Kerbal Space Program

[RizzoTheRat]

I've only just started back on it having been away most of the year, started a new game in 1.1.3 and plan to launch my first kerballed mission to Duna tonight, having put a couple of scansat/remotetech satellites in orbit last night

Are you playing with 1.2? They made the pre-release of 1.1 available as well as I got the impression it was effectively a big beta test with a lot of bugs to iron out.

I like the idea of including a comms network (I always use RemoteTech), autodeploying parachutes sounds like a nice but not essential feature, most of the rest sounds like bug fixes.

[Vitorio]

callmedave said:

So 1.2 is in pre-release, you can download this form the store now, but its BETA.

Is anyone still playing it?

I am, on and off from time to time

The relay stuff in the 1.2 PR looks pretty good, and the porkjet parts pack is excellent

But i just started a new career save for the heck of it, and after a few hours, and a few needless kerbal deaths (Jeb, Val, Samney and 4 tourists), i think ill stop the career stuff again. Starting out with manned stuff with probes pretty high up the tech ladder just doesnt work, there is no real way to test the survivability of re-entry for new designs without putting a pilot at risk, which inevitably leaves me with a few dead pilots and a bad feeling.

Tonight's sandbox project will be build a constellation class star-cruiser.

[RizzoTheRat]

I do always think that a bit of an issue with career, the first few launches have to be manned because I just don't have suitable probe cores. There is a mod that adds sounding rockets to get some science from tiny atmospheric rockets before heading out in to space which makes some sense but I've not tried it.

I accept every player has different ways of operating but I personally have no problem with reverting, I consider it like running a simulation before the real launch Much prefer career to Sandbox but then again I'm now pretty experienced in the early career because every time I reach the point where I'm starting to go interplanetary they release a new version and I go back and start a new career in the new version...and it looks like that's about to happen again

I can see the new comms thing is going to result in a lot of people starting new games, usually people have been able to bring their old save games over when a new version comes out but this will break any satellites that already up.

[xRIEx]

RizzoTheRat said:

I do always think that a bit of an issue with career, the first few launches have to be manned because I just don't have suitable probe cores. There is a mod that adds sounding rockets to get some science from tiny atmospheric rockets before heading out in to space which makes some sense but I've not tried it.

I accept every player has different ways of operating but I personally have no problem with reverting, I consider it like running a simulation before the real launch Much prefer career to Sandbox but then again I'm now pretty experienced in the early career because every time I reach the point where I'm starting to go interplanetary they release a new version and I go back and start a new career in the new version...and it looks like that's about to happen again

I can see the new comms thing is going to result in a lot of people starting new games, usually people have been able to bring their old save games over when a new version comes out but this will break any satellites that already up.

I was at a point in career mode where I had a mission to land on Eve, drill for 900 units of ore and land it on Gilly. I was having trouble getting a design that would even survive descent from orbit, never mind getting out of that gravity with extra mass on board! It was loaded with chutes and heatshields and I could just about do it, but that was using Hyperedit to get straight to Eve orbit, I hadn't even got as far as the launch and transfer stages. So I kind of lost interest and haven't played it in a while.

[Vitorio]

I never move a save from version to version, dont quite know why, but generally i dont have too much worth moving anyway.

Career-wise i always go straight for the hard setting, ive been playing for nearly 3 years, and on anything above hard the game just throws too much money etc.. at you, and while reverting might help you out of a bodged launch, having an accident on Duna will always hurt (well, there's quicksave), and if i go for a serious attempt at running a space program, having perma-death seems appropriate..

[Vitorio]

For those interested, i just built the Stargazer, a constellation class cruiser from Star Trek

https://imgur.com/a/dlGmg#OfyxBSy

Im really pleased with how it turned out, it cant carry any big landers (a one man duna/mun lander should fit in the shuttle bay), but itll go far with those nukes and a boatload of fuel

[RizzoTheRat]

Neat, I'm guessing it's quite slow though?

Sent Jeb, Bill and Bob to Duna last night in a single nuke powered craft with a TWR of 0.2, the burn took a while

I also remembered why I don't go for Hard setting and make full use of revert and quicksave as I got it in to Kerbin orbit and then realised I'd fitted the standard 1x6 solar panels to the lander not the retractable ones. Revert! I also discovered once I got to Duna orbit that i'd forgotten to fit an antenna on the transfer/return vehicle that's going to stay in orbit unmanned. With RemoteTech that means I can't control it within nobody on board so one of them will have to jetpack over to switch the SAS on before I can dock the lander with it.

[DIW35]

I'm still playing KSP though most of the time these days I am only travelling to Mun or messing about with aircraft/spaceplanes. Having said that, I noticed that I am close to a Duna transfer window, so I might send a mission there again, just for a bit of variety.

[callmedave]

RizzoTheRat said:

I also discovered once I got to Duna orbit that i'd forgotten to fit an antenna on the transfer/return vehicle that's going to stay in orbit unmanned. With RemoteTech that means I can't control it within nobody on board so one of them will have to jetpack over to switch the SAS on before I can dock the lander with it.

Thats just more of a challenge!

[CrutyRammers]

callmedave said:

RizzoTheRat said:

I also discovered once I got to Duna orbit that i'd forgotten to fit an antenna on the transfer/return vehicle that's going to stay in orbit unmanned. With RemoteTech that means I can't control it within nobody on board so one of them will have to jetpack over to switch the SAS on before I can dock the lander with it.

Thats just more of a challenge!

I always thought that much of the fun was in sorting out your own cock-ups. Rescuing stranded kerbals with craft which then have some vital missing piece, so you have to rescue the rescue...

[RizzoTheRat]

Yeah, I've quite often done rescue missions because I've run out of fuel, or broken something on landing. that second Mun trip when you need to get a 2 seater craft to a precision landing when you couldn't even manage to get a single seater to land in one piece is always fun My favorite rescue mission was when I failed to twig how long Minmus night is and landed a station with insufficient power storage and TAC-LS. I think the crew made it by about 20 minutes

But when I spot a stupid mistake right at the start of a mission I can't be arsed and will revert. I also tend to build by experiment, slap a craft together, see if works, if it doesn't revert and try something different, aircraft in particular will go through several iterations before I try a "real" launch.

[Tycho]

Vitorio said:

For those interested, i just built the Stargazer, a constellation class cruiser from Star Trek

https://imgur.com/a/dlGmg#OfyxBSy

Im really pleased with how it turned out, it cant carry any big landers (a one man duna/mun lander should fit in the shuttle bay), but itll go far with those nukes and a boatload of fuel

Thought I recognised the ship...

https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/commen...

Nice effort.

[Alias218]

CrutyRammers said:

callmedave said:

RizzoTheRat said:

I also discovered once I got to Duna orbit that i'd forgotten to fit an antenna on the transfer/return vehicle that's going to stay in orbit unmanned. With RemoteTech that means I can't control it within nobody on board so one of them will have to jetpack over to switch the SAS on before I can dock the lander with it.

Thats just more of a challenge!

I always thought that much of the fun was in sorting out your own cock-ups. Rescuing stranded kerbals with craft which then have some vital missing piece, so you have to rescue the rescue...

I always find the fun comes from coming up with a new ship design and tweaking it until it works. Currently have a crewed rover on Eve collecting science (I've maxed out the tech tree from this one mission - ridiculous) and have been trying and failing to come up with a return vessel to get them home. Eve is the most challenging planet I've visited so far! I haven't even trialled a return vessel on Eve yet - I've just been trying to get to an arbitrarily large Kerbin orbit with my Eve return stage and using that as a yard stick for Eve. I don't even know if it would survive Eve atmospheric entry! It's all the more difficult because I don't use any mods (vanilla ftw) and I'll be damned if I'm working out the mathematics to get this thing to work.

[Vitorio]

RizzoTheRat said:

Neat, I'm guessing it's quite slow though?

Sent Jeb, Bill and Bob to Duna last night in a single nuke powered craft with a TWR of 0.2, the burn took a while

TWR fully fueled is roughly 0.05, i havent done serious manoeuvres with it yet, but im expecting Kerbin-ejection for Duna to take a LOT of passes, pushing my Ap up a bit every time i hit Pe

DIW35 said:

I'm still playing KSP though most of the time these days I am only travelling to Mun or messing about with aircraft/spaceplanes. Having said that, I noticed that I am close to a Duna transfer window, so I might send a mission there again, just for a bit of variety.

That is most of what i do too, dick around with planes, build a cool new launcher, put something in LKO, then dont bother with it anymore. I do like visiting Minmus. A favorite mission of mine was taking a lightweight SSTO to low minmus orbit, jetpacking to the surface, back up and getting back home.

Tycho said:

Nice effort.

Gracias!

I do plan on launching it conventionally this weekend (used the new Set Orbit cheat for these shots), but the mind reels at the thought of the 7000+ ton launcher ill need to get this lump into LKO, Ill need something like 30 of the biggest engines in my first stage for acceptable TWR at lift off, and adding SRBs will be like a drop in a bucket.

[RizzoTheRat]

Vitorio said:

I do plan on launching it conventionally this weekend (used the new Set Orbit cheat for these shots), but the mind reels at the thought of the 7000+ ton launcher ill need to get this lump into LKO, Ill need something like 30 of the biggest engines in my first stage for acceptable TWR at lift off, and adding SRBs will be like a drop in a bucket.

I hope you've got a good CPU cooler

[CrutyRammers]

Alias218 said:

I always find the fun comes from coming up with a new ship design and tweaking it until it works. Currently have a crewed rover on Eve collecting science (I've maxed out the tech tree from this one mission - ridiculous) and have been trying and failing to come up with a return vessel to get them home. Eve is the most challenging planet I've visited so far! I haven't even trialled a return vessel on Eve yet - I've just been trying to get to an arbitrarily large Kerbin orbit with my Eve return stage and using that as a yard stick for Eve. I don't even know if it would survive Eve atmospheric entry! It's all the more difficult because I don't use any mods (vanilla ftw) and I'll be damned if I'm working out the mathematics to get this thing to work.

Return from Eve is well 'ard, even for something unmanned. Good luck!

[welshjon81]

Is this out on PS4 yet? I can't seem to find it in the PS store....

[Vitorio]

RizzoTheRat said:

I hope you've got a good CPU cooler

As do i :P so far the unity 5 upgrade in 1.1 seems to have really improved performance with high part counts, but some mental math tells me ill probably end up over 1000 parts, which is pushing it for sure

welshjon81 said:

Is this out on PS4 yet? I can't seem to find it in the PS store....

No, its a certification thing, Sony America has certified it, Sony Europe hasnt (yet)

Id play it on PC if you can though, it doesnt need a beefy GPU at all (in fact, if you have a moderately modern intel CPU, the integrated graphics can probably handle it), and if your CPU is less then 7 years old, itll do better then the consoles.

[Vitorio]

ash73 said:

Does it actually use the GPU? Certainly didn't in the past.

Not for physics, but the images etc.. are all just 3d rendered, but my very humble GTX650 maxes the game out at 1080p

[MartG]

Happy Halloween