Really hard missions?

[schneida]

Hey guys - is it just me or are the mission that are shipped by Squad really hard? I just tried my luck with "To the Mun via Minmus" and the fuel limitations are extreme. Launching in a 100k circular equatorial orbit directly is not possible (for me!?) so I have to do quite a lot of plane changing and then I don't have enough fuel to get to Minmus... 

 

Whats your take on the missions so far?

[cmd_paem]

Just started with the first mission and it looks really challenging to hit ALL the goals (incl optionals)... but that's what I expect from KSP and I love this kind of challenge....

But I'm asking me... how the hell can I reach that "Go to - Land at the old airfield" goal from the 1st mission without leaving it to chance or mods?

Sure, I have a maneuverable rocket and after a few tries I'm not rly far away from that island... Do I have to try it again and again until I hit that 0,19km  radius? It's a bit too random and uncontrollable, isn't it? I'm not sure if it's worth regarding to the time expenses - 0,19km is like winning the lottery jackpot xD

Screenshot from the map where I've landed so far near that island:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1330257975

Or is this a point where I have to install mods? I've played ~300hours with the light version and I'm not sure if I want to install any mods... Cos I saw the complete kerbal universe, all planets and reached each of my own goals without mods until now, so...? u know what I mean

Edited March 13, 2018 by cmd_paem
for better understanding...

[dvader]

I just did the Minmus mission (failed but for a different reason).

The orbit does not have to be equatorial. I just launched and went directly from the inclined orbit to minmus and got an encounter. I guess squad set it up that way to be possible.

However, I had another problem. Not enough electricity to transmit the gravity reading. Had to do a full burn to charge the battery enough to transmit. Almost didnt have enough to crash the craft but still managed, but finally didn't complete the mission for some reason. It still says I have to crash Muna 1 but the only thing named Muna 1 is the goo probe I left hanging around Kerbin...

So, I don't know...

[MechBFP]

1 hour ago, cmd_paem said:

Just started with the first mission and it looks really challenging to hit ALL the goals (incl optionals)... but that's what I expect from KSP and I love this kind of challenge....

But I'm asking me... how the hell can I reach that "Go to - Land at the old airfield" goal from the 1st mission without leaving it to chance or mods?

Sure, I have a maneuverable rocket and after a few tries I'm not rly far away from that island... Do I have to try it again and again until I hit that 0,19km  radius? It's a bit too random and uncontrollable, isn't it? I'm not sure if it's worth regarding to the time expenses - 0,19km is like winning the lottery jackpot xD

Screenshot from the map where I've landed so far near that island:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1330257975

Or is this a point where I have to install mods? I've played ~300hours with the light version and I'm not sure if I want to install any mods... Cos I saw the complete kerbal universe, all planets and reached each of my own goals without mods until now, so...? u know what I mean

 

See the spoiler below for how to complete it. Don't click it if you don't want to find out on your own.

No mods needed.

Spoiler

Just make an airplane(glider) instead. I landed within 60m of the hanger by gliding it there after it runs out of fuel.

 

Edited March 13, 2018 by MechBFP

[cmd_paem]

1 hour ago, MechBFP said:

 

See the spoiler below for how to complete it. Don't click it if you don't want to find out on your own.

No mods needed.

  Reveal hidden contents

Just make an airplane(glider) instead. I landed within 60m of the hanger by gliding it there after it runs out of fuel.

 

 

I haven't clicked on it till yet... Was too busy with my progress and finally did it ^^ thanks anyways

I've put some snapshots in my screenshot-showcase (the small ones at the right side) if anyone wanna see the first history I've made  http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197989910711

I already love the new expansion *g* my heart is still racing *lol*

but now I have to quickly go to bed... I totally forgot the time xD

Edited March 14, 2018 by cmd_paem

[Guest]

1 hour ago, dvader said:

However, I had another problem. Not enough electricity to transmit the gravity reading.

I can't do this mission because I just finish the elettricity midway to minmus

[MechBFP]

29 minutes ago, Master39 said:

I can't do this mission because I just finish the elettricity midway to minmus

There is a probe core kinda hidden beneath the gravity box, and you have to turn "hibernate during warp" on.

Definitely supposed to be turned on by default. That mission is all sorts of bugged.

Edited March 14, 2018 by MechBFP

[HebaruSan]

3 hours ago, cmd_paem said:

But I'm asking me... how the hell can I reach that "Go to - Land at the old airfield" goal from the 1st mission without leaving it to chance or mods?

You don't have to, the missions are structured with basic goals that advance the mission plus "stretch" goals that are optional and more challenging. Landing at the airfield is to there to make sure no one gets bored. I had the same reaction the first time, "How the heck...?", but then I thought about it, redesigned my craft to improve stability and control, and it was extremely satisfying when I nailed it.

Spoiler

 

[llanthas]

What?   The first mission has a weight limit of 3.3 tons, and the only engine provided weighs 3.6 tons...    This don't make no sense...

 

EDIT:   Gahhh!    I figured it out.  I am totally in love with these challenges now. 

Edited March 14, 2018 by llanthas

[Aegolius13]

1 minute ago, llanthas said:

What?   The first mission has a weight limit of 3.3 tons, and the only engine provided weighs 3.6 tons...    This don't make no sense...

Remove some fuel and that will bring the weight down.  There's more than enough.

[Jarin]

13 hours ago, HebaruSan said:

You don't have to, the missions are structured with basic goals that advance the mission plus "stretch" goals that are optional and more challenging. Landing at the airfield is to there to make sure no one gets bored.

Not so sure about that. I landed in the water on my first shot and got Mission: Failure.

[HebaruSan]

5 hours ago, Jarin said:

Not so sure about that. I landed in the water on my first shot and got Mission: Failure.

Your craft may not have gotten to 5 km altitude. I just tried it again, and here's the mission success window at splashdown:

Spoiler

 

Edited March 14, 2018 by HebaruSan

[Beetlecat]

I was totally flummoxed by the first attempts at landing on the island:

Spoiler

--until I simply built a cruise missile with short fins on the front and steerable fins on the back.  Glided all the way to the island and popped the parachute to land right in front of hangar #2.

I'm guessing I'll have to do something similar for mission #2's mid-air aiming points

[djr5899]

So far, I have found some of these missions greatly lacking in detail.  I don't want the missions to TELL me how to solve it or win, but in some instances, I feel like I am totally guessing.

For instance, mission #2 (can't recall the name), it talked about sending Tolman to the satellite to reboot your capsule, and you better hurry before the thing starts blowing up or whatever.

I get to the satellite rather easily and finally manage to get inside (that's another topic in just a second) and reboot.  I get the mission prompt I rebooted, but unless I missed some text in that prompt......I don't get told anything else to do.  I race back to my pod, see that nothing has changed.  I still can't fire the engines.  I can't repair the engines because there are no engineers aboard.  Left scratching my head. 

My only other idea is to dock the satellite with the pod and use the satellite's propulsion to lower the pod into an orbit for landing (provided my 'chutes aren't still broken and will even work).  Just seems like these missions are very rushed and vague.

On the KV-1 Onion, maybe I have my graphics too low, but, there doesn't seem to be any distinguishing marks to tell you which hatch allows you to board.  That was very frustrating during EVA trying to go to all 4 sides of the pod to try and get Tolman back inside.

[HebaruSan]

3 minutes ago, djr5899 said:

Left scratching my head. 

Yeah, it can be confusing. You can hover the clipboard icon (I think it is?) to see a tree of the mission nodes, but it's not that easy to understand. If it looks like you've done what you're supposed to, then it's always possible that the mission is bugged.

[lurkoholic]

@djr5899 , The mission demands/notes should be reviewable by clicking the top right button on the screen. I agree on getting into the onion. I think I went to all 4 sides before getting in. 

[Raptus]

I discovered the same.

KV-1 Onion's hatch is a secret door. 

You need to have a treasure map and a Kerbal magic decoder ring.

[Jarin]

3 hours ago, HebaruSan said:

Your craft may not have gotten to 5 km altitude. I just tried it again, and here's the mission success window at splashdown:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Huh. I must have splashed down too hard and broken something...

[monstah]

22 hours ago, cmd_paem said:

But I'm asking me... how the hell can I reach that "Go to - Land at the old airfield" goal from the 1st mission without leaving it to chance or mods?

 

 

21 hours ago, MechBFP said:

 

  Hide contents

Just make an airplane(glider) instead. I landed within 60m of the hanger by gliding it there after it runs out of fuel.

 

Heh, I went the ballistic-missile route, dropped right on top of that sucker  It helps if you rotate the rocket on the VAB, so you just have to pitch down. A (healthy) bit of trial-and-error on the TWR and initial pitch is needed, but nothing crazy.

Edited March 14, 2018 by monstah

[Jarin]

On 3/13/2018 at 1:19 PM, schneida said:

Whats your take on the missions so far?

So far every last one of them is broken. I've soft-locked the game on each of the first 4 missions, just by trying to go through them. At some point, something doesn't register and the mission won't continue. No fail-state, no way to revert, and "restart" hangs the whole game in the load screen. Hooray for testing...

Edited March 15, 2018 by Jarin

[Bottle Rocketeer 500]

One question: How would one go about reaching an equatorial orbit while launching from the Woomerang launch site in the Jebnik mission? I have tried doing inclination changes, but the rocket doesn't have enough Dv.

[severedsolo]

1 hour ago, Bottle Rocketeer 500 said:

One question: How would one go about reaching an equatorial orbit while launching from the Woomerang launch site in the Jebnik mission? I have tried doing inclination changes, but the rocket doesn't have enough Dv.

Spoilered to not ruin it for anyone else

Spoiler

Go high. Boost your ap well above what's needed, I just kept burning until my ap reached the equatorial node. Then do the plane change and circularisation together (lower speed, less Dv) before you lower your orbit

 

Edited March 15, 2018 by severedsolo

[djr5899]

17 hours ago, djr5899 said:

So far, I have found some of these missions greatly lacking in detail.  I don't want the missions to TELL me how to solve it or win, but in some instances, I feel like I am totally guessing.

For instance, mission #2 (can't recall the name), it talked about sending Tolman to the satellite to reboot your capsule, and you better hurry before the thing starts blowing up or whatever.

I get to the satellite rather easily and finally manage to get inside (that's another topic in just a second) and reboot.  I get the mission prompt I rebooted, but unless I missed some text in that prompt......I don't get told anything else to do.  I race back to my pod, see that nothing has changed.  I still can't fire the engines.  I can't repair the engines because there are no engineers aboard.  Left scratching my head. 

My only other idea is to dock the satellite with the pod and use the satellite's propulsion to lower the pod into an orbit for landing (provided my 'chutes aren't still broken and will even work).  Just seems like these missions are very rushed and vague.

On the KV-1 Onion, maybe I have my graphics too low, but, there doesn't seem to be any distinguishing marks to tell you which hatch allows you to board.  That was very frustrating during EVA trying to go to all 4 sides of the pod to try and get Tolman back inside.

Replayed this mission last night, 2nd mission, and found that there is essentially one word that is key in the description as you play:  transmitted.  In the first part of the sequence, you are asked for a crew report to get vitals.  As soon as you take the crew report, it advances to the next part (before you decide to store or transmit).  When you get to the satellite, you MUST TRANSMIT the crew report, otherwise the reboot won't occur properly.

[schneida]

There is definitely room for improvement - I repeated now the third mission (To Mun via Minmus) and apart from the Mission being strange (not really setting a scene story wise) - the second part (getting to the Mun) was really buggy.

* The mission info on the left was not updated, so I had no glue what I had to do next
* As I got into the SOI of the mun all of a sudden I had to orbit the mun in a very specific way indicated by a target orbit in the map, but the orbit indicated was the other way around so I had to basically turn around and orbit in reverse
* Finally managed to get the orbit with just enough fuel to crash into - which is the only info I got so far and then they ask me to crash into the mun at a specific location (which is yet again in a different inclination)
* Managed to even pull of the inclination doing multiple orbits and slowly chaning the inclination using RCS
* Sadly had not enough fuel/thrust to hit the spot but fell 48km short, the mission did not end, not succesfully, not failed, even though my spaceship was destroyed on the surface of the mun :-( 

Especially the last part is really frustrating since I went so close and then nothing happens. They could have said, oh well you fell short, less points, but no....

 

EDIT: Aaah - I needed to do a harder impact and be within 20km of the impact zone, well - I think they should have made an alternative ending, landing outside the zone, landing inside the zone with less impact force, etc...

Album a/7hn54 will appear when post is submitted

Edited March 15, 2018 by schneida

[W9GFO]

On 3/13/2018 at 2:32 PM, cmd_paem said:

 

But I'm asking me... how the hell can I reach that "Go to - Land at the old airfield" goal from the 1st mission without leaving it to chance or mods?

My solution was to use three steerable fins along with three non steerable fins at the top of the booster. It glides well enough to make the airfield. I managed to land right in front of the hangar. I also added an empty section to make the rocket a more reasonable length.

Edited March 16, 2018 by W9GFO