Jump to content

adsii1970's sandbox micro-challenges (New Challenge - December 16, 2022)


Recommended Posts

adsii1970's sandbox micro-challenges

20221217:  This thread has been updated and reformatted to work better on most devices. The challenge threads were edited to stack the stock and modded challenge requirements rather than to list them side by side. After it was reported to me, and verified, it appears that Apple devices and some browsers were not displaying the complete table.

A couple of days ago I was asked on one of the Facebook groups if I would post some micro-challenge/mission ideas for those who are looking for some sort of objective in playing a sandbox game. I asked around as a profile status post to see what everyone's thoughts were. And after careful consideration, I've decided to create an entire thread of micro-challenges for those interested.

I play with mods and expect that many of you do, too. Here are the mods which will make the micro-challenges easier for you:

By no means do you have to complete the challenges with mods, you can complete them without mods.* And you can use other mods besides these. For many of us "older" KSP players, these challenges are pretty easy but still fun. For a newbie who is just getting the hang of the game, they can be challenging and rewarding.

For now, the sandbox micro-challenges will only include the stock system. If there's interest in more development of the challenges, I will add missions which will incorporate the Outer Planets Mod. Each micro-challenge will fall into one or more categories.

Each micro-challenge will come with it's own leader board and signature image. Every three weeks, I will release a new micro-challenge. You do not have to do all the micro-challenges posted; simply choose the ones which interest you. You are free to use the most recently posted challenge or you can use one of the older ones.

The edit of December 17, 2022 changed the format of the OP. To keep things tidy, I placed each of the stock bodies of the Kerbol system in their own heading and a spoiler under the heading where each mission will have a link. I think it will work better than the previous tables that caused some forum members to have issues with the extreme ends of the tables not properly displaying on certain web browsers. For now, there are placeholder entries for those planets and satellites (and Kerbol) where I haven't shared a mission (yet). Don't worry, there will be missions to those far away destinations. :) 

Here are the rules/guidelines for the challenges:

  • Once you've completed the micro-challenge, simply post to this thread and share images or video which shows your progress and completion of the challenge - and be sure to include the name of the challenge in your post.
  • If you are using images, please embed them in a spoiler. Many people have complained that excessive images not in spoilers cause lag issues on older or mobile devices. Using spoilers seems to help with this.
  • On that challenge's post, I'll add your name to the leader board and a link to your post for others to easily find what was done to complete the micro-challenge.

The challenges are rated on a three-tiered scale of an easy, medium, or hard challenge. There are a few followers of this thread who assist me in rating the challenges. If you are interested in helping me rate the challenge, send me a private message and I'll add you to the group. A description of the challenge levels are below:

Rating Description
e7YZ8R7.png These missions can usually be completed in one to three launches and require the very basic skills of spaceflight in Kerbal Space Program. These skills include rendezvous, docking, and achieving polar or circular orbits within the Kerbin sphere of influence. Some of these missions do include the designing of specialized craft to perform certain functions.
tcfM4ZA.png These missions can be a little more challenging and while can be completed in one to seven launches, in addition to requiring the basic skills of spaceflight, landing a probe, lander, or assemble a station on a natural satellite or planet.
oXHlHfq.png These missions are hard and involve the construction of space stations, planetary bases, and such which should ideally be constructed in multiple launches and assembled in place.

There are some who have provided feedback saying they intend to play these in career mode to make them even more challenging. That's fine - these missions are simply meant to be a springboard to help you sharpen your skills.

Sandbox micro-challenges within Kerbin's sphere of influence:

Kerbin:

Spoiler

e7YZ8R7.png

Polar Orbit Com & Survey Station
   
   
   
   
   
 

 

The Mün:

Spoiler
   
   

tcfM4ZA.png

Mün Arch Settlement micro-challenge

   
   
   
   
   

 

Minmus:

Sandbox micro-challenges within the Kerbol system (excluding Kerbin's sphere of influence):

Kerbol:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

The Asteroids near Kerbin:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Moho: (newest challenge - December 26, 2022)

Spoiler
  Polar (Orbit) Survey Probe   Ew8IDgG.gif
   
   
   
   
   
   

Eve:

Gilly:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Duna:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Ike:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Dres:

Spoiler
e7YZ8R7.png Polar (Orbit) Survey Probe 
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

Jool:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Laythe:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Vall:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Tylo:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Bop:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Pol:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Eeloo:

Spoiler

 

No challenges for this body have been posted yet.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minmus space station micro-challenge

This challenge involves constructing a fully operational space station in orbit of Minmus.

Here are the requirements for your space station:

Modded game Stock game
+ Station must comfortably house six Kerbalnauts + Station must comfortably house six Kerbalnauts
+ Station must be at an orbit between 56Km to 65Km + Station must be at an orbit between 56Km to 65Km
+ Station must rely on solar power only (batteries and capacitors ok) + Station must rely on solar power only (batteries ok)
+ Station must be able to remain in contact with the KSC (relay ok) + Station must be able to remain in contact with the KSC (relay ok)
+ Station must have two docking ports (minimum) + Station must have two docking ports (minimum)
+ Station must include a lab, mystery goo container, and a lander + Station must include a lab, mystery goo container, and a lander
+ One docking port must be available to ferry Kerbalnauts to and from Kerbin + One docking port must be available to ferry Kerbalnauts to and from Kerbin
+ Station must be able to provide food/snacks for six Kerbalnauts (greenhouse)  

Additional information about the challenge:

  • The lander must be capable of taking a crew of two Kerbalnauts to the surface of Minmus and return.
  • Your station design must include fuel storage tanks for monopropellant and Liquid Fuel/Oxygen (if you're like me and love continuing the use of space stations, this can become a great starting place for the continued exploration of Minmus).
  • Your space station needs to be ASSEMBLED in the orbit of Minmus. This means multiple launches.
  • There is no preferred shape for your station! As long as it meets the above criteria, you're good to go.

The sandbox micro-challenge badge:

B6PP3BW.png?1

@Kerbolitto - MSS - 1

@scarecrow09 - station in a 60k x 58k orbit

@Spaceman.Spiff - The Neptune

Return to the OP

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is my attempt to this micro-challenge :)

It was very fun to do, with no stress or spreadsheet .. Just eyeballing everything while listening music :D

 

MSS 1 :

 

This is basically the habitat module and nothing else !

evwlme.jpg

Spoiler

Launchpad :

cakq35.jpg

Stage 2 :

rz7t1b.jpg

Finishing circu with Stage 4 (injection stage) :

ul9cv1.jpg

 

MSS 2 :

 

This module consists of a docking plateform with fuel storage, it also carry 2 tiny relays and blue lights all around !

flhkun.jpg

Spoiler

Launchpad :

10vgru.jpg

Stage 3 during ascent :

cceulw.jpg

 

MSS 3 :

 

MSS-3 is an assemblage of a laboratory with some science experiments, batteries and stuff, and a lander which has too much dV (at least it can hop a lot !)

qx9kbt.jpg

Spoiler

Launchpad :

baeoxs.jpg

Lift off with some stats on the rocket (very poor TWR):

g8mjwy.jpg

 

Minmus :

 

0uddha.jpg

xazwln.jpg

9p5t1e.jpg

0xe8ij.jpg

Spoiler

MSS 3 before its injection, each ship was launch after the other and they departed with one orbit delay :

fvxrnz.jpg

MSS 2 once retroburn was completed, it was the heaviest payload and fuel was almost depleted :

37hpkh.jpg

MSS 3 meets MSS 2 :

9lykel.jpg

MSS 1 is the last to arrive :

vwn9pp.jpg

 

Bonus Pics :

 

cka0o8.jpg

6xm6p1.jpg

npdacj.jpg

 

 

Thanks for this very pleasant challenge :)

Edited by Kerbolitto
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Kerbolitto: Thanks for sharing! And it's exactly one of the reasons I thought about sharing these self-imposed missions!

Sometimes we get so bogged down in the spreadsheets we forget the joy of this game. In my regular saved game, I've gotten to the point I am concentrating so much I don't even listen to the Bach or Beethoven playing in the background. :( Silly me, I thought games were to be fun!

And you're right. Having fun and easy challenges are a great way to truly get an evening's enjoyment with little effort!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Sometimes we get so bogged down in the spreadsheets we forget the joy of this game. In my regular saved game, I've gotten to the point I am concentrating so much I don't even listen to the Bach or Beethoven playing in the background. :( Silly me, I thought games were to be fun!

I know the feeling, with Duna architecture outpost for example :p

To me this game is always fun but we got to find some kind of a frame to enjoy it, even on career mode things becomes quite easy and repetitive .. But this sort of guideline is very enjoyable, we can focus on a global mission instead of improving every little bits to maximize the overall efficiency !

You already got some ideas for the next challenges ? =)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Kerbolitto said:

I know the feeling, with Duna architecture outpost for example :p

To me this game is always fun but we got to find some kind of a frame to enjoy it, even on career mode things becomes quite easy and repetitive .. But this sort of guideline is very enjoyable, we can focus on a global mission instead of improving every little bits to maximize the overall efficiency !

You already got some ideas for the next challenges ? =)

Yup. Going to post the next one next week. It does involve the Mun... :D 

These first few missions are all fairly easy. But they do involve multiple launches.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's been a while since I've done missions to Minmus so thought I would give this one a go.

My station ended up in a 60k x 58k orbit.  It includes the required Mystery Goo canister (2) as well as fuel and monoprop capacity.  3 docking ports are available; one is used for the lander, one is for refuelling purposes and the final one is dedicated to visiting ships and transfer shuttles for crew exchanges.  The station was built with 4 launches; station core, comms and solar module, fuel module, and science lab module.  Two further launches were made, one to deliver the lander, and the second to bring up the crew.  Crew changes in future will be made using a shuttle from a station in LKO, and crew being transferred from that station to and from the surface of Kerbin using a SSTO.


 

Spoiler

 

First I put a relay satellite in a big orbit, as the construction launches would be controlled by probes.

minstat01.jpg

 

This shows the relay orbit and the working relay lines of communication

minstat02.jpg

 

Before delivering the core, the modules were placed in arbitrary orbits around Minmus

minstat03.jpg

 

The core being placed in final orbit

minstat04.jpg

 

The fuel module being delivered.  The comms/solar module is already in place and deployed

minstat05.jpg

 

The science lab module about to be attached

minstat06.jpg

 

The final station, before the addition of the lander or crew

minstat07.jpg

 

The lander attached after delivery

minstat08.jpg

 

After crewing, the lander departs for it's first visit to the surface

minstat09.jpg

 

Safely down with flag planted to mark the occasion.  The lander has enough fuel for two return trips before needing to be refuelled

minstat10.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/1/2018 at 2:17 PM, SiriusRocketry said:

Hi @adsii1970!

Glad you posted this. With your thread and the General Micro challenge thread, I'm sure I'll be busy!

Glad you like it!

On 9/4/2018 at 6:48 AM, Scarecrow said:

It's been a while since I've done missions to Minmus so thought I would give this one a go.

My station ended up in a 60k x 58k orbit.  It includes the required Mystery Goo canister (2) as well as fuel and monoprop capacity.  3 docking ports are available; one is used for the lander, one is for refuelling purposes and the final one is dedicated to visiting ships and transfer shuttles for crew exchanges.  The station was built with 4 launches; station core, comms and solar module, fuel module, and science lab module.  Two further launches were made, one to deliver the lander, and the second to bring up the crew.  Crew changes in future will be made using a shuttle from a station in LKO, and crew being transferred from that station to and from the surface of Kerbin using a SSTO.


 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

First I put a relay satellite in a big orbit, as the construction launches would be controlled by probes.

minstat01.jpg

 

This shows the relay orbit and the working relay lines of communication

minstat02.jpg

 

Before delivering the core, the modules were placed in arbitrary orbits around Minmus

minstat03.jpg

 

The core being placed in final orbit

minstat04.jpg

 

The fuel module being delivered.  The comms/solar module is already in place and deployed

minstat05.jpg

 

The science lab module about to be attached

minstat06.jpg

 

The final station, before the addition of the lander or crew

minstat07.jpg

 

The lander attached after delivery

minstat08.jpg

 

After crewing, the lander departs for it's first visit to the surface

minstat09.jpg

 

Safely down with flag planted to mark the occasion.  The lander has enough fuel for two return trips before needing to be refuelled

minstat10.jpg

 

 

Nice! It is interesting seeing the difference in approaches to the challenge. I like the idea of three docking ports available. It will come in handy with a future Minmus challenge! :)

On 9/4/2018 at 6:03 PM, W. Kerman said:

Yay!

One of my goals is to build up a bunch of mini-missions which can be used to springboard more challenging missions... :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mün Arch Settlement micro-challenge

I almost ran out of week before I had a chance to post this week's micro-challenge. This challenge involves constructing a fully operational settlement near one of the arches on the Mün.

Here are the requirements for your space station:

Modded game Stock game
+ Settlement must comfortably house ten Kerbalnauts + Settlement must comfortably house ten Kerbalnauts
+ Settlement must no further than 1 Km and no closer than 500 m to arch. + Settlement must no further than 1 Km and no closer than 500 m to arch.
+ Settlement must be able to process ore into fuel. + Settlement must be able to process ore into fuel.
+ Settlement must be able to remain in contact with the KSC (relay ok) + Settlement must be able to remain in contact with the KSC (relay ok)
+ Settlement must have a science lab. + Settlement must have a science lab.
+ Settlement must be able to refuel a lander or other craft. + Settlement must be able to refuel a lander or other craft.
+ Settlement must have an airlock to allow passage from outside/in, etc. + Settlement must have an airlock to allow passage from outside/in, etc.
+ Station must be able to provide food/snacks for ten Kerbalnauts (greenhouse)  

Additional information about the challenge:

  • Your settlement will need power. You will need to use nuclear power, solar power, batteries, or whatever to assure your Kerbalnauts aren't left in the dark and to have enough power to process ore into fuel.
  • You must provide housing for all ten Kerbalnauts - no hot bunking!
  • There's no predefined shape for your settlement. Have fun!
  • You will need to have some sort of rover which can be used to drill for ore and bring it back to the settlement for processing (for future micro-challenges).
  • You will need a docking port (unmodded) or the hose connector found in KAS/KIS (modded) on your settlement. This will allow you to transfer ore for processing and refined fuel to be exported to various craft.

The sandbox micro-challenge badge:

4PH4mM3.png?1

@KerbolittoMün Settlement

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I present you my attempt at Mun Settlement challenge !

 

I went a bit overboard with the station's design but somehow everything works :D

 

Kerbin lift-off and Mun capture

 

zigp46.jpg

mpo9pp.jpg

Spoiler

Lift off : I had to use my biggest cargo SSTO (500t.) because I forgot where I put a lighter one ..

7xsdbs.jpg

The station being quite light, I managed to complete the whole Mun injection with the 1st stage, throwing it in an impact on the Mun before separation of 2nd stage.

mfhjf5.jpg

Mun's capture, very elliptical orbit to change plane at Ap. I set the station on a polar orbit to wait a good opportunity to deorbit on an Arch :

e6ji34.jpg

 

Mun maneuvers and deorbit

 

iw7mxq.jpg

yhg8or.jpg

9giorq.jpg

Spoiler

Polar maneuver at Ap :

we7fj8.jpg

Deorbit maneuver after waiting 4/5 days to pass above the arch, I did not choose the equatorial one because I wanted to visit another one ! During this time I set up a relay network using 2 lights probes on polar orbits :

e8uyvy.jpg

 

Landing and unpacking !

 

iv81f5.jpg

35x9b2.jpg

801uch.jpg

Spoiler

Here is the outpost just after touchdown, I used a Cheetah to slow down the assembly while tipping horizontal. There's a lot of fuel left since the SSTO was able to finish the Mun's burn :

8eemtx.jpg

After mining south of the station, the rover is re-attached on it with 600 ore.

h5di72.jpg

 

So here it is !

Shining Currents is operationnal. This outpost has everything required, with industrial refuelling capacity. It also possesses 2 normal and 1 senior docking ports facing upwards to allow vertical dockings. It is also capable of producing science experiments and looks really cool in the night ! :D

 

wg8jk0.jpg

Edited by Kerbolitto
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, W. Kerman said:

Haven't forgotten this challenge... Just having "technical difficulties"

Might be clipping between upper and lower deck (ISRU wobbles into ore tank, that'd be my guess), maybe over stress of landing gears  .. Try adding some struts between your decks ? Also on Mun surface this may not happen, I too had troubles with landing gears but they suffer less pressure on the lower gravity. Did you cheat this outpost on the Mun ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Kerbolitto said:

Might be clipping between upper and lower deck (ISRU wobbles into ore tank, that'd be my guess), maybe over stress of landing gears  .. Try adding some struts between your decks ? Also on Mun surface this may not happen, I too had troubles with landing gears but they suffer less pressure on the lower gravity. Did you cheat this outpost on the Mun ?

No, I scrapped the base after reworking it for awhile, and came up with a design that doesn’t immediately detonate on stage seperation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
18 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

This sounds fun, I might give it a go!

And since when did you become a moderator? First @Gargamel, then you. Are they hiring or something?

Please do! The micro-challenges are mainly to get others to enjoy sandbox mode as much as I do...

My official starting date was today... Makes me wonder how they were able to overlook all of my Rule 2.2 violations! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

@adsii1970

I built a station around Minmus over Christmas break

Here it is! The Neptune :0.0:

ouwAoCo.png

I only discovered this challenge today, and since I'm finally getting a chance to play some KSP, I decided to see what needed to be done to get this bad boy up to code.

I1CzxxC.png

So as you can see I have pretty much everything; all the science, all the habitation space, and all the POWAH!! We have comms, docking ports, etc. 

tYHiEaO.png

However, there are a few glaring problems. 

  1. I don't have a lander
  2. There is no greenhouse, which I have decided to add even though I don't use LS
  3. Lastly, and most annoyingly, I am in too low of an orbit. ugh.

a0t2ToI.png

Greenhouse first:

W0YKwLH.png

Sunrise dawns on this hideous approximation of a Vulcan.

Liftoff!

mFV71nh.png

uDfLil1.png

BNgPdst.png

sAP0TEJ.png

LmDmQcD.png

wur1kb3.png

Alright! Orbit confirmed!

Onto Minmus!

YjxPdev.png

lol I just realized the windows watermark is on all of these. D'oh!

m0GulP3.png

Mid course correction

YzPZ2qv.png

We're here! And on an intercept course with the station.

Ltld9my.png

That is a pretty shot.

XwSvqsr.png

DeUMsxV.png

Docking Successful!

One objective down, two to go! 

Although now that I think about, why not take out two planes with one launch? We have that perfectly good Poodle engine sitting there......

luqmXvW.png

Although it's not the design orientation, there's no denying that this looks cool.

e3q6UdO.png

Apomin raise maneuver.

Mm2wHEN.png

Final Maneuver to reach the desired 60x60 km. orbit.

PzYdHSC.png

I keep telling myself that I'm prolonging this process a lot by taking so many screenshots. 

What can I say? This station is pretty darn photogenic.

1G9CAek.png

Final maneuver!

eLY7EkN.png

YES! A NICE, ROUND ORBIT!!!!

It worked!

Spoiler

I really wasn't planning that. I realized in transit, 

huh, I'm docking this inline, and it has an engine, I should use that!

It saved me a bunch of pain.

 

YA5HLbl.png

Anyways, it's LanderTime!

1TGVup4.png

A different crappy Vulcan.

FYI I'm going to take fewer pictures for this launch and TMI. It is very time consuming.

ETDvR9P.png

Simpler times. :)

ZQtBDFU.png

I know I said fewer pic, but I didn't get booster sep last time.

zPtk09s.png

Minmus approach

yTKgzCA.png

Mibles Kerman using the brilliant PCS suit by OrdinaryKerman

YOBA6qj.png

ZNqCQqM.png

2vNPnxG.png

Success! The station is now in compliance with challenge rules!

I know it's been a few years, and this challenge is a bit old, but with your improved badge making skillz, would you consider upgrading this one? 

I will wear it with pride either way :D

iYRZ0ES.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Spaceman.Spiff

Towards the end of the month, I will be adding more challenges (about one a month) and revamping the thread. The idea behind this is to provide some challenges to those who want to find enjoyment of the sandbox game but do not have any idea where to start with mission planning.

I already have a plan for what will happen with these smaller sandbox challenges. Each one can be done independently - just for the fun of doing them. But I'd suggest keeping the progress you make. Because, over time, there will be missions which the only way to complete them is to have some of the earlier, foundational missions already complete. In the end, I think it will be fun to see what kinds of things folks come up with to get the job done.

And yes, I plan to redo ALL of the images for this challenge thread. I am playing around with a couple of ideas to make them more aesthetically pleasing and meaningful.

When I update the thread, I will give you credit for each of the challenges you've completed. :) Thanks for showing interest in this thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

And yes, I plan to redo ALL of the images for this challenge thread. I am playing around with a couple of ideas to make them more aesthetically pleasing and meaningful.

When I update the thread, I will give you credit for each of the challenges you've completed. :) Thanks for showing interest in this thread

Thanks adsii!

I will upgrade my badge when the time comes... :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...