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Vapourware Let's play KSP (for the 4th time): KSP is a RPG edition
- Thread starter Hellraiser
- Start date
Ashery
Prophet
- Joined
- May 24, 2008
- Messages
- 1,337
In stock? Sure. But throw in stuff like Remote Tech and various life support mods (Specifically, the recyclers from TAC) and things get a lot more muddied.
They could've at least broken down the upgrade so that the first one isn't a whopping 1mil on hard.
Hellraiser
Arcane
Chapter II
RPG Codex Space Agency - The X-Com of Space Programs
The Andhaira-2, this time with a liquid fuel upper stage, because fuck escape trajectories.
Not sure if I made a profit but here it is, fucking finally done.
Still, I managed to recover the entire upper stage, spare liquid fuel was enough to safely land it in the water and get some money back.
Also a new survey contract appeared, this one with multiple waypoints (waypoints are color-coded by the contract to which they belong).
Easy contract worth 20k.
I save up science as I want this node next. Jets and wings would make that new survey contract with multiple waypoints pretty easy.
Another Andhaira series test vehicle launches and grabs precious space jewgold.
I take the contract for the multi-waypoint survey. Overall it should yield me 50k funds and 130 science.
The science counter is slightly bugged. You see, when I take a contract with my R&D outsourcing strategy I also get science from converting the advance fee into science. Game just has no call to refresh the science counter after taking on a contract since they don't grant science at that stage without the strategy.
And the advance grants just enough points to unlock...
...the node needed to build the first of the racofer series of recon and research planes. Not a rocket powered schlong, sure, but still worthy of the name.
Storyfag flies this, overall the design is not too shabby, though hardly spectacular. Needs more wing surface as from 5 km upwards it flies ballistic due to lack of lift. At least it's fairly stable.
Contract is fairly simple, I get a reward for completing each of the 3 objectives and the main reward for getting all.
I fucked up by overshooting the last waypoint. Aerial waypoints have large areas, the surface ones however have very small areas requiring good landing accuracy (or rover wheels). I panicked, tried to deploy parachutes, but too late to hit the waypoint. Luckily everything was recover at 90%+ value.
Relaunched the plane, dove towards the target.
Landing may not be
but everything is 'k and ready for safe full recovery.
These objectives are so close to the KSC that I got 96% of the plane back. Free money basically.
With 154k funds I have enough to upgrade the launchpad and not go bankrupt.
I take this contract as I will be able to do in while getting to the main objective of the exploration contract I also have.
Unlocking solar panels and better batteries, because I plan to put a probe on the Mun now.
The Infinitron series of probes is designed for space exploration and updating .txt files on various celestial bodies. This one will land on the Mun, paving the way for flag planting and completing exploration objectives for precious space jew gold.
It got into orbit but with far less fuel than expected. Not sure if it will be able to land on the Mun. At least I finish the landing gear test contract.
With no manuever nodes I have to get to the Mun the old way from before 0.18. Wait for it to rise over Kerbin's horizon and burn prograde. Better than sticking a protractor to the screen to read the phase angle.
A shit, short of the Mun by maybe 50 m/s of delta-v. Back to the VAB.
The probe at least provides me with some science data from high Kerbin orbit.
New contract types, satellite ones requiring probes with specific parts to be put in specific orbits. Pretty well paying. Nearly 140k total reward. While the orbital parameters are quite specific, they're not that hard to reach as there is a margin for error. Doing these is mostly a question of delta-v and mastery of orbital maneuvers.
Tundra orbits around Duna. Looks juicy but I am in no shape to get anything to Duna, yet. After all I just did fail get to the Mun, for now.
50k for a simple test in LKO, I'm doing this.
I unlock a better probe core (now with SAS!) and a set of reaction wheels.
The Infinitron-2 probe (I renamed it after the shot). 11k fund attempt at landing on the Mun.
I undertweaked the thrust limiting on the SRB and got jack shit out of it, even worse delta-v than the first one.
Added more rocket. Infinitron-3 launches.
At least this time I remember to do the damn test.
Engine cut off, looks like a good target apoapsis, now the question is if the Mun will be anywhere close and we get an encounter. No patched conics without tracking station upgrade, so no predicted encounter and SoI change.
Holy shit, this is what I got after that blind burn-at-mun-rise, a 42 km flyby.
Half of the exploration contract objectives are done. Now I'll try to land this, not a whole lot of fuel left.
Bah, at least 350 m/s of delta-v short of landing. I collect and transmit back science quickly...
...before the Infinitron-3 become an impact probe. Lithobraking like a boss.
Upgrading the mission control building to be able to take more contracts and get more ambitious, harder ones available to me. Contracts are also generated based on reputation. That and the upgrade will unlock maneuver planning, once I also upgrade the dreaded tracking station.
I unlock everyones favorite "tiny" engine. This thing is paper-light, packs solid thrust (really good dry mass to thrust ratio) and decent ISP. With it landing a probe on the Mun will be easier.
New survey contract, gotta grab this to repair my budget a bit as I'm down to 19k funds after the upgrading and prototyping.
The Racofer-2 features more wings.
Which means jack shit as the placing makes it nosedive like a wasted drunkard walking down a stairway. Luckily the emergency landing is successful and I get back around 98% of the cost due to the proximity to the KSC.
Changed the wing shape, flies much better than the first Racofer.
Diving to the last waypoints, the surface EVA report one.
See that dust? That's what is left of Storyfag after he tried to exit the plane which has no ladder.
Should have retracted front landing legs and tipped this over. RIP Storyfag
I will have to start cloning people as that is my last pilot.
Good fortune, we are most blessed by Avellone! Both clones are also pilots. Darth Roxor's isn't.
Ulminati II walks straight out of the cloning vats into the Racofer-2 and lands near the last waypoint.
Had to walk around quite a bit as I missed the waypoint, but eventually I found it. EVA really needs to show the navball.
I research bigger rockets including bigger boosters. What is not to like about these?
Which is probably why this contract appeared. Half a fucking million, 800 science. All I need to do is get one part into LKO and stage it.
Yeah, no wonder this contracts give so much cash, it probably multiplies the reward by the part's mass. While I can't use the engine proper (since it needs to be staged in orbit or else no money), I can still use it as a fuel tank (which it also is). The Andhaira-4 probe core provides fuel crossfeed. Also the tank is only half filled, so that the skipper+big SRBs can actually get off the ground. And because this thing is barely within the launchpad's limit as can be sen on the info window. 30 parts is not a whole lot.
Not pictured: the rocket having not enough control from winglets, RCS or reaction wheels and flying north instead of east. But it managed to get into an orbit. A polar one, but an orbit nonetheless.
Well, that saved me quite a bit of time on saving money for the VAB upgrade. 255 parts is more than enough for 90% things in the game, the lack of advanced action groups is problematic though. Makes SSTO spaceplanes pretty difficult.
Perfect contract for a manned flight around the Mun.
I unlock all sub-100 science nodes.
Use the leftover science to commit myself to getting more space jew gold from science (the rate sucks, a lot, but I don't need science at this point).
The St. Proverbius-1, featuring a crew of 2. Let's try to get that survery contract and get back to Kerbin.
Pretty solid launch, I wanted to add two more large SRBs but those things made the tonnage go over the limit of my level 2 launchpad.
Yeah, not the best of trajectories. Luckily it is easily correct from such a distance. Also I do need a high inclination orbit to fly over all 3 waypoints.
Quite a bit of fuel left and one waypoint is done.
Last one requires me to be under the target altitude, I'm down to the final stage and 50% fuel. Which should be enough to ascend from this dip and escape the Mun back to Kerbin.
Contract done! The codexnauts however are noticing that shit may not go all well in the end.
RIP dextermorgan and Storyfag II. I went in too steep, should have lowered orbit earlier and fly more flat instead of doing such a risky altitude raising maneuver with not that much TWR.
After that failure I send a Kingcomrade-1 satellite to do a Mun satellite contract. The good news is the game shows you ascending and descening nodes for target orbits from these contracts despite not having an upgraded tracking station.
Even without manuever nodes these are not all that hard, as now radial-in radial-out and normal/anti-normal vectors are displayed on the Navball. Easy money.
Unlocking flag planting and EVA in flight, on alien surfaces and in space.
New clones.
I am going to attempt to do all four on the next launch.
St. Proverbius-2, this time it is a one man ship, but designed to land on the Mun and plant that flag. Azira is flying it. But you ask, why a scientist? Am I crazy to launch this with no SAS? Well, this thing has a probe core stuck to it just to provide SAS. No longer there is a reason for scientists and engineers toavoid certain death in space not contribute to the great codexian space program.
Once again the objectives are easier to access from a highly inclined orbit.
To make things harder the scans have to be done in low altitude. One down.
Final stage is at 50% fuel when I reach the last survey area. Time to land and hope Azira gets back.
Azira lands safely and plants the first RPG Codex Space Agency flag!
Got some pretty good money out of this mission. However Azir is on a polar trajectory and going low on fuel....
...still it is just barely more than enough to get back to Kerbin.
Just one level?
Yeah, one XP short of level 2.
I grab the tracking station upgrade, finally.
With manuever nodes available reaching Minmus and other planets shouldn't be too difficult. Once I update Kerbal Alarm Clock to a version that works and saves alarms in 0.90.
If all goes well I am just 3 launches short of upgrading the R&D center.
RPG Codex Space Agency - The X-Com of Space Programs
The Andhaira-2, this time with a liquid fuel upper stage, because fuck escape trajectories.
Not sure if I made a profit but here it is, fucking finally done.
Still, I managed to recover the entire upper stage, spare liquid fuel was enough to safely land it in the water and get some money back.
Also a new survey contract appeared, this one with multiple waypoints (waypoints are color-coded by the contract to which they belong).
Easy contract worth 20k.
I save up science as I want this node next. Jets and wings would make that new survey contract with multiple waypoints pretty easy.
Another Andhaira series test vehicle launches and grabs precious space jewgold.
I take the contract for the multi-waypoint survey. Overall it should yield me 50k funds and 130 science.
The science counter is slightly bugged. You see, when I take a contract with my R&D outsourcing strategy I also get science from converting the advance fee into science. Game just has no call to refresh the science counter after taking on a contract since they don't grant science at that stage without the strategy.
And the advance grants just enough points to unlock...
...the node needed to build the first of the racofer series of recon and research planes. Not a rocket powered schlong, sure, but still worthy of the name.
Storyfag flies this, overall the design is not too shabby, though hardly spectacular. Needs more wing surface as from 5 km upwards it flies ballistic due to lack of lift. At least it's fairly stable.
Contract is fairly simple, I get a reward for completing each of the 3 objectives and the main reward for getting all.
I fucked up by overshooting the last waypoint. Aerial waypoints have large areas, the surface ones however have very small areas requiring good landing accuracy (or rover wheels). I panicked, tried to deploy parachutes, but too late to hit the waypoint. Luckily everything was recover at 90%+ value.
Relaunched the plane, dove towards the target.
Landing may not be
but everything is 'k and ready for safe full recovery.
These objectives are so close to the KSC that I got 96% of the plane back. Free money basically.
With 154k funds I have enough to upgrade the launchpad and not go bankrupt.
I take this contract as I will be able to do in while getting to the main objective of the exploration contract I also have.
Unlocking solar panels and better batteries, because I plan to put a probe on the Mun now.
The Infinitron series of probes is designed for space exploration and updating .txt files on various celestial bodies. This one will land on the Mun, paving the way for flag planting and completing exploration objectives for precious space jew gold.
It got into orbit but with far less fuel than expected. Not sure if it will be able to land on the Mun. At least I finish the landing gear test contract.
With no manuever nodes I have to get to the Mun the old way from before 0.18. Wait for it to rise over Kerbin's horizon and burn prograde. Better than sticking a protractor to the screen to read the phase angle.
A shit, short of the Mun by maybe 50 m/s of delta-v. Back to the VAB.
The probe at least provides me with some science data from high Kerbin orbit.
New contract types, satellite ones requiring probes with specific parts to be put in specific orbits. Pretty well paying. Nearly 140k total reward. While the orbital parameters are quite specific, they're not that hard to reach as there is a margin for error. Doing these is mostly a question of delta-v and mastery of orbital maneuvers.
Tundra orbits around Duna. Looks juicy but I am in no shape to get anything to Duna, yet. After all I just did fail get to the Mun, for now.
50k for a simple test in LKO, I'm doing this.
I unlock a better probe core (now with SAS!) and a set of reaction wheels.
The Infinitron-2 probe (I renamed it after the shot). 11k fund attempt at landing on the Mun.
I undertweaked the thrust limiting on the SRB and got jack shit out of it, even worse delta-v than the first one.
Added more rocket. Infinitron-3 launches.
At least this time I remember to do the damn test.
Engine cut off, looks like a good target apoapsis, now the question is if the Mun will be anywhere close and we get an encounter. No patched conics without tracking station upgrade, so no predicted encounter and SoI change.
Holy shit, this is what I got after that blind burn-at-mun-rise, a 42 km flyby.
Half of the exploration contract objectives are done. Now I'll try to land this, not a whole lot of fuel left.
Bah, at least 350 m/s of delta-v short of landing. I collect and transmit back science quickly...
...before the Infinitron-3 become an impact probe. Lithobraking like a boss.
Upgrading the mission control building to be able to take more contracts and get more ambitious, harder ones available to me. Contracts are also generated based on reputation. That and the upgrade will unlock maneuver planning, once I also upgrade the dreaded tracking station.
I unlock everyones favorite "tiny" engine. This thing is paper-light, packs solid thrust (really good dry mass to thrust ratio) and decent ISP. With it landing a probe on the Mun will be easier.
New survey contract, gotta grab this to repair my budget a bit as I'm down to 19k funds after the upgrading and prototyping.
The Racofer-2 features more wings.
Which means jack shit as the placing makes it nosedive like a wasted drunkard walking down a stairway. Luckily the emergency landing is successful and I get back around 98% of the cost due to the proximity to the KSC.
Changed the wing shape, flies much better than the first Racofer.
Diving to the last waypoints, the surface EVA report one.
See that dust? That's what is left of Storyfag after he tried to exit the plane which has no ladder.
Should have retracted front landing legs and tipped this over. RIP Storyfag
I will have to start cloning people as that is my last pilot.
Good fortune, we are most blessed by Avellone! Both clones are also pilots. Darth Roxor's isn't.
Ulminati II walks straight out of the cloning vats into the Racofer-2 and lands near the last waypoint.
Had to walk around quite a bit as I missed the waypoint, but eventually I found it. EVA really needs to show the navball.
I research bigger rockets including bigger boosters. What is not to like about these?
Which is probably why this contract appeared. Half a fucking million, 800 science. All I need to do is get one part into LKO and stage it.
Yeah, no wonder this contracts give so much cash, it probably multiplies the reward by the part's mass. While I can't use the engine proper (since it needs to be staged in orbit or else no money), I can still use it as a fuel tank (which it also is). The Andhaira-4 probe core provides fuel crossfeed. Also the tank is only half filled, so that the skipper+big SRBs can actually get off the ground. And because this thing is barely within the launchpad's limit as can be sen on the info window. 30 parts is not a whole lot.
Not pictured: the rocket having not enough control from winglets, RCS or reaction wheels and flying north instead of east. But it managed to get into an orbit. A polar one, but an orbit nonetheless.
Well, that saved me quite a bit of time on saving money for the VAB upgrade. 255 parts is more than enough for 90% things in the game, the lack of advanced action groups is problematic though. Makes SSTO spaceplanes pretty difficult.
Perfect contract for a manned flight around the Mun.
I unlock all sub-100 science nodes.
Use the leftover science to commit myself to getting more space jew gold from science (the rate sucks, a lot, but I don't need science at this point).
The St. Proverbius-1, featuring a crew of 2. Let's try to get that survery contract and get back to Kerbin.
Pretty solid launch, I wanted to add two more large SRBs but those things made the tonnage go over the limit of my level 2 launchpad.
Yeah, not the best of trajectories. Luckily it is easily correct from such a distance. Also I do need a high inclination orbit to fly over all 3 waypoints.
Quite a bit of fuel left and one waypoint is done.
Last one requires me to be under the target altitude, I'm down to the final stage and 50% fuel. Which should be enough to ascend from this dip and escape the Mun back to Kerbin.
Contract done! The codexnauts however are noticing that shit may not go all well in the end.
RIP dextermorgan and Storyfag II.
I went in too steep, should have lowered orbit earlier and fly more flat instead of doing such a risky altitude raising maneuver with not that much TWR.
After that failure I send a Kingcomrade-1 satellite to do a Mun satellite contract. The good news is the game shows you ascending and descening nodes for target orbits from these contracts despite not having an upgraded tracking station.
Even without manuever nodes these are not all that hard, as now radial-in radial-out and normal/anti-normal vectors are displayed on the Navball. Easy money.
Unlocking flag planting and EVA in flight, on alien surfaces and in space.
New clones.
I am going to attempt to do all four on the next launch.
St. Proverbius-2, this time it is a one man ship, but designed to land on the Mun and plant that flag. Azira is flying it. But you ask, why a scientist? Am I crazy to launch this with no SAS? Well, this thing has a probe core stuck to it just to provide SAS. No longer there is a reason for scientists and engineers to
Once again the objectives are easier to access from a highly inclined orbit.
To make things harder the scans have to be done in low altitude. One down.
Final stage is at 50% fuel when I reach the last survey area. Time to land and hope Azira gets back.
Azira lands safely and plants the first RPG Codex Space Agency flag!
Got some pretty good money out of this mission. However Azir is on a polar trajectory and going low on fuel....
...still it is just barely more than enough to get back to Kerbin.
Just one level?
Yeah, one XP short of level 2.
I grab the tracking station upgrade, finally.
With manuever nodes available reaching Minmus and other planets shouldn't be too difficult. Once I update Kerbal Alarm Clock to a version that works and saves alarms in 0.90.
If all goes well I am just 3 launches short of upgrading the R&D center.
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What, my courageous but really stupid kerbal didn't die? Something's off, or you're getting better at this.. 
Hellraiser
Arcane
Chapter III
Tundra orbits in paradise
I have four contracts now, although I decided to do these in sets of two. First up the Tundra Orbit and LV-R test.
A tundra orbit is basically a high inclination orbit with a low apoapsis and high periapsis. The idea behind it is that a satelite stays in line of sight of a high latitude region, hence the name tundra orbit. Soviets were the first to use these IIRC, as these were better for communication than geostationary orbits for arctic areas.
What I need to do is launch the Kingcomrade-2 north when the KSC is more or less below the desired orbit.
I manage to get it close to the desired trajectory, as can bee seen by the fact that it's passing above the south pole, and test the engines.
Easy 200k, although of course if you are new to the game and/or orbital mechanics knowing how to achieve such an orbit easily is out of the question.
And what luck! Another tundra orbit satellite contract becomes available. This one around Duna.
400k for the whole deal. Since I have maneuver nodes and a working version of KAC that saves alarms, all I need is to wait for the launch window and try doing this along with the explore Duna and explore Ike contracts.
First however I need to take care of Minmus, if only because the Duna launch window is Kerbin months away.
Getting to Minmus with maneuver nodes unlocked was easy, even got a low altitude flyby. Problem was I did not place solar panels well enough and the Infinitron-4 probe went dead since it was facing away from the sun.
However all is not lost, the probe's panels will be facing the sun again in about half of a Kerbin year when Kerbin is on the opposite side of the sun. The question is whether the orbit is stable and a Mun encounter doesn't sligshot the probe into some inane escape trajectory before it gets power back.
Luckily that doesn't happen and the contracts have long deadlines. And I manage to get another Minmus encounter with some trajectory tinkering for a mere 41 m/s of delta-v.
Why do I even need 12 Kerbin years to do this? Even 3 would be overkill. I wish I had such generous deadlines at work...
Of course I remember to have it facing the sun, since the Duna launch window is coming up and I have another Infinitron series probe to launch.
The major changes in design between the 4 and 5 are of course a bigger carrier rocket, since I need more delta-v to get to Duna and into a silly tundra orbit. Also it features a parachute and better solar panel placement because I am a learning animal.
The 5 is safe on a course towards Duna, needs just one correction burn in a few months. The 4 reaches target orbit of Minmus getting me money.
I check back at the KSC after that contract is done and get even more Minmus contracts. One will require a manned landing, the rest can be done by the Infinitron-4 as it comes equipped with a thermometer.
Waypoints are scattered like hell, luckily minmus is the 3rd or 4th smallest celestial body (with actual gravity and SoI) in the game. These will be easier to do than the Mun survey waypoints.
I get reading in all 3 waypoints and land safely, although in the dark. Mission accomplished
937k space jewgold in the bank, not a whole lot more before I can upgrade R&D with that 1 million. I grab a visual survey of Minmus contract, time to do it and the flag planting.
St. Proverbius-3, I added two liquid fuel boosters, but I fear that I already have more than enough delta-v considering the second Proverbius did 3 Munar waypoints before landing. And now I have just 2, on minmus, which is only slightly harder to reach but easier for landing and survey.
Kashmir Slippers will do this round of flag planting.
So easy in fact that the transfer stage was still not fully drained when I was landing. Dumped it just before touchdown.
Everything is done, time to get back home and hopefully never visit Minmus again, on this save file. Once they add deep space mining for fuel production (one of the next two updates, as it and aerodynamics are at the top of the list of priority new features for before 1.0), or if you are using one of the mining mods, Minmus is great for a mining and refueling base for any reusable interplanetary motherships you might have. Bah, you can even land those on Minmus outright and gas her up.
Delta-v was definitely overkill for this mission.
Easy landing back on Kerbin.
Same XP as for a Mun mission, but Kashmir Slippers already had one XP so he hit level 2.
Upgrading the R&D. Just 100k left but with a probe already en-route to Duna my bank account will look less empty soon.
I unlock 5 new nodes with that 848 science I stockpiled between all the contract rewards and experiments. Really, there is no need to rush science parts now, contracts alone are a good enough source even without R&D outsourcing.
Now I have access to docking ports, more command pods, mainsails, extendable solar panels that track the Sun and ladders. Everything to mount a proper manned Duna expedition. With some in-orbit assembly, since the tonnage and size limit in the VAB will still be a bit limiting.
No new, good, contracts. I take "explore Eve". I need to reach more planets with probes so that more ambitious contracts for our codexnauts will spawn. I will probably upgrade mission control next to get more advanced and ambitious contract types.
Here's hoping some risky survey contract spawns for Duna after Infinitron-5 reaches it, maybe one requiring "creative solutions" for long range travel.
Tundra orbits in paradise
I have four contracts now, although I decided to do these in sets of two. First up the Tundra Orbit and LV-R test.
A tundra orbit is basically a high inclination orbit with a low apoapsis and high periapsis. The idea behind it is that a satelite stays in line of sight of a high latitude region, hence the name tundra orbit. Soviets were the first to use these IIRC, as these were better for communication than geostationary orbits for arctic areas.
What I need to do is launch the Kingcomrade-2 north when the KSC is more or less below the desired orbit.
I manage to get it close to the desired trajectory, as can bee seen by the fact that it's passing above the south pole, and test the engines.
Easy 200k, although of course if you are new to the game and/or orbital mechanics knowing how to achieve such an orbit easily is out of the question.
And what luck! Another tundra orbit satellite contract becomes available. This one around Duna.
400k for the whole deal. Since I have maneuver nodes and a working version of KAC that saves alarms, all I need is to wait for the launch window and try doing this along with the explore Duna and explore Ike contracts.
First however I need to take care of Minmus, if only because the Duna launch window is Kerbin months away.
Getting to Minmus with maneuver nodes unlocked was easy, even got a low altitude flyby. Problem was I did not place solar panels well enough and the Infinitron-4 probe went dead since it was facing away from the sun.
However all is not lost, the probe's panels will be facing the sun again in about half of a Kerbin year when Kerbin is on the opposite side of the sun. The question is whether the orbit is stable and a Mun encounter doesn't sligshot the probe into some inane escape trajectory before it gets power back.
Luckily that doesn't happen and the contracts have long deadlines. And I manage to get another Minmus encounter with some trajectory tinkering for a mere 41 m/s of delta-v.
Why do I even need 12 Kerbin years to do this? Even 3 would be overkill. I wish I had such generous deadlines at work...
Of course I remember to have it facing the sun, since the Duna launch window is coming up and I have another Infinitron series probe to launch.
The major changes in design between the 4 and 5 are of course a bigger carrier rocket, since I need more delta-v to get to Duna and into a silly tundra orbit. Also it features a parachute and better solar panel placement because I am a learning animal.
The 5 is safe on a course towards Duna, needs just one correction burn in a few months. The 4 reaches target orbit of Minmus getting me money.
I check back at the KSC after that contract is done and get even more Minmus contracts. One will require a manned landing, the rest can be done by the Infinitron-4 as it comes equipped with a thermometer.
Waypoints are scattered like hell, luckily minmus is the 3rd or 4th smallest celestial body (with actual gravity and SoI) in the game. These will be easier to do than the Mun survey waypoints.
I get reading in all 3 waypoints and land safely, although in the dark. Mission accomplished
937k space jewgold in the bank, not a whole lot more before I can upgrade R&D with that 1 million. I grab a visual survey of Minmus contract, time to do it and the flag planting.
St. Proverbius-3, I added two liquid fuel boosters, but I fear that I already have more than enough delta-v considering the second Proverbius did 3 Munar waypoints before landing. And now I have just 2, on minmus, which is only slightly harder to reach but easier for landing and survey.
Kashmir Slippers will do this round of flag planting.
So easy in fact that the transfer stage was still not fully drained when I was landing. Dumped it just before touchdown.
Everything is done, time to get back home and hopefully never visit Minmus again, on this save file. Once they add deep space mining for fuel production (one of the next two updates, as it and aerodynamics are at the top of the list of priority new features for before 1.0), or if you are using one of the mining mods, Minmus is great for a mining and refueling base for any reusable interplanetary motherships you might have. Bah, you can even land those on Minmus outright and gas her up.
Delta-v was definitely overkill for this mission.
Easy landing back on Kerbin.
Same XP as for a Mun mission, but Kashmir Slippers already had one XP so he hit level 2.
Upgrading the R&D. Just 100k left but with a probe already en-route to Duna my bank account will look less empty soon.
I unlock 5 new nodes with that 848 science I stockpiled between all the contract rewards and experiments. Really, there is no need to rush science parts now, contracts alone are a good enough source even without R&D outsourcing.
Now I have access to docking ports, more command pods, mainsails, extendable solar panels that track the Sun and ladders. Everything to mount a proper manned Duna expedition. With some in-orbit assembly, since the tonnage and size limit in the VAB will still be a bit limiting.
No new, good, contracts. I take "explore Eve". I need to reach more planets with probes so that more ambitious contracts for our codexnauts will spawn. I will probably upgrade mission control next to get more advanced and ambitious contract types.
Here's hoping some risky survey contract spawns for Duna after Infinitron-5 reaches it, maybe one requiring "creative solutions" for long range travel.
Hellraiser
Arcane
Chapter IV
Flight of theGolden Baby* Winged Examplar
*I can't believe I missed such an obvious grimoire-related joke when naming that ship.
Surface base contracts start appearing. That Eve one is actually pretty easy money, 1,3 million at that. Sadly it requires rover wheels and I do not have that tech yet. Then again maybe aircraft landing gear counts as wheels...
Shockingly, Minmus is in the nearly 700k reward range for a somewhat bigger facility.
Regardless of all that the Infinitron-6 arrives at Eve. Wait, you think, what happened to the infinitron-5 going to Duna? Kraken ate it, shit broke my save file, I managed to fix it but not without losing the probe. Count it as a non-developer implemented random event. Don't worry an Infinitron-7 will be launched.
Eve covered in a thick layer of clouds added by the visual mod I'm using. No way of telling where the probe will land.
Pea-soup atmo but quite magnificent.
And beneath all that is the fabulous ocean. Here's hoping splashdown doesn't kill the probe.
Yeah so apparently this is now called the explodium sea, new biomes and experiment text were added for every celestial body in 0.90. There is a very high chance this is the name of the resource which will be used to create rocket fuel in-situ in the next update. Yeah, they confirmed resources and aerodynamics rework can be expected for the next update. Though possibly one gets delayed by one update, but those two features are a priority.
Can't wait until they do that since refueling bases will make bases more useful and make me send less emergency tankers to Jool
600k for a Duna base. An utterly useless base, as science is not a problem. Either way I am taking this.
I unlock tech so that I can actually land a base on Duna. Well, I could with what I had before, but these will make things easier.
I launch Prosper's Duna Funhouse, it will sit in orbit waiting for the launch window.
A temperature survey contract appears. Pretty spread out but all but one of these waypoints can be done from orbit (IIRC).
Over 600k, taking this.
Infinitron-7 does not end up gobbled up by the Deep Space Kraken.
Tundra Orbit done.
Now aiming for the less convenient survey site.
Duna looks great in the morning/evening, when the red/orange of it's surface isn't garish to the point of retina-burning.
Explore Duna is done with this safe landing and one waypoint as well.
I take explore Jool and Gilly now, a Duna flag planting contract (that pays shit, but I am flying to Duna anyway so might as well take it) and a science data from space around Duna contract.
Simple test contract.
Easy and cheap to do with another Andhaira series rocket, I mostly did it for SCIENCE!
Infinitron-8 launches, destination: Jool.
I go back to R&D outsourcing.
This looks like simple fun.
Hardest part was landing it in water without destroying the part.
Who the hell needs orbital stations around the sun? Note that these do not require specific orbits, just parts.
Either way I take that and try launching the Solar Retardoland station on an escape out of Kerbin trajectory. First attempt fails.
Second goes better after I redesign the lifter. In hindsight I should have filled the station with 4 kerbals each named Drog. Or fretrider. Or chefe. Or knotalt.
I unlock some new stuff, Ion Engines, NTR engines and structural parts (I wanted to use them for something but changed my mind).
I need this, not just for science you see...
...I also need to level an engineer so that he can repack parachutes. I'll need that when going to and back from Duna.
I also need rover wheels.
And now an Engineer and Scientist board the Winged Exemplar. What is the Winged Exemplar?
A NTR-powered spaceplane for Duna. Unfortunately the whole carrier rocket+plane combo proved to be unstable. It kept pitching up and going out of control.
Still this lets me show off the main feature of the winged exemplar, VTOL capability. Though far from 100% risk-free, it is a bit unstable due to how fuel mass shifts in planes. A lot safer than pure plane landing for Duna though.
After 6 or so aborted but safely recovered launches I find the problem, CoM is too low compared to the center of lift.
After adding triple wings this issue is fixed.
It gets into orbit but the fuel tank is nearly dry and the plane itself may not have enough delta-v to get from LKO to Duna and back. I need to refuel the lifter core and use it for the transfer burn.
This is how I do it, with the Taluntain Autonomous Service Spacecraft.
It uses the Advanced Grabbing Unit (the Claw) to forcefully dock with vessels, regardless if they have a docking port or not. Then it inject fuel into the other spacecraft. The Rance method of spacecraft rescue.
First Taluntain is sent to refuel the funhouse.
Easier than standard docking since you just need to "hit" the other vessel with the armed claw. The claw can also be used to attach emergency engines or solar panels to ships, as it can pivot to balance the CoM. It is rather useful for rescue and repair craft, more so than for simply grabbing asteroids.
And now I know where the codexnauts will land on Duna, next to Dawton's surprise as this is a tightly clustered surface EVA survey mission. Rovers are best for these, so I will have to launch one and land it there.
A second Taluntain docks with the Winged Exemplar and refuels its lifter.
And the Infinitron-8 is finally on its long journey to Jool.
The Exemplar enters Duna on a polar aerocapture trajectory. That way it can survey those temperature sites more easily.
The Rover arrives as well.
And so does Prosper's Duna Funhouse.
Too much fucking orange.
And the landing legs are placed upside-down. How did I do that
Got the reward despite that though.
It took a while but the Exemplar nabs all 3 temperature survey waypoints.
I got enough science to unlock everything I can before the final R&D upgrade.
With no point in getting more science I decide for a new strategy, after I upgrade the administration building.
Get this. 25% science to reputation, 5% funds to reputation and 20,75% discount on all launches at the cost of 80-ish reutation per launch. Better than any science or rep to funds strategy. Only downside to this is that unlocking prototype also uses the discount so it also drains my rep, which is bad as rep gives me better contracts. Also this requires I launch as much in one go as possible.
RAPIER test.
A new Andhaira rocket does it.
Rover lands near the target, just had to drive a shot while.
Now to land the Exemplar.
Pity these are the midlands, doesn't fly as good at this altitude.
Also missed the site and overshot by 10km.
And the fucking ladders are upside down! I checked everything in the editor FFS! At least it landed safely.
The cargo bay of the Exemplar, all the science stuff, batteries, a 1x6 solar panel and fuel lines connecting the front fuel tank with the back one. Cargo bays have no fuel crossfeed, unfortunately.
This text is new and seems to appear randomly.
Tried driving the rover, decided 10 km is too far, might as well fly the plane there. Used a bit too much fuel, but there should be enough left for orbit and hopefully return.
The hilly terrain of the midlands is very hard for rovers.
One of the waypoints was pretty far from the other two, about 2-3km.
The return trip downhill was quite bumpy.
Ashery bails as the rover tumbles down hill. With no SAS it was hard to regain control.
I launch back into Duna orbit as all objectives are done and science is collected.
If my estimate is correct I have just enough delta-v to get back to Kerbin. If not these guys will get stuck in solar orbit.
Back at the KSC it is spawning contracts that require captured asteroids as part of the base.
I am taking this however, a Jool station which I will later put around Laythe will be useful.
Upgraded launchpad to max level.
Launched the Kodex Kosmic Krew-Space Station Mole Popper station into orbit.
My rep is now negative, because I prototyped a few parts and every discount on that hit my rep.
Gotta raise it with a simple Kerbin survey contract.
Crooked Bee-1 aerial probe/drone.
Tends to fly vertically, also works as a rover, you just need to lower the landing gear in the back. Useful as this contract features a surface survey location.
On top of which I land the Crooked Bee. The plane is quite unstable at low altitude due to oversteering.
Got rep.
Got back all the cash minus fuel burned in flight thanks to landing back at the KSC. Pretty good profit.
Jool shenanigans are up next, Laythe, Vall or Tylo are bound to kill or get someone stranded as usual. Once I get rep up, the probe to Jool and the contract generator spawns something good.
Flight of the
*I can't believe I missed such an obvious grimoire-related joke when naming that ship.
Surface base contracts start appearing. That Eve one is actually pretty easy money, 1,3 million at that. Sadly it requires rover wheels and I do not have that tech yet. Then again maybe aircraft landing gear counts as wheels...
Shockingly, Minmus is in the nearly 700k reward range for a somewhat bigger facility.
Regardless of all that the Infinitron-6 arrives at Eve. Wait, you think, what happened to the infinitron-5 going to Duna? Kraken ate it, shit broke my save file, I managed to fix it but not without losing the probe. Count it as a non-developer implemented random event. Don't worry an Infinitron-7 will be launched.
Eve covered in a thick layer of clouds added by the visual mod I'm using. No way of telling where the probe will land.
Pea-soup atmo but quite magnificent.
And beneath all that is the fabulous ocean. Here's hoping splashdown doesn't kill the probe.
Yeah so apparently this is now called the explodium sea, new biomes and experiment text were added for every celestial body in 0.90. There is a very high chance this is the name of the resource which will be used to create rocket fuel in-situ in the next update. Yeah, they confirmed resources and aerodynamics rework can be expected for the next update. Though possibly one gets delayed by one update, but those two features are a priority.
Can't wait until they do that since refueling bases will make bases more useful and make me send less emergency tankers to Jool
600k for a Duna base. An utterly useless base, as science is not a problem. Either way I am taking this.
I unlock tech so that I can actually land a base on Duna. Well, I could with what I had before, but these will make things easier.
I launch Prosper's Duna Funhouse, it will sit in orbit waiting for the launch window.
A temperature survey contract appears. Pretty spread out but all but one of these waypoints can be done from orbit (IIRC).
Over 600k, taking this.
Infinitron-7 does not end up gobbled up by the Deep Space Kraken.
Tundra Orbit done.
Now aiming for the less convenient survey site.
Duna looks great in the morning/evening, when the red/orange of it's surface isn't garish to the point of retina-burning.
Explore Duna is done with this safe landing and one waypoint as well.
I take explore Jool and Gilly now, a Duna flag planting contract (that pays shit, but I am flying to Duna anyway so might as well take it) and a science data from space around Duna contract.
Simple test contract.
Easy and cheap to do with another Andhaira series rocket, I mostly did it for SCIENCE!
Infinitron-8 launches, destination: Jool.
I go back to R&D outsourcing.
This looks like simple fun.
Hardest part was landing it in water without destroying the part.
Who the hell needs orbital stations around the sun? Note that these do not require specific orbits, just parts.
Either way I take that and try launching the Solar Retardoland station on an escape out of Kerbin trajectory. First attempt fails.
Second goes better after I redesign the lifter. In hindsight I should have filled the station with 4 kerbals each named Drog. Or fretrider. Or chefe. Or knotalt.
I unlock some new stuff, Ion Engines, NTR engines and structural parts (I wanted to use them for something but changed my mind).
I need this, not just for science you see...
...I also need to level an engineer so that he can repack parachutes. I'll need that when going to and back from Duna.
I also need rover wheels.
And now an Engineer and Scientist board the Winged Exemplar. What is the Winged Exemplar?
A NTR-powered spaceplane for Duna. Unfortunately the whole carrier rocket+plane combo proved to be unstable. It kept pitching up and going out of control.
Still this lets me show off the main feature of the winged exemplar, VTOL capability. Though far from 100% risk-free, it is a bit unstable due to how fuel mass shifts in planes. A lot safer than pure plane landing for Duna though.
After 6 or so aborted but safely recovered launches I find the problem, CoM is too low compared to the center of lift.
After adding triple wings this issue is fixed.
It gets into orbit but the fuel tank is nearly dry and the plane itself may not have enough delta-v to get from LKO to Duna and back. I need to refuel the lifter core and use it for the transfer burn.
This is how I do it, with the Taluntain Autonomous Service Spacecraft.
It uses the Advanced Grabbing Unit (the Claw) to forcefully dock with vessels, regardless if they have a docking port or not. Then it inject fuel into the other spacecraft. The Rance method of spacecraft rescue.
First Taluntain is sent to refuel the funhouse.
Easier than standard docking since you just need to "hit" the other vessel with the armed claw. The claw can also be used to attach emergency engines or solar panels to ships, as it can pivot to balance the CoM. It is rather useful for rescue and repair craft, more so than for simply grabbing asteroids.
And now I know where the codexnauts will land on Duna, next to Dawton's surprise as this is a tightly clustered surface EVA survey mission. Rovers are best for these, so I will have to launch one and land it there.
A second Taluntain docks with the Winged Exemplar and refuels its lifter.
And the Infinitron-8 is finally on its long journey to Jool.
The Exemplar enters Duna on a polar aerocapture trajectory. That way it can survey those temperature sites more easily.
The Rover arrives as well.
And so does Prosper's Duna Funhouse.
Too much fucking orange.
And the landing legs are placed upside-down. How did I do that
Got the reward despite that though.
It took a while but the Exemplar nabs all 3 temperature survey waypoints.
I got enough science to unlock everything I can before the final R&D upgrade.
With no point in getting more science I decide for a new strategy, after I upgrade the administration building.
Get this. 25% science to reputation, 5% funds to reputation and 20,75% discount on all launches at the cost of 80-ish reutation per launch. Better than any science or rep to funds strategy. Only downside to this is that unlocking prototype also uses the discount so it also drains my rep, which is bad as rep gives me better contracts. Also this requires I launch as much in one go as possible.
RAPIER test.
A new Andhaira rocket does it.
Rover lands near the target, just had to drive a shot while.
Now to land the Exemplar.
Pity these are the midlands, doesn't fly as good at this altitude.
Also missed the site and overshot by 10km.
And the fucking ladders are upside down! I checked everything in the editor FFS! At least it landed safely.
The cargo bay of the Exemplar, all the science stuff, batteries, a 1x6 solar panel and fuel lines connecting the front fuel tank with the back one. Cargo bays have no fuel crossfeed, unfortunately.
This text is new and seems to appear randomly.
Tried driving the rover, decided 10 km is too far, might as well fly the plane there. Used a bit too much fuel, but there should be enough left for orbit and hopefully return.
The hilly terrain of the midlands is very hard for rovers.
One of the waypoints was pretty far from the other two, about 2-3km.
The return trip downhill was quite bumpy.
Ashery bails as the rover tumbles down hill. With no SAS it was hard to regain control.
I launch back into Duna orbit as all objectives are done and science is collected.
If my estimate is correct I have just enough delta-v to get back to Kerbin. If not these guys will get stuck in solar orbit.
Back at the KSC it is spawning contracts that require captured asteroids as part of the base.
I am taking this however, a Jool station which I will later put around Laythe will be useful.
Upgraded launchpad to max level.
Launched the Kodex Kosmic Krew-Space Station Mole Popper station into orbit.
My rep is now negative, because I prototyped a few parts and every discount on that hit my rep.
Gotta raise it with a simple Kerbin survey contract.
Crooked Bee-1 aerial probe/drone.
Tends to fly vertically, also works as a rover, you just need to lower the landing gear in the back. Useful as this contract features a surface survey location.
On top of which I land the Crooked Bee. The plane is quite unstable at low altitude due to oversteering.
Got rep.
Got back all the cash minus fuel burned in flight thanks to landing back at the KSC. Pretty good profit.
Jool shenanigans are up next, Laythe, Vall or Tylo are bound to kill or get someone stranded as usual. Once I get rep up, the probe to Jool and the contract generator spawns something good.
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Photobucket gone bad on you?
Hellraiser
Arcane
Not sure what the problem is. Trying to fix it.
EDIT: Photobucket has gone full retard, direct image links redirect to the whole page on photobucket with the imagerather than just to the image file itself. Something about no permission.
Will fix in the morning, too tired.
EDIT: Photobucket has gone full retard, direct image links redirect to the whole page on photobucket with the imagerather than just to the image file itself. Something about no permission.
Will fix in the morning, too tired.
Hellraiser
Arcane
Fixed it now, notepad replace feature added an extra 0 to the file numbers.
Hellraiser
Arcane
Holy shit, I need a new page. Unless you don't mind 53 megabytes of screenshots. What? You thought I abandoned this shit?
Also I figure hard will be less grindy once in-situ fuel production gets added. Unless it gets unlocked with the final tier of node after the 6 million R&D upgrade.
Also I figure hard will be less grindy once in-situ fuel production gets added. Unless it gets unlocked with the final tier of node after the 6 million R&D upgrade.
Kashmir Slippers
Magister
Bump
dextermorgan
Arcane
Bumping for the greater good.
Hellraiser
Arcane
Chapter V
Achtung, Gasriesen!
Between waiting for the return to Kerbin launch window I grind some cash thanks to "solar orbit station" contract. I have no idea why I didn't name these Surf Solar Stations at the time, but Solar Retardoland captures the sense of launching space stations into solar orbit quite well.
Honestly, these contract make little sense. And they're pretty effortless, all you need to do is get into orbit and reach escape velocity.
To get more spacejew gold I grab a ton of contracts I can do around Eve, well mostly on Gilly. The Infintron-9 will do all 4 contracts.
These survey locations are pretty scattered but Gilly is basically and over-sized space potato with nearly no gravity. I actually kind of wish there would be harpoons in the vanilla game because landing on Gilly would be so much more comfortable with those.
The third Solar Retardoland station (the game just loved giving me those contracts) ended up ridiculously short of escape velocity due to a botched gravity turn or something. I was hoping a Mun encounter would slingshot it on an escape trajectory, instead one shot it right into Kerbin.
Still made a profit, I think.
Infinitron-9 arrives at Eve using aerocapture.
Only to end up stuck in Eve orbit because the OKTO2 probe core has no reaction wheels (it is slim for a reason it seems), making it impossible to steer it.
Infinitron-8 reaches Jool, doesn't do much there just finish the explore Jool contract. Oh, and ends up getting stuck in a silly orbit around Jool that takes a Kerbin year to complete.
Taking more Jool contracts in preparation for the planned expedition.
First thing I need to level up these guys before the Jool launch window, so that they actually do stuff once around Jool or probably Laythe. Cheap spaceplane to the rescue.
As if I didn't know this could happen with so much lift at the top. I detach them and land the thing safely.
Luckily I get around it by simply mounting the SRBs so that the center of mass is close to the center of lift. Problem solved.
Bad news, it kind of fell apart during landing, also it only went suborbital so just 1 XP not 2. Good news, they all live and most of the parts can be recovered. Also did the piss easy "science in space around Kerbin" contract.
Next flight had no contract but I got into orbit and back. Level up!
And now it is time to launch the Jaesun.
Called o becaue the Jaesun resembles a long, slick, fabulous space serpent/snake. Also it comes equipped with a Roland synthesizer.
Honestly the flat, slim shape kind of resembles a snake.
I also launched a Taluntain-2 Solar Rescue Vehicle, basically a Taluntain-1 with a LV-N for a main engines and a slightly more powerful carrier rocket. It prepares to inject itself on a solar rendezvous trajectory with the Winged Exemplar it is supposed to refuel. Honestly, getting as close as 34 km with a burn from this distance is insane.
I dust off the Crooked Bee-1 for another survey contract to boost my reputation.
Also grind some cash due to all these fucking "science from space around eve" contracts. Honestly, I got like 6 or so since it arrived. I also got some Duna ones that the Winged Exemplar did. The infinitron-9 is kind of useful, despite being stuck there, because at least its orbit has a low periapsis where I can use the thermometer. People are complaining about the spamability of these contracts but TBH considering how often I get them and how much they give (not that much really) they're not that bad.
This took fucking long, but I managed to finish then rendezvous.
I am not sure if sticking a giant claw into the cockpit is 100% safe but at least it refuels the craft.
The infinitron-10, like the 9, is a rover with an ion engine. Although in hindsight the rover parts proved to be utterly useless as I only did hops using the ion engine. Eve is great for ion engines since you get double sunlight and thus double solar power so less mass for batteries and panels is needed.
I get all Gilly contracts and finish by getting into that Eve orbit.
Apart from two lucky, or unlucky, Kerbin-bound codexnauts, most of the bros are in deep space.
The KKK-SS Mole Popper does a Laythe flyby, before performing aerocapture in Jool's atmo, thus taking Laythe's virginity. Which means no explore Laythe contract as we can't touch it before we get it. Honestly, it spawns last of all Explore moon of Jool contracts, while it is probably the easiest one to reach, if you know what you are doing.
Dip into atmo, the gees are pretty manageable. I figure that regular heatshields would survive this,
This looks like a job for a robotic plane, unless I also get a flag planting or surface survey contract.
In any case the Jaesun is at Jool.
The thing is shaped like it was made to thrust deeply and fabulously into atmo.
You were probably wondering why the hell is this so long and what the hell do I want to do with this? Well, here is the Konjad Scout Vehicle. And a small refueling module for the Mole Popper station so that the Konjad can refuel xenon between flights to Bop, Pol or manned orbital surveys of Jool.
Back on Kerbin, a robotic plane crashes. Well, bees tend to fly vertically after all.
Finally, after 100k or so down the drain on testing, the Crooked Bee-2 is ready to be sent to Laythe. It is a definite upgrade to the first Crooked Bee, not just bigger, but also faster, with a higher altitude ceiling and ridiculous range thanks to a better turbojet engine.
I am wondering if launching to Eeloo from Jool is a good idea. In theory refueling at Jool makes sense, problem is that Jools orbital period is about 4 earth years which is 12 kerbin years. Depending on the phase angle that could mean a lot of waiting.
Ulminati II gets to Bop where there is a goldmine to be made from my current contracts. Only 1 km/s of delta-v is need, I have more than enough xenon!
Or not, this thing really needed more solar panels. Burned too slow, too late and ran out of xenon. Honestly, those two puny panels things for twin ion egines? What was I thinking?!
The good news is that at least the current orbit around Jool goes nowhere bear Tylo or any of the other larger moons. Another encounter with Bop is about as likely as me winning the first prize in a lottery. So this orbit is pretty stable, which means an in-orbit upgrade is possible.
An upgrade with this. A good old atomic engine, two gigantor solar panels plus more xenon tanks. This thing can be used to refuel the Konjad even after the liquid fuel is spent.
I launch the Konjad Atomic Expansion Pack.
I also got a Minmus Surface base contract, which I botch 3 times.
Prompting me to cancel it.
Another solar station contract!
Guess what finally gets back to Kerbin?
Kerbin's atmo at 10km is about as thick as Duna's at "sea" level. Which means the LV-N performs prety efficiently at this altitude. Which is good as the Exemplar may be forced to land in the water and I want to get it to land on dry land.
Luckily this thing can glide! I left a critical reserve of fuel in case of a water landing to use the VTOL engines, if needed. Those hills look nasty
Luckily I didn't. Safe landing despite the hills, though I did have to do some rapid turn looking for flat land. Luckily this thing glides real well, especially with nearly empty fuel tanks.
Lots of exp.
The Mole Popper is safely injected into a low Laythe Orbit. The Jaesun also joins it around Laythe, but in a more eliptical high-to-low orbit.
Collecting more Bop contracts, all-in baby!
The second Crooked Bee, it also features another set of solar panels that was supposed to be attached to the Konjad.
Aerocapture at Laythe, not this thing should burn up, this wobbling looked rather disturbing.
While it didn't break apart I dipped too low. Which meant an emergency deployment of the exploration drone.
The Crooked Bee-2 is capable of going sub-orbital, as seen here while going from the first waypoint to the second, though it was overkill...
...as before I could turn around to the last waypoint it was already on the day side of Laythe.
Though I have to admit, this is one solid jet design, very stable and can turn 180 in mid-air to face retrograde without spinning out of control.
Contract done.
But the plane is still over the ocean, or rather the Sagen Sea. Considering Eve's explodium sea and the upcoming resource update, it could be the name of the stuff Laythe's ocean is made out of. Or a Carl Sagan reference. Or both.
Luckily the nearest island was maybe 50-ish kilometers to the west. I go for a landing on some dunes.
And safely landed. If any more survey contracts it can do pop-up (not sure if they do if there is a craft already on the surface) I will be able to re-use it, got at least 2/3 of the fuel left and this thing can fly anywhere.
Dres, might as well probe it. Though I hate that place, it is about as obnoxiously hard to hit its SoI as it is with Moho's. Some people like using it for kethane mining as a refueling base. It's not bad I guess, low gravity and all. Not a long orbital period when compared to Jool. Though I think aerocapture around Duna with a refinery on Ike is a better choice.
I actually managed to get there and back once, on the old Jakkan LP save file. The final update I never posted dealt with that. Basically the first attempt ended with the Amaterasu-4 or something mothership sling-shotting past it and retuning to Kerbin.
A one objective survey contract, this is new. I mean honestly, it could have generated a EVA crew report objective in addition to that. Anyway that's where I'm landing on Laythe.
I think I see why just one, probably the other ones spawned on water so the algorithm cut them rather than re-roll. The good news is that it is close to the equator, the bad news is that the island is very thin and the target area is on the beach.
I have too many fucking contracts taken, this is the last one it wants to generate. Looks like I'll be landing a base next to that survey waypoint.
Actually it spawned more contracts. Orbital base around Jool, well, Laythe Lyric Suite Lounge will fill that contract before being dropped on Laythe.
Infinitron-11, going to Dres.
And the third stage gets murdered by the detaching second stage. But I manage to get into orbit using the LV-N, oddly enough it still has enough delta-v to get to Dres and hopefully into orbit around it.
Laythe Lyric Suite Lounge launches during the Jool launch window.
Ulminati II prepares to dock with the Konjad expansion pack, after being stuck in space for very long.
TBH this is how this thing should have looked in the first place. LV-N mothership/transfer/refueling stage, ion engine lander with gigantor panels. Perfect combo for cheap Pol+Bop exploration, then it could rendezvous at Laythe with a return ship or with a refueling station around Vall (theorycrafting).
Unfortunately I fucked up and it is impossible to dock back with the expansion pack if I detach the solar panel module. Because I didn't add a second docking port but connect one to a decoupler.
So I will land it on the LV-N. Also this seems to be a Deep Space Kraken reference.
Well, I landed on a slope. Actually Ulminati II did
Like the water on Duna experiment result this one also seem to be a rare one chosen randomly sometimes over the regular one. Also Kraken egg? Or xenomorphs.
This flag is strangely accurate at this moment
I leave Konjad Slope (of doom) and fly elsewhere to finish the contract. Luckily enabling the reaction wheels on the cockpit (disabled them as combined with the docking ports and second reaction wheel set they produced dreadful wobble) I managed to force the expanded Konjad into standing straight up.
That's it for now. I need to do one more waypoint for the seismic survey and all waypoints for some two other Bop contracts. Though I should have enough cash to upgrade to R&D now, since flag planting on Bop and Explore Bop are done. But I'll do that in the next update.
Laythe is next, with the last R&D facility level built I will be able to build a proper RAPIER-using SSTO spaceplane for it. I just wish I got some proper contracts for it. Same goes for Vall or Tylo. And I'll need to do something about those 2 Jool survey contracts.
Achtung, Gasriesen!
Between waiting for the return to Kerbin launch window I grind some cash thanks to "solar orbit station" contract. I have no idea why I didn't name these Surf Solar Stations at the time, but Solar Retardoland captures the sense of launching space stations into solar orbit quite well.
Honestly, these contract make little sense. And they're pretty effortless, all you need to do is get into orbit and reach escape velocity.
To get more spacejew gold I grab a ton of contracts I can do around Eve, well mostly on Gilly. The Infintron-9 will do all 4 contracts.
These survey locations are pretty scattered but Gilly is basically and over-sized space potato with nearly no gravity. I actually kind of wish there would be harpoons in the vanilla game because landing on Gilly would be so much more comfortable with those.
The third Solar Retardoland station (the game just loved giving me those contracts) ended up ridiculously short of escape velocity due to a botched gravity turn or something. I was hoping a Mun encounter would slingshot it on an escape trajectory, instead one shot it right into Kerbin.
Still made a profit, I think.
Infinitron-9 arrives at Eve using aerocapture.
Only to end up stuck in Eve orbit because the OKTO2 probe core has no reaction wheels (it is slim for a reason it seems), making it impossible to steer it.
Infinitron-8 reaches Jool, doesn't do much there just finish the explore Jool contract. Oh, and ends up getting stuck in a silly orbit around Jool that takes a Kerbin year to complete.
Taking more Jool contracts in preparation for the planned expedition.
First thing I need to level up these guys before the Jool launch window, so that they actually do stuff once around Jool or probably Laythe. Cheap spaceplane to the rescue.
As if I didn't know this could happen with so much lift at the top. I detach them and land the thing safely.
Luckily I get around it by simply mounting the SRBs so that the center of mass is close to the center of lift. Problem solved.
Bad news, it kind of fell apart during landing, also it only went suborbital so just 1 XP not 2. Good news, they all live and most of the parts can be recovered. Also did the piss easy "science in space around Kerbin" contract.
Next flight had no contract but I got into orbit and back. Level up!
And now it is time to launch the Jaesun.
Called o becaue the Jaesun resembles a long, slick, fabulous space serpent/snake. Also it comes equipped with a Roland synthesizer.
Honestly the flat, slim shape kind of resembles a snake.
I also launched a Taluntain-2 Solar Rescue Vehicle, basically a Taluntain-1 with a LV-N for a main engines and a slightly more powerful carrier rocket. It prepares to inject itself on a solar rendezvous trajectory with the Winged Exemplar it is supposed to refuel. Honestly, getting as close as 34 km with a burn from this distance is insane.
I dust off the Crooked Bee-1 for another survey contract to boost my reputation.
Also grind some cash due to all these fucking "science from space around eve" contracts. Honestly, I got like 6 or so since it arrived. I also got some Duna ones that the Winged Exemplar did. The infinitron-9 is kind of useful, despite being stuck there, because at least its orbit has a low periapsis where I can use the thermometer. People are complaining about the spamability of these contracts but TBH considering how often I get them and how much they give (not that much really) they're not that bad.
This took fucking long, but I managed to finish then rendezvous.
I am not sure if sticking a giant claw into the cockpit is 100% safe but at least it refuels the craft.
The infinitron-10, like the 9, is a rover with an ion engine. Although in hindsight the rover parts proved to be utterly useless as I only did hops using the ion engine. Eve is great for ion engines since you get double sunlight and thus double solar power so less mass for batteries and panels is needed.
I get all Gilly contracts and finish by getting into that Eve orbit.
Apart from two lucky, or unlucky, Kerbin-bound codexnauts, most of the bros are in deep space.
The KKK-SS Mole Popper does a Laythe flyby, before performing aerocapture in Jool's atmo, thus taking Laythe's virginity. Which means no explore Laythe contract as we can't touch it before we get it. Honestly, it spawns last of all Explore moon of Jool contracts, while it is probably the easiest one to reach, if you know what you are doing.
Dip into atmo, the gees are pretty manageable. I figure that regular heatshields would survive this,
This looks like a job for a robotic plane, unless I also get a flag planting or surface survey contract.
In any case the Jaesun is at Jool.
The thing is shaped like it was made to thrust deeply and fabulously into atmo.
You were probably wondering why the hell is this so long and what the hell do I want to do with this? Well, here is the Konjad Scout Vehicle. And a small refueling module for the Mole Popper station so that the Konjad can refuel xenon between flights to Bop, Pol or manned orbital surveys of Jool.
Back on Kerbin, a robotic plane crashes. Well, bees tend to fly vertically after all.
Finally, after 100k or so down the drain on testing, the Crooked Bee-2 is ready to be sent to Laythe. It is a definite upgrade to the first Crooked Bee, not just bigger, but also faster, with a higher altitude ceiling and ridiculous range thanks to a better turbojet engine.
I am wondering if launching to Eeloo from Jool is a good idea. In theory refueling at Jool makes sense, problem is that Jools orbital period is about 4 earth years which is 12 kerbin years. Depending on the phase angle that could mean a lot of waiting.
Ulminati II gets to Bop where there is a goldmine to be made from my current contracts. Only 1 km/s of delta-v is need, I have more than enough xenon!
Or not, this thing really needed more solar panels. Burned too slow, too late and ran out of xenon. Honestly, those two puny panels things for twin ion egines? What was I thinking?!
The good news is that at least the current orbit around Jool goes nowhere bear Tylo or any of the other larger moons. Another encounter with Bop is about as likely as me winning the first prize in a lottery. So this orbit is pretty stable, which means an in-orbit upgrade is possible.
An upgrade with this. A good old atomic engine, two gigantor solar panels plus more xenon tanks. This thing can be used to refuel the Konjad even after the liquid fuel is spent.
I launch the Konjad Atomic Expansion Pack.
I also got a Minmus Surface base contract, which I botch 3 times.
Prompting me to cancel it.
Another solar station contract!
Guess what finally gets back to Kerbin?
Kerbin's atmo at 10km is about as thick as Duna's at "sea" level. Which means the LV-N performs prety efficiently at this altitude. Which is good as the Exemplar may be forced to land in the water and I want to get it to land on dry land.
Luckily this thing can glide! I left a critical reserve of fuel in case of a water landing to use the VTOL engines, if needed. Those hills look nasty
Luckily I didn't. Safe landing despite the hills, though I did have to do some rapid turn looking for flat land. Luckily this thing glides real well, especially with nearly empty fuel tanks.
Lots of exp.
The Mole Popper is safely injected into a low Laythe Orbit. The Jaesun also joins it around Laythe, but in a more eliptical high-to-low orbit.
Collecting more Bop contracts, all-in baby!
The second Crooked Bee, it also features another set of solar panels that was supposed to be attached to the Konjad.
Aerocapture at Laythe, not this thing should burn up, this wobbling looked rather disturbing.
While it didn't break apart I dipped too low. Which meant an emergency deployment of the exploration drone.
The Crooked Bee-2 is capable of going sub-orbital, as seen here while going from the first waypoint to the second, though it was overkill...
...as before I could turn around to the last waypoint it was already on the day side of Laythe.
Though I have to admit, this is one solid jet design, very stable and can turn 180 in mid-air to face retrograde without spinning out of control.
Contract done.
But the plane is still over the ocean, or rather the Sagen Sea. Considering Eve's explodium sea and the upcoming resource update, it could be the name of the stuff Laythe's ocean is made out of. Or a Carl Sagan reference. Or both.
Luckily the nearest island was maybe 50-ish kilometers to the west. I go for a landing on some dunes.
And safely landed. If any more survey contracts it can do pop-up (not sure if they do if there is a craft already on the surface) I will be able to re-use it, got at least 2/3 of the fuel left and this thing can fly anywhere.
Dres, might as well probe it. Though I hate that place, it is about as obnoxiously hard to hit its SoI as it is with Moho's. Some people like using it for kethane mining as a refueling base. It's not bad I guess, low gravity and all. Not a long orbital period when compared to Jool. Though I think aerocapture around Duna with a refinery on Ike is a better choice.
I actually managed to get there and back once, on the old Jakkan LP save file. The final update I never posted dealt with that. Basically the first attempt ended with the Amaterasu-4 or something mothership sling-shotting past it and retuning to Kerbin.
A one objective survey contract, this is new. I mean honestly, it could have generated a EVA crew report objective in addition to that. Anyway that's where I'm landing on Laythe.
I think I see why just one, probably the other ones spawned on water so the algorithm cut them rather than re-roll. The good news is that it is close to the equator, the bad news is that the island is very thin and the target area is on the beach.
I have too many fucking contracts taken, this is the last one it wants to generate. Looks like I'll be landing a base next to that survey waypoint.
Actually it spawned more contracts. Orbital base around Jool, well, Laythe Lyric Suite Lounge will fill that contract before being dropped on Laythe.
Infinitron-11, going to Dres.
And the third stage gets murdered by the detaching second stage. But I manage to get into orbit using the LV-N, oddly enough it still has enough delta-v to get to Dres and hopefully into orbit around it.
Laythe Lyric Suite Lounge launches during the Jool launch window.
Ulminati II prepares to dock with the Konjad expansion pack, after being stuck in space for very long.
TBH this is how this thing should have looked in the first place. LV-N mothership/transfer/refueling stage, ion engine lander with gigantor panels. Perfect combo for cheap Pol+Bop exploration, then it could rendezvous at Laythe with a return ship or with a refueling station around Vall (theorycrafting).
Unfortunately I fucked up and it is impossible to dock back with the expansion pack if I detach the solar panel module. Because I didn't add a second docking port but connect one to a decoupler.
So I will land it on the LV-N. Also this seems to be a Deep Space Kraken reference.
Well, I landed on a slope. Actually Ulminati II did
Like the water on Duna experiment result this one also seem to be a rare one chosen randomly sometimes over the regular one. Also Kraken egg? Or xenomorphs.
This flag is strangely accurate at this moment
I leave Konjad Slope (of doom) and fly elsewhere to finish the contract. Luckily enabling the reaction wheels on the cockpit (disabled them as combined with the docking ports and second reaction wheel set they produced dreadful wobble) I managed to force the expanded Konjad into standing straight up.
That's it for now. I need to do one more waypoint for the seismic survey and all waypoints for some two other Bop contracts. Though I should have enough cash to upgrade to R&D now, since flag planting on Bop and Explore Bop are done. But I'll do that in the next update.
Laythe is next, with the last R&D facility level built I will be able to build a proper RAPIER-using SSTO spaceplane for it. I just wish I got some proper contracts for it. Same goes for Vall or Tylo. And I'll need to do something about those 2 Jool survey contracts.
Hellraiser
Arcane
More fresh meat! Good, I kind of need a few more bros as most are otherwise tied up and I can't clone them before they die (unwritten LP rules forbid that
).Oh, and believe me, the game just has a fairly steep learning curve, because rocket science. Half of it is knowing how to space travel in real life, the other half is what you can do with all the parts you get in the game. You basically go into cycles of failure due to ignorance>eureka moment and success>new challenge and new failures due to ignorance. I recommend getting Kerbal Engineer or whatever mod shows you delta-v in the editors and looking at a delta-v map for the game. That will help in learning how to build rockets and plan missions. I don't use it because I can guesstimate it most of the time at this point, but arguably it should be core game functionality.
Just fucking around with the delta-v calculator and adding random tank+engine combinations teaches you a lot about how to build rockets.
Then again I have been playing this for over 2 years. Jesus, time flies. Which reminds me, they haven't added a single new celestial body in two fucking years. They teased Gas Planet 2 at Kerbalkon 2 years ago and it still remains mothballed. Though without new endgame futuristic engines (VASIMR? Fusion?) or deep space refueling it might be a bitch to reach anything even further away than Jool.
omega21
Arcane
The nitty-gritty of space travel is fucking unintuitive to a land-ape like me to be honest. I picked it up again recently after playing when it first came out, glad that they added a tutorial.
MechJeb also helps
May I join the Codex kerbalnaut corps as well?
MechJeb also helps
May I join the Codex kerbalnaut corps as well?
Hellraiser
Arcane
Bump this shit. I have nearly 85 megabytes of images ready, expect the update once I write it. Possibly today, or worst case scenario, in the middle of the week.
FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME!
Middle of the week... such as... thursday?
Kashmir Slippers
Magister
Bump
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