Posted by Kromey at 8:15pm Apr 9 '13It was almost two years ago that Natty first posted about this game, and sadly it is no longer free. Happily, however, it is now so much more than it was!
When Natty first posted about it, you could build and launch rockets into orbit around the planet, or out toward its moon, Mun. If you were extremely skilled, you could actually touch down on Mun gently enough to take off again and go back home!
The current version (which is now available on Steam, conveniently!) now allows you so many more options, such as interplanetary travel, unmanned satellites, even orbital space stations!! So far I'm having enough trouble re-figuring out basic orbital insertions -- most of my flights either fall short and return to the planet's surface or, in the case of my first unmanned satellite attempt, overshoot and end up in a multi-year orbit around the sun instead of the planet!
It's a lot more fun, with more to do, and you can even have multiple missions going at once thanks to the new Mission Tracking Center -- so while my unmanned Stayputnik satellite is on a perpetual tour of the solar system (parts don't degrade, so the pair of solar panels and single battery pack I equipped the satellite with are more than sufficient to give it an indefinite lifetime), I can continue building and launching rockets closer to home!
I'll be working more with unmanned satellites, then try to get a functioning space station in orbit, and eventually I'll shoot for the moon before working on my first interplanetary mission...