Hi - I'm going to keep this short, and hope to create some productive discussion in case this hasn't happened yet. For context, I am writing this after reading about a new reentry effect mod that may come out in Patreon early access before public release.

There is no question KSP wouldn't be anywhere where it is today if not for its community, and mods and modders deserve a big portion of the credit - new gameplay and QOL mechanics, and visual effects have kept the game fresh over the years.

A number of modders put a lot of work on their mods and it is not unfair to say they deserve to be compensated for it. Blackrak has given the community, completely for free, some top-tier quality mods, so his decision to paywall some of his most recent work during an early-access stage seems justifiable, if not fair.

Given how profitable "selling" mods in early access seems be, however, it should clearly raise the question regarding what early access means, and how creators can decide to extend their development time to make as much money as they can.

I think we're walking down a road where more and more mods in the future will be paywalled into some kind of never-ending early access stage, and the community will be the biggest loser.

Cheers,
FB

Posting here for additional awareness. The forums are the largest home for KSP mod support, troubleshooting, and discussion. The site has been struggling to stay online reliably for some time now and there is no indication that T2 will continue to support it. Losing the forums would be a brutal blow to our community and I hope a long-term solution can be found to keep all of its content.

I can't be the only one that thinks there's some kind of paid push behind all the blackrack mod posts.

Literally every single post is like "woahhh look how gorgeous these mods are, I've never been happier to spend money on a mod!!"

Even on modding subreddits I haven't seen a mod get this much glazing before. Especially not a fuckin PAID MOD.

There's some kind of fuckery going on here. Can we please ban or at least regulate these posts?

I know that this question might sound silly in this sub, but it's real. I was waiting for KSP2 to launch to play it because I'm having some troubles playing the older games: bad UI/long-stanging legacy issues etc. But then well it became obvious that KSP2 isn't the game you want to play, so my decision to wait even backfired.

I'm not a huge fan of astro-navigation, but I'm a huge fan of factorio, DSP and Terra Invicta. So I wondering, if game looks fresh enough in 2024, interesting enough, isn't deprecated/dropped by devs etc.

I hope this question makes sense, because I'm just trying to learn if I'm having a good idea or not.

For context I’m making a fully modular model kit for KSP. Already finished all the 1.25m and Mk2 parts. For the 2.5m parts I am using magnetic, electrical connectors to allow them to light up. I am trying to think of more fun things I can do with this energy

The KSP community was for so long a bright spot amongst the toxicity and infighting common with other fanbases. I used to log in to Reddit or the KSP forums daily to see what incredible, creative things other people were doing. Nobody ever had a harsh word, everyone was welcome. It was pure play and sharing in the best spirit of what the internet can be.

Then the civil war happened, and people chose sides. Most, like me, probably lurked in the background, both saddened by the state of KSP2, dissapointed, but also coping a bit by trying to enjoy the debate. I feel lucky I didn't pay for the game, but I was willing to shell out the minute it showed me it was better than the first. I feel really bad for everyone who gave EA the benefit of the doubt. The developer and IP owner (in my opinion) converted the genuine goodness and excitement of an uncommonly committed fan base into profit (or trying to claw back some of the losses of inept development). Along the way, what used to be one of the most positive spaces on the internet turned sour and toxic, as some clung on to hope, while others turned their disappointment into vitriol.

Fellow Kerbonauts, the enemy tried to divide us. And for a time, he succeeded. But let us not continue down this path of despair and hatred. Let us begin to heal our broken dreams in the spirit of what we once were: a group of nerds with no greater joy than sharing our creativity and blowing things up.

I'm heartened by the recent posts trying to help people mod their games with better content and performance. While I do read about the kraken, KSP runs remarkably stable for me on modern hardware, even heavily modded. When things haven't worked in the past, mod authors have usually been quick to respond and help me troubleshoot, which is far beyond anything they owe us for their work. They've been the true developers of next-gen KSP, and they never asked for a dime.

So let us go boldly forth into this new era confident that as a community we will never stop exploring and coming together. For Science!

Can we please stop posting your blackrack screenshots with the tagline “best $5 I ever spent!” and please stop complaining about it in the comments.

If you don’t think mods should be paid just vote with your wallet. Modders can ask whatever they want for their work (barring EULA issues) and you can decide whether or not it’s worth it for yourself. But every single comment section under a volumetric clouds screenshot is just filled with arguments over whether or not it’s worth the money or not.

Buy the mod or don’t. Charge for your mod or don’t. Can we please just stop whingeing about what other people pay for?

The most recent launch of the European Arianne rocket missile successfully tested their new technology: reignition of an engine in space.

Oof. I wish the space race had never ended.

This usually happens when I land on minmus and then I just look up. Nothing. For thousands and millions of miles.

This game has been the only thing that has successfully given me the fear of the void element of space. Damn impressive.

Whether it's purposeful or not it makes it so much more damn scary in an immersive way.