Steam into space with Linux

[Rating:4.5]
My first endeavor into space and linux gaming, and I’m loving it!

I did pick up a couple of PS3 games to play last week… but I’ve forgotten what they were (Yakuza 3, buggered if I can remember the other :)) all of my gaming, and blogging time has been taken up playing with rockets. 😀

So if you haven’t guessed yet, I’ve been enthralled with the Kerbal Space Program

KSP is a game where the players create and manage their own space program. Build spacecraft, fly them, and try to help the Kerbals to fulfill their ultimate mission of conquering space.

wikipedia – Kerbal Space Program

Kerbal Space Program (commonly abbreviated KSP) is a sandbox-style space flight simulator game, currently in development for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The first public alpha version was released on June 24, 2011 and updates have been continually released since. Players assume command of the space agency of the planet Kerbin and are responsible for tasks including mission planning, rocket design, and space navigation and piloting. Though there are no formal objectives, the implied goal is for players to successfully let Kerbal astronauts explore the solar system. Kerbal Space Program supports game mods and has an active modding community. It can be purchased through Steam and the official Kerbal Space Program website.

Never before has rocket science been so much fun!

The Kerbal World is similar to ours; with oceans, continents, and polar ice caps, although a little smaller (10.9 times smaller). The inhabitants seem to have the same dream as the Earth dwellers of the 60’s, how to get off of this rock and explore space.

And the space around them is rich and varied, with 7 (plus Kerbal) celestial bodies to explore + moons!

The learning curve can be steep, but a satisfying challenge, helped along by a wealth of wiki articles, a Kerbal community, and youtube tutorials.

I nearly lost Kerb-a-naut Bill Kerman earlier. He went out on a risky space walk, for no other reason than because he could. Bill just steeped mindlessly into the abyss of space, to cast his spacesuit clad body into a near permanent orbit… I don’t blame him, I’d like the opportunity to end my days in a similar fashion. Although personally I couldn’t deal with losing one so young, this early in my space management career, so I followed the only noble path, and reverted to an earlier save.

Don’t get me wrong, many a Kerbal have passed to the other side in a ball of flames only seconds from the launch pad, others have drowned trapped in capsules that have sunk into the sea. But I just couldn’t handle the stress of launching other ships past the stratosphere, knowing that Bill would be floating out there, beyond my skill level to bring him back safely to the heroes welcome he deserves.

So that was just another what if scenario, in the could be world of gaming sprites.