A Brave New (PS4) Solar System - The Continuing Story.

[Clipperride]

I've played KSP on and off for a couple of years now, but always struggled getting the game to run smoothly on my aged laptop.  With everything turned down to minimum, it could just about chug along.  Having long since given up the dream of having a nice gaming PC, I took the plunge and went for a PS4 for my 50th birthday.  I've really enjoyed some of the games (namely Witcher 3, Cities Skylines, MudRunner and AC: Origins) but missed the mental workout that you get from KSP.

So, when I saw the Enhanced Edition had arrived on the Play Station Store, I crossed my fingers and bought it straight away.  I've started afresh in my favourite game mode - Science.  No angry customers when things go a little off plan and as much tax payers money as my Space Program needs.  I've just completed my first Mun Fly-by and I have to say I'm rather pleasantly surprised.  The controls are never going to be as intuitive as the traditional keyboard and mouse but after only a day's play, I was able to do everything I wanted to and, more to the point, didn't do anything unintentional.

It's nice to see the game a little more like how it's supposed to look.  With the better textures and shadows (beyond my previous laptops abilities) you get a much better sense of height above the ground.  Sure, I'm going to miss the wonderful Better Burn Time mod, but at least I'm back in the game.  

Edited January 26, 2018 by Clipperride

[Clipperride]

After yesterday's successful launches and having now "mastered" the setting of maneuver nodes using a dualshock controller, it's time to start planning.

My overall goal is to recreate the craft and off Kerbin facilities from my favourite PC play through.  That means 3 space stations (LKO, LMO & LMO), mining operations and science lab based rovers on the Mun and Minmus, communication network and a trip to Duna (which was about as far as I got).

The only thing I have left to really test out is EVA in space.  It took me quite a while to get the hang of it on the PC and my one attempt so far (after Jeb accidentally let go whilst reporting from outside his capsule) didn't end well.  It's a good job it was only a simulated mission! (ie I was forced to use revert to avoid leaving Jeb in deep space).  Fingers crossed it goes a little better this time.

Clipper

[Clipperride]

The PS4 Space Program hit a small snaget last night!  Nothing to do with the port to console, but a bad case of user error.  

I had my Mum/Minmus Fly-by rocket in the VAB and thought to myself "add a little more power and some landing legs to the top stage and this should be good for a Minmus* landing".  I would then have enough science points to open up the nice big fuel tanks and engines.  Sadly the resulting contraption was somewhat nose heavy and was prone to flipping as the lower tanks were jettisoned.  It seemed almost controllable, so several attempt were launched in an effort to reach LKO.  The plus side was - I now know how to quickly abort a struggling rocket and Jeb was not too much the worse for the experience.  A total redesign is scheduled for this evening!

 

* Although the Mun is much closer and doesn't require a change of plain to reach, landing on Minmus is so much more forgiving, so I always visit it before attempting a Munar landing.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Clipperride
Added footnote

[Clipperride]

An (almost) total success!  After the spin doctors at Ground Control finished with their report, as far as the waiting press were concerned, everything went exactly as planned.  Kerbalkind has set foot on Minmus. Designed by one Heeth Robinson esq. the entire contraption was remarkably stable during ascent.  Thankfully the science point haul from this mission has opened up the larger tanks and engines.

Of course, Val knows that the original flight plan didn't require 2 dips into Kerbin atmosphere before shedding enough speed to get back under orbital velocity.  She could also swear she heard someone on the ground muttering about her being picked by mistake as a scientist could have reset the experiments and done a couple of biome hops whilst there!

One other thing struck Val as odd.  If 0m on Minmus is the mean altitude (what with there being no sea level) why are the flat plains at 0m if there are mountains all around?  Is there some deep hole somewhere that brings the mean elevation back down to 0?? It also struck me as odd, in all the hours I've spent on the PC version of KSP, this has never struck me as odd before.

[GrouchyDevotee]

PS4, Enhanced Edition, Career mode. No mods. ( are there mods for console? )

So far I have to say I'm thrilled with the enhanced version game-play.

I have selected a couple different contracts that occasionally disappear, no problem with this yet as I was still on the ground when I found out. I have several contracted satellites up and running, and I was frankly happy to discover that my un-kerbaled Mun lander wouldn't respond when out of radio contact. I'm completely new to the Kerbal radio network system, so figuring out the various radio comms is still underway. For instance the high-gain antennas don't seem to talk to regular antennas, or perhaps it is operator error.

The new control layout is, well, it's new so I'm still figuring it out. Had an unplanned spacewalk (like always) but managed to find the appropriate control layout in the helpful "controls" tab. Have not started using the radial menus yet. Still being happy about having a functioning game. 

Seems as though there are some glitches here and there, I've had the camera view start locking itself a couple times which I've discovered means that I probably won't be able to save game. Frame rate drops are rare, but they don't seem to affect the game adversely... . Since I don't ever need to operate the 'crew hatch' the label for it is occasionally getting the way while trying to trigger science, and getting Jeb or Val to get eva reports. I do see that some of the orbital debris isn't decaying into the atmosphere as I'd otherwise expect. I've got one large stage that dips down to 42000m but persists in its orbit. I've been trying not to just delete debris. These are totally minor issues as far as playing the game goes.

Loved playing this new version of the game. I am looking forwards to launching and building Kerban and Mun Space-Stations part 2.

Great Game!

Great work folks!

 

[Clipperride]

5 hours ago, GrouchyDevotee said:

The new control layout is, well, it's new so I'm still figuring it out. Had an unplanned spacewalk (like always) but managed to find the appropriate control layout in the helpful "controls" tab. Have not started using the radial menus yet. Still being happy about having a functioning game. 

I'd recommend giving the radial menu's a try as, once you get the hang of them, they are really simple to use.  The only thing I'd like to see is a complete list of commands with how to execute them (my bugbear is accidentally setting trim on one axis and then not being able to clear it!)

 

Mission Report

I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Minmus this afternoon with the new 3 Kerbal rocket I designed.  It has enough fuel to make a couple of biome hops once it arrives at Minmus, but limited time kept this to a quick shake down mission.

This evening, having not played the game in over a year, I decided to see if I could still complete a rendezvous.  I used a stripped down version of the Mun Fly-by set up, putting Jeb in a fairly circular 120km LKO and then sent Val up in an identical (other than the name, to keep things clear in map view) vessel to chase him down.  I was surprised by I) how quickly things came back from the distant fog of memory and II) how easy to use the console controls are when making the final approach.  Neither craft was equipped with a docking port, but they managed to get within 10m of each other and station keep.  The only slight issue was, being used to the PC version, I was expecting the little yellow square and distance to target markers to be right on top of the targeted vessel.  For some reason, on the Enhanced Edition, they actually appear a little way off the actual craft.  As my final approach was during the night pass and not having any lights on either ship, they're was very nearly a collision.  But, Val kept her cool, backed off a little and waited until sunrise before approaching again.  The Mission Elapsed Time for Jeb's trip was a little over 2 hours.  Not too shabby for a first attempt on the console!

[Clipperride]

After realising I hadn't turned on some of the advance options, such as Kerbals suffering from high G loads, I've started afresh.  Should you be interested in following the Program, please see Here