Kerbal Space Program 2 is well under development at Uber Entertainment, operating under the name of Star Theory, and there are a number of exciting changes coming to the game that weren't there in the original. As well as incorporating new parts, an expansive universe, and even the ability for Kerbals to... actively expand the populations of their colonies, KSP 2 will have solid planetary physics once again. What it won't have though, is the oft-requested N-Body physics. At least at launch.
"If you take the Kerbal system from the original game, and you apply n-body physics to that, the solar system disassembles and starts to fire moons at planets," creative director Nate Simpson said in Edge Magazine, via PCGamesN. "In general, I think that’s where we come up against this game being a game."
N-body physics is where everything in the game universe has a gravitational action upon everything else at the same time. This is not only difficult to model accurately and costly on system resources, but also problematic from a gameplay standpoint. N-body physics, if not modelled completely accurately, can introduce some weird gameplay elements. Theoretically, players could reach a point in a system where the gravitational forces of different bodies are acting equally, and would therefore allow them to 'hover' within space.
That's not to say that Star Theory isn't working on it. It's just not something that will come to the game at launch. It will continue to develop the game's physics system after the game's debut, potentially introducing new physics effects as time goes on, piecemeal.
"A real n-body system will evolve over time, and it might have dire consequences for your save game, if you’re playing over thousands of years and building up an interstellar civilisation," Simpson said.
