One of the best games ever, but...

[Puddin]

This is meant as a completely constructive post to the developers and hopefully everyone can keep it that way. First off I want to say that this game is incredibly fun. It is a niche game yes appealing to the inner space nerd in all of us but there is nothing wrong appealing to a niche market. As of writing this I have 245 hours in the game and I feel like I have gotten more than my moneys' worth.

That being said I am finding myself trying harder to find reason to keep playing. There are some obvious improvments to me be made such as more craft parts and planets but those will only increase the gameplay minutly. I downloaded the mod to add hydrolic parts but after this last update every single ship using them blows up as soon as I focus on them. All is good in that respect though as things are still developing and that waskinda to be expected.

What I feel the game needs are some sort of goals. Perhaps an inkling of life somewhere that you have to find or ancient alien ruins. Something to go out and look for in the universe. This is a game of exploration with nothing at all to find besides rocks. The campaign mode is getting kinda close but there is nothing reallly to find out there with all the scientific equipment. The only thing I have found or heard on worth any kind of mentioning is the arch on kerbins' first moon.

Even the arch provides at least a little bit of gratification for exploring as there is actually something there we did not expect to find. I know this game is loosely based a realism but on that same note kerbals aren't really based in realism so taking that leap wouldn't be such a for stretch.

I do really like the asteroids and that has extended gtameplay a bit but still nothing more than a bunch of rocks to find. We have no real reson to visit a planet or moon other than to say "Yep been there"

All in all perhaps I'm wrong and just a horrible explorer that is missing a bunch of things that I shouldn't miss but so far such isn't the case.

[Col. Kurtz]

Lol ther is A LOT more than just that arch. You should go to Duna sometime.

[Vandalen]

First: This Game is not finished. Maybe do a break, come back in a few months.

Second: If you want to be heard, got to the offical forums. Steam forums are ok, but thats all. The offical Forum houses more people AND the Devs. ;)

[Rene]

If you actually want a chance to have your story read by the devs: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/. However, I think it won't be news to them that there are people that feel this way. The next version 0.24 will have contracts and missions, perhaps that will help you in finding a goal while playing.

I think the Scansat mod will perhaps also be of assistance, it can scan for anomalies, of which there are more than just the Mun arch(es).

To your mod problem: it is well know that updates sometimes break mods. If an update happens, usually the mods update not too long after. If you haven't done yet, update your mod, it might help.

Or maybe you just need a short break (sacrilege!) from this game, and come back later.

[Puddin]

I did take a break for a while and came back with the addition of asteroids. Perhaps I'll add another post to thier forums but it would be foolish for them to not at least read the forums of their publisher.

Perhaps we as a steam community need to make some weekly challenges or something here on the forums. Something we can all participate in and have fun with until they release anoither update to the game. Things like the biggest space station around eloo or most asteroids collected or something like that. I find that the players of this game aare significantly more friendly and intelligent than in the forums for alot of other games. That would give us some unofficial goals to work towrds and share with eachother here.

[Col. Kurtz]

Puddin a écrit :

I did take a break for a while and came back with the addition of asteroids. Perhaps I'll add another post to thier forums but it would be foolish for them to not at least read the forums of their publisher.

Perhaps we as a steam community need to make some weekly challenges or something here on the forums. Something we can all participate in and have fun with until they release anoither update to the game. Things like the biggest space station around eloo or most asteroids collected or something like that. I find that the players of this game aare significantly more friendly and intelligent than in the forums for alot of other games. That would give us some unofficial goals to work towrds and share with eachother here.

You should go to the official forums. Everything you listed is on the official forums along with people making their own movies and writing stories. There is even an entire page for challenges.


http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum.php

[Ottomic]

The problem of you not having goals is not really the game's.

Go to wikipedia, go to the megathread. Get ideas, watch videos, try mods out, and if you really can't be bothered with that, go play a different game.

Not FSX, tho. Or xplane. Or Elite. Or Zomboid. Or don't starve. Or a Minecraft style game. Or y'now, any game that doesn't spoonfeed you, because that really seems to be your problem, that the game doesn't tell you what to do.

Also: Mission Controller. It's a mod. Look it up.

[Elite]

Going to planets and Muns isn't enough. Build bases on them and stuff, make huge space stations orbiting them and stuff and even download tons of mods like on Scot Manleys 'Interstellar quest' and stuff. There is loads to do, just use your imagination.

[Mandelbrot]

Puddin a écrit :

Perhaps I'll add another post to thier forums but it would be foolish for them to not at least read the forums of their publisher.

Just to be clear, Squad is the publisher of KSP, not Steam. KSP's original and much more vibrant and informed community is centered around their official forums. That being said, I totally agree with the general sentiment that Squad needs to engage with the Steam community more.

When Harv announced that they had dropped their original plan for resource gathering when their prototypes were not turning out very fun, he mentioned the very thing that your post was about. The need to have more to do once you get to a planet, as well as having a more interesting end game is certainly something they're aware of.

[nephilimnexus]

In order to generate interest in placing planetary bases there first needs to be a reason to do so.

Look, as it is now, you land on a planet, you take some samples, plant a flag... and leave. Maybe you make a few more trips to other biomes but the only gain there is a few more Science points.

Between the 32 bit memory limit keeping us from making super-giant ships and the lack of any real reason to build bases, it comes down to two goals: Max your Science and maybe send a probe to the outmost planet, just to see if it can be done.

A lot of this sadly stems from the game's own strength - it's cartoonish nature. The cute little Kerbals and their goofy attitude toward science is fun for a while but it excludes attempts to do anything more serious, or rather take things more seriously.

Now once upon a time there was an old C64 game called "Project Space Station[www.mobygames.com]" which totally nailed it on the head. The shuttle launches & landings were just a means to an end, not an end in itself. It had a full career mode, with finance, and a fully developed science system.

What made it's science system so interesting is that is wasn't just blanket "Science" points - it was more like the tech tree seen in 4X games. It wasn't just a matter of unlocking new part, science let you unlock new abilities as well. For example you could eventually develop remote drones that could maintain your station without the need for EVA and lower your operating costs. Likewise, you could develop better greenhouses to increase food & air production. You could take contracts using your space-based instruments to monitor forest fires & animal migrations, as well as perform micro-g experiments for medical & engineering companies.

In other words, the stuff you did in the sandbox changed the sandbox. Crew skill mattered as well, and it wasn't just "Bravery" and "Stupidity" either. You had to balance taking experienced flight crews with scientists who couldn't fly but were essential for doing your science stuff. We're talking a dozen different real-life skill sets to choose from, and they all mattered (sending a biologist to tackle an engineering problem got you nowhere, obviously).

So now take all that and reimagine what KSP could be: A serious game of science, engineering and space exploration with meaningful goals and long term objectives to keep you wanting to play long, long after you've stuck a flag into every ball of dirt in the solar system.

As it stands now, though, there really isn't much beyond on Kerbin except the planets themselves. Heck, there isn't much on Kerbin for that matter - your headquarters is apparently the only free standing structure on the entire planet. Let's start there - make Kerbin look alive. Give it some cities, give it governments, give it something to feel more alive. You want competition without resorting to violence? Look no further than reality and the space race between the USA & USSR. Imagine if they added a rival space agency that tried to one-up your accomplishments and beat you to all your achievements?

There is far more potential to KSP than what's on their current roadmap, and I'd really like to see Squad put some serious consideration into lateral game expansion. Because honestly, we don't really need any more parts. We've got enough parts. The mod community has already made more parts than we could use with a terabyte of RAM. What we need next is stuff to do. Yes, the Mission Controller mod does exactly that - and I'm saying we need more stuff like that. It's not just more of the same stuff, it's new stuff and new goals to keep us interested.

TLDR: If they want us to build Mun Bases then they need to give us a good reason to do so.

[Mandelbrot]

nephilimnexus a écrit :

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Holy crap, that sounds like a really cool game. I can't help but agree with you pretty much 100%. Another thing that has kinda gotten me down about the potential that KSP has, but may never fully realize, is how the Interstellar Mod is going. Now I don't want warp drive, and if I try Interstellar I will delete that part, personally. But something with realistic science gathering, resource utilization, and space technology development that is complex and true enough to life to actually teach a bit about chemistry, physics, and technology is my dream game.

[Trehek]

nephilimnexus a écrit :

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I really hope you bring your ideas to the official forums!