Topic: Kerbal Space Program is cool again

squeegee !first/o5zA started this discussion 13 years ago #32,460

I guess it got an update a couple of months ago. It's still alpha, but career mode is available now.
So you start out with very limited starter equipment and the high tech stuff is locked out. You can perform EVA's, make crew reports, and do science experiments to gain Science points you use to unlock the tech tree.
There are also a few new items, such as experiments (that function) and new rocket parts.
You can also choose Kerbals from the Astronaut training center to send up, and it looks like in another update you'll have to train Kerbals and i guess they'll have XP points or something and possibly even specializations or skills maybe.

so it's pretty fun, go up and do some EVA's, do some science, unlock some shit, land on the Mun, take soil samples, unlock some more science. it's fun. cooler than just sandbox mode.

Also parts have a cost associated with them, and right now you get unlimited spending, but it looks like there'll be a budget in the future and probably objectives. Objectives will earn you fame and money for your program (in an eventual update i guess) which imposes another limit to the early game (which is cool).

Experiments have diminishing returns also, so you can't just do EVA's forever. You'll eventually have to land on the Mun then on planets to advance your science level and unlock the whole tech tree. So i still recommend the MechJeb mod (flight computer) and Kerbal Flight Engineer to help figure your Delta V right. I would imagine that MechJeb will make it into the game as a feature (or something approximating it) because it's really, really necessary.

r04r !GETFUCKED joined in and replied with this 13 years ago, 4 hours later[^] [v] #453,379

Oh cool! I should play it again, then I got kind of bored since I couldn't get to and back planets and all my creations tended to explode. MechJeb is cool, but it does kinda take the fun out of it.

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) replied with this 13 years ago, 4 hours later, 8 hours after the original post[^] [v] #453,404

@previous (r04r !GETFUCKED)
The only reason i like mechjeb is because the game lacks vital flight instruments. How can we be expected to kill relative velocity with relation to a target body without any indication of what our relative velocity is? A retrograde marker on the nav ball is nice, but that only works with targets you can orbit. It's hard as fuck to rendezvous when you can't kill velocity, which is a requirement when doing approaches. like, you have to do it several times. instead of proper instrumentation they added a purple marker on the nav ball to indicate an ascent path when launching. that's helpful, i guess, but really with launches all you really need to do is know what heading to roll too to get to the inclination you want, and what altitude to begin the gravity roll. the hardest part of ascent, imo, is designing a vehicle that'll survive it. once you get into orbit everything is gravy, all you gotta worry about is delta V. and plotting courses. that's fun though. and mechjeb is shit at hohmann transfers.
oh, and redezvous are probably still hard as fuck without knowing relative velocity, but whatev. mechjeb displays that.

best things about mechjeb: timing launches to specific launch windows (say to intercept a space station), displaying relative velocity for manual approaches and when landing.

drawbacks: the temptation to automate all launches is high. I resisted using it to automate for awhile. But then when you might have to fly 15 iterations of a vehicle while testing before finally making it into orbit, it's nice to have mechjeb to rule out pilot error when you lose control. I've botched plenty of test launches and then had to reset and start the clock again. so i've gotten over the whole "it's fun to fly rockets by hand" thing. it is, but when it's not, it's not. Anyway i think the real fun comes after the launch.

if you haven't looked at the Scott Manley Kerbal series it comes highly recommended. dude is apparently an astrophysicist or an astronomer or something, and so he does crazy shit like a lunar landing with only the items you start with in career mode. earned 600 or 800 something Science from doing EVA's and soil samples on the mun. he unlocked a good 1/4 of the tech tree. in his latest videos about the last update he gives good career mode tips. Like until you unlock batteries and solar panels, only transmit data back to mission control when you're running the engines or you'll drain the capsules power. and place command pods on top of your booster stages to give you additional torque until you unlock SAS. 3 command pods gives you almost as much torque as an SAS, but you lose torque as you drop boosters. be sure to not man your booster stage command capsules with kerbels, as they will die. Also he does some excellent instructionals on everything from "advanced rocketry" to orbital maneuvering, rendezvous, landing and doing return trajectories.

(Edited 2 minutes later.)

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) double-posted this 13 years ago, 6 hours later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #453,463

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) triple-posted this 13 years ago, 1 minute later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #453,464

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) quadruple-posted this 13 years ago, 33 seconds later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #453,465

Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 13 years ago, 17 minutes later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #453,466

@previous (squeegee !first/o5zA)
Cool.

Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 13 years ago, 2 minutes later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #453,468

@453,465 (squeegee !first/o5zA)
> Plan for fighting the reptilians:
> Step 1: Minichan conquers another planet!
Sweet. Eat it you reptilian dogs!

r04r !GETFUCKED replied with this 13 years ago, 4 hours later, 19 hours after the original post[^] [v] #453,485

@453,404 (squeegee !first/o5zA)
Oh yeah, I agree with you. It would be great if there were a bit more instruments which showed relative speeds and all that shit. I managed to dock once or twice without any help of mechjeb, but to get there I must've crashed a dozen satellites right into each other and missed even more often. I'll take a look at that Scott Manley series when I have some time, thanks.

Do kerbals die when left alone on a planet/in space yet?

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) replied with this 13 years ago, 2 days later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,609

gettin' some Science

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) double-posted this 13 years ago, 5 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,610

probably not cheese then, scientists say

Anonymous D replied with this 13 years ago, 4 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,611

@previous (squeegee !first/o5zA)
Meth, perhaps.

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) replied with this 13 years ago, 38 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,613

@previous (D)
probably not, it only gave me 160 Science for that mission. It used to give 600. diminishing returns i guess. i've visited all the moons. i could try for a planet.

r04r !GETFUCKED replied with this 13 years ago, 1 hour later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,616

@previous (squeegee !first/o5zA)
Yep, diminishing returns. Every time you do a certain observation in a certain biome it becomes worth less.

Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 13 years ago, 5 hours later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,685

how difficult is it to get out of orbit on the demo version cause it just doesn't, even via using stuff learned from the wiki, the most I can gather is a really eliptic orbit

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) replied with this 13 years ago, 17 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,694

@previous (E)
heading to duna (mars)

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) double-posted this 13 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,696

this everything is going great

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) triple-posted this 13 years ago, 58 seconds later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,697

there's duna. you can see the moon Ike off the left side

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) quadruple-posted this 13 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,698

orbital insertion or what ever it's called

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) quintuple-posted this 13 years ago, 3 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,700

sweet. unfortunately this was supposed to just be a prototype run, but it made it. no science equipment though. no antenna even. i can't transmit for Science.
bollocks. wonder if i can land. i wonder if i have the delta V to get back? i'm going to land.

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) sextuple-posted this 13 years ago, 28 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,704

programming the flight computer. het r04r, turns out mechjeb does a great job at hohmann transfers, i was just using it wrong.
but you still have to input each step. it just steers and throttles.

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) septuple-posted this 13 years ago, 46 seconds later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,705

ok, here we go. hopefully we can land on one engine.

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) octuple-posted this 13 years ago, 2 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,706

well, fuck it all, i forgot to turn the retrograde vector and so i'm coming in way too hot
i had to use a parachute. there was only the one... that one was for getting home...

edit: my kerbals appeared particularly distressed through this period.
also: it's jeb, bill, and bob. my three best astronauts.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) nonuple-posted this 13 years ago, 3 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,707

aw, fucking hell, i couldn't slow down on one engine, the weight of the ship was just too much.
i had to...
i had to separate the command capsule from the lander.

it was obliterated on impact.

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) decuple-posted this 13 years ago, 59 seconds later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,708

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) undecuple-posted this 13 years ago, 59 seconds later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,709

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) duodecuple-posted this 13 years ago, 5 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,710

shit. i guess i'll have to rescue them.

beckyderp !8ElfFaoFao joined in and replied with this 13 years ago, 50 seconds later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,711

@453,709 (squeegee !first/o5zA)
So they will just... die there?

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) replied with this 13 years ago, 5 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,712

@previous (beckyderp !8ElfFaoFao)
unless i rescue them, yes. if i terminate the mission they will be dead forever.
if i don't they can hold on, maybe through cannibalism, while a rescue ship travels the 200 day voyage

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) double-posted this 13 years ago, 13 hours later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,789

@453,685 (E)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ2yqga7IrI
you're probably not rolling soon enough or steep enough,
or you're not cutting the engines when your apoapsis reaches 100km. then coast to apoapsis and then do a prograde burn to bring your periapsis up to 100km as well. you should shoot for 100km parking orbit on a heading of 60 degrees for an efficient, zero inclination orbit.
if you try to roll to another heading, say 180, then you're fighting the planets rotation and that can send you elliptical.
also if you have to burn for a long time after apoapsis to bring your periapsis up, when it comes up, your apoapsis will be moved way, way far away. so if you are underpowered or need to burn for a long time you might need to start circularization burns before you actually reach the maneuver node.

r04r !GETFUCKED replied with this 13 years ago, 55 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,796

@previous (squeegee !first/o5zA)
60 degrees being the degrees on the navbar? I just knew it was west (... or east?) but no clue what direction that was on the navball haha.

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) replied with this 13 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,797

alright, here's the plan, in order to do a rescue mission to Duna, i'll need to build a slightly larger ship to bring them back.
there's a storage module that will work nicely to house them, but it's going to cost more Science.
the larger ship will also need more fuel, since the original duna lander prototype didn't actually work.

maybe a ship with a detachable lander... those are fun

r04r !GETFUCKED replied with this 13 years ago, 2 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,798

@previous (squeegee !first/o5zA)
Ooh, are you planning to bring the lander back up to the ship?

(Edited 7 seconds later.)

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) replied with this 13 years ago, 4 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,800

@453,796 (r04r !GETFUCKED)
yeah, 60 on the navball is east. the red line is north, or 90 i think.
you can get into orbit going any which way, but it wastes a ton of gas.
if you want a polar orbit launch up to a lower inclination and then raise your inclination up to 90 from orbit. something like that.
useful for satellites, which i don't run a bunch of. i with there was a mapping or surface imaging module. that would be kinda cool.
not sure satellites are of much use atm. it would be cool to use satellites to image the surface and detect landing zones or high science soil samples.

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) double-posted this 13 years ago, 54 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,801

@453,798 (r04r !GETFUCKED)
no docking clamp on that lander, so it's stranded. this mission is all about the heros

oh, and the detachable lander will hopefully fly back up to the mothership with rescued kerbals

(Edited 1 minute later.)

r04r !GETFUCKED replied with this 13 years ago, 2 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,802

@previous (squeegee !first/o5zA)
Ya I meant the detachable lander. Does dead kerbals penalize you in career mode, anyway? I started a career mode game the other night and it's pretty fun, only got into orbit so far. Will have to try for the mun again. I like how mechjeb inserted itself in the tech tree so you don't start with it.

r04r !GETFUCKED double-posted this 13 years ago, 39 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,803

@453,801 (squeegee !first/o5zA)
All my rescue missions in past games only resulted in dead rescuers or increasing the amount of stranded kerbals, btw :(

squeegee joined in and replied with this 13 years ago, 2 hours later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,813

@453,802 (r04r !GETFUCKED)
Kerbals earn an orange jumpsuit after a couple of missions I think, so when they die you have to start over with kerbals in white jump suits. I think that's the only penalty right now. I don't think kerbals have any skills to die with at the moment. Rescue will be more important in another update, so this is all academic anyways.

squeegee double-posted this 13 years ago, 39 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,818

@453,802 (r04r !GETFUCKED)
Oh yeah, you can fix that by editing a config file and changing the tech from control to start and you'll have mechjeb straight away ;)

Anonymous H joined in and replied with this 13 years ago, 48 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,831

@previous (squeegee)
shut up nerd

squeegee !first/o5zA (OP) replied with this 13 years ago, 7 hours later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #453,869

@previous (H)
oh yeah, i meant to add that i made a mistake. on the Navball the red line is north, but north is 0 degrees. east is 90 degrees (not 60)
so when i said to launch to 60 degrees i was mistaken, the heading you want is 90.
launching to 60 degrees would just be crazy.