Norcalplanner

Jaffa Cookie, the challenge is definitely still going on. Assembling a station in LKO and then shipping it somewhere else is fine, as mentioned in the OP. I look forward to your entry! - - - Updated - - - Celem, thanks for the info. I optimized things a bit more and am now down to 35 tons for my satellite rocket. I think I'm still putting a bit too much fuel in the satellite itself - old stock KSP habits are hard to break.

Been playing around with RO the past few days, and am finally getting a feel for it. Hopefully a well-considered scoring system for RSS/RO entries will emerge out of all of this. Initial thought is that the launch pad weight penalty needs to go down a little further, to 0.75 or 0.5 per ton on the pad. So far, it takes me a 150 ton rocket just to get a satellite into orbit.

So I'm having a blast with RO, which is also my first real experience with FAR. I'm finally getting the hang of things (first unmanned lander will be on the Moon shortly) but I find myself needing more info on fairings, specifically when they should be jettisoned. Is there a quick rule of thumb that people use? Or is there a data point on MJ or KER that indicates when it's safe to jettison them? Thanks in advance.

I don't yet have any experience with EPL, so I'm not sure how best to fit it into the dusting scoring system. Sounds like it might be worthy of its own challenge...

Alright, I hinted at this earlier. I present for your enlightenment and edification - the Mega(useless) Station. Brought to you by SpaceY, MRS, and KJR. Mega because it's huge (more than a thousand comfortable seats and would be worth more than a million points), and useless because I'm never going to touch this station again. Consider it a lesson in the frustration of high part counts, lag, and low FPS. Enjoy my pain. ;-)

Congratulation, Maolagin! You have completed the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge with Stock(-ish) Division entry scoring 115,440 points, making you the new points leader! Definitely not a FAR entry, and definitely not optimized on part count, but full props for making what is the largest/heaviest ion-powered craft I've ever seen. The new Mk3 parts are turning out to be pretty efficient on a kerbal per ton of station basis, so I think we'll see more of those. I can't even imagine how many solar panels you'd need to make that thing work out by Jool. Feel free to add the badge to your sig. I'll update the leaderboard. And I think this goes to show how part count is a killer for big space stations. They end up looking awesome, but are hardly used at all due to computer-thrashing, soul-crushing lag.

Check out the Milne, the craft I used for the Jool-5 Kethane challenge. Just click on the badge in my signature. The drive section detached to become a universal lander, suitable for everywhere except Kerbin and Eve. It could also bring down a science lab, or a supplemental fuel tank. The design included two small satellites for impact testing and four Kethane scanning probes.

Thanks for the ideas - this is definitely a good place to start. I'm actually creating a new install right now for RO to get some experience with it. Based on my limited gaming time at the moment, I should have multipliers figured out within a week or two. In the meantime, unless you're trying to min/max your station, feel free to get started knowing that there will be some proportional scoring system in place soon.

Actually, it means that I'm having a Homer Simpson "D'oh!" moment. Multipliers for RO/RSS will be altered to something TBD that makes sense. It will probably be later this week or early next before I can look at it in detail. If you have any ideas for appropriate multipliers, I'd love to hear them.

Coga19000, Good descriptions, and I'm totally fine with increased part count for aesthetic purposes. However, before it can be scored, there need to be some screenshots of the launch and assembly - please see the OP for the entry requirements. If you didn't capture any photos at the time, just reload the rocket in the VAB, wheel a duplicate out to the pad, and take a few shots of each section showing them being launched into space. - - - Updated - - - inigma, I'm leaning towards a two-fold route. First, the landing mass of any manned shuttle or space plane is subtracted from the weight on the pad or runway on takeoff - basically getting a points credit for a manned reusable craft. Second, some sort of points bonus in the 2-3,000 range for a station whose components were launched entirely within the cargo bay of a shuttle or space plane. That way, if someone can make a station entirely out of components that fit within a cargo bay, they'll score both bonuses. If the station includes one or more components which were too big to fit in a cargo bay, then they would simply get reduced negative points for runway/pad mass. And of course, it would get a callout in the brief description on the leaderboard. Sound reasonable? - - - Updated - - - Kibble, The Altered Universe is alive and kicking. The only change to the scoring system is -1 per ton on the launch pad or runway for AU entries instead of -2 per ton for standard entries. If the scores end up being a bit off from the other divisions, that's OK - the important thing is that scores within a division are comparable to each other.

The final point tally Station tonnage - 100x180 = +18000 (Dry mass) <- I rounded this down to account for the removal of the parts constructed in-situ Kosmos-III and the Ore Miner, ((100x362.2)+(100x78.7)= +44090 (Dry mass) Mass from non-launched equipment are not counted. Launch tonnage penalty - ~7371x2 = -14742 Kerbals on station - 14x100 = +1400 Comfortable seats - 20x200 = +4000 No manned science lab (I assume you mean the stock science lab) No Snacks TAC-LS used - +1000 Dedicated shuttles - None. Could easily construct one though. Escape Pod capacity - None. Ain't nobody got the FPS to spare for that . Mining/Processing ability - +2000 Fully self-sufficient on everything - +3000 Total without counting Kosmos-III and Ore Miner: (29400x0.5)-14742= -42 Total with Kosmos-III and Ore Miner: (73490x0.5)-14742= 22003 Congratulations, Frostea! You have completed the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge with a Modded Division entry worth 29,374 points! That's an impressive set of interlocking technologies and vehicles you've assembled. I'm sorry that the kraken didn't play nice with your rovers. I have yet to do anything with EPL, but I think I'll add it to the Advanced Technology Division for future entries. Someone clever enough to ship all the construction infrastructure to a distant planet and then build a monster station in situ should be able to fully score what they manage to create. When I did the math, I ended up with a slightly different (but higher) score - it looks like you may have applied the 0.5 Minmus modifier twice. Feel free to add the badge to your sig. If you liked the challenge, rep (clicking on the sheriff's star icon) is always welcome.

Coga1900, this looks great. In order for me to score it and put you on the leaderboard, I need you tally up your points according to the OP and post enough photos (or a link to an album) which has photos that will verify the launch weights and such that go into the scoring formula. And I hear you on the part count and the lag. I'm going to post a link shortly to a new project, the LPC (Low Part Count) Station - basically an effort to get as much functionality with as few parts as possible so a player can actually use the thing instead of abandoning it to the lag monster. - - - Updated - - - Frostea, looks good! I believe that this is the first entry using EPL. Please tally up your points, note what mods you're using, and post some photos regarding the actual launch(es) of the station according to the OP so I can confirm your score and put you on the leaderboard. And thanks for making this challenge your first post!

We now have a badge, courtesy of my younger daughter! All who successfully complete the challenge can add this badge to their signature. Available in three sizes for your convenience.

TheMoonRover, Are we talking about a sun skimming station right next to Kerbol? If so, that multiplier would be higher than Moho - I just need to figure out how much higher. For being able to make fuel, you just get the +2000 point bonus. You would get +3000 on top of that if you had both refuelling and self-contained life support. - - - Updated - - - Lou, my daughter has created a first draft of the badge, so it should be finalized by the end of the weekend. I like what you're doing, though!

Lou, I've given my daughter an ultimatum - if she doesn't finish the badge like she said she would by the end of the weekend, then we'll go with yours. I really want a badge, but I have NO art skills.

For kerbal safety and framerate purposes, the station departed LKO with only six brave souls on board. We'll see if it survives the trip. Although it looks pretty impressive, it's not turning out to be much fun. The framerate is around 2-3 fps. :-\

[snippets of conversations heard through closed doors at the KABOOM administration building] "...just might be possible if we use Mk3 parts..." "...yeah, but it's gonna be a laggy sumbitch..." "...promising partnership with SpaceY and Kerbal Joint Reinforcement..." "...listen, I don't care what Walt's polling numbers say! There's no practical reason to build a station that can hold a thousand kerbals!" "...but if we - Mortimer, are you OK? Mortimer?!? Somebody call a doctor!"

Two thoughts on RSS - First, I'm going to create an RSS install sometime in the next week or two to get some experience with it before deciding how to score it. Second, no matter how I end up scoring RSS entries, I'm going to create a new category, the Altered Universe division. This division will be reserved for those running RSS, RO, 6.4x, and similar mods. That way, it will still be an apples to apples comparison within each division.

Creeping, gm537 is correct. The dash separates comfortable from uncomfortable. External seats, requiring the kerbal to be in a pressure suit the entire time, are definitely uncomfortable. An RSS station would be quite epic, and would definitely get some sort of multiplier. You'd also be hit harder by the penalty for mass on the launch pad due to the smaller payload mass fraction in RSS. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking that a 3x or 4x multiplier, applied after all other points are tallied up, seems appropriate. That said, I only know what I've read about RSS, as I've never actually used it. I would love to hear some input from those who are more experienced with RSS regarding what seems appropriate to reflect the added difficulty. And I've just changed the wording a bit regarding the seats to make it more clear in the OP.

OK everyone, part welding is now allowed as a modded division entry. To be fair, I moved KJR out of stock(-ish) and put it into modded as well, since the two mods are somewhat similar in my book. I also placed a few other mods into various categories (NecroBones' SpaceY and MRS are in the Modded division, and PorkJet's Atomic Age is in the Advanced Technology Division), and created a section for honorable mentions.

Shadowzone, that's one impressive station. I think this may push me over the line into starting a gatecrashers or honorable mention category for stations which don't quite meet the challenge requirements. - - - Updated - - - inigma, I have yet to download another person's craft from this forum. That said, I'll give your shuttle the honor of being the first one I try out.

Claw's stock bug fixes plus SpaceY radial decouplers equals clean separation of 5m asparagus stages FTW.

ExplorerKlatt, Looks good so far! I've made some SSTOs for crew and fuel deliveries, but have had very limited success using shuttles to get cargo to orbit. Regarding part welding, I'm reconsidering that rule. Current thought is to put both it and KJR into the modded division, since they both convey a modest advantage in structural connections and reduced part count.

I think if you provide me with the configs, and TWR and Isp are comparable to 0.90 stock engines, then that would be fine as a modded division entry. However, if you're looking for large lifter parts that don't require editing of configs, check out Modular Rocket Systems and SpaceY by Necrobones.

If you use MechJeb, it's really easy to dock without using RCS. SmartASS on another ship will stay active as long as you're still in physics range, so just have each ship's docking port target the other and hold that heading with the target function of SmartASS. Small burst on the main engine to close at .3 m/s or so, and even if you're a bit off, the two ships will gracefully pirouette around each other and dock.