RocketWerkz (DayZ creator Dean Hall) and KSP original creator Felipe Falanghe are building Kitten Space Agency, with a 12-year ex-SpaceX flight software engineer on the team.
Key Takeaways
KSA uses RocketWerkz’s in-house “Brutal” engine framework; architecture is intentionally mod-friendly from the ground up, unlike KSP’s bolted-on layers.
KSP2 failure is the explicit cautionary tale: KSP2 re-used flawed foundations rather than rearchitecting, causing performance bugs and eventual studio shutdown by 2K.
Seamless solar-system-scale transitions (no loading screens between vehicles) are a stated technical goal, targeting scale and performance KSP never achieved.
Distribution model is free/pay-what-you-want with public commit logs posted live to Discord, a direct rejection of standard games industry secrecy and pricing.
Pre-alpha is intentionally impenetrable: no rocket builder yet, placeholder assets, fictional solar system planned; release focus is proving technical foundations, not gameplay.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters are broadly optimistic about the technical approach and open development model, with several explicitly relieved to have avoided KSP2.
The kitten branding drew split reaction: some see it as internet-savvy marketing, others dislike it aesthetically, though the K/2-syllable parallel to “Kerbal” was noted as likely intentional.
Mac and Vulkan support came up as an open question; Linux builds exist but no official Mac commitment has been stated.
Notable Comments
@Gagarin1917: “people are worried they’ll get too attached to the kittens to be able to enjoy them becoming engulfed in massive explosions”
@JLO64: educator using KSP in coding instruction; sees KSA’s sandbox freedom and planned accessibility as positive signals for classroom use.
