Kerbal Space Program

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Did you want to check out this game after this post?


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Well, the formula for rocket building is rocket science. KSP is not a pure simulation, but it has many fairly realistic aspects. You could say it's only a step or two down from something like DCS in a way.

Trial and error can be minimized, but not eliminated. This is true even if you have a degree in aerospace engineering. What you need to do is keep trying until you get a feel for things. Initially, I had no idea how big rocket needed to be to achieve something. It was only through building rockets and flying them that I got a feel for it. Now I can sort of build things in my head and have them work within a couple of iterations.

If you really want to go all the way and do everything you can in a calculated manner, you need to pick up the math for it. The KSP wiki has relevant information if you haven't read the site yet:

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Main_Page

I suppose if there is a method I'd recommend, it's to go one yardstick at a time. Build a rocket to get to orbit, then take down how much delta V it needed. Next go to the Mun and measure that delta V, perhaps also record how much battery power was needed as well. Keep going until you're able to get a feel for how the rockets work. Delta V and TWR are probably the most transparent stats. Delta V is how far you can go ideally, TWR is if you can even start to go in the worst case situation. When planning a mission, figure out the delta V needed and make sure the resulting rocket has enough TWR for each phase of flight. I'd aim for 1.25-1.5+ for launch stage.

Also, I've since managed to make the Test Rocket a bit more controllable. While the original will fly to Minmus and back, it's not something you want to pilot when frustrated. The new one requires your attention but is more care free.
 

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I tried to build a number of ships to get to the mun and the first few didn't go entirely well. Every one of them blew up at some point
 
If you want to see if you can just get to the moon, there are in game cheats (ctrl+alt+F12).... which may help you....

Short-handed on Internet right now, but that should help..
 
If you want to see if you can just get to the moon, there are in game cheats (ctrl+alt+F12).... which may help you....

Short-handed on Internet right now, but that should help..
Do cheats work in the demo? Don't have the full game yet.
Yeah you're doing it right...if you're a third world country.
Well, fuel was my issue in every attempt. Ran out every time.
 
Usually what seems to get them as well, joke aside at least you're having fun with it.
Well, I built and tested 3 prototypes, Kerbal 1, 2 and 3. First two were a massive failure, blowing up. 3rd one actually got a successful landing and almost made it to space.
 
Finally started on mocking up some sort of mun base. The hardest problem for me was figuring out what sort of rover I wanted. I'm not sure if I want an entire collection of vehicles up there to do specific tasks, or one per task. Screen shots will come up later tonight, as it's all still WIP, but good after many tests.

I've watched a few YT videos on mun bases, and the rovers they use... Rather than the rovers that push the base items, mine will carry them. Once in place, I'll extend the gear, and then disconnect the docking ports to drop back down...

My only question is this.... I'm still on KSP beta 0.25... If I update to 1.0, will everything be wiped?
 
1.0 changed a lot of stuff, including part stats. Even if the save loads, your vehicles may not work properly. I started over for 1.0 with a new save. I copied my ships over, but I had to repair a bunch of them.
 
1.0 changed a lot of stuff, including part stats. Even if the save loads, your vehicles may not work properly. I started over for 1.0 with a new save. I copied my ships over, but I had to repair a bunch of them.
gah..... okay, thanks.

I guess I'll have to draw it all out on paper and rebuild them then..
 
It's stuff like this that makes me think about buying the game again.

Completely worth it. I had my own adventures with aircraft just now:



The entire session was not recorded, as you can tell from the beginning. Working on a reusable shuttle and end up discovering a strong susceptibility to spins. It turns out it was the SAS not being quick enough on yaw to counter the drag from the ailerons during roll, which lead to growing oscillations until control was lost. I also discovered the power of airbrakes, which I used for the first time here. Very helpful for controlling the aircraft.
 
Wouldn't need that many I don't think. For building ships, thumbsticks and the touch pad, for flight, L2 & R2 for thrust, X for staging, right stick to move camera, left stick to change direction, L1 for SAS, R1 for the other one etc.
 
My only concern is for how the controls would be mapped out. There's more mappings on the PC keyboard than what I can remember.

That, and I'd imagine that maneuvering/rotating parts around the VAB and the SPH would be wonky...
Double key bindings would be an option as well. For instance hold down L1 and every button will do something different than when you're not holding it down.
 
So I've been trying to make my moon base fore a while now, and have everything in order on the Kerbin side. I have my rover that can move pieces around, all of the base is completed, and power/energy storage is good to go as well.

The problem: I want to do it all in the 1.0 version of the game and not the beta version I still use. So that means I have to write down ALL of the mods I have and find out if the CSS and ISS all work in the latest version.. This is something I might take the time to do next week, as it's gonna take a while to get it all back in sync again. I miss the game a lot and haven't played it for a while.
 
Going to the Mun on a whim. Lack of preparation and planning makes for some tense moments. Epic manual suicide burn makes up for it though.

 
Going to the Mun on a whim. Lack of preparation and planning makes for some tense moments. Epic manual suicide burn makes up for it though.


Gonna have to watch this in a few minutes.... (holy crap it's 2 hours long though)

I've been thinking about this game a lot recently. I want to get back into it, but I'm waiting to install my SSD, and after that I'm going to compile all my addons I have on a list to redownload them again into whatever the latest version is.

I also have a moon base completely assembled, however it's on Kerbin, and not the Mun, so I'll have to draw everything down and re-create those (I'm going to completely uninstall KSP and reinstall it for a fresh start).

I also have a few space stations zooming around, from 100k km to 350k km, so not sure when I'll make those again. I'd like to have just one, and it be a massive one for refueling and what not to the mun. I started work on the ISS but parts wouldn't connect together too well in .25, so I started making a replica base out of KSP parts and was planning on blowing up the old one, or bringing it back in a tow vessel...


So we'll see... Sometime by the end of January I hope to have all progress finished. I hope this SSD (never owned one before) will also boost the initial game load time from 3 minutes to about a few seconds..
 
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