Kerbal Space Program: Difference between revisions
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The game is currently in the alpha stage of development, with the current software being only a very small approximation of the final product. The current game can be purchased through the developer's 'Kerbal Space Program Store' at a cost of US $18.00. Version 0.13 will remain free as a [[game demo|demo]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/about.php |title=About |publisher=Kerbal Space Program |date= |accessdate=2012-06-17}}</ref> and will never be updated. |
The game is currently in the alpha stage of development, with the current software being only a very small approximation of the final product. The current game can be purchased through the developer's 'Kerbal Space Program Store' at a cost of US $18.00. Version 0.13 will remain free as a [[game demo|demo]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/about.php |title=About |publisher=Kerbal Space Program |date= |accessdate=2012-06-17}}</ref> and will never be updated. |
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==Version History== |
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The game is rapidly going through development. With new versions being released to the public on a regular basis. The first version to be released to the public was 0.7.3 on 24th June 2011. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://kspwiki.nexisonline.net/wiki/Version_History | title=VersionHistory | publisher=Kerbal Space Program | date = | accessdate = 2012-11-5}}</ref>. The latest version of the game, 0.17.1 was released on 30th October 2012. |
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{{cot | V0.8.2}} |
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This version was released on July 13th, 2011. This version was mainly to fix bugs that were produced in the V0.8.1 update. |
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{{cot | V0.8.1}} |
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Version 0.8.3 was released on July 12th, 2011. |
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New features included: |
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* Part snapping and symmetrical placement during construction in the vehicle assembly building. |
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{{cot | V0.8}} |
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Version 0.8 was released on July 7th, 2011. This was the second release of the game, it contained many improvements and bug fixes. |
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The new features added in this iteration are: |
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* Undo and Redo functions in the vehicle assembly building. |
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* The ability to simulate the physics in the background. |
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* New textures for parts and the user interface. |
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* The ability to save and load ships as well as give them names. |
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* New splash screen |
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* The ability to stack fuel tanks. |
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* An basic updater. |
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{{cot | V0.7.3 }} |
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Version 0.7.3 was released on June 24th, 2011. This was the initial release of the Kerbal Space Program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kspwiki.nexisonline.net/wiki/Version_History | title=VersionHistory | publisher=Kerbal Space Program | date = | accessdate = 2012-11-5}}</ref> |
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{{cob}} |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 16:39, 5 November 2012
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2011) |
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 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (September 2012) |
| Kerbal Space Program | |
|---|---|
| File:KerbalSpaceProgramFullRedLogo.png Official logo of the game | |
| Developer(s) | Squad (game developer) |
| Publisher(s) | Squad (game developer) |
| Engine | Unity3D |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS |
| Release | June 24, 2011 (first alpha release) October 29, 2012 (0.17.1)[1] |
| Genre(s) | Space flight simulator game Simulation game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Kerbal Space Program (commonly abbreviated as KSP) is currently a playable in-development alpha-stage space flight simulator game, indie game, that allows players to build spacecraft and spaceplanes to be flown or navigated through a fictional solar system. The game contains a large amount of stock parts. The game has had support for mods, since its inception, this has led to a large amount of mods to be created by a significant community to expand and modify the gameplay as well as parts. The "kerbonauts" or Kerbals are the main inhabitants of this game.
Gameplay
This game allows players to build and pilot a space vehicle, made out of pre-fabricated modules (also referred to as 'parts') such as liquid fuel engines, fuel tanks, solid fuel rockets, landing gear, wings and steering fins.[2] Additional parts such as payload fairings, wheeled rovers, and weapons have been added to the game by players. Players can also control the characters piloting the vehicle, called 'Kerbals'.
Within the game there are fourteen total celestial bodies organized in an abbreviated Solar System, including the Earth-like planet named Kerbin where the player begins, a gas giant, a planet resembling Mars, and various moons.
From version 0.14 on, support for persistent journeys has been added: any object that has attained a stable orbit, or is anyway in a predictable path outside of an atmosphere, will be saved between play sessions, its trajectory propagated simultaneously with all the others. Version 0.16 added the feature of EVAs, allowing players to control the Kerbals.[3] A "tracking station" interface allows the player to resume any of the flights in progress, switch between them, and also visit non-controllable space debris. Vehicles cannot dock yet, but the introduction of this feature has been set aside for a later release.[4]
Modification
The game supports extensive end-user modification, allowing craft parts to easily be built and implemented by players. As a result, the game enjoys a significant modding community, with hundreds of modifications released to date.[5] These modifications to the game add to functionality, allowing craft such as land vehicles or airplanes to be created far more easily than with the base game.
Beginning with the paid 0.14.1 version, the game supports an extensive plugin API, allowing players and mod-makers to create parts that load additional code at runtime; this code extends the base game, allowing for new functionality or for more powerful control of the existing ones (e.g. autopilot modules, or telemetry). The plugins are written in C#, as is the base game.
Inconsistencies
While newtonian physics generally is implemented in a realistic manner, the game engine's inability to solve the n-body problem only allows gravity from one celestial body at a time to be modeled, with gravity 'switching' at a definite point. This prevents the simulation of Lagrangian points and other situations involving gravitational pull from multiple objects. This was a trade-off intentionally made by the developers, to improve the stability and speed of the simulation, in addition to the predictability, which will help certain planned features.
The physics simulation is based on the PhysX middleware, utilized as part of the Unity 3D. The unique necessities of the game, which has to correctly handle distances in a range of at least 13 orders of magnitude and velocities in the order of kilometers per second, have required a number of workarounds to avoid numerical stability issues. Some bugs of this nature are still not completely solved as of now.
Planned features
According to the game's website, several features are planned for KSP in the future:[6]
- Spacecraft docking
- Officially supported rover
- Space station construction
- Space program economic management, with the 1993 space simulation game Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space as an acknowledged inspiration[citation needed]
The game is currently in the alpha stage of development, with the current software being only a very small approximation of the final product. The current game can be purchased through the developer's 'Kerbal Space Program Store' at a cost of US $18.00. Version 0.13 will remain free as a demo,[7] and will never be updated.
Version History
The game is rapidly going through development. With new versions being released to the public on a regular basis. The first version to be released to the public was 0.7.3 on 24th June 2011. [8]. The latest version of the game, 0.17.1 was released on 30th October 2012.
V0.8.2
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This version was released on July 13th, 2011. This version was mainly to fix bugs that were produced in the V0.8.1 update. |
V0.8.1
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Version 0.8.3 was released on July 12th, 2011. New features included:
|
V0.8
|
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Version 0.8 was released on July 7th, 2011. This was the second release of the game, it contained many improvements and bug fixes. The new features added in this iteration are:
|
V0.7.3
|
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Version 0.7.3 was released on June 24th, 2011. This was the initial release of the Kerbal Space Program.[9] |
See also
References
- ^ Kerbal Space Program. "0.17 Release Date News". Crew. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
- ^ "About". Kerbal Space Program. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- ^ "KSP 0.16". Retrieved 2012-07-21.
- ^ "Docking-info". Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ "Kerbal Space Program Mods". Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ "Planned features - Kerbal Space Program Wiki". Kerbalspaceprogram.com. 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- ^ "About". Kerbal Space Program. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- ^ "VersionHistory". Kerbal Space Program. Retrieved 2012-11-5.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "VersionHistory". Kerbal Space Program. Retrieved 2012-11-5.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help)