6 ms·

Will be excited to see if it uses a re-vamped game engine. KSP 1 is based on Unity and bottlenecks at single core cpu.

by gzu 7y ago

legohead 7y ago
from the dev interview [1] it looks like they are still using Unity for KSP2? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wmJlnTqjSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wmJlnTqjSg
siekmanj 7y ago
Unfortunately, looks like KSP 2 will also be using Unity: https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/187315-kerbal-space-program-2-master-post/ https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/187315...
- warrenmiller 7y ago
  Won't be a problem if they're using ECS and DOTS
  - Buttons840 7y ago
    What do those acronyms mean?
    - inopinatus 7y ago
      ECS = Entity Component System. DOTS = Data Oriented Tech Stack, which is the new implementation of ECS in Unity. Current KSP is plagued by performance issues during advanced gameplay, particularly threading granularity issues with physics simulation when running large craft such as space stations or complex rocketry. There are some amazing KSP videos on YouTube with orbital construction on a grand scale, gigantic interplanetary vehicles, complex planetary bases and so on; their dirty secret being that the original gameplay is actually occurring at a painfully frustrating <10 fps and has been massively sped up for consumption. GP is suggesting that using DOTS those issues can be relieved, by making more efficient use of available system resources. refs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system https://unity.com/dots https://unity.com/dots
  - Impossible 7y ago
    ECS and DOTS aren't quite ready for prime time by Unity's own standards so there aren't many games actually shipping using ECS or DOTs because the API isn't stable.
- mentos 7y ago
  As a game eveloper I was hoping to see they might make the switch to UE4 but guess they have too many solutions in Unity for that to make sense.
  - mch82 7y ago
    I was hoping they’d switch to Nintendo Switch :-)
inopinatus 7y ago
From the extant details it's hard to tell if it's even a new game. The cinematic launch video is pretty funky but is clearly marked as "Not actual gameplay". The press materials talk about new parts and new places to visit, all of which could simply indicate a very large expansion pack on the original. There's nothing in the accompanying "developer journey" video to suggests it's a new base game either, let alone a new engine; quite the opposite: everyone is wearing Unity t-shirts. I'm hoping it's both, because the current gameplay vastly exceeds the game's performance envelope. In particular, the physics engine: I get 5 frames per second when docking large space stations, and KSP is running its physics engine on two CPU cores out of 10, and not even warming up a GPU.
- phire 7y ago
  "Not actual gameplay" might just mean it's all theoretically possible in game and rendered in-engine, but they staged everything. Or the whole trailer might be rendered in Maya.
- LoSboccacc 7y ago
  i find it somewhat amusing that they couldn't get smoke right even in the cinematic render. but there were a lot of large craft in there, so maybe they got a better physic engine for the rigid body parts
- Rebelgecko 7y ago
  The graphics from the "pre-alpha" footage in their developer video are significantly worse than the trailer (although still a step up from KSP1)
- pageandrew 7y ago
  The "not actual gameplay" disclaimer was only shown onscreen during that brief silhouette shot of the craft flying over the moon. Does it apply to the entire trailer?
TeMPOraL 7y ago
AFAIK they switched to a multithreaded physics engine some time ago, during one of the Unity version bumps. Can't test it now, but my vague memory of looking at htop when playing recently seems to agree with that.
squeaky-clean 7y ago
KSP2 is still based on Unity, but Unity has changed a lot throughout the years. (It's like how Apex Legends and Half Life 2 use the "same" engine). The new entity-component-system (supposedly) makes it much easier to write games with a job oriented approach that scales to multiple cores very well.

Will be excited to see if it uses a re-vamped game engine. KSP 1 is based on Unity and bottlenecks at single core cpu.

by gzu 7y ago

Will be excited to see if it uses a re-vamped game engine. KSP 1 is based on Unity and bottlenecks at single core cpu.

from the dev interview [1] it looks like they are still using Unity for KSP2? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wmJlnTqjSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wmJlnTqjSg

siekmanj 7y ago

Unfortunately, looks like KSP 2 will also be using Unity: https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/187315-kerbal-space-program-2-master-post/ https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/187315...

warrenmiller 7y ago
Won't be a problem if they're using ECS and DOTS
- Buttons840 7y ago
  What do those acronyms mean?
  - inopinatus 7y ago
    ECS = Entity Component System. DOTS = Data Oriented Tech Stack, which is the new implementation of ECS in Unity. Current KSP is plagued by performance issues during advanced gameplay, particularly threading granularity issues with physics simulation when running large craft such as space stations or complex rocketry. There are some amazing KSP videos on YouTube with orbital construction on a grand scale, gigantic interplanetary vehicles, complex planetary bases and so on; their dirty secret being that the original gameplay is actually occurring at a painfully frustrating <10 fps and has been massively sped up for consumption. GP is suggesting that using DOTS those issues can be relieved, by making more efficient use of available system resources. refs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system https://unity.com/dots https://unity.com/dots
- Impossible 7y ago
  ECS and DOTS aren't quite ready for prime time by Unity's own standards so there aren't many games actually shipping using ECS or DOTs because the API isn't stable.
mentos 7y ago
As a game eveloper I was hoping to see they might make the switch to UE4 but guess they have too many solutions in Unity for that to make sense.
- mch82 7y ago
  I was hoping they’d switch to Nintendo Switch :-)

inopinatus 7y ago

From the extant details it's hard to tell if it's even a new game. The cinematic launch video is pretty funky but is clearly marked as "Not actual gameplay". The press materials talk about new parts and new places to visit, all of which could simply indicate a very large expansion pack on the original. There's nothing in the accompanying "developer journey" video to suggests it's a new base game either, let alone a new engine; quite the opposite: everyone is wearing Unity t-shirts. I'm hoping it's both, because the current gameplay vastly exceeds the game's performance envelope. In particular, the physics engine: I get 5 frames per second when docking large space stations, and KSP is running its physics engine on two CPU cores out of 10, and not even warming up a GPU.

phire 7y ago
"Not actual gameplay" might just mean it's all theoretically possible in game and rendered in-engine, but they staged everything. Or the whole trailer might be rendered in Maya.
LoSboccacc 7y ago
i find it somewhat amusing that they couldn't get smoke right even in the cinematic render. but there were a lot of large craft in there, so maybe they got a better physic engine for the rigid body parts
Rebelgecko 7y ago
The graphics from the "pre-alpha" footage in their developer video are significantly worse than the trailer (although still a step up from KSP1)
pageandrew 7y ago
The "not actual gameplay" disclaimer was only shown onscreen during that brief silhouette shot of the craft flying over the moon. Does it apply to the entire trailer?

TeMPOraL 7y ago

AFAIK they switched to a multithreaded physics engine some time ago, during one of the Unity version bumps. Can't test it now, but my vague memory of looking at htop when playing recently seems to agree with that.

squeaky-clean 7y ago

KSP2 is still based on Unity, but Unity has changed a lot throughout the years. (It's like how Apex Legends and Half Life 2 use the "same" engine). The new entity-component-system (supposedly) makes it much easier to write games with a job oriented approach that scales to multiple cores very well.