1

Professor Colin Agur

Journalism 1501

31 March 2019

The Kerbal Space Program Game Community

Kerbal Space Program is the de facto standard for gaming geeks. Among aerospace and

astronomy enthusiasts alike, Kerbal Space Program (KSP) is a popular way to engage in stress-free,

after-hours engineering challenges. KSP has reached such ubiquity that Randall Munroe, previous

NASA robotics contractor and creator of the hit comic xkcd, has featured KSP on at least two

occasions, each time lucidly drawing the connection between KSP and the soul of the geek.

Briefly, Kerbal Space Program pits the gamer against space, challenging the player to develop a

space program on an alien planet. What sets KSP apart is the player’s responsibility to build rockets,

execute trajectories and manage fuel while keeping the alien “Kerbals” alive. KSP is simultaneously a

realistic physics simulator and expansive sandbox world, leaving the (many and important) details to

the patient gamer through trial and error. As such, KSP is a haven for engineers who tend to

enthusiastically torture themselves with such tasks in real life. Notably, this creates unique

communities where “Kerbonauts” come together to discuss in-game engineering problems, comment

on the aesthetics (or lack therein) of the computer-generated universe and generally goof around.

Steam, Reddit and Squad (the developer of KSP) host forums devoted to the discussion of

Kerbal Space Program. While all offer extensive commentary, the Reddit forum is mainly targeted at

showcasing achievements. One of the most up-voted posts on March 29th is a prototypical example

where user u/please_send_cookies managed to send a ridiculous octopus-like spaceship into orbit.1

1 u/please_send_cookies. “r/KerbalSpaceProgram - I RELEASED IT.” Reddit, 30 Mar. 2019,

www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/b71hi4/i_released_it/.
 2

While generally entertaining, these types of posts do not contribute to a rich and diverse community.

Likewise, one finds that the Steam forums are largely aimed at program troubleshooting and technical

difficulties. The official KSP forum found at forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com is far more organized and

comprehensive, offering sub-forums that address spacecraft creations, technical support, ideas for

development, tutorials for new users, scientific discussion and game add-ons. Thus, the official KSP

forum can be seen as a superset of both Reddit and the Steam forum and particularly well suited to

academic discussion. With around two-hundred thousand members, the official forum (henceforth

simply called “the forum”) is thriving with daily, novel content authored by newbies and pros alike.

The most important quality of KSP in relation to the forum is that it is a single player game.

This means that discussion is inherently collaborative – users work together to overcome challenges,

whether they be of a technical nature (i.e. bugs or installation issues) or community-set goals. One

illuminating example is the recently-posted Munar Base Collaboration Challenge, where community

members work together to build a “Munar” (as opposed to Lunar) base with limited resources. 2 As an

example of a typical exchange, user Johnster_Space_Program writes “Also, how many tons is the

lander @Ultimate_Steve? Also is it able to bring kerbals [the alien populace] back from the munar

surface to Kerbin [the home planet], now that we are not using return vehicles, or does it need to be

refueled on the surface, probably with the mining rig?”3 Johnster_Space_Program depends on

Ultimate_Steve to deliver the munar lander as does all the other players; this is the type of teamwork

typical of the KSP forum. Normally threads are not so explicitly collaborative but rather constructive.

In response to a post showcasing a Road Runner (car), user A Random Kerbonaut writes

2 The collaboration works by passing around save files between users.

3 Johnster_Space_Program. “Munar Base Collaboration Challenge.” Kerbal Space Program Forums, 29 Mar. 2019,
forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/183151-munar-base-collaboration-challenge/&page=2.
 3

“Cool! Looks like a cute and rad thing!”4 A Random Kerbonaut offers encouragement so that the OP

will continue to innovate in KSP. In this way, the community works together toward greater in-game

“scientific” discovery.

In the above discussion, Johnster_Space_Program mentions the need for refueling on the

surface of the moon. This type of technical discussion is pervasive throughout the KSP forum. In

particular, the gameplay of KSP mirrors that of scientific discovery. No hints are given; no shortcuts are

possible without true innovation.

If one were to categorize KSP by plot structure, it would undoubtedly fall in the Network

Structure formulation outlined by Egenfeldt and Nielsen.5 In fact, the beginner is stranded in a foreign

world with little direction and thousands of possibilities. Because of this, KSP is ripe for creativity –

and repeated, abysmal failure.

Indeed, the KSP forum is rife with misadventures. User ShadowDragon8685 writes “I’ve

experienced nothing but bitter, hilarious disaster trying to build vertically, barely able to get ridiculous

expanding stacks into Kerbin orbit.”6 Unlike other games that trivialize seemingly monumental tasks

(Mario defeating Bowser is a good example), difficult tasks in KSP do not get easier by game progress,

they get easier by experience. As such, not only is KSP especially alluring to those willing to invest

their time in learning technical knowledge (such as engineers), the KSP forum is filled with technical

detail and specifications. “Building vertically” refers to stacking engines and fuel one on top of each

other when designing a spacecraft. User Cathix03 writes “I have a station 120km in orbit above Kerbin

with a 50-degree inclination… My issue is with Mechjeb wasting my RSC propellent going back and

4 A Random Kerbonaut. “Road Runner.” Kerbal Space Program Forums, 24 Mar. 2019,
forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/183104-road-runner/.
5 “Narrative.” Understanding Video Games: the Essential Introduction, by Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen et al., Routledge,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2016, pp. 211–215.
6 ShadowDragon8685. “What Are the Most Important Things You've Learned about Playing KSP to Pass on?” Kerbal
Space Program Forums, 24 Mar. 2019, forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/61267-what-are-the-most-
important-things-youve-learned-about-playing-ksp-to-pass-on/.
 4

forth a hundred times trying to dock….”7 Like many other KSP posts, this comment requires

unpacking. Mechjeb is a mod that gives autopilot capabilities, RSC is a Reaction Control System that

uses fuel (i.e. the propellant), and evidently Cathix03 is attempting to “dock” with a space station

orbiting at a 50-degree angle to the equator. The answer to Cathix03’s query is no less technical,

suggesting changes to the PID settings in the Mechjeb mod. PID refers to Proportional, Integral and

Derivative corrections to motion control, a well-known algorithm in control theory that is notoriously

tricky to tune.

One gets the sense that users on the KSP forum have a real sense of pride in the astrophysics

knowledge they acquire, epitomized by the physics and control jargon prevalent everywhere. Randall

Munroe captures the spirit of the technical side of the KSP forum excellently in his xkcd comic on the

subject.8

In addition to the technical side, the KSP forum adopts the levity of a humorous video game.

Take a look at the following ad displayed prominently at the top of the KSP forum9:

7 Cathix03. “Maneuver Prograde Issues.” Kerbal Space Program Forums, 30 Mar. 2019,
forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/183280-maneuver-prograde-issues/.
8 Munroe, Randall. “Orbital Mechanics.” Xkcd, 16 Apr. 2014, xkcd.com/1356/.
9 Kerbal Space Program. “We Are Hiring!” Kerbal Space Program Forums, 31 Mar. 2019,
forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php.
 5

On the right is in-game pilot Jebediah Kerman (or Jeb for short) with his typical maniacal grin,

ready for whatever death-defying mission the player wishes to thrust upon him. Much of the humor of

the KSP forum follows from the adorable and pathetic alien race (the Kerbals) who are generally

incompetent and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Users tend to make Jeb or other Kerbals the butt of

light-hearted jokes while becoming (perhaps not satirically enough) emotionally attached to them. User

Johnster_Space_Program, for example, uses Jeb as a challenge backstory: “Oh no, looks like jeb got

himself stuck on the mun [moon]! You need to rescue him, but in the quickest time possible!”10 In the

most extreme cases, Jeb and his Kerbal companions become the object of a cult following, illustrated

vividly by the “Kraken Trilogy,”11 a 169 page work of fan-fiction tracking the escapades of several

Kerbals through the KSP universe. In true KSP fashion, the titular Kraken refers to a famous physics

engine bug present in earlier versions of KSP, where extreme acceleration or velocity conditions would

lead to glitches (or, in KSP lore, summoning of “The Kraken”). The aforementioned tendency of users

to port the magic circle of KSP into the forum keeps conversations enjoyable and in good taste.

This kind of light-hearted (but hardcore) fun is indicative of the kind of user one expects to

encounter on the KSP forum. In many ways, the KSP forum mirrors a site like Stack Overflow, where

strangers give their time freely to give technical advice to struggling coders and crack nerdy

programming jokes. However, unlike Stack Overflow, the KSP forum is not hampered by the drudgery

10 Johnster_Space_Program. “The Kerbal Bracket Challenge!” Kerbal Space Program Forums, 29 Mar. 2019,
forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/183041-the-kerbal-bracket-challenge/&tab=comments#comment-
3566214.
11 CatastrophicFailure. “Shadows of the Kraken: Remastered & The Lost Chapters.” Kerbal Space Program Forums, 8
Feb. 2015, forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/99151-shadows-of-the-kraken-remastered-the-lost-
chapters/.
 6

of the corporate world, nor the especially unpleasant kludges of real life. Rather, the KSP forum gives

amateur astrophysicists a welcoming place to feed their own creativity, collaborate with other

engineering-minded players and save a few helpless Kerbals stuck on distant planets.