Okhin

I'm wondering if the mission builder can be used to create some kind of interactive narration stories / RPG with stock KSP. After tinkering a little bit, and working on a start base on Dres (first time I got to use all parts from KSP, never really did sandboxes first), I finally understood what it is. It's a finite state machine. Not turing complete, but you can probably do some things with it (setting the score to specific value and have those value being the start points of some specific scenes). I miss the possibility to give a player a choice of actions, but I can probably get around that using some narration technique (having a specific kerbal entering a specific part of a station or spaceship could be one way to do that. It would require some specific writing, but nothing undoable). I also miss the possibility of creating custom assets (I'm not sure I can have a GameData folder specific to a mission) or setting variables. But the computer nerd in me is kind of enjoying trying to get around those constraints. So maybe, I'll do some mission writing. Need to check others mission too, to understand how you people do things there, but should be fun. Also, I'm trying to figure out if it's cheaper to go to Duna while doing an Eve fly-by, or if I should do it with two craft. I like the idea of the first option, but it seems like planning a window for it would be math crazy while I can probably just bruteforce it all the way down, using moar nukes. I also need to drop a lab on my solar outpost, and adding a return vehicle would be nice I guess.

Since mission control seems to be freaking out about big rock from the sky trying to kill us, they asked me to setup an Infrared Telescope near-by Duna. As I already got an old, and dusty, station on a kerbol orbit and a contract to extend it with a lab, I decided to delay my Minmus operation for a while and to have fun out of Kerbin SOI. So, patched up a basic Hitchhiker and Cupola combo, strapped the biggest antenna I have on it as well as four nukes and enough liquid fuel to travel out of Kerbin SOI. I'm working on this modular sets of subassemblies to allow for quick launch of spaceships. It requires a lot od docking, but I'm getting better at it now :). So, next, to the Mun (and past it). I messed up my trajectory, but I had enough fuel so, missing a Mun slingshot out of Kerbin SOI wasn't a big deal. It still saved me some dV. And I had probably overbuild. A little. Rendezvous with the Sunrise observer. Dusty and old fashioned station. Yes, those are Swivel, I had nothing else at the time I launched that. The good news is that the tank are full, and the solar array if driven by a KAL-9000, which required some reprogramation since the code had disappear at some point. Probably due to exposure to solar wind, or something like that. Anyway, while engineers are working on fixing the KAL-9000, I finished the docking of the two part of the station. And waited for ten second of stability. To finally understand why Gene was running towards us when the last rocket left. I totally forgot the lab. It's still unwrapped in its box, somewhere in the VAB. I guess I'll make another trip then. And work on a solution to get back into Kerbin SOI. But at least mission control is happy. We're now able to see the world killer rocks coming at us. We would be able to actually prepares ourselves for the big crash and the post apocalyptic civilisation that will follow. Work on nuke-proof bunkers have already started.

Yeah, The worst part of the kerbal save system is that it seems to write the persistent file on loading a backup. So you cannot really revert a bad save loaded 5my persistent was good, until I loaded ...). And I'm struggling with a loveed up bug on Minmus, which basically totally freeze my display (sound is otherwise working) quite randomly anytime I'm not on the Minmus flats. And it's bad to the point I have to reboot (debian linux updated and steam here, and I have no such crash with any other game). Maybe I should avoid moving on the surface and do everything by RCS, but it will cost me way to much fuel ...

Finally got nuke engines in this carreer. So I went asteroid whaling and was a bit short on fuel. The rescue mission landed a bit late with the fuel on this class D, so I was going to launch a rescue party for he rescue party when I noticed that it will took years of mission to hope hat I'll have enough DV to capture the asteroid (who have since then moved ahead of Kerbin). So, loaded my last save which was back before putting my Minmus base in orbit of Minmus. I guess I'm learning that I need to save (not quicksave) more often. Anyway. I did change the configuration of the Minmus orbital base that I should put in orbit again, with four more tanks and nuke engines (I really needed to have 6000 units of LF there), and launched it again, orbited, landed, scienced, and all of that. This is how the station looks like during the long burn to Minmus. I need to slighty updates the rocket fuel tanks (I'll put probably only one engine on them, and they're lacking antenna and solar panel), but they're quite ok right now (if a bit tedious to dock, some of them don't lock the second dock o tron. But it just adds a bit of wobliness so, I guess it's ok). And I'm thinking as using it as my main gate outward Kerbal SOI. It would make more sense when I'll be able to get some fuel out of minmus. Or asteroids. And now, I'm back at trying to catch that asteroid.

After trying (unsuccessfully) a space plane cargo which could deliver enough fuel to my soon to be minmus station to finally get the contract (15 kerbals capacity, 6000 l of liquid fuel, a lab, in stable orbit of minmus with three pilots in it), I switched back to a more pragmatic way of delivering fuel, and strapped four thoroughbread around four jumbo 64 tanks and one main sail, which gave me one full tank in LKO. Not very efficient, but at least it's there. And after moving hat massive load with RCS (and it moves slowly and with a lot of inertia), I managed to finally dock it, transfer the fuel to the base and put the base around minmus (with 6092 liter of liquid fuel left, I had to use RCS to finish circulazing). But now it's there. And I can finally get science out of Minmus \o/

Needed to bring fuel to LKO in an efficient way, I'm 1000 liter short for a contract. So, instead of just strapping SRBs to a tank and launch them, I tried to build a spaceplane 5I'm not a big fan of them, landing them is hellish and in general it's easier for me to just build a rocket). So, got this. Atmospheric flight is OK, but I could probably use a little more thrust, need to figure out where I can put the engine. I'm not sure either if I need that many intakes though (there's still 8 air breathing engine in the back). But that's my first spaceplane (except the microjet I did to try to get a grasp at it). And it's flying. Slow, but it's flying. And it carries 9300 unit of liquid fuel, and 4500 of oxidizer. So, I guess it should do the trick.

Finally finished my Minmus Orbital Hab. And fuelled it to the clamps. Took me about ten launches and as much docking maneuvers. I just need to burn to minmus now to finally get this contract money 5why the heck did they needed that much liquid fuel there ?). It took me a full week (ok, this is in fact the second version, the first one couldn't even move without exploding due to too much wobbliness). The hab in question is here, on steam. Without launch vehicules of course. Just know that I abused the heck out of the new ThoroughBreads to get that up there. I like this SRB a lot.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome (I forgot to add that my favourite flavour of science fiction is CyberPunk. Blurring the line between kerbals and machines and trying to finally get out of the uncanny valley.) Okhin

Long time reader, first time poster, bla bla bla. Finally convinced myself that opening an account here might be a good idea, after 400 hours of KSP. So, here I am. So, it's me, okhin. Basically, I suck at landings. I'll figure that out eventually. Or use more chutes on planes. Or avoid planes altogether. I like assembling spacecraft in orbits. And adding labs to them. Lots of. It seems the contractors like labs too, so I'm off adding my third one on my mun base. I got an engineering background. With some robotics and electronics and lots of computers in it. I like geeking and hacking around; and answering in details to sarcastic and rhetorical questions. Especially if they're about network and infrastructure (and all questions are about that). And so, that's mostly what might interests you. Okhin PS: Almost forgot, since today is the first day of NaNowriMo, a writing contest, I decided that I'll should tell the tales of kerbalnauts (kerbonautss? kosmonauts?) this year, so I'm gonna try to write down 50 000 words before the end of November on this topic, figuring out what life is in the KSC and basically everywhere except on Kerbal.