Kerbal Space Program Now Available for Xbox One
Kerbal Space Program (KSP) has been a labor of love since day one. We all got involved with KSP because we were enchanted with the idea of a space game in which plucky, whimsical characters meet space. The team has grown over the years, and many of the current developers began as players, modders and fans. More importantly, KSP would not be what it is without the input and encouragement of our fans. With KSP available for Xbox One now, we hope that you’ll all enjoy the same wondrous experience we have!
The biggest challenge we faced in developing the game is its freedom: the player can build the smallest rover or the largest interplanetary spacecraft, and all parts (from a single kilogram in mass to hundreds of tons) need to be able to interact realistically. On top of that KSP has a truly astronomical playing field with millions of kilometers between celestial bodies, and reaches orbital velocities in the tens of kilometers per second. Transitioning from Kerbal Space Center to the furthest reaches of the solar system is seamless. We’ve needed to use many techniques to make that possible, from procedural detail on planets to a moving world origin and velocity compensation. KSP is a game like no other.
All that freedom involves a lot of control possibility. Adapting that to the Xbox One involved enhancing Unity’s existing input systems to handle all of the capabilities of the Xbox One controller and making sure that you can still perform all the various tasks. This was one of the major hurdles faced by Flying Tiger Entertainment while porting the game. Exposing complex functionality through simple, easy-to-use interfaces is core to Kerbal Space Program, and that has defined the new input system and interface that you will experience on Xbox One.
We’re extremely excited that real-life space organizations have fallen in love with KSP as much as we have. We created an asteroid expansion in partnership with NASA, putting a Kerbal spin on the Asteroid Rendezvous Mission. Kerbals can use parts inspired by the Space Launch System to launch into orbit, rendezvous with an asteroid and explore it, and even bring it home to form another moon – or crash it into the space center! Amongst the many kerbal-inspired flags you can find NASA’s logo, ESA’s, and the UK Space Agency; we’ve worked with the B612 Foundation, an asteroid-related group, and many other space organizations.
What makes us most proud about our game is how readily people of all ages, from elementary school to retirement, have taken to the game and to the inquisitive spirit it fosters, bringing out the kid in all of us. Perhaps it’s the sense of wonder seeing the Sun rise over an alien world, or the accomplishment felt reaching orbit, and then landing on the Moon for the first time, but something draws us in and sets the flame of exploration and discovery burning within us. Maybe our game will inspire the new generation of explorers that will actually get to go out there, who knows, in the meantime we hope it inspires you to look up at the sky in a new way.
Kerbal Space Program is available now for Xbox One!