![]() ![]() I propose that instead of paying for each individual rocket and component with money, that we pay to unlock specific parts. In any case, there’s another way we could handle this… Part Unlocking ![]() Most players will naturally gravitate towards structured play first, so they’ll be learning the game under punishing conditions. Yes, players could get around this by just playing sandbox mode, but that doesn’t really fix the problem. No matter how you look at it, charging for mistakes would drive players away from the things that make sandbox mode so rewarding. This sort of system wouldn’t ruin the game, but it’s not usually a good idea to purposefully introduce tension between what’s fun and what’s required. Instead of scrapping their design and making a better one, the economics will push them into overcoming the obstacle with tedious save-scumming because the financial loss would be too severe. ![]() The game could easily (inevitably, in fact) end up in killjoy situations where the player has sunk a fortune into a voyage only to find they’re just a bit over-weight and under-prepared once they’re a long ways into it. The player will be mandated to engage in focused, low-risk play. When they have a mishap they won’t laugh because the command module went up a hundred meters, fell off and smacked into the explosive fuel tanks, they’ll curse because now they can’t afford to make another rocket and they’re going to have to do whatever it is you’ll do to make more money in this game. Instead of fast iteration, you’ll be forced to engage in slow analysis. You will be avoiding one of the most entertaining aspects of the game. Instead of launching a ship to see if it works, you’ll be obliged to check and double-check your work to avoid mistakes. This will fundamentally kill the playful experimentation of shipbuilding. If the player has to pay for every rocket part, then landing-pad detonations aren’t a hilarious mishap, they’re a ruinously expensive setback. An unspoken message of this sort of setup is “if you’re having fun, you’re doing it wrong”. Combat powers were fun, varied, exciting, and if you used them you’d get the Bad Ending. We saw this in Dishonored, where the game castigated you for using the most interesting powers. The problem is that this would make the systems of the game run directly counter to the fun of the game. There’s already a cost value built into rocket parts in the game, suggesting that this is what they have planned. The player will somehow get money and they will spend the money building rockets. The most obvious way to make this into a game is by adding an economy. I’m not trying to out-guess them or make demands, I just thought this was an interesting design problem and I wanted to talk about it. Also, I haven’t read anything by the developers regarding their plans. I realize that there is no lower form of game commentary than armchair game design, but I ask that you’ll indulge me a bit of rambling analysis. It’s natural to look at this open system and want to add some direction to it, but if you do it the obvious way you might kill the fun of the game. There’s no external reward or recognition for accomplishing anything. You can fly to any planet you want, as long as you can figure out how to design a rocket capable of making the trip. Right now you have access to all parts and can build as many exploding rockets as you like without penalty. The game will eventually have a campaign mode of some sort, and I can’t help but wonder what that will look like and how it will work. You’re not intended to succeed on the first try, and there’s just as much fun in developing a new design as finally seeing it work. You can find this kind of play in Angry Birds, Portal, and even some Tower Defense games. ![]() My best moments with the game happened when I hit launch and had the entire rocket fly in seven different directions, obliterating my intrepid Kerbanauts and leaving a huge mess for the cleanup crew. You build a thing, press go, watch it fail, and repeat until you’ve perfected your design. If you looked far enough back in its family tree, you might find a grandpa or great-uncle named The Incredible Machine. A great deal of the fun in KSP comes from iterative building. ![]()
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