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Kerbal Space Program

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Friends... Thumbs... Countrymen. I return to you, bearing news of another KSP update, version 0.18. An update that brings not only the usual new parts, but also new essential gameplay mechanics and features. May I present to you... Docking! That's right. Now you can bring space station parts into orbit separately and assemble them in the peaceful and calm void of space. This enables people to build insanely large and/or mind boggling structures. The release was less than a day ago, so you can expect to see those crazy things on the internet... any second now.

The new version also adds electrical energy, the way to generate and to store it. You can now build unmanned probes, but they require you to include a way to replenish its electrical energy. This can be done with solar panels or nuclear generators. There's also ion thrusters that use a little bit of propellant, but mainly just electrical energy. The thrust is so weak that there's no point in using them in anything but the smallest of crafts.

Another notable feature are the "maneuver nodes". Basically what they do is allow you to plan burns beforehand (duration and direction of thrust) and to see the projected results of that maneuver. It is still up to you to execute that planned maneuver, so it's not an autopilot mode in any way.

You can also set other objects, be they stellar bodies or other spacecraft, as targets, and the flight path projection will show the closest pass you will make with your target in the future. This makes planning rendezvous fortunately quite a bit easier.

As the release of this version seemed imminent, I decided I needed an actual plan for what I was going to build in orbit. After a short amount of pondering, I decided I would try to recreate the now decommissioned Soviet/Russian space station MIR as a Kerbal equivalent. I was very pleased to find the information on the Wikipedia page on MIR, more notably the structure subtopic. I launched the Kir core module into a nearly circular 145 km high orbit. I then created a small craft to test out and practice docking.

Thanks to the maneuver nodes, I managed to rendezvous pretty easily. The core module still has the orbital insertion fuel tanks and engine attached, but that will eventually be removed.

QoRoh.png

After about 10-15 minutes of poking around with the docking holes (the sexual innuendo was anything but subtle) I came to the conclusion that my practice craft docking clamp was incompatible with the ones on the station. The maneuver did appear to be successful, though.

ePRRO.png

This is as far as I've gotten now. After I've clicked "Add Reply", I will go right back to KSP and try to attach the second part of Kir, the Kvant-1 astrophysics module.

Edit: Current progress: I've added the two Kvant- modules. Also docked is one of the delivery craft in case I need it for something. Delivering the Kvant-2 module was almost a disaster, and you will notice it is not neatly aligned with the space station axes. Immediately after I had docked it, the physics of the game went absolutely mental. The space station was literally doing cartwheels. Cartwheels, not barrel rolls. Only the Omnissiah kept the station intact as I was furiously trying to select the docking clamp to disconnect the delivery craft. By the time I got the station under control and switched to the disconnected craft, it was already over 50 km away (not the debris in the picture).

zz3qg.png

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Yeah I've had a lot of problems with my stations cartwheeling around when I dock two parts. You can cheat and back out to the space center and go back to your station and it cancels out all the extra movement.

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Alternatively you can intentionally build a giant pinwheel of death which goes sailing off into the Mun.

Intentional is my story and I'm sticking to it.

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Hey, it's this thread again!

 

So, some grand news. Kerbal Space Program is now available on Steam. I've edited the first post accordingly as well.

 

Also, a new version was released recently. The two biggest updates are:

1) Electric rover wheels. No more giant landing gear equipped and RCS powered rovers or landing craft!

XO8jw2A.png

 

2) Re-entry effects. I must emphasize that only the visual effects were added to the game at this point. I tried re-entering a munar space craft at about 6.7 km/s, and there were no negative consequences. Only pretty flames. The first thing I did after updating was de-orbiting my space station. Pretty!

I3jZgHO.png

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Is there a way to get a Steam key if you already own it?

Yes, but not right away. Official FAQ:

 

Q: If I've already bought the game on the KSPStore, can I switch over to Steam?

A: The answer to that is Yes, but not right now. We are going to set up a system on our store where you'll be able to get a Steam key for KSP provided you already have purchased the game. However, we are still working on the exact details of this feature, so it'll likely be a while until that's set up. We'll of course let you know when that becomes available.

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So, we meet again! Since KSP was mentioned in Episode 102, I thought that just might be the needed catalyst to rocket (heh) this game into fame and popularity among the community.

 

Just to make this post more than shameless tooting of my own horn, here are some of my creations. I finally finished (or rather, concluded) my Space Station Kir project. The idea was to re-create the Soviet/Russian space station Mir as closely as possible in KSP. That turned out to be not very close, since there isn't a huge variety of structural parts that would allow for similar designs as the real station. There would probably be mods that would fix this problem, but I've been playing the vanilla version. Still, I tried to imitate the shapes when possible, and I had solar panels in corresponding places.

 

As the station grew bigger, I ran into severe computer performance issues. I was about to run out of blood, sweat and tears when I finally managed to dock the final module, the Priroda Earth sensing module.

 

Some of the better images I managed to take. I've retracted some of the solar panels to give a better view.

Y54NYF9.png

j9ustuI.png

 

Two images of space station Mir from Wikipedia for comparison:

493px-Mir_Space_Station_viewed_from_Ende

 

This image has two spacecraft docked to the station that I just couldn't put there, the "Progress-M" and "Soyuz-TM". I was running about 1-2 FPS at the end. Also, this image is from the same angle as the topmost image of Kir up there.

436px-Mir_diagram.svg.png

 

Another project I didn't manage to finish due to computer issues was a big colony ship (I need to build less ambitious spaceships). One idea, that worked at least to an extent, was to have habitation modules I could drop from orbit onto planets with an atmosphere. I would then also land a lander carrying a hab-module transport vehicle. The theory was sound and the prototype worked.

There's a docking port on the bottom of the hab-module.

Kst4D6Y.png

 

Once the vehicle is in place so that the docking ports are aligned, retracting the lander legs lowers the ports together and they are secured together. It was surprisingly stable, and you really had to try to flip the thing over. Then again, I was trying it on flat land, so in practice it would be a bit more difficult and dangerous.

wssnr5a.png

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I love this game, but the actual piloting parts of it never really felt right. I got as far as getting a rocket into orbit, which then promptly flew out of orbit and into the distance.

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I love this game, but the actual piloting parts of it never really felt right. I got as far as getting a rocket into orbit, which then promptly flew out of orbit and into the distance.

Well, atmospheric flight is far from perfect, mostly because the aerodynamic modelling is very rudimentary. There is a mod for that, however: http://kerbalspaceport.com/ferram-aerospace-research/

As for the piloting IN SPACE!!11!1... well, that's quite literally as "right" as it's ever gonna get. When there's no atmosphere to drag your wings around in, it's all just Newtonian physics. A simple question of thrusting in the right direction, for the right amount of time.

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Well, atmospheric flight is far from perfect, mostly because the aerodynamic modelling is very rudimentary. There is a mod for that, however: http://kerbalspaceport.com/ferram-aerospace-research/

As for the piloting IN SPACE!!11!1... well, that's quite literally as "right" as it's ever gonna get. When there's no atmosphere to drag your wings around in, it's all just Newtonian physics. A simple question of thrusting in the right direction, for the right amount of time.

 

Yeah, when I looked at the calculations for the thrust required to intercept the moon, my eyes glazed over, and I'm a math and physics minor. At the same time, the mods that my friends use seem to make the whole thing too easy. It's been a while since I played though, maybe some of those functions have made it back into the game.

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Yeah, when I looked at the calculations for the thrust required to intercept the moon, my eyes glazed over, and I'm a math and physics minor. At the same time, the mods that my friends use seem to make the whole thing too easy. It's been a while since I played though, maybe some of those functions have made it back into the game.

Now with the improved flight path projections in the map mode, as well as the maneuver nodes, there's hardly any need for math and calculations. Only things you need to do to reach the Mun are (although the first step is a bit challenging at first):

#1 Get into orbit (circular orbit makes it easier (I think there's a tutorial for circularizing/changing orbit))

#2 Make a maneuver node that puts your apoapsis (Ap) at the altitude of the Mun

#3 Move the node (by click-dragging) along your orbital path until you see a projected encounter with the Mun

#4 Execute maneuver

 

You can reach other planets with the same method, although first you need to escape from Kerbin's sphere of influence into solar orbit. Although the other planets have more or less eccentric orbits and might orbit in a slightly different plane... But I digress. It's not rocket scie quantum physics.

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You can reach other planets with the same method, although first you need to escape from Kerbin's sphere of influence into solar orbit. Although the other planets have more or less eccentric orbits and might orbit in a slightly different plane... But I digress. It's not rocket scie quantum physics.

As in real life, you can reach other planets directly from Kerbal via a Hohman Transfer Orbit, without the need of entering an orbit around the Sun first. However, for that you need to know each planet's phase angle, and wait for the appropriate launch window.

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Now with the improved flight path projections in the map mode, as well as the maneuver nodes, there's hardly any need for math and calculations. Only things you need to do to reach the Mun are (although the first step is a bit challenging at first):

#1 Get into orbit (circular orbit makes it easier (I think there's a tutorial for circularizing/changing orbit))

#2 Make a maneuver node that puts your apoapsis (Ap) at the altitude of the Mun

#3 Move the node (by click-dragging) along your orbital path until you see a projected encounter with the Mun

#4 Execute maneuver

 

You can reach other planets with the same method, although first you need to escape from Kerbin's sphere of influence into solar orbit. Although the other planets have more or less eccentric orbits and might orbit in a slightly different plane... But I digress. It's not rocket scie quantum physics.

 

That sounds a whole lot easier. There weren't manuver nodes when I played, I think the only automatic feature was the stabalizer that kept your engine more or less pointed at the ground.

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Ahah! Figuring out how to get to the Mun, and now I see the map mode. I was wondering how much they did for orbit and the Mun moving around.

 

I'm still trying to experiment to see how large a ship I can get into orbit is. Orbit was easy enough once I learned the controls and found the solid rocket boosters (hoorasy ISP versus drag, rocket science is fun to learn, and this game has made it moreso!) But so far my initial attempts at "fuck it, put ALL the booster on!" has been a miserable failure of exploding on launch. Guess I'll actually have to be careful ^_^

 

I've also got to check out air breathing engines and etc. I've only been using solid fuel boosters and what I assume is liquid oxygen/hydrogen mains. Maybe I can get a better disposable initial mass boost from something like a throw away jet engine.

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Let's just say that using one of the triple couplers, then having each of those end in a triple coupler as well, is a fun way to get somewhere* fast

 

*as long as somewhere is a big crater

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Hilariously, the demo on Steam does not include batteries among the available parts, meaning that liquid fuel engines are useless. On my fourth try after realizing this, I somehow managed to get in a stable Kerbin orbit with twenty or so solid boosters, but that's where poor Jebediah will be living out his days.

 

 

EDIT: Or I just didn't know what the "throttle up" button really is. Man, liquid fuel is easy mode.

 

I actually don't know what to say about the Kerbal Space Program demo. It doesn't seem to be representative of the game I saw on the stream, if only because they give you so few parts, some of which don't even work right. I can't imagine it selling the game to anybody alone.

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[...]

I actually don't know what to say about the Kerbal Space Program demo. It doesn't seem to be representative of the game I saw on the stream, if only because they give you so few parts, some of which don't even work right. I can't imagine it selling the game to anybody alone.

Maybe we have different expectations then. I bought the game based on the demo (way back), and I thought I got exactly what the demo seemed to promise. That is, launching things into space and Gravity Simulator 2012.

 

Also, which parts are you talking about not working?

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Maybe we have different expectations then. I bought the game based on the demo (way back), and I thought I got exactly what the demo seemed to promise. That is, launching things into space and Gravity Simulator 2012.

 

Also, which parts are you talking about not working?

 

A lot of the things I saw the Thumbs do in the livestream didn't work in the demo, like the daisy-chained fuel tanks and the struts between sections. Also, the node mapping was dodgy, with near-perfect burns never quite getting the projected results. It basically felt like playing an incomplete, broken version of the game I just saw streamed, which accounts for my expectations.

 

I mean, I think I'm still going to get it, probably even before the end of April. But that's because I'm choosing to privilege the livestream over the demo.

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A lot of the things I saw the Thumbs do in the livestream didn't work in the demo, like the daisy-chained fuel tanks and the struts between sections. Also, the node mapping was dodgy, with near-perfect burns never quite getting the projected results. It basically felt like playing an incomplete, broken version of the game I just saw streamed, which accounts for my expectations.

 

I mean, I think I'm still going to get it, probably even before the end of April. But that's because I'm choosing to privilege the livestream over the demo.

 

The demo on the website is just a version from over a year ago. Sounds like it's the same on Steam.

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I got a chance to play some more of this while watching the archived Idle Thumbs stream. It's gotten about 50 times easier to play, but it's still pretty vauge about how to use the map to create a useful manuver. There are like 6 different things I can drag on and I'm not sure how any of them are different. Any tips?

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I got a chance to play some more of this while watching the archived Idle Thumbs stream. It's gotten about 50 times easier to play, but it's still pretty vauge about how to use the map to create a useful manuver. There are like 6 different things I can drag on and I'm not sure how any of them are different. Any tips?

 

This might be helpful: http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Maneuver_node

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