![]() ![]() With a fully fleshed out science quest mode, a deep well of ship parts from which to create space vessels, and a no-holds-barred sandbox mode, the Kerbal Universe has grown to cosmic proportions. Is the finished product ready for launch? While we could see a lot of promise, we had some concerns about the amount of parts available for constructing spacecraft. The Kerbals began their trek into the starry expanse four-and-a-half years ago(!) when this game entered its alpha phase. The tiny, frog-like Kerbals have grand ideas about etching out a place for their race in the stars, and it’s your job to help get them there. Or at the very least have a good laugh trying.Kerbal Space Program from Mexican City-based developer Squad is a physics-based space travel simulator. ![]() So while the exploration of space in the real world seems to be on a permanent go slow (although maybe not if NASA’s EM Drive turns out to be viable) Kerbal Space Program allows even the most unscientific of gamers to boldy go wherever they want. It still needs better tutorials and a more accessible introduction to sandbox mode, where the real fun is to be had, but clearly this is a game that is going to continue to evolve, and will probably never be truly ‘finished’. There is an element of edutainment to Kerbal Space Program (it’s endorsed by both NASA and Elon Musk) but it still works extremely well as a straight video game, to the point where its closest comparison is probably Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. You don’t need to have studied applied physics to make reasonable decisions on rocket design: a paper plane and an understanding that the heavier something is the more thrust it needs to take off will do. The game still doesn’t give anywhere near as much help as you’d expect, but piecing together a rocket or lander is as easy as selecting a part and snapping it onto your design.ĭespite the hugely complicated theories underpinning your creations much of the game’s design decisions remain surprisingly intuitive. Now though there’s something approaching a proper tutorial. In the early days, when there was only the sandbox mode, you just made up what you wanted to do, or hoped someone made a mod that simulated one of the Apollo missions or some other real world achievement. Although the latter still aren’t really varied enough to make the most of career mode. But as well as improved graphics, and things like female astronauts, effort has gone into expanding the amount of feedback the game gives you and the types of missions available. If you have played the game before then none of the additions for the release version are going to seem particularly ground-breaking, since it is all mostly about bug-fixing and refining – particularly in terms of the flight model and physics engine. As rockets splutter pathetically a couple of feet away from their launchpads, ships explode in the upper atmosphere, and lander craft pancake onto a moon’s surface failure is a constant companion but also a greater teacher – and often a provider of comic relief. Inevitably, this means the game is extremely hard to do well at, and yet unlike other games famed for their difficulty most of the time you won’t really care. In fact the control of spacecraft and astronauts is realistic enough that complex manoeuvres from the real world, such as aerobraking, are a simulated part of the game. We often talk abut games having a physics engine, but here almost everything in the game behaves according to Newtonian dynamics. It does have a welcomingly fun sense of humour, but the science underpinning everything you do is extremely realistic. To look at the cute little Kerbals, who are portrayed as bumbling Minions-like characters, you’d assume all this was some sort of easy going comedy puzzle game but it’s really not. ![]() Science mode is a little more structured, in that you have to research more advanced equipment in order to use it, while Career mode places a realistic range of restrictions on funding and forces you to complete pre-set contracts in order to earn money and reputation. There are three game modes in Kerbal Space Program, with sandbox mode allowing you to create any vehicle you want for any mission, with no real punishment for failure. ![]()
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