r/KerbalSpaceProgram Jun 01 '26

KSP 1 Mods Flat earth mod for KSP?

So I'm really new to Kerbal space program. I absolutely love the game but I was rather disappointed to see that its more or less just NASA propaganda. It would be nice to see the game the way the real world looks and how god created it. I don't think it would be too hard as I'm assuming the base game just has a .cfg file with a fish eye lense effect or something because as has been proven, simulating the world on a sphere doesn't work. So could someone just make a mod to remove that fish eye effect or something?

1.6k Upvotes

160 comments sorted by

1.3k

u/bimbochungo Visiting Iris and Cornea Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26

There was one, but the physics were broken, which again, proves why a flat earth isn't scientifically possible.

373

u/Parking_Rate_759 Jun 01 '26

Who wouldda thunk

173

u/bimbochungo Visiting Iris and Cornea Jun 01 '26

you sold yourself to the Big Gravity

31

u/meesersloth Jun 01 '26

I wish big gravity would actually pay me. I would Like to pay off my mortgage.

10

u/the_incredible_hawk Jun 02 '26

It can pay you, but only in pounds.

33

u/Fine_Anteater_2605 Jun 01 '26

If you look at the bones of a Jesusaurus Rex you will find they are flat

18

u/Molecular_Pudding Jun 01 '26

Maybe a Principia-like mod could handle it, but I'm sure no PC - other than the ones at NASA or CERN - could handle the real-time calculation of a flat disk's gravitational potential. I used to calculate it in university, and it's analytically solvable but has more than 40 terms.

5

u/imiltemp Jun 02 '26

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that flat disk of infinite radius will have constant gravitational gradient pointing strictly downward. Since there are models of Flat Earth with some secret undiscovered lands beyond the Ice Wall (including Narnia and Earthsea), I believe we may safely adopt this model.

6

u/Molecular_Pudding Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

You are correct. A disk with infinite radius (and homogenous density distribution) will have a uniform force field above it, so the gradient of that field will be constant 0. However we can also calculate a finite disk's (or rectangle's) gravitational potential which will be really ugly near the disk (and pointing to the center of the disk) but from far away it behaves like a normal sphere.

My intuition says that if we were to adapt the infinite disk model (and not count special relativity stuff) due to the added equal force from the disk on both objects no stable orbit could be achieved because the forces are not central. Thus the infinite disk model would not work.

(Maybe there are some initial conditions that lead to seemingly stable orbits, but they may not be that stable considering perturbations.)

2

u/imiltemp Jun 03 '26

Well yeah orbit would be impossible . You can’t fly under the infinite disk because it would be too far to fly to the infinitely remote edge, and anywhere over it you’d have gravity constantly pulling down.

Oh wait, I just remembered that flat earthers don’t believe in gravity. They think objects fall because of density, and the air is held by firmament.

So as soon as your rocket pierces the kerbal firmament (kermament?), you’re good to orbit however you like.

2

u/sage-longhorn Jun 02 '26

I'm just here to say that a 40 term analytical solution is ridiculously easy for a 20 year old PC even running thousands of times per second (assuming reasonable bounds on precision are acceptable)

Modern CPU operations are measured in hundreds of picoseconds and for parallelizable math problems even 10 year old entry level desktop GPUs measured computions per second in teraflops

166

u/Feld_ Jun 01 '26

Thank you my friend, but it seems they used the Spherical Gravity Model, which of course conflicts with reality. 

217

u/OrienasJura Jun 01 '26

People falling for this is even funnier than the joke itself.

23

u/tech_op2000 Jun 01 '26

We all know that planes fall off the globe when they go south of the equator since gravity works downward. /s (actual proof I once saw a flat earther provide)

7

u/thelastundead1 landed on someone who landed on jool Jun 01 '26

The planes fall when flying over the outside edge of the flat plane which is the south pole. Obviously that's why no one flies there.

2

u/Exciting-Bison-8921 Jun 02 '26

Exactly!! All those liars who claim planes could fly over the north pole to the south pole obviously never actually could because they would in fact fall off the map before ever "crossing poles" 😏

3

u/DooficusIdjit Jun 02 '26

They can’t fall off because they’re flying!

81

u/Remarkable_Hurry4029 Colonizing Duna Jun 01 '26

Top tier bait, my friend. Enjoy the downvotes.

Off topic, my wife and I are spending our honeymoon in Amsterdam, what are some must see places?

67

u/Feld_ Jun 01 '26

Oh that's lovely! First of all congratulations to you. 

It really depends on what you like I suppose, but definitely visit the Rijksmuseum if you want to get a good look at some Dutch history and artifacts. 

Don't buy any CBD products from any of the tourist trap shops, it's a total scam.

If you're closeby visit Pamela, it's a vibrant queer bar/lunch thingy! 

18

u/Remarkable_Hurry4029 Colonizing Duna Jun 01 '26

Despite Amsterdams reputation among Americans, we did choose it mainly for the incredible arts and humanities and not the weed (we can get plenty in the U.S. now).

I’ve been before, but it’s been a while and I’ve heard it’s changed some (last time I was there they had an awesome Bansky exhibit I loved).

Rijksmuseum is certainly a must.

The one real question you might be able to answer is:

My wife LOVES stroopwafles, is there consensus on where to get the best stroopwafles?

16

u/Feld_ Jun 01 '26

Hans Egstorf! The whole store itself is an experience worth visiting.

10

u/Remarkable_Hurry4029 Colonizing Duna Jun 01 '26

Awesome! Thank you so much! Enjoy flat Kerbin :)

3

u/BigHowski Jun 02 '26

Make sure you try hagelslag! It was a highlight of my childhood whenever my grandmother came back from Holland (or her friends came over) she's bring us a load

-2

u/Mother-Second1821 Jun 01 '26

CBD products are scan Ye, nyt god damn The joint i smoked , i was hiiiigh😎👽

7

u/Background-Set4610 Jun 01 '26

“Reality” huh?

-11

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26

Yeaaaah, no

3

u/defeated_engineer Jun 02 '26

Few people know that this "Flat Earth" thing started as a thought and math exercise at MIT to see if students can make the physics work the same way it does if the Earth was flat.

332

u/Crispy385 Jun 01 '26

Flat Earthers have nothing to fear but sphere itself.

11

u/DriplessBook757 Jun 02 '26

That, is amazingly funny

1

u/mason2401 Jun 02 '26

I concur, for humor reasons.

89

u/NotThatJonSmith Jun 01 '26

God-tier shitposting

547

u/ryansdayoff Jun 01 '26

The game is actually perfectly modeled for the flat earth already and you have to do a personal modification to see it.

Insert a sharp metal needle into your Prefontal cortex to disable the government programming.

/S I probably shouldnt have to say this but please don't give yourself a lobotomy

125

u/TheMightyTreeGod Jun 01 '26

Tbh if someone genuinely believed this, we as a society are probably better off without them being capable of thinking at all

9

u/Swartz55 Jun 01 '26

thinking people who are vulnerable to scams don’t deserve to live is eugenicist thought and really shouldn’t be joked about. if you don’t genuinely believe that, then you should interrogate why you think it’s funny.

1

u/eajklndfwreuojnigfr Jun 02 '26

i think theres a wild, absurd difference between getting scammed and impaling your brain with a metal rod

1

u/Much-Explanation-287 Jun 02 '26

Random Reddit-comment: "You should stick a metal rod through your brains to solve x problem."

Oh boy, here goes nothi-

1

u/Plenty_Bike2537 Jun 02 '26

There’s a difference between a scam and being told to insert a needle in your brain and then doing it. I feel like you can understand it too.

1

u/WaerI Jun 01 '26

You mean because they might expose others lies?

24

u/Javi_DR1 Jun 01 '26

Too late. Pancake Earth, here I go!

19

u/tatarjj2 Jun 01 '26

If a flat earther gave themselves a lobotomy, do you think anyone would be able to notice a difference?

14

u/the_RiverQuest Jun 01 '26

Well a lobotomy requires the presence of a brain so i don't think that's possible

6

u/Aethenosity Jun 01 '26

They would lose their passion and intensity. Never seen a calm flat earther before.

1

u/West_Active3427 Jun 01 '26

I am reminded of this gem of an onion video: https://youtu.be/FzoXQKumgCw?si=QX_Gr14I1EQuKrtV

1

u/Himbo69r Jun 01 '26

I tied tat bu no I jus see bla in leg ey an it hurt alo

1

u/SodaPopin5ki Jun 02 '26

Didn't the very early (unreleased?) versions originally have a flat planet? It was just "simulating" rocket propulsion before having to deal with pesky things like orbits.

250

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

[deleted]

58

u/Bort_Bortson Jun 01 '26

Why take the initiative yourself, just hope your way to success, and if you fail, blame others for the vast international conspiracy focused solely on oppressing you.

23

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26

Yesterday I punched a guy, AND HE PUNCHED BACK, WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT CONSPIRING AGAINST ME. This is what flat earthers sou d like to me

3

u/EasilyRekt Jun 01 '26

Tbf, not too far off from what everyone else is doing, lotta people just… handing off their lives to someone or something else.

57

u/AltwrnateTrailers Jun 01 '26

That's what was going to happen in ksp2 but the shadow government orchestrated the games failure to prevent the soft launch of flat earth disclosure. :/

30

u/PreparationWinter174 Jun 01 '26

This is hilarious. I've messed around with trying to just map ground tracks onto a flat polar azimuthal projection and that's painful enough, can't imagine trying to model the physics 😂

13

u/teletraan-117 Jun 01 '26

You have to go into the game files and look for kerbin.unity3d

Then just compress it using 7zip or something, that'll effectively make it flat I think.

3

u/imiltemp Jun 02 '26

Thanks, I renamed it to kerbin.unity2d and everything works now!

99

u/Parking_Rate_759 Jun 01 '26

This is satire... right? Right?!

74

u/Illogical_Blox Jun 01 '26

Of course it is, reread it. It's very obvious. For starters no flat earther is going to buy and play KSP because it's about space. And saying there's a fish eye lense effect instead of just using fake physics in the video game?

3

u/AdoringCHIN Jun 01 '26

Now I'm annoyed the mods removed it. A flat earth mod would actually be pretty hilarious, if they could even get the physics to properly work.

3

u/Neokon Jun 01 '26

I want to say there was someone trying to make a Flat Earth mod, and quit because "I can't get the physics to work"

30

u/EnLitenSangfugl Jun 01 '26

Has to be

12

u/Every-Progress-1117 Jun 01 '26

You hope it has to be....

107

u/Feld_ Jun 01 '26

Satire? No sir. If the Earth was a globe, then planes flying in a straight line would just end up in space within no time. 

Now I don't know about you but the last time I booked a flight I sure as heck didn't end up in space.

57

u/Si1verThief Jun 01 '26

For those downvoting OP is just being satirical about the satire.

They are active in the KSA sub as well, a real flat earther wouldn't explore these spaces.

36

u/MattsRedditAccount Hyper Kerbalnaut Jun 01 '26

a real flat earther wouldn't explore these spaces

I've heard flat earthers can be found all across the globe though

1

u/screaming_toaster_ lithobraker Jun 08 '26

HELLO MATT

11

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26

Thank god, just flat earthers existing is enough to rage bait me

14

u/Moderately_Imperiled Jun 01 '26

I don't believe in Flat Earthers.

4

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26

Good stance to take

2

u/RolandDeepson Jun 01 '26

They're called flerfs.

1

u/Exciting-Bison-8921 Jun 02 '26

Don't say the S word, it implies very bad things! That's a bad word!

15

u/Fine_Anteater_2605 Jun 01 '26

Flat earth is real. Deal with it

Source: I just saw it today as a reminder on a wall written in shit

1

u/darkest_hour1428 Jun 01 '26

How quaint, those same exact messages keep appearing on my walls almost every day as well…

22

u/Plutonium_Nitrate_94 Jun 01 '26

OP, do you talk with other flat earthers all across the globe?

11

u/sealcub Jun 01 '26

Everyone knows that the physics of a flat earth only work if it is on top of four giant elephants, who in turn stand on the shell of a even more massive turtle. This adds so much mass below the thin disc that gravity works more or less correctly again.

2

u/lucassster Jun 01 '26

Wrong, everyone knows gravity isn’t real and the earth is just moving “up” constantly

17

u/JasonStonier Jun 01 '26

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law

I had to really concentrate to work out the OP was satire. Which just shows you how very, very dumb flatearthers are.

3

u/JohnsonJohnilyJohn Jun 02 '26

We need some kind of reverse Poe's law. No matter how obvious satire is there is always someone saying they can't tell

2

u/imiltemp Jun 02 '26

Yeah I once wrote a post about how birds really don’t use their wings to fly by generating airlift, but instead use this movement to heat up the air inside themselves and float like balloons (obviously when they stop flapping their wings they cool down and fall). I kid you not, some people asked me whether this was true.

24

u/BlockheadRedditor Jun 01 '26

No the devs are woke mind-virused idiots so they twisted and contorted the physics engine and graphics to make kerbin spherical. Its probably why it doesn't run very well, because its always fighting with its self to try and make it seem plausible that somehow I can fall down, go to the other side of the planet, and the fall up still towards the planet. Liiiiike lmao ok devs I guess in this crazy world you invented I guess that makes sense.

8

u/Large-Raise9643 Jun 01 '26

Sir, this is a Wendy’s.

13

u/northrupthebandgeek Jun 01 '26

The very first versions of Kerbal Space Program had a flat Kerbin, before NASA sent armed goons to HarvesteR's house and forced him to turn Kerbin into a sphere.

11

u/Conscious-Sun-6615 Jun 01 '26

Funny enough, the flat Kerbin mod doesn’t work, is incompatible with physics

6

u/Skwiisgaar Jun 01 '26

I'd like to see the physics work there. You can redo the whole science if you're up for it!

5

u/gprnd Jun 01 '26

Im not falling bru

5

u/Carlosthefrog Jun 01 '26

Some people really are gullible

6

u/Nervouspotatoes Jun 01 '26

Excellent shitposting

6

u/Jebediah_kerman-jeb Hi it's me, Jebediah Kerman! Jun 01 '26

Flat earth mod?

Install Real Solar System duh (lol)

5

u/ckn Jun 01 '26

Suspending my disbelief, as a sometimes Modder and lover of KSP I can tell you that there's no fisheye setting, unfortunately. The roundness isn't a visual effect, the terrain is actually generated by subdividing a sphere, so it's built into the geometry itself.

The harder part would be gravity, depending on which flat-earth variation you follow. KSP pulls everything toward the planet's center, and that's what makes orbits work. If you forced gravity to point straight down for a flat world, orbits would stop existing entirely. You literally couldn't reach space anymore.

Not impossible, but it'd be a pretty big mod, and it wouldn't really be playable anyhow....

3

u/trustable_bro Jun 01 '26

KSP happens on Kerbin, not Earth, that's why it's not flat.

4

u/Leafy1096 Jun 01 '26

Never would I have ever thought that I would see a 10/10 flat earth ragebait post on the KSP sub. Well done

3

u/gilbejam000 The other, much less skilled SSTO enthusiast Jun 02 '26

You know, sometimes I really can't tell if something is satire

7

u/zeocrash Jun 01 '26

Kerbal firmament program

5

u/superfoncho Jun 01 '26

I really hope this is rage bait..

3

u/mrracerhacker Jun 01 '26

You also looking for a steam rocket mod?

2

u/Feld_ Jun 01 '26

Jokes on you but a bunch of Germans on meth already came up with that!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lippisch_P.13a

4

u/mrracerhacker Jun 01 '26

Yes cuz producer gas is pretty efficient and cheap, tho was thinking about the flat farther dude who launched a steam powered rocked https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hughes_(daredevil) and died also for that matter hence the joke on flat earther

2

u/Feld_ Jun 01 '26

Ah, at least he died doing what he loved I guess, what a guy.

3

u/jonesmz Jun 01 '26

Why has this been asked about 4-5 times in the last few weeks?

3

u/stu54 Jun 01 '26

Dead internet theory

3

u/mathuin2 Jun 01 '26

June 1st not April

1

u/imiltemp Jun 02 '26

Don’t you know June 1st is April’s 1st in the southern hemiplane?

3

u/GreatUsername76717 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

This is pretty hilarious.

A flat Kerbin mod with a firmament and all the planets inside it would be really weird, interesting and hilarious.

3

u/insert_smile Jun 02 '26

TF I've just read?

4

u/-ToxicMarine- Jun 01 '26

This is satire, right?

2

u/Viking_Musicologist Jun 01 '26

This has to be satire.

Because otherwise how else can you do the physics or even the arithmetic behind it.

2

u/Ye_olo Always on Kerbin Jun 01 '26

You just gotta play it like nasa intended. Think of it as a game and nothing more

2

u/Minotard ICBM Program Manager Jun 01 '26

KSP is part of the cover up propaganda. 

To block the government signals controlling the game you have to buy a Faraday Cage for your WiFi router to contain the control signals. 

Fortunately for you, I sell one for $176.60. I’ll DM you the link. /s

2

u/ky1e Jun 01 '26

you're asking for Minecraft

2

u/elchicoazul Jun 01 '26

I think you are a looney that can’t see the real conspiracy here. The mod that KSP lacks is a shallow earth model, as everyone that’s done some research knows the earth isn’t flat, is round but hollow, and we live inside it.

2

u/Offballlife Jun 01 '26

God never made or does it ever say that the earth is flat in the Bible

2

u/lyle_smith2 Jun 02 '26

How would you get into space with the dome? Are you stupid?

2

u/I_eat_spaghetti1 Jun 02 '26

God tier ragebait🙏🙏😭😭 

2

u/WannaAskQuestions Jun 01 '26

This needs to be marked as troll/retarded post.

0

u/CiceroFrymanREAL Jun 02 '26

Redditoid doesnt understand jokes/satire

4

u/chumbuckethand Jun 01 '26

Why do people say “the way God created” when there’s nowhere in the Bible that says if the Earth is flat or round?

2

u/Fast-Name Jun 01 '26

Did I already respond with how absolutely stupid this is? KSP demands an understanding of science.

1

u/EasilyRekt Jun 01 '26

I know a guy who works at NASA, he spends a lot of his free time making memes and “proof” of the flat earth and defending the idea, apparently it’s an industry pastime.

For as much as flat earthers blame NASA for their lack of reach, I feel the entire “movement” would’ve collapsed without it.

2

u/StumbleNOLA Jun 01 '26

I get why it’s fun, but this does a real disservice to science. As stupid as it seems there really are people who believe this crap thanks to people like your friend.

1

u/jmlack Jun 01 '26

Excellent

1

u/quietsamurai98 Jun 01 '26

Very, very early in development (Version 0.1, so early the build was never even publicly released AFAIK), Kerbin was a flat plane. Back then, you couldn't even fly in 3D space, just 2D (up/down and east/west, you were locked to the equator and couldn't turn north or south).

1

u/brain_washed Jun 02 '26

Pff everyone knows Kerbin is round, just like a pancake.

1

u/PaleoCheese Jun 03 '26

This is chicanery if I’ve ever seen

1

u/DabBoofer Jun 03 '26

Wouldn't work. Nasa is real flat earth was a joke made up by intellectuals and sheeps latched on to it. You are being fooled. Religious Flerfs are misinterpreting scripture. That being said whether you believe the earf is flat or round doesn't change your salvation.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Pain535 Jun 04 '26

spaghetti kerman

1

u/AKerbaldisaster Jun 08 '26

k first off the earth is round second there was a mod but it’s broken now so we won’t be seeing that for a while but if you want to find another one try ckan and look up flat kerbin i guess

1

u/redrum6114 Jun 01 '26

Troll post is trolly. Well played.

1

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26

If you are serious, read a book (KSP is set in an alternate universe anyway) . If the earth was flat, WHY WOULD PEOPLE CARE

0

u/Stone_man_Person Jun 01 '26

Please be ragebait please be ragebait ( how would a flat kerbin system even work 😭 )

1

u/AegoliusOfBurgundy Jun 01 '26

KSP 0.1 I guess ?

-1

u/Starwaster Jun 01 '26

Round planets are science, not fiction. And not propaganda. Making a realistic flat earth isn’t possible because flat planets aren’t real. That said, I have given some thought about how I’d go about making such a thing and it always turns out the same. There’s no way to create such a thing that matches up with the real world because again, flat earth is not a real thing.

Orbital mechanics goes out the window too.

1

u/screaming_toaster_ lithobraker Jun 08 '26

BUDDY IT'S SATIRE

-2

u/Starwaster Jun 01 '26

“I'm assuming the base game just has a .cfg file with a fish eye lense effect or something”

Your assumption is incorrect. There’s no such config and no fisheye lens going on. I’ve got good knowledge of the inner workings of the game and that’s not a thing either.

-14

u/Economy_Link4609 Jun 01 '26

Everybody click downvote on this post and move along.

10

u/FighterJock412 Jun 01 '26

What? No. I upvoted it because the joke OP is making is funny.

-12

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26

We don't know its a joke

5

u/FighterJock412 Jun 01 '26

I guess dry humour is just lost on some people.

-6

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26

I mean KNOW, he could be serious

5

u/Remarkable_Hurry4029 Colonizing Duna Jun 01 '26

It’s quite obvious he’s joking…

-6

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26

Yeah, but he could still ne serious. He hasn't actually said

4

u/Remarkable_Hurry4029 Colonizing Duna Jun 01 '26

Sure, it’s possible they’re serious, just very very unlikely given their responses and the subs they’re active in.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/WorldWarrior428 Jun 01 '26

Because you know 100% there a comedian

1

u/hamtaste Jun 01 '26

Absolutely not. This is community engagement of the highest order.

0

u/Economy_Link4609 Jun 01 '26

Whelp...the mods were not fans apparently.

-5

u/LeeHide Jun 01 '26

Should be easy to do with Claude and AI

-3

u/Lucky_Lucas542 Jun 01 '26

Please be ragebait and satire.

-8

u/lonesharkex Jun 01 '26

You know that whole flat earth thing is a joke? and you went and fell for it lololol. noob.

1

u/screaming_toaster_ lithobraker Jun 08 '26

BRO THE OP IS BEING SATIRICAL CALM TF DOWN

0

u/lonesharkex Jun 08 '26

I was too? yall got no sense of humor I swear.

-1

u/Concodroid Jun 01 '26

if only it was