[ad_1]
A few minutes after my interview with Nate Simpson, creative director of the new Kerbal Space Program 2, we talk about what happens when rockets explode. "It's actually my favorite part to work on," he says. "We want the explosions to be a little more relevant to the content of the individual pieces that are destroyed.Our objective is that every explosion is a snowflake … The explosions have become very exciting."
The new major features of Kerbal Space Program 2 expand the scope of what you can do among the stars, starting with interstellar travel.
Simpson has an obvious love for Kerbal Space Program, a fantastic spatial simulation and an understanding of what made the original game so entertaining. Our explosion tangent was born from a discussion of how Kerbal Space Program 2 will help new players learn the game. "It was very important for us not to facilitate the game," he says. "It's a universe of physical laws, and these are ruthless laws."
And ruthless laws inevitably lead to explosions.
Kerbal Space Program has always been a game of experimentation and failure, and it is reassuring to see Simpson moving in this direction. Squad, the original developer, does not work on this suite. Simpson leads the development team of Star Theory Games, formerly Uber Entertainment, who directed the Monday Night Combat and Planetary Annihilation series.
"The team has of course done great work in developing this game for many, many years," said Michael Cook, executive producer at the private division. "But as you know, Squad is a small development team, so it's in the interest of being able to continue to bring new awesome content to the fans of the current game – as well as to start working in parallel on what the game will be like. The next phase of the Kerbal Space program, it would make sense to bring in another group of people who were just as enthusiastic and adept at bringing this vision to life in a new way. "
"We have checked the team from time to time to make sure that what we are doing is, you know, true to the spirit of the original game," said Simpson, who lists topics of discussion ranging from Mun's pronunciation to the relative size of Jeb's eyes. "We really went into the details and somehow stole our weeds around us … We are big fans and longtime fans of the game. I entered the game a few thousand hours. know these guys from the forums and it's kind of a surreal and exciting experience to talk to them about what we do. "
(Image credit: Private Division)
Star Theory seeks above all to improve the experience of new players. "As an evangelist of the game," says Simpson, "I've probably introduced him to a dozen friends, often they honestly try to make an honest attempt and they sort of return in jargon, they give up the physical difficulty of the game. "
New animation-based tutorials will help players visualize the basic concepts of science described by Kerbal. This seems like a sensible way to explain some of the subtleties of rocket physics. Through trial, error and, of course, explosions, I've gained an intuitive understanding of how to make rockets go in space, but I still could not explain what is really the delta-v. Simpson said that, thanks to user tests, they discovered that basic science was not impossible to assimilate. That's the way this information is taught that determines "whether a person feels desperate or not."
The final border
It is important that players overcome this first hurdle, as the new major features of Kerbal Space Program 2 expand the scope of what you can do among the stars, starting with interstellar travel. "You start at our new Kerbal Space Center, which is currently in the same place on Kerbin as in the original game," says Simpson. "And then all the planets in the Kerbolar system continue to be present in improved forms, and as you progress through the technology tree and access interstellar technologies, the scope of the game is growing and you start at the chasms of interstellar space ".
(Image credit: Private Division)
While offering an improved terrain system, Star Theory wants players to feel as if each location is special. "We really want every site to look like a unique discovery that you would like to have as a screen capture and that you will share with people and, if that 's an interesting place, maybe that' s right. others would also try to find this place in their local games, "said Simpson. "I am rather excited about the results we have achieved with this system, and many types of emerging happy accidents are arising from it."
Simpson describes KSP2 as the & # 39; Yes & … & # 39; version of the original game, but the Star Theory team still wants to keep the scientific basis of Kerbal. "We created a document very early in the project that said, here's what we do not do in the Kerbal space program, we do not do warp doors, we do not do warp drives, we do not do technology. And we have really been in close contact with a number of propulsion and astronomy experts, to make sure that the elements we add to this game are rooted in real science.
"Obviously, when you talk about a game that goes into future speculative technologies, there are going to be a number of inventions that happen, and that's, after all, a game," he said. Simpson is referring to Atomic Rockets, a sci-fi website that explores the possibilities of rocket technology in the future, as one of the "coolest websites in the world". Their goal for Kerbal 2 with regard to interstellar travel is to allow "each of these new propulsion technologies to tell a meaningful story, to talk about something that is rooted in real scientific research".
(Image credit: Private Division)
This does not mean that the idiosyncratic charm of Kerbal will not be in effect. "We also know that our players are very excited about the fantasy that is added to Kerbals and things like Kraken who have now become a legend within this universe, "says Cook," who add a little flavor to this true science. "
Another new feature of Kerbal Space Program 2 is the settlements that support the construction of a ship that supports interstellar travel. Players will be able to transport deflated portable modules to new planets (for example, Martian's HAB) and deploy them to the surface, or even into orbit.
Space Race
"As your settlements progress, as their population grows, they start building new modules using either locally available resources or the resources you have brought them," says Simpson. "And when they reach a certain degree of maturity, you can build a new VAB in the colony, and at that point you'll have a real bridgehead – you're now out of the Kerbin gravity well. especially in the case of orbital colonies, some really exciting possibilities. "
"Interstellar ships will have to do big jobs -" like tall skyscrapers, "says Simpson, which is a much easier task when you build without gravity hindering you.
(Image credit: Private Division)
Colonies, like everything in Kerbal, will invite failure in another way.
Despite the discussions about the population, Simpson would like to point out that the Kerbal Space Program is not the SimCity space. "There is a population of Kerbals locally in any colony you build, and this population is growing organically, and as this population grows, so does the capacity of the colony. is not the kind of situation where, if you do not have a tendency to colony, it will collapse or something bad happens. "
In many ways, this sounds like an expanded version of how I played the first game – many current projects must be advanced or ignored according to my whims (and many failed Kerbals waiting patiently for Be saved). "If you want to keep coming back to the colony and adding some, you can," continues Simpson. "Or, if you get what you need and want to move on, you can also do it – it's not meant to be a punitive or distracting system."
Colonies, like everything in Kerbal, will invite failure in another way. The colony builder, like the vehicle publisher, will allow you to create extravagant structures. But once you get out of the editor, the reality (and, on planets, gravity) comes in. "There may be a Tour de Goo aspect," says Simpson. "I'm very happy to see what the community is doing to create strange structures … We had a lot of fun building on the mountain peaks or on the edges of the craters or on the edges of the canyons. huge amount of potential variation in the types of colonies. "
(Image credit: Private Division)
Simpson is less available on the third major addition of KSP2: the multiplayer mode. "All I can say about the multiplayer mode at the present time is that it is true to the spirit of the original Kerbal space program," he explains. , enigmatic, "and that there will be more information coming soon." Mod support is also teased, and Simpson said Star Theory had "exposed many more basic features to moders." Although no details have been given, Simpson recognizes the importance of mods for the popularity of the original game. "We are very excited about what will be possible for the future, because we feel that the modders are somehow the beating heart of the Kerbal community."
Kerbal Space Program is an unusual proposition, based on a well-supported and ongoing sandbox game created by a new development team. Most new features seem interesting, and their implementation seems consistent with the original development philosophies. Kerbal Space Program has however always been more than just a list of features: its magic was somewhere between the theme and the run. But Simpson went to Mun and back, which, hopefully, means his team understands the inherent magic that has made the Kerbal Space Program one of our highest-rated games ever.
The Kerbal 2 space program is due out on Steam in the spring of 2020.
[ad_2]
Source link