Good afternoon, Kerbonauts!

I’m back from Spring break and all charged up by the great feedback we’ve been getting since the release of Patch Two. Thanks to all who have taken the time to share their feedback about the update - as always, it’s been very helpful to know what’s gone well and what needs improvement.

By far the most controversial element of the patch has been a change made to maneuver nodes that prevents players from planning maneuvers beyond the fuel allotment currently aboard their vehicle. This change was made to prevent the maneuver node from lying to the player - because maneuver plans in KSP2 factor in the behavior of the vehicle under thrust (a necessity for planning future long-burn interstellar flights), and because this behavior is contingent on the changing mass of the vehicle as fuel is expended, any planning that takes place beyond what is achievable with the current fuel load must necessarily give an incorrect result. That said, there’s clearly a desire to be able to do aspirational maneuver planning beyond a vehicle’s current capacity, as was possible in KSP1. Our team is looking at our options now, and we’ll update you here when we have a good solution. Thanks again for highlighting this as a feature that could use some more time in the oven.

Right now, we’re full steam ahead on new feature development for the upcoming Science update (timing TBD), as well as continuing work on performance, stability, and thermal systems. We’re also working on a few new parts, which we expect to release prior to the Science update. Chris Adderley (AKA Nertea) has cooked up some lovely vacuum-optimized engines with extensible nozzles to help fill out the upper end of the methalox progression. Here’s a sneak peek at one of them, built by artist Pablo Ollervides:



On to business!

Yesterday morning, Shana Markham, our Design Director, did our second AMA and gave some very detailed answers to some challenging questions - and she did a much better job than I did of pulling those questions from lots of different sources, including the KSP forum.

We’ve posted the audio from that AMA here, for those who missed it. This one is definitely worth a listen!

Lots of amazing creations on view in this week’s Community Highlights. While only a few images make the cut every week, be sure to check out the ksp2_bestof Discord for more amazing community creations! I’ve really been enjoying how we've all been channeling our Starship excitement into the game - check out this one from Sciencedude37:



Congratulations to SpaceX on flying Starship as far as they did, and breaking a whole lot of records (and one parked car) in the process. Fingers crossed for the next launch!

Finally, here’s the next Weekly Challenge: make a dragon! No, not the spacecraft. A literal dragon. Now get out there and creatively misuse those procedural wings!

• 🚀 Fixed deletion of vessels without control during game save
  
• 🚀 Recovered Kerbals are accessible again from the VAB
  
• 🚀 Maneuver plans are now constrained by available fuel and will no longer provide false projections that extend beyond vehicle's capacity. R.A.P.I.E.R. engines must be set to Closed Cycle mode to allow accurate orbital maneuver planning
  
• 🚀 Stopped light parts from consuming EC after they are switched off
  
• 🚀 Fixed parts attached to some physicsless parts falling at launch
  
• 🚀 Improved fuel flow priorities
  
• 🚀 Fixed spacebar sometimes not triggering staging
  
• Improved handling of hover and click targets in Map view when multiple objects overlap
  
• Removed the "Disable Crash Damage" difficulty setting. This setting could cause issues preventing vessels from entering a landed state. If crash damage was disabled in playthroughs, it will now be enabled
  
• Burn timer status icons are now accurate when the burn is completed at the correct time
  
• Fixed issue where engines in Part Manager displayed incorrect "Deactivate" or "Activate" state
  
• Fixed issue preventing switching between vehicles in atmospheric flight. This is now possible as long as both vehicles are inside the high-fidelity physics bubble surrounding the observer
  
• Fixed a bug that can cause certain vessel configurations to be destroyed at frame of reference updates in flight
  
• Fixed a bug that caused uncontrolled vessels to be tagged as debris in certain scenarios
  
• Fixed collision detection in map mode for trajectories with impacts on Bop. Collision icons should now be displayed map trajectories for Bop
  
• Fixed CommNet partial/no connection after decoupling/undocking a probe
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause trajectory lines to incorrectly display as a non-closed orbit/escape trajectory
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause highlight dot markers to appear on some vessel joint connectors in flight
  
• Fixed a bug that caused main menu screen elements to persist into gameplay
  
• Fixed a bug to prevent some abrupt Kerbal animation changes
  
• Fixed an issue with jet engines that could cause the wrong engine mode to be selected
  
• Fixed a bug where Tim C. Kerman's hair could clip through his helmet

• 🚀 Fixed a memory leak in tutorials
  
• 🚀 Changed Kerbal Crew Cam to paginated format
  
• Optimized cubemap rendering to reduce memory usage and improve CPU performance
  
• Optimized memory usage for clouds and corrected issue in which clouds on some Celestial Bodies did not match quality settings
  
• Reduced GPU memory usage for surface scatter meshes (especially grass) by scaling render buffers to currently visible content
  
• Applied CPU optimization to SetPixel behavior
  
• Deactivated underwater state detection when flight camera not active
  
• PQS disabled when flight camera is not active
  
• Optimized memory usage of tree scatter by reducing texture duplication
  
• Implemented Ground Shading Quality settings
  
• Anti-tile is now disabled when low quality is selected
  
• Improved cloud memory usage
  
• Performance improvements when using vessel configurations with lots of resource sources
  
• Optimization on Kerbal IVA cameras
  
• Improved low graphical setting visuals in some scenes
  
• Additional flight camera optimization
  
• Optimized orbital nodes in map by not processing non-visible ones
  
• Optimized and improved KSC night lighting
  
• Fixed memory leak in terrain code
  
• Fixed bug preventing instanced runway light levels of detail from being rendered. Also fixed memory leak due to accumulated rendering calls associated with runway light levels of detail
  
• Fixed bug where game loaded in an unresponsive state due to issue with modification of master texture limit while texture mipmap streaming is running

• 🚀 Camera now returns to saved position and orientation when game is reloaded
  
• Proper save names are retained when loaded on another computer
  
• Updates to save data for missing camera YAW information
  
• Updates to save data information to ensure accuracy of camera information
  
• Save data changes for better handling of vessel and agency information
  
• Fixed issue where reverting or loading results in disappearance of vehicle
  
• Fixed a bug where Kerbals loaded in incorrect locations from a save made while EVA
  
• Fixed visual errors associated with the Loading Screen transition when loading a game from the VAB or Training Center

• 🚀 Kerbals in passenger modules now have IVA portraits and can exit the vessel
  
• Aeris stock vehicle is now oriented horizontally by default
  
• Optimized geometry and updated textures for the Mk2 "Phoenix"
  
• Reliant engine small model updates
  
• Swivel engine small model updates
  
• Fixed misaligned attach points on the Mk2 Lander
  
• Mk2 Inline Cockpit small model updates
  
• The surface attach node visual is now appropriately sized for the Bobus ladder
  
• Removed additional, erroneous attach points from the Mk3 Engine Mount
  
• Added missing part sub-name for the FL-T100 Methalox Fuel tank
  
• Fixed a value that could cause a flash when loading vessels with procedural wings
  
• Fixed a text issue where the incorrect size was displayed for the Clamp-O-Tron Jr. in the part description (all languages)

• 🚀 Updated the frequency of game paused and unpaused messages to help prevent spamming
  
• 🚀 Improved Terms of Service flow, added "Next" button to seizure warning screen, and corrected issue where legal text did not default to system language settings
  
• 🚀 Added ESC button functionality to close screens at the main menu
  
• 🚀 Time warp bar no longer displays when HUD is toggled off using F2
  
• 🚀 Notifications now persist when game is paused to make them easier to read
  
• 🚀 Fixed a bug that made it difficult to close the color manager window
  
• Staging stack resource readouts containing two different resources now display correct amounts for both entries
  
• Corrected various errors in Credits
  
• Updated styling for the Burn Timer window
  
• Reduced scroll wheel sensitivity for menus, including Language Selection, Launchpad, and Save/Load dialogs
  
• Removed non-functional Filter/Overlay button from Tracking Station
  
• Added "Return to KSC" button to Flight Report and Tracking Station dialogs
  
• Font and styling fixes to save dialogue windows
  
• Minor scaling improvements in the part information overlay window
  
• Limit on passive notifications that can be displayed at once (three)
  
• The color picker window is now moveable via click/hold/drag on the top of the window
  
• Update to Kerbal manager and Resource manager icons
  
• Updating active icon visibility for the wing editor UI when editing procedural wings
  
• UI updates to the location bar at the top of the screen
  
• The staging stack is now hidden when there are no stages present in the VAB
  
• The expand/collapse stages button is hidden when only one stage is present (which will have it's fully details displayed as fully expanded automatically)
  
• Fixed engine part manager status text
  
• Fixed bug where player could not select "Filter Options" in Tracking Station
  
• Fixed a bug with save data sort by date orders
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause some UI menu's to not respond to a mouse scrollwheel
  
• Fixed a bug with the current location menu reading the wrong location in some instances after exiting the Training Center
  
• Fixed an issue in the load workspace menu that could cause multiple workspaces to be highlighted at once
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause the timewarp bar to disappear in the tracking station
  
• Fixed an issue causing the scrollbar to not appear in the resource manager when a vessel had a large part count
  
• Fixed object picker sometimes not expanding initially in the tracking station
  
• Fixed buttons cut off in the Tracking Station
  
• Fixed UI issue where toggle button width and campaign menu difficulty level button width were not expanding with text content
  
• Fixed bug where the only ship name visible on the KSC Launch Pad UI was the last ship sent to the launchpad
  
• Fixed issue in which temperature gauges persist on screen after they have been turned off in Settings
  
• Fixed issue where game switches to Fullscreen upon entering the Graphics tab in Settings

• 🚀 Stage groups now remain in their proper order when switching between multiple assemblies in the VAB
  
• 🚀 The Parts Manager can now be opened for subassemblies in the VAB
  
• 🚀 Added proper handling of nested symmetry sets
  
• 🚀 Fixed an issue that could cause staging order to change when reverting to VAB with complex, multi-vessel workspaces
  
• 🚀 Fixed vehicle-in-floor VAB bug
  
• Iconography updated in the VAB for fairing editor controls, assembly anchor markers, and launch assembly markers
  
• Fixed a bug that removed struts and fuel lines from duplicated subassemblies in the VAB
  
• Fixed an issue with deleting an assembly sometimes failing when dropping the assembly in the trashcan
  
• Fixed warning in the Engineer's Report about vessel not generating electricity
  
• Fixed multiple instances where "center of" tools behaved unexpectedly when there was no vessel data
  
• Fixed a bug that caused procedural editor icons to sometimes persist into other areas of the title

• 🚀 Added new building illumination to KSC that activates and deactivates based on time of day
  
• 🚀 Kerbals are now properly illuminated on the launchpad at night
  
• 🚀 Updated collision meshes and materials for KSC parking garage
  
• 🚀 Loading a game near Eeloo or Pol no longer causes SetPixels errors
  
• 🚀 Improved distribution of rock scatter objects on Kerbin's surface
  
• 🚀 Fixed fuzzy "scan lines" visible on clouds when using AMD Graphics Cards
  
• Height fog added to Kerbin, Duna, Eve, and Laythe
  
• Celestial body ground scatter updates on Minmus, Eve, Eeloo, Ike, Duna, Mun, Tylo, and Bop
  
• Terrain scatter updates for Moho, Vall, Gilly, Laythe, Pol, and Dres
  
• Terrain shadow accuracy improvements on Minmus
  
• Fixed terrain artifacts at Eve's north and south poles
  
• Removed texture seams from grass around launchpads
  
• Improved appearance and performance of underwater caustic effects
  
• Fixed global illumination contributing on lighting on the opposite side of objects
  
• Fixed memory leak caused by lighting while in the VAB
  
• Fixed plants on Kerbin rendering incorrectly
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause blurry, pixilated terrain when viewing from a distance
  
• Fixed fog transition so that it should no longer pop into view at 60km
  
• Scaling updates to make KSC signs more uniform. This should improve and prevent distortion in various graphical settings and view distances
  
• Adjusted bloom and brightness during daylight hours in the Vehicle Assembly Building
  
• Clouds updated to remove linear features that can make them appear unnatural
  
• Setting cloud quality to LOW in the graphic settings now renders low quality clouds instead of no clouds
  
• Fixed an issue where low-quality settings could cause some cloud shadows to appear on vessels above the cloud heights
  
• Fixed bug preventing decals from rendering at KSC while moving between loading screens and game states where KSC is disabled
  
• Fixed a bug where water (and some other visuals) were not displayed properly when observed through gaps in parachutes
  
• Fixed a bug that caused water to reflect the galaxy sky map instead of the atmosphere/planet sky
  
• Minor lighting fix in the Training Center
  
• Minor collision updates for the VAB roof

• Vacuum exhaust updates for the R.A.P.I.E.R. engine
  
• Updates to the timing on the plant flag EVA animation
  
• Updates to the sphere of influence entry and exit VFX
  
• Tim C. Kerman now has appropriate RCS thruster VFX
  
• Removed "out of fuel" sound from Sepratrons
  
• Fixed Tracking Station audio cue firing too often
  
• Improved trailing particle emitters to reduce VFX bugs associated with frame of reference changes
  
• Fixed jet engine audio starting/stopping too quickly when engines were deactivated/re-activated in the part manager
  
• Fixed an edge case where jet engines could show engine start VFX during timewarp
  
• Fixed Terrier engine exhaust scaling

• 🚀 The user is now returned to the Training Center after exiting a tutorial instead of KSC
  
• Updated tutorial preview images
  
• Fixed issue where game progresses too quickly during Tutorial 1.5
  
• Fixed tutorial vessel loading in a player campaign after completing a tutorial
  
• Fixed tutorial menus appearing on the main menu

• 🚀 Improved translations in several video subtitles
  
• 🚀 Updated localized terms for new game creation (all languages)
  
• 🚀 Fixed various localization issues in the part manager for Pods, Coupling, Fuel Tanks, Engines, and Utility (all languages)
  
• 🚀 Fixed missing text in some scenarios where actions cannot be performed yet due to loading (all languages)
  
• 🚀 Fixed a bug that could cause the End User License Agreement, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy text to remain in the previous language after languages are changed in game
  
• 🚀 Fixed mislabeled EVA keybindings in the settings menu (all languages)
  
• 🚀 Localized text updates in the settings menu (Polish, Russian, German and Korean)
  
• Tutorial updates for all languages
  
• Fixed localization issues for Part Picker, UI, and Settings
  
• Updated font atlases to properly display special characters
  
• Fixed unlocalized text in the open workspace window
  
• Improved font fallbacks to avoid different size characters
  
• Translation updates for "Statistics" in the part info (all languages)
  
• Menu text updates (all languages)
  
• Part manager/info text updates (all languages)
  
• Fixed missing text on the KR4-P3 reactor (all languages)
  
• Stock vessel text updates (Portuguese)
  
• Updated loading tips in the (Chinese languages)
  
• Fixed a text formatting issue in the Training Center (Italian, French, German, Japanese)
  
• Save data font adjustments (Korean)
  
• Fixed a minor language issue, where the confirmation box was displayed in the previous language after making a language change in settings

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

Hello fellow Kerbonauts!

Okay, we've got a date for the v0.1.2.0 patch - it'll arrive next Wednesday, April 12. We'll post patch notes on that day as well. There's a nice blend of performance, stability, UI, and visual improvements, and we think these add up to a significantly improved KSP2 experience. One unheralded improvement, in addition to the already announced fixes - the nighttime lighting at KSC has taken a big step forward:



Meanwhile, we're continuing to work on upcoming Science Mode features, re-entry and thermal systems, and of course ongoing improvements to performance and stability. We've also begun some investigations into improving the currently wobbly rocket situation, and we should have more to discuss on that subject soon.

For today's Weekly Challenge, we're going to Eve! Until the future arrival of re-entry heating, you've got a great opportunity to do a little low-risk sightseeing (and if you visit after next Wednesday, you'll get to experience Eve's stunning new height fog, as well):



Also, check out this week's burger-iffic Community Highlights post. So many amazing creations this week! There's also a new TikTok!

I'm heading out for a few days' rest in a place that has sunshine, which means next week's updates will be made by guest writers. Please be nice to them, but also don't be so nice to them that my bosses decide I shouldn't do the posts anymore. Please be medium nice to them.

See you in two weeks!

--
Keep up with all things Kerbal Space Program:
KSP Forums
KSP Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Intercept Games Discord
KSP YouTube

Hello Kerbonauts!

While last week's AMA was great, it looks like I forgot to check my staging when lining up the questions - many have pointed out that a lot of Discord queries got answered, but questions submitted through Steam and the KSP Forums were neglected. I'll try to be more conscious of that when the next AMA rolls around, but in an effort to right a past injustice, I'll answer a few of the questions that got missed right now! Here we go:

First, from Filip Hudak, on the forums: When we'll see other exotic fuel types like metallic hydrogen? Will they be added alongside some big update like colonies or will they be added before?

• We will be bringing in new engine and fuel types across multiple updates, generally as they become instrumental to the progression. I suspect nuclear pulse will be next up, as it opens up the interplanetary progression quite nicely and is a good supplement to colony building. Chris Adderley has also cooked up a few new methalox engines that I think will be popping up sooner rather than later.

From Moons, on the forums: Adjustable UI/UX, legacy UI, scaling, modularity.

• This is a good example of an area that's being developed iteratively. I think the first goal is to give players the ability to rescale the flight HUD, but making it modular and giving both players and modders more control over how things look is a key priority for the UX/UI team.

From walkingwiki666, on Steam: Will the game's price increase as new features are added?

• The game's price will certainly increase when 1.0 arrives, though if you purchased the game during Early Access, you'll get all Early Access updates and the 1.0 update for free. After 1.0, we expect to continue providing free updates to the game, just like KSP1 did.

From MARL_MK1, on the forums: It is cool that we can press 'F2' and take HUD-less screenshots, but given that it's the most basic way of taking screenshots, and that many of us players enjoy taking the best pictures possible of our crafts: Does KSP2 plan to implement a fully fleshed C?

• I need to do a better job of evangelizing our capture camera controls! If you hit V, you can cycle through camera modes. When you're in Capture Mode, the numpad offers a bunch of new camera controls that you can combine to do smooth, swoopy pans, dollies, zooms, etc. You can combine these with paused time warp to do some pretty fancy stuff. Here are those controls:
  
• Zoom in: Keypad +
  
• Zoom out: Keypad -
  
• Roll left: Keypad 7
  
• Roll right: Keypad 9
  
• Orbit up: Keypad 8
  
• Orbit down: Keypad 5
  
• Orbit left: Keypad 4
  
• Orbit right: Keypad 6
  
• Pan up: Keypad 2 (or up arrow)
  
• Pan down: Keypad 0 (or down arrow)
  
• Pan left: Keypad 1 (or left arrow)
  
• Pan right: Keypad 3 (or right arrow)
  
• Mouse toggle: Backslash
  
• Speed up camera movement: Keypad *
  
• Slow down camera movement: Keypad /

From alphaprior, on the forums: Will it be possible to alter the surface on the planets? Like dig a pit or flatten an area for a colony?

• There are no current plans to do this - as you can imagine, it has some brain-bending multiplayer implications, especially when time warp gets involved. But it would be incredibly cool and I'm not aware of any specific technical blockers. It's certainly come up in conversations with Mortoc, our senior graphics engineer. I mean, we have a game with nuclear pulse engines...the fact that you can't make craters with them feels like a missed opportunity. So yeah, we'll keep talking about this.

Thanks for your questions!

Onto business. We have knocked out a few more bugs for Patch Two, including that pesky issue where vehicles with more than 8 parts in a radial symmetry set were loading into the floor. We've just about wrapped up the cherry picking process and can say with confidence that it'll be out sometime in the next two weeks. We'll post an exact date for Patch Two as soon as we know it.

As we continue stabilizing and improving performance, we're also making progress on re-entry heating, new parts, and Science Mode. And just to highlight that other, bigger systems are always being worked on in parallel, here's some pictures of our QA team goofing off in multiplayer:



Yes, collision is working:



Last week's Duna-focused Weekly Challenge yielded some incredible creations! If you're in the mood to see highlights, the most-upvoted posts on both the ksp2_challenges and ksp2_screenshots Discord channels are now archived in the ksp2_bestof channel. There, you'll see stuff like this:



Those hydrogen tanks shine up real nice!

Finally, an apology: we've had some minor technical difficulties getting the next Weekly Challenge put together, but we hope to be bale to get something posted over the weekend. We regret the delay.

--
Keep up with all things Kerbal Space Program:
KSP Forums
KSP Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Intercept Games Discord
KSP YouTube

Hi Kerbonauts!

Last week we sat down with Creative Director Nate Simpson for our first Ask Me Anything on Discord! We got over 600 questions, collected from Discord, Steam, and the KSP forums. Nate answered a ton of questions-the full AMA can be found here. As a reminder, we're in Early Access! Plans can change.

We've tried our best to organize the questions based on topic, happy reading! Thank you to everyone who submitted questions and tuned into the AMA. We can't wait to do this again in the future!

Has there been any piece of community feedback/content that you and the team find especially motivating?

• Anytime I hear about someone who wasn't able to get into KSP1 get into KSP2, that's incredibly motivating. Especially when it's kids. Feels great to hear kudos that someone feels we're on the right track with things, whether it be UI, soundtrack, etc. Howard, our composer, has been showered with praise upon the EA release - and it's SO deserved. When we hear nice things, it energizes us.

What is the reasoning behind not allowing Early Access players the ability to use the debug menu? Since it is a sandbox game its omission seems odd, especially for Early Access. Will it be included at some point for single player campaigns?

• So, the debug controls were really only added for internal developer purposes, and we haven't really done any QA testing - or really created any design specs for it. Adding a debug menu could change a million variables that would really make it hard to investigate bugs. I want there to be a player-focused debug menu one-day.

Now that the first patch is out, what are you mainly focusing on?

• Stability, performance, new features, in the order. Obviously, I am eager to see heat be implemented. We've shared the visuals but there's also the actual heating system. Thermal kinda feels like the final pillar we need for the structural outline of KSP2 to be complete so we can start building on top of it with the EA milestones.

Are big features like science or interstellar on the backburner until the game is better optimized, or are the big features being developed alongside bug and performance patches?

• It's more parallel. People are focused on different things at the same time.

What was your favorite thing to work on in KSP2? What was your least favorite thing to work on?

• Favorite things: probably tutorials. Tapped into my own passions as a storyteller, especially visual storytelling. Learning how we can convey complex topics with amazing animations.
  
• Least favorite: probably tutorials. We iterated like CRAZY with them - redid them multiple times. Multiple scripts, multiple animations, lots of work. We eventually had breakthroughs on each one, but it was a process.

What has been the most challenging feature to work on?

• For me: see above - tutorials.
  
• For the team: heavy technical stuff. Adapting architecture to interstellar scale, accelerating trajectories, multiplayer. These make almost everything hard to implement, but we're making progress!

Will there be more tutorials in game, such as the ones being uploaded to TikTok, etc.?

• For the in-game tutorials, we have quite a few already made. The animations are already made for 9 or 10 of them. As new features are being added to the game, tutorials will come alongside them.

How much time and research goes into deciding what kind of rocket/space plane parts get into KSP2?

• A LOT. Chris Adderley (Nertea) is an amazing researcher and has a ton of existing knowledge. We also work with subject matter experts like Dr. Uni Shumlak from the University of Washington. We hold ourselves to the standard of rooting everything in game to real life science. Even if it's not a perfect implementation, if you look it up on Wikipedia you discover our features are real. We spend a lot of time on the Atomic Rockets website as well!

What is one feature/part/idea you really wanted to implement, but would not/could not for whatever reason?

• This game is unique because we basically never say "no" to things. We often "defer" things because there's more important things to work on. Like for example, Chris and I want to add a proper airliner cockpit, but it's going to take time and effort from our team. Hopefully we'll get to it someday!

In regards to the decision to leave wobbly rockets within the game. Are there plans to make this feature more detrimental to rocket design and progression? Or is this simply an early implementation of something that'll become more elaborate and significant?

• This is a really good example of how having something in Early Access helps us iterate and develop features forward. This is definitely a hot topic, so here's my two cents: If a rocket is skinny and made of many stacked parts, it should wobble. Larger scales, no. We're working on it; it will get better.

Will there by XL-sized launch engines, and if so, are there any estimates on when they will be added?

• We have some very big engines that will arrive with the Interstellar update. People have seen the Crucible which is MASSIVE. Big Engines Coming!

Are there going to be any significant changes to the science system in KSP2, or any changes that you feel are worth talking about?

• For context, the first of the progression modes that will be coming in a roadmap update will be science mode. It will be similar to the KSP1 experience. Gaining science points, redeeming them for parts. Differences would include: We don't want people to be able to gather huge amounts of science around the KSC. We want to push people to explore and visit all the other Celestial Bodies. There will be an opt-in mission system that gives you a reward for doing a particular thing.

Will certain resources needed for colony construction be planet/biome specific?

• The diversity of resources is what's going to make exploration mode so fun. Compared to KSP1 which was very self-directed (take temperatures, etc.), when there is a unique resource somewhere that gates your access to some category of parts/features - wow it totally changes the game. It gives you something material, the interplanetary/interstellar progression will really POP once you're able to dig up a specific thing that gives you a specific ability.

What kind of size range can we expect with colonies? Will all colonies be roughly the same size, or will we be able to have small 1-2 launch research colonies along with our gigantic industrial ones? Will there be any upper size limit?

• There's no plan for an enforced upper-size limit. It'll be smaller to vehicles: it's made of parts - we want people to make it as large as they want. Obviously not all computers can handle massive builds, so there will probably be a player-dependent FPS-based size limit.

When interstellar is implemented, are the different solar systems going to be stationary or are they going to orbit something (to simulate a galaxy)?

• One of the things I learned very early in the project is that the movement of stars around a galactic center is very unintuitive compared to normal movement. Especially when you're dealing with stuff like dark matter, it's unpredictable. Our current implementation is that thye do move relative to the galactic plane, but we want other stars to be moving targets that you'll still have to get an intercept for.
  
• Short answer: yes.

Will we see many more star systems and other interstellar objects added throughout the game's map as the years go on?

• We've committed to three star systems leading up to 1.0. I'd love to add more circumstances permitting. That's not an official plan, but that's what I personally want. We always come up with cool ideas for new celestial bodies - and we want to add new bodies that create new kinds of gameplay. When we have those ideas, we definitely want to get them into the game!

How useful will orbital construction be and how awesome are the colonies?

• Completely critical to interstellar progression. You can't make an interstellar vehicle in gravity well. Someone will definitely prove me wrong about that one day.

Can we get anything in writing related to the planned structure/function of multiplayer within the game, and how you plan to work around certain speedbumps like timewarp or two-player craft docking (ie where is the processing for this done?)?

• Generally, we try to not talk much about multiplayer but let me give you something. People will have separate timelines and then there will be a reconciliation phase when the players interact with each other. That's the plan right now but I also can't speak directly to the details of this feature - future comms incoming!

Do you expect multiplayer KSP2 to overtake single-player KSP2 in terms of player count and development when it releases? In other words, will single-player KSP2 become mostly obsolete?

• There's something about single-player KSP2 that can be very meditative. I don't always feel the need to share what I'm doing with everyone. I think single-player will always have a place.

What is your favorite KSP2 mod so far?

• We are IMPRESSED by how many exist already. Selfishly, it's one from LinuxGuruGamer, someone who if you're part of the modding community you're probably already familiar with. It's a script that automatically collects relevant logs for bug reports to send our way. Definitely awesome.

Many community members across the modding scene have noticed that certain models often contain INSANE polygon counts. Will those be reviewed for optimization passes too?

• Already in progress. Some models actually need those insane polygon counts, like th IVA cockpits. Somethings unusually high polygon-count models slip through and we'll look to optimize them as our schedule allows. Patch notes will include lines such as "mesh optimization' which would basically be that.

Once the game is "complete" with everything on the roadmap implemented and debugged, is it possible development will continue with new features?

• KSP got updates for over a decade. We want to do the same thing.

Will robotics be implemented in a future update?

• Probably not before 1.0. There's a lot of work leading up to the full 1.0 release. When we get to it, we want to make sure it's fully implemented, so after 1.0...one day.

Any thoughts on adding VR support to KSP2 in the future?

• Yes, I want it badly. Conversation will happen after 1.0.

Any plans to have a solid planet that is about the size of Jool or perhaps larger?

• We do have a super-Earth in the game: Ovin. It's not as big as Jool, I think it's 60% larger than Kerbin. It has its own rings. It's big enough to make landing hard. No plans for a Jool-sized terrestial planet. Should we do it, community?

Will we have (and when) realistic plasma/smoke tail after reentering spacecraft and different colors of heated plasma because of different speeds of reentry?

• Different atmospheres probably have different colors of plasmas - different ionization attributes. Going back to that iterative development point, the first version of re-entry heating will be one color, but the spec definitely calls for multiple colors based on location and atmospheric composition.

Will atmosphere-rich celestial bodies have weather patterns sometime in the future? If so, would this weather have any physical effect on your vessel?

• We do not have short-term plans for that. We have planets with tilt, so we could implement weather and seasons. But, we have a long runway ahead of us. Never say never, but yeah if we wanted to implement these features, we'd want it to affect gameplay in some way, so we'd need to figure that out. There's also the whole 'once we implement more modding capabilities' to the game, it's totally possible something like this is added by the community.

Are there plans to have collaborations for missions and/or other scenarios in-game with IRL space agencies such as NASA, ESA, etc.?

• Yes. Yes. Yes. We did that stuff in the past, and we're so excited about the things they're doing. It really just matters what those institutions are doing. If anyone knows people there, we're waiting by our phones...

General Miscellaneous

What non-KSP game/piece of media has inspired you and the team the most?

• There's a video called "The Wanderers" by Eric Wernquist. It's a beautiful, very short video, that definitely feels like our 'north star' for what we want KSP2 to feel like. It has these beautiful-rendered scenes of humankind exploring the solar system. We watch it fairly frequently and show it to new hires.

If you read all of this (or scrolled to the bottom hehe)...snacks for you! 🍬

While it’ll be tough to beat the sheer number of fixes that went into Patch One, we’re seeing quite a few big ones go down in Patch Two. We are still pulling a couple of late-breaking improvements into that build - once we’ve got it in QA’s hands we should be able to give you a date, and of course full patch notes will be posted when the build goes public. Until that time, here are a few things that are already checked into Patch Two:

• Fixed loss of vehicle on reference frame change when physicsless parts present
  
• Fixed flamed-out engines not restarting properly
  
• Enabled switching between vehicles in atmospheric flight (within PhysX bubble)
  
• Recovered Kerbals now return to VAB Kerbal Manager
  
• Gave click priority to planets rather than moons when zoomed out in Map view
  
• Struts and fuel lines no longer broken after cloning subassembly in VAB
  
• Fixed bug: vessels with no control deleted during save
  
• Fixed flowers on Kerbin
  
• Added "next" button to seizure warning screen
  
• Height fog added to all atmospheres
  
• Updated parking garage collision (now possible to enter structures)
  
• Various CPU and GPU optimizations to improve performance

There are other improvements that we’re hoping to squeeze into Patch Two (one of which got checked in last night), so hopefully a few more big-ticket items will get added to the list in the coming days.

Here are a couple of screenshots to show our progress. We have pruned all the hovering flowers made of squares and replaced them with flowers made of flowers:



We’re also pretty excited about how nice the new height fog is looking. It’s a subtle change, but it adds a lot of depth to the landscape:



In other news, I did a Discord AMA this morning. Thank you for all your questions - we received literally thousands of them and did our best to include as wide a variety as possible. This was lots of fun, and we’ll be doing more AMAs in the future! We’ll do our best to choose different questions the next time around so that things don’t get too repetitive. If you’ve got thoughts about how we can improve our AMA process, please let us know!

A written version of the Discord AMA will be posted within the next week. Stay tuned!

We’ve also got another Community Highlights post on the forum - it’s very exciting to see how Patch One has unblocked some more ambitious missions! Please keep sharing your creations in the #ksp2_screenshots and #ksp2_challenges Discord channels- our team is fueled by your crashes achievements! We’ve also added an upvote system to both of those Discord channels. If you like something, add an :upvote: emoji. If an image in one of those channels gets fifteen or more upvotes, it’ll appear in a new channel called #ksp2_bestof. If you posted a screenshot you’re proud of that has now been lost in the mists of time, feel free to resubmit your creation so that the community can give it the upvotes it deserves!

And speaking of Weekly Challenges, we’ve got a new one: this week, we’re heading out to Duna!

Have a great weekend!

--
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The complete patch notes for this update can be found below. We've had a few busy weeks!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/954850/view/3677790625554628815

First, the fine print: while this patch contains a lot of big improvements, it does not fix every bug in the game! This update represents the first step in an ongoing process of improvement that will continue through Early Access. If a high-profile bug that is especially important to you has not been addressed in this patch, please keep in mind that the order in which fixes roll out is not just contingent on priority — it also depends on the complexity of the problem that's causing the bug. The KSP community has done a very good job communicating their priorities to us, and we’re working to resolve the highest-impact issues first.

Among the changes we're most excited about (and again, check out the patch notes for the approximately 300 changes contained in this update):

• Optimized fuel flow calculations to cut processing by up to 3x and reduce garbage by half
  
• Improved joint strength for engine plate floating stack attach nodes
  
• Fixed R.A.P.I.E.R. engine mode-changing issues
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented loading of a saved game within an existing Campaign, caused workspaces not to load properly, and prevented saving the game
  
• Fixed issue that could cause some environment objects to spawn on top of the active vessel, causing KSC and other objects to move to the origin
  
• Fix for engine thrust being deflected at too high of a value when a part obstructs an engine’s exhaust (the Kraken Drive bug)
  
• Fixed physics impulse occurring when an engine runs out of fuel
  
• Fixed issue where some parts remain connected to/follow vessel after detachment
  
• Fixed stack decouplers staying connected to the vessel when staged with certain engines that have fairings enabled
  
• Fixed trajectory intercept patch not showing when captured by a Celestial Body
  
• Fixed stack decouplers operating as if crossfeed is active even when PAM entry shows crossfeed disabled

We are currently aware of one new bug in Patch One: when far from the viewer, runway lights toggle off. That issue will be resolved in the next patch.

A few minor adjustments have been made to terrain around certain areas of interest (for example, collision has been restored to the bottom of the Mohole). There is a very small (but non-zero) chance that this update could cause issues with landed vehicles near those locations. If you do encounter such an issue with a saved game, you can revert to an older build to move your vehicle to safer ground.

We are hard at work on Patch Two and have already committed some important new changes to that build (upcoming fixes in Patch Two will fix fuel line issues that prevent asparagus staging, stop the unexpected in-flight destruction of vehicles equipped with physicsless parts, and allow vessel switching in an atmosphere, among other improvements). We don’t yet have a release date for Patch Two, but it should arrive sometime in the next few weeks. We will update you here when we know more.

As always, thanks for your patience and continued support. As you know, this is a very big game, and the community’s ability to shine lights on every corner has given us much better visibility in a lot of critical areas. We hope that the performance improvements and bug fixes in today’s patch open up new opportunities for fun, and we look forward to making the game even better.

--
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• 🚀 Fixed disappearance of orbital trajectories after loading a saved game
  
• 🚀 Fixed trajectory intercept patch not showing when captured by a Celestial Body
  
• 🚀 Fixed issue where some parts remain connected to/follow vessel after detachment
  
• 🚀 Fixed stack decouplers staying connected to the vessel when staged with certain engines that have fairings enabled
  
• 🚀 Fixed physics impulse occurring when an engine runs out of fuel
  
• 🚀 Fixed dV incorrectly using reinforced joint part connections for fuel flow calculations
  
• 🚀 Fix for engine thrust being deflected at too high of a value when a part obstructs an engine’s exhaust (the Kraken Drive bug)
  
• 🚀 Fixed loss of vehicle control after undocking
  
• 🚀 Fixed bug for probe cores spinning when losing Commnet connection
  
• 🚀 Fixed stack decouplers operating as if crossfeed is active even when PAM entry shows crossfeed disabled
  
• 🚀 Fixed issue that could cause some environment objects to spawn on top of the active vessel, causing KSC and other objects to move to the origin
  
• Fixed orbital velocity being shown when looking at the context menu of a landed vessel in Map view
  
• Fixed maneuver burn timer countdown lights activating incorrectly
  
• Fixed context menu opening when panning the camera with right mouse button while zoomed in to a celestial body in Map mode
  
• Added camera collision with terrain and other colliders while in Flight view
  
• Added visual indicator when a marker is hovered and pinned in Map view
  
• Fixed offset of radially-attached parts when player switches away from and back to Flight view
  
• Fixed the sim-side Center of Mass not being correctly updated by view-side rigidbodies
  
• Fixed physics-less parts adding the mass of their host part to Center of Mass calculations
  
• Fixed orbit/rigidbody synchronization issues when transitioning to/from physics and on-rails
  
• Made debris targetable
  
• Fixed dV calculation breaking when new empty stages are added while building a vessel in the VAB
  
• Fixed dV amounts appearing on the wrong stage when rearranging stages in the staging stack
  
• Fixed outboard elements of compound wings exhibiting reversed control surface reaction to pitch inputs
  
• Fixed issue with orbital marker not properly resetting its state when collapsed
  
• Fixed orbital markers not being pinnable while manipulating a maneuver and not staying pinned upon maneuver gizmo activation
  
• Fixed navball/controls getting stuck after accelerating in timewarp
  
• Fixed persistence of active vessel’s timewarp restrictions when returning to KSC from Flight
  
• Fixed pitch, yaw, roll, and throttle adjustment being possible while in hibernation mode
  
• Fixed planned trajectories changing when switching between Flight view and Map view while engine is firing
  
• Fixed dV calculations for stages with multiple engines with different burn durations and propellant rates
  
• Fixed resource system processing when request needs are only partially met
  
• Improved buoyancy calculations to reduce vessel spinning when splashing down in the ocean
  
• Fixed burn duration displays 0 until it is time to start the burn
  
• Fixed ETA to maneuver display to show a value for “days”
  
• Fixed dV calculations with cross feed in active stage of flying vessel
  
• Fixed dV changing to zero when fuel crossfeed is disabled on Docking Ports
  
• Fixed a bug where debris trajectories were not immediately shown in Map view
  
• Fixed a bug with thrust limiters missing for solid fuel booster engines
  
• Removed incorrect fuel transferability for solid fuel parts in the Resource Manager in Flight view
  
• Single part vessels now come to a stop on low gravity celestial bodies after a crash
  
• Fixed intercept nodes being in wrong positions during timewarp
  
• Updated detection arguments for recognizing when an aircraft is landed
  
• Fixed an issue with Stability Assist that could cause the loss of Prograde and Retrograde targets on the launchpad
  
• Fixed vessel not restoring correctly when reverting to launch from the runway
  
• Fixed Chase Camera mode to make selected zoom state persist
  
• Fixed part action groups breaking when an invalid action is included
  
• Fixed errors on Game Shutdown during TimeWarp
  
• Fixed destroy command not destroying vessels in the Tracking Station
  
• Fixed some instances where the action group manager would not trigger correctly when additional part actions are added to reserved action groups

• Optimizations in the engine part module to reduce per-update “not out of fuel” messaging
  
• Optimized engine exhaust damage calculations to reduce CPU impact of high engine counts
  
• Optimized ThrottleVFXManager to reduce CPU impact of per-frame material property updates
  
• Optimizations on EVA code
  
• Optimized Center of Thrust and Center of Mass marker code and fixed null shortcut failure states
  
• Optimized Kerbal hair compression scripts
  
• Optimized loading times in PQS code
  
• Optimization of unneeded cameras during loading
  
• Optimizations on EVA code
  
• Optimized loading times for the main menu
  
• Loading optimization for scatter meshes
  
• Optimized fuel flow calculations to cut processing by up to 3x and reduce garbage by half
  
• Optimized runway light meshes
  
• Fixed various texture and mesh memory leaks
  
• Updated Training Center to use texture streaming
  
• Fixed performance-impacting error state triggered by Kerbin’s clouds after returning to Kerbal Space Center from another celestial body
  
• Removed unnecessary log entries to improve performance
  
• Removed unnecessary logs when loading a saved game
  
• Reduced light source count for multi-nozzle engine parts

• 🚀 Added feature: game autosaves when landing on a celestial body, when entering an SOI, and when entering or exiting an atmosphere
  
• 🚀 Fixed an issue that prevented loading of a saved game within an existing Campaign, caused workspaces not to load properly, and prevented saving the game
  
• Fixed issue where reloading a save made at KSC results in reloading to active vessel in flight
  
• Fixed string in the Save Workspace menu
  
• Fixed an issue that could prevent new workspace saves being created when a control part was removed
  
• Fixed an issue that can prevent workspace saves from appearing in the load menu

• 🚀 Fixed R.A.P.I.E.R. engine mode-changing issues
  
• 🚀 Set all reinforced joint connections to grandparent
  
• 🚀 Improved joint strength for engine plate floating stack attach nodes
  
• 🚀 Performed wheel balance pass, including adjustment of all steering and torque curves
  
• 🚀 Increased range and brightness for vehicle lights
  
• Re-tuned fairing and cargo part mass
  
• Tuned mass for structural parts, trusses, nosecones and tail sections
  
• Tuned crash tolerance for external Grumble Seat
  
• Re-tuned electrical systems, including adjustments to xenon engine electrical draw, xenon engine thrust, reactor fuel burn rate, and RTG lifetime
  
• Tuned crash tolerance for landing gear
  
• Tuned docking reacquisition ranges
  
• Updated Hammer solid fuel booster model to match with other parts in the same size category
  
• Adjusted mass for HECS2 probe
  
• Updated emissive texture and material for the MK3 “Skybus”
  
• Fixed frustum culling for the Bobus mobility enhancer (ladder disappeared when base at edge of screen)
  
• Updated geometry and textures for the MK1 “Peregrine”
  
• Updates to textures and geometry for the Mk1 “Raven”
  
• Fixed texture seams on the R.A.P.I.E.R. engine
  
• Fixed RCS not working on the Mk3-5 command pod
  
• Minor bug fix on the Kerbal K2 stock vessel to fix issues with decoupling
  
• Updated collider for MK1 Tin Can to improve surface attachment behavior for radially-attached parts
  
• Updated default orientation for some adapter parts
  
• Updated default orientation for small square trusses
  
• Updated part placement rules for the HS-500 Heat Shield
  
• Updated models for decouplers and separators to match other parts in their size categories
  
• Updated geometry for LV-N “NERV” engine
  
• Updated team colors masks for the SP-XL "Gigantor" and SP-XXL "Colossus" solar panels
  
• Updated team color masks for decouplers
  
• Updated team color mask on engine endcaps
  
• Added Crew Light module to Skybus cab
  
• Fixed the Symmetry mirror direction and rotation for the Grumble Seat
  
• Fixed wheel motor resource usage being too low
  
• Adjusted default orientation of the MK3 Cargo Ramp
  
• Fixed fuel-containing aerodynamic parts (Mk1 Divertless Supersonic Intake, Engine Nacelle, or Engine Precooler) not showing resource slider in the Part Action Manager
  
• Tuning changes made to reaction wheels in command modules
  
• Adjusted the surface attach node to be on the ventral surface of Mk2 parts
  
• Fixed a bug preventing lights from consuming resources
  
• Fixed a bug preventing the Blink option from working on lights
  
• Fixed a bug with the heading orientation of the Sparrow default craft

• 🚀 UI performance improvements, including elimination of unnecessary redraw for unchanged bar elements and removal of pixel perfect on main gameplay canvas
  
• 🚀 Added a graphical representation for probe cores in Kerbal Flight portraits
  
• 🚀 Updated Map iconography, including orbital markers, trajectory colors, maneuver gizmo, focus item, and scrub handle
  
• 🚀 Fixed error where clicking on “Exit” in Main Menu produces warning modal that has no accept or cancel buttons
  
• 🚀 Fixed graphics quality settings conflicting with one another after resetting settings
  
• 🚀 Removed “Apply” button from settings menus, updating settings when changed, settings now apply immediately
  
• Fixed parts bin UI height in Staging Stack
  
• Performed color and consistency pass on the staging stack and launch button UI
  
• UI improvements to avoid overlap of intercept nodes in map view
  
• Fixed info panel UI element remaining active when panel is hidden in the Tracking Station
  
• Updated UI indicators in some tutorials and first-time user experience information
  
• Updated Resource Manager UI to match new resource gauges in Staging Stack
  
• Improved ESC menu user experience
  
• Fixed dark box getting stuck in the VAB when dragging the dialog window
  
• Fixed Kerbal Manager portraits appearing empty
  
• Fixed non-stock vessel thumbnails not appearing in launchpad menu
  
• Minor updates to improve building selection experience at Kerbal Space Center view
  
• Updated the executable icon
  
• Updated background image for vessel thumbnails in the launchpad load menu
  
• Updated saved vessel thumbnail design
  
• Updated styling on the action button inside the Part Action Manager
  
• Updated the game credits
  
• Updated game splashscreens
  
• Updated titles in the Resource Manager
  
• Updated dialog windows to accommodate longer text
  
• Updated close button on the Part Manager
  
• Updated missing text on the launchpad menu
  
• Added notification for inactive vessel entering a new SOI
  
• Fixed runway 1 and 2 having the same name when hovering over them in the KSC
  
• Fixed tooltips for Trigger Action Groups 2-10 being numbered incorrectly within the input settings menu
  
• Fixed Center Camera in VAB being in the wrong section in the input settings
  
• Added warning when rebinding the same key twice in input settings
  
• Fixed difficulty settings being saved from one save file's difficulty settings and being applied to every normal difficulty game save made afterwards
  
• Fixed difficulty options showing in the main menu settings
  
• Fixed failure of difficulty settings to apply when changed inside a campaign
  
• Fixed shader compiler error when switching graphics settings to Low Quality
  
• Added laptop audio mode to settings
  
• Fixed a bug where the “hold to quickload” setting was not applied correctly
  
• Added audio keyboard shortcuts to input settings menu
  
• Fixed escape menu freezing vessel controls in last-held state
  
• Fixed dialog being non-clickable when recovering a vessel with ESC menu deployed
  
• Fixed overlapping text in the flag removal dialog
  
• Fixed throttle visuals not updating when throttle adjusted
  
• Updated Tracking Station control text
  
• Minor updates to global header information
  
• Fixed Recover Vessel button in the ESC menu pushing elements off screen
  
• Fixed notifications using real world time instead of UT
  
• Fixed input lock problems when the ESC menu is visible
  
• Removed placeholder image that appears when no parts are favorited
  
• Updated Center of Mass, Thrust, and Pressure/Lift indicators in the Vehicle Assembly Building to make them translucent
  
• Fixed text overruns in the Training Center
  
• Alt+Enter toggles fullscreen
  
• Fixed a bug blocking some agency flags from being selected when starting a new game
  
• Added additional loading screens
  
• Fixed missing physical characteristics in the info panel inside the Tracking Station
  
• Fixed issues with the toggles for Map and Tracking Station displaying an incorrect state, or being hidden unintentionally
  
• Fixed all CBs are described as "Terrestrial planets" when viewed in the tracking station
  
• Updated the text string displayed for engine disabling/enabling in the Part Manager
  
• Updated text for lights in the Part Manager

• 🚀 Middle mouse button pans in the Z axis when in horizontal workspace mode
  
• 🚀 Fixed fairing sides getting deleted after building a procedural fairing and attaching it to a launch assembly
  
• 🚀 Fixed errors related to procedural wings preventing launch from VAB
  
• 🚀 Fixed issue where pressing M in the VAB opens the Map view
  
• Fixed description for Kerbol capture and Kerbosationary orbit trip stages in trip planner
  
• Fixed engineer’s report warning vessels cannot generate electricity when vessels are equipped with generators
  
• Adjusted default VAB camera angle for horizontal workspace mode
  
• Fixed hit area for the launchpad selection button in the VAB
  
• Confirmation prompt added when saving over workspaces
  
• Fixed assembly anchor error alert persisting onscreen and blocking the user from placing additional parts after the tool is deselected in the VAB
  
• Fixed Center of Thrust appearing on the ground of the VAB and not updating when launch assembly is changed
  
• Fixed display issues in the text on the orientation cube in the VAB
  
• Updated favorites panel information in the Vehicle Assembly Building Favorites category
  
• Fixed a bug where surface attach nodes were misaligned on some engine parts

• 🚀 Fixed an issue where ground textures were projected onto vehicles at the margins of the KSC grounds
  
• 🚀 Fixed Kerbin atmosphere disappearing when viewed from Mun’s SOI
  
• 🚀 Fixed collision at bottom of Mohole
  
• Fixed terrain decal normals not rendering correctly
  
• Reduced scatter meshes floating above terrain
  
• Updates to terrain texture matching for some points of interest
  
• Updated placement, coloration, and collision for various celestial body landmarks
  
• Updated colliders and stretched textures in the parking garage at KSC
  
• Scatter adjustments around KSC mountains
  
• Updated material on VAB elevators
  
• Fixed VAB gantry crane geometry
  
• Updated material on VAB doors
  
• Adjusted atmosphere settings for main menu background planet
  
• Fixed atmosphere not showing in cubemaps under some circumstances
  
• Improved atmosphere clipping issues while in Map view
  
• Fixed Laythe’s atmosphere rendering incorrectly in Map view
  
• Fix a bug that caused lighting to darken on vessels when reentering atmospheres
  
• Updated clouds on Jool
  
• Minor road line placement adjustments at Kerbal Space Center
  
• Fixed collision and updated materials for some points of interest
  
• Updated local space shader to restore missing normals in some biomes
  
• Updated KSC Training Center roof and Tracking Station dish to fix gaps in geometry
  
• Updated colliders around launchpads
  
• Updated Kerbin foliage
  
• Fixed invisible water above ground to east of KSC lakes
  
• Fixed scaled space clouds not displaying in map view
  
• Fixed cloud transition dithering issues
  
• Improved cloud masking to clean up edges of clouds seen behind vehicle
  
• Fixed clouds in Map view not lighting from the correct sun direction for all planets
  
• Fixed warnings in cloud-related code
  
• Fixed decals sliding and floating on planets
  
• Fixed decals getting culled incorrectly after transitioning to low orbit
  
• Fixed Laythe's Ocean appearing jagged, pixelated, and jittery after splashing down
  
• Fixed ocean shoreline fade out transition at some camera angles
  
• Improved LOD transitions for KSC trees
  
• Fixed mismatch between high-detail KSC and far-distance LOD material
  
• Fixed shadow system to switch to surface shadow mode in KSC view

• 🚀 Fixed issue with game saves made after vehicle destruction, in which reloading causes EVA camera mode switch and missing flight information/flight report
  
• 🚀 Fixed Kerbals floating when idle while in EVA
  
• 🚀 Fixed Kerbals getting stuck when swimming
  
• 🚀 Fixed Kerbals getting stuck inside the Mk1 Command Pod when it's on a flat surface other than the launchpad
  
• 🚀 Improved Kerbal run/walk animation transitions
  
• Fixed Kerbal surface velocity resetting when disabling RCS in EVA mode
  
• Updated EVA code to remove frame-related discrepancy between collision result values and character state values
  
• Fixed ground and step detection being one frame late for Kerbals while in EVA
  
• Fixed EVA tooltip remaining active when the HUD is hidden during gameplay
  
• Fixed inability to recover Kerbals when on EVA
  
• Fixed a bug preventing EVA jetpack from firing even when it has enough fuel
  
• Kerbals now require 1x timewarp when transitioning to EVA
  
• Fixed Kerbals being able walk on the sides of objects with collision
  
• Fixed climb action not being present for Kelus Long ladder and Bobus Extra Long Telescopic Mobility Enhancer
  
• Fixed errors when toggling Jetpack while TimeWarp is active

• 🚀 Improved Kerbol flare/bloom effects
  
• 🚀 Fixed post process FX lighting transition in low orbit
  
• 🚀 Fixed an issue where contrails jump positions during universe reference point transitions
  
• Fixed ground blast effect occurring at invalid location for the first few seconds of launch
  
• Fixed SFX for Panther in afterburning mode
  
• Fixed errors on explosion VFX for hydrogen tanks
  
• Fixed VFX not showing on RCS thrusters when precision mode is activated
  
• Minor updates for non-explosive water impact VFX
  
• Launch VFX updates
  
• Updated R.A.P.I.E.R. engine VFX
  
• Updated launch smoke material
  
• Updated explosion materials
  
• Fixed audio timing for several animations
  
• Game audio balance pass
  
• Fixed a bug where audio was muted when entering numpad values in text entry bars on some menus
  
• Added maneuver alert and end sounds
  
• Added drag and drop staging sounds
  
• Added hydrogen and xenon tank destruction sounds
  
• Fixed launchpad music not playing when loading a save

• 🚀 Fixed issue where flight report appears when the user crashes a vessel inside a tutorial
  
• 🚀 Added “Enter” as keyboard input to advance tutorial dialogs
  
• 🚀 Fixed a bug that could cause the first-time user experience windows to remain open on the main menu
  
• Text adjustments in tutorials
  
• Text adjustments to subtitles for video tutorials
  
• Fixed soft lock error when restarting Tutorial 2.2
  
• Fixed some audio elements on Tutorial 2.4
  
• Fixed tooltips not displaying in the Tutorial pause menu during tutorial videos
  
• Adding scroll bar indicator to the booster selection step in the “Missing the Ground” tutorial
  
• Added fail stage when deleting the engine in the “Space is the Place” tutorial
  
• Fixed tutorial orientation video getting stuck when clicking at the end of the video progress bar
  
• Fixed subtitles in several languages for the video tutorial on the “Space is the place” tutorial
  
• Fixed file paths in tutorial saves
  
• Minor gameplay updates to the “Missing the Ground” tutorial
  
• Updated text in the VAB First Time User Experience
  
• Updated first-time user experience: “Out of Electricity” linked to electricity level instead of production rate
  
• Fixed a bug with videos not closing at appropriate times

• Fixed title text overlapping at the Training Center when localized
  
• Fixed unlocalized tooltips in the Timewarp bar
  
• Added missing localization terms for stockvessels
  
• Localization reformatted for new game creation
  
• Adjustments to text sizing and placement in the launchpad selection in some languages
  
• Fixed crash when returning to main menu from VAB
  
• Font updates for special characters in certain languages

Added new translations to:

• KSC Menu
  
• Flight HUD
  
• VAB
  
• Training Center
  
• Launchpad Menu
  
• Part Manager
  
• Tracking Station
  
• Settings
  
• ESC Menu
  
• Dialog Titles
  
• Notifications
  
• Action Group Manager
  
• Campaign Load Screen
  
• Part Action Manager
  
• Time Warp UI
  
• Tutorial Pause
  
• Wing Editor
  
• Map View
  
• Part Info Tooltip
  
• Video tutorials
  
• Passive notifications
  
• Merging Workspace Tutorial

KSC Runway Lights LOD Visual Regression
Description: Players can see runway lights up close, but they are not visible from far away. This was a result of a major optimization fix for the lights.

Status: We are aware of this issue and will be looking to address this in a future patch.

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

Good afternoon, fellow Kerbonauts!

We continue to make good headway on performance improvements and bug squashing. In fact, we managed to sneak a few additional fixes into the first patch, including a fairly high-impact resource flow optimization. We also fixed the "Kraken drive" bug that created insane reverse thrust when an engine’s nozzle was obstructed - so if you’re working on a Kraken ship, the "unique" physics on which it depends are about to go away forever. We may not in fact have killed the Kraken yet, but we have definitely stubbed its tentacle.

As to the timing of Patch One... QA is thoroughly testing the build right now, and as soon as they give us a thumbs-up, we’ll release it. Right now, our goal is to release that patch next Thursday (March 16th). Provided QA does not uncover any show-stopping bugs over the next few days, that date should hold. If they do run into something unexpected that needs to be fixed, that date will slip. We have done a fair amount of hand-wringing around whether we should announce the target date for this patch when there is a non-zero chance of a delay, but we know this topic is very important to you all, so we're doing our best to keep you all in the loop. We’ve also already completed a nice queue of fixes to go into the second patch, but we’ll talk more about that after we’ve got the first one out the door.

To help tide you over until then, we’ve got a new performance-focused dev blog post from Mortoc, our senior graphics engineer. If you’ve been wondering how we test performance and what we’re doing to improve it, this one’s definitely worth a read.

Finally, I just wanted to give a holler of support to the many people who have undertaken the weekly challenges - last week’s air-launched rocket challenge was a sight to behold, and we’re on the edges of our seats to see what mayhem will take place during this week’s Minmus challenge. If you want to take part (or just bask in the ingenuity and/or madness of our community), check out the Weekly Challenge Discord channel. Our Community Team has also picked out a few choice gems from the last week and added them to a Community Highlights post here. Yes, the shopping cart is in there. The shopping cart that flies.

Hi y'all,

I'm Mortoc, the new graphics programmer on the team. I wanted to take some time to chat about KSP2's graphics and performance-where we are today and what our process is and what the team's goals are.

As many of you have noticed, KSP2's performance isn't amazing at the start of Early Access. In a game as complex as KSP2, there are a dizzying number of areas that we could spend our efforts on and the feedback we're receiving is invaluable for us to focus our time on the issues that affect the players the most.

There are different reasons that the framerate can suffer. If the CPU is asked to do too much during simulation or if the CPU is asked to send too much data to the GPU in an organized fashion, it can make the framerate drop without maxing out the GPU. In most cases the performance in KSP2 is bottlenecked by the GPU, and since I'm a graphics engineer, that's what we're going to investigate in this article. Other engineers are working hard on CPU-facing improvements that you'll see reflected in upcoming updates.

Before we dig into the numbers, let's start with a primer on what we're looking for here. Game developers tend to think of framerate in terms of milliseconds rather than FPS because it's easier to budget out your frame time that way. Converting from FPS to ms is simple, you just use the formula 1,000 / FPS = ms (for example: 100FPS means it takes 10ms per frame, 1,000 / 100 = 10). This way we're talking about how long a system takes to run directly. We want to measure how many milliseconds each system in the game takes in order to figure out which are taking too much time and dropping the framerate.

We use a tool called RenderDoc for our automated performance testing (among other tools). RenderDoc allows us to get the ground-truth timings for every single command sent to the GPU. Our tooling can then pull out the slowest GPU events for us to investigate.

The machine I'm using here for performance analysis is a laptop with i7-8650U CPU, Mobile Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB GPU and 16GB RAM. It has a slower GPU than our current min spec, so we're not expecting it to make a playable framerate yet.

KSC Landing Screen - 11FPS



In this scene, eight of the ten worst-offenders are related to PQS+. PQS stands for Procedural Quad System and it's the algorithm used to generate planet terrains. KSP2 uses a modified version of PQS from KSP1, generally referred to as PQS+ after all the modifications made to it for KSP2.

That table starts with a draw call to PQSRENDERTEMP, which emits 229,248 vertices. Each other draw call that uses that specific number is doing some work on the PQS mesh. The two draw calls not related to PQS in that table are the ones with a 6 in the name and are related to the cloud system. From this report we can see that the terrain clearly takes the most GPU time in this scene; 29.94ms in total.

Let's try another vantage point.

LKO - Low Graphics - 8FPS



As you travel away from any Celestial Body, we swap out the complex Local shader with a Scaled version that's much more efficient. This scene is from Low Kerbin Orbit, but still close enough to the planet to be using the Local version of the shader. PQS+ is again 8 out of the top 10 worst calls (the line Dispatch(12, 240,1) which is Draw Call #1 is from at the start of the frame when we kick off a compute shader to generate the terrain mesh). That first PQS+ call that took over 10ms is especially dirty.

Clearly the PQS System and related shaders are a big performance problem. Let's talk about that, but first dig into some background. A core philosophy for the early part of KSP2's EA cycle is to make sure "it still feels like a KSP game". This means that for each feature we build, we want to start with what KSP1 did and then build a similar system that improves on it.



Following that goal, the team started with the PQS design from KSP1 and added modern graphics features for KSP2's PQS+. As development progressed on KSP2, more and more features were added to PQS+ to keep pushing the artistic envelope.

I might be biased, but from orbit, Kerbol's planets look incredible. Our art team did a fantastic job. From the surface the game is still quite pretty, but the terrain itself just doesn't have the consistent visual quality we want yet. While trying to build that ground up to our visual ambitions, we added more features than the previous PQS architecture can support. It wasn't until the ramp up to EA that it became understood just how far past the limits of the tech we had reached.



OK, so, clearly there's a problem, what are we going to do about it? A few things are being done simultaneously. First, we're prioritizing performance optimizations for this system over the next couple of patches. Particularly for when graphics settings are "LOW", we want this system to be eating far less GPU time. This takes two forms: one is pure engineering optimization that doesn't affect final graphics, the other is to disable certain visual features when the graphics are set to "LOW" or "MEDIUM". That first category, engineering-only fixes, was taken about as far as it could be with PQS+. Our short-term plans are currently focused on the second category, turning off features that don't provide enough bang for the buck.



Here's an example of an optimization that affects the visuals. Coming soon in a patch, we will be able to turn off the Anti-Tile system in the terrain. In a bunch of places, the effect is negligible, but you can see the Eve surface has a repetitive texture artifact without it. This visual polish comes at the cost of accessing each texture a few more times, putting strain on the memory bandwidth of the GPU. Disabling this effect can have a small-to-medium sized effect on the framerate, depending on the GPU in question.

Optimizations like that one are happening now and will arrive in the next few updates. The rest of this article deals with systems that are in progress, so we cannot make specific promises about timelines or features until further along in development. But here's where we're heading:

In the medium term, my first major project on this team is to design and build a next-generation terrain system - what we're calling the CBT system (it uses a Concurrent Binary Tree data structure, but it could also stand for Celestial Body Terrain). PQS+ has served us well, but nowadays video cards are much more flexible and there are more modern approaches that will give us better results in terms of performance and visual quality. Exciting new earth-shaking architectures are possible. The next-gen CBT system will be the topic of a future dev blog which will contain a much more detailed look at what we're building. While it's too early to share any details, I will say that I'm excited about the artistic expressiveness, potential terrain variety, and performance of the CBT system.

Another area that will see a major shift in visual quality and performance is bringing the game up to Unity's modern renderer, HDRP (read more about HDRP here if you're curious, it rocks). The main benefits we get from HDRP are a more optimized render engine, which means faster framerates, and a more flexible shader model, which means more effective dev team efforts. It'll also make it easier for visual mods to be built. As a sidenote, despite how much we love you modders, this change will definitely break most visual mods (sorry modders, sometimes we must hurt the ones we love).

These in-progress changes will allow us to build more scientifically grounded yet fantastical worlds for the Kerbals to explore for years to come.

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