The Kerbal Space Program (KSP) Thread

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Chaotic42

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,546
1,709
126
shortylickens said:
Got angry, quit for a day.
Made it to Duna. Game crashed.
BUT, loaded back up and luckily my progress was autosaved. Started right back on the surface and continued. Got soil, multiple EVA and crew reports, as much meter data as I could, transmitted a little just in case I got killed, and headed home.

Took in a boatload of points.


Just did the same tonight with Eve. But I crashed on the weird atmosphere. Managed to get plenty of science transmitted though, but without engines I was stuck.
Remote murdered the morons and will try again tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Getting home from Eve is a beast.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
Well, got all the tech. And still plenty of opportunities on Mun, Minmus, Eve, and of course all the planets AND their moons.

Since science wont get me any more stuff, and I'm sick of skimming muns 427 biomes, and right now space stations do actually do anything for me, I guess I'm done.

He'res to 0.24! May she be swift and juicy!
 
JamesV

JamesV

Platinum Member
Jul 9, 2011
2,002
2
76
That's the one thing about career I don't like so much; almost having to land/orbit all over Kerbin and Mun for the science points.

Your post gave me an idea though; they should add some parts for long-term science, like a module for a space station, that after a few months gives you science for it's readings over that time.

Right now it's all about landers/orbiters. Data from a rover and other things like above would spice it up imo.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
QuantumPion said:
Here's a guy that got literally all of the science possible in two missions. It's from 0.22 but still quite impressive lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLIvJVGZD-Y
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw that, its doable if you are a master.
I think thats the big problem right now. Tons of folks struggling with basic things and tons who are bored at the simplicity.


I'm impressed with the guys doing stuff never intended. Theres dudes out there making working helicopters and artificial gravity space stations.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
OK NOW I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO!


I wanna make unmanned rovers and plop them down on the Mun. No way back.

Would it be easier to make a bare-bones shuttle than get just one one of them at a time over there with no extra parts?

Or would it be easier to make a big main craft, park it over the mun and detach & plop the rovers down attached to mini landers, sacrificing the little leftover bits once they are safely down?
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
lrETRaq.jpg


this is harder than I thought.

I went with seats and a lander can with two morons just for the initial build phase. This model (when equipped with an AI module) will simply be dropped down and left on Mun.

As most of you have figured out, anything wide needs perfect balance or else landing it can be a hassle. And despite those little orange rockets looking innocent, they need a buttload of fuel to move the rover around. Granted it will be a little easier on Mun, but I still have to get it perfect. I suppose I could move the thrusters under the middle of the body, there might be just enough clearance if I was inventive. Moving them and the tiny tanks would center the overall mass a little better.

It does handle quite well when driving. I found out after playing around with my own rovers and some downloaded ones, its better to spread the wheels out in all 4 directions. Also the little RCS nozzles help.

For reference those colored lights are from a download pack of aviation illumination. The weigh nothing and consume very little power. The white versions are actually reasonable alternatives to the big lights found in stock gameplay. The blue and red ones provide just enough light to keep things easy to see when running around the void of space. The amber ones are almost too bright and theres no way to dim them.

Oh, and something happened with my struts, they wont draw. But they are there and they do work.

Still need to figure out how I'm gonna connect this thing and launch it safely. I might need to do one on each side the rocket for symmetry and weight balance.
 
sao123

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,653
205
106
Wow... don't know how I missed this gem...

time to get started I guess.

Few Questions... is it better to get this form the site or from steam?
What are the essential mods when starting out?
Does anyone have any discount codes left?
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
sao123 said:
Wow... don't know how I missed this gem...

time to get started I guess.

Few Questions... is it better to get this form the site or from steam?
What are the essential mods when starting out?
Does anyone have any discount codes left?
Click to expand...

NO MODS!

Play as is. Get used to it.
Then go find mods.


I dont have any codes. The game is still in beta and was in an open alpha for a very long time. Tons of folks jumped in early and got it for cheap.
 
sao123

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,653
205
106
Well, Day 1 I was able to complete Scott Manleys tutorial on how to use the program. So far, I have been able to:

1)Get into near Kerbal orbit and land safely.
2)Do a 25,000 km flyby of Mun and do some science.
3)Launch a small probe into high solar orbit and transmit back some more science.

I have 1 training mission left for career mode, that I want to do. Next I am going to do his lander mission to Minmus, and then probably switch to Sandbox mode to see what else I can start doing.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
sao123 said:
Well, Day 1 I was able to complete Scott Manleys tutorial on how to use the program. So far, I have been able to:

1)Get into near Kerbal orbit and land safely.
2)Do a 25,000 km flyby of Mun and do some science.
3)Launch a small probe into high solar orbit and transmit back some more science.

I have 1 training mission left for career mode, that I want to do. Next I am going to do his lander mission to Minmus, and then probably switch to Sandbox mode to see what else I can start doing.
Click to expand...

if you're that shit hot at the game you can pick up all the science you need in a couple of trips and get all the technology at once. Right now there is a serious excess of science points but that may change as the game nears completion.
 
Harrod

Harrod

Golden Member
Apr 3, 2010
1,900
21
81
I've been playing around with jet engines to get stuff up to around 30k. Here is an example. I've been able to create somewhat of a towing device to get my rockets up near orbit to conserve fuel. This jet gives around 125 thrust, and seems to use very little fuel. Allowing me to use the rockets to get the craft into orbit and then out to the moon and return.



Capture.png


The jet stops lifting around 30k, here is the fuel usage from a test flight.

Capture-1.png
 
Last edited:
JamesV

JamesV

Platinum Member
Jul 9, 2011
2,002
2
76
Started a new campaign, and just unlocked the nuclear engines, so off to Duna for a huge a science payday.

Wanted to make a first mission that got a lot of science, so three material bays for low/high/landed Duna, along with three Goo, temp, gravioli (?). Crew report from Duna, EVA reports from low/high/landed.

On the way; a docked delivery/pickup drone, and the lander.



Still don't know if I'm doing this right, but a very close slingshot of the Mun.



Landed, grabbed all the science, but very low on fuel, I can get the lander back into a 20kish orbit around Duna, where I quit for the day, with the delivery vehicle around 70k.

Tomorrow going to drop the delivery down, pickup the lander, and hopefully have enough fuel to get back. And I'm going to slingshot Ike, and grab EVA readings for a bit of extra science as I go by. :p

 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
God damn sticky keys.

Windows just killed my return trip from Eve. I probably had at least a thousand science points.
 
M

mizzou

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2008
9,734
54
91
Harrod said:
I've been playing around with jet engines to get stuff up to around 30k. Here is an example. I've been able to create somewhat of a towing device to get my rockets up near orbit to conserve fuel. This jet gives around 125 thrust, and seems to use very little fuel. Allowing me to use the rockets to get the craft into orbit and then out to the moon and return.



Capture.png


The jet stops lifting around 30k, here is the fuel usage from a test flight.

Capture-1.png
Click to expand...

Another thing you could try is instead of trying to get max verticle speed at max elevation, try to get max horizontal speed at max elevation.

Curious if that would make it easier to obtain orbit.
 
JamesV

JamesV

Platinum Member
Jul 9, 2011
2,002
2
76
Mission to Eve and Gilly.

Main ship has a detachable lander to land back on Kerbin with 4x mat bays, goo, and gravioli (for high/low Eve and Gilly readings); plus 3 Kerbals. One Kerbal will EVA and use their pack to land on Gilly and get soil, others for EVA readings in space.

Secondary 'dumb' ship will land on Eve, and transmit science from in-atmosphere (temp, barometer, etc), and landed (mat bay, goo, etc).

Large delivery ship with big fuel pods that detach once used.

Didn't feel like trying to dock that all together, but send it up all at once, so ...



Little wobbly (the four nuclear engines are connected via a beam connected to the launch engines with a decoupler (and lots of struts), but made it up fine. Did have to send up a refuel bot though, which connects to a clamp o tron Jr on the side of the delivery ship.

On the way...

 
JamesV

JamesV

Platinum Member
Jul 9, 2011
2,002
2
76
Engines in the front work in space; in the pic above, if you docked that pod to engines in orbit, it would work, but I've never successfully launched a rocket like that.

Here is a cool pic from my Eve mission, of a Kerbal going EVA to get a soil sample from Gilly. God that took forever... literally 40 minutes trying to get back on the ship afterwards. 2850ish science overall for the mission.

 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
Actually the early phase with the boosters worked wonderfully.
For some reason the later stages in thin air didnt go so well. They kept going off course even with loads of SAS and RCS. I dont know why.
 
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