Mun Rover for Science

[tuku473]

Hey guys, i've been lurking around this forum for a few days now trying to learn how to build decent stuff, i got a lot of ideas on how to build rovers, the thing is, they're all pretty empty, i know you want it lightweighted but whats the point if you dont carry at least the basic stuff to gather some science while you drive?

So i made this thing:

I'm using a few mods, mechJeb for the maneuvers i already know (im in career mode so i had to unlock the stuff by playing normally, dont hate me), the scanMap thing, the other one wich makes the IVA look cool, wich came with the pod im using in the rover.

The rover works "meh" i get a speed of 21m/s on Kerbin, and from 10 to 30 in mun in regular terrain, im pretty sure it cant climb 40° or higher land, i managed to get to 40m/s in a downslope but as soon as i tried to controll it i started doing that sexy dance we all know stuff does in mun.

The rover has the 5 science scanning thing (grav, press, temp, seismic and atmospheric) 2 Goo things, and 1 Lab, some radars for the mapScan thing, 2 mono tanks to refill my EVApack and some maneuvers, batteries and solar panels (i still have to unlock that thing that generates energy rotating), and a docking port on the top, wich i used to get it to the mun and to reset the labs and goos at the big scientific lab.

The thing is pretty controllable at around 20m/s, i made a frontflip once breaking from 30m/s, i also got flipped over when sharp turning really fast (was trying to do it on purpose) but i believe its very stable.

I keep the SAS on most of the time, only turn it off and on again when the terrain changes to adjust the balance, i also drive it in Docking mode to avoid the torque, and disabled steering in the 4 rear wheels, the landing gear is to flip it in case of a non-fatal-game-breaking flip over (all of this i read around here in the forum).

According to the Jeb thing, the vessel mass is 6.5t, it has room for 3 guys (i left 2 in the big lab thing and used the old Jebediah to explore around)

Well, tl;dr, is there any ideas you have to make this a bit better? are those the proper wheels to use in mun? what would you do to improve the handling?

:PThanks for your ideas and excuse my english, spanish speaker kerbalist here (and excuse me if this isnt the right section, i just realised it forces me to select "answered/unanswered")

Edited May 18, 2014 by tuku473

[Claw]

Welcome to the forums!

This is a fine forum for asking such questions. Also, don't let people hate on you for using MechJeb. It's unfortunate that people have to be defensive about any mods they use.

In any case, your design looks great.

If you didn't know already, there are a few things you can do to help with the rolling and flipping.

- Deactivate the brakes on the front tires, and turn it on for the back tires. You can do that by right-clicking on each one.

- Deactivate steering on the back tires, and turn it on for the front tires. (Also by right clicking.)

- Have your controls for rolling/pitching/yawing with SAS separate from your rover controls of turning/going forward.

You can actually use SAS to counteract the tendency to flip. Like you said, I find that I tend to leave it on most of the time. If you take a sharp turn, adding roll torque into the turn also helps keep it from flipping.

(Sounds like you've already discovered workarounds for most of this yourself. )

Generally speaking, you want your rovers to only have what you need on them. So, for example, if you only ever planned on bringing Jeb down to ride in it, then avoid taking up the extra space/weight of having room for 3 kerbals. Of course, if you want a rover you can use for lots of tasks then design it to suit those needs. That may mean overkill for certain missions.

Also, on low gravity worlds (like Minmus) you actually want it to weigh MORE. That's because tire traction affects speed. So if your rover is too light then the wheels don't grip so well. Also, you can darn near launch yourself into orbit on Minmus by going up a hill too fast.

Anyway, I'm sure there are more things people will add in. Good luck.

[xcorps]

This isn't the answer that you want, but it's a good answer.

Don't bother.

The amount of time and effort to put into a good design is too easily lost to invisible rocks that destroy your mission. If you just want to drive around, that's fine. But if you want actually productive science gathering missions, use your lander. It's easy to design a lander with 10-12k of Dv that you can fly all over the Mun with much much less effort and aggravation.

[tuku473]

Thanks Claw!! Im using that pod wich has cap for 3 cause it looks so damn good (lol), i was wondering if those big black wheels are better (i havent unlocked them yet) for grip (and speed too, but i prefer slow and safe in mun), i will post a pic of the lander soon (as soon as i get the rover back to it, its 24km away D:) so you can check it out, again i got the idea from the forums.

I did deactivated the steering on the back tires, but i havent been able to find the brakes option in the front ones(do i have to "disable motors"?).

I went to minmun with a manned ship in my first try, i did noticed the gravity is way lower than mun one so i have no idea how i will do a rover that works there lol, im flying at 20m/s in mun i cant even imagine in minmun. Will cry for help when the time to get a rover there comes

[LethalDose]

RE building rovers, the concept is pretty simple: Wide wheel base, low center of mass, and building them in the SPH to get useful symmetry. To get rovers from the SPH into the VAB, build the rover as a subassembly and then place that subassembly on your rocket in the VAB.

However

I completely agree with xcorps above, who stated:

This isn't the answer that you want, but it's a good answer.

Don't bother.

The amount of time and effort to put into a good design is too easily lost to invisible rocks that destroy your mission. If you just want to drive around, that's fine. But if you want actually productive science gathering missions, use your lander. It's easy to design a lander with 10-12k of Dv that you can fly all over the Mun with much much less effort and aggravation.

Rovers are really horrible as the are currently implemented in the game. Due to their speed and lack of autopilot, overland travel takes FOREVER, and that game time is way more productive launching missions to collect science from more lucrative areas. I think MJ has a rover autopilot option, which may make it less painful.

IMO, It's better to "hop" between biomes by building a lander that can land, launch into a suboribital trajectory on the Mun, and land again several times before getting back up into orbit to leave the Mun.

If we get biomes on other planets, like Eve and Duna, Rovers for extended overland travel may no longer make me scream. But that's simply not the current state of the game.

[Pecan]

You don't need the atmospheric nosecone science thingys because you're not in atmosphere.

Similar with the pressure (and I think the temperature) sensor.

You don't need two goo cannisters because your pilot can recover the data from a single one, reset it and store the data in the pod.

You don't need monopropellant tanks to refill your EVA jetpack because it's done automatically and infinitely when you re-board the pod. (You may still want the monopropellant for manoeuvres anyway).

Of course, you might want to keep all that stuff just for balance and looks. No problem; as others have said rovers are impractical for science because it takes soooo long to get anywhere.

I can't see from your screenshots but does the navball face forward, at the horizon, or straight up? If up you should consider placing a probe-core facing forwards and 'control from here' on it. This makes navigation a lot easier, especially when traversing slopes - which makes an up-pointing navball think your heading is going all over the place. I also find it best to keep SAS off - and, in fact, disable the torque in the pod and any other core(s) - so that it doesn't try to 'keep you on course' when you're just climbing a hill, not falling over!

For all of this I find it best - to the limited extent that I ever use rovers - to use the 'stage' action group (which I otherwise don't touch) to turn off torque, set brakes, steering, etc. as required while I'm in the VAB. Not that this helps when you're already on Mun, of course ^^.

[tuku473]

RE building rovers, the concept is pretty simple: Wide wheel base, low center of mass, and building them in the SPH to get useful symmetry. To get rovers from the SPH into the VAB, build the rover as a subassembly and then place that subassembly on your rocket in the VAB.

However

I completely agree with xcorps above, who stated:

Rovers are really horrible as the are currently implemented in the game. Due to their speed and lack of autopilot, overland travel takes FOREVER, and that game time is way more productive launching missions to collect science from more lucrative areas. I think MJ has a rover autopilot option, which may make it less painful.

IMO, It's better to "hop" between biomes by building a lander that can land, launch into a suboribital trajectory on the Mun, and land again several times before getting back up into orbit to leave the Mun.

If we get biomes on other planets, like Eve and Duna, Rovers for extended overland travel may no longer make me scream. But that's simply not the current state of the game.

Hey Lethal and xcorps, yeah i know rovers are kind of useless right now since its easier to use a lander (but also playing sandbox is 100 times easier if unlocking everything fast is your main reason), but im not really at the mun to grind for science, just to explore and learn some more, the speed is not an issue to me, i find travelling at 20m/s pretty decent for 20-30 kilometers and i dont get tired at all, its really exciting trying to controll that thing sometimes, also i read somewhere around here that the nasa rovers speed goes around 50mm/s lol, and yes MJ has a rover autopilot thing, but i really dont trust it, also for some reason my rover is catalogued as ship, and does crazy stuff if i enable it.

Here are some pics of the lander, and one of the rocket, it looks hells ugly but at least its not one of those asparagus things ppl do, i had to refuel the Poodle engine in muns orbit to make a safe landing and keep my LV-T30 full-tank to get back to home safe when needed:

[tuku473]

Hey pecan thanks for your reply (idk how this forum works, i hope it merges posts cause i just replied to the other 2 guys avobe but the mods havent approved it yet), my navball is facing straight up as you guessed, i believe it has something to do with the fact its for some reason catalogued as a ship and not as a rover.

I was pretty sure the pilot wont be able to reset the goo canisters by himself without the big lab thing, as he can with the little devices, i know atmosphere and pressure sensors are a waste at the mun but i tend to drop them in every thing i make lol, they might be usefull someday .

The mono tanks i find really usefull, when i fly in a slope i push myself back to ground using them, and also can provide a small boost when climbing something.

I will modify the rocket to add those action groups (i was using them for solar panels, and quick scanning everything), cause i find it pretty lame to switch from docking mode while driving to stage mode when i screw it to try and make my rover stop flying around, so probably disabling and enabling torque will do the trick. So even if your advice is not usefull with me already on the mun, be sure i'll change the rocket for future rover expeditions

[Claw]

Thanks Claw!! Im using that pod wich has cap for 3 cause it looks so damn good (lol), i was wondering if those big black wheels are better (i havent unlocked them yet) for grip (and speed too, but i prefer slow and safe in mun), i will post a pic of the lander soon (as soon as i get the rover back to it, its 24km away D:) so you can check it out, again i got the idea from the forums.

No problem. I did (and still do) a lot of lurking for ideas on the forums.

I did deactivated the steering on the back tires, but i havent been able to find the brakes option in the front ones(do i have to "disable motors"?).

I can't remember for sure, but you might have to do the brakes in the SPH. I thought you could do this while driving also though. (I'll have to check, maybe I'm remembering wrong.) You do bring up a separate point though which I forgot about. Disabling the motors can sometimes help control, but not nearly as much as disabling steering. It will definitely affect the top speed, but not by much. Disabling brakes really only affects flipping over while braking. You can also control that by tapping "B" and that will pulse the brakes.

I went to minmun with a manned ship in my first try, i did noticed the gravity is way lower than mun one so i have no idea how i will do a rover that works there lol, im flying at 20m/s in mun i cant even imagine in minmun. Will cry for help when the time to get a rover there comes

A lot of people will use RCS or ion drives pointed upward to push the rovers against the ground. That will increase your traction and help keep from flying off the surface.

---

To each their own I suppose. I could also have said "don't bother," but it's really up to what you want to do. If your goal is pure science gain and efficiency, rovers will be much slower. But it's also a completely different game experience. If you enjoy building and driving rovers, then do it.

Here is one method I chose in order to deal with the slowness factor and the explosive rovers. I built the one below for the Polar Challenge (drive from KSC to the North Pole). It took me several iterations, but I finally managed to make a design that is capable of full speed crashes at 4x physical time warp without damage (or at least, minimal). It's also able to flip itself back over. It's a rescue vehicle that carries a driver and medic, and has space for two patients. Practical top speed on level terrain is about 23 m/s. I haven't converted it into a space based rover, but I suspect I could replace the medevac space with science equipment and still retain a two crew capacity.

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Edited May 16, 2014 by Claw

[technicalfool]

Don't know if you already know this, but using docking controls makes the ASAS work for you rather than against you when turning corners.

Other than that, it's a lovely-looking Mün rover. I tend to find the rovers come into their own when you have the KAS and KSP Interstellar mods installed. Creating power station bases on Thorium/Uranium deposits is enhanced wonderfully by having a spare-parts rover go around clamping everything together with pipes and ground pylons.

[tuku473]

Hey Claw thats a good looking and compact rover you have there those are the wheels im wondering if are better than the ones im using, since im playing in career and still have to unlock them. How do you make your navball point forward? Pecan suggested adding a probe core in the front and make it controll from there, but that i can only do in the SPH and im already at the mun (any other solution?)

Thanks Technical! im glad you liked it , thanks to you i googled the KAS and KSP Interstellar mods, and i've been moddin my game since that (wtf? like 6 hours ago?), the KAS one i found it pretty usefull, the other one is overly complex to me, im just starting, but KAS leaded to around 10 more mods lol, including a pack with textures and stuff, im installing that now and will try all that stuff soon .

And yes im using docking controls but i might remap rover controlls to something else (IJKL) and add a stage to toggle torque, so i can turn it back on when it gets unstable to try and balance it again, and then off to drive """"SAFELY"""" (wich never happens in this game lol)

[KerbMav]

You don't need the atmospheric nosecone science thingys because you're not in atmosphere.

Similar with the pressure (and I think the temperature) sensor.

Temperature can be done on every surface if I remember correctly.

You don't need two goo cannisters because your pilot can recover the data from a single one, reset it and store the data in the pod.

Without a mobile lab?

[Pecan]

@ KerbMav - EVA and right-click to take data from science equipment. AFAIK all the lab does is increase the transmission value of science. Then again, I do sandbox because the missions make more sense. - OR NOT - I've just been messing around a bit and I can't reset the goo pods after taking data so maybe you can't. Thankfully I don't need "points" to tell me I'm making progress ^^

@ tuku473 - Which way the navball points is determined by the orientation of the command pod/core you're controlling the vehicle from. Like most 'rocket' type pods the ALCOR you're using is expected to launch upwards so the navball points at the sky. Aeroplane cockpits, for instance, are expected to launch forwards so the navball points at the horizon. You certainly won't be able to use the autopilot from MJ or another mod unless it knows which way the vehicle itself is facing - that's why it's worth putting an extra, correctly-orientated, pod/core on the ship. Yes, unfortunately, that has to be done during build - there isn't anything you can do to reorientate the navball once launched.

it looks hells ugly but at least its not one of those asparagus things ppl do

BAUI: Yes, it's ugly, unlike asparagus-staged vehicles designed for aesthetics. Why do you imply that an asparagus staged vehicle would be worse than yours? Do you mean that 'pancake' - very wide/low designs - are bad, or that those with 'moar boosters' all over the place look unfeasible? If so, you will be pleased to know that those designs have nothing to do with asparagus staging. The purpose of asparagus staging being efficiency it is as likely to make a design simpler and more elegant, should that be the designers intention. Multiple 'rings' of booster stages is almost never worth it and with a single ring asparagus is indistinguishable from other radial/parallel staging strategies without close inspection of the fuel-lines. By the same token the relative inefficiency of radial and parallel staging makes it more likely that multiple booster rings would be necessary in the first place. People who design ugly rockets design ugly rockets, and those that design good-looking ones don't; asparagus isn't responsible.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Pecan

[KerbMav]

@ KerbMav - EVA and right-click to take data from science equipment. AFAIK all the lab does is increase the transmission value of science. Then again, I do sandbox because the missions make more sense. - OR NOT - I've just been messing around a bit and I can't reset the goo pods after taking data so maybe you can't.

That was what I was wondering about, resetting is almost exclusively used to describe the process of making the goo/material experiment reusable.

[Claw]

Hey Claw thats a good looking and compact rover you have there those are the wheels im wondering if are better than the ones im using, since im playing in career and still have to unlock them. How do you make your navball point forward? Pecan suggested adding a probe core in the front and make it controll from there, but that i can only do in the SPH and im already at the mun (any other solution?)

Ahh, yes. Well please forgive my previous (repetitive) post. Looks like I explained how you already felt about rovers.

Pecan is right about the probe cores. More generically about the navball, it will point in the direction of a couple of parts. Namely any probe core, manned type pods/capsules/etc, cockpits, the external command seat, and docking ports. MechJeb can also be used as a control point reference. Unfortunately if you don't have any of those oriented the right way, you can't do anything about it after the fact (you might be able to add one with KAS?). If you do have one of those parts oriented the right direction, you can use it to orient the navball by right-clicking and selecting "control from here."

[Claw]

That was what I was wondering about, resetting is almost exclusively used to describe the process of making the goo/material experiment reusable.

Well, I wasn't quite able to follow the conversation but the discussion about goo/materials is confusing.

You can use and reset the goo/material as much as you like until you want to "keep" the data. You can then leave it in the pod/bay and recover the whole thing, or have a kerbal remove the data via EVA. If you remove the data via EVA, the goo pod/material bay is no longer resetable (and therefore can't gather more science) until you clean it with a mobile lab.

[technicalfool]

Hey Claw thats a good looking and compact rover you have there those are the wheels im wondering if are better than the ones im using, since im playing in career and still have to unlock them. How do you make your navball point forward? Pecan suggested adding a probe core in the front and make it controll from there, but that i can only do in the SPH and im already at the mun (any other solution?)

Thanks Technical! im glad you liked it , thanks to you i googled the KAS and KSP Interstellar mods, and i've been moddin my game since that (wtf? like 6 hours ago?), the KAS one i found it pretty usefull, the other one is overly complex to me, im just starting, but KAS leaded to around 10 more mods lol, including a pack with textures and stuff, im installing that now and will try all that stuff soon .

And yes im using docking controls but i might remap rover controlls to something else (IJKL) and add a stage to toggle torque, so i can turn it back on when it gets unstable to try and balance it again, and then off to drive """"SAFELY"""" (wich never happens in this game lol)

Hah, that's true. KSPi might be a bit much when you've only just started the game. Beamed Power and nuclear reactors, their associated heat dissipation issues, antimatter collection, *and* resource mining/refining all in one mod makes for quite a few extra parts and procedures to learn. Recommend finding Scott Manley's channel on Youtube and his "Interstellar Quest" series for a whole lot of videos that use it.

Kethane is a bit simpler with just the resource scanning/mining. The SCANsat mod might also help make rovers useful, as you can put a BTDT (Been There Done That) short-range scanner on the rover and use it to check out anomalies.

Go careful with part packs. I've used Novapunch before, which is an excellent parts pack, but even with the texture reduction mod applied, I hit the 4GB limit *real* fast if NP is one of the installed mods. It's just so huge!

KW Rocketry is a little smaller, and lets me play the game with a number of installed mods, without crashing a lot.

Edited May 16, 2014 by technicalfool

[cantab]

I believe Near Future Propulsion has some similar aspects to KSP Interstellar, but is generally simpler. Mainly focussed on solar-electric and nuclear-electric propulsion, so if you like having crazy amounts of delta-V and don't mind long burns to use it it's worth checking it out. It's also got some nice parts for space stations. Wait until the update that's coming in a week or two though, since it's going to break compatibility with craft using the current version.

[tuku473]

We're going a bit off topic here might mark it as solved lol, the pack i installed is for aesthetics, i believe it introduces no new items, as i said im still learning (never got out of kerbin SOI) so the parts are more than enough for me, i do like KAS (i barely touched it so far, just to base jump with a parachute on EVA lol) cause it brings some utility while keeping it pretty much "vanilla". I'm not against game changin mods like KSPi or huge part mods, i just believe im not "prepared yet" to those ones (like that one that adds some hardcore plantes aswell).

Getting back on topic, im STILL wandering what are the best wheels for grip and maybe speed!!

And about the labs, Claw explained it perfectly, if u keep the data, you cant reset the lab until you use the big thing.

I'll fix the rover Soon TM and might post a picture with the navball pointing where it should i still have to figure out all this new KAS stuff so i dont forget anything i might need in mun (to avoid re-starting my mission again ;_

Thanks!

[michaelhester07]

I love the glass cockpit in that rover. Which mod is that one? My ships all have 1960s era tech in em. Retro is nice but not as cool looking. I wish there was more to do with a rover than drive across a gray desert. Maybe build a small one and get some "air"?

As far as rovers for science? If you want to keep your rover: leave out the non-reusable modules or find a way to stuff the mobile science lab on it (MSL would be awesome on a rover btw). If you somehow manage to drive 1000km to the next biome you'll find out you can't recover the data from the first one.

As for getting the science quick and easy: 1 ton lander probes, stick em on a mothership with a high dV lander and throw them at the surface to hit every biome on the target. That way you know where each biome is, collect the science and come back without having to carry experiments or reset them. I'm just wrapping up mun biome farming with this technique and am going to leave kerbin (in my current save... I've left kerbin a few times in other saves but this save is a permanent one).

[tuku473]

I love the glass cockpit in that rover. Which mod is that one? My ships all have 1960s era tech in em. Retro is nice but not as cool looking. I wish there was more to do with a rover than drive across a gray desert. Maybe build a small one and get some "air"?

As far as rovers for science? If you want to keep your rover: leave out the non-reusable modules or find a way to stuff the mobile science lab on it (MSL would be awesome on a rover btw). If you somehow manage to drive 1000km to the next biome you'll find out you can't recover the data from the first one.

As for getting the science quick and easy: 1 ton lander probes, stick em on a mothership with a high dV lander and throw them at the surface to hit every biome on the target. That way you know where each biome is, collect the science and come back without having to carry experiments or reset them. I'm just wrapping up mun biome farming with this technique and am going to leave kerbin (in my current save... I've left kerbin a few times in other saves but this save is a permanent one).

Hey Michael, its Alcor mod, gives you that cockpit (a good looking Lander Can), also improves the IVA on pretty much every vessel, and i believe it adds cameras too so you can add those and use the monitors inside the cockpit to watch whats going on around you without having to go outside (in the picture you see a frontal camera on the monitor down there, a side one and a rear one).

I really like driving across gray deserts sometimes , specially with the texture pack i just installed. (astronomers one).

The MSL is a bit heavy to fit into my current rover for mun, thats why i have it on my lander, to use it as some sort of base, maybe when i make one for minmun i will do it (claw suggested more weight there will help). I drove 25km and hit 4 biomes in my way there, i might just move from "zone" to "zone" with the lander and then pick the science with the rover, i really dont like the idea of bunnyhopping around the mun like that nor im that desperate for farming it that way

[SpacedCowboy]

Tuku, I think that's a great looking rover! Also, I too lurk the forum quite a bit and know that all tips and suggestions you've received from these "Vets" is Good to go. Therefore, I haven't much more to add. However, I did notice one thing on your rover that made me go Huh? What is the purpose of those heavy duty landing legs that are mounted on the rover command pod? They're upside down so is that for up-righting the vehicle in case you flip over? Being "Heavy" duty would add to the top heaviness hence defeating the purpose. Or am I missing something here? Again, I think the basic design is pretty good, and the IVA view with the Alcor mod is really sweet! However I couldn't seem to find the kitchen sink.

[KerikBalm]

If you didn't know already, there are a few things you can do to help with the rolling and flipping.

- Deactivate the brakes on the front tires, and turn it on for the back tires. You can do that by right-clicking on each one.

- Deactivate steering on the back tires, and turn it on for the front tires. (Also by right clicking.)

- Have your controls for rolling/pitching/yawing with SAS separate from your rover controls of turning/going forward.

I thought the brakes could only be set in the VAB....

You left out one thing, and that is the motors....

When going up a steep hill, if my rear wheel motoers are on, and my craft is too light, it can end up back flipping. (I've built many rovers capable of "popping a wheelie" if the rear motors aren't disabled)

When going down a hill, if my front motors are one, and I'm not using brakes, but rather the motors to decelerate, it may flip.

To avoid flipping, you always want your motors in front of your CG ("front" being the direction of travel) to be active and pulling you.

The MSL is a bit heavy to fit into my current rover for mun, thats why i have it on my lander, to use it as some sort of base, maybe when i make one for minmun i will do it (claw suggested more weight there will help). I drove 25km and hit 4 biomes in my way there, i might just move from "zone" to "zone" with the lander and then pick the science with the rover, i really dont like the idea of bunnyhopping around the mun like that nor im that desperate for farming it that way

I've made a few mobile lab based landers:

This one is a development of my Mun rover. The original rover design was delivered by "sky crane" (ie, slung under a large lander).

I'm pretty sure I could make this atmospheric design work without the parachutes (might need to add small gear bays for faster landing speeds) and/or decoupling wings... but I like it just for the cool points of steering its trajectory on the way down... gliding close to where it will first do science... then I pull the nose up and hit the staging -BAM, wings decouple and parachutes deploy, and when roving, no more unsightly wings. (note its called an EVE lander in the sub assembly, the ascent vehicle is obviously sold seperately )

The only problem is that Eve only has 2 "biomes", and once it is in the "oceans" biome, it can't get back to solid ground - which currently isn't a problem for maxing the science, but it does mean the kerbals may have a long walk to the ascent vehicle with just their space suit for protection - but solving that issue is for another thread.

btw... bunny hopping is fun, it finally gives an incentive to do things "apollo style"

I don't use a massive lander, I use a small lander, and an oribiting station consisting initially of a Liquid fuel/oxidizer/monoprop fuel depot, and a mobile lab+ solar to run it, and a hitchhiker "habitat" (later I add Ion thrusters and Xenon storage).

It makes for good orbital rendevou practice. It is after all a space flight game, not just another driving game (although, I don't know of many "low gravity" driving games)

Edited May 16, 2014 by KerikBalm

[Pecan]

Tuku - you've obviously started a thread where a lot people have interesting things to say; well done. Showing how good things can look, outside as well as the internals of the ALCOR/RPM display is good too. If it's not too off-topic, now that the thread has wandered a bit anyway; has anyone used a rover that was more efficient or easier than multiple landings?

[tuku473]

I couldn't seem to find the kitchen sink.

Hahaha, now that i think about it, yes, those landing gears seems a bit overkill for the purpose of flipping over in the mun, i might replace them for some of the lighter ones (thanks for the tip!) and yes that ALCOR mod is ace, it looks amazing from the inside, and also makes the other vessels look a bit better aswell, totally recommended mod.

I don't know of many "low gravity" driving games

That would be a great game, but as many already stated, with the speed on the rovers (without rockets) the racing wont be too exciting lol.

The motors tip will help me a lot, right now mine doesnt try to do a backflip, it tilts a bit to a side when the speed is really low, i use some monop to boost it a bit, however i did a frontflip once breaking too fast, will try and add the toggle motors to a shortcut and see how that works!

That rover looks fun to land with i will have to go to Eve some day, i like those pink/purple toxic clouds, i wonder if jeb would like to eva there.

Tuku - you've obviously started a thread where a lot people have interesting things to say; well done.has anyone used a rover that was more efficient or easier than multiple landings?

Well i hope it keeps growing with good opninions and dif builds, i started the topic cause i couldnt find any information on how to build a COMPLETE rover, so if anyone got good tips and ideas out of it (as i already did, even right now with that winged rover with the lab included) its a job well done indeed .

It might be my lack of english knowledge but i cant really understand what you're asking in the end with the multiple landings thing.

BTW im still wondering HOW GOOD ARE THOSE WHEELS EVERYONE IS USING!!! im still with those creamy looking ones but i see more and more black buggy ones!

Edited May 16, 2014 by tuku473
typos and stuff