Patch .23 is on the way which includes a new science lab module which is apparently the biggest module so far. In other news, made a return trip from Minmus with a tasty 600 and something science which has unlocked a few more things for me which means I've unlocked enough to start making a viable large rocket. My small rocket so so good though, I can't get the large rocket to the same standard
Definitely. There's a least a few people who've learnt calculus and programming because of the game. Or you can just use mechjeb.
If things like the calculations on these pages of their Wiki interest you, then yes! http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Cheat_Sheet http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Geosynchronous_Orbit_(Math) http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:Advanced_Rocket_Design Alternatively if you don't want to spend that much, hold off until around Christmas time as it'll likely be in the sales somewhere. However, I'd say it'll sell worth the full price with all of the community content for the sandbox mode available and the progressive development of new features.
Finally landed on the mun today. It had to be 4 stage, that was the only way I could do it with a bit of fuel to spare, but I'm still a long way off being able to get back to Kerbin, I always run out of fuel. Is everyone else playing in Sandbox mode? I do wonder whether the career mode like I am playing is just a bit too tough.
I'm playing Career, but I've been playing this for a while. I managed to do a return mission to/from the surface of Duna without nukes a couple of days ago, just used LV-909's for my transfer engines. I probably could have landed on Ike while I was there too, but that probably would have been pushing the fuel a bit.
God KSP is addicting. For the first couple hours, I was just trying to build a hulk that can make it out of the atmosphere. Days later, I am making space stations and refueling depots for long range missions. Great stuff.
My last report indicated that I had left Jebediah stranded on the Mün with no means of escape, and that Bill stole the limelight as he successfully landed on Minmus. Unfortunately, through a sequence of events far beyond the control of the collective, the Space Kraken was unleashed as an ill-timed quickload loaded an ancient and equally ill-timed quicksave. Suddenly Jeb was no longer stranded, Bill could no longer claim reverence for being the first Kerbal on Minmus, and a string of spectacularly unsuccessful rescue missions had not been flown (nor exploded on the launchpad - the image below is for illustration only). Thus, the Kerbal collective were forced to roll up their sleeves yet again, and to once more take that bold step into the proverbial beyond. The engineers designed a new launch platform based on a heavily modified older heavy-lift ascension stage. "Heavily modified" in this case means "having added a bunch more boosters and a metric s**tload of struts" to the basic design. A tri-coupled transfer stage was added, and the upper two stages consisted of a small maneuvering stage coupled to the final landing/return stage. This time the launch was uneventful and silky smooth, though the lack of recovery mechanisms for the ascension stage meant that the accountants had blood in their stool for weeks after the launch. Why so serious Kerford? You're on a heroic mission for the collective! Unfortunately this was a night launch, so the images does not fully convey the splendour and magnitude of the event. Gravity turn! Kerford is feeling those G-forces now... And we have a stable orbit. Circularisation demanded a bit more fuel than estimated, but we're in good shape. Time for the transfer burn towards Minmus. Unfortunately the mission cameras had been mounted to the transfer stage, so they were lost as the transfer stage was decoupled. Luckily Kerford set up remote surface cameras after touching down. So here he is; the latest hero to the collective, thoughtfully contemplating the rolling hills of Minmus. Whilst Kerford did break protocol and landed on a slope, the landing itself was textbook. Smile to the admiring masses Kerford, you've earned their reverence. After grabbing all the science it was time to return home. Boosting off the surface of Minmus took little effort, and circularising an orbit around Minmus equally so. Still plenty of fuel left to set a direct intercept course towards Kerbin. Thus, after two days of falling Down Kerbin's gravity well, Kerford landed softly in the Kerbin plains. This netted 496 juicy science for the Kerbal collective, and now it is time to conquer the Mün!
Heroic post is heroic! Why do you say you're only just conquering the mun? Isn't the mun the easiest extra terrestrial entity to get to?
It certainly should be, but in my experience it is not. It does have a deeper gravity well compared to Minmus, and I just can't seem to be able to land on the Mün With enough fuel left over for the return trip. The result is that I've got a Kerbal (forgot his name, but he is expendable) in stable Münar orbit with no means of returning to Kerbin. The good part is that he will never run out of Power, but the bad part is that his ship is full of delicious science. I shall have to find a way to get the ship back (and the Kerbal if possible).
Try using mechjeb. Having information on each stages deltaV and acceleration is invaluable in rocket building. If your really stuck you can enter cheat mode with it and get it to do all your manoeuvres as well.
Whats the learning curve like on this game chaps? I love the concept but can see it being complex. Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
It's quite steep. But I kept plugging for 1 - 2 hours and watched a few tutorials, and now it's very enjoyable. I think because it's unlike any other game in that it does have some pretty accurate physics to deal with and keep in consideration at all times.
Complex is definitely the right word to use when looking at Kerbal, the game itself doesn't do any hand-holding (you get some template rockets in the sandbox mode but that's about it) while in-game so you're more or less left to experimenting and learning how to successfully control a rocket and stage a full mission to explore another planet. The wiki has some great information for learning the basics and there are tons of very well done videos that give a visual guide on how to get started and do some more complicated actions. I will say that it is probably one of the most addictive games currently out there. If you pick up a copy and find yourself getting into it, you'll quickly lose track of time. Definitely try out the demo. If you're on the fence after that then it would be good to sit back until the Steam Christmas sales all kick in as you can be sure it'll be at least 50-60% off in those.
2,600 science across two probe missions. I got out of kerbals gravity well with a single stage leaving 10,000dV for flying around Kerbal. Now I've got the ion rocket that could be 20,000dV however an 11 hour burn time to achieve that...
The last report spoke of a single Kerbal stuck in Münar orbit, and today the Kerbal Collective has finally released a full Public report from the mission. Originally planned as a Münar Return mission the Kerbal Mission Control encountered problems with the ascension stage. Apparently some fuel lines had been installed the wrong way around, and thus the spacecraft ended up hauling along eight inactive boosters through the final stretch to orbit. This obviously caused the spacecraft to burn more fuel than planned, and the eventual ramifications proved to be a distinct lack of fuel for the return trip. Here we see the Münshot 6 receiving final prep-work in the VAB before being rolled out onto the launchpad. This time the engineers did include retrieval mechanisms (i.e parachutes) on the ascension stage, so in theory at least the entire stage should be salvageable and the accountants should be able to relax their sphincters a bit. The next image shows Münshot 6 roughly half a minute into the mission, and immediately another problem becomes apparent. While the spacecraft has got RCS-thrusters installed, there is no monopropellant tank on the ship. This obviously makes the spacecraft harder to Control, but also means that Kerford is hauling along dead weight. Still, Kerbal Mission Control did not decide to abort the mission (probably because of a distinct lack of abort features), and thus Kerford was given "go" for the shot to the Mün. Here we go, eight engines are dead but we are burning the last eleven - getting ready for staging. Kerford is on his way towards the Mün, and the fuel problem is now apparent. Somehow this did not deter Mission Control, and Kerford was given the "go ahead" for landing. After taking in the view and collecting all the science (which he could not transmit back to Kerbin because someone forgot to install the uplink antennas), Kerford left the surface and this is where he is today. He's got plenty of power and snacks in that pod, so he should be good until someone can figure out how to retrieve him. OK, so, as we concluded in Our previous report, the Mün remains unconquered, and it was about time that we - the proud Kerbal Collective - did something about that. Here we have the proud ship "Münshot 7" ascending to the heavens. The fuel issue for the Ascension stage has been sorted, but again the engineers forgot to install the monopropellant tanks for the RCS-thrusters. The spacecraft flew well, but started to develop a slight wobble as the ship climbed higher out of Kerbin's gravity well. Still, it seemed like we were in good shape until this happened. It turned out that the stage decoupler linking the ascension stage to the transfer stage could not cope With the forces put on it by the ascension stage and broke. OK, scratch "Münshot 7" onto "Münshot 8", and this time the engineers did remember to install a fueltank for the RCS-thrusters: Yet again something terrible happened. We might need more struts... Then came "Münshot 9", a refined design using SRBs to assist the ascension stage. After reaching orbit and cirularising, the mission looked good. We had monopropellant, plenty of fuel and Power and Loley was fully on top of the mission (though the engineers stil hadn't installed transmission equipment). After reaching Münar orbit something started to look a little amiss, but Loley couldn't quite figure out what was wrong. The ship "felt imbalanced", but it was subtle so Mission Control decided to go ahead with the landing. Just as Loley started his approach he was ordered to do an EVA-inspection of the ship as the imbalance had started to worsen, and that's when the problem became obvious. Loley ended up as an evenly distributed part of the Münar surface. Next came "Münshot 9 v2" which had finally had transmission gear installed. The engineers decided it was time to redesign the entire ascension stage from scratch, and that's when "Münshot X" was born. In order to appease the accountants and the increasingly worried Kerbal Public, the old numeral naming scheme was abandoned in favour of a letter based numeric system. The hope was that this would sufficiently confuse onlookers as to how many disasters had been flown. Adam Kerman (engineer): "But sir! People can still count!" Kurt Kerman (chief, Mission Control): "Not in letters, people don't count in letters Adam!" Launching the "Münshot X" was uneventful, and the mission itself was [REDACTED]. Next came the "Münshot XI" after having fixed the fuel issues with the landing/return stage. Kurt Kerman: "XI means eleven Adam, it's brilliant! No-one suspects anything." Münshot XI proceeded according to plan, but when [REDACTED] Following the XI came the XII, and this time the engineers had gone over the entire spacecraft from top to bottom installing many new struts whilst also fully reworking the ascension stage. And we have orbit ... finally. The spacecraft immediately got the go for burning towards the Mün, and we were in very good shape after the burn: Luke Kerman: "Just you wait Mün, I am coming for you!" And this is where we find Luke today, in stable orbit around the Mün. Tune in next time as we once again attempt to land and return home. Luke Kerman (as he contemplates the pocked surface of the Mün below): "We meet again, old friend."
