^^yeah some... i haven't tried any sort of aircraft carrier though... planes aren't exactly my strong suit (i've never been able to get the hang of them)

^yeah that's MechJeb. It automates some control functions... i use it some. I like it for the detailed info it can give you like your ACTUAL elevation from the surface, your horizontal motion, etc.

it's also good for controlling unmanned craft.

[Edited on March 13, 2013 at 6:34 AM. Reason : ]

3/13/2013 6:34:02 AM

0.19 came out. I haven't gotten it downloaded yet because of high demand... new features include reentry heat effects (no actual damage yet) plus some new parts like stock rover wheels.

3/17/2013 11:28:38 AM

ok... KSP 0.19 came out. I am starting over!

Here is my first real mission... scouting kethane and generating topographic maps of the various bodies. With a single probe, i've mapped Kerbin, Mun, and am currently mapping Minmus. Hopefully there is enough fuel to get me out to Duna. (if not, i'll send a second probe



Also, i just realized that the game will take screenshots for you by hitting F1!

3/23/2013 4:39:09 PM

same probe over Duna's ice cap

Pretty good mileage for one probe... Kerbin, Mun, Minmus, and Duna, all in polar orbits!

3/24/2013 2:22:30 AM

i'd like to sit behind Smath in his office / computer room for like 8 hours and watch a mission or two

3/24/2013 2:27:07 AM

it's a lot of explosions and cussing usually. TWW gets the highlights.

3/24/2013 10:47:20 AM

Here is what my probe looked like in the VAB. Note the triple orange tank configuration for the lower stage... This configuration is based off of the Delta IV Heavy rocket and I've had the most success building stable, mid-heavy lift rockets with this design. Sometimes I use the same configuration except with 3 sets of 2 orange tanks each. The main difference between this config and the real thing is crossfeed... my middle tank drains the outer tanks and once the outer tanks drop off, the middle tank is still full, which I use as my "second stage"

sometimes I add solids to the outer tanks if i need an extra kick in the pants.

3/24/2013 10:57:37 AM

Starting from scratch, part 2.

I decided to design a munar rover with a base station on the surface of Mun. The newest version of the game has stock wheels, so everything I have made is all stock, except for mechjeb, kethane, and the topographic map.

My first design, launched separately on 2 rockets, and docked. The lander module and the return capsule/service module. Note the rover attached to the bottom. I designed it to be able to land, and then deploy the rover underneath, with just enough clearance.


However the damn thing malfunctioned. I used a clampotron jr to attach it, and it worked fine when I tested it on Kerbal, but wouldn't undock so I abandoned it there and returned the crew... Kept the capsule in orbit, and launched a new and improved version of the lander/rover (now with TWO rovers!)



Docked with original command module...


Orbiting the Mun, with the service module ditched to save fuel.


Landed with rovers dropped into place... I had just a little bit of fuel left and had to hover low enough to decouple the rovers... wasn't as challenging as i thought it would be, but i was very concerned on fuel.


Designed the rover to dock with the lander when not in use. one can also move underneath and dock if it needed to for whatever reason


The rovers are "open air" as I wanted a more "Apollo" feel to them. Jeb grabs onto a ladder in the rover and holds on as I drive the rover via Mechjeb. Notice the 3 legs... the one in the back is a "parking brake" for when it's parked, and the two on the side close to hold in Jeb and crew in case they get shaken around while driving.



and off he goes...


[Edited on March 29, 2013 at 12:36 PM. Reason : ]

3/29/2013 12:19:17 PM

forgot to include the rear end shot of my rover

3/29/2013 2:10:56 PM

How did you get them undocked without breaking anything off

3/31/2013 10:34:54 AM

hovered the lander (skycrane-esque) about 10 m off the ground and then decoupled... i practiced dropping them on the launch pad and made sure they were balanced to naturally fall forward onto their wheels. I put the landing leg on the back to help with that purpose, but it turns out i didn't need it.

sounds tricky, but luckily i only had to try it once

3/31/2013 11:44:04 AM

I have a few other pictures to upload a little later today... the return crew with Jeb and Bill took off (the part on the top of the lander) leaving behind the base with 2 other kerbalnauts.

I am also working on an addition to the base (and a new rover) to make it a Kethane mining hub

3/31/2013 11:46:46 AM

So I upgraded my Mun Base to be a Kethane processing station, and built/landed two rovers to mine/transport kethane and fuel.





Mining/Processing:


Also working on a fuel depot with a few nuclear powered landers that can bring a variety of craft to/from the surface. I'm working on a fuel pod to transport the mined/converted kethane from the surface to the depot station.

4/7/2013 5:28:08 PM

http://imgur.com/a/0TQmI

would anyone be willing to start a "multiplayer" version of this game with me?

4/12/2013 8:16:28 PM

Just picked this game back up today. Finished my Kethane rig on Mun, including a separate RCS fuel tank with a Kethane converter attached... I didn't realize in order to generate monoprop, there had to be a tank physically connected to the converter, so I had to add on.

In the background is my fuel tanker to shuttle fuel from Mun to my Mun Station in orbit. I experimented with skycranes since they are all the rage, but it just made it too complex. Attached nuclear engines do the job just fine.

4/20/2013 1:13:27 PM

Refueling... (I dropped a spare orange tank onto my Mun base to make it easier to convert/transfer.)


Hauling my fuel into Munar orbit... (this thing just barely made it off of the surface with just the two nuclear engines, although it got to orbit with more than a full orange tank, so success!)


Transferring fuel into my station



you might notice I keep having trouble with flat tires... most of those come when the base loads onto the screen... an in-game glitch makes the whole damn thing jump every time it loads.

4/20/2013 7:46:16 PM

One of the many reasons I love this game... the developers have thrown in a memorial to Neil Armstrong on the Mun. I found it using the mapsat plugin which maps different bodies for topography and other hidden features like this.

5/1/2013 3:05:28 PM

wow, cool

5/2/2013 8:50:50 PM

I did not take pictures, but my most recent missions have been Apollo-style (lander+orbiter) there-and-back (to Kerbin) from Duna and then Eeloo. Time consuming, lots of iteration, but an incredible sense of achievement after finally splashing down again near KSC 2 years later.

And then last night, successfully getting a plane to Laythe and landing.

5/6/2013 3:36:41 PM

Kerbal time again!

This time I decided to send two trips to Duna. One a "scouting mission" and the other a full on Kethane refining station. Here is the mining operation (which was the first mission built/designed)

1. Filling up my ship from my Munar Kethane plant. Note the assembly of the vehicle... The lander et al is to the Left and the "mothership" is my repurposed heavy lift sky crane as the main propulsion stage. I added a kerbal storage container so they wouldn't be cramped in their one small capsule the whole trip...


2. En route...



3. Aerobraking to a stable orbit at Duna... I ended up having to dip my periapsis all the way to 8500m to bleed off all the speed I had.



4. Separated my lander. I ended up undocking the rover and attaching it to the top of my lander so the parachutes wouldn't rip it off, and so I could take my time undocking it.



5. Landed and mining away!




I haven't gotten any farther than this... Shouldn't be any problem taking off and re-docking with the mothership (although I suspect that I could make it all the way back to Kerbin with just the upper stage of my lander, but what's the fun in that? Those kerbals need some room to stretch their legs on the way home!)

5/13/2013 10:24:09 PM

New version was released... 0.20.0

They now have a chair to attach to things! so here is a Kerbal strapped to a solid rocket booster



^he left the atmosphere so fast he got re-entry heat effects on the way OUT.

5/24/2013 1:22:39 PM

wow

7/3/2013 11:06:58 AM

7/3/2013 1:11:25 PM

Save 40% on Kerbal Space Program... This is the lowest price i've seen!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/220200/

A new version is coming out in the next few weeks, but once you buy you will have the game forever, including any future updates, so this is a great time to buy... this next update is set to introduce "career mode" while still keeping the normal "sandbox mode" that we have all been playing.

7/14/2013 4:26:38 PM

I am really tempted to buy it at that price, but if I did I'd be afraid that either a) I wouldn't have the time to play it, or b) I would MAKE the time to play it.

Plus I think I would suck at it. I think I might just keep enjoying it from youtube videos.

7/14/2013 7:13:37 PM

do it!

7/14/2013 7:21:41 PM

trigger pulled.

I'm gonna regret this.

7/15/2013 8:15:26 PM

welcome!

7/15/2013 8:18:22 PM

So how long do you have to play this before it becomes Kerbal Space Program and not Kerbal Murder Simulator?

I'm just glad it runs on my Macbook Air.

7/16/2013 11:13:19 PM

I bought it as well, as much for my kids as myself. They played around a bit on it last night. Bit of a steep learning curve at first. I think they'll get the hang of it.

7/17/2013 8:54:39 AM

I picked this up as well while it was discounted. Haven't had time to play it yet. Looking forward to getting started tonight though.

7/17/2013 10:52:42 AM

yes, it has a steep learning curve but once you catch on it will just click. look for tutorials by Scott Manley on youtube... he's pretty badass.

7/17/2013 2:12:03 PM

Quote :

"look for tutorials by Scott Manley on youtube"

Thanks. I've watched a ton of videos on youtube but they were all mostly advanced players doing crazy hard stuff. I was surprised to see that while I know a lot about how to do more advanced stuff, the basics are still very difficult to me. So hopefully that means that when I do get past that hump, I won't have to wait too long before I'm doing really cool stuff.

7/17/2013 2:23:14 PM

If it is any consolation, I do this kind of shit for a living and KSP is still difficult to me.

7/17/2013 2:31:22 PM

yeah... i just looked back to the first few posts of mine in this thread when I discovered Kerbal.

Here are the things that would have made it a lot easier for me...

Rocket Design:

1. Capsule: start with the one-man dark capsule.
2. Add a decoupler (this will separate your capsule from your rocket)
3. Add ASAS (this helps to keep your rocket steady.)
4. Add an appropriately sized liquid fuel tank underneath the decoupler
5. Add a liquid fueled engine under this.
6. Slap a parachute to your capsule. (this will reduce the amount of lithobraking your capsule does!)

LAUNCH THIS. It might not make it to space, but it's a good rocket to get practice with the...

Controls: (these are the bare necessities... you should be able to fly your rocket with these alone... the other controls will come later)
wasd keys point the rocket
left shift throttles up
left ctrl throttles down
space bar moves through your stages
t turns on the ASAS (this is the thing that keeps your rocket steady... to turn your rocket turn ASAS off.)
m goes to the map! (i had no idea the map existed when i first started which led to things being super hard!)

Strategy: do these missions to get used to it before moving on
1. fly your rocket straight up until it's out of fuel. decouple your capsule. parachute and land.
2. fly your rocket straight up until 10k meters. Then turn EAST ever so slightly. (this is called a gravity turn... it will give your rocket a parabolic arc, eventually leading to an elliptical shape.) This mission should not get into orbit... do this a few times to get a feel for your rocket.
3. Try to reach orbit. I doubt this rocket will make it, but once you are to the point you learn to control your rocket, you can at least give it a shot.

AFTER THESE:
Go back into the vehicle assembly building. Add another stage to your rocket... put a decoupler on the bottom of your engine, add another liquid fuel tank (a larger one perhaps) and another engine. You might need to play around with the staging, to make sure the right things happen at the correct times, but basically the things at the bottom of the staging happen first. Run through the previous missions with your new 2 stage rocket. get it into orbit. take screenshots. post here! (F1 will automatically take screenshots!)

7/17/2013 3:43:12 PM

Here is my rocket that I described in my previous post... I named it "n00b 1" and on my first launch i got it to around 80km which is out of the atmosphere. it is a great design to practice on.

7/17/2013 4:25:48 PM

so did any of you new people make any progress over the weekend?

7/21/2013 8:51:37 PM

Nah unfortunately I did not get to spend any time with it. I played the free version previously and was able to get to Mun, but I am a bit rusty now. Hopefully I can get to it this week. Thanks for the refresher though Smath.

7/22/2013 7:01:59 AM

I didn't even boot it up this weekend. Had too much going on. Might give it a shot later tonight though.

7/22/2013 5:11:23 PM

I played some this evening. Made a bigass rocket and got it in orbit, and then headed into open space. I need to figure out how to stabilize my rocket more. My big initial stages are able to bring what I need to orbit, but it does not handle well. I have SAS and ASAS on them. I'll try to remember to do screenshots next time I play.

7/23/2013 6:13:06 AM

The new version is out! If someone would like to post a challenge or an idea to accomplish, maybe we could have a small competition and then post our results (pictures?)

7/24/2013 9:20:42 PM

How big a payload can you deliver to 100km circular orbit in one flight?

Last night I delivered a five orange tank cluster (fuel depot) to orbit, but toward the end I had to move a little bit of fuel from the final stage back to my penultimate stage in order to circularize, so I consider it a failure. The "payload stage" must be your final stage, and cannot include any engines.

The craft at liftoff weighs about 700 tons.

7/26/2013 1:36:36 PM

so to clarify... the 5 orange tanks were delivered full? (or that was the goal?)

7/26/2013 2:49:06 PM

That was the goal. I actually delivered 3.5 tanks.

7/26/2013 3:46:22 PM

haha... the wife, kid, and dog are going out of town tonight, so now I know what i'm doing! (forget going out... I have a Kerbal challenge!)

7/26/2013 4:33:15 PM

Constantly masturbate while waiting for an orbit maneuvers to set up?

7/26/2013 8:29:02 PM

ha

[Edited on July 26, 2013 at 9:27 PM. Reason : ]

7/26/2013 9:27:08 PM

WTH I can't get the seen thing to end a mission. I see that they revamped the thing, but escape doesn't do shit for me. I cannot for the life of me see how to end a flight and recover, even if I have landed my capsule back on Kerbin and have throttles at zero.

7/26/2013 10:26:30 PM

I haven't figured that out either, but i think if you go to the tracking center you can end/recover (let me know if it works)

7/26/2013 11:16:44 PM

I dub thee - "The Subtle Necessity":

7/27/2013 2:03:24 AM