purpleivan

KSP is by far the best value game I've ever bought. I paid 25 Euros for it last year and have logged over 1300 hours. Compare that with some other games I've played (fairly) recently. Wolfenstein: The New Order - £25 16 hours South Park: The Stick of Truth - £20 27 hours Sniper Elite 3 - £28 29 hours. I enjoyed all of these games and felt that they gave me decent enough value for money, but so far KSP has worked out at less than 2 euro cents per hour. I'm still putting in a decent number of hours per week on it, although more the occasional challenge and some artwork now, but I'm still firing it up for over 10 hours a week.

I just realised that I should set a date for the poll closing, so I'm picking 30th September for that.

Here are some of the images from the flight of the "Eve Party Boat" to Mun that I did to kick off my "Mun Rocked" challenge, landing a mass of 620 tons on the surface.

Part 2d. Giant Leaps Following its mission to near the center of the Kerbol system, the KSP's next mission would take its crew to the outermost planet in the system, Eeloo. Mere days after his return as pilot of the Moho mission, Yermin Kerman was to fly to the outer edge of the Kerbol system. Officially his response to this news was "Sure thing, strap me in". However unofficial sources say that he his reply was actually "What!... I just got back from Moho you $%"£!^& and you want to stuff me back in a ^&$%"^" can again... %&£* that. How about some RnR". Whatever the truth, come launch day both Yermin and Bob Kerman were at the controls of the vehicle bound for for Eeloo, tha lander of which they nicknamed "Lucky" after Bob's dog. This was a name that they would almost immediately regret when, just after the start of the burn out of Kerbin orbit, it was realised that some bozzo had connected the fuel lines backwards between the the Rockomax Jumbo-64 fuel tanks and the small FL-T200 tanks attached to the nuclear engines of their transfer vehicle. Transferring fuel manually to the small FL-T200 tanks, Yermin and Bob put the vehicle into a circular orbit of Kerbin and waited for the arrival of a replacement transfer vehicle. Once docked with their new ride to Eeloo, an improved transfer vehicle with more fuel, just in case it was required, they set off again for their icy destination. After a thankfully uneventful trip to Eeloo, Yermin and Bob detached the lander and descended to the surface, deciding not to test the vessels lights system, but instead to pick a nice safe daytime landing site, in case their lander's nickname decided to take a bite out them again. Once on the surface, even Yermin had to admit it was interesting to stand on the surface, look into the sky and know that all the other planets of their system were "roughly that way". After a bit more of his bar room philosophising, Yermin joined Bob in collecting samples, before heading back into orbit for a rendezvous with the transfer vehicle. After the longest "wait for the window" time in KSP history, the two travellers lit up the transfer vehicle's engines to begin their journey home. On arrival back in Kerbin SOI, one last snag was to hit their mission, when it was realised that even the additional fuel of their replacement transfer vehicle was not going to be enough to get them into low orbit. So the newly constructed orbital rescue vehicle was sent out to refuel their craft, allowing it to rendezvous with KOS. On disembarking to the station, one of it's crew decided to play a misguided prank on the much travelled Yermin and told him that he had to report immediately for a mission to Eve. The result being a rather predictable brawl, with the unfortunate KOS crewman ending up in medical for a week and Yermin removed from the crew roster for an extended "cooling off period". The flight of "Lucky" to Eeloo concluded the KSP's series of flights to the smaller planets of the system. In Part 3. Kerbals make preparations for a journey to the alluring purple planet of Eve.

Part 2c. Giant Leaps With their next mission, a trip to the inner system planet of Moho, the KSP made the radical choice or loading their vehicle with enough fuel to both get there and to return home again. This resulted in a much quicker although less eventful mission than their previous interplanetary missions. After a routine flight from Kerbin to Moho, the pilot Yermin Kerman put the Moho Express vehicle into a comfortable 20km orbit, while the engineer member of the crew, Rolley, prepared the lander for the descent. After a routine flight to the surface, Yermin commented that "we're making this flying to other planets thing look easy", a statement he would come to regret, when on his next mission, that would take him to Eeloo, a serious design flaw stranded the transfer vehicle in Kerbin orbit. After taking more time to collect surface samples and some observations of Kerbol, the lander made its way back into orbit to reunite with the Moho Express. They then waited for the desired launch window for the return to Kerbin. With the Moho Express' fuel reserves used up in the insertion burn into Kerbin orbit, the lander detached from it and rendezvoused with the KOS. In Part 2d. the KSP strikes out towards the last of the small planets, Eeloo.

OK... the poll closed a couple of days ago to choose which image I would work on and here is the final version of the poll winner "thinking of home" (1920x1200). 1080p version link is here. As I have lot of (in my opinion at least) interesting screenshots from my time with KSP, I'm now thinking of spending some time working on the more interesting ones, to improve on the shot taken in the game. Here's an example of the kind of changes to the images I would be making. Original Image Treated Image Some of the changes are quick and simple, brightness/contrast stuff, but cleaning up pixelated shadows and adding new details such as better clouds (unfortunately I took this pic before installing the various aesthetic add-ons I use now) takes a bit more time, so I won't be doing this kind of work for dozens of images. Below are some of the more interesting images that I have grabbed over the last year or so, that are my main candidates for giving the treatment (lots more on the drive where these came from). So my solution is to ask you which image you would most like to see an improved version of, in a poll, which will close on 30th September

I think I've seen on the threads somewhere, someone who did a Mun return mission on SRB's only.

I finally got around to flying the Eve Party Boat to Mun and making a landing. It was a mishap strewn mission, but resulted in putting a 620 ton (mass at landing) vehicle on the Mun surface. Here are the pics of the flight, plus some of the many other launches required to fuel and crew it. I wasted a lot of fuel burning the regular liquid engines rather than the more fuel efficient nukes, as half the nukes had missing fuel lines (I'd hastily constructed these rather than finding the files for the originals I used for the trip to Eve), so they were a bit of a pain to use, plus I started from too low a Kerbin orbit to use them successfully. So... anyone want to try outdoing 620 tons? As a bit of extra amusement, here's what happens when the launch of that monstrosity doesn't go according to plan.

Nice images... I'm curious what aesthetic mods you use in case I'm missing something nice.

Part 2b. Giant Leaps The next destination that the KSP set its sights on, was Dres. A rather dreary looking little world could be seen through Kerbins telescopes, but it was chosen regardless. A daytime launch from KSC in glorious sunshine was the perfect start to what was to become a chaotic mission, due to its use of the new AGU grabber unit as the core of the program's new transfer vehicle configuration; Propulsion Utilising Linear Linkage (PULL). This placed the transfer vehicle in front of the lander, which was dragged it to its destination. This was found it to be a seriously flawed design and after a troublesome flight to Dres was abandoned before the insertion burn into Dres orbit, in favour of launching a supply vessel to meet with the lander and refuel it, before its descent to the surface. Once refueled the lander made its way down to the surface in a mostly uneventful journey, except for a brief moment of panic when it appeared that it was approaching the surface at too high a speed, however the engines at full thrust averted disaster at the last second. On the surface the crew of Bill and Erlin Kerman examined the surface and took samples for further analysis. Erlin, a keen runner, also tested it's potential as the location of an extreme marathon race. He believed its grey solitude would be the perfect place for the more philosophical runner to consider there place in the universe. However the low gravity and dusty surface, made for poor running conditions, so the idea was quietly shelved. With science and fun and games over with, the lander made its way back into orbit, for a reunion with the supply ship to top up with fuel before the trip back to Kerbin. On its return the capsule streaked across the the dawn skies of Kerbin's the southern oceans, before drifting gently to a touchdown on land. In Part 2c. the KSP heads for sunny Moho.

Well I've put the it in orbit and docked the two transfer vehicles that will push the Eve Party Boat to Mun and filled the lander itself with fuel, which took 6 launches on its own. Now it's ready to head for (hopefully) a safe landing on Mun.

I've now made all the text larger by one font size. Hope that's better for you.

With successful flights to the Mun, Minmus and a growing space station in Kerbin orbit, attention turned to more distant destinations... the planets. Part 2a. Giant Leaps The first planet that the kerbals took aim at was Duna. That red dot in the sky had always fascinated them and ground based telescope showed it to have an atmosphere that was dense enough to make a landing easier, but not so much that it would hinder an ascent from the surface. The Duna Explorer lander and transfer vehicles were dispatched to the KOS (Kerbin Orbital Station) on separate launchers and rendezvoused there to be filled with fuel then docked together, before embarking on a kerbal's longest spaceflight to date. After a journey of 270 days the Duna Explorer arrived at the red planet, only to discover that too much fuel had been consumed entering orbit for them to return to Kerbin. The solution to this was to launcher another transfer vehicle to Duna, which would provide sufficient fuel for both the landing and the trip home. After undocking from the first, now empty, transfer vehicle, the lander Duna XL rendezvoused with its replacement, which was fat with precious fuel. Once refueled, Duna XL undocked and headed for the surface. After a parachute assisted landing and the dust clearing from their powered descent, the crew of Duna XL, Herman and Bob Kerman, looked out over the surface of this strange red world through the navigation window of their Mk1 Lander Can. Once all systems had been checked and made safe in case of the need for an emergency lift off, the crew exited the lander and descended to the surface, where they planted their space program's flag in the ochre coloured dust of Duna. Once scientific observations had been made and samples of the surface dust and rocks collected, Herman and Bob returned to the Duna XL and made a rapid ascent to rejoin its transfer vehicle in orbit. Once docked, the crew hunkered down until it was time to light up the engines of the transfer vehicle for the return flight to Kerbin. After the burn was complete, the crew took their last pictures from the navigation window, of the red world they were leaving behind. To enter Kerbin orbit, the Duna XL detached from its transfer vehicle before making its insertion burn, eventually rendezvousing again with KOS after its long journey, before returning to the surface to reunite with friends, colleagues and family. In Part 2b. The kerbals head for Dres.

Do you mean that I should use a larger font, or that there should be more text? Glad you liked the pics.

In the 13 months that I've been playing KSP... er, I mean, observing the achievements of Kerbalkind, I've accrued a huge catalogue of images that I'd like to share some of, in a series of postings over the coming days (possibly weeks... there's a lot of them), documenting their adventures. Part 1. Small Steps Kerbals had long looked up at the night sky and wondered what it would be like to travel to the distant planets that they saw. With the advent of rockets this daydreaming was soon replaced by plans to send Kerbals to the Mun and beyond. A crucial early step was to send a probe to land on Mun, to see if setting down on the surface was even possible. Following on from this successful landing, plans to put a kerbal on Mun were stepped up a gear, with testing of rendezvous, maneuvering and docking of a command module and lander pairing, taking place in Kerbin orbit, just days after the landing of the probe. After further test flights in Kerbin orbit, the decision was made to send a manned flight to Mun. This resulted in the first kerbal footprints on another world, when Jeb Kerman took his first steps onto the surface. Flush with their success at achieving a manned flight to the Mun, further missions took place, testing rovers on the Munar surface (with a few accidents), constructing basic space stations in Kerbin orbit (then re-entering them, just to see what would happen to them), even a manned landing on Minmus. With these kerbalkind was taking it's first tentative small steps in exploring the Kerbol system. In Part 2. the kerbals stretch their legs and head for the planets.

Forget about my crash problem. I tried to find out if there was conflict with another add-on by taking all of them but the latest Hullcam out of the GameData folder, then putting them back in a few at a time. In the end I put all of them back in and the game works fine. Wierd... ah well, now time for some docking action

An unsuccessful attempt at launching a ridiculously big lander this evening (cracked it in the end on my 2nd attempt) Er... what was that sound. The inevitable aftermath.

I was excited to read that Hullcam now includes docking cams, however my install crashes if I have the latest version of Hullcam in the GameData folder. I've tried it with both 2.6.7 and 2.6.8 versions of module manager and the results after half a dozen attempts at loading is always the same, the "Oops" message appearing just at the point the front end of the game should appear. Is anyone else having similar problems? BTW I had an older version (from May this year) of hullcam in my GameData folder today and KSP ran fine with that installed. I deleted it before copying over the new version, so it's not a mixed version folder contents issue.

After taking part in quite a few challenges myself, I thought it would be fun to set one instead and so was born... The Goal It's simple, just land the heaviest vehicle you can on Mun. The Rules Manned flights only, but the kerbal(s) can be housed in any way you like (capsule, MK3 passenger module, 50x command seats... whatever) No addons other than aesthetic ones, Mechjeb and Kerbal Engineer, although manual flying is preferred Multiple launches to assemble a huge lander in Kerbin orbit are not just allowed but actively encouraged The mass of the vehicle is that of the lander on the surface of Mun at the time of landing. Tanks dropped on the way down to the surface etc. don't count of course, neither will the addition of mass of vehicles docked after landing or ore mining. The whole vehicle that you send to Mun must be brought up from Kerbin, so no throwing something you made earlier that's conveniently sitting in Kerbin orbit already at this Plenty of pics as proof please, a pic on the pad and another on Mun won't quite cut it, at least half a dozen showing various stages of your epic journey In the extraordinarily unlikely event of a tie, the winner will be chosen base on how downright bonkers the vehicle looks, or alternatively a talent contest If you have any questions about the rule, ask before you fly So that this challenge doesn't have to be maintained indefinitely, I'm setting a cutoff for entries of 18:00 GMT on October 31st (yay... Kalloween). I'll be kicking this challenge off with an attempt at sending the Eve Party Boat, a monstrous four man Eve return vehicle that I used prior to 1.0, but which I recently found will still get into orbit in 1.0.4 (that's the vehicle on the left of my sig) Ok... let's get that Mun ringing like a bell. Leaderboard 1. Wild Cobra 1778.52 tons 2. Norcalplanner 1287 tons 3. xendelaar 704.9 tons 4. Varsi 683 tons 5. Purpleivan 620 tons 6. Just Jim 38 tons 7. 8. 9. 10.

Here's the video of the flyby which goes as low as 3500m... scary moment for Jeb

OK... here's my entry in this challenge with a time of 88d 04:04:21 This trip wasn't intended as a proper flight, just a test to see if everything worked and the departure time was not optimal. With a properly planned launch time, the flight to Eeloo could probably be done in about 80 days with this vehicle. If I was to do this again (hopefully not, because ion are great but so slow) I'd reduce the number of nuke engine (but keep their tanks) and increase the number of xenon drop tanks (say double the number) on the ion stage. I think that way a properly timed departure could probably give a trip time to Eeloo of 60 days or so. But who has that kind of time BTW... I could have made the trip time a little shorter if I'd not been lazy and left the ship thrusting on the last xenon drop tank while I was at work, then drifting for five hours or so before I got home, at which time I dropped the empty tank and then burned using the final one. I also have a video of the Eeloo flyby which I'll post shortly.

I've just completed a manned flight to Eeloo in 88d 04:04:21 and I'll be posting pics and a short video of the flyby (skimming by the surface at about 3500m) sometime tomorrow. Ions (with a lot of patience) are awesome

Aerobraking/capturing is certainly possible now as I did it a few days ago with what was intended as an entry in the "New Home" challenge (sent my 105 Kerbal lander with only 1 kerbal in it, so I need to fly it again). Pics... so it happened BTW... I had the engines running as I was overshooting the landing site, not actually required to be captured by Laythe... just avoid a soggy rocket.

I often still listen to the stock music that comes with KSP, but other here some other things I like to listen to while playing. Apollo Atmospheres (Brian Eno) - especially if on a flight to Mun Donni Darko soundtrack - some tracks anyway Venture Bros soundtrack - just because it's fantastic Aliens main title track BSG 2003 Soundtrack - I even used it in the cinematic I made below

Seemed like an interesting challenge (I had a go at similar race type challenges to Mun, Eve and Duna) and I'm working on a design for this now, but due to the flight time (I'll be using ions for some of the trip) I'll probably leave that until the weekend. For now just some flight testing