Dev Log: Why Colonies Isn’t KSP – But Plays in the Same Orbit

Emergence Over Engineering: The Systems Thinking Behind Colonies

If you’ve ever launched a rocket in Kerbal Space Program, you’ve felt it—the thrill of orbital insertion, the silence of space, the raw calculation of delta-v.

So when people see Colonies: Genesis of E.D.E.N., they sometimes say:

“Oh cool, this is like KSP but with AI factions and planets, right?”

Kind of.

But also, not really.

Because where KSP simulates you building and flying rockets, Colonies simulates why a society would build rockets in the first place—and what happens after.

Let’s unpack that.

🌌 Kerbal vs. Colonies: What Are We Actually Simulating?

Feature	Kerbal Space Program	Colonies: Genesis of E.D.E.N.
Focus	Orbital mechanics, rocketry	Planetary ecosystems, infrastructure, AI goals
Player Role	Space agency engineer	Godlike observer / faction manipulator
Physics Simulation	Realistic (Newtonian, patched conics)	Realistic-enough, scalable multi-body orbits
Time Manipulation	Timewarp-heavy	Global tick loop with warp controls
Actors	Kerbals, spacecraft	Factions, population units, field agents
Building Systems	Manual vehicle construction	Modular infrastructure, facilities, logistics
Goal Structure	Missions and contracts	Emergent needs, contracts, diplomacy

🧠 Colonies Doesn’t Simulate Rocket Science—It Simulates Why You’d Need It

In KSP, everything starts with you:

• You build the rocket
• You launch it
• You run the mission

But in Colonies, you simulate a world where:

• Factions have evolving needs
• Planets rotate and irradiate
• Resources form networks
• And eventually… someone decides they need to leave the surface

You’re not flying the rocket. You’re simulating the society that builds it.

🔭 How Our Simulation Handles Space Without Turning Into KSP

✅ 1. No Real-Time Thrust or RCS Simulation

KSP is all about physics fidelity: gravity turns, TWR, maneuver nodes, fuel burn curves.

Colonies is about mission-level dynamics:

• Launches are represented by contracts (e.g., OrbitalLaunchContract)
• Each contract gets a FlightPlan, broken into deterministic orbital segments
• Segments simulate:
  
  • Launch
  • Transfer
  • Insertion
  • Rendezvous
  • Docking
• No real-time thrust simulation. No wobbly rocket physics.

We simulate the outcome of decisions, not the wobble of struts.

✅ 2. Simulation First, Visuals Later

KSP renders in full fidelity, with orbital paths, maneuver nodes, drag forces.

Colonies simulates:

• Nested barycentric orbits
• Stationkeeping vs. decay
• Resource consumption
• Interplanetary transfers

But rendering is decoupled:

• We only visualize when needed
• Orbit lines are procedural and stylized
• Planetary systems and sectors load based on simulation importance, not player proximity

You don’t watch every burn. You simulate space as part of a civilization’s unfolding logic.

✅ 3. AI and Faction-Driven Exploration

In KSP, you’re the only actor that matters.

In Colonies, factions:

• Discover orbital mechanics as KnowledgeNodes
• Unlock launch infrastructure as Capabilities
• Choose to build launch pads, mining outposts, Lagrange stations
• Compete to colonize moons, asteroids, or other worlds

This isn’t a sandbox for you to sandbox in. It’s a living world—where orbital expansion is the emergent result of hundreds of systems working in tandem.

🛰️ But Let’s Be Real: KSP Still Matters

We love Kerbal. It taught a whole generation how orbits work.

So in Colonies, we honor that by:

• Using real orbital dynamics (patched conics, barycenters, nested spheres of influence)
• Including things like Lagrange points, delta-v estimates, and transit windows
• Representing missions with full FlightPlans and simulated ManeuverSegments

But where KSP says:

“Here’s your rocket—now make it fly.”

Colonies says:

“Here’s a civilization—will it choose to fly?”

🧬 Different Intentions. Same Love of Systems.

KSP is about engineering your way into space.

Colonies is about simulating the systemic complexity that makes that leap possible.

We simulate:

• The growth of knowledge
• The accumulation of surplus
• The coordination of contracts
• The logistics of fueling, launching, and settling off-world

And we do it at scale—with:

• Fully rotating planets
• Atmospheric layers
• Ecological cycles
• Strategic decision-making across factions and epochs

No twitchy gravity assists. No exploded boosters.

Just the real story of how a species leaves the surface of its homeworld—and what it takes to survive the cosmos.

Would you like to see a breakdown of how our FlightPlanner, MissionController, and OrbitalContract systems work?

Or a follow-up dev log on how we handle orbital rendering and maneuver abstraction?

We’re just getting started. Because space is the destination—but simulation is the engine.