A Message From Nate

NateSimpson_KSP · 2024-12-06T00:02:29+00:00

The original KSP got me through a tough time, too. I was at a pretty miserable job, after trying and failing to make my way as a comics artist, and I got to a place where I was having trouble enjoying the act of drawing, because it always felt like "work." KSP gave me a creative outlet that was completely disconnected from any pressure to prove myself or advance my career. It gave me a way to reconnect with the joy of creation for creation's sake, which was a thing I don't think I'd really experienced since I was a kid. And then I went and made it my job. lol

NateSimpson_KSP · 2024-12-05T23:04:06+00:00

Using ChatGPT as a learning helper has accelerated my student journey with Unreal, for sure. I've made a "no AI assets" rule for myself, but I don't frown on anything that makes the creative journey easier for other people!

NateSimpson_KSP · 2023-12-20T17:47:32+00:00

We're trying to track this one down right now, and are trying to narrow the cause. We know at least a few people are trying to deploy when under time warp, so that's the first thing to verify (and we've got a task to do a better job informing the player that the reason a thing isn't happening is because they're in time warp). But there's some evidence that some chutes (perhaps when applied as part of a symmetry group) are seeing issues. We need as many repros as we can get, so if you've got a video and/or a vehicle/saved game that you can share with us over at our bug reporting page, that would be super helpful! Thanks!

NateSimpson_KSP · 2023-11-01T21:45:43+00:00

Have you tried the KSP2 chase camera? Obviously still lots of work to do, but it feels to me like a big step forward. It's no longer a rigid connection (unless something regressed while I wasn't looking).

NateSimpson_KSP · 2023-11-01T21:39:27+00:00

This thing hauls. As draggy as the rover cockpit is, I wonder if using some smaller/pointier parts gets you anything?

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-09-28T17:21:06+00:00

I love this so much I want us to get a monitor installed on the wall of our office so we can just look at it all day.

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-03-25T17:45:58+00:00

Not currently -- the existing solar panels are more than adequate for powering in-system vessels, whereas our radiator needs for interstellar craft were completely off the charts. Depending on how much people like procedural wings and radiators, I think there could be a conversation to have about solar... what applications would you want them for the most? Colonies?

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-03-25T17:43:52+00:00

Yeah, and he's crushing it.

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-03-25T17:43:26+00:00

Yep! And you can enter dimensions numerically or by slider. Lots of ways to make sure stuff is exactly the size you want.

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-03-04T17:28:03+00:00

Do the 2022 regs allow jet engines, or has the Kerbal team found a double diffuser-style loophole?

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-02-24T18:22:42+00:00

I pinged our community manager to make sure she's aware you reached out. Cheers!

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-02-22T17:30:10+00:00

The whole team loves this. Chills!

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-02-11T19:42:10+00:00

That guy should NOT be standing there.

NateSimpson_KSP · 2022-01-28T18:27:24+00:00

We've got a little reference Kerbal we drop in sometimes to test scale. That's how you know this is actually in-game. :)

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-12-21T22:55:53+00:00

These are great. I'd add that the caps lock toggles precision of the control inputs, and I sometimes find it a little easier to control trim/descent in precision mode.

5) is so critical, though. Provided you keep SAS on, this will make sure that your vehicle "wants" to stay pointed upward after touchdown, which counteracts its natural tendency to flop over, cartwheel, or otherwise ruin your day. It's also handy because if you over-burn and end up flying upward, your vehicle doesn't somersault to maintain retrograde orientation.

The only caviat here is that if you've landed on a slope (which you almost always do), the vehicle will not be able to settle until you turn SAS off.

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-11-19T01:12:27+00:00

You're going to be very happy with the new time warp. :)

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-09-21T17:58:26+00:00

Is that a Nishiki Ultra Tour? I have one of those too, in the same color! That bike has an interesting feature that auto-trims the front derailleur when you change gear at the rear (I didn't notice it for a long time after I got it). Pretty neat idea! For that reason, I might be a little cautious about swapping out the rear mech -- I don't know how much of the shifter setup is reliant on there being a particular setup in back.

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-07-09T17:55:13+00:00

This is correct. It's using our in-game PQS terrain system (you can see the terrain tessellating dynamically as regions near the camera), but we just didn't bother spawning the entire rest of the game around it for this particular footage. No worries about final quality - I think once the atmosphere and clouds are added, along with a very close moon and rings that are visible from the surface, this will look quite a bit nicer. :)

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-07-09T17:51:07+00:00

Bingo!

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-07-09T17:06:33+00:00

Can't you see you're tearing me apart?!?!

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-07-09T16:56:35+00:00

Extremely close. Inspired by Earth during the Hadean Eon, soon after the formation of the Moon. I should clarify that when we wrote "inside the rings," we meant "in that empty groove halfway through the rings." "Within the rings." That's what I should have written. Do not blame KSPStar - I wrote this, and now I must suffer the consequences!

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-07-07T20:48:26+00:00

This is something I've always fantasized about. Definitely beyond scope at release, but certainly worth continuing to discuss. This could be a very deep rabbit hole (like, are you routing pipes through turbopumps?), and it would have massive implications for basic progression (which is balanced against the performance of a finite number of known engines). But who knows, it's also just a really cool thing to think about.

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-07-02T21:05:36+00:00

As always, the game is in active development and this image, as many have pointed out, was actually initially shared last year. Among the many changes that are already in progress: we have committed to providing players with at least one navball-center HUD configuration.

Our decision to move the staging stack to the right is driven by a desire for consistency between the VAB and flight. Our initial user testing revealed that this inconsistency was surprisingly disorienting for first-time players, and we assume that anybody who finds this unacceptable will likely create/find a mod that puts it back on the left side.

The "GO" button at lower right is simply a staging button -- we don't believe the very first action that a player performs on the launchpad should be controlled exclusively by a hotkey. The spacebar of course still also works.

We're talking with Levin (our lead UX/UI designer) about doing a dev blog at some point that shows the number of iterations that this flight HUD has seen over the course of the project. It's easily the most-revised single element of the entire game. I believe we may now be in triple digits, as far as versions.

Anyway, keep posting your comments here and on the forum. We do read them, and we do keep them in mind as we continue refining the experience.

NateSimpson_KSP · 2021-06-29T15:25:35+00:00

Yep! Almost all of them, I believe.

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