#ksp loading

Welcome to our official newsletter, KSP Loading…!  If you want to learn about all the current developments of the KSP franchise, then this is the place to be!

Kerbal Space Program Update 1.10 on PC

As most of you know by now, we are currently working on the final details for the 1.10 release. Launching on July 1st, Kerbal Space Program 1.10: Shared Horizons is special in many ways. For starters, we have partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA) to bring two iconic and historic missions to the game, BepiColombo and Rosetta, as well as a bundle of brand new parts and variants to resemble the components of their real-life counterparts. In addition to that, we’re bringing ESA’s spacesuit and the Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle into the game. Coupled with that are new planet and part revamps, performance improvements, a bunch of bug fixes, as well as a few quality of life features. We'll be going into more details about this exciting update, so buckle up.

ESA Missions

Thanks to our partnership with ESA, we’re bringing two of their most impressive and groundbreaking missions to KSP for you to experience for yourself in the upcoming Shared Horizons free update. Best of all, these missions will be available for all to play, regardless of whether or not the player owns the Making History or Breaking Ground expansions.

Arianne 5

For these missions, you’ll be equipped with an Ariane 5 analogue, which we teased a few weeks ago. This brings to Kerbin a version of ESA’s premiere heavy lift launch, capable of putting over 20 tons into LKO.  Based on your feedback, we did some adjustments to the fairing and the second stage to better resemble the look of its real-life counterpart.

BepiColombo and BepiColombo Spacecraft parts

Like JAXA and ESA’s joint endeavor, in this mission you’ll visit the innermost planet of the solar system to study its magnetosphere and surface characteristics. Launch from the KSC with a kerbalized Ariane 5 and deploy the Moho Transfer Module (MTM), which will carry the Moho Planetary Orbiter (MPO) to its destination using ion thrusters. You'll have access to the new Magnetometer Boom to carry out scientific experiments on that distant planet. Just like humans in our world will go on making further discoveries about Mercury, what mysteries will Kerbals learn from the planet orbiting nearest their star?

Click here to see high res images.

Rosetta …and Comets!

Just like its real-life counterpart which launched in 2004, in this mission you’ll intercept a comet and drop the Philae lander module on its surface. This means not only that you’ll get to perform an amazing and challenging mission, but that we have added comets to the game, including new career mode contracts to detect and visit them! Comets will appear in all game modes and have a very distinct look from regular asteroids with gorgeous tails and larger dimensions. With some luck, you might even see one that is passing through from interstellar space!

Click here to see more high-res images.

Suit picker

We’re including an improved suit picker in the 1.10 update, so you can easily dress your Kerbals to your liking. When clicking on the hanger icon of the crew tab, you’ll not only be able to choose any of the different EVA suits available across the base game and the expansions, but also decide whether you want your kerbals to wear the veteran, IVA or EVA color combinations of any of the suits - including a new ESA suit texture option! This feature will also make it easier for modders to add their own suit textures to the game.

Flag parts

You probably noticed that the Kerbal’s Ariane 5 we previewed a few weeks ago is decorated with a variety of flags. As some of you have guessed, we’ve added flags as surface attached parts that you can now add to your vehicles, for those multi-mission or multi-agency crafts. You’ll be able to place the flags horizontally and vertically, on curved and flat surfaces, plus choose the size and whether you want to place a white, dark, orange or transparent background for them.

Advanced Grabbing Unit Jr.

We’re introducing a new smaller version of the Klaw, a device whose primary purpose is to capture asteroids and basically anything it can put its claws around, maybe even comets. This new version has a radial size of 0.625m in contrast with the original’s 1.25m. Thanks to its size, this smaller unit will be quite versatile, plus we’re including a second darker variant for it. We’re curious to see what the community will contrive with the Klaw Jr.

New part variants & improved control over Fairings

We’re including several part variants for the Shared Horizons update in order for some parts to match with ESA’s style. These include variants for fuel line, struts, fairings, as well as for the Baguette, Dumpling and Doughnut external fuel tanks, among others.

Fairings have gotten an upgrade as well, making it easier to set up open-ended fairings, and now you can fine tune the shape of your fairings better as well.

S1 SRB-KD25k “Kickback” Solid Fuel Booster

This heavy solid rocket booster is getting a variant so that it can provide your Ariane 5 that additional thrust needed to launch your probes and modules to outer space.

Rockomax X200-32

The Rockomax X200-32 Fuel Tank is also getting a third ESA variant for it to match the Ariane 5 color scheme.

Click here to see high-res images of the variants, the flag parts and Klaw Jr.

Planet Revamps

Jool

The legendary green gas giant has received a major revamp. Jool did not only receive high-quality texture & graphic shaders, but also animated clouds, which are particularly beautiful when time-warping around this colossal green sphere.

Laythe

Jool’s innermost natural satellite is also getting a well-deserved visual makeover. The new high-quality texture maps and the proximity to Jool will surely make Laythe one of the most coveted destinations for those Kerbonauts who just want to enjoy a nice view at a beach.

Remember, you can share and download crafts and missions on Curse, KerbalX, the KSP Forum and the KSP Steam Workshop.

That’s it for this edition. Be sure to join us on our official forums, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Stay tuned for more exciting and upcoming news and development updates!

Welcome to our official newsletter, KSP Loading…!  If you want to learn about all the current developments of the KSP franchise, then this is the place to be!

Kerbal Space Program Update 1.9 on PC

Another orbital period has completed, and as human tradition has it, it’s a good time to reflect on past achievements as well as look forward to goals we set for ourselves during this new decade. 2019 was a great year for us: We released several major updates and a content-filled expansion on PC. KSP Enhanced Edition also got some deserved attention with the History and Parts Pack and the Breaking Ground Expansion, as well as a considerable amount of free content. Not too shabby, right? And 2020 is looking great for KSP fans, too! For starters, we’re kicking off the new year with update 1.9, which will not only include performance and graphical improvements, but some new neat features that we’re excited to show you. Not to mention Kerbal Space Program 2 and some other stellar surprises we have currently in the VAB for you. For the time being, and for this KSP Loading in particular, we’re going to focus on some of the stuff that is going to roll onto the launchpad in Kerbal Space Program 1.9: No Place Like Home! So buckle up:

Terrain Revamp for Kerbin

In addition to the revamps of Moho and Dres that we’ve shown you already, Kerbin has received major visual improvements. With detailed high-quality texture maps and (because there is no place like home) an Ultra Quality shader option, the Kerbal home planet is looking better than ever. Check it out!  

Click here to see the full hi-res gallery

Drain Valve

Kerbal Space Program 1.9: No Place Like Home! will also include a new part that works as a release valve for parts with drainable resources, such as monopropellant, ore, liquid fuel, oxidizer or xenon. This part will also allow you to set the drainage over a specific amount of time, a feature that will undoubtedly come in handy. 

Click here to see a high-res image.

Part Revamps

RE-M3 "Mainsail" Liquid Fuel Engine

One of the heaviest and most powerful large-diameter Kerbal engines is getting a well-deserved makeover. We’re talking, of course, about the Rockomax Conglomerate’s RE-M3 “Mainsail” Liquid Fuel Engine. With its new geometry, textures and emissive map,  this humongous engine has never looked so good. Additionally after listening to your feedback, we’re including Mid and Bare variants.

Click here  to see high res images.

RE-I5 "Skipper" Liquid Fuel Engine

Rockomax Conglomerate’s RE-I5 "Skipper" Liquid Fuel Engine has also been modernized by our art team. Brand new geometry, variants, textures and emissive maps have given one of our favorite medium sized engines a befitting fresh new look! And after listening to your feedback, we’ll be including Bare and Truss Mount variants.

Click here to see high res images.

BACC "Thumper" Solid Fuel Booster

With reliable performance at a good price, the Rockomax Conglomerate’s BACC Solid Fuel Boosters have always been a popular choice to get the massive bulk of large multi-stage rockets off the ground. This large SRB is finally getting a physical renewal to better match its place in our SRB lineup. Check it out!

Click here to see high res images.

Quality of Life Features

Additionally, Kerbal Space Program 1.9: No Place Like Home! will include several quality of life features, mostly drawn from our players’ feedback. Some of the inclusions are: an adjustment to the time warp system that removes restrictions on warping at certain altitudes; a new cheat menu option that will allow you to place your craft above the surface of any celestial body; a search box for the R&D Tech Tree; and a new Screenshot Mode that will allow you to pause the game, move the camera and take the best shot by hitting the Escape key and then F2. There are several more QoL features we’re sure you’ll appreciate, too!

Blade improvements 

Rotor blades in the Breaking Ground Expansion are getting some improvements by adding cyclic and collective deflection controls. This will ultimately help players have better control of their bladed vehicles, whether it is a traditional single-rotor helicopter or a drone-like quad-copter. There’ll be a Devblog explaining the details about these improvements coming up soon, so stay tuned.

New Stock Craft for Expansions 

With this update, we are also including a few new stock craft that take advantage of Breaking Ground’s parts and demonstrate how we used the new blade functionality! We’ve also added easy access to some of the historical craft from Making History. So, if you just want to pilot cool crafts or retro-engineer the heck out of them to create your own, you’ll surely enjoy these; we certainly had a lot of fun building and testing them!

Remember, you can share and download crafts and missions on Curse, KerbalX, the KSP Forum and the KSP Steam Workshop.

That’s it for this edition. Be sure to join us on our official forums, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Stay tuned for more exciting and upcoming news and development updates!

Welcome to our official newsletter, KSP Loading…!  If you want to learn about all the current developments of the KSP franchise, then this is the place to be!

Kerbal Space Program 2

Last week at the opening night of Gamescom we announced the forthcoming sequel and newest addition to our franchise, Kerbal Space Program 2! This sequel will be expanding upon what makes Kerbal Space Program great and will bring space exploration to the next generation with exciting new features that will delight veteran and new players alike. 

We’re excited to introduce you to Star Theory Games, the developer studio behind Kerbal Space Program 2!

Learn about the new development team joining the franchise by watching the Developer Story Trailer. Watch our Cinematic Trailer below to see what we’ll be bringing to KSP2!

So what can you expect in 2020, when Kerbal Space Program 2 comes out of the VAB? These are just some of the features, you’ll be able to enjoy:

Improved Onboarding

Rocket science can be a bit overwhelming sometimes and one of the things that Star Theory has set their minds towards is helping facilitate newcomers on their journey to become space explorers. With new animated tutorials, improved UI, and fully revamped assembly and flight instructions, it will be easier than ever to put your creativity to the test, all without sacrificing any of the challenge from the original game.

Next Generation Technology

Kerbal technology is taking major steps forward in Kerbal Space Program 2. With next-generation engines, parts, fuel, and much more, prepare to venture farther within and beyond the original star system!

Colonies

Long term colonization of celestial bodies has become a priority for Kerbalkind. Gather resources to construct buildings, space stations, and habitations, as well as find and process unique fuel types. Eventually, these colonies become advanced enough for vehicle construction, propelling them towards deep space and beyond. It’s time for Kerbals to become a type 2 civilization!

Interstellar Travel

With their next-gen tech, colonies, and resource gathering, Kerbals will reach new levels of exploration: interstellar travel. That’s right, in Kerbal Space Program 2, you’ll be able to discover extrasolar systems with whole new celestial bodies to explore. Among them: Charr, a heat-blasted world of iron; Ovin, a ringed super-Earth with relentless gravity; Rask and Rusk, a binary pair locked in a dance of death; and many more to reward exploration. What mysteries await in these alien worlds? It will be up to you to find out!

Multiplayer/Modding

Modding has always been an essential part of KSP and with Kerbal Space Program 2 it will continue to be so. The technological developments made to the foundations of Kerbal Space Program 2 will build on the beloved modding capabilities of the original game, as well as deliver on the long-requested addition of multiplayer. Soon players will be able to share the challenges of deep space exploration. We’ll reveal more details on these and more features at a later time, so stay tuned!

Click here to see these and more screenshots in high-res.

PAX West 2019

Want to see the behind-closed-doors presentation of KSP 2 gameplay? Come by booth 1909 during normal show hours to chat with the developers, take a photo with the Jeb statue, see the presentation, and grab a PAX West exclusive KSP Flag! If you take a photo there be sure to tag @KerbalSpaceP and use #BuildFlyDream.

Kerbal Space Program Update 1.8

We are all very excited for what’s coming in 2020, but until then, there is still plenty of KSP for everyone to enjoy! Squad will continue to support the current game, and as some of you may have seen, there is some really cool stuff coming in the next update for the game Click here to read Squad’s statement in regard to the KSP 2 announcement.

Squad’s goal will always be to provide the best experience for all KSP players. The gameplay experience will be improved even further for KSP 1 with the 1.8 update. Here are some more details of what you can look forward to in this latest update.

Celestial Body Visual Improvements 

If you’ve been following KSP on social media, you might have already learned that new high-quality texture maps & graphic shaders are being implemented for various celestial bodies. In update 1.8 you’ll find high quality texture maps for Mun, Duna and a few other Celestial Bodies that will be revealed along the way. 

If there are any concerns that the update might hinder the game’s performance on your computers, rest easy knowing you’ll be able to select the celestial bodies’ shader quality in the settings to low (legacy), medium or high. Even for the legacy option, you can expect texture stretching errors to be vastly improved.  With the high-quality option, pixel density will be maintained regardless of camera distance to the celestial body, as well as a lack of tiling problems. All in all, celestial bodies will look sharper and more realistic. Take a look for yourself:

Unity Upgrade

Update 1.8 brings an improvement that Squad has wanted to introduce for some time now - an upgrade to the underlying engine of the game to Unity 2019.2

With this upgrade there are some long-desired performance and graphic improvements, some of which come out of the box, and some which will allow further enhancements down the road.  

These include:

KSP will now run under DX11 on the Windows platform (DX9 will no longer be supported) which allows many graphical improvements, such as those on the planetary textures.

A new PhysX version with the associated performance and precision improvements.

GPU instancing to improve rendering performance.

Incremental garbage collection to reduce frame rate stutters, particularly in modded installs.

And many others.

While this version will have a larger impact on many mods, more than 1.6 or 1.7, the process has been tested and is relatively fast.  Still, there will be several changes, due to the introduction of the Roslyn compiler, which brings full C#7 support and moving to full .NET 4.x API (.NET 3.5 support is deprecated). There will be continued efforts to reduce significant impact for Modders, but the belief is this time around the benefits of this upgrade far outweigh the drawbacks. 

New Parts for Breaking Ground

Update 1.8 will also include some exclusive treats for owners of the Breaking Ground Expansion. A new set of fan blades and shrouds will continue to push the creativity of KSP players even further. By combining these fan blades with small electrical rotors and the new shrouds, you’ll be able to increase the performance and thrust of your propellers. Use them to create drones, ducted fan jets, or anything you can imagine. 

Improvements are also being made to robotic part resource consumption, with better info on consumption and new improved options for power-out situations.

Remember, you can share and download crafts and missions on Curse, KerbalX, the KSP Forum and the KSP Steam Workshop.

That’s it for this edition. Be sure to join us on our official forums, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Stay tuned for more exciting and upcoming news and development updates!

Welcome to our official newsletter, KSP Loading…!  Do you want to learn about all the current developments of KSP? Here’s the place to be, so let’s get started!

Breaking Ground Expansion

With the release of the Kerbal Space Program: Breaking Ground Expansion just around the corner, our team is working very hard to wrap up the final details for this exciting DLC. We also thought this would be a good opportunity to dive into a little bit more depth and give you a better idea of what you can expect in Breaking Ground.

As we mentioned previously, this DLC is all about exploration, experimentation and technological breakthroughs. We want to give you more reasons to explore Kerbin’s solar system, more things to do while you’re on a celestial body and exciting new robotics parts that add a whole new level of complexity allowing you to build even more incredible crafts.

Deployed Science

This feature will allow you to deploy experiments on the surface of celestial bodies to take measurements over time. You will need to bring these experiments with you, unpack them from storage containers on your craft and set them up to run. In order to do so you will need to place a central station, one or more power generating devices and possibly a booster antenna to get your science base set up. The experiments and power generators will run better if the right kind of Kerbal sets them up, thus giving you more reasons to bring Kerbals with different professions on an adventure.

We wanted to broaden the possibilities for future development, adding a time-based mechanic with deployed science, which also introduces inventory into stock KSP. - Paul Boyle, Lead Designer

Let’s look at the equipment available for Deployed Science:

Probodobodyne Experiment Control Station

This part is crucial if you want to generate any useful data. Acting as the hub for all other experiments, the Experiment Control Station will distribute and control both power and data from nearby deployed parts, as well as coordinate the transmission of science back to Kerbin.

Mini-NUK-PD Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator

No science base will run without power, and the Mini-NUK-PD Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator will provide plenty of power to run a central station and deployed science experiments. If deployed by an engineer it will more efficient, if they are a high level one then even more.

OX-Stat-PD Photovoltaic Panel

An alternative power generator is the OX-Stat-PD Photovoltaic Panel, which will also be more efficient when properly set up by a trained engineer.

Communotron Ground HG-48

Although the Experiment Control Station has its own data transmission device, if you’re on a faraway planet, you might need to bring the Communotron Ground HG-48 antenna with you to boost the signal of your deployed science base.

Go-ob ED Monitor

The Goo Observation: Extended Duration Monitor watches the always enigmatic Mystery Goo for a long period of time on a planetary body. As with all the other deployed science experiments, the data collection speed will be increased when placed by a scientist, especially a ranked-up scientist.

PD-3 Weather Analyzer

This multi-function experiment gathers data on wind, pressure, temperature and humidity to generate a picture of the planet’s climate model over time. Naturally it will only function on a planet with an atmosphere.

Ionographer PD-22

This experiment allows Kerbals to analyze different particles and radiation incident on planetary bodies with no atmosphere.

Grand Slam Passive Seismometer

Unlike other experiments, the Grand Slam Passive Seismometer only operates under one condition… when controlled seismic events are created by crashing something into a planet. In addition to the excitement and fun of smashing things, you’ll collect data instantaneously with this device.

Click here to see all images of the Deployed Science experiments in high-res.

Surface Features

Surface features add a new component to the exploration of planets and satellites in the KSP solar system. These are items of scientific interest scattered across all celestial bodies.  These features include meteorites, craters, mineral formations, and even stranger planetary oddities. Surface features vary in size and Kerbal astronauts will be able to pick up and return the smallest of them for study back at KSC. However, larger ones will need to be scanned and analyzed on-site by the newly developed Rover Arms.

Exploring celestial bodies and using rovers has never had as much value as we would have liked, and while the real Opportunity is now quietly resting on Mars, we wanted to give the players the opportunity to do more valuable science driving across Duna (and the other bodies) in KSP. So we added interesting new features to the surface of the planets that can be explored and have experiments performed on them. - Jamie Leighton, Lead Developer

Rover Arms

These parts are used to gather scientific data from surface features. The Rover Arms come in three levels that you unlock via Research and Development, each of which has more sensors and tools that allow you to collect more science from the same surface feature. Only the largest Rover Arm has the full suite of scientific instruments, so you might want to unlock that one as soon as possible!

Click here to see all these and a couple more images of Surface Features and the Rover Arm in high-res.

Robotics

With Breaking Ground, you will see four types of robotic parts - hinges, pistons, rotors and rotational servos. Available in a range of shapes and sizes these new parts operate under realistic physics, with real forces and torques, electricity consumption and even motor mass accounted for. We are also including a controller part that will let you coordinate the behavior of many different parts on your craft.

Giving our community the ability to build even more complex creations might seem like a strange idea for anyone familiar with KSP, but it is something the whole team is passionate about. I’m really looking forward to seeing what people can make and animate with the new parts and controller combination. - David Tregoning, Lead Developer

Hinges

Hinges will give you a limited angle of rotation between two parts. Perfect to create jointed machines for example.

Piston

The pistons give you linear motion. If set up right, they will allow you to create all sorts of craft with hydraulic-like mechanisms.

Rotor

Not much to explain about the rotor, it will allow you to generate torque around its axis. Maybe you’ll build a spinning space station or ferris wheel with this, or any other rotational contraption you can think of.

Rotational servo

The Rotational servo will give you precise control of angular position. Using proportional control, servos have unlimited potential to create all sorts of inventions, where you want to have precise control of the position of certain parts.

KAL Controller

The KAL-1000 controller can sequence the actions of all the robotics parts, and a number of other fields.  Its gives you access to a powerful track editor tool to let you set up how parts will behave over time. Using the controller, you can set up complex cranes, walking craft, disco lighting or whatever your heart desires.

Click here to see the Robotic Parts images in high-res.

The New Suit

This futuristic-looking suit was designed to match the spirit of Breaking Ground. It not only looks great on Kerbals, but its seams glow in the dark when you turn on the helmet lights!

For the spacesuit we tried a few options based on existing concepts from real life space programs, but some of those looked too slim or too sci-fi-ish. We also tried different helmets, but something felt weird about the shapes, and as the Kerbal helmet is iconic, we kept the classic shape when designing a new one. Apart from the design, we wanted to give the suit something that the others don't have: An emissive light at the seams, something that comes in handy to help find your Kerbals when they are far from the sun or on the dark side of a planet! At first, we thought skinning the accordion arms would be problematic, but we managed to do it, and we are pretty happy with the result. We hope you like it as much as we do! - Rafael Gonzalez, Lead Artist

Click here to see the Suits in high-res.

Additions to the base game

With the release of Breaking Ground, the base game is also getting some updates that will add a few new features.

For starters, the inventory mechanic that is used by deployed science will be available in the base code, for modders to use and extend as they wish.  

Additionally, we're adding two extensions to our action group system. The first one adds another type of action group for controls that let you bind input controls to fields - an axis group. The second adds Action Sets, which allow you to enable or disable sets of axis or action groups.  

This extends what you can do with a limited number of keys, letting you put your craft into different modes of operation.  You can even override the base controls with the action set feature, further fine tuning the interface between you and your craft. We developed these extensions to give players more options to control their robotics, but it certainly will be useful for stock and modded players as well.

Finally, we’ve added EVA portraits, so that you can check data on your Kerbals even when they’re out and about.

Remember, you can share and download crafts and missions on Curse, KerbalX, the KSP Forum and the KSP Steam Workshop.

That’s it for this edition. Be sure to join us on our official forums, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Stay tuned for more exciting and upcoming news and development updates!