Kerbal Space Program 2 News

For Science! OUT NOW!

[h3]KERBONAUTS, WE HAVE LIFTOFF! 🚀[/h3]

The time is now - For Science! is now available! We're so excited to release this major content update to everyone.

Full release notes for v0.2.0.0 can be found here. We'd love to hear from you about feedback and bug reports on the update - please submit them to the KSP Forums.

Dive into and explore For Science! – and don’t forget to share with us your creations, accomplishments, and discoveries.

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To celebrate the release of For Science!, Kerbal Space Program 2 is 20% off until January 4th, 2024 at 1PM ET.

The For Science! update comes with a brand-new campaign type - Exploration Mode, which adds progression and Science collection through missions, experiments, and journeying through the Kerbolar System. Collect and transmit Science from unique locations and redeem it back at the Kerbal Space Center's (KSC) newly opened Research and Development Center to unlock new part technologies, learn novel concepts, and journey further away from the Kerbal's home planet. While working through the tech tree, unlock the means to extend your reach across the Kerbolar System - from right at home on Kerbin, to the furthest regions of Eeloo, and to the murky depths of Eve. Exponential progression ensures that the rewards for your efforts match your ambitions.

How will you collect Science? With all new Science collection parts! Integrate these parts to vehicles (be sure to take note of their shape and mass, it matters!) to carry out different experiments, depending on your mission. Keep an eye out for new Kerbal animations when Science gathering during Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA)!

We've overhauled the Science collection and transmission interface for KSP2. During flight, it's now easy to know when there's an opportunity to take measurements or collect samples via a new Experiment Actions button, which provides detailed information about what opportunities are available in your current location. The brand-new Research Inventory gives clear information about how much Science you've already collected and the ability to transmit Science data. The Mission Tracker app helps you keep track of in-progress and completed objectives. New flight planning tools have also been added to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), including altitude and environment-specific readouts that show thrust-to-weight ratio, burn time, and Delta-V for each stage. Data persists and continuously updates in-flight.

On your journeys, uncover a wealth of new research locations and mysterious geological formations spread across the Kerbolar System. Locate them and unlock special Science-gathering opportunities - we wonder what you're going to find...

The days of stress-free atmospheric re-entry have come to an end with the introduction of atmospheric re-entry heating effects and thermal part behavior.

We've also made significant quality of life improvements:

An enhanced joint system has been developed, dramatically reducing wobbliness of large vehicles
Updated ambient sound systems
An all-new Boat Dock - complete with cranes and gantries for use both in-and-out of missions. With this comes additional buoyancy improvements!

From us at Intercept Games and Private Division, thank you. We hope you enjoy For Science! and your time amongst the stars!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/954850/Kerbal_Space_Program_2/

For Science! v0.2.0.0 Release Notes

[h2]New Features & Content[/h2]

Added a new game mode called "Exploration Mode"
Adding Mission Control and Research & Development (R&D) Center buildings
Added a Tech Tree with 4 tiers
Added the Mission Tracker app
Added 11 Primary missions and 30 Secondary missions
Added the Research inventory app
Added 9 new Science collection parts
Added several unique points of interest throughout the Kerbolar System
Implemented thermal system for part heating
Implemented re-entry VFX
Implemented Delta-V tools in both VAB and flight
Added fully-functional buoyancy system for floating vessels
Implemented a new audio ambience system
Added the first implementation of the Cheats Menu (ALT+F8)
Added a boat dock environment
Added two new tutorials
Added new messages to the Cadet Orientation System
Added dozens of new items to the Kerbal Variety System
Added the K0 starter rocket stock vessel

[h2]Bug Fixes and Improvements[/h2]

[h3]Flight & Map[/h3]

Implemented reinforced joints system and accompanying player-adjustable joint mode settings
Overhauled buoyancy behavior
Fixed: Acceleration under timewarp stops working after reaching specific in-game time (UT) while in orbit around some CBs
Fixed: Buoyancy displacement incorrect for parts with variety drag cubes
Fixed: Landing legs deployed at high speeds are ripped off of the vessel
Fixed: Vessels sink or are destroyed due to mismatched terrain colliders
Fixed: Vessel falls through the ground when camera moves more than ~2500m away from it
Improved issue where rovers flip after driving a short distance from their load origin location
Fixed: Visual drift on several engines when using high timewarp
Fixed: Vessel parts move out of place when switching to a rocket in orbit while at the KSC or Tracking Station
Fixed: Vessels end up in a bad state wen switching away from the vessel in orbit
Fixed: Vessel parts are out of place after disengaging timewarp at very low orbit around Mun
Reduced floating point precision loss on rotating reference frames
Fixed: Ship is destroyed when switching away from the vessel while engines are running
Fixed: Two docked vessels become stuck and unable to undock after a third vessel is docked
Improved trajectory AP/PE values changing when saving and loading while in orbit around any CB
Added AP/PE display to maneuver trajectories appearing within SOIs
Projected trajectory and actual trajectory now both show periapses for the targets in relative SOIs after a maneuver has been performed
Fixed: Kerbals appear as vessels in Map
Fixed: Orbit tag displays incorrect celestial body name
Fixed: "Timewarp to Point" appears as an option for planned trajectories
Celestial body name is shown on both the default and expanded view of every AP/PE marker
Changed "Enter/Exit SOI" marker to "Encountering/Leaving CB Name"
Orbital markers inherit the color of the current trajectory or planned maneuver trajectory
Fixed: Vessel and other icons clip into celestial bodies in Map view
Fixed: Maneuver gizmo can still be manipulated if the player pauses while manipulation is occuring
Added "control" and "focus" to Kerbal action buttons in Tracking Station to align with vessel actions
Fixed: Returning to KSC while paused in another SOI breaks KSC
Reduced the frequency of "Solar Panels Ineffective" notification
Fixed: VesselOutOfElectricity message event does not trigger when EC is exhausted
Fixed: Notification does not display when trying to increase timewarp past the limit using hotkeys
Fixed: Player receives "Loss of Control" notifications when discarding boosters
Fixed: "Vessel out of EC" notification fires when the vessel or Kerbal doesn't have EC to start with
Fixed: Staging a vessel collapses the Delta-V information in the staging stack
Fixed: Vessel continues to accelerate after resuming control from Tracking Station, and turning off engines
Fixed: Vessels on launch clamps are not considered landed when at the launchpad
Fixed: Throttle sometimes jumps to 100% when passing 20km altitude above Kerbin
Fixed: Some engine gimbals don't work when offscreen (e.g. in Map mode)
Added vessel loss prompt when using the Escape Menu option to leave flight while vessel is on a collision course
Adjusted flight report to remove revert options from vessels that are currently in-flight or have been recovered
Fixed: Map UI info panel fails to display buttons and flight information for EVA Kerbals
Fixed: Portraits for both Kerbals are not present when docking vessels that have one Kerbal each
Fixed: Jetpacks sometimes show up in Kerbal portraits
Fixed: Tooltips on map items duplicated due to camera distance
Fixed: EC values from destroyed electrical parts remain in the Vessel Resources UI
Fixed: Flight HUD velocity displays decimals but only updates on integers at velocities above 999 m/s
SAS vector hold indicator now displays appropriate highlight when selected
Fixed: Temperature gauges stay on screen when switching scenes
Fixed: Disconnected parts sometimes remain linked when joints are broken between parts
Fixed: Kerbol not visible between altitudes of 1000 MM and 750 MM in flight
Fixed: Deployed parachutes that have moved from the parts bin to the first stage do not stage properly
Fixed: Vessels landed on CBs other than Kerbin can be recovered using Info Panel in Tracking Station
Fixed: Part destruction causes assertion error
Fixed: Recovering vessel causes Null Reference Exception
Fixed: Looking directly at Kerbol from a semi major axis of ~25,210,000,000 m or more causes error flood
Fixed: Tracking station shows shows incorrect values for atmospheric pressure, sphere of influence and rotational velocity for CBs

[h3]Optimizations[/h3]

Improved performance of SimulationObjectView by returning pre-cached components
Improved performance of loading stock vessel metadata by only reading from meta .json files
Moved buoyant force algorithm to job system to address spinning of floating parts and to improve performance and stability
Improved water detection performance
Terrain rendering time reduced by ~30-50% based on location
Removed separate re-rendering of cloud edges to improve performance
Fixed: Cloud resources not released after changing cloud quality settings
Optimized shadow rendering for clouds
Fixed: Light bulb parts cause performance issues
Fixed: Frame rate drops when generating new Kerbals using the Kerbal Manager in the VAB
Fixed: Memory leak in PartBehaviorSystem

[h3]Menus & Settings[/h3]

Changing from Full Screen to Windows maintains resolution settings
Graphics Settings for resolution now default to the current resolution, if present on the dropdown
Fixed: Some accessibility settings do not visually update UI to represent saved setting state
Fixed: Graphics quality settings do not apply correctly when selecting medium quality
Fixed: General settings don't have descriptions for all options
Fixed: Part animations in Main Menu display incorrectly
Updated KSP2 Credits

[h3]Saving & Loading[/h3]

Fixed: Title freezes at loading screen after reverting to the VAB several times from flight
Fixed: Save files take a long time to load, and in some cases the vessel is absent after loading
Fixed: Struts don't appear on a vessel if the vessel was previously loaded onto a launch pad
Fixed: Close button doesn't work in the Workspace File Name input field inside the Save Workspace dialog
Changed "vehicles" to "workspaces" in VAB Save/Load menu titles to reduce confusion
Fixed: Save Workspace menu shows vehicle names instead of workspace names for player workspaces

[h3]Parts & Stock Vessels[/h3]

Fixed: "RF-AD-XL 2500" fueled adapter model is invisible
Fixed: "Tuba" engine experiences attachment offset at high warp speeds
Fixed: Landing legs and wheel parts under compression fully extend during timewarp
Fixed: Landing legs have issues when switching to map while they are extending or retracting
Fixed: "Labradoodle" engine moves out of place when timewarping at 1,000,000x speed in flight
Fixed: Already-deployed shrouds sometimes reappear when game is reloaded
Added heatshield functionality to existing heatshield parts
Fixed: DTS-M1 antenna collider stuck in deployed state
Fixed: Surface attach node definition for MK3 engine mount is missing
Added bottom node to inflatable heat shield
Fixed: Stack-attached parts incorrectly detected as contents of a cargo bay
Fixed: Missing drag properties for some structural parts
Improved clipping of landing legs through terrain and other surfaces during time warp
Minor tuning pass on many parts, including Command and Structural drag cube and buoyancy scalars
Tuning pass on drag cubes for all parts
Fixed: "Goliath" engine fan doesn't animate when throttled up/down

[h3]UI / UX[/h3]

Updated UI for the KSC launchpad menu
Updated UI for the Training Center
Updated Launchpad Menu UI
Updated UI on the KSC Menu
Updated visuals for alert notifications panel
Updated visuals for UI Notifications
Passive notifications moved to the top of the screen
Updated UI for all app windows for stylistic consistency
Fixed: Alert & Passive Notifications don't scale properly when switching between resolutions
Fixed: Passive notifications remain on screen indefinitely when the game is paused
Updated boat launch icon
Consistency pass on KSC facility icons
Updated color for scrollbars
Increased font size for Game mode descriptions
Updated UI on tutorial arrows and indicator areas
Resized tutorial arrows
Tutorial gifs display at consistent size
Fixed: Fuzzy edges on the VAB Tool Bar UI
Fixed: UI does not properly highlight when hovering on the save vehicle save/load menu
Fixed: Ellipses have incorrect vertical position due to font issue
Fixed: Action Bar Bento Menu button text runs into edge of box
Fixed: Text misaligned when viewing EVA controls in flight
Fixed: Text is cut off and illegible in the Time Warp and Breadcrumb UI while on the lowest fullscreen resolution
Fixed: Text cut off in Training Center due to scroll masking

[h3]Construction[/h3]

Fixed: Attaching a subassembly to another part using the stack attach node of a symmetrical child part causes crash
Fixed: LES "Bottle Rocket" Solid Fuel Booster appears as a white box icon in the staging stack
Fixed: Assembly Anchors cannot be changed on non-launch subassemblies
Fixed: Copied decouplers are not copied to a new stage
Fixed: Symmetrically-placed parts remain held and cause a Null Reference Exception after removing and reattaching an edited subassembly
Fixed: Area around staging stack in the VAB is camera movement dead zone

[h3]Environments[/h3]

Upgraded water refraction for Kerbin and Laythe
Adjusted Eve's ocean waves
Adjusted ocean waves on Kerbin and Laythe
Adjusted Eve's ocean underwater surface visibility
Fixed: Visual artifacts appear in Jool's atmosphere while within Jool's SOI in flight mode
Fixed: Visible steps in cloud rotation due to low float precision
Fixed: Cloud shadows cause light flickering on vessels in low Kerbin orbit while on high quality settings
Fixed: Clouds disappear at some locations when set to low quality
Fixed: Height mismatch between local and scaled clouds under medium quality settings
Fixed: Eve's upper atmosphere has a semi-sharp upper border
Increased resolution for close-range terrain textures on all celestial bodies
Fixed: Laythe low quality clouds have a pixelated glow effect on them
Fixed: Terrain appears pixelated when seen up-close
Fixed: Dres ridge and some other decal-based landforms don't have proper collision
Fixed lighting flashes when loading new scenes or changing vessels
Updated collision mesh for Air Traffic Control Tower
Fixed: Negative scale errors reported in log files

[h3]EVA[/h3]

Fixed: Loading a game that was saved while an EVA Kerbal was holding onto a vehicle causes the Kerbal to fall off the vehicle
Fixed: If a Kerbal jumps during time warp while in flight mode, the Kerbal becomes unresponsive
Fixed: If ladder is shaking, Kerbal resting on ladder becomes offset over time
Adjusted jetpack material to better match kerbal spacesuit

[h3]FX & Audio[/h3]

Fixed: Ambient sound stops working when leaving flight view and coming back
Fixed: Audio events do not persist when entering the main menu upon exiting or saving a game
Fixed: Audio mutes on text entry on Campaign screen if you use numpad 1 or 2
Fixed: Audio does not detect collisions with non-terrain objects correctly
Fixed: Water impact splash does not change with part velocity
Fixed: Water splashes spawn at incorrect orientations
Fixed: KSC ambient music plays while in Cadet Orientation mode
Fixed: Math issues in water level detection vs part bounding boxes caused apparent hovering of floating vessels

[h3]Tutorials[/h3]

Fixed: Title crashes after deleting parts during Tutorial 1 and then quitting to Main Menu
Added a setting to disable Cadet Orientation after creating a campaign
Fixed getting stuck on the final step after using time warp to reach a stable orbit trajectory during tutorial "Establishing an Orbit"
Fixed voiceover getting stuck when player fails tutorial "Manipulating Orbits"
Fixed: Tutorial highlight overlaps Altimiter in the Flight Cluster
Fixed: Engineer's Report and Flight Planner crowd one another in the VAB tutorial
Updated arrows position for several tutorials

[h3]Modding[/h3]

Changing unit culture to be invariant for some text parsing scenarios

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

If paused in-flight, switching to Mission Control causes the loading screen to hang.
- Workaround: Press '>' to resume time.
Orbit Surveys are difficult to run on small celestial bodies.
- Workaround: Geostationary or big elliptical orbits should allow the player to run those experiments. The intention of this part is for it to scan the regions underneath the vessel as it moves over them - however right now, it pauses when a new region is encountered, something that occurs a lot when moving fast over some CBs. We are internally testing improvements to this so the part can get its data with less babysitting.
Miscellaneous text issues in missions, i.e. debrief text repeating.
- Significant amounts of text went into this update, so a few things slipped through the cracks. Even if they're minor, please do report them!
Separators below a root part will cause improper separation causing loss of control.
- Workaround: Consider using decouplers instead of separators if you're running into this issue.
Solar panels are sometimes blocked when in Jool's sphere of influence even when Kerbol is in clear view.
After staring at the Sun from Jool's 'surface', black dots may appear and persist even when transitioning back to the KSC.
Surface-attached lights don't turn on properly when launching for the first time.

[h2]Common Workarounds[/h2]
If you run into an issue, the first thing you should try is saving and reloading. We have found many common issues to be quickly fixed using this method. You can additionally try reverting to launch.

[h2]A Note on Heat[/h2]
It's important to keep in mind that the Part Heat System in KSP2 is different than KSP1, so do not expect parity in this area. Tuning the numbers for the heat system will be a long-term project, so feedback is appreciated!

[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

The Exploration Era Begins

For us early fans of the original Kerbal Space Program, there were so many things to enjoy during those first sandbox days. Whether it was the slapstick fun of stringing together small fuel tanks (there was only one size) into impossibly huge rockets, or the eternal search for unlikely uses for the game's only “robotic” part (the landing leg), KSP was a good time from the very beginning.

Ah, the good old days. (Courtesy of TD Channel)

If HarvesteR and Squad had stopped there, Kerbal would likely still be remembered as a beloved curiosity. But then they added Science Mode. Suddenly, the game had goals: anywhere you went in the Kerbolar System, you could gather a Science currency that could be spent at the R&D Center to research new technologies. Over time, an expanding roster of new parts were added to the game, and lo and behold, KSP became undeniable.

With the siren song of new celestial bodies calling out to me, my own campaign saves turned into epic sagas. I became attached to the individual Kerbals who crewed my first, stumbling Mun missions. Stranded survivors of landings gone awry could not be left behind. That first Mun landing was a moment to remember, but the first Mun rescue was even better!

As that narrative emerged — and as I invested my crews with personalities and dreams — the game began to invade other parts of my life. I have a strong recollection of designing a Laythe rescue rocket in the margins of my meeting notes at work. It not only had to land upright in Laythe’s ocean, but had to deploy a boat to collect the survivors of a previous mission who had contrived to get stranded several kilometers apart from one another. And then the whole thing had to take off from the water again to rendezvous in orbit with a Kerbin return vehicle.

The missions became puzzles that I couldn't put down. To feed my growing hunger for design ideas, I first turned to the KSP Subreddit, where others (some of whom clearly knew a thing or two about space travel) were achieving impossible things with their own space programs. Some of these creators drew inspiration from planned space missions, some of which were more speculative than others.

Thus was I introduced to the strange and beautiful universe of “what happens when the Kerbal spirit is applied to the material world.” Could you propel a ship with nuclear bombs? Yes, and we almost did! Could you build a plane that takes off from a runway, then switches from air-breathing mode to oxidizer mode to fly to orbit? You sure can try!

My Kerbal experience became a way to investigate many of these real-world mission architectures, and as a greater number of mods became available, virtually all things became possible. The real-world mission proposals all had awesome names that hinted at their audacity: Orion, Nautilus-X, Constellation. Sometimes it felt like I could wish them into being by building them in KSP. Not all of these dreams were as far off as they seemed — as SpaceX achieved the impossible goal of landing first stages propulsively, we all played along at home.

This video game had introduced me to a new and beautiful reality. When I knocked together my first goofy rocket, I didn't even really know what an orbit was. HarvesteR didn't just give me a game, he gave me an endless undertaking, the pursuit of which would lead me to Atomic Rockets, the NASA Spaceflight forum, and the videos of Scott Manley.

Tomorrow, Kerbal Space Program 2 is crossing that same threshold from “fun toy” to “trying to figure out in the shower how to make a rover when you haven't unlocked wheels yet at the R&D Center.” With the release of the For Science! update, the game receives several new features and numerous high-consequence bug fixes. I've been playing a single Exploration Mode campaign for a couple of months now, and I'm suddenly realizing that thousands of deeply-invested sagas are about to get underway.

Just unlocked some probe cores, it's time to fly to Duna!

My son was born a year after the original KSP’s debut. Now we're playing KSP2 together, and our own Exploration Mode campaign has just entered Tier 3 on the tech tree. We've Gotten Weird With It, somehow managing to unlock the nuclear NERV engines before having rover wheels, extendible ladders, or any but the smallest batteries. We've returned samples to Kerbin from Duna's North pole and the deep craters of Gilly. We've disintegrated more than one probe in the thick atmosphere of Eve, and we're assembling a very big nuclear rocket in low Kerbin orbit, with the goal of exploring all the moons of Jool in one go.

We've got a lot of empty docking ports on that main truss. Probes? Landers? Packing for Jool is always hectic.

It's so fun. It's really, really fun.

How is it different from KSP? Lots of ways, big and small. Science collection is a much smoother process that involves a lot less guesswork, and the new Science parts are pleasingly diverse, asking you to think hard about how to take advantage of their unique properties. To give one example, the long collection time of the ASCM-A "Air Sniffer" atmospheric science module requires you to develop a loiter capability. You’re either going to have to make a plane, or you’re going to need to get creative with your lander design!

We haven't unlocked the big engines yet, but that won't stop us from testing some spaceplane ideas!

The new terrain system really comes into its own here, as well. There’s no way to predict what you'll encounter when landing at a new location, and I often find myself sightseeing when I'm supposed to be doing serious science stuff. Adding to that feeling of mystery are the new Discoverables — one-of-a-kind points of interest, a couple dozen of which have been scattered throughout the Kerbolar System. My son and I have run across one of them so far (won't tell you where), and it was every bit as exciting a discovery as I'd hoped!

Tim C. Kerman clearly thinks he's discovered a delicious baked potato.

This update’s inclusion of re-entry heating and more rigid joints are of course hugely important to the overall experience, as are the recent corrections of a number of stability and performance issues. Buoyancy has also seen a major upgrade, and it’s now possible to build working seaplanes (and launch them from our brand-new boat docks)! The game is still in Early Access, which means there are still plenty of improvements to come (as well as plenty of opportunities to help us out by submitting your feedback and bug reports), but the simple fact is that the game is now very hard to put down.

My first glorious seaplane flight in KSP2 (inspired by this amazing real plane).

Go check out our deep dive video for a breakdown of everything that arrives tomorrow at 10am Pacific time in the For Science! update. We've got an all-new Mission system that offers you interesting new goals to pursue in your quest for Science, and there's a completely revamped R&D Center with four tiers of unlockable technologies. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing how deep into the Kerbolar System people can get with only the first research node unlocked. I suspect it's shockingly far. Could Eeloo be in play? Could somebody possibly manage an Eve landing and return? Only time will tell!

Eve, beguiling yet deadly!

The For Science! update is the first of a series of major Roadmap Updates. The next one brings colonies to the game, and future installments will add new star systems and new technologies to enable you to fly between them. We’ll also continue to listen to player feedback to get a sense of which changes are working well and which ones need further development.

The fun is just beginning!

2023 has been a year of challenges for KSP2, and we appreciate the huge role our community has played in helping us to identify and pursue areas of improvement. I also want to give a big shoutout to our Pioneers, whose dedication and eagerness to dig deep into early builds uncovered a lot of previously-invisible issues. I hope that as we pass this new milestone, you can feel how much passion and hard work the team at Intercept has poured into this game. We are proud of how far KSP2 has come, and we are equally grateful for the dedication and patience our players have shown over the past year. We certainly have come a long way in the last ten months.

From all of us at Intercept to all of you in the KSP community: thank you for your support. We’re excited to finally get the Exploration Era underway with all of you.

Don’t forget to check your staging, and I’ll see you on Laythe!

Nate

Kerbal Space Program 2's For Science update adds new Exploration mode

Kerbal Space Program 2 always had a big act to follow, as its predecessor remains one of the most incredible games on PC, offering a comprehensive simulation of space flight and exploration with an almost unparalleled level of depth. Launched in February 2023 in early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store, KSP2 has so far struggled to win over its audience, currently holding a 'mixed' Steam user review score, with one of the primary complaints being a sparseness of things to do. That's all about to change, however, with the launch of the new Kerbal Space Program 2 update For Science.

Read the rest of the story...

A Look into For Science!

Hi Kerbonauts!

For Science! launches in a few days on December 19th - here's a deep dive video with key members of the KSP team that covers what'll be available in the update (with some sweet new gameplay!).

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
ICYMI - for more information about For Science!, check out our:

We're in the final countdown!

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