Space Game with cats VS Cat Game in space

[Kiwi Shark]

Good morning gamers, I've been compelled to kickstart this discussion here on the forums. Watching the game come along and seeing people's ideas and suggestions has highlighted a sort of split in philosophies (or I'm reading too much into it). So I'm curious what you see KSA as and what qualifies under each category:
Space Game with cats in it or Cat Game that happens in space

I think the former is obviously the core idea, but some people have a fundamental issue with the kitten mascot concept and some people want every celestial body to have a feline pun for a name. If the game is going to feature cats then it makes sense to lean into that idea, otherwise they'd feel especially out of place. At the same time I don't think everything that can be cat-themed should be. At a certain point I think it would detract from the integrity of being a high-fidelity, space-exploration and space vehicle design simulator, even as a video game.

I'm sure this is going to be something RW keeps in mind as things move along. Given the hard no on cat ears on the EVA helmets it seems like there's at least some sense of balance already forming.

So where would you draw the line? Are the cat jokes best left to little details like part decals and IVA knick-knacks or should the career mode currency be balls of yarn?

 

[Donkey]

In my mind, It's a space simulation game with some sort of crew species.

Early on, I was NOT a fan of the cats and frankly, I still don't much care for them. However, after some inner searching, I find that my personal dislike of cats (being the afore mentioned species) is that I have thousands of hours in KSP and cats just feels weird. In other words, not really a valid concern, nothing to see here, move on.

So, my (personal) conclusion is that whatever species is chosen, even cats, lean way into it or the joke will fail. If it HAS TO BE the cats, just go for it. Milk it tastefully please but go ahead and milk it.

 

[Kraken]

Space game with cats in it, for sure.

As much as I adore cats, I am not sure how much the game should lean into the kitty gimmick. I’d definitely draw the line at the planets, i’d get tired fast saying I’m going to Caturn or Tuna or the Meown or whatnot.

The slapdash frankenfrogs we all love are instantly recognizable (and they didn’t pack enough delta-v to escape our hearts!). In my opinion, I dunno if a kitten in a spacesuit will have that same memorability, especially when cats are already all over the internet. So, personally, I’d imagine that the game’s creative direction could go further than just cat, maybe something more alien? I don’t really know though, it beats me.

Idea: the player could select in their savefile how cat-themed they want their game to be. If RW keeps the IRL solar system as an option, I can imagine a bunch of people would want to keep most aspects of their game to be as realistic as possible. Inversely, many would be amused by a heavy emphasis on fluffy felids, and if someone wants it to be more “cat game in space,” I don’t think they should be limited just because the alternative is (hypothetically) more favored by the community. I think it’d be a neat compromise, and it would allow more freedom in how you go about playing the game.

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Milk it tastefully please but go ahead and milk it.

More or less what I'm thinking.

Idea: the player could select in their savefile how cat-themed they want their game to be.

Interesting idea! This would be pretty funny if it was just a slider, but toggles would allow the most piecemeal approach. Not sure if it would fit in the base game but as a mod though this idea has some real potential, especially by adding extra or removing the basic cat theming.

 

[Nuke]

i have a head cannon theory that this game exists in a world where humans have destroyed themselves and cats have grown thumbs and evolved into a superior life form (il accept it as a spiritual sequel to stray). perhaps humans launched some distant colonies that are still alive. it would give the cats the impetus to do their space program, hoping to one day reunite with the species that has once given them cat treats, ear scritches and bewwy wubs. then you can have your tuna and eat it to, to a cat anything less is unacceptable.

rocket science need not be the only science the game exposes people too, evolutionary science, genetics, animal behavior, etc. i can imagine they use human names for planets in thats what they are out looking for, but then use knowledge of feline linquistics to figure out how cats would pronounce those names. hard science all the way down.

 

[Amsel XII]

Cats games have mostly these tags : cozy, puzzle, hidden objects, relaxing and point and click.

We are far from what is KSA and the audience of these cat games will not be appealed by space simulation although kittens are present.

Maybe what you want Kiwishark is to renew the debate about the kitten design but in a smarter and constructive way than what we have seen before ?

This debate was left pending because game fundamentals had to be created before, but despite the efforts recently been made, there is clearly something "off the mark" with kittens.

Kitten design is the most spicy debate in this game ; lot of temperate people have an idea about it but are too polite, thinking "it is not our game, devs do what they want" but this forum has been made specially for knowing your thoughts ; otherwise the game would be developed behind closed doors.

It would be nice to read a word from the devs. Is it settled ? Have ideas evolved ?

 

[Kraken]

i have a head cannon theory that this game exists in a world where humans have destroyed themselves and cats have grown thumbs and evolved into a superior life form (il accept it as a spiritual sequel to stray). perhaps humans launched some distant colonies that are still alive. it would give the cats the impetus to do their space program, hoping to one day reunite with the species that has once given them cat treats, ear scritches and bewwy wubs. then you can have your tuna and eat it to, to a cat anything less is unacceptable.

rocket science need not be the only science the game exposes people too, evolutionary science, genetics, animal behavior, etc. i can imagine they use human names for planets in thats what they are out looking for, but then use knowledge of feline linquistics to figure out how cats would pronounce those names. hard science all the way down.

I love it. It’s so ridiculous but it adds so much character to the kittens.

Maybe humans had initiated a genetic program to breed cats to be bipedal, larger, and to have bigger heads. Once the humans destroyed themselves, this gave the mutant kitties room to escape and create their own civilizations. The kittens have no clue how humanity conquered space flight (nearly all human infrastructure is gone?), but they do know that it’s possible.. and so they set out to build their own facilities and rockets from the ground up. By this time, the nearly-dead myths of an ancient human race offered just enough motivation in the kittens to thoroughly explore the solar system in the hopes of being reunited.

Or maybe.. the mutant kittens grew a hatred for the race who unethically experimented on and created them. Eventually, the myths of humanity cascaded into a cultural ghost story, whilst a drive for space exploration remained embedded in kittenkind’s aspirations.
Blame of major malfunctions (pilot error, hopefully not physics bugs) could be put on ghost humans, similar to the kraken.
However, many kitten historians and scientists (who are very educated in their field) dismiss those who deny humanity, and instead acknowledge the plausibility of a genuine human colony persisting somewhere in the solar system. The choice whether to punish (though, this option feels uncharacteristic for the silly kittens), exploit, or forgive the stranded race is yet to arise.

If there’s any lore, it should subtly be hinted in easter eggs, mission descriptions, (tutorial?) dialogue, etc. One problem I see with this lore is the involvement of humans in the game’s story would imply Earth and the rest of the solar system. That would nullify KSA’s original plan for a custom solar system. Maybe it’s an alternate-reality humankind in a completely different solar system? Or the kitten predecessors aren’t humans at all (but remarkably similar)?

If we are to consider your head-canon as a real gameplay concept (apologies if i’m taking this too far): what do you think should happen if the player is able to find a human colony? I think, if at all, the player could have lots of freedoms in this. After finding the colony, the player could return with extra kittens to stay. A joint colony venture between two species would strengthen bonds and increase productivity (extra sciences). Or, the player could take the humans back to the home planet and either involve humanity as equals in spaceflight development processes (which would create unique technologies at a much slower pace), or quickly manipulate humanity’s differing methods of thought for inexpensive, new technologies.