Kerbal Space Program

[BMW3s6]

I purchased this quite a few versions ago and its absolutely a fantastic game, Its still in development but there is also a huge modding community too

The basics of the game, Is you create and build your own space program, building rockets,space planes, satellites, moon buggys, probes etc by assembling a load of parts together which look more like scrapyard challenge in space whilst trying not to kill your kerbanoughts or get them stranded on a moon or planet.

despite the funny aspect of the game it does use real physics for space, flight, gravity etc so it is pretty hard! you can send probes to map planet surfaces, dock at space stations to refuel, send rescue missions etc...list goes on as its a sand box game.

You can get some mods that make it easier like autopilot functions to assist with your flight, you can download more parts/mods.


heres a few videos I quickly found

great video made by a player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedd...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNGvrgDFT78

prologue for a user made video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedd...

rocket fails
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GjBepBqiLU

link to main site:
https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/download.php

Link to demo:
https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/download.php

Its only $23 and is still under development but updates do happen fairly quick and they release an upcoming patch notes or new features to be added. I really recommend the game its great fun!

Edited by BMW3s6 on Monday 1st April 21:31

Edited by BMW3s6 on Monday 1st April 21:38

[Potatoes]

Great game. Thanks for sharing the videos, I love Robbaz's videos too.

[isee]

I literally just signed in to share this too!
AMAZING GAME!

spent the last two days experimenting with rocket desings.

Things I have learnt:
Plane type vehicles are frigging hard to build in a way that would be superior to a pointy rocket.

Getting into orbit uses a lot more fuel than just escaping the atmosphere.

Getting into orbit around another planet whilst not using up all your fuel is just ridicilously hard.

I look forward to experimenting with docking in orbit later.

[isee]

BTW, tried to build an ion only plane (I know these have been built successfully, though not sure if this patch or not) and there is a wierd bug that will let you roll up to a take-off speed, but once you are airborne it can't even fly straight and level.

[jmorgan]

This has been mentioned before on PH. I downloaded the demo a while ago and found it rather interesting and good but got waylaid by minecraft. I see it is now on Steam. Might be time to boldly go where no Kerbal has been before.....

[RobGT81]

I can transfer to a Mun orbit without too many issues, its landing I have problems with!

Currently building up a space station I can use to stage deep space missions from.

[isee]

RobGT81 said:

I can transfer to a Mun orbit without too many issues, its landing I have problems with!

Currently building up a space station I can use to stage deep space missions from.

I skipped mun and went for minimus, lost a landing strut on landing went into a crazy spin and basically lost all modules. The Kerball suvived though and is currently running around the surface. It didn't help that I landed on an incline of a mountan so any rescue missions would be hell. I guess I could try to land a rover at sea level and then drive to fetch the little Jabbadiah.

As for space stations, I cannot even begin to imagine precision docking etc. Also what use is it? it's not like it has free fuel magically brewing within its confines. You still need to send it up there.

P.S. anyone built a rocket that could enter earth orbit and still have at least one full stage remaining? (I have but it's very very unwieldly with the second to last stage still on it so looking for tips)

[RobGT81]

Perhaps we should set some weekly PH challenges? Start off with achieving earth orbits and slowly move out to better things?

This guys videos helped me when starting out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRoCXYOOT4M

[isee]

RobGT81 said:

Perhaps we should set some weekly PH challenges? Start off with achieving earth orbits and slowly move out to better things?

This guys videos helped me when starting out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRoCXYOOT4M

Setting up a space station would probably be my next effort

That and a space shuttle style vehicle I could bring up fuel in. Another 4 hours until I can go home, why did I not know about this game's existence during my 6month long unemployment!?!?! AAAARGH!

[isee]

Can somebody explain space planes to me?

Last night I built a refuelling shuttle piggybacking a two stage rocket and considering the offset centre of gravity it did admirably to about 13-15k where the atmosphere is too thin for canards to work and it spun out of control. no Amount of RCS could help either.
How the fk do they work?

I even did an emergency rocket jettison and tried to glide it back to earth but once back in the atmosphere it was still spinning as though I had no wings.

In other news: I managed to put the first module of my space station into an almost perfect 95km orbit AP and PA both start with a 95!

I also put a few Orange tank refuelling trucks but their orbits were always worng. even when they were almost perfectly spherical they were so far away from the launchpad, they were useless.

[BMW3s6]

The jet engines only work up to a certain altitude and then the air is to thin, if your using rockets you might not have enough thrust to weight ratio? there is a mod that indicates your twr, I saw some good tutorials on space planes but I can not find it now,

[isee]

BMW3s6 said:

The jet engines only work up to a certain altitude and then the air is to thin, if your using rockets you might not have enough thrust to weight ratio? there is a mod that indicates your twr, I saw some good tutorials on space planes but I can not find it now,

I am using rockets, as per the space shuttle of the real world. very similar design and plenty of thrust, though being assymetrical it falls over on its back once the air is too thin for control surfaces and the RCS seem to do very little to offset it. Wil post a pic once i get home. all the tutorials on the web are either for an old version of the game or with mods. It's a complete waste of time.

[RobGT81]

isee said:

I am using rockets, as per the space shuttle of the real world. very similar design and plenty of thrust, though being assymetrical it falls over on its back once the air is too thin for control surfaces and the RCS seem to do very little to offset it. Wil post a pic once i get home. all the tutorials on the web are either for an old version of the game or with mods. It's a complete waste of time.

Sounds like a good challenge then! Get a space shuttle styley vehicle into space? I will have a crack tonight if I get chance. Do you still have the SRBs when it pitches back?

[BMW3s6]

When you build the plane/rocket switch on the centre of gravity icon and make sure it's central of the rocket/plane it should stop it leaning over in flight if its central

[isee]

RobGT81 said:

Sounds like a good challenge then! Get a space shuttle styley vehicle into space? I will have a crack tonight if I get chance. Do you still have the SRBs when it pitches back?

The boosters are still attached by that point yes. Though they are not solid fuel since I like to modulate thrust to not waste too much power on the atmospheric resistance below 12k and I like to be in control of fuel usage in a predetermined pattern. Sharing fuel also allows me to use all engines so that they are not dead weight and still have full tanks of fuel when i detach a stage.

I did plomp a lot of RCS thrusters at teh nose to try to combat the pitch problem but they are just not powerful enough.

[isee]

BMW3s6 said:

When you build the plane/rocket switch on the centre of gravity icon and make sure it's central of the rocket/plane it should stop it leaning over in flight if its central

Genius! i knew I was forgetting something simple, yet fundamental! Thanks for that, will pay closer attention to the centre of gravity when I come back home.

Question, when attaching a fuel tank to a space station, does it need to have any modules attached, or can I just dock it and then jettison all the bits? i suppose i will need something left on it to be able to discard the spent tank safely after?

[RobGT81]

isee said:

Genius! i knew I was forgetting something simple, yet fundamental! Thanks for that, will pay closer attention to the centre of gravity when I come back home.

Question, when attaching a fuel tank to a space station, does it need to have any modules attached, or can I just dock it and then jettison all the bits? i suppose i will need something left on it to be able to discard the spent tank safely after?

Can you use the docking modules? I plan to use a reusable tanker that returns the command module to earth after transporting the tank to the station.

[BMW3s6]

I've not tried that yet, it's what I need to do to mine, I think you need to do the following, put a docking coupling on the space station, and put one docking coupling on the fuel tank to connect to the space station and another elsewhere on fuel tank to connect a ship to, check the docking coupling allows fuel transfer, just connect the fuel tank to a docking point on your transfer ship that way you don't need to use a decoupler, and switch off fuel transfer on your transport ship or you will use up the fuel inside tank as you lift off too

Ps, new version of mechjeb has been released too

[Carfiend]

The perfect thread for this

[isee]

BMW3s6 said:

I've not tried that yet, it's what I need to do to mine, I think you need to do the following, put a docking coupling on the space station, and put one docking coupling on the fuel tank to connect to the space station and another elsewhere on fuel tank to connect a ship to, check the docking coupling allows fuel transfer, just connect the fuel tank to a docking point on your transfer ship that way you don't need to use a decoupler, and switch off fuel transfer on your transport ship or you will use up the fuel inside tank as you lift off too

Ps, new version of mechjeb has been released too

Not done playiong vanilla yet to be messing about iwth the mods.

You do make a good point, I for some reason designed my shuttle in a way that would leave teh reuelling tank behind... but then, I don't really need to leave it behind do I? I can just tansfer the fuel and leave... I suppose I could deliver one big orange tank for storage though. typiall me though, I have yet to attempt a single docking and I am already thinking about refuleiing etc.