Kerbal Space Program

[HoagieOfDoom]

Ever wanted to run your own space program? Well now you can! (Sort of.) Kerbal Space Program uses an editor not unlike the one used in Spore to create rockets with which to launch three hapless alien brothers into space. So far the rocket editing and launching portions are the only ones there, but the developer has plans to add extraterrestrial bodies and the option to land on/colonize them. But for now the rocket portion itself is a heck of a lot of fun. Don't forget to grab the additional parts, which include among other things the ability to construct a space shuttle! (Just unzip the files and drop the contents into KSP's "Parts" folder.)

[Dartz]

I've been playing this for the last couple of days and it's epic fun.

It can be pretty difficult at times, and getting anything into a stable orbit feels like an achievement because you have to manually steer the rocket on the way up, with no map. Most spaceflights tend to end within a few metres of the launchpad, or screaming out into the wild black oblivion never to return. Still, when you do manage to get something of a stable orbit, it's immensley satisfying, especially if you've got NASA TV going in the background to give it that authentic spaceflight feel.

The whole game can really be defined in one image.



Space pod has two windows. Bill and Bob Kerman have a clear view of the horror going on outside, while stuck in the middle Jebediah can only see the lamps marked "OK" and "Not OK", and the bulb behind the "Not OK" one has blown.
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[HoagieOfDoom]

I've found that you have to use the gimbal at the bottom of the screen for navigation and orientation. If you try to fly by just looking at the rocket it's going to get messy.

There's a chart somewhere that lists orbital and escape velocities for varying altitudes. I seem to recall that at 50km and forward velocity of 2.3km/s is a stable orbit. And achieving orbit is not as difficult when you realize that the white line between the two halves of the gimbal is the terminator.

[Dartz]

I can get there alright, it's just a matter of sometimes going a little bit too high or low.... I've been able to get rockets up, around, and make a safe landing within sight of the launchpad again.

A two-tank liquid rocket on to of a triple-couple of two-tank liquid rockets is usually enough to get them up. Just don't accidentally stage it when you're up there and leave them stranded. A fat-tank and 5 liquid rockets will also get you motoring at some fierce speed.
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[HoagieOfDoom]

I've been using space shuttle liquid-fuel tanks on top of quad-chamber thrusters from the addon packs to achieve my record speeds and heights. So far the best I've done is getting 3.6km/s straight up by adding solid rocket wing boosters to my first liquid fuel stage. I just have to make sure to set the staging sequence correctly, otherwise the SRBs end up being dead weight.

[Dartz]

You can actually get more go out of 5 standard liquid engines. Just use the one-into-5 couple and mount them underneath it, although it also uses even more fuel to do it. It doesn't so much launch, as punch the sky with contempt
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[HoagieOfDoom]

I've tried that, but for some reason I keep getting an uncontrollable yaw and roll to starboard that even holding down the opposite directions can't cancel out. I don't know if it's a bug, so I've gone back to my liquid/solid combo.

[Bob Schroeck]

Hm. I've tried this a few times now, and my latest effort has been the only real success to date -- two liquid stages (cylinder tank with 5-engine cluster for stage 1, sphere tank with single engine for stage two) and the capsule, plus some fins and the necessary couplers and whatnot. I launched it four hours and ten minutes ago, hit a maximum velocity of about 2.5 km/sec... and apparently made escape velocity, because the flight is still going and literally just turned over 30000km "altitude" a moment ago when I looked to see how far they'd gotten. They've slowed down some, to "only" 1.9 km/sec, but I suspect they're not going to get pulled back to "earth" any time soon. I also noted that by moving the camera, the capsule is pointed more-or-less at their sun... I wonder what will happen if I leave it running long enough.
ETA: Apparently the program locks up and the window goes blank, somewhere past six hours and 40000 km...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Dartz]

That's something of a bug. I had it happen to myself if I ever close the lid, lock my computer, or have Windows UAC pop up when I try do something else.

Escape velocity for Kearth is about 3.3km/sec, if I recall right, so they would've eventually come back down to solid ground, but it would've taken quite a while to do it. Usually in those situations I just stick on a little bit of Space Oddity, and leave them to it.... eternally plunging through the void.

I can just about get them up into orbit, but can't exactly control where in orbit. it's usually around 50km up.

The sun isn't actually there, it's just a background image away off in infinity. if you left it running, you'd never reach it.
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[Jinx999]

I've not had much problem reaching escape velocity. I do however have trouble achieving a stable orbit, though.

[Logan Darklighter]

This is a disturbingly fun and addictive little game. I've made quite a few successful launches. Hardly any successful orbits. Many many Sub-orbital flights, and a few which obviously were going to be lost in the great dark. 

And quite a few hilariously fatal errors. 

Here's one - my first truly successful basic vehicle. Falcon MK 2. (Mk1 Being just the first stage test) Just a basic, quick and dirty, get em up, get em down, sub-orbital test vehicle. 

Except - it wasn't -quite- perfect. It's the little things that come back to bite you in the ass... Can you spot what I did wrong?

[Logan Darklighter]

So, having ironed out the problem on the Falcon Mk3 and gotten some good launches out of it, I moved on. Found an add-on pack of more classic looking parts and decided to see what I could make out of them. 

So here's the Falcon Mk3 on the pad. Looks kinda Gemini-ish, eh? 



Well something was wrong right from the start. I heard a loud CRUNCH just as the launchpad loaded. The boys didn't seem concerned, so I set the throttle, turned on the SAS, and hit the button. 



Only to find I seemed to have left my MAIN ENGINES ON THE PAD!!??  *Sigh* Well this will never do... It's time to abort. Let's just jettison those SRBS and hit the second stage booster to get those boys up to safe alti...



...oh...



Well there's something you don't see every day!

Back to the drawing board... And to get some new clone slugs...

[HoagieOfDoom]

Holy balls, are those Saturn V parts?! Where can I find those?

[Ankhani]

Just because you separate the stages doesn't mean the boosters are gonna stop burning =D

I've also found that a lot of the add-on parts have issues with connection. I made one rocket with the 3-meter pieces, and when it came time to launch, the whole thing looked fine, but after a few moments collapsed like a house of cards.... Nothing was attached to anything, it was all just stacked together.

I also don't know if it's strictly necessary, but I always wait til around 900-1000m before hitting the parachute, even though it doesn't really open until around 300-ish
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[VladimirTherin]

It runs fine under wine too, fwiw.

Useful info:

http://kerbalspaceprogram...ial:Orbiting_%28Basic%29

[Logan Darklighter]

[Logan Darklighter]

Well! That was gratifying! After messing around with all kinds of things that went BOOM on or just above the launching pad - then making a few brute force "punch the sky and go for straight altitude" beasts, I got something that actually WORKS and stays in something approaching a stable orbit. 

The best part? It actually LOOKS like a classic spaceship too! 

*Cue "Blue Danube Waltz"*

Here's the Falcon Mk 8. Ain't she pretty? 

[Logan Darklighter]

Stable Orbit CONFIRMED

One full orbit achieved! Falcon Mk 8 complete success! 

[Logan Darklighter]

Now let's see if I can get them down again. 

Wait for the lowest part of the orbit - then we'll do a de-orbit burn with the remaining fuel to kick them down. 



















And that, gentlemen, is how we do that! 

Let's have a hand for the Kerbies too. Such troopers! ^_^

Total Mission Time: 
     1 Hours, 9 Mins, 8 Secs.

Highest Altitude Achieved: 133652
Highest Speed Acheived: 2429.9 m/s
Highest Speed Over Land: 2429.9 m/s
Ground Distance Covered: 8398037
Total Distance Covered: 8456338
Most Gee Force Endured: 63.5G

[Logan Darklighter]

Incidentally, this is the Falcon Mk 8 full stack on the pad. Yup - it's the full "Von Braun" package! Incidentally, I've found there's a good reason for having fins on the spacecraft - heat radiators! The engines don't overheat so much when you put fins on! Well that - and I've found that the first (Von Braun style) stage is an absolute BEAST. It NEEDS as much stability as you can give it! That's why mine has both the fins and 4 SAS packages on it!



But once I got that bit ironed out, she flies straight and true. Just don't even THINK about pitching off the straight vertical until after you drop "the beast" from the spacecraft! But DAMN it's good for getting you that initial altitude!

[Bob Schroeck]

Do Bill and Bob Kerman ever look like they're going to do anything other than crap their pants? As far as I can tell, they start panicking long before you even begin to assemble the rocket...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Logan Darklighter]

I -have- noticed a bit of a pattern to their expressions. 

Neither Bill or Bob LIKE going up very much. They much prefer coming down. If you're on the "headed down" side of orbit - headed closer to "Earth" rather than farther away, they stop being scared and look neutral or pleased. Even in a stable orbit, if you're on the "outbound" leg, they start looking scared. 

Bill seems to react more to engine stuff. If you overheat, he seems to react. (Edit: He may also be freaking at low fuel levels.)

Bob I think reacts more to space-frame stress. 

Weirdly, there are times during launch when they both grin. I guess that's a sign that things are looking hunky dory. But once you get up to orbit, the above behavior takes over. 

Jeb loves it ALL. It's REALLY hard to get him to not be smiling. If you actually get an "Oh CRAP" reaction from him, then most likely you're about 2 seconds or less from BOOM. 

In general, Bill is almost always scared - or the first to be. Bob soon after. Jeb only if things are REALLY scary/going boom. 

[robkelk]

Stable Orbit CONFIRMED

One full orbit achieved! Falcon Mk 8 complete success! 

Why, when I read this post and the two after it, do I hear in my head some of the background music from Rocket Girls?

(I suppose I'm going to have to actually play this game...)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Logan Darklighter]

Stable Orbit CONFIRMED

One full orbit achieved! Falcon Mk 8 complete success! 

Why, when I read this post and the two after it, do I hear in my head some of the background music from Rocket Girls?

(I suppose I'm going to have to actually play this game...)

Don't suppose you could link me what you were thinking of? Might be inspirational.

[robkelk]

Anime, 2007-vintage, based on a novel series, licensed by Bandai, still available from Right Stuf. We've discussed it in the past, but never in its own dedicated thread...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012