The sequel to hit, spacecraft design and space exploration simulator, Kerbal Space Program, is in the works at a new developer: Star Theory. While there is a new team at the helm, though, that doesn't mean the new game won't be like the old one. It'll just be bigger and better, with multiple star systems to visit, more things to consider on any one space craft, and much more nuanced explosions.
But don't worry, the new developer is making the new game in very much the spirit of the old one and is checking in with the original developers regularly to make sure.
"We've been checking in on Squad now and then to make sure that what we're doing is, you know, true to the spirit of the original game," game director, Nate Simpson, told PCGamer. "We've really gotten into some detail and really sort of got into the weeds around a lot of stuff … We're huge fans of them and longtime fans of the game. I'm a couple thousand hours into the game. I know those guys from the forums and it's been sort of a surreal and exciting experience to talk to them about what we're doing."
Star Theory is also keen to help new players learn the game better than the original did. But that won't mean making it easier.
"It was very, very important to us not to make the game easier," "This is a universe of physical laws, and they are unforgiving laws."
What is coming to the game are new, animated tutorials to help visualize different elements of the game that are harder to explain with text or video. There will still be explosions as people inevitably go wrong though and those will factor in much more of what the spacecraft is made of when they go off.
Other new features coming to KSP 2 include interstellar travel, letting players go far beyond Kerbol to see what else is out there. That'll mean building far larger ships, which means building outside of a gravity well. You can do that in KSP already, but it's far from easy. The new developers are adding the possibility of new, autonomous colonies, with their own resources and construction platforms, for a much more living, breathing galaxy to colonise and explore.
