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Vapourware Let's play KSP (for the 4th time): KSP is a RPG edition

Hellraiser

Arcane
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
11,300
Location
Danzig, Potato-Hitman Commonwealth
INDEX

Introduction

Greetings playground lurkers, esteemed monocled gentlemen, addicts and various kinds of assorted codexian degenerates, that may or may not get an erection from all things space related. It is that time of the year again, yes, the time for me to LP Kerbal Space Program after a significant update. Well, once the update is out which should be next week, before my vacation and abundant work-free time anyway. This one will be pretty significant for a few reasons which warrant a new, eventually to be abandoned, LP.

Basically they're finally adding Kerbal experience and skills. I need volunteers to gain experience and lose their lives trying to plant the Codexian Troll flag on other worlds.

So sign up now, just pick up to two of the following classes/roles which you will develop, with the primary one first: Pilot (makes flying shit easier, particularly during landing), Engineer (repacks parachutes, repairs landing legs), Scientist (allows science to march on faster*).
This will allow me to be prepared for release.

I assume you will be able to dual-class or even overspecialize, but at the moment I am not certain.

*new mechanics added in the previous update allow science to be traded/converted into glorious spacejewgold so these can also help the Kodex Kosmic Krew not go bankrupt due to the the failures of the free market.

You can expect I will be playing Ironman, on hard at least (probably with some custom options to make shit more difficult as well).
 

Ashery

Prophet
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,337
Well, once the update is out which should be next week, before my vacation and abundant work-free time anyway.

I was wondering why there was a new KSP LP when the next release is less than a week away.

Sign me up for scientist/pilot.

Edit:

Planning on waiting for any of the major mods (FAR, etc), or you doing this straight stock?
 
Last edited:

Azira

Arcane
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Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,519
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
Can I be a useless grunt, to be sacrificed in the name of Progress at the first opportune moment?

[EDIT] Pilot/scientist I assume. Wouldn't get to die horribly, if I don't go into space, right?
 
Last edited:

Hellraiser

Arcane
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
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Location
Danzig, Potato-Hitman Commonwealth
If I see things correctly from the features video dual-classing may not be allowed. Doesn't matter, I'll pick the secondary role over the primary one if the KKK space program will be lacking it more. Also this should make for some interesting hard choices for mission profiles since sending more crew will be more expensive.
 

Hellraiser

Arcane
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
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Location
Danzig, Potato-Hitman Commonwealth
I am going to say only one thing Trannies and Gentlemen.

ibkrxGyoR8mQWy.png


We are go for launch.

EDIT:

Well, it appears we may have been trolled on classes. They seem to be assigned to kerbals based on their name :lol:
 
Last edited:

Hellraiser

Arcane
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
11,300
Location
Danzig, Potato-Hitman Commonwealth

CHAPTER I

Through butthurt to the stars...

Spess music:



RKSP-01.png


The new difficulty modes feature added in 0.25, which was the update after 0.24 from my last KSP LP, (I'm playing 0.90 which was supposed to be called 0.26 but they hit beta so they changed the numbers), these can be customized, if you want even lower rewards you can set them lower. Though to be honest, as you will see in this update, hard is hard.

Penalties are pretty steep, so you have to pick contracts carefully.

Indestructible buildings off of course, yeah, the KSC can now be blown up by faield lunches. And those facilities are expensive to both repair and upgrade.

Let's take a look at the starting level 1 RPG Codex space center facilities:

RKSP-02.png


VAB crafts can only have up to 30 parts. Costs 400k to upgrade and increase limit (final upgrade removes limit). We start with 10k.

RKSP-03.png


To make things harder the launchpad has a size and mass limit on what can be launched before upgrades. Only 104k but still a lot and this upgrade will probably be my priority as MOAR ROCKET is the solution to half of the challenges in KSP.

RKSP-04.png


R&D level 2 is a whopping million, before the upgrade only nodes costing 100 or less science can be unlocked. Also Kerbals can't collect surface samples(!) before the level 2 upgrade. And surface samples are the best source of science.

RKSP-05.png


New building from 0.25, this is here you handle strategies which are a currency exchange mechanic with a twist. Basically you get less rewards in X and pay an upfront cost in X for better rewards in Y or other benefits. More on that later in the LP when I activate one. Really useful as you will see since they allow different approaches in playstyle.

RKSP-06.png


Not only does the level 1 mission control limit your max contracts you can take on, the upgrade is needed for manuever nodes (as well as a tracking station upgrade) and a higher level gives access to more advanced contracts. Another priority after the launchpad and VAB.

RKSP-07.png


I pick the two easiest contracts for a quick cash injection.

RKSP-08.png


Level 1 tracking station shows orbits, that's it. No maneuver nodes without upgrades, no patched conics (basically if your orbit eventually enters some different SoI or impacts a celestial body the game won't show you that) and no asteroid tracking. Mandatory upgrade if I want to go beyond the Mun really. Even minmus is hard with no manuever nodes or patched conics.

RKSP-09.png


Astronaut Training Complex, allows me only 5 kerbonauts. Also I can't EVA kerbals anywhere apart from Kerbin surface without an upgrade to this facility (no EVA reports!). As you can see the brave codexers have classes and levels now, sadly these are assigned by the game based on their name it seems. You start with one pilot, engineer and scientist, I renamed them and the engineer turned into a scientist. Classes are nowhere to be found in the save file (experience gained by kebonauts however is).

Two pilots, two scientists and one engineer is a good combo for a start. Engineers don't do much now (stop gaining new useful skill after level 3) and I don't have any parts which will need repairing yet.

RKSP-10.png


Darth Roxor in the KKK-1 (Kodex Kurwa Kraft), SRB+pod+parachute+antenna. History in the making. Also spot the mistake I made.

RKSP-11.png


Did you guess it? Forgot to set parachutes to stage separately from booster. KKK-1 opened the parachute at launch and started spinning out of control and I can't turn off a SRB.

RKSP-12.png


This image is KSP in a nutshell.

RKSP-13.png


RIP Roxor, I got awful at this game after nearly 6 months. Forgive me bro. Even cutting parachutes would not help, no way to land this safely. Earliest KSP casualty ever.

RKSP-14.png


At least I got one contract...

RKSP-15.png


The reserve pilot Ulminati enters a slightly modified version of the KKK-1 named the KKK-2, now with improved staging software.

RKSP-17.png


Flies straight as an arrow, the underlord is pleased.

RKSP-19.png


Landing is a bit rough but the pod and Ulminati make it back.

RKSP-20.png


Ulminati acquires 1 XP, needs one more to level up. Exp is gained by doing new challenges with the same Kerbal, Kerbin Flight is 1 XP, Kerbin Orbit is another 1 XP. Harder to reach places give your kerbonauts more XP for reaching them. You get the idea.

RKSP-21.png


New contracts, orbit is still beyond my reach I guess, so I'm aiming for 22km and some part testing.

RKSP-22.png


5,6k for the KKK-3. I send our scientist Kashmir Slippers up, though a pilot would be a better choice as without pilots there is no SAS (stability assist) so you need to steer really carefully.

RKSP-23.png


Veered a bit off course.

RKSP-24.png


No contract but a safe splashdown. Girders are there to aid landing so that the engine and tanks can be recovered rather than explode on landing.

RKSP-25.png


The brave codexnaut's log of flight and exploration can be seen here.

RKSP-26.png


I unlock tech, note one change which was added in 0.25, prototyping. You need to pay cash to unlock a part after researching a node, only then you can strap it onto a rocket.

RKSP-27.png


Yeah, not very challenging, but it gives 10k so why not.

RKSP-28.png


:rage:

Gotta downscale this.

RKSP-29.png


Note the decoupler added for the test contract. It made the rocket a bit unstable but Storyfag is a pilot so his SAS-enabling allowed the rocket to fly straight, mostly.

RKSP-30.png


The target is reached just barely, both contracts done. Great success for kerbal kind.

RKSP-31.png


Rocket broke a but on landing, but everything is ok.

RKSP-32.png


Time to go to spess now.

RKSP-33.png


Ulminati dares to defy gravity.

RKSP-34.png


Suborbital spaceflight achieves, Ulminati's status as a hero of kerbal kind makes trannies everywhere get hard just by thinking about him. The lucky dog.

RKSP-35.png


RKSP-36.png


Safe return.

RKSP-37.png


No XP though. :decline:

RKSP-38.png


Unlocked nodes, prototyped bigger SRBs (because they're lethal cheap as fuck to launch and I need cash) and the light LV-909 engine.

RKSP-39.png


Used it to get into orbit. Yeah, forgot to take a screenshot of the KKK-6 flown by Storyfag. :decline:

RKSP-40.png


Capsule splashes down safely, as always the key to cheap orbit is the LV-909 as without it upper stages are a bit too massive.

RKSP-41.png


Storyfag reaches level 1, now he can keep the vessel oriented to either prograde or retrograde (tracking those vector himself as they change in real time) if I wish him to do so. Very useful for retrograde burns during powered landing. Higher levels allow manuever node tracking, as well as target tracking (extremely useful for docking).

RKSP-42.png


The Mun is rather ambitious at this point but with the starting exploration contracts done it is a good goal. Exploration contracts don't expire or fail so there is no reason not to take it.

RKSP-43.png


I need more science, time to outsource that shit to Imdia or Mina, or whatever is the Kerbin equivalent of asian sweatshop land. This strategy converts 5% of fund rewards into science at a rate of 1 to 33,557 FND/SCN. With higher levels of commitent I can convert more of my rewards into science and get a better rate.

As you will quickly see this thing is an athesend, because apart from grinding science by exploring kerbin's biomes (which would be hard to combine with most contracts I get now) I can't do much to get more at this stage. No surface samples, only surface EVA reports, crew reports and goo.

RKSP-44.png


Speaking of exploration this is the Codex Ranger, a cheap simple and safe two-stage rocket. Its mission will be to complete a new kind of contract added in 0.90, visual/science survey contracts.

RKSP-45.png


See Kerbonaut's Slope? That's the waypoint, I need to fly over 40km (I think) above it and take a crew report. Major cash, the challenge is of course reaching both the target area and the altitude.

RKSP-46.png


Ulminati flies above city lights (Astronomer's pack visual enhancement mod, only it and the Kerbal Alarm Clock utility are used). I set navigation to the waypoint so it now appears on the navball making navigation a bit easier, though not too easy.

RKSP-47.png


Balistic trajectory looks ok. Note that the only conditions for these new contracts are to either be below/above an altitude or on the surface. How you get there is up to you as long as you do the required experiment. Later on survey contracts spawn multiple waypoints and experiment types, clustered waypoints are better for rovers, far apart ones for planes or suborbital rocket "grasshopper" landers.

RKSP-48.png


The Codex Ranger flies well within the target area and performs the survey. :incline:

RKSP-49.png


But I open the parachutes too late, forgot to do it until I noticed how close the sea was.

:rage:

RIP Ulminati. :salute:

RKSP-50.png


This contract looks pretty easy.

RKSP-51.png


Our last pilot (bloody hell!) safely aborts during launch after losing control. SRBs are fun and deadly.

RKSP-52.png


Second launch goes more smoothly. Note the icons for stability assist, prograde and retrograde tracking mode which appeared now that Storyfag has level 1.

RKSP-53.png


Easy contract.

RKSP-54.png


This is the waypoint for another survey contract. Note that these are visible in the tracking station before you even take a contract, so that you know just where you would have to fly before taking it on.

Not far, contract requires me to fly below 15-ish km near the waypoint.

RKSP-56.png


Codex Ranger 2 features winglets for gliding (poorly), however the first launch is aborted and Storyfag recovered.

RKSP-57.png


Second launch, Codex Ranger 2 reaches the objective with lots of spare fuel. 27 science (19 of which is from the strategy) and 12,6k funds.

RKSP-59.png


35 science for this one, I have a plan now that I unlocked some new shit.

RKSP-60.png


The insanely cheap Andhaira-1 rocket straight out of Kakistan, powered by djinn. Just 2,2k funds.

RKSP-61.png


Oh, did I mention pilots provide stability? Well, as probes do not gain XP or anything, they have built in skill levels. More expensive and higher tech probes have more tracking skills. The very first probodyne stayputnik however has none. Good thing these are expendable, unlike our Codexnauts (though if we run out of pilots I may clone the old guys, but not revive them).

RKSP-62.png


Suborbital just as planned, despite spinning wildly out of control throughout half of the flight, now to test the part.

RKSP-63.png


Yeah, I time warped over the first time I hit the target altitude and by the second time I hit it when dropping the probe was out of juice so it would not respond to commands.

:rage:

I need batteries.

RKSP-64.png


Batteries prototyped.

RKSP-65.png


Looking good, what could possibly go wrong?

RKSP-66.png


Yeah, it will get to space allright. But you see the probe's state is not sub-orbital, it is escaping.

:rage:

RKSP-67.png


The Andhaira-1/2 is the first object to escape Kerbin in this LP. And no kerbal cash for me.

In the next update I will try to get to the Mun, without manuever nodes, but probably after I upgrade the launchpad.
 

Ashery

Prophet
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,337
The Mun is rather ambitious at this point but with the starting exploration contracts done it is a good goal. Exploration contracts don't expire or fail so there is no reason not to take it.

Except that it takes up one of your two contract slots. Taking exploration contracts as soon as they came worked earlier, but now I'd wait until the second tier mission control before doing so. That's also the first thing I'd recommend upgrading as it's both cheap (64k) and greatly increases your ability to make money.

And holy shit, :lol:, I was going to complain about being a useless engineer, but I'm quite liking my life expectancy on the ground.
 

Hellraiser

Arcane
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
11,300
Location
Danzig, Potato-Hitman Commonwealth
Yeah, I figure I took that contract too early. Ideally you'd want to do two contracts in one launch at this stage.

The casualty rate mostly stems from the fact that I honestly did not touch KSP for nearly half of a year and forgot some good habits, like checking staging before launch. Or deploying parachutes.

Engineers become mandatory a bit late, mostly after you need to start repacking parachutes or for driving manned rovers.
 

Ashery

Prophet
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,337
My money's on this LP being abandoned before you get the 1mil to upgrade the research center to unlock the unlock for the three-man pod, heh.
 

Hellraiser

Arcane
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
11,300
Location
Danzig, Potato-Hitman Commonwealth
My money's on this LP being abandoned before you get the 1mil to upgrade the research center to unlock the unlock for the three-man pod, heh.

Fat chance, I am having a lot of fun and most certainly earned over a million so far, of course spending it along the way. To be honest you can do a lot with just the sub-100 science tech, VAB and launchpad upgrades are far more limiting. Out of the more advanced nodes I could really use only extendable ladders, rover wheels and, most importantly, docking ports.

Also post some stuff to bump this to the next page, unless you want around 80 more images on the same page.
 

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