The first of my real spaceflights was, in hindsight, a bafflingly inefficient operation. In this case, a 4-by-4-by-4 steel truss with solar panels and satellite dishes bolted onto each surface, sandwiched between a manned command module and the hull. Once I got to grips with it, the Vehicle Assembly Building effectively translated my mental sketches and loose concepts into functional (if not practical) rockets. With an elementary understanding of prograde and retrograde thrust in my tool belt, the Zanzibar 1 underwent a dramatic refit. As annoying as a lot of the aforementioned issues were, I couldn't stay mad at it-not when I was floating in a sea of stars. The deep blacks and blues of space are eerily beautiful, and watching the atmosphere fall away around you as you rise through the clouds is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Kerbal Space Program 2 really sells an atmosphere and mood of unlimited discovery and achievement. Still, for all its technical trouble, it's an incredibly impressive near-scale simulation of our own solar system. Whenever these issues pop up, my flight path is typically altered (and in some cases prematurely ended), as I have no real course of action aside from waiting for the strained game engine to catch up. I've had random stuttering fits that throw the whole physics engine into disarray, FPS drops to single digits, and I've been hard-locked out of clicking any UI options. What hasn't disappeared in my time with the game are the frequent bugs. KSP veterans will doubtlessly be familiar with the performance issues that come with realistically simulating 3,000 tons of atmosphere-breaking space flight but once your bootleg Soyuz gets into orbit, those performance issues quickly disappear, at least from my early playtime. Whenever I spent any significant amount of time retooling my craft in the Vehicle Assembling Building, I'd typically sit back and watch the whole countdown, anxiously awaiting the moment of lift-off. New to Kerbal Space Program 2 is a countdown launch, where a Kerbal announcer will count down to zero in gibberish numbers, backed by some whimsical bohemian strings and horns. The sputtery belching of the boosters gives way to this cacophonous, desk-rattling roar. When things go according to plan launches are breathtaking, hiccups and all. I was disappointed to see a lack of HOTAS support in the input menu, as the twist of a stick and ease of use of a throttle would immediately alleviate any of the minor control issues I had. In-atmosphere plane and rocket flights currently feel awkward when using the mouse and keyboard, as the rocket's orientation will always level out based on the craft's center of thrust and mass, respectively.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |