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Kerbal Space Program

Cassidy

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Yay from 4 fps to 10! Rejoice!

And... console version?
The master race has trouble running the game already. How the fuck is a console going to run this game?
They don't have the PR shill budget of a "15 FPS is more cinematic than 30 FPS!" Ubisoft. It will be a greater flop than the most failed and shitty attempts of porting RTS games to consoles. Don't worry.
 

Drax

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I'm guessing the console version will have tighter limitations in part count, texture size, distance rendering, etc. Whatever, as long as they keep developing the pc one they can leech the peasents all they want.
 
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Ulminati

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Probably. You don't need many in ksp to begin with. A radial menu or two and you could easily squeeze the control scheme onto a gamepad without removing anything except maybe custom control groups.

The biggest hurdle by far seems to be the limited processing power of consoles. I'm not sure how they plan to work around that. But if they come up with any optimisations other than limiting part count, perhaps they can be applied to the PC version as well. Off the top of my head, if the game had an easy way to determine if parts were attached firmly enough to each other (yay struts), it could merge them into one rigid part for the physics simulation where CPU is usually gobbled up. That should free up some fps. Especially on ships with lots of little bits stuck onto a large module
 
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There is already a welding mod to combine multiple parts into one (with some limitations), so what Ulminati is saying should be possible. Hopefully Squad will continue to improve performance after 1.2, which should contain new gameplay (nothing that mods don't already give AFAIK).
 
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Ulminati

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It was the mod I had in mind. Except make the game apply it on the fly and recalculate if the ship collides with something or something detaches to change the stability of the part. In particular I think we could save a ton of physics calculations if docking ports were less wobbly
 
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Aye, docking mechanics seems to be a bit too finicky. I remember playing with values exposed by Tweakable Everything to make docking smoother. It does make it easier as well, so may be considered cheating.
 
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Ulminati

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Docking mechanics are fine as-is. It is the rigidity of the joint after docking that needs work. Although now that we get Kerbal Attachment System for 64 bit, I can fix it the old fashioned way: Send a kerbal on EVA to weld some struts onto a permanent docking connection in my orbital assembly projects.
 

dbx

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Official 1.1 is here
13000314_1168530993166123_4436930265228186728_n.jpg
 

Drax

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Also, you lost brofist potential by not posting the announcement:

Hello everyone!

Kerbal Space Program is “Turbo Charged” by the release of patch 1.1!

After almost a year of hard work our major update is finally here! In the package you’ll find a large boost in performance due to the upgrade to the Unity 5 game engine, 64 bit binaries for Windows and OSX that will help you mod the game to ridiculous lengths, and the brand new KSPedia reference guide for all the information you need to play the game!

That’s not all though, here are some of the highlights for this patch:


All new user interface
The user interface has been rewritten from the ground up to take full advantage of Unity 5’s new integrated systems. The ‘parallel’ UI systems have been removed and the game now uses only one system, adding to the performance bonus the update already brings. Almost all interface elements have been redesigned and tweaked but have retained the familiar feel for experienced players. The most notable tweaks can be found in the map view, staging, IVA portraits and the right-click part menus.


Players can now search through parts by typing in text greatly reducing the time needed to find that one part needed to complete the rocket. The Tracking Station will inform the player of a craft’s next maneuver node time, helping players to maintain several active flights at any one time. The Space Center overview features buttons for all the buildings, making sure you don’t miss out on any part of the space program by overlooking mission control!


KSPedia

KSPedia will be the primary source for information on just about anything in the game. New players will find the basics of building and flying explained here, and more experienced players can take in information about more advanced concepts such as docking, in-situ resource utilisation and all the information they need to plan a successful mission to the next planet or moon.


New tutorials and scenarios
The tutorials have been extended and reworked from the ground up. The new tutorials will cover topics ranging from basic and advanced construction and flight, to docking and landing on Mun. Learn how to execute the perfect gravity turn, orbit Kerbin and land the Eagle.

Not only tutorials have been reworked: we’ve extended the available pool of scenarios as well, increasing it by 150%! Use a spaceplane to re-enter the atmosphere and land it back on the runway at the Kerbal Space Center, return a craft without heat shield from Duna, or beat SpaceX at their own game by flying back the first stage of a rocket to the launch pad. These new scenarios will unlock these advanced topics for any player!
 

Data4

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The performance is fantastic, easily at .90 and earlier levels. Unfortunately, the Unity upgrade was such a change that the modding scene is slow to catch up. Some of the old standbys are there, like KER, MJ, and all of Roverdude's stuff (easy, since he's a Squad contractor), but a one particular mod that's pretty much a backbone to my gameplay is slow to update with the modder reporting some issues that he can't seem to work around. That's Procedural Parts. I'm also waiting on the spaceplane mods to catch up, like Mark IV by Nertea and OPT by K.Yeong. I never realized how much of a mod whore I was until I played stock for the first time since I-don't-know when the pre-release first went live. :(
 

Perkel

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god damn i just got properly into kerbal.

I once gave it a spin for 15 minutes and quickly turned it off claiming it is some crap but hot damn that game is deep like a fuck.

I thought it is all about lego creating some ship and take it on orbit but now i read about it and it is waaaay about more stuff and looks more like space engine than just some lego game.

My kind of autism !

I have now ton of things to figure out. Especially about mods. I saw people screeshots and game in them looks nothing like i am playing. Same with gameplay stuff. Shitload of stuff that seems fun
 

EG

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Hmm. Has been two years. Wonder how the tech tree's improved.

pRV1qccm.jpg


Always fun seeing how far you get with basic ships.
 

Infinitron

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DRAMA: http://www.develop-online.net/news/...am-studio-for-high-crunch-and-low-pay/0220059

Squad devs blast Kerbal Space Program studio for high crunch and low pay
dcce2622430e483ee28338e30ebe257b.png

‘Welcome to Squad; we pay you like shit, then fire you when your work is finished so we can just take it over,’ former media director PDtv says of $2,400 annual salary

The raging debate over working conditions in the development industry has once again reared its head, this time at Kerbal Space Program creator Squad.

Former media director ‘PDtv’ took to 4chan (later posted to Imgur) to vent his frustration with the Mexican studio’s treatment of its staff.

Among his accusations were claims that four members of staff – Anthony Keeton, ‘Captain Skunky’, Rob Nelson and himself – were let go from the company after “building the foundation” of the space exploration simulator.

“After running out of usefulness and competing the brunt of the work we were all fired,” he explained.

PDtv also criticised the developer’s low wages, saying: “$2,400 was my yearly salary working a full time eight hours a day, 40 hours a week job.”

“Welcome to Squad; we pay you like shit, then fire you when your work is finished so we can just take it over and maintain it,” he said bluntly.

Unfair working hours were also on PDtv’s list of grievances, with the ex-employee saying that another developer, ‘Max’, “was sometimes forced to work 16-plus hours a day EVERY day during crunch time while the other developers would get days off and only have to work eight hours a day”.

Following the post, other current and former Squad devs took to various social media sites to add their own perspective.

MechJeb mod creator and prominent community member r4m0n said that he had been contacted by “at least two different people” from Squad who backed up PDtv’s claims.

Squad employees were made to work “long hours, getting longer and merging days together when the opaque deadlines (and the releases have deadlines) get nearer”, he alleged.

“International workers seem to get the short end of the stick on this one, as most local workers on Squad HQ are bound to the usual hours.”

R4m0n also backed up PDtv’s comments regarding low pay.

“We're talking abysmally low wages,” he agreed.

“To be fair to Squad, the Mexican minimum wage is about $100 USD monthly, so they weren't technically paying anyone lower than the minimum wage... But the US and EU based workers were getting paid far too low to keep themselves with just KSP, and Squad demanded at least the 40-hour-plus weeks, and near release time that easily doubled.”

Game and server developer Rob Nelson, named by PDtv as one of those unfairly fired, issued a short statement claiming that his NDA restricted him from commenting on the allegations.

Another supposedly fired dev, Anthony Keeton, also cited an NDA as limiting his ability to confirm the claims, but did offer partial validation of the crunch complaints.

“All studios have crunch time, and issues, and bad decisions and good decisions made, does that make any of it right?” he asked. “No, far from it, in fact.

“The crunch time in particular is always a bad decision, it causes mistakes, and even health problems and Squad are guilty of demanding 12-plus-hour work days out of all of us. That much is true.”
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
http://www.destructoid.com/former-k...dio-for-poor-pay-and-crunch-time-359507.phtml

Houston, we have a problem

[Update: Squad has released a statement, denying all of the allegations below:

Regarding some recent comments made by former team members that caught community and press attention, we want to share the following statement:

In Squad we are very proud of having a very united team, committed to creating a high quality product, improving themselves as professionals, promoting and respecting the opinion of every member of the KSP community.

The comments made by those former team members does not reflect the reality of our company, but in Squad we will keep moving along with our commitment of respecting and listening to all of those who want to make constructive criticism about the company or KSP.​

To be honest it's not the most helpful statement ever, so it's up to you to decide who you believe now.]

Indie goliath Kerbal Space Program has been doing very well for itself. It came out of nowhere, got over one million sales on Steam alone, has console deals, and even has endorsements from NASA. With success like that, everyone at developer Squad should be really happy, right? Wrong.

Multiple former employees of Squad have come forward to decry the studio’s alleged high amounts of crunch time, regular firings, and incredibly poor pay, leading to the community to question where all the money is actually going.

It started when someone claiming to be former Media Director PDtv took to 4chan and revealed all, saying their NDA had expired (you can see the imgur screenshots in the gallery below, just in case anything ever happens to that link). According to them, four prominent Squad employees were fired once the studio figured out their work could be offloaded to someone else. They also mention the standard salary for Squad employees was $2,400 annually, or just $200 per month.

While at face value it’s difficult to prove that what PDtv is saying is necessarily true and not just a grudge of a former employee, and so should only be taken as rumour, others related to Kerbal Space Program have since come forward and bolstered the story.

On reddit, r4m0n, a prominent modder in the community who has had significant amounts of contact with Squad, listed multiple problems at the company, including long crunch hours, poor pay, rushed releases to fit the marketing department’s whims, and poor communication between the studio and its community moderators. Meanwhile, former developer NovaSilisko said that, for the 10-11 months they were there as an intern, they were paid a grand total of $2,700, after fees.

Other former staff, such as former Community Manager Anthony “Damion Rayne” Keeton and Game & Server Developer Rob “N3XI5” Nelson, have decided to remain more tight-lipped on the issue, citing currently active NDAs preventing them from being able to talk.

It’s worth pointing out that Squad is based in Mexico, where the minimum wage is $100 per month. While the claims suggest Squad is offering double that is great for those based in Mexico, the studio also hires a lot of international staff, of which they still expect a full 40-hour work week.

$2,400 annually might be reasonable in Mexico, where the cost of living is lower, but it definitely isn’t reasonable to expect developers elsewhere to commit full-time to a project when they could be paid that amount, and more, each month elsewhere.

So if staff are earning $2,400 annually, where are the rest of the funds for this massively successful game going? According to a Polygon feature from 2014 (before the game was finished, and before console versions were announced), Squad co-founder Adrian Goya was planning to form a new record label, and another co-founder, Ezequiel Ayarza, was hoping to have Squad produce a film he had written.

It’s not currently known if either of these projects are still in the pipeline, or whether attention has turned solely to Kerbal, but it’s still an interesting look at how the owners viewed Kerbal when many of these ex-employees worked there.

We have contacted Squad for comment on this issue, and will update if we receive a response.

https://dm.reddit.com/r/Games/comme...veloper_behind_kerbal_space/d2uidc6?context=3

This post is kind of a crappy way of introducing the entire controversy, let me summarize the situation better. I want to disclose that I am biased, as I'm on the side of "outraged at management", don't take everything I say as absolute truth and please form your own opinion.

The last two major releases of KSP have been questionable in quality. Known major game-breaking bugs getting through the QA phase and released to millions of people to play, followed by several hotfixes over the next few weeks that often break just as much as much as they solve. Last week, the devs were sent on vacation despite numerous of these game-breaking bugs going unfixed; so they remain for the next two weeks.

These bugs range from wheels being completely unusable for aircraft takeoff/landing, to landing leg collision boxes being flat out wrong, to crash to desktop when doing common operations in the CAB, to OSX UI completely freezing, to Linux builds not starting at all (though this is a Unity problem). Absolute messes that should have never been released and they were completely known. The fact that a hotfix comes out within the week signifies they weren't even necessarily difficult to fix.

This is fine and dandy for the early access a lot of us bought into, but 1.0 last year was their "out of Beta" release. They gave it to reviewers and they took the "Early Access" tag off in Steam. They're now selling this game for $40 as a fully functional product, but it's broken and absolutely does not support all the platforms they claim to. After the latest patch, the community has been less forgiving about the mistake and want some answers.

It was fairly obvious that this was a management issue from the start. In previous devnotes they've talked about their strict internal deadlines, which explains the crunch. "You haven't finished the release by the arbitrary date only we know? Well you better work 80 hour weeks because we won't change it." It's not like the community wouldn't understand another delay - we waited an entire year for the last update. We've always sung high praise of Squad and are wildly patient.

After looking into it a bit, we (the community) found that Squad is not really a game development studio, it started as a guerilla marketing company. KSP is the dream child of one of their employees who was about to leave to make his passion project. If he did, the projects he was working on would fall through and the business would go under (good sign). So in exchange for him finishing his projects, they would give him 6 months to work on the game.

Well, it was wildly successful. It was strange, though, they never told us how successful they were. In 2014, it came out that Squad has sold over a million copies on Steam alone, excluding transfers from people who bought straight from them or through GoG. The game's price varied, but assuming that Steam is about 50% of their purchases and the game started at $20, moving to the current $40. So let's safely assume 2 million copies at $30 average, not sure what Steam takes but I'll guess 15%: ~$50 million dollars. EDIT: Down below Arzamas pointed out some errors. Steam takes a 30% cut and the price varies on region quite a bit. My "safe" assumption could be wildly off and there's a lot of factors. I'd still throw it into the tens of millions, but if we want accurate numbers, we need insider information.

A company with a headquarters in Mexico has fairly low operating costs. And KSP doesn't have many, if any, veteran developers, they seem to love hiring from the community. Unfortunately, it does show quite a bit in the art and client stability. A while ago we had an amazing artist on the team, but he left for various reasons (I'm happy to say he's moved on to bigger and better opportunities). Right after that we had the... barn. So where is all this money going to? It surely isn't to the developers and it surely isn't to operating costs.

Well, a Polygon article was found, where the owners themselves admitted to the author that they were channeling money from the game's profits as a way to escape the marketing industry. One owner, Ayarza, is working on his own movie. The other, Goya, wants to work on his own record label:

Whenever anyone joins Squad, Goya and Ayarza make a pledge to listen to their pitch someday... While Ayarza and Goya are tight-lipped as to what share of Squad's total income is earned by the game, they admit that it's significant. It's the lifeboat they've been looking for, and they're both ready to leave the safety of the mothership... Squad is not becoming a publisher per se, rather an incubator for the passion projects of its staff. Ayarza has finished the script for his first movie, which will be produced by Squad. Goya is creating a record label and composing, all funded by Squad.​

I don't blame them for wanting to follow their own dreams, and they claim the studio supports other members of the team doing the same, but we've never heard about anyone else's enormously expensive endeavors: It's... fairly uncomfortable to see the owners doing this.

A little further up in the article, a pretty damning quote:

Goya says that when Ayarza is in front of a client he only ever says yes, often leading to short timelines and absurd promises of lavish spectacles. Goya the artist provides the creative vision to pull it out in the end, while the rest of the team at Squad carries the load.​

This plays heavily into a recent assumption that the 1.0 and 1.1 releases have been pushed so hard and sloppily because of their new console deals. They needed to leave Beta to secure the deals, they needed to release 1.1 (Unity 5 update) to work on console ports. It fairly undeniably confirms that they're setting unrealistic timeframes and nigh-forcing the developers to meet them. EDIT: That last sentence just seems to me a nice way of saying "the owners make impossible promises, then make the employees work to the bone to meet them."

And now we have ex-developers coming out and confirming the conspiracies:

The first post there speaks about how they would work 80 hour weeks yet only make $2,400. As soon as their immediate "usefulness" ran out, they were booted from the team. In Mexico, this is about twice minimum wage, so if you live there it's not... atrociously bad... kinda. But they're hiring international as well, so who knows what's going on behind these closed doors. For all we know, some of them make $2,400, others make $90,000, and they have NDEs that bar them from speaking about it to each other. EDIT: /u/r4m0n has apparently confirmed with other developers that this was the usual salary being offered. Some members made significantly more, up to $2,000 monthly, but these were the exceptions and is still far below what they should be receiving.

With regards to legitimacy, the parties speaking in both the posted threads, as well as the top comments to them, are confirmed to be past-developers or people who have worked with the developers. Specifically:

  • /u/DamionMRayne - Ex-developer
  • /u/r4m0n - Creator of MechJeb (also posting anonymously on behalf of those afraid of legality or blackballing)
  • PDTV from the 4chan thread posted a video proving his identity earlier, but has since taken it down. - Ex-community manager (EDIT: The "!!" does not confirm identity, but merely shows that posts under that name are from a consistent password-protected identity)
  • /u/NovaSilisko [+2] - Ex-developer
And I'll say it again, I'm a bit disappointed in the people who aren't refuting the claims, but are defending Squad anyway:

Who care's, this is how most studios operate.​

That excuses nothing. It's unethical regardless. It's not even close to the same drastic scale as forcing children to work in coal mines during the rise of the industrial era, but that's a great example of "industry standard doesn't mean okay". And last I checked, industry standard salary for a game dev was over $60,000, not $2,400.

It was in their contract.​

Most people don't realize the lengths companies will go to absolutely screw you. Especially when you're going into what you think is a great small company with indie roots and a loving community. And especially when you're passionate to get into the field. They're taking advantage of small people who don't know better, and I'm sure half the reason there aren't veteran devs in the team is because anyone with experience laughs at their offers.

Further, have you read some employment contracts? I've seen suckers several dozen pages long in legal jargon. Good luck finding all the loop holes professional lawyers crafted in.

And I'll sign off with: The developers are really great people. None of the previous employees had anything bad to say about anything but management. Please don't take it out on the wrong person here, the guys who actually work on KSP are passionate and I'm sure they're doing their absolute damnedest given the situation.

EDIT: The inevitable grammar mistakes, wording.

THIS JUST IN: Just before 1.0 was released, a Dutch company called Deported B.V. was created and the KSP license was transferred to them. Due to the permissive Dutch tax laws, this allows them to avoid paying taxes to Mexico and use the much lower Dutch ones. This company is then owned by a Parallel Dynamics corporation, which we know little to nothing about at the moment other than being based in Mexico City, similar to Squad. Thanks to /u/Mirkury for the information.
 

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