Jump to content

The Kerbin 1K Drag Race (needs Races! mod)


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, Lisias said:

DAMN. I have some serious work to do. :D

It's been a while since I worked on this.  But as I recall, I think every entry from mine down has been a Sepratron design, because nothing else has the TWR it does.  I tried the Vector engine and at least in my experience its designs didn't compete.  And keeping the vehicle straight and stopping it are equal challenges.  I think I never worked on a better one than my Rocket Sled 5 due to the shear tediousness of banking up so many Sepratrons and tweaking them to reduce their fuel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jeb-head-mug kerman said:

So the WHOLE car has to survive? Whoops....

And the airstrip too. :D (boy, trying to remember how I managed salvage the airstrip and land the cockpit on it….)

2019-1102_Mk2-ShitHappens.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/3/2019 at 9:41 AM, Jacke said:

Speaking of KSP 1.8.1, do we need an updated Races mod?

The mod is working in 1.8.1, although the loading screen says it's not.

Nice to see there are still gearheads on the forum. :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Triop said:

The mod is working in 1.8.1, although the loading screen says it's not.

Nice to see there are still gearheads on the forum. :cool:

It's possible if the mod .dll used only KSP methods carefully and never went directly to Unity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My stepfather would have loved that nonsense. He was a hot rodder back in the 50s, and drove a souped-up Lincoln. One time he lost to a guy with a rusty old Hudson Terraplane that had been secretly modded with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, like from a Spitfire warbird.

OK so my stepfather liked to tell tall tales, so who knows if that other car really existed. But he still would have enjoyed a dragracing tractor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, sturmhauke said:

My stepfather would have loved that nonsense. He was a hot rodder back in the 50s, and drove a souped-up Lincoln. One time he lost to a guy with a rusty old Hudson Terraplane that had been secretly modded with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, like from a Spitfire warbird.

OK so my stepfather liked to tell tall tales, so who knows if that other car really existed. But he still would have enjoyed a dragracing tractor.

I believe him. :)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

This has been my favorite challenge for so long!

I've finally tried to attempt it. I made a "Control Buggy" which got 57 seconds. Powered entirely by rover wheels. After many failed attempts I managed to get some embarrasing cars that either disintegrated immediately or got 6 seconds... so I'll just take my participation trophy in shame now.

This won't be the last of me though! Once I'm less busy I'll make a great car that gets a score higher than at least one person.

Quote

In the name of the Holly Kerbol that Enlighten us all, I claim my rightful place as (eternal) 3rd on the Scoreboard. :D

@Lisias , I was inspired by your design and tried to attempt a functional unpowered glider escape system that would loop around and parachute over the runway. It never got through the race before disintegrating, but by my estimates it would've gotten around 4 seconds. The wings wrapped around the 1.25m wide thruster stage. I did however test it on a pitifully slow stage that did the run in 8 seconds, and it glided well enough back to the runway. I hope you can forge something excellent using both my knowledge and your knowledge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made something go moderately fast. Only problems: instability, escape system, and Race ignores the fast it got past the end.

I'll keep you posted with edits.

-edit-

Well that didn't work. I never managed to make it stable enough. The time it happened to fly through the gate it got something like 3.5 seconds, but since it really didn't survive, I wouldn't count on sending it to anyone.

I've been trying some weird designs with angled radial engines that thrust the car into the ground, as well as spinning BreakingGround motorized launchers.

-edit-

I've developed a new line of amazing drag racers that make the leaderboards! The Airplanen't racers have peaked at 3.78 seconds. I'm making a KerbalX file for the Mk1 design now.

Edited by LittleBitMore
Edits
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I present to you: the Airplanen't Mk1!

Against popular belief, this craft does not fly like an airplane. Any attempts to do so result in your warranty becoming void. Instead, it blazes through the 1km sprint at a blistering time of 3.78 s!

I'll make something better soon. I am now employing a great trick if you need extra stability: hold shift, offset wheels, add struts, and pretend it's legal. This trick was pilfered from @swjr-swis .

Instructions:

Spoiler

Activate SAS.

Throttle up.

Make sure Races is on.

Hit space.

DO NOT TOUCH until flamout.

IMMEDIATELY hit space.

Success!

Edit: tested and flown rolled in 1.9.1. Races surprisingly still works!

agg5jQa.pngp0Qnhdg.pngYzPoIST.png

Edited by LittleBitMore
added edit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guess what? Airplanen't Mk2 is what!

It gets through the course in various times under 3.05s, once going 2.98s! This was tested and flown rolled in 1.9.1.

Powered by huge amounts of Vectors and held together by bucketloads of struts, this one is actually capable of flight (but this normally ends in fire and death, so your warranty will still be voided if this is attempted).

WARNING: Survival is pretty fifty fifty. The below instructions MIGHT help you survive.

Spoiler

Before you launch, as SOON as the vessel loads, throttle up, enable stability assist, and start the Races! timer.

Stage.

dOh2rAZ.png

Keep it in the center of the runway with A and D.

There are tons of fins especially for this purpose. Too little control and it falls over onto the grass and misses the gate.

FTnuwT5.png

On flameout, pull up and then NEARLY INSTANTLY stage. Otherwise your kerbal will probably die.

Doing W too early will flip it over and kill your kerbal and doing space too early will smear your kerbal into the tarmac.

Once you stage, just to be sure it does it correctly, spam space.

rBXasKI.png

Keep the escape thrusters from thrusting directly down until the chutes deploy, if possible. (Upwards thrusters were necessary to prevent kerbal smearage.)

WJRNgz1.png

Success!

JFtZJLY.png

(Ignore that random FAT-455 airplane fin flying in the background.)

Video of 3.02s run:

https://i.imgur.com/iZdmt8Q.mp4

I hope you enjoy my entry! Honestly I'm just glad I finally got up the ranks a little.

Edited by LittleBitMore
Added video, edited instructions for lowering mortality rate
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...