Calistas, thanks for the screenshot. I actually came up with something along those lines late last night (you can see the bottom part of it in my screenshot above). It's certainly not as elegant as yours (I like the 3 boosters up top) though. On the nuclear engine - is that in the base game? I don't remember seeing it...but there are so many parts it's tough to know them all after only a day or two.
What is this detach mechanism that you speak of? Also, is there anyway to reattach a rover to the lander so you can take it with you when you leave? Also, how do you set up a rover to work with remote control? I can only get them to work with Kerbonauts inside? Bonus question: When you quote someone else's post, and there is an image as an attachment, how do you get the image to show in, instead of just seeing a line that says, show attachment?
All I did there was to put the smallest stack decoupler on the end of the smallest truss. That's what I meant by "detach mechanism" As for reattaching, there's a new mod with a cable hoist that would do what you're talking about but I haven't tried it yet. The other thing I can think of is if you put a clamp-o-tron jr on the front of your rover then drove it up to, say, a ground level truss with a clamp-o-tron I guess you could try to dock them? I've been able to use the small "bobcat" rover with either a 1 meter remote tech disc or the antenna remote control.
In our continuing endeavor to land on all the things, we inevitably must land on Dres as well. A boring desolate world with no moons and no funny colors. So boring in fact, that even out top Kerbards (that's a thing) are unable to weave an amusing tale out of this journey. So here is a picture of our approach instead. Look how small the sun is getting from way out here. And some exciting news after all. Our top scientists have managed to build a ladder that reaches the ground. That is why they get paid (Kerbards don't)
Some Kerbals tried to fly to Eeloo, the outermost planet in the Kerbol system. Sadly (?) they ran out of fuel along the way and now float around hopelessly in interstellar space.
Well I'm ready to give up on orbital construction. The docking ports just do not create a stable enough link (they're really not designed for holding a ship together) and the docking strut mod is way more trouble than it's worth. It just ruined an hour or so worth of careful docking maneuvers when it sent half my ship flying off in some strange tumble.
Some people connect two or three ports at once, but it is probably tricky to get perfect. Does make for a strong structure. There are two docking strut mods on Spaceport. Neither much good?
Interesting about the multi docking ports. As for the other strut mod I assume you mean the "quantum" one which I kind of refuse to use. :)
Interesting...I couldn't actually find more than one on SpacePort...can you link to both of them by any chance? I'm probably failing at internet :(
Protip time! I didn't know this but if you Alt-right click on one tank then another you get the option to transfer fuel! This is awesome if you don't design your ships perfectly and you find that you have some fuel in some jettisonable tanks that you wish was in your main tank.
Spoof, you have seen the quantum struts, right? How about this one? http://kerbalspaceport.com/docking-strut-2/
That's the one I have. In some cases it doesn't really behave how you would expect. I tried to attach it to the small truss and then when I would try to link it to things it went haywire and it literally tore my craft apart with insane supernatural forces :) Here's my newest design using only docking ports: I think the docking struts are promising but I just don't have the technique down yet. At the very least you probably have to attach them directly to a tank or something strong.
"What does it mean to be stranded?" A wise old Kerbal once asked no one in particular. "If I climb to the top of my house, and have no way to get down, am I stranded then, while I can still smell the Kerbal stew brewing on the hearth?" These words of wisdom (well, words anyway) have been one of the two guiding principles driving the Kerbal Space Program forward. The other being something about building ladders that reach the ground. And since the ladder thing has been resolved, the time has come to resolve that other thing. Today we embark on a grand journey, to strand Kerbals as far away from Kearth as they can be stranded. And in the current version of the universe, the farthest place from Kearth is Eeloo. Many attempts were made. Some ended with the Kerbonauts floating around helplessly in interstellar space with no fuel left at all. Actually that was the only other attempt. What will happen this time? Here we are approaching Eeloo. Looks cold out there. Landing on Eeloo. Look how tiny and far away the sun is from here. We really are stranded far from home. What's that mounted beneath the lander module? It's a rover! We may be stranded here but at least we can drive around in style. (Shhh! down tell them we forgot to add any means of recharging the rover. Enjoy it while you can Kerbonauts!)
Now they can recreate their favorite episodes of Kerbonaut Top Gear, with Jebidiah Clarkson! And then die alone and unmourned in the cold void of space, millions of miles away from their friends and loved ones, choking out their final breaths in overwhelming and oppressive silence, and becoming still, as all things eventually must. So, you know. Just like Jeremy Clarkson!
Because a like isn't enough, I just wanted to say that I loved that entire update, and the screens are amazing. The tininess of the Kerbal sun there with the lonely ship, and then the lit up lander and rover with their tiny lights in the vast darkness. So awesome, and more so because I know that it took some work to get there (I have yet to orbit reliably :P). Also, <3 this entire thread.
Well despite the release of the NovaPunch mod for .18.2 I can't say that I'm too enthusiastic about it. It's almost overwhelming...there's so many parts and so many options that it strains the game's capacity to keep them organized. I especially don't like the fairings which seem to have been eclipsed by the KW rocketry pack in terms of usefulness and reliability. There are some parts in there that are very cool but they're almost buried beneath all the cruft.
Yeah I took the opportunity to completely wipe all mods with 0.18.2 and see how far I can get with stock parts. It's the problem of all mods: the modders add what they want, not necessarily what's best for the game.
Kerbal children: Oh Jool in the crown of the starlit sky desire of those who yearn to fly to land beside your emerald shores and you are mine and I am yours Jool: Oh Kerbal children hear my voice come to me you have no choice my embrace shall hold you tight to sleep in my eternal night -Ancient Kerbal poem Jool and her many mysterious moons are all that remain. The rest of the planets and moons all have Kerbals stranded on them. There is an ancient legend passed down from generation to generation, or maybe it's a prophecy painted before a millennium on the walls of a forgotten temple, or maybe it's just something we made up last week. Well whatever it is, it tells us to go to Jool. And get our Kerbonauts stranded on her mysterious moons. And then they will establish advanced civilizations and return to Kearth and teach us how to build good ladders and then we shall ascend to the the heavens. Since there is a lot going on around Jool, we decide to send two interplanetary vessels on the condition that they don't both get stranded on the same world. Because three Kerbals are stranded and six Kerbals are three Kerbals too many to be considered stranded. That is what our philosophers tell us. (Don't worry, they don't get paid as much as the ladder scientists who work on building ladders). And now for dramatic effect, we are sending them two weeks apart. (But don't worry. two weeks in Kerbal time that is like, maybe two days in Broken Forum time). And after floating around for a year we got so bored we wished we could just press a warp time button and speed up the passage of time. But then we saw her. Glowing green like the blushed cheeks of a young Kerbal bride, with twinkling and glittering moons like the shy eyes of a young Kerbal girl, dancing and swaying like the enchanting hips of an irresistible Kerbal temptress, and gigantic like a really fat Kerbal who is just gorging himself on Kerbal stew day and night until he his bloated and gigantic and just so fat and huge and and .... anyway we saw Jool. And as we stared across the void into her swirling midst, she stared into our souls. And we were hers forever. No just kidding. That is not exactly what happened but in a way it is so just shh... keep reading. Space travel is hard. And reaching Jool is very hard. So hard in fact, that we used everything we had just to get nearby. And then when we were so close we could almost reach out and touch her, if we had arms like millions of miles long, we ran out of fuel. So close and yet she is just beyond our reach. We float here helplessly with no fuel left and no way to reach Jool, but seeing her shining bright through our window. Her green glow caressing the controls on that control panel thing and making all the Kerbals look green-er, greener than they already were. Jool with her gigantic enormous gravity well, was just out of our reach. Pulling at us, tugging us teasingly, drawing us near to her from across the great darkness, pulling ever pulling...oh wait, we are tumbling into Jool! We have no fuel left and the Joolian gravity is pulling us into Jool. We are falling, falling, faster and faster ever downward. A hasty radio transmission is broadcast warning the crew of the second vessel. The exact transmission was..."we were wrong all along. The ladders weren't too short! They were too long!" And now for dramatic effect, we detach the remaining parts of the ship, leaving only the tiny landing pod, as if we are preparing to make a safe landing. And the thick green gaseous atmosphere of Jool and the crushing gravity, embrace us. "Wow, it's so green" they thought, just before they thought nothing at all.
Hoping to avoid the fate of their brethren, the Kerbonauts in the second ship to Jool prepare for a daring plan. In order to save fuel, they will aerocapture into Jool's orbit by plummeting through her atmosphere in order to slow down. Too close and they join their fellow Kerbonauts in their emerald grave, too far and they get flung out into interstellar space. It is a terrifying ordeal, but it works. The kerbonauts begin their tour of Jool's fantastic moons. They 'land' on Laythe. They totally meant to do that! These Kerbals don't have the technology to land safely on Tylo. So they smash into her instead. Land on all the things with an asterisk it is! Vall. That's no moon! It's a giant ice skating rink! Bop at night with Jool and Laythe in the distance. Pol. With so little gravity Jeb can jump really high. Maybe he can catch one of the three moons in the sky.
We landed on all the things* Our tale is told. The story arc has ended. Or as the Kerbals would say, the ladder has reached the ground. Worry not for the brave Kerbonauts scattered like grains of pollen across the heavens. As long as forum dwellers will read of their journey, they will not be alone. Why do the Kerbals leave their Kerbonauts on the distant worlds on which they land? The Kerbals believe that they are stranded on Kearth. And the Kerbonauts sent to other planets and moons will one day return with advanced civilizations to save them and bring them back to their true home among the stars. Also I couldn't figure out how to get a vessel with enough fuel for the return trip off of Kearth. Because the Jool system is such an amazing place, here are a few more photos. Thanks for sharing the journey with us. Laythe and Jool. I aimed to land on one of the islands and missed. Because Laythe is tidally locked, Jool is in perpetual Joolset from this spot on Laythe. We thought we would be treated to a Joolian eclipse of the sun but Jool behaved quite transparently. Oh well, maybe in version 0.19 So then Laythe tries to eclipse Jool, but she is just too small. Night falls over Laythe. Jool is still setting forever.
I got a little tired of how long and involved some of the planetary missions get so after some missions to Eve and Duna I went back to near Kerbin objects. I've been setting up a base on the Mun lately. I'm pretty proud of landing on my landing pad :D
You guys are having way more fun than me. I'm still trying to dock 2 space station parts together around Kerbin. And so far I haven't even gotten close to docking because I just can't get the orbits to match speeds enough to actually have less than 1km of distance for longer than a split second.
Have you watched the orbit washing tutorial? There's definitely a technique to matching orbits and it took me a LOT of practice. That video is linked earlier in the thread.
Hey, at least you're actually orbiting. I'm still working on the reliable liftoff part, having too much fun with ridiculous contraptions that don't have enough lift/weight ratio to go anywere :P
After fiddling with my stuffed laptop keyboard it seems unlikely I will be playing an games that rely on much keyboard control until mid year when I buy a new laptop. To this end I really not going to be able to do much Kerballing, nor make videos (though I will try tomorrow night - just in case I can make it all work with my secondary keyboard for long enough). I do enjoy keeping up with all your updates, however!
I did. Original keyboard still goes odd now and then, sending erroneous signals. Tried uninstalling the drivers, but at first look it didn't help.
The "real world" mission control guys went to Duna! Their Reddit thread with details. Video highlights coming at some point.
Managed to play successfully! However.... "So, Jeb, what's the plan?" "We call for another rescue mission, of course!"
Obviously I have been trying to rescue my stranded mans. I have come VERY close on manual, but for the life of my can not get the balance right between going down and going up. I slow my descent right down and then inevitably start going up a bit, pick up some drift, slow again, come down too hard or with too much lateral velocity and - splat. I WISH there was a better acceleration meter so I could monitor the change in velocity easier. Grr! In the end I have found getting down to within a couple of hundred meters and then mashing LAND on MechJeb the only way to ensure a safe landing. The shot above comes about because 1k up I said "land at target" (having put the precise coords of the lost crew in) and, yes, MechJeb brought the craft down right on top of the crashed vehicle, causing everything to topple over. Argg!
So I finally put some time into this yesterday to preview it and had it finally click a bit! After building a couple of HORRID rockets, I figured I'd try to simply fly some of the existing ones to get a feel of it. I never got into a real orbit, but trying was sure damned fun. :)
