Kerbal Space Program - A completely free (for now) Spore-like rocket builder

[JamesV]

Yes, I know this is an old thread, but better to necro than starting a duplicate?

Picked up the Kerbal Space Program demo on Steam last night, and it is a pretty cool game. Anyone interested in building rockets should definately check it out. Don't know if I'll actually buy it yet, but I'm leaning towards doing just that.

The astronauts live feed when something goes wrong is freaking funny as hell

 

[shortylickens]

Yes, I know this is an old thread, but better to necro than starting a duplicate?

Picked up the Kerbal Space Program demo on Steam last night, and it is a pretty cool game. Anyone interested in building rockets should definately check it out. Don't know if I'll actually buy it yet, but I'm leaning towards doing just that.

The astronauts live feed when something goes wrong is freaking funny as hell

God damn son this thread is older than you!

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Is Jeb still completely insane

 

[Chaotic42]

So is anyone else playing this? I've gotten into an orbit around the sun, but landing on the moon is a daunting concept for sure. I paid $22 to get into the alpha, and it's been fun so far.

 

[QuantumPion]

So is anyone else playing this? I've gotten into an orbit around the sun, but landing on the moon is a daunting concept for sure. I paid $22 to get into the alpha, and it's been fun so far.

It's easy, just takes a tutorial and some practice.

 

[JamesV]

Finally docked my first two spacecraft yesterday, and it is anything but easy. Got a two piece space station now with a big fuel tank to refuel craft in orbit, and an orbiter around the Mun.

Going to send different rovers to the Mun to test them in low gravity, then rendezvous with the current orbiter and try to land near the rovers (an order of magnitude harder than docking - landing near something).

If you want to try landing on the Mun, there is a scenario for that, where you are already in orbit around the Mun, with a lander connected to the return vehicle.

 

[QuantumPion]

Jebediah goes Ghilly-diving!

 

[utahraptor]

I found this thread randomly and bought the game yesterday. I think it will be fun to work up to interplanetary expeditions. So far I have managed to get a satellite into orbit successfully once and I was able to deploy a solar panel and antennas.

 

[Revolution 11]

My big problem with this game is how are the developers going to implement the campaign mode without sacrificing any of the crucial elements that make Kerbal unique.

If they decide to make a economy where a Kerbal agency (KASA?) recieves regular funding, dependent on failure or success of missions, that means there is a right and wrong way to do spaceflight. Players who are burnt once by a failure face a loss of income and will have do tedious tasks to bring that income back. The current model of rapid changes to a spacecraft is not viable under any type of economy based on money.

Instead, the new gameplay style will be a slow, cautious and stagnant spacecraft design since there will be a best build for each mission.

 

[utahraptor]

First of all the game will likely continue to have a sandbox mode like minecraft's creative mode.

Secondly I can imagine at least two fun campaign modes.

The first scenario would be if you were a private company. Investors would pay you to do a mission and the better your track record the more risky stuff you can bid on.

I can see income coming from hauling payloads and even from having telecom satellites in orbit.

The second mode would be if you were working for a government. Tax dollars would finance you and you would be trying to beat other nation states in a space race.

I imagine in at least the second scenario the historical timeline of technological advancement could come into play. Maybe you pick which decade you start with and you could advance through the years even into a fictional future.

To win the private mode you simply amass profit to do better missions.

To win in the second mode you win by bringing glory to your nation. (First man on mars for instance.)

I am excited to see what they actually do.

 

[Revolution 11]

To be clear, I don't think the sandbox mode will ever disappear, that's a good thing. But I don't see how your two described modes could solve the risk=bad dilemma at the heart of Kerbal and any economy type.

If you are paid based on missions completed, the more risky the more reward, that still does not make failure bearable. You will still spend money building ships, that will invariably fail in some aspect of the mission, and so you are encouraged through economics to adapt a low-risk proven build to reduce your losses.

The problem with that is that it means you will be either save-scumming or you will watch or read a guide on the best build. The rapid improvements made to crazy builds over many (short) flights will not be viable if money is the limiting factor. No more 10-stage, 20-solid booster rocket ships, with a space station hanging on top.

Yeah, we got the sandbox mode for that but still.....

 

[iamwiz82]

I'm shocked I have never heard of this game, but I picked it up last night and played for a few hours. Oy it's going to suck the life out of me. Haha. Trying to re-create sputnik and I am not getting teh trajectory right. Once I get that down I think I will be able to build some OK rockets.

 

[utahraptor]

I have places 2 sputniks in orbit so far, but my orbital adjustments were pretty much trial and error.

There are a lot of YouTube rocket school videos I need to study to do it right.

 

[JamesV]

Orbits are the easy part, but to perfect reaching and modifying them can take quite a while. Just wait til you try to dock ships... my first succesfull attempt took about 2 hours (after numerous failures).

Spent last night trying to build a good ion probe, but man do they suck up electric charge. Even 16 Blutonium battery things can't keep the charge full with one ion engine at full throttle. Wanted to make the smallest probe possible, but will end up needing a ton of batteries and Blutonium/Solar arrays. Looking at 15-30 minute burns for most orbital escape trajectories... ugh, may go with nuclear engines.

 

[Revolution 11]

If you feel that a engine is not powerful or efficient enough, you can change the stats in the config files. Making a ion engine as powerful as 10 solid-fuel boosters can be fun.

 

[shortylickens]

If you feel that a engine is not powerful or efficient enough, you can change the stats in the config files. Making a ion engine as powerful as 10 solid-fuel boosters can be fun.

Yeah I did that. Too damn easy.

A better method is to improve the stress strength of all parts. Harder to demolish your ship. But you still gotta figure out how best to utilize power vs. weight.

 

[Harrod]

I had a space station that I was unable to get into orbit, it ended up falling back to earth and rolling across the ground. It was pretty sweet, for a while I thought that the crew compartment would survive the crash, but I ran out of parts to take the impact, and it was still going 30 m/s.

 

[ViperXX]

I bought the game off Steam over the weekend after trying the demo. I'm having a blast with it.

 

[Revolution 11]

I see what you did there.

 

[JamesV]

This is the last day to buy Kerbal Space Program, and get all future updates and DLC for free.

Just thought I'd mention this, in case anyone was on the fence about buying it. You have 4 hours.

 

[shortylickens]

This is the last day to buy Kerbal Space Program, and get all future updates and DLC for free.

Just thought I'd mention this, in case anyone was on the fence about buying it. You have 4 hours.

Been playing the demo for years.
No interest in the final product.

 

[Sixguns]

Bought the game and hooked!

 

[mnewsham]

Spent last night trying to build a good ion probe, but man do they suck up electric charge. Even 16 Blutonium battery things can't keep the charge full with one ion engine at full throttle. Wanted to make the smallest probe possible, but will end up needing a ton of batteries and Blutonium/Solar arrays. Looking at 15-30 minute burns for most orbital escape trajectories... ugh, may go with nuclear engines.

I have a little tug ship I use when moving crew and empty fuel tanks in orbit (between orbital fuel station and longer range ships)

The little tug uses two ion engines and lots of solar arrays, the idea with it is for it to be slow moving for docking but the fuel lasts for ever, I usually have 1-2 docked with the orbital fuel station.

 

[Craig234]

Isn't the thread title (completely free) wrong now?

 

[ElFenix]

1170 days in space orbiting the sun but my kerbals are back on the ground fine. how do i recover them?