Kerbal Space Program

[Dr. kitteny berk]

I'll have to get this soon then.

[Dog Pants]

I'm tempted, but £18 seems steep for what appears to be something of a one-trick pony. I'm just not sure I'll get that kind of value out of it.

[Joose]

I'm tempted, but £18 seems steep for what appears to be something of a one-trick pony. I'm just not sure I'll get that kind of value out of it.

This seems like something I would play with a bunch for a couple of days then never touch it again. For £5, I would be all over it. For £10, maybe. For near double that? No ta.

[buzzmong]

For the people who've previously balked at the price of rather good game, it's now on Steam, and it's also on sale at 33% off until the 17th.

£12.05 isn't bad imo, and less that what I paid.

[FatherJack]

I played various demos/alphas for a bit, but had a similar experience to that which Mr J mentioned on the previous page. All my overelaborate lovingly-constructed Weltraumschwanz designed purely to make any observing aliens blush just arced limply without achieving climax and flopped flaccidly in the sea. My first boring tube-with-a-rocket-on reached the stars on the first go.

Having gotten there though I was sat down to be schooled in penumbra and perigees, but instead just gazed out of the window at the girls playing netball.

It made me feel a bit stupid for lacking the attention span to carry on with it, but it's having to remember/fathom the controls that's the biggest barrier to me just having a quick go now and then.

[tandino]

Having gotten there though I was sat down to be schooled in penumbra and perigees, but instead just gazed out of the window at the girls playing netball.

If you want something with a bit more meat than ksp, Rawbots is looking pretty good.

[TheJockGit]

If you want something with a bit more meat than ksp, Rawbots is looking pretty good.

Nice find Tandino, just got early access

This kind of shows the complexity that can be achieved:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFam6SCSvHg[/media]

[tandino]

If you want something with a bit more meat than ksp, Rawbots is looking pretty good.

Nice find Tandino, just got early access

Not sure it was my find actually Jock - a fellow 5punker posted about it a while back I think? Can't remember who though. Or maybe they didn't. Did they? Did you?

[TheJockGit]

I can see a G-Mod type compo evolving if enough 5punkers sign up for this.

[Dog Pants]

If you want something with a bit more meat than ksp, Rawbots is looking pretty good.

Nice find Tandino, just got early access

Not sure it was my find actually Jock - a fellow 5punker posted about it a while back I think? Can't remember who though. Or maybe they didn't. Did they? Did you?

I did because I spotted that they were giving away free keys in some form of pisstake of the SimCity anti-launch. Not a clue how to play it though. I read a story about the devs actually - a random kid saw them playing it and went off on a rant about all the awesome robots he'd build, so they gave him a free key because they said he's exactly the sort of enthusiastic player they want.

[tandino]

I did because I spotted that they were giving away free keys in some form of pisstake of the SimCity anti-launch. Not a clue how to play it though. I read a story about the devs actually - a random kid saw them playing it and went off on a rant about all the awesome robots he'd build, so they gave him a free key because they said he's exactly the sort of enthusiastic player they want.

Knew it was something along those lines. I had a play around with it yesterday and found it much easier than it has been in the past. I had fun when I accidentally disconnected my robot's primary camera and flung it across the arena whilst still viewing through it.

[Dog Pants]

Oh boy. I am not a good spaceship builder.

Ship #1 - The Bottle Rocket.
My first ship was an experiment with components. I was almost clueless as to what everything was, so I strapped a bunch of stuff together that sounded like it should be on a spaceship. My objective: to launch into the air and come down again without anyone dying. The ship was basic. A rocket booster, an engine, a cockpit, a control ring, and a parachute. Unfortunately I couldn't find anywhere to put the parachute - it seemed to go where the cockpit went. The decision was excruciating: send an unmanned rocket skyward for no real reason, or send a Kerbal up and hope the existing cockpit has a parachute already. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I plump for the latter.
The rocket sits on the launch pad. I remember that the space bar, appropriately, plays a large part in this from the demo. I hit it, and the engine starts to glow. I wonder if maybe the booster would have been enough, but not for long as the engine module explodes and releases the rocket. With the booster free to propel, the thing hurtles upwards. I'm pleased to see it going in a nice, straight line. I'm not so pleased to see the grinning face of the Kerbal 'pilot' in a little window. I've got a bad feeling about leaving out that parachute. Sure enough, the booster sputters out and the dart shaped craft starts to fall. No parachute is forthcoming. It upends itself and plummets over 7km into the deck like a very expensive lawn dart. I feel terrible. Poor Jebediah. Never again will I be so careless with the lives of my Kerbals.

Ship #2 - The Y-Wing.
This time I need somewhere to put my parachute. I remove the engine, add a couple of support nacelles and a couple more boosters. The boosters are really just to provide a place to put the parachutes. Then I notice that the crew modules (rather than cockpits) have a flat top. Maybe I could mount a parachute to that... Yes, I can! The parachute says it's light and shouldn't be used to control re-entry, presumably only to prevent discarded parts from killing people on the ground. I put three on for good measure.
The launch goes better. I hit space and it takes off immediately, although the middle booster isn't firing. No big deal, it's probably a separate stage. The rocket tilts and starts to travel on a trajectory, but it's still fairly under control so I leave it. The two boosters stop, so I hit space in the hope that it fires the second one. It does. Yay! It also releases the other two, with their parachutes, which fall away and crash into each other. Boo. It also releases the parachute on the module. Ah. For a while the module spins wildly as the booster fires and the parachute drags, and eventually it runs out. The remains of the craft float back to earth and I hope that this time the Kerbal survives. Slowly the ground comes. 200m... 180m... 150m... 100... 50... The booster touches the ground and explodes, the screen showing my Kerbal shows only noise. Damn. But wait! The landed has survived the explosion, and the static clears to show my Kerbal still alive! Hooray! He sits there a little while while I work out how to send the welcome home committee. I press a button on his screen and he climbs out and hangs off the side. I have the option to tell him to climb back in or go for a space walk. The latter is optimistic - children have climbed higher slides - but I click it anyway and he lands on his bum on the ground. Mission one successful!

[buzzmong]

Pssssssst:



Kerbals are very strict on where something axial is placed, but don't give two hoots about radial parts

Also, WASDQE to rotate parts in 90 degree chunks, shift WASDQE to do it in 5 degree increments. Space to reset to default.

[Dog Pants]

You have my Kerbals' gratitude.

[Dog Pants]

Ship #3 - The Chode
Bolstered by my successful manned flight I up the game by replacing the booster with a liquid fuel engine and strapping four boosters to it in an attempt to break out of the atmosphere. Four canards are added to stabilise, resulting in a short, fat, spiky looking vehicle.
Squatting on the pad I hit space to launch and the thing falls apart on the launch pad. Something tells me I have issues with my separation stages, but I'm not sure what.

Ship #4 - The Tutorial
I go back to the menu to have a look at the controls to see if I can specify separation stages, with no luck. I do notice a tutorial option though. I make a similar craft - a liquid engine and fuel tank, command module with parachute, and three boosters.
Launch goes well. Some rotation, and the trajectory wilts a little, but I get pretty high. The boosters burn out and I separate. I hit space to fire the second stage and.. nothing. It fizzles and the parachute deploys. A bit. Plummeting back towards the ground, the parachute remains resolutely flailing behind the impotent rocket like a huge condom. A few hundred meters before it hits the ground I click on the parachute and it opens. My lucky Kerbal lands safely in the sea.

[Dog Pants]

Ship #5 - Tutorial II
Fortunately this little winged rocket was already built, so whichever part I keep not putting on which makes the liquid engines work was already there. Sprog launched, it soared for about a kilometer, then floated back to earth. I didn't actually do any of the flight controls it was teaching me because it was pretty stable. All good for the three Kerbals in the command capsule.

Ship #5 - Chode II
With a better idea of how the separation works I rejigged the stages. Turns out I had them upside down. On the launch pad we're all set. Sprog launches and all four booster engines ignite, separate, and simultaneously veer inwards and smash into the command capsule. Wings scatter everywhere and only the engine remains on the pad, like the rocket equivalent of a pair of smoking boots.

Ship #6 - Chode III
After a short funeral for Bob, the last Kerbal pilot, we reconfigure the separation sequence again. This time all four boosters ignite, and stay attached. Woo! The rocket soars straight up for about five seconds then starts to drunkenly veer off. Using my new found piloting knowledge I desperately try to keep it pointing upwards, and despite seemingly spending a lot of time exactly the opposite, by the time the boosters burn out we're still above ground level. I attempt to fire the engines again, this time adding throttle (thanks, tutorial!), and again nothing happens. Spinning wildly and plummeting I separate and try to stabilise the capsule before deploying the parachute. It takes mere seconds for the ground to meet it. Phew, that was close.

[Dog Pants]

Ship #7 - The Calypso
I've been overcomplicating things with the liquid fuel rockets, so lets go back to basics. I spot a massive orange fuel tank and like the look of it. That's bound to make a good rocket. Massive it is too, biggest they make by the description. I find a similarly big engine with the same colour of orange on it and plonk it on the bottom. The standard topping comes in the form of a detachment ring, capsule, and lastly the parachute. Three kerbals, one huge rocket, and one parachute.
Sitting on the launch pad it teeters and wobbles like the parts are balanced on top of each other. Did I miss something? Glue? Ah well, too late now. I crank up the throttle and hit space. A stream of smoke pours from the motor and we're off! Up and up it goes, getting hotter and hotter. I reel in the throttle until the heat is staying constant and watch the horizon curve and the sky darken. My atmosphere meter turns black, and I can see thousands of stars, bisected by the chalky belt of the galaxy. The engines burn out and I detach from them. This far from the planet it hangs behind me, matching my speed in the vacuum. It's now when I start to wonder how I'll get back. I have no more engines, just the pod and a parachute. I'm still going up. Either gravity will reclaim me or my poor kerbals will float up there forever. Speeding up time a little I spot the altitude quickly change direction and the capsule makes its way back home. Slowing time again I watch the little conical pod fall, and notice the bottom starting to glow. Shit, did I put heat shielding on that? I don't even remember seeing the option. Flames start to lick around the edge of the base as the crew module plummets through the atmosphere. I panic and hit the last stage to deploy the parachute in the hope that it slows them down enough to stop them burning up, and that starts to burn too. Oh no. But it does slow down, and the flames subside. By some miracle the parachute survives, and eventually the capsule bumps to the ground about 150km away from the launch centre. Those kerbals never even knew how close they were to being the first kerbal-made meteor.

Ship #8 - Tutorial III
Well since I have succeeded in breaking the atmosphere I figured I should learn how to orbit. This starts me in a smart little three engined black and white craft hanging in orbit at about 300,000m. Ground control knocks me spinning and I quickly regain control. I try again to make sure it wasn't luck, and again return them to their correct facing. Hey, I'm getting better at this! Next up we extend our orbit's apogee by blasting away from the planet while at the perigee. That goes okay, so we do it again for the opposite, and eventually we're orbiting at 800,000m. Piece of cake! A final perpendicular burst to tilt the orbit and I feel far better qualified. Ground control gives me the option of ending the flight here or returning to the surface. Well I can't leave my chaps up there, so down we go. I drop the perigee down to a sub-atmospheric orbit so that the planet can 'catch' them, and around we go. Entering the orbit I start to see that cherry glow on the bottom of the engines, going in arse first as they are, and I notice that they still have about a third of a tank of fuel left in each. Fuel and heat are a bad combination, so I jettison them and watch them slowly drift ahead of me. They don't explode, and the capsule stays orientated heat-coating first. The flames appear for a little while and then everything cools down again. The capsule begins to fall more downwards than forwards, and the desert landscape starts to become apparent. It looks to be heading for a peninsula, and briefly I wonder if they'll ditch in the drink, but at about 25,000m I deploy the chute and down they drift into the sandy landscape. The engines land and gently explode, and the capsule bumps back to earth. Perfect! Next up, I have to get a rocket of my own into orbit and back.

[buzzmong]

Sitting on the launch pad it teeters and wobbles like the parts are balanced on top of each other. Did I miss something? Glue? Ah well, too late now.

Not to detract from your lovely stories, but I probably should point this out before people start wondering why they can't build big things:

KSP currently uses Unity's attachment system, which is basically one point of contact. Those coloured hemispheres in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) / Space Plane Hanger (SPH) are them.
This is can cause problems. The answer to those problems at the moment is called "Struts", which are on one of the tabs. You don't need many and you can safely bridge stages with them as they're quite clever and disconnect automatically at the correct times, but they're a near essential building block of any big ship.

Bonus info 2: There's a bug in the heat calculations for rocket engines/heat sinking across parts, which is really only noticeable when using the big rocket engines coupled with the big orange tank. If you stick one of the smaller (in height, not diameter) fuel tanks like the 16 under the big orange one, then the heat sinking will work properly and you can run the big engines at full throttle if you're feeling the need for speed.

This is stuff the game doesn't tell you about and you only find out about if you go on the offical forums.

[Dog Pants]

Cheers Buzz, I expect I would be running into (more) problems very soon without that.

[Dog Pants]

Ship #9 - The Roticery
Time to shoot for the stars. I build an approximation of the orbiter from tutorial 3, with a centre structure and three motors, then stick that on top of the big orange rocket from my Calypso design. On Buzz's advice I strap the structural components together with struts, and to stop it all sitting on its engine I add some launch supports. It looks like a proper, if a little top-heavy, space rocket. Some moving of the stage triggers to stop it immediately shedding its orbital motors and deploying the parachute, and we're good to go.
Launch is not a confident affair. I push the throttle up, count down from five and Sprog hits the GO button. The rocket sheds its launch supports and eases upwards on a column of smoke and flame. A proper launch! The ship keels over a little but I correct it and activate the stabilisers. Upwards it wobbles, balancing the heat and teetering, but all is going okay. Except that it's going slower than it was last time and by the time the big orange launcher runs out of fuel and is jettisoned, my kerbal is still not out of the atmosphere. Hmm. Well luckily he has three more engines. 40,000m should be enough to get into orbit, and it's only about 30,000m, but I should make that. I hit the thrusters and the craft immediately starts to pinwheel. Struggling to regain control I finally get it vertical again and hit the stabilisers to try to optimise the fuel load. 40,000m. We're surely in a position to manoeuvre into an orbit now! I check the overview and the orbit path shows it heading back to earth. Hmm. Okay, what did I learn in school yesterday, thrust away at the apogee to increase the perigee. I turn the orbiter to face the icon and hit the throttle again. Nothing happens. Damn, I used all the fuel getting up here again. Well at least my orbit is more a trajectory. The one-kerbal capsule comes back down eventually, separating from the rest of the craft as it hits the atmosphere, and leaving a bright trail. They must be going too fast as they come down as even in the thick atmosphere it's leaving a white con trail. I remember the parachute and deploy it, and immediately the con trail vanished and the capsule descends at a less crater-making speed. After a 16 minute flight, my lone kerbal is safely on the ground, but still without having made orbit. Back to the drawing board.