Kerbal Space Program 2 News

[h3]🚀 [/h3]

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

[h3]Flight & Map[/h3]

• 🚀 Fixed deletion of vessels without control during game save
  
• 🚀 Recovered Kerbals are accessible again from the VAB
  
• 🚀 Maneuver plans are now constrained by available fuel and will no longer provide false projections that extend beyond vehicle's capacity. R.A.P.I.E.R. engines must be set to Closed Cycle mode to allow accurate orbital maneuver planning
  
• 🚀 Stopped light parts from consuming EC after they are switched off
  
• 🚀 Fixed parts attached to some physicsless parts falling at launch
  
• 🚀 Improved fuel flow priorities
  
• 🚀 Fixed spacebar sometimes not triggering staging
  
• Improved handling of hover and click targets in Map view when multiple objects overlap
  
• Removed the "Disable Crash Damage" difficulty setting. This setting could cause issues preventing vessels from entering a landed state. If crash damage was disabled in playthroughs, it will now be enabled
  
• Burn timer status icons are now accurate when the burn is completed at the correct time
  
• Fixed issue where engines in Part Manager displayed incorrect "Deactivate" or "Activate" state
  
• Fixed issue preventing switching between vehicles in atmospheric flight. This is now possible as long as both vehicles are inside the high-fidelity physics bubble surrounding the observer
  
• Fixed a bug that can cause certain vessel configurations to be destroyed at frame of reference updates in flight
  
• Fixed a bug that caused uncontrolled vessels to be tagged as debris in certain scenarios
  
• Fixed collision detection in map mode for trajectories with impacts on Bop. Collision icons should now be displayed map trajectories for Bop
  
• Fixed CommNet partial/no connection after decoupling/undocking a probe
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause trajectory lines to incorrectly display as a non-closed orbit/escape trajectory
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause highlight dot markers to appear on some vessel joint connectors in flight
  
• Fixed a bug that caused main menu screen elements to persist into gameplay
  
• Fixed a bug to prevent some abrupt Kerbal animation changes
  
• Fixed an issue with jet engines that could cause the wrong engine mode to be selected
  
• Fixed a bug where Tim C. Kerman's hair could clip through his helmet
  

[h3]Optimizations[/h3]

• 🚀 Fixed a memory leak in tutorials
  
• 🚀 Changed Kerbal Crew Cam to paginated format
  
• Optimized cubemap rendering to reduce memory usage and improve CPU performance
  
• Optimized memory usage for clouds and corrected issue in which clouds on some Celestial Bodies did not match quality settings
  
• Reduced GPU memory usage for surface scatter meshes (especially grass) by scaling render buffers to currently visible content
  
• Applied CPU optimization to SetPixel behavior
  
• Deactivated underwater state detection when flight camera not active
  
• PQS disabled when flight camera is not active
  
• Optimized memory usage of tree scatter by reducing texture duplication
  
• Implemented Ground Shading Quality settings
  
• Anti-tile is now disabled when low quality is selected
  
• Improved cloud memory usage
  
• Performance improvements when using vessel configurations with lots of resource sources
  
• Optimization on Kerbal IVA cameras
  
• Improved low graphical setting visuals in some scenes
  
• Additional flight camera optimization
  
• Optimized orbital nodes in map by not processing non-visible ones
  
• Optimized and improved KSC night lighting
  
• Fixed memory leak in terrain code
  
• Fixed bug preventing instanced runway light levels of detail from being rendered. Also fixed memory leak due to accumulated rendering calls associated with runway light levels of detail
  
• Fixed bug where game loaded in an unresponsive state due to issue with modification of master texture limit while texture mipmap streaming is running
  

[h3]Saving & Loading[/h3]

• 🚀 Camera now returns to saved position and orientation when game is reloaded
  
• Proper save names are retained when loaded on another computer
  
• Updates to save data for missing camera YAW information
  
• Updates to save data information to ensure accuracy of camera information
  
• Save data changes for better handling of vessel and agency information
  
• Fixed issue where reverting or loading results in disappearance of vehicle
  
• Fixed a bug where Kerbals loaded in incorrect locations from a save made while EVA
  
• Fixed visual errors associated with the Loading Screen transition when loading a game from the VAB or Training Center
  

[h3]Parts & Stock Vessels[/h3]

• 🚀 Kerbals in passenger modules now have IVA portraits and can exit the vessel
  
• Aeris stock vehicle is now oriented horizontally by default
  
• Optimized geometry and updated textures for the Mk2 "Phoenix"
  
• Reliant engine small model updates
  
• Swivel engine small model updates
  
• Fixed misaligned attach points on the Mk2 Lander
  
• Mk2 Inline Cockpit small model updates
  
• The surface attach node visual is now appropriately sized for the Bobus ladder
  
• Removed additional, erroneous attach points from the Mk3 Engine Mount
  
• Added missing part sub-name for the FL-T100 Methalox Fuel tank
  
• Fixed a value that could cause a flash when loading vessels with procedural wings
  
• Fixed a text issue where the incorrect size was displayed for the Clamp-O-Tron Jr. in the part description (all languages)
  

[h3]UI / UX[/h3]

• 🚀 Updated the frequency of game paused and unpaused messages to help prevent spamming
  
• 🚀 Improved Terms of Service flow, added "Next" button to seizure warning screen, and corrected issue where legal text did not default to system language settings
  
• 🚀 Added ESC button functionality to close screens at the main menu
  
• 🚀 Time warp bar no longer displays when HUD is toggled off using F2
  
• 🚀 Notifications now persist when game is paused to make them easier to read
  
• 🚀 Fixed a bug that made it difficult to close the color manager window
  
• Staging stack resource readouts containing two different resources now display correct amounts for both entries
  
• Corrected various errors in Credits
  
• Updated styling for the Burn Timer window
  
• Reduced scroll wheel sensitivity for menus, including Language Selection, Launchpad, and Save/Load dialogs
  
• Removed non-functional Filter/Overlay button from Tracking Station
  
• Added "Return to KSC" button to Flight Report and Tracking Station dialogs
  
• Font and styling fixes to save dialogue windows
  
• Minor scaling improvements in the part information overlay window
  
• Limit on passive notifications that can be displayed at once (three)
  
• The color picker window is now moveable via click/hold/drag on the top of the window
  
• Update to Kerbal manager and Resource manager icons
  
• Updating active icon visibility for the wing editor UI when editing procedural wings
  
• UI updates to the location bar at the top of the screen
  
• The staging stack is now hidden when there are no stages present in the VAB
  
• The expand/collapse stages button is hidden when only one stage is present (which will have it's fully details displayed as fully expanded automatically)
  
• Fixed engine part manager status text
  
• Fixed bug where player could not select "Filter Options" in Tracking Station
  
• Fixed a bug with save data sort by date orders
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause some UI menu's to not respond to a mouse scrollwheel
  
• Fixed a bug with the current location menu reading the wrong location in some instances after exiting the Training Center
  
• Fixed an issue in the load workspace menu that could cause multiple workspaces to be highlighted at once
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause the timewarp bar to disappear in the tracking station
  
• Fixed an issue causing the scrollbar to not appear in the resource manager when a vessel had a large part count
  
• Fixed object picker sometimes not expanding initially in the tracking station
  
• Fixed buttons cut off in the Tracking Station
  
• Fixed UI issue where toggle button width and campaign menu difficulty level button width were not expanding with text content
  
• Fixed bug where the only ship name visible on the KSC Launch Pad UI was the last ship sent to the launchpad
  
• Fixed issue in which temperature gauges persist on screen after they have been turned off in Settings
  
• Fixed issue where game switches to Fullscreen upon entering the Graphics tab in Settings
  

[h3]Construction[/h3]

• 🚀 Stage groups now remain in their proper order when switching between multiple assemblies in the VAB
  
• 🚀 The Parts Manager can now be opened for subassemblies in the VAB
  
• 🚀 Added proper handling of nested symmetry sets
  
• 🚀 Fixed an issue that could cause staging order to change when reverting to VAB with complex, multi-vessel workspaces
  
• 🚀 Fixed vehicle-in-floor VAB bug
  
• Iconography updated in the VAB for fairing editor controls, assembly anchor markers, and launch assembly markers
  
• Fixed a bug that removed struts and fuel lines from duplicated subassemblies in the VAB
  
• Fixed an issue with deleting an assembly sometimes failing when dropping the assembly in the trashcan
  
• Fixed warning in the Engineer's Report about vessel not generating electricity
  
• Fixed multiple instances where "center of" tools behaved unexpectedly when there was no vessel data
  
• Fixed a bug that caused procedural editor icons to sometimes persist into other areas of the title
  

[h3]Environments[/h3]

• 🚀 Added new building illumination to KSC that activates and deactivates based on time of day
  
• 🚀 Kerbals are now properly illuminated on the launchpad at night
  
• 🚀 Updated collision meshes and materials for KSC parking garage
  
• 🚀 Loading a game near Eeloo or Pol no longer causes SetPixels errors
  
• 🚀 Improved distribution of rock scatter objects on Kerbin's surface
  
• 🚀 Fixed fuzzy "scan lines" visible on clouds when using AMD Graphics Cards
  
• Height fog added to Kerbin, Duna, Eve, and Laythe
  
• Celestial body ground scatter updates on Minmus, Eve, Eeloo, Ike, Duna, Mun, Tylo, and Bop
  
• Terrain scatter updates for Moho, Vall, Gilly, Laythe, Pol, and Dres
  
• Terrain shadow accuracy improvements on Minmus
  
• Fixed terrain artifacts at Eve's north and south poles
  
• Removed texture seams from grass around launchpads
  
• Improved appearance and performance of underwater caustic effects
  
• Fixed global illumination contributing on lighting on the opposite side of objects
  
• Fixed memory leak caused by lighting while in the VAB
  
• Fixed plants on Kerbin rendering incorrectly
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause blurry, pixilated terrain when viewing from a distance
  
• Fixed fog transition so that it should no longer pop into view at 60km
  
• Scaling updates to make KSC signs more uniform. This should improve and prevent distortion in various graphical settings and view distances
  
• Adjusted bloom and brightness during daylight hours in the Vehicle Assembly Building
  
• Clouds updated to remove linear features that can make them appear unnatural
  
• Setting cloud quality to LOW in the graphic settings now renders low quality clouds instead of no clouds
  
• Fixed an issue where low-quality settings could cause some cloud shadows to appear on vessels above the cloud heights
  
• Fixed bug preventing decals from rendering at KSC while moving between loading screens and game states where KSC is disabled
  
• Fixed a bug where water (and some other visuals) were not displayed properly when observed through gaps in parachutes
  
• Fixed a bug that caused water to reflect the galaxy sky map instead of the atmosphere/planet sky
  
• Minor lighting fix in the Training Center
  
• Minor collision updates for the VAB roof
  

[h3]FX & Audio[/h3]

• Vacuum exhaust updates for the R.A.P.I.E.R. engine
  
• Updates to the timing on the plant flag EVA animation
  
• Updates to the sphere of influence entry and exit VFX
  
• Tim C. Kerman now has appropriate RCS thruster VFX
  
• Removed "out of fuel" sound from Sepratrons
  
• Fixed Tracking Station audio cue firing too often
  
• Improved trailing particle emitters to reduce VFX bugs associated with frame of reference changes
  
• Fixed jet engine audio starting/stopping too quickly when engines were deactivated/re-activated in the part manager
  
• Fixed an edge case where jet engines could show engine start VFX during timewarp
  
• Fixed Terrier engine exhaust scaling
  

[h3]Tutorials[/h3]

• 🚀 The user is now returned to the Training Center after exiting a tutorial instead of KSC
  
• Updated tutorial preview images
  
• Fixed issue where game progresses too quickly during Tutorial 1.5
  
• Fixed tutorial vessel loading in a player campaign after completing a tutorial
  
• Fixed tutorial menus appearing on the main menu
  

[h3]Localization[/h3]

• 🚀 Improved translations in several video subtitles
  
• 🚀 Updated localized terms for new game creation (all languages)
  
• 🚀 Fixed various localization issues in the part manager for Pods, Coupling, Fuel Tanks, Engines, and Utility (all languages)
  
• 🚀 Fixed missing text in some scenarios where actions cannot be performed yet due to loading (all languages)
  
• 🚀 Fixed a bug that could cause the End User License Agreement, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy text to remain in the previous language after languages are changed in game
  
• 🚀 Fixed mislabeled EVA keybindings in the settings menu (all languages)
  
• 🚀 Localized text updates in the settings menu (Polish, Russian, German and Korean)
  
• Tutorial updates for all languages
  
• Fixed localization issues for Part Picker, UI, and Settings
  
• Updated font atlases to properly display special characters
  
• Fixed unlocalized text in the open workspace window
  
• Improved font fallbacks to avoid different size characters
  
• Translation updates for "Statistics" in the part info (all languages)
  
• Menu text updates (all languages)
  
• Part manager/info text updates (all languages)
  
• Fixed missing text on the KR4-P3 reactor (all languages)
  
• Stock vessel text updates (Portuguese)
  
• Updated loading tips in the (Chinese languages)
  
• Fixed a text formatting issue in the Training Center (Italian, French, German, Japanese)
  
• Save data font adjustments (Korean)
  
• Fixed a minor language issue, where the confirmation box was displayed in the previous language after making a language change in settings
  

[h2]Submitting Bug Reports and Feedback[/h2]
If you'd like to provide feedback about this build, there are many different ways to do so: Submit Feedback through the Game Launcher Suggest a Change on the KSP Forums Join us on Discord to discuss potential changes

Bug reports should be shared to either: Private Division Customer Support Dedicated Bug Reports on the KSP Subforum

Hello fellow Kerbonauts!

Okay, we've got a date for the v0.1.2.0 patch - it'll arrive next Wednesday, April 12. We'll post patch notes on that day as well. There's a nice blend of performance, stability, UI, and visual improvements, and we think these add up to a significantly improved KSP2 experience. One unheralded improvement, in addition to the already announced fixes - the nighttime lighting at KSC has taken a big step forward:



Meanwhile, we're continuing to work on upcoming Science Mode features, re-entry and thermal systems, and of course ongoing improvements to performance and stability. We've also begun some investigations into improving the currently wobbly rocket situation, and we should have more to discuss on that subject soon.

For today's Weekly Challenge, we're going to Eve! Until the future arrival of re-entry heating, you've got a great opportunity to do a little low-risk sightseeing (and if you visit after next Wednesday, you'll get to experience Eve's stunning new height fog, as well):



Also, check out this week's burger-iffic Community Highlights post. So many amazing creations this week! There's also a new TikTok!

I'm heading out for a few days' rest in a place that has sunshine, which means next week's updates will be made by guest writers. Please be nice to them, but also don't be so nice to them that my bosses decide I shouldn't do the posts anymore. Please be medium nice to them.

See you in two weeks!

--
Keep up with all things Kerbal Space Program:
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Hello Kerbonauts!

While last week's AMA was great, it looks like I forgot to check my staging when lining up the questions - many have pointed out that a lot of Discord queries got answered, but questions submitted through Steam and the KSP Forums were neglected. I'll try to be more conscious of that when the next AMA rolls around, but in an effort to right a past injustice, I'll answer a few of the questions that got missed right now! Here we go:

First, from Filip Hudak, on the forums: When we'll see other exotic fuel types like metallic hydrogen? Will they be added alongside some big update like colonies or will they be added before?

• We will be bringing in new engine and fuel types across multiple updates, generally as they become instrumental to the progression. I suspect nuclear pulse will be next up, as it opens up the interplanetary progression quite nicely and is a good supplement to colony building. Chris Adderley has also cooked up a few new methalox engines that I think will be popping up sooner rather than later.
  

From Moons, on the forums: Adjustable UI/UX, legacy UI, scaling, modularity.

• This is a good example of an area that's being developed iteratively. I think the first goal is to give players the ability to rescale the flight HUD, but making it modular and giving both players and modders more control over how things look is a key priority for the UX/UI team.
  

From walkingwiki666, on Steam: Will the game's price increase as new features are added?

• The game's price will certainly increase when 1.0 arrives, though if you purchased the game during Early Access, you'll get all Early Access updates and the 1.0 update for free. After 1.0, we expect to continue providing free updates to the game, just like KSP1 did.
  

From MARL_MK1, on the forums: It is cool that we can press 'F2' and take HUD-less screenshots, but given that it's the most basic way of taking screenshots, and that many of us players enjoy taking the best pictures possible of our crafts: Does KSP2 plan to implement a fully fleshed C?

• I need to do a better job of evangelizing our capture camera controls! If you hit V, you can cycle through camera modes. When you're in Capture Mode, the numpad offers a bunch of new camera controls that you can combine to do smooth, swoopy pans, dollies, zooms, etc. You can combine these with paused time warp to do some pretty fancy stuff. Here are those controls:
  
• Zoom in: Keypad +
  
• Zoom out: Keypad -
  
• Roll left: Keypad 7
  
• Roll right: Keypad 9
  
• Orbit up: Keypad 8
  
• Orbit down: Keypad 5
  
• Orbit left: Keypad 4
  
• Orbit right: Keypad 6
  
• Pan up: Keypad 2 (or up arrow)
  
• Pan down: Keypad 0 (or down arrow)
  
• Pan left: Keypad 1 (or left arrow)
  
• Pan right: Keypad 3 (or right arrow)
  
• Mouse toggle: Backslash
  
• Speed up camera movement: Keypad
• 
  
• Slow down camera movement: Keypad /
  

From alphaprior, on the forums: Will it be possible to alter the surface on the planets? Like dig a pit or flatten an area for a colony?

• There are no current plans to do this - as you can imagine, it has some brain-bending multiplayer implications, especially when time warp gets involved. But it would be incredibly cool and I'm not aware of any specific technical blockers. It's certainly come up in conversations with Mortoc, our senior graphics engineer. I mean, we have a game with nuclear pulse engines...the fact that you can't make craters with them feels like a missed opportunity. So yeah, we'll keep talking about this.
  

Thanks for your questions!

Onto business. We have knocked out a few more bugs for Patch Two, including that pesky issue where vehicles with more than 8 parts in a radial symmetry set were loading into the floor. We've just about wrapped up the cherry picking process and can say with confidence that it'll be out sometime in the next two weeks. We'll post an exact date for Patch Two as soon as we know it.

As we continue stabilizing and improving performance, we're also making progress on re-entry heating, new parts, and Science Mode. And just to highlight that other, bigger systems are always being worked on in parallel, here's some pictures of our QA team goofing off in multiplayer:



Yes, collision is working:



Last week's Duna-focused Weekly Challenge yielded some incredible creations! If you're in the mood to see highlights, the most-upvoted posts on both the ksp2_challenges and ksp2_screenshots Discord channels are now archived in the ksp2_bestof channel. There, you'll see stuff like this:



Those hydrogen tanks shine up real nice!

Finally, an apology: we've had some minor technical difficulties getting the next Weekly Challenge put together, but we hope to be bale to get something posted over the weekend. We regret the delay.

--
Keep up with all things Kerbal Space Program:
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Hi Kerbonauts!

Last week we sat down with Creative Director Nate Simpson for our first Ask Me Anything on Discord! We got over 600 questions, collected from Discord, Steam, and the KSP forums. Nate answered a ton of questions-the full AMA can be found here. As a reminder, we're in Early Access! Plans can change.

We've tried our best to organize the questions based on topic, happy reading! Thank you to everyone who submitted questions and tuned into the AMA. We can't wait to do this again in the future!

[h2]Development and Community Feedback[/h2]
Has there been any piece of community feedback/content that you and the team find especially motivating?

• Anytime I hear about someone who wasn't able to get into KSP1 get into KSP2, that's incredibly motivating. Especially when it's kids. Feels great to hear kudos that someone feels we're on the right track with things, whether it be UI, soundtrack, etc. Howard, our composer, has been showered with praise upon the EA release - and it's SO deserved. When we hear nice things, it energizes us.
  

What is the reasoning behind not allowing Early Access players the ability to use the debug menu? Since it is a sandbox game its omission seems odd, especially for Early Access. Will it be included at some point for single player campaigns?

• So, the debug controls were really only added for internal developer purposes, and we haven't really done any QA testing - or really created any design specs for it. Adding a debug menu could change a million variables that would really make it hard to investigate bugs. I want there to be a player-focused debug menu one-day.
  

Now that the first patch is out, what are you mainly focusing on?

• Stability, performance, new features, in the order. Obviously, I am eager to see heat be implemented. We've shared the visuals but there's also the actual heating system. Thermal kinda feels like the final pillar we need for the structural outline of KSP2 to be complete so we can start building on top of it with the EA milestones.
  

Are big features like science or interstellar on the backburner until the game is better optimized, or are the big features being developed alongside bug and performance patches?

• It's more parallel. People are focused on different things at the same time.
  

What was your favorite thing to work on in KSP2? What was your least favorite thing to work on?

• Favorite things: probably tutorials. Tapped into my own passions as a storyteller, especially visual storytelling. Learning how we can convey complex topics with amazing animations.
  
• Least favorite: probably tutorials. We iterated like CRAZY with them - redid them multiple times. Multiple scripts, multiple animations, lots of work. We eventually had breakthroughs on each one, but it was a process.
  

What has been the most challenging feature to work on?

• For me: see above - tutorials.
  
• For the team: heavy technical stuff. Adapting architecture to interstellar scale, accelerating trajectories, multiplayer. These make almost everything hard to implement, but we're making progress!
  

Will there be more tutorials in game, such as the ones being uploaded to TikTok, etc.?

• For the in-game tutorials, we have quite a few already made. The animations are already made for 9 or 10 of them. As new features are being added to the game, tutorials will come alongside them.
  

[h2]Rockets and Parts[/h2]
How much time and research goes into deciding what kind of rocket/space plane parts get into KSP2?

• A LOT. Chris Adderley (Nertea) is an amazing researcher and has a ton of existing knowledge. We also work with subject matter experts like Dr. Uni Shumlak from the University of Washington. We hold ourselves to the standard of rooting everything in game to real life science. Even if it's not a perfect implementation, if you look it up on Wikipedia you discover our features are real. We spend a lot of time on the Atomic Rockets website as well!
  

What is one feature/part/idea you really wanted to implement, but would not/could not for whatever reason?

• This game is unique because we basically never say "no" to things. We often "defer" things because there's more important things to work on. Like for example, Chris and I want to add a proper airliner cockpit, but it's going to take time and effort from our team. Hopefully we'll get to it someday!
  

In regards to the decision to leave wobbly rockets within the game. Are there plans to make this feature more detrimental to rocket design and progression? Or is this simply an early implementation of something that'll become more elaborate and significant?

• This is a really good example of how having something in Early Access helps us iterate and develop features forward. This is definitely a hot topic, so here's my two cents: If a rocket is skinny and made of many stacked parts, it should wobble. Larger scales, no. We're working on it; it will get better.
  

Will there by XL-sized launch engines, and if so, are there any estimates on when they will be added?

• We have some very big engines that will arrive with the Interstellar update. People have seen the Crucible which is MASSIVE. Big Engines Coming!
  

[h2]Science Mode[/h2]
Are there going to be any significant changes to the science system in KSP2, or any changes that you feel are worth talking about?

• For context, the first of the progression modes that will be coming in a roadmap update will be science mode. It will be similar to the KSP1 experience. Gaining science points, redeeming them for parts. Differences would include: We don't want people to be able to gather huge amounts of science around the KSC. We want to push people to explore and visit all the other Celestial Bodies. There will be an opt-in mission system that gives you a reward for doing a particular thing.
  

[h2]Colonies[/h2]
Will certain resources needed for colony construction be planet/biome specific?

• The diversity of resources is what's going to make exploration mode so fun. Compared to KSP1 which was very self-directed (take temperatures, etc.), when there is a unique resource somewhere that gates your access to some category of parts/features - wow it totally changes the game. It gives you something material, the interplanetary/interstellar progression will really POP once you're able to dig up a specific thing that gives you a specific ability.
  

What kind of size range can we expect with colonies? Will all colonies be roughly the same size, or will we be able to have small 1-2 launch research colonies along with our gigantic industrial ones? Will there be any upper size limit?

• There's no plan for an enforced upper-size limit. It'll be smaller to vehicles: it's made of parts - we want people to make it as large as they want. Obviously not all computers can handle massive builds, so there will probably be a player-dependent FPS-based size limit.
  

[h2]Interstellar[/h2]
When interstellar is implemented, are the different solar systems going to be stationary or are they going to orbit something (to simulate a galaxy)?

• One of the things I learned very early in the project is that the movement of stars around a galactic center is very unintuitive compared to normal movement. Especially when you're dealing with stuff like dark matter, it's unpredictable. Our current implementation is that thye do move relative to the galactic plane, but we want other stars to be moving targets that you'll still have to get an intercept for.
  
• Short answer: yes.
  

Will we see many more star systems and other interstellar objects added throughout the game's map as the years go on?

• We've committed to three star systems leading up to 1.0. I'd love to add more circumstances permitting. That's not an official plan, but that's what I personally want. We always come up with cool ideas for new celestial bodies - and we want to add new bodies that create new kinds of gameplay. When we have those ideas, we definitely want to get them into the game!
  

How useful will orbital construction be and how awesome are the colonies?

• Completely critical to interstellar progression. You can't make an interstellar vehicle in gravity well. Someone will definitely prove me wrong about that one day.
  

[h2]Multiplayer[/h2]
Can we get anything in writing related to the planned structure/function of multiplayer within the game, and how you plan to work around certain speedbumps like timewarp or two-player craft docking (ie where is the processing for this done?)?

• Generally, we try to not talk much about multiplayer but let me give you something. People will have separate timelines and then there will be a reconciliation phase when the players interact with each other. That's the plan right now but I also can't speak directly to the details of this feature - future comms incoming!
  

Do you expect multiplayer KSP2 to overtake single-player KSP2 in terms of player count and development when it releases? In other words, will single-player KSP2 become mostly obsolete?

• There's something about single-player KSP2 that can be very meditative. I don't always feel the need to share what I'm doing with everyone. I think single-player will always have a place.
  

[h2]Modding[/h2]
What is your favorite KSP2 mod so far?

• We are IMPRESSED by how many exist already. Selfishly, it's one from LinuxGuruGamer, someone who if you're part of the modding community you're probably already familiar with. It's a script that automatically collects relevant logs for bug reports to send our way. Definitely awesome.
  

Many community members across the modding scene have noticed that certain models often contain INSANE polygon counts. Will those be reviewed for optimization passes too?

• Already in progress. Some models actually need those insane polygon counts, like th IVA cockpits. Somethings unusually high polygon-count models slip through and we'll look to optimize them as our schedule allows. Patch notes will include lines such as "mesh optimization' which would basically be that.
  

[h2]Post 1.0 Launch[/h2]
Once the game is "complete" with everything on the roadmap implemented and debugged, is it possible development will continue with new features?

• KSP got updates for over a decade. We want to do the same thing.
  

Will robotics be implemented in a future update?

• Probably not before 1.0. There's a lot of work leading up to the full 1.0 release. When we get to it, we want to make sure it's fully implemented, so after 1.0...one day.
  

Any thoughts on adding VR support to KSP2 in the future?

• Yes, I want it badly. Conversation will happen after 1.0.
  

[h2]KSP2 Miscellaneous[/h2]
Any plans to have a solid planet that is about the size of Jool or perhaps larger?

• We do have a super-Earth in the game: Ovin. It's not as big as Jool, I think it's 60% larger than Kerbin. It has its own rings. It's big enough to make landing hard. No plans for a Jool-sized terrestial planet. Should we do it, community?
  

Will we have (and when) realistic plasma/smoke tail after reentering spacecraft and different colors of heated plasma because of different speeds of reentry?

• Different atmospheres probably have different colors of plasmas - different ionization attributes. Going back to that iterative development point, the first version of re-entry heating will be one color, but the spec definitely calls for multiple colors based on location and atmospheric composition.
  

Will atmosphere-rich celestial bodies have weather patterns sometime in the future? If so, would this weather have any physical effect on your vessel?

• We do not have short-term plans for that. We have planets with tilt, so we could implement weather and seasons. But, we have a long runway ahead of us. Never say never, but yeah if we wanted to implement these features, we'd want it to affect gameplay in some way, so we'd need to figure that out. There's also the whole 'once we implement more modding capabilities' to the game, it's totally possible something like this is added by the community.
  

Are there plans to have collaborations for missions and/or other scenarios in-game with IRL space agencies such as NASA, ESA, etc.?

• Yes. Yes. Yes. We did that stuff in the past, and we're so excited about the things they're doing. It really just matters what those institutions are doing. If anyone knows people there, we're waiting by our phones...
  

[h2]General Miscellaneous[/h2]What non-KSP game/piece of media has inspired you and the team the most?

• There's a video called "The Wanderers" by Eric Wernquist. It's a beautiful, very short video, that definitely feels like our 'north star' for what we want KSP2 to feel like. It has these beautiful-rendered scenes of humankind exploring the solar system. We watch it fairly frequently and show it to new hires.
  

If you read all of this (or scrolled to the bottom hehe)...snacks for you! 🍬

While it’ll be tough to beat the sheer number of fixes that went into Patch One, we’re seeing quite a few big ones go down in Patch Two. We are still pulling a couple of late-breaking improvements into that build - once we’ve got it in QA’s hands we should be able to give you a date, and of course full patch notes will be posted when the build goes public. Until that time, here are a few things that are already checked into Patch Two:

• Fixed loss of vehicle on reference frame change when physicsless parts present
  
• Fixed flamed-out engines not restarting properly
  
• Enabled switching between vehicles in atmospheric flight (within PhysX bubble)
  
• Recovered Kerbals now return to VAB Kerbal Manager
  
• Gave click priority to planets rather than moons when zoomed out in Map view
  
• Struts and fuel lines no longer broken after cloning subassembly in VAB
  
• Fixed bug: vessels with no control deleted during save
  
• Fixed flowers on Kerbin
  
• Added "next" button to seizure warning screen
  
• Height fog added to all atmospheres
  
• Updated parking garage collision (now possible to enter structures)
  
• Various CPU and GPU optimizations to improve performance
  

There are other improvements that we’re hoping to squeeze into Patch Two (one of which got checked in last night), so hopefully a few more big-ticket items will get added to the list in the coming days.

Here are a couple of screenshots to show our progress. We have pruned all the hovering flowers made of squares and replaced them with flowers made of flowers:



We’re also pretty excited about how nice the new height fog is looking. It’s a subtle change, but it adds a lot of depth to the landscape:



In other news, I did a Discord AMA this morning. Thank you for all your questions - we received literally thousands of them and did our best to include as wide a variety as possible. This was lots of fun, and we’ll be doing more AMAs in the future! We’ll do our best to choose different questions the next time around so that things don’t get too repetitive. If you’ve got thoughts about how we can improve our AMA process, please let us know!

A written version of the Discord AMA will be posted within the next week. Stay tuned!

We’ve also got another Community Highlights post on the forum - it’s very exciting to see how Patch One has unblocked some more ambitious missions! Please keep sharing your creations in the #ksp2_screenshots and #ksp2_challenges Discord channels- our team is fueled by your crashes achievements! We’ve also added an upvote system to both of those Discord channels. If you like something, add an :upvote: emoji. If an image in one of those channels gets fifteen or more upvotes, it’ll appear in a new channel called #ksp2_bestof. If you posted a screenshot you’re proud of that has now been lost in the mists of time, feel free to resubmit your creation so that the community can give it the upvotes it deserves!

And speaking of Weekly Challenges, we’ve got a new one: this week, we’re heading out to Duna!

Have a great weekend!

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