Kerbal Space Program

[Hellraiser]

The best part of KSP is when you are on the crapper taking a dump, pondering what's the best way to build that thing you want to build in KSP.

Also it looks like we're getting new parts in 0.24, that intern they've hired did two new engine models apparently. I think one of them may be a large diameter Ion or NTR engine, though it's hard to guess considering the name of it is the Vernier Engine (a VASIMR equivalent perhaps?). The other is a OMS Engine, so likely similar to the OMS of the space shuttle running on monopropellant.

Oh and launching costs will change depending on how much (and maybe what kind of when they introduce more types) fuel or oxider you have in the tanks.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Verniers are not VASIMR see wiki.

 

[Hellraiser]

Derp, didn't think of googling that. Go figure.

EDIT:

Bringing this to the attention of anyone in this thread who didn't see this in the Devnotes thread (it was posted later): HarvesteR explained that what is meant by "vernier engines" is engines that respond to RCS control input but consume LFO instead of monopropellant, while "OMS engines" are engines that respond to main throttle control but consume monopropellant instead of LFO. The names are currently just for development and may be changed later.

This is sounds pretty good.

 

[Drax]

This is sounds pretty good.

It does are sounds pretty good.

 

[Oesophagus]

Dat Duna sky

 

[Hellraiser]

Dat Duna sky

If the aurorae on Laythe are also animated that would be also quite pretty.

Proper weather effects would add a lot flavor to the planets and make them feel more dynamic despite being lifeless. Those and more enviromental features/hazards are what planets lack the most. I think only the Mun is currently in an acceptable state thanks to those procedural craters. Though it could use some more rocks/scatter.

Also news is pretty slow this week, mostly polishing stuff. Though on the other hand that's good, since it means that the update isn't that far off.

 

[Konjad]

how is with the mod support when new release comes? do patches usually break stuff or not? i've only used some very minor stuff so far, so i don't know whether it's worth installing when preparing for 0.24 or not

 

[Hellraiser]

how is with the mod support when new release comes? do patches usually break stuff or not? i've only used some very minor stuff so far, so i don't know whether it's worth installing when preparing for 0.24 or not

Usually part mods get broken, though not always, plugins are less likely to get broken. I have the same version of Kerbal Alarm Clock running since 0.22 with no problem for example. Depends what code they tinker on between updates.

 

[Hellraiser]

Hooray, some news for a change.

A screenshot of the 0.24 KSC screen:

Comes with new UI widgets. Cash available, reputation/prestige meter and of course the much needed science counter.

And two new buttons for contracts and current missions (I think). Either way the UI has been confirmed to have gotten a cleanup so we'll see lots of prettier in-game windows that no longer use the default unity look.

It wouldn't kill them to post a screenshot of a contract window just so we know how that looks and have an idea what we can expect from them.

Also for some reason the art dudes made a golden jeb/kerbonaut model:

Supposedly it is somehow supposed to be related to something ingame as it will need its own physics. Or the thing related to it will need its own physics. it's supposed to be a small silly surprise for the community so who knows what it will be.

Besides that there's a dev blog from the lead dev on where/why the game development is going. Basically boils down to "implement frameworks of currently non-existing mechanics, fill them up with content and polish/revise later on after all the frameworks are done". In particular biomes were mentioned as an example of this, so we'll probably have to wait a while for new ones.

Also it basically confirms the contract system is the most complicated code framework implemented into the game so far, beating out even the partmodule code that took them about half a year to develop back before 0.18.

The intern started working on remaking some of the old parts, so probably the spaceplane ones. Also the guy who originally made those parts (as the spaceplane mod) has left the team to work on Universe Sandbox. He was also responsible for the code and models for the rover wheels, antennas, remade landing legs, tweakables and a bunch of other stuff over the two years he's been on the team.

Overall the update is likely to go into experimentals soon. Two weeks at most I guess.

 

[Ulminati]

I'm jonesing bad for some KSP, but I don't want to go through the bother of updating all the addons only to have them broken in a week or two.

 

[Hellraiser]

And the small surprise is...

Footballs, as part of an official mod, for a contest, hence the golden kerbals.

One dude already started using them for lithobraking as airbags:

 

[Hellraiser]

Good news this week, after being in extensive QA last week and probably even earlier, they squashed most of the issues and moved into experimental builds, again. So I figure we'll see the release of 0.24 by the end of next week. There's actually a small contest for naming the update. Some guy suggested "First Contract" and that sounds like the best suggestion so far.

Also the windows version will get a 64-bit client with 0.24., so the 32-bit RAM limitation will be a thing of the past. The only thing better would be an upgrade to Unity 5, which would include a much newer mutlithreaded version of physX, which would no doubt massively improve performance. But at this point Unity 5 isn't even done yet so that will have to wait (and the official word is "no" to the switch, but it was the same with multiplayer before the announcement so whatever).

Hopefully we'll get to see streamers play the experimental builds (some get access to them) and thus get to know better how the contract and budget mechanics work before it is released.

 

[Drax]

Also the windows version will get a 64-bit client with 0.24.

 

[Hellraiser]

In before Ulminati gloats in our faces that the Superior Linux Master Race had 64-bit KSP for months.

 

[Konjad]

They should ditch the Windows version and continue working on versions for superior unix systems

 

[Ulminati]

I could go all on you, but I'm busy being upset at the date. Now I'm going to be torn between kerbal space program and D:OS.

 

[Hellraiser]

xX| Kerbal Space Program MLG_PRO_SKILL | NO_MECHJEB | 360°_ORBITS |Xx

 

[Hellraiser]

In other news I have been experimenting with trying to pull of an Elon Musk and recover all stages, in preparation of the tyranny of capitalism in 0.24. Some observations so far:

1) It is totally possible to do two stage to orbit rockets and switch between them to land the first stage safely for recovery. There is enough time and you can switch to vessels on a suborbital trajectory through atmo, but not while the current vessel itself is in atmo. Still, any usable 100% recovery 2-stage design has to get into vacuum on the first stage alone anyway.

2) The ocean east of the KSC makes it a bitch to recover the first stage safely. You can splashdown intact, but as soon as the first stage tips over you'll lose something to placeholder trampoline water physics. Hence first stages that barely make it to vacuum aren't that good to pull off an Elon Musk, you need enough delta-v on it to fly over the damn thing and land on solid land. A solution would be to land the stage sideways, but you would need not only to balance parachutes, but also put extra thrusters properly and facing the side of the stage.

3) While getting a one-man pod on top of a standard radius (medium? size 2?) liquid fuel first stage into space without boosters is rather difficult, but probably possible, the new Very Large (size 4) parts from 0.23.5 make it a cakewalk to put a 3-man pod into orbit. I used something along the lines of: 1st stage (3 largest tanks, the most powerful engine, or rather 4 engines bundled into one, in the game, large SAS, large probe core, large inline battery, Very Large to Large adapter), 2nd stage (3-man pod, the smallest of the large radius fuel tanks, four rockmax 24/7 radial engines). First stage gets you into orbit and then some easily. Just park it in a 100km circular LKO, separate the pod, lower your periapsis to land somewhere nice, flat and not that high above sea level sans the payload. The biggest problem is the lack of proper landing legs for something as big as that. But overall a SLS-esque part first stage with no boosters is the simplest SSTO design in the game.

 

[Hellraiser]

Alright I did it with the Very Large parts, the 100% reusable 3-man space taxi:

The rocket:

Apart from the landing legs at the bottom it looks fairly standard. Those wings give it a somewhat soviet rocket vibe for some reason.

Just enough thrust to go above 1 TWR, barely.

The 3-man pod:

No rcs thrusters or extra batteries but the added mass would be miniscule, the pod already carries enough monopropellant for at least two docking manuvers. Overkill on the parachutes I guess, but I haven't landed with it yet.

Got the pod into a 70x100km orbit, was aiming for an 88x90 orbit but messed up the insertion burn a bit.

The SSTO lifter:

The reusable lifter in all its glory. 8 radial parachutes, they actually slow it down alone to about 15 m/s when fully deployed at an about 1km altitude.

Landed:

Wasn't that difficult, although the risk of tipping over is quite big. Hence there are 8 large landing legs on this. Note the fuel still left.

Simpler and faster than spaceplanes. Faster as in you spent less real time babysitting it while trying to get into orbit, compared to the 10 or so minutes one spends on climbing and gaining airspeed with a plane.

EDIT:

I decided to push the pod to the limit. It can most certainly enter Munar orbit and rendezvous with something there and get back to kerbin without refueling, so long as that something is in a nice (near) equatorial orbit*. It is about 300 m/s of delta-v short of being able to land on the Mun (let alone return from the surface).

Parachutes are a bit too below the CoM and it tips upside down in atmo when those are deployed if left alone, but the reaction wheels of the pod are strong enough and can hold it oriented the right sight up anyway. You don't even have to use engines to land, but the pod could be used to retrieve a science jr. materials lab or other payload back to kerbin so the extra thrust and deceleration could come in handy.

*although with a proper encounter trajectory and launch window you could do a very cheap polar orbit or whatever rendezvous around the Mun with it. It would require quite a bit of patience though.

 

[Hellraiser]

Oh god, I wish they do this with the mk2 spaceplane parts when they remake them:

Spaceplane Plus Parts Mod

A fine replacement for the abandoned B9 Aerospace parts pack, also much more stock alike when compared to Bac9's excellent parts. Lacks Mk3 size parts but the Mk2 ones look really great, downloading.

 

[Drax]

Oh god, I wish they do this with the mk2 spaceplane parts when they remake them:

Spaceplane Plus Parts Mod


A fine replacement for the abandoned B9 Aerospace parts pack, also much more stock alike when compared to Bac9's excellent parts. Lacks Mk3 size parts but the Mk2 ones look really great, downloading.

OHGAWDGASM!

That's.... just beautiful...

 

[potatojohn]

If only I had the 128GB of ram needed to load all these parts

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

I have no idea what I'm doing man.

 

[Konjad]

what are the plans for 0.25?

 

[Hellraiser]

I have no idea what I'm doing man.

Attach an engine to the bottom of a fuel tank and a crew pod or probe core to the top of the tank, add solar panels and batteries somewhere, launch from launchpad.

If it doesn't work add more rocket, which means either more stages or boosters.

what are the plans for 0.25?

The only known thing at the moment is that the intern will remake some of the spaceplane parts. Also if space program reputation doesn't make it into 0.24 it is going to be introduced in 0.25. My personal bet is on expanding crew management, but my bets have known to be wrong.

Also they revealed six of the logos that won the contest and will be featured in the game, they're going to reveal the next during the rest of the week. Personally I like these two the most:

They look better on a white background though.

EDIT: This one is great:

 

[Ulminati]

Preview video of update 24. Liking the notifications. The procedural mission descriptions are gibberish at the moment, but they're working on that.



I'm sure Hellraiser will be pleased to know you're refunded a percentage of every part you return to the surface of Kerbin. SSTO just became a lot more important.


Scott Manley (as usual) gets early access to new updates:




Among the new stuff Scott highlights is that you can now save the game. (Gasp!) And you can have multiple savestates of the same campaign. Us veteran KSPers aren't going to save scum obviously, but it's still a nice feature. More interesting, the debug toolbar has a new tab that allows you to modify your savegame to disallow quickload/quicksave/revert to launch/revert to assembly. Mandatory for IronKerbal players such as us codexians.

Also, contracts can give you access to experimental modules that you haven't researched yet in the interest of SCIENCE!! I hope they'll be moddable to randomly fail

2 new engines made it into .24. An RCS engine that runs off of liquid fuel and oxidizer and a regular engine that runs off of monopropellant. Interestink. The ISP of the monopropellant engine is completely arse. But on the flipside, you don't have to worry about fuel pipes. Maybe for really funky probes it'll have a place. The LFO-RCS (or Vernier engine) is more interesting. It packs a lot more punch than regular RCS nozzles. If you want to perform wacky maneuvers inside an atmosphere, these babies should fit the bill.

 

[potatojohn]

I really don't like how some youtubers get to play and show it before everyone else gets it.

I remember in one version the dude built a 4 part ship and took it all over the system and I was like "welp, I guess I don't need to fucking to play it then"

 

[Hellraiser]

It's part of hype generation, the game sells a lot on word of mouth and youtube videos alone (kind of like minecraft did). Also prominent modders get access to the experimental builds with the youtube dolts.

The system is supposedly quite moddable so I am not worried by the contract variety, budgets adding design constraints are the main attraction IMO. Also stuff like "use this SRB and get to velocity between X and Y while firing it at this altitude at this planet/moon" sounds potentially quite hilarious.

Also let's face it, anyone not playing it in IronKerbal will lose out on a lot of FUN.