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Author Topic: Kerbal Space Program  (Read 18317 times)

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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #25 on: March 13, 2017, 04:33:38 pm »
+1

Yeah, I couldn't find an ascent that got me more than halfway around Mun.

Anyway... landed a craft with about 2000 delta-v to ascend.  It's now in Kerbin orbit, waiting to rendezvous with a science vessel to get processed.  Did I mention one of the pilots did some Kerbin orbiting before going to Mun?  One of the reasons I wanted the rescue was to rescue all that science.

I didn't put an antenna on the science station.

So there's no way to get the science out of it.

Fuck it, time to start a new journey.
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #26 on: March 13, 2017, 04:57:35 pm »
0

You can send a probe with a docking port and an antenna :p
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #27 on: March 13, 2017, 05:01:36 pm »
0

Assumes a docking port on the original ship.  Or in the low end of the tech tree at all.
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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #28 on: March 13, 2017, 05:25:44 pm »
0

Assumes a docking port on the original ship.  Or in the low end of the tech tree at all.

Later in the tech tree there a docking port-like-thingy that doesn't require one to be on the other ship.
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #29 on: March 13, 2017, 05:39:28 pm »
0

That's too late in the tech tree (ARM?), but miniaturization has one docking port, for 90 science. It should be one of the earliest things to unlock exactly for this reason :p
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #30 on: March 15, 2017, 12:31:29 am »
0

1882 science from a command-lander mission to Minmus. Roughly 550 of it from surface samples. One Kerbal had to stay there, sadly, but I will go back for him (...eventually?)

The lander module was minimalist, and could do one or two hops depending on how efficiently I move around. I forgot to put RCS on it, which made docking back with the command module a huge, huge pain in the ass. Eventually one of its landing legs died from trying to land on a slope that was too slopey, but the ridiculously low gravity in Minmus allowed me to get back on my feet.

Oh yeah, I landed with a scientist, which means no SAS either. That was fun.
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #31 on: March 15, 2017, 01:14:53 pm »
0

1882 science from a command-lander mission to Minmus. Roughly 550 of it from surface samples. One Kerbal had to stay there, sadly, but I will go back for him (...eventually?)

The lander module was minimalist, and could do one or two hops depending on how efficiently I move around. I forgot to put RCS on it, which made docking back with the command module a huge, huge pain in the ass. Eventually one of its landing legs died from trying to land on a slope that was too slopey, but the ridiculously low gravity in Minmus allowed me to get back on my feet.

Oh yeah, I landed with a scientist, which means no SAS either. That was fun.


Very very nice.  How did you set up the command module/lander?
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #32 on: March 15, 2017, 02:45:42 pm »
0

The easiest would be to post screenshots, but I don't have a way to upload them. I guess at some point I should get an imgur account or something.

You want the lander to be as light as possible, because to reuse it and/or hop around you want it to take as little fuel as you can (so that the command/return module doubles as a reservoir).

So materials lab with a dock port on top, Lander Mk 1 can in the middle, smallest rockomax fuel canister with a Poodle engine and 4 basic landing legs on the bottom. Also, though less important for its operation, 2 mystery goo canisters, thermometer and barometer for science. Two (coloured) lights pointing downwards for better determination of how close to the ground I am. An antenna and RCS controls would have been a good addition, but I forgot about them until it was too late.

The command module was just a basic Command mk 1 with the second biggest Jeb's fuel canister with a Terrier engine, plus usual commodities (batteries, RCS and tanks, heat shield (you don't really need much of it), two radial parachutes, docking port, etc). I... forgot about the antennas there too. That's about three or four times the delta-v you need to get back to Kerbin, even from ultra-low Minmus orbit, so you have a lot of spare fuel for the lander.

I also had an extra stage with the Mobile Processing Lab that got all the way which I didn't end up using because I don't understand how it works yet. Next mission, I guess. Putting the whole massive thing into orbit would have been way easier without that stage, though I have to say I have much to learn about how to build efficient launchers.

The main problem with this setup is that there is space only for one person to go back to Kerbin. You can do the mission with a single Kerbal (assuming you don't forget to put RCS thrusters in the lander), but the reason you want to send a Scientist with the lander is that they can reset the experiments in between hops (materials lab being the most important). I did the whole crew report, eva report, surface sample, materials lab, mystery goo, temperature, pressure science thing in 4 biomes. You can do 2 small hops with this lander and still have enough delta v to get into orbit, but I messed up my second descent into Minmus (busted one of the lander legs; could still land, but without SAS it was way too annoying to bother; and landed on "Minmus Midlands" more than once, so I couldn't take science from there again).

Considering the extremely low gravity in Minmus, you could also land a whole rocket on it and do hops with it, but I don't trust the basic landing legs enough for that. Oh, I did increase the spring and damper strength of the legs before the mission. Not sure how much of a difference it ended up making.
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #33 on: March 15, 2017, 04:32:56 pm »
0

Did you dock it to the top of the main module stages and... just shoot it into space with all that non-aerodynamic stuff on top?
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #34 on: March 15, 2017, 04:42:14 pm »
0

Yes, but that's what procedural fairings are for! Otherwise it's just going to break. Probably. I guess you could also put struts everywhere.
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #35 on: March 15, 2017, 06:16:45 pm »
+1

Yeah, figuring out what order to research things is... interesting.  I've decided for my next mission to do something completely different:  Launching the lander and command module on separate rockets and docking them in Kerbin orbit, then leaving the lander in Minmus or Mun orbit to be reused later.  It means the command module has to be a 3-seater, but it also means the lander doesn't need anything like parachutes because it'll never return to Kerbin.
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #36 on: March 15, 2017, 06:29:58 pm »
0

If you are only missing a relatively small amount of science to unlock something important, one solution would be to go on a super-low orbit of Mun/Minmus, then do Eva reports as you change biomes. There is a different Eva report for each biome while "flying" above it, and you can rack up 100-200 science very easily this way. It's a bit gamey, but if you are missing something critical, that's one way to jumpstart your progress.

I agree that your early research choices can make the game way harder than it needs to be. Obviously you want to unlock science parts ASAP, but other than that, docking ports tends to be what new players don't value enough, IMHO, though you also need RCS thrusters to actually use them.
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scott_pilgrim

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #37 on: March 15, 2017, 07:53:30 pm »
0

The easiest would be to post screenshots, but I don't have a way to upload them. I guess at some point I should get an imgur account or something.

I don't think you need an imgur account to upload images there.  At least, I use imgur occasionally and I don't think I've ever made an account there.
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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #38 on: March 16, 2017, 12:04:15 am »
+1

^ way better than The Martian. Would read again.

Also very intrigued. Might have to stop playing Pokemon Red in my spare computer time.
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #39 on: March 16, 2017, 12:21:22 pm »
0

^ way better than The Martian. Would read again.

Also very intrigued. Might have to stop playing Pokemon Red in my spare computer time.

You did *not* just diss the Martian, did you?  Them's fightin' words.

But yes, much more interesting than Pokemon.  Except maybe Twitch Plays Pokemon, but that was a brief moment in time.
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #40 on: March 17, 2017, 02:16:44 pm »
+1

So the separate-launch mission to Minmus worked pretty well, though there was less total fuel than I might have liked, so the lander is empty and the TMI unit is... also empty, and docked to the science station, which is producing massive amounts of science now, yay!  Next, the Mun.
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #41 on: March 19, 2017, 03:09:11 am »
0

So I finally got the equipment to do an easy tourist mission around the Mun with a payoff of ~500k... and I accidentally cancel the contract while reading up the details to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. You would imagine that they would ask you to confirm before cancelling, but nope. Anything else that pays well gives ~300k instead and is way harder to pull off. Last save was from midway through my super-long Minmus mission. Ughghgh...

EDIT: I've tried editing my save file to get the contract back, and I can, but then I can't get back the tourists... Ugh.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2017, 03:41:52 am by pacovf »
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #42 on: March 21, 2017, 02:31:51 pm »
+1

My space station:



Middle smaller fuselage is the central docking station.  To the left front, newly-placed habitat module.  In the back, the science module.  A couple of tugs docked on either side.

There's also a lot of extra fuel in the tugs.  Apparently my rockets are larger than they need to be.
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #43 on: March 22, 2017, 01:57:46 am »
+1

Crashed a Mun mission by burning prograde when I should have been burning retrograde.  RIP Random Kerbals.
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #44 on: March 22, 2017, 09:25:29 am »
0

Sorry about your kerbals :(

There's also a lot of extra fuel in the tugs.  Apparently my rockets are larger than they need to be.

What do you use those tugs for? And how do you get them to orbit?

I have a bunch of stuff floating around Minmus, I will try to get screenshots next time I get the time.
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #45 on: March 22, 2017, 01:05:42 pm »
0

Sorry about your kerbals :(

There's also a lot of extra fuel in the tugs.  Apparently my rockets are larger than they need to be.

What do you use those tugs for? And how do you get them to orbit?

I have a bunch of stuff floating around Minmus, I will try to get screenshots next time I get the time.

Well, the intent of the tugs was to use them to drag things around the station as needed, or to drag things in.  For instance, one of my Minmus landings used a little too much fuel and couldn't get into a low enough Kerbin orbit.  Tug intercepts near the stranded lander's periapse, and drags it back to the space station.
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pacovf

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #46 on: March 22, 2017, 01:15:29 pm »
0

Was it an intercept on a non-circular orbit? That's really impressive!
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #47 on: March 22, 2017, 06:07:32 pm »
+1

Was it an intercept on a non-circular orbit? That's really impressive!

Eh, not really.  As long as you have the delta-v, intercepting a non-circular orbit is frankly easier than a circular one.
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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #48 on: March 24, 2017, 03:10:43 am »
+2

So Minmus:



My first lander. The lightest I could with the technology I had. Was fun to land without SAS.



My second lander. Unnecessarily heavy, but I wanted to be able to get a Scientist down to the surface while still getting SAS and not depending on probes (probes always stop working when you need them the most), and who cares about money, right?




The lander, the tug that got the lander there (with fuel to spare), and a small shuttle with place for one kerbal. Useful to carry Kerbals around Minmus orbit without requiring huge amounts of fuel (that small tanker gets 900+ m/s delta-v!)



The leftovers from the first Minmus landing mission. A kerbal is stuck there, and there's still some fuel in the tankers, so I am keeping it for the time being.



My first serious attempt at a Space station this game. It's on a circular orbit ~250,000 km above Minmus. On the top is a larger shuttle, with space for 3 Kerbals; it's terribly clunky to use, but beats having to do 3 trips with the smaller shuttle. On the bottom is the service Module, waiting to get 3 Kerbals and all that sweet sweet science back to Kerbin. I will need quite a few more trips to get everybody else back home, I've got 7 people around Minmus right now...



I also have three relay satellites around Minmus. This one is also carrying a surface scanner. It's funny how much delta-v you get from a small tanker when you don't have to carry Kerbals around.
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Kirian

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Re: Kerbal Space Program
« Reply #49 on: March 26, 2017, 05:08:50 pm »
+1

My first Dunar missions are underway.

Two requested probes to be placed, and one lander that I hope has enough fuel to get back.  Of course, transfer windows are rare, so they all went at about the same time.

My science station has been moved upward above that 250 km warp threshold, and so most of my launches aim for 250 km rather than 75 km.
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