There are actually resource extraction contracts in game that depend on it.

HarvesteR: In one of our roadmaps, having Career mode (and KSC upgrades) implemented was actually listed as a requirement for Resources. This was at first a requirement because resource mining, being a feature which requires you to pretty much master the process of launching and landing (not crashing) on other worlds, would have caused the game to have too steep of an entry barrier. Remember this was 3 years ago, before even Steam was a thing for us, and what the game would eventually turn out to be was still very nebulous. It was very important then to manage the ‘intention’ of the game, and if we had gone ahead with that very complicated resources plan we had back then, we would have possibly ended up shunning a lot of potential new players. Career Mode, and the KSC upgrading mechanic, which makes it possible to unlock content gradually, made it possible for us to implement resource scanning and mining now in a way that isn’t up in a new player’s face, until they reach a point where they are ready to take on the challenge. Also, I’m much, much happier with the resources system as it turned out to be. All this time gave us plenty of opportunities to really think about what it was that made the concept of resources fun, and what aspects of the original plan just wouldn’t work. In the end, I think it was well worth the wait.

Alonminatti9 karma

Hey Maxmaps! Will 1.0 have differed trans/supersonic effects for delta/swept wings? I've asked for months and no one has given me a straight answer, thanks in advance

Maxmaps13 karma

Yes there are! Breaking the sound barrier is now an accomplishment that is rewarded with supersonic drag mechanics.

SoulWager9 karma

Are you still planning on moving to unity 5 for 1.1?

When will the barn be making it's appearance?

How much progress has been made on multiplayer?

In general, are you going to be focusing on smaller more frequent updates again, or are you going to continue implementing major features that take several months between updates?

Maxmaps6 karma

Yes we are!

As soon as it's properly done.

We've had a dev constantly on it since its announecment and we're still going.

Depends on the features themselves, currently we don't plan to change our release schedule, though.

AggregateTurtle6 karma

1.0 looks absolutely fantastic. Any comments on the nodding developments as of late? Could you elaborate if possible if a unity 5 update is the next big thing on the agenda since 1.0 looks so great?

Maxmaps14 karma

Unity 5 is a pretty big item in the agenda for the future. It is full of cool stuff.

redsox135 karma

How would you recommend learning how to play such a complex game?

Maxmaps8 karma

Arsonide: I recommend Scott Manley’s introductory videos on Youtube. He is able to break down complex subject matter very well.

hmb345 karma

What is your favourite new thing in this update? For example a part, or a new idea that has been added. Oh and why?

Maxmaps7 karma

KasperVld: Fairings are something I’ve been waiting to play around with for quite a while. While I’ve had mods such as procedural fairings installed in the past I think the stock implementation is much, much more versatile. I can’t wait to see what our playerbase will come up with, it will no doubt surpass our wildest dreams.

HarvesteR: Hm, it’s hard to pick a single favorite… I find myself hovering back and forth between things. I do love the new internal views though, they’re awesome… Those, with the head-tracking and new aerodynamics, I’m finding myself playing a lot more from IVA view.

Ted: Most probably Porkjet’s new parts. While there’s a seriously fantastic bunch of features coming in 1.0, the new parts really tops it all off with the ability to really make planes and shuttles that look as good as they fly.

Arsonide: The engineer report tells you while you are building a craft if you have a parachute and an engine in the same stage! It’s small, but so awesome! No more derp launches!

VanillaChief2 karma

Do you want to go to space by yourself?

Maxmaps10 karma

KasperVld: If I were given the opportunity to go to space I’d probably say yes immediately. I think that goes for most of us.

HarvesteR: Definitely a bucket-list item.

Ted: Most definitely, I think it would be an amazing and life-redefining experience.

Max: Yes! I'm sure it's absolutely horrifying but it's simply not the kind of thing one could ever pass up on.

Arsonide: Uh, yes?!

SleepDeprivedPegasus2 karma

How do you manage to be so awesome everyday?

Maxmaps7 karma

HarvesteR: I have three monitors on my computer. Three. Monitors.

RoverDude: I maintain my level of awesomeness by starting each morning by wrestling a bear, then writing a few new mods. Then I have breakfast, and start the rest of my day.

Max: Oatmeal for breakfast every day.

Ted: Like Felipe I have three monitors, one of them portrait. However most of my awesomeness comes from freshly ground black coffee and lots and lots of music.

TechCSStudent12342 karma

Why are you guys migrating the servers on www.kerbalspaceprogram.com right now?

Maxmaps19 karma

As the weather warms up, our servers migrate to cooler climates. We also want to have as much bandwidth available for launch.