Kerbal Space Program 2 - Q1 2020

Announced at Gamescom, the sequel to the hugely successful rocket-building space-exploring 'splosion simulator will not be produced by Squad, but by Seattle-based Star Theory Games.
Their previous work includes the well-received Planetary Annihilation and some involvement with MS Flight Simulator.

Pretty excited about this, I wonder if Jeb, Val, Bill and Bob will be reprising their roles, or whether we'll have a new crew to strand helplessly in interplanetary space?
I'm really hoping that they will keep support for mods (apparently it's being built in Unity again, so fingers crossed) Mod support confirmed via KSP website, thanks damo13579!
and hoping that they keep any 'live service' shenanigans several thousand light years away from it.
Also hoping that Epic Games doesn't try and splash the cash to make it an exclusive. Time will tell...

My only gripe is that they didn't call it
KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM 2: KRAKEN RISING


Official Site: https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/game/kerbal-space-program-2/
More info on the announcement: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...-take-flight-in-2020-heres-the-first-trailer/

Announcement Trailer:


Dev Diary video:

 

MULTIPLAYER!

Multiplayer/Modding
The technological developments made to the foundations of Kerbal Space Program 2 will build on the beloved modding capabilities of the original game, as well as deliver on the long-requested addition of multiplayer. Soon players will be able to share the challenges of deep space exploration. More details on these features will be revealed at a later time.

https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/game/kerbal-space-program-2/

 

Wow wasn’t expecting this

 

I generally don't do MP, but I reckon I might have to make an exception in this case.
Seeing the potential for some truly epic collaborative rocket building, station building and multi-planetary adventures.
Apparently there will be a bit more focus on making space stations purposeful and worthwhile to build.
It all sounds pretty awesome, and the new dev team seem to be genuine fans of the first game who are keen to do it justice in the sequel.

Their previous experience with MS flight sim also sounds promising for people who enjoy using joystick/HOTAS setups in the game.
Hopefully they will be able to substantially improve upon the existing dxinput code, which is pretty rough by many accounts
(can confirm, I have seen a fair bit of weird random input behaviour while trying to get my T.16000M setup working correctly, and the vanilla game simply refuses to work correctly with the Thrustmaster T.A.R.G.E.T. software/virtual device driver).
If they can get that properly fixed, it also opens up a whole other level of fun'n'games in building/flying atmospheric jets, which is something that is only kinda sorta fun at the moment due to the control setup issues.

 

Man that was awesome! Bring it on!

 

Scott's "Hot Take" on the announcement of the sequel:



My favourite German KSP youtuber and Master of Massive Missions shares his thoughts:



I didn't mention it in the OP, but the choice of M83's "Outro" for the announce trailer makes me Happy in my Feels.
For anyone who likes the soundtrack, have a look at this, you won't be disappointed
(it's not quite space travel, but about as close as you can get while still in atmo):

 

Hm...the long wait begins. Thanks for the news, guys!

 

Scott Manley's interview with Nate Simpson (creative director for the KSP2 project at Star Theory) at the PAX West conference, regarding their approach to the development process and adding new features in the sequel.



Helpful youtube commenter Xavier Graham provided these timestamps, top effort that.

• How much will it cost? - 0:53
• How they pitched the idea of KSP 2 - 1:33
• Some improved core features - 3:41
• Space Colonization (Base assembly editor) - 5:23
• New engines - 7:05
• New planets - 9:23
• Overhauled effects - 11:50
• Customizable color for spacecraft and multiplayer - 14:17
• More on Multiplayer - 15:10
• Modding in KSP 2 - 16:14
• More on new effects - 17:28
• Planned release date - 18:42

A much longer (1hr 15min) livestreamed discussion with all the invited "KSP community" members can be found below, for those who have the time and ... inclination ...