Kerbal Space Program.

[Unorthodox]

So, I was alone, alone, last night, so had a moment to sit down. 

Yay, career mode!



The extremely limited items you start with...this is my piece of crap. 

I wanted the engines AWAY from the pod in case we blew up, and had no decouplers to remove them.  Reached the amazing altitude of ~2000meters. 



Making a crew report...there could be a lot of humor packed into these.  I think they are a bit mismanaged at present, and there's a clear way you can squeeze more science out of your missions, but it feels a little gamey. 

Note you can transmit the report for 50% of the value, or store it for 100% if you survive.  Since I have, it was a clear decision.  Transmitting requires antenna, which drain a lot of power, which is a premium especially early on. 




So, here's my recovery report...



It gives me enough to buy some really basic stuff, stack decouplers and mystery goo (the first real science item) chief among them. 

With said decouplers, I'm able to get to space.





This, however, didn't feel right.  I had goo containers and in cockpit reports...wtf?



Game crash later, I go into the space center to find I had only recovered the PILOTS, not the SHIPS, so had stuff stored on the ships to gather up.  Note the 'data value' offers diminished returns for repeat experiments in the same locations. 



With that, I was able to buy some better engines/larger fuel, and got my first ortbit.  Knowing how the reports work, however, I wanted to shoot for a new biome to land in to do more science!  So, shot for a big open desert. 

[Unorthodox]

Radial decouplers AND support struts...I bet I could reach the moon now...up to now I've probably followed rather normal progression, I don't think this would be normal progression as the part count alone is attrocious. 

Oh, I also now have Science Jr, which is an analog for taking up various materials/samples to see what they do. 



The return trip was quite touchy... Unlike the large engines, those small ones don't generate electricity, so I was running so low on power I couldn't control the ship beyond firing the engines while I spun around, but I managed.  The SMART thing to do here would be to go land on different moon craters, poles, etc, and fill in the experiments.  Another mission or two and I could be DEEp down that tech tree...which is why I built Eve probe I 

Shooting for Eve (venus), it's nice dense atmosphere makes for an easy landing (but difficult return flight) for a probe.  Besides I wanted to see how well probes could do just transmitting, and I have solar panels now! 



It wasn't a bad design, but I botched the munar transfer and ran out of fuel as a result.  It WILL land on Eve, but not for a few years.  Even so, I got as much data transmitting from it's solar orbit as I did from the munar landing. 

It's going to be interesting to see how the economy works in conjunction with the science.  Right now I can just keep throwing in parts, but I think it's safe to say, there will be SOME budget. 

Also, a little funny that there is no camera analog.  Pics have been a HUGE part of space exploration.  You click on a science part, make a report, then send it.  Some kind of continual streaming seems like it's really missing.  No reason to have satellites around Kerbin as a result.  Missions should be designed to hit as many biomes as possible to get the different reports, where I wouldn't mind a nice hubble mission.  Maybe this would be ideas to increase funding, PR stuff?  Ah well, we'll see. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Kerbal Space Program - As Played By A Real Astronaut

[Unorthodox]

New patch, which added asteroids to the career mode (as well as for the NASA scenarios). 

The current known rocks are not going to wipe out Kerbin, but the big thing they add to the career mode is a continual source for science.  The way it worked prior, you hit this real big road block where you had to search out EVERY biome on Mun and Minmus to get enough science to buy some interplanetary level parts.  Now, you have rocks continually passing within Kerban influence to make another source of teh science. 



My second launch.  Not the prettiest vehicle.



But it put a rather large lander on the mun.  It makes sense to go big your first trip, hitting multiple biomes in orbit and then the one on the surface, you may as well do all the science as you go. 



Cute little return pod.  Barely needed the fuel on board. 

[Buster's Uncle]

 

[Unorthodox]

So, after your first mun trip, you've covered all the in-orbit biomes for science, so, you really want to hit multiple biomes on the ground.  I could look up maps of where they all are, and there are sweet spots where you can hop around and hit several in short order...but, my preferred method is to load up a multilander.  I'm still pretty low on the tech tree, but I unlocked the key techs of solar panels and support struts with the first trip. 



Once in orbit, simply detach individual landers and hit a crater, great big bullseyes to biomes.  (where the lowlands, midlands, and highlands are, I don't know, but the craters are sure-fire hits.)

First lander. 





Playing around, found that you can indeed set individual mission flags. 



I was hoping this would just stack with my main flag on the ship, like they do on real missions, with all the companies that build pieces of a rocket...ah well. 

My return pod. 



The first lander home safe...still 2 in munar orbit for another day.  By the time I get them all home, we should have some new parts and be eyeing Minmus. 

[Unorthodox]

Cool shot of Bill heading home. 



Flags starting to dot the Mun. 



It apparently didn't save the shot of the whole rocket.  Here's me depositing the transfer stage in prep for landing on the big soft flats of Minmus.



Dropping an entire lab on minmus.  Idea was to grab the "high over" and "near" biomes on the way in, then 3 biomes by cruising around the minmus flats on the ground.  Minmus is great for such a roverish lab, nice FLAT terrain an practically no gravity means you can cruise fast and not worry too much about disastrous wipeouts.  In fact I'm packing RCS thrusters and fuel configured just to boost the land speed. 



Lab planted so it don't roll away while I'm EVA. 



Climbing the hill out of the flats. 

[Geo]

Lab planted while you EVA? There's no brakes part in the game?

[Unorthodox]

All wheels have brakes, yes...but if no one's in the cockpit operating the thing, all operations kinda stop.  Had one too many rover head down a hill on me.  Might have been fixed in a patch, and probably wouldn't matter on the minmus flats, but not taking chances. 

[Geo]

Does the same thing happens with orbiting craft when the crew goes EVA? Some RCS thruster lights up and poof, ship is gone?

[Unorthodox]

No, it don't light up magically, but it also stops holding it's orientation, so if you bump the ship in EVA in orbit, it will start to spin.  Do it hard enough and it can be real hard to climb back in.  The command pod controls all that stuff, and requires a man to operate.  Later, with the 3 man pods and such, it's fine as long as someone's still in a seat somewhere.  You also have some robotic control parts that can control things without a man, I just haven't unlocked them yet. 


Did run into a bug.  I'd left Jebediah on the ground last night, when I loaded up this morning he was glitched inside one of the lab's parts and stuck.  Bill is flew a second lab up to the rescue.  First tried to just jack up one side of the first lab.   



Eventually had to have bill hop over and fly the original one off Jeb.  He come home with 20 experiments in tow. 



This unlocked the first of the new parts from the nasa pack.  That's a big booster.  More powerful than stock parts, should make putting things up easier.  Also unlocked some big solid boosters.



Debating whether to drive lab 2 around minmus or just fiddle building something new.  I mean, those asteroids are now plausible.  Theoretically a trip to Duna or Eva is as well, but I've had trouble with those, as I need to use docking clamps, and those typically have made my ships break apart.  They supposedly have reworked all connections in the last patch, so we'll see.   

[Buster's Uncle]

I am rarely so glad I posted a science article...

[Buster's Uncle]

[Unorthodox]

I unlocked a bunch of the new fancy thingamabobs and have been testing stuff with them.  Haven't really tried a specific mission again. 

[Unorthodox]

Ran into a bit of trouble capturing an asteroid....not the actual mission, but the encounter map,  It would only get me to around 50 km in the solar orbit map.  Had to wing it in from there, it just kept losing the tracking when I got closer.  Normally I can get down to within 1 KM on the orbital map.  Don't know if that's the new patch, or something that's always been present in solar orbit, I'm usually meeting ships in planetary orbit. 



This wasn't cherry picked, just the first asteroid I clicked track.  Can't remember if it was "A" or "B" class, but definitely one of the smallest.  I was surprised just how small once I got there...



Here's my rock.  It sure likes to wobble around at the end of the claw. 



Now Kerbin has a new moon.  Don't know if I'll bother putting someone on it or not.