Animator Dan Rosas talks during the Kerbal Kon livestream.

Kerbal Space Program became quite the phenomenon in 2013. After two years of quiet work, landing on Steam for Early Access brought the game to the attention of millions of gamers and launched Squad, a small interactive marketing firm based in Mexico City, toward the halls of indie success stories. The game is routinely near the top of the list of most popular games on Steam, and a new educational initiative is bringing a version of the space sim to classrooms.

At the first annual Kerbal Kon, PC Gamer spoke with lead developer Felipe Falanghe and PR director Bob Holtzman about the game s meteoric (pun intended) rise on Steam, the challenges of a never-ending developer wishlist, and why failure is fun. Snippets from our interview are below, but you can also check out our full coverage of Kerbal Kon, including the surprise announcement of the game s multiplayer mode.

PC Gamer: Was there a moment where you realized that was actually going to work?

Felipe Falange: I think it was a series of small moments that would actually lift the always looming concern of impending failure, up to the point where it built up a sense of accomplishment. But I m still overly cautious of everything. I m scared to call the game a success. Bob is always teasing me.

Bob Holtzman: Yeah, I had in the press release, the popular, award-winning . and he was like, is that right? From the marketing standpoint, the Steam Summer Sale was when everyone was like, OK, we ve got something pretty serious."

Was there a percentage jump?

Holtzman: It was cataclysmic, is what it was.

Falange: If you look at the overall graph, there s one towering peak in July that marks the Summer sale. There was a small jump in March because people got excited about Steam, and then it started to dwindle to normal levels, and there s this peak.

Holtzman: It crushed.

Falange: It s orders of magnitude. Whenever there s a sale, there s this big jump.

Holtzman: I gotta give a lot of credit to Valve for setting up such a tent-pole moment for PC gamers. I m sure we re not the only ones who say this.

Falange: I think Valve is single-handedly keeping PC gaming going; they re a major contributor. If Valve went away suddenly, I don t know what would happen to PC gaming as a whole, but it would affect the entire culture. It s about their culture, their influence that they generate around Steam They ve grown a cult around PC gaming, which is really cool.

Do you have plans to add more solar systems, or even randomly generated solar systems?

Falange: That s something we get a lot, and it s actually something that I m not very particularly about implementing. It s not that can t we could, theoretically. But I think that KSP being a game where you can build your own spacecraft, play the game in your own way, and have essentially a completely different experience from everyone else the only thing tying these experiences together is that the universe is the same. So if we were to add procedurally generated planets outside the current solar system, you would end up with places and destinations that don t exist for anyone else. And then it would fail in terms of you being able to relate to someone else s experience. You wouldn t be able to say, Hey guys, I landed on Duna, this was really cool! And everyone knows what Duna is and what it stands for. Instead, you d get, Hey guys, I found this planet, it looks kinda like this. And people would be like, Oh... I ve got completely different planets on mine.

Holtzman: The game is science fiction, but one of the things that Felipe has really driven is that he wants the science to come first and the fiction to come second. So when you start talking about multiple solar systems, you get further into the realm of fiction.

Falange: Right, because you re talking about interstellar distances, which means time-warp isn't enough anymore, no matter how fast you re going. Now you need some sort of warp drive, and that falls into the realm of sci-fi. And that then requires us to break the laws of physics, which would in fact make everything much trickier.

Felipe Falange poses with a model of an in-game ship, made by a fan and posted to reddit.

Some players are interested in a delta-V indicator . What do you think?

Falange: I wanted it sometimes, and I un-wanted it other times. In the end, it takes away a gameplay element because it takes some of the guesswork and some of the trial and error and figuring out for yourself what the delta-V is. It might take some of the magic away. One of the great things about KSP is doing just what Chad was doing just now . That ridiculous contraption he was doing, just trying to see if he could make it to the water, just shooting it on a rocket. If you make it too technical, it s certainly possible to calculate it. But it s like giving the answer to a puzzle sometimes, and I don t know if we want that. The same applies to showing how much burn time you have remaining. I think there s always this element of tension of trying to calculate in your head how much fuel you have left and if you re going to make it. It s like filling out the crossword puzzle for you.

Has it been difficult to have so many members of the dev team all over the world, and would you prefer it if they lived in one place?

Falange: Given my own commute it s been very natural. I was working remotely before we started hiring people from outside. The whole Skype workflow was already in place. Mexico City is such a large city that a couple of developers who no longer work with us also worked remotely, just because they lived so far away, that it was pretty much the same as being in another city. I actually like it very much that we are able to work remotely this effectively.

3D-printed Kerbals scattered around the Squad offices.

Do you have any favorite mods?

Falange: I haven t played with mods in a while, I admit. I have a few of those that I would like to get around to playing with.

Holtzman: Maybe favorite is the wrong word. Maybe it should be the ones that intrigue you.

Falange: Yeah, I want to check out the Kerbal Attachment System, which gives you winches and everyone says it s really cool. I never got around to playing it because I can t have a modded install... I d like to play with mods more than I do now. I ve always been really big on modding other games, any game I get I always see if there s a modding community involved, and it always makes it better.

Before running away for a few days to close out the year with champagne and a new XCOM campaign, Evan, Cory, and Tyler gathered to discuss how two of our favorite 64-player shooters created very different experiences this year. Watch the whole five-video series on the PC Gamer YouTube channel, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more regular content, gameplay footage, and conversations.

Faced with an overwhelming prevalence of quandaries in regard to upcoming Elder Scrolls Online, some clever soul raised their Illusion skill high enough to cast "Infodump". Doing so summoned the MMO's PvP developer, Brian Wheeler, to the Elitist Jerks forum, where he went about answering all sorts of questions - from the grand to minute - that fill in the blanks of its inter-player battling.

To regurgitate the full thing would be a mammoth task - and largely a pointless one, given its availability here. That said, there are a few things worth highlighting. The game's PvP is set in Cyrodill, for instance, which should be a name recognisable from Oblivion. It should be a location that's recognisable, too. "Cyrodiil in our timeline will look very familiar to Oblivion," Wheeler states, "however much more spread out." When asked about the original, more exotic incarnation of the region - first mentioned in the original TES: Arena, and appropriate to the timeframe of the MMO - Wheeler says, "we have a book in the game for you to find for more details about that." That's the great thing about lore. You can make it do whatever you want.

In regards to the region's size, Wheeler says that it will take "roughly 20-30 minutes to cross it from north to south" on foot. As for how the developers are ensuring that space is packed full of things to do: "Besides keeps and the resources that fuel them," Wheeler says, "there are specific choke points between the Alliance territories within Cyrodiil to look for small skirmish fights. Also note that the towns of Cyrodiil offer PVE quests that are repeatable so if you're looking to take a break from killing people, or even better, want to look for players taking a break and don't expect to be killed, head to Bruma, Cheydinhal, Chorrol, Cropsford or Vlastarus!"

As for the mechanical specifics of combat and capturing, head through to the full Q&A. And for a more detailed explanation of how the game's PvP Keep system will work, head over to the latest post from the official Elder Scrolls Online blog.

Thanks, OXM.

This is an absolutely tiny solid state drive. Not in capacity terms - nope, it packs 500GB into that frame - but in build size. It s tough to really get across just how wee the new Samsung 840 EVO mSATA drive is. Even when I tell you it measures some 5 x 3cm that hardly seems to do it justice. The fact is you d probably miss the drive even once it s embedded in a mini-ITX motherboard.

The most impressive thing about this little mSATA 840 EVO though is the fact that it has exactly the same performance as it s chunkier 2.5-inch brethren. In case you d forgotten, they re pretty epic when it comes to SSD performance themselves. The 840 EVO mSATA is pure Samsung from top to bottom. It s got a smattering of 19nm 3-bit MLC NAND Flash attached to that wee slice of PCB, and Samsung s own MEX memory controller helps shunt data around at excellent speed.

On the bottom left is the impressive Samsung MEX controller

The Samsung 840 Pro drives are still the top-end of their SSD pile, but they ve made the decision to drop the more consumer oriented EVO range into the mSATA configuration. The memory Samsung uses in those drives is a little quicker and more robust, but more expensive too.

So how does it still have the same level of performance the Pro can boast then? Well, it s all down to some funky algorithms and "TurboWrite". This allows the drive to apportion some of the Flash as simulated single cell memory - up to 6GB in this 500GB drive - which means it can run quickly until it fills out the simulated cache. Unless you re copying many, many GBs of data you probably won't notice TurboWrite doing its thing.

All that Samsung have done with the mSATA version is shrink it without losing anything. You re not expected to pay extra for the smaller form factor either - a bit of a change given some of the mini-ITX price premiums I ve seen slapped on things - and you re getting the same performance. The mSATA drive is essentially being touted as an upgrade more for the Ultrabook, thin n light folk out there, where they ve historically not had access to either this sort of performance storage or even the capacity.

That said, it found a welcoming home in the ASRock A88X-ITX+ board I ve got sitting waiting for AMD s Kaveri post CES. I m still hoping I get to bring one back with me from Vegas.

Sitting in the ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+, just waiting for a new APU...

In that mini-ITX board, with the AMD chipset, the SSDs don t function quite as quickly as the Intel Haswell board we use in our test rig, most obviously in the 4K random performance, but still the Samsung 840 EVO mSATA is as quick as anything out there, and sometimes quicker. Sadly most affordable Intel-based mini-ITX boards don t have the mSATA connection, at least not in the sort of spec needed to house this longer drive.

It s a great upgrade for your little laptop, however, and all the drive you re going to need for that tiny Steam Machine you ve been fantasising about.

Yes, mechs sound cool, but there are downsides. Take PCG's own NEWSBOT3000. Here we were enjoying some mince pies at PCG towers, when he bursts in, LEDs flashing, going on about some Titanfall trailer or other. Admittedly, it would have helped if we hadn't lost the deactivation codes, but... Dammit NEWSBOT, put down that freelancer. Fine, I'll post about the video already.



Okay, then, with the 40-tonne glorified RSS feed placated, let's talk about Titanfall. The video is a continuation of past mech reveal trailers, following on from the previously announced Stryder and Ogre class robo-mammoths. Atlas, by the sounds of things, is a more meat-and-potatoes kind of stomp lord. Expect it to be a good all-rounder on the battlefield.

Also, and this is less about the actual game, but it really sounds like the narrator is calling the company "Ham and Robotics".

Titanfall could be one of the most exciting multiplayer shooters on the horizon. After years stuck in the drab company of modern-military shooters, it's good to see a big-budget game not just embrace a different setting, but also focus primarily on the speed and manoeuvrability of its fighters. We'll find out on March 11th if that promise translates into a quality game.

Robert Stephenson and the Reverend W Awdry are rotating in their resting places. The latest edition of the world s favourite train simulator contains no steam locos whatsoever. Significant new features are pretty thin on the ground too.

Buy TS2014 and essentially you re buying TS2013 with a different mix of routes and rolling stock. The handful of minor engine changes feel like the contents of a free patch (which they are if you already own TS2013). Greater draw distances, a new zoom function, a clumsy consist builder for assembling your own trains for Quick Drive sessions... the lack of ambition is palpable.

In a series where the AI still has problems coping with complex scenarios, where physics and sound remain unconvincing in places, and multiplayer has yet to materialise, it s hard not to feel disappointed.



From a British perspective these annual retail releases have been getting less and less interesting for a while now. Where the standard versions of Train Simulator 2012 and 2013 both incorporated domestic locos and a choice of charismatic UK routes, this one ships with electric multiple units (the class 395 and 375) and the London to Faversham line only. Well modelled but relatively short (50 miles) and subterranean, the high-speed Kent corridor provides far less variety and freight scenario potential than past default offerings like Isle of Wight and East Coast Mainline.

For loco-hauled action, users must decamp to Northern Germany or California s Sierra Nevada mountains. Hamburg to Hanover, and Donner Pass are both high quality, high detail routes, well supplied with scenarios. Buy them separately as DLC and they ll set you back an eye-watering 50. Treated as an add-on bundle for a cheap copy of TS2013, TS2014 is actually relatively good value.



As an introduction to the relaxing yet challenging world of rail simming, TS2014 also fulfils its remit well enough. Cheaper and more realistic sims are available, but none that combine variety, good looks and ease of use as successfully. Yes, it helps if you arrive with a preexisting passion for railwayana, but the low-key satisfaction of sticking to speed limits and stopping tidily at signals transcends theme. Stress relief is guaranteed as long as you deactivate the GUI that pedantically points out the score penalty of every wheel-slip, speed limit breach and emergency brake application.

But I m hoping for more from Train Simulator 2015. Sophisticated AI, super-real steam engine physics, Asian or African railways... something substantial to keep series staleness at bay. If RS.com are serious about their We are rail fans publicity boast, they need to start demonstrating that fanaticism by grappling with long-standing engine deficiencies, and looking further afield for route inspiration.

Expect to pay 20 / $24
Release Out now
Developer RailSimulator.com
Publisher In-house
Multiplayer None
Link www.railsimulator.com

A little boy is standing next to a street sign looking dejected. The source of his sadness is obvious: the sign shows an archway leading to a lush garden, but the wall next to the boy is blank.

I'm playing Gorogoa, an illustration puzzler (sound the new-genre klaxon!) built around seeing connections between different pieces of Jason Roberts beautifully drawn game world.

When I click on the sign, it expands to fill one of four game tiles. You can now separate the sign from the archway and drag it onto a blank tile. Zooming out from the now-empty sign you re back with the dejected boy. You drop the archway onto the plain wall and he perks up, scampering through into the garden.



The idea began a long time ago as something more like an interactive comic strip, whose panels could move around and interact with one another, Roberts tells me. I was also mulling over strange variations on card and tile games. Somehow all of that slowly boiled down into the design you see now.

The demo of Gorogoa I played involves collecting coloured apples in response to the sighting of an ornate dragon. I ask whether this is a snippet of the final story. It s certainly more than a proof of concept, says Roberts. Most of what you see in the demo is intended to be in the final game, but some details have changed and a lot has been added.

However he is reluctant to talk about specific plot elements just yet. There are many scenes and narrative signposts in fact, whole dimensions to the story that are absent from the demo. But even when it s all in place, it should take until the end of the game before the structure really reveals itself.



I ve played through the Gorogoa demo a number of times. The first foray was marked by an appreciation of the tile interactions and the artwork illustration fans may note traces of Christopher Manson and Arnold Lobel in the scenes but the story was less apparent.

This is because, while progression is relatively linear, it s occasionally unclear how you should move forward. With only four tiles to play around on you can t get too lost, but the occasional pang of frustration disturbs the game s flow. Pleasure is greatest in a seamless playthrough and so I began almost speedrunning the demo once I d learned the sequences.

The sensation, I felt, is closest to being a child and listening to an adult read you your favourite book, whose contents you have memorised. Misclicks cause the same tension as mispronunciations or missed pages. It s a peculiar but ultimately charming experience.

Roberts is now working with composer Austin Wintory (who also worked on Journey) and sound designer Eduardo Ortiz Frau, and aims to release Gorogoa on PC and Mac in mid-2014.

Before running away for a few days of making resolutions and breaking last year's, Evan, Cory, and Tyler gathered to talk about BioShock Infinite, and how they feel about it now that the buzzing excitement and debates have settled into a low hum. Watch the whole five-video series on the PC Gamer YouTube channel, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more regular content, gameplay footage, and conversations.

The sad thing about online games of any kind is that one day they will be offline, their servers used to power newer or more popular games, and their inhabitants deleted, as entire, practically real worlds vanish in the blink of an eye. Archiving these worlds - many of which, like WoW, have been reshaped several times, overwriting previous iterations - is something we should be putting some serious thought into, even if we can't replicate them in all their glory. Andrew Meggs' plea for EA to release an offline version of Warhammer Online is a step in the right direction. The former Mythic developer has come forward to reveal the existence of a single-player, offline version of the now-deceased MMO, and he wants it released to the public so that we have a record of the "thousands upon thousands of hours of work and craftsmanship that went into creating a world that has now been unplugged".

Warhammer Online's closure was announced back in September, but the guillotine finally came down a few days ago on December 18th. And, as is the case with all MMOs, that's all she wrote. You can't return years later for a nostalgic trip round memory lane, unless you've somehow invented a time machine. (Have you invented a time machine? Because that would be great.) It doesn't have to be that way, however, as Meggs reveals on his blog.

"In every unreleased, internal-only developer build of the Warhammer client, there was the option to run without a server. As the lead client engineer I spent a good amount of time doing that. There were no login or character selection screens. There were no NPCs or other players. There was no gameplay of any kind. It was just you and the entire world spread out before you. You could fly around like Superman, or teleport anywhere at will. You could watch the sun rise and set over Altdorf, and see the smoke rise from fires forever burning. And you could see the thousands upon thousands of hours of work and craftsmanship that went into creating a world that has now been unplugged."

Releasing that superpowered single-player version would apparently be as simple as " out one last build of the game client. There was one switch that said, 'If this is a public build, force singleplayer mode OFF'. Change that to 'ON', hit Compile, and release the executable."

It sounds so easy - but when a massive company like EA is involved, things are obviously never that simple. Meggs wraps up his post with the following plea to EA:

"It won t be WAR; that only exists with other players. But it s a double-clickable museum exhibiting much of what WAR was, so it won t be forgotten completely. It s an effort by all of us, as developers, to preserve a living record as our transient medium is created and destroyed. I can t do this; I left behind the code when I left EA. But there are people inside EA who can easily make this happen. Please do."

Thanks, RPS.