OpenSourceGames

Agreed.

• KSP like exploration
• No wiggly rockets
• Better scaling
• Performant

That's all it really needs to be. And that's a giant oversimplification, and still a massive ask. But if an open source game had those 4 things, it would put KSP2 an additional 6 feet under, putting it at 18.

I've had my eye on Juno New Horizons. They'd probably not go open source, but they look like they know what they're doing. I might be giving that one a try at some point.