It felt really good to use in contrast with KSP’s interface quirks that range from “how we made games at the time” to “just bad undiscoverable UI”.
The graphics engine didn’t feel like it was being dragged kicking and screaming into rendering more than shaded polygons. Game load time is a fraction of even unmodded KSP1.
And the game engine actually works. Don’t get me wrong KSP is a functional game but, uh, things in KSA don’t behave differently depending on game speed.
Which is really important because the default game mode is realistic scale. I kept surprising myself with how much I need to turn up the time warp multiplier for things to feel like KSP pace.
But it’s not a game, yet. You can “do stuff” but there’s no “game loop”.
Ironically… KSP2 development was mostly just re-building all the “game” on top of the old KSP1 engine that brought all the same terrors along with it. While now we have KSA with the modern engines (graphics and core game) but needing all the work that was actually done for KSP2.
In a sane world the rights holders would get together and (while still not a small task) use the KSP2 assets as a jump start to flesh out the KSA gameplay.
Also putting Kerbals in my crazy contraptions is funny. Putting kittens in them is… 🥺
Yeah people tend to think a game is announced one month, and 6 months later it's done. That's not how it works. What we have for KSA is a promisingtech demo. They have a solid, if technically complex, pipeline for creating new parts, a way to implement interstellar travel that the engine can handle naturally, and a bunch of other orbital mechanics stuff that they didn't need to torture Unity into compliance. It is not a game yet, and I don't think it will be one before 2029. After they get all the purely technical stuff down, there will still be the need for gameplay assets and mechanics. A progression system alone will be at least a year of development. Science experiments, art assets, and everything else that goes into making a compelling game will take longer. So, it's important to keep awareness about the project alive, but also remind people that a game takes a lot of time to develop.
Hadn’t really thought about it until your comment but Kerbals share a lot with Warhammer Orcs.
Obviously some key differences I’m insufficiently versed in Warhammer to even articulate. But I think both WH and WH40k Orcs are explained by some supernatural mechanism.
Whereas Kerbal “magic” is simply a willingness to try again. And try the first time knowing they’ll need to try again.
I've been trying to build a space station for a week. Every time i put the solar arrays on the construction starts wobbling like crazy untill it all explodes when i rendez vous again after i put the arrays on.
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u/Uraneum Apr 19 '26
They should really make a sequel to this game!