GehringGame

Kuzzter, thanks for checking out my program! Your "Duna, Ore Bust" series is novel (literally) and entertaining. It is one of the threads that has really caught my eye since I joined the forums and I've started reading it from the beginning. I don't have definitive answers for your questions but they are good ones to think about. Are the visitors real? It's most probable that they are! As for whether or not any alien races will feature in my story, that is yet to be seen. While I have a general plan for where this is going from an in-game perspective, the narrative will be shaped by things that happen along the way. A religion? Perhaps! A philosophy? Definitely. I'll let my Kerbals illustrate this as they go about their adventures. Mission Report - Duna Launch and Failed MunServ Test #1 Exploration Mission: Duna and Ike Moniker: DunEx 1 (part 1) Objectives: Scout for possible build sites on Duna and Ike, return science to assist future missions, complete contracts to keep accountants happy Vessel: DunEx There and Back Again Crew: 3 - Valentina (Pilot), Eilla (Engineer), Neilberry (Scientist) SEAK’s first interplanetary vessel was christened the DunEx There and Back Again in hopes that its function would live up to its name. Its design supports a crew of 3 Kerbals with an extra crew module solely dedicated to in-flight entertainment. It contains a zero-G ping-pong table, a small library of romance novels, and a sandwich-making station fit for a medium-size corporate catering outfit. Attached to the main body of the vessel are two SEAKmap Alpha mapping satellites and two unclassified surface probes named Calvin and Hobbes. (Editor’s note: You are expected to accept this and all future examples of human references overlapping Kerbal ones. I’m only so creative you know). The forward-mounted drive section is capped with a heat shield for aerobraking maneuvers, and its two nuclear engines are toed out slightly so that they don’t cook the crew. Due to its weight and unwieldy shape, the craft was designed to be launched in two halves and connected in orbit over Kerbin. Even with two launches the old Centaur rockets weren’t big enough. The engineers were tasked with designing a new launch vehicle capable of carrying the payload into orbit, which they did in record time thanks to obscene amounts of koffee - extra caffeine. Independent of any knowledge of human scientists, someone decided to name it the Newton V1. Everybody thought that sounded pretty swell so it stuck. The craft was finished just in time for the Duna launch window, so Valentina, Eilla, and Neilberry began packing their bags and preparing for the long trip ahead. The drive section was sent up first. Everyone was very pleased to see that this occurred with a complete lack of unplanned explosions. The next day the main body of the DunEx There and Back Again was launched, beginning an exciting new chapter in SEAK’s brief, inconsistent, and to this point frankly uninteresting history. The Kerbal media seemed to focus heavily on the "uninteresting" point. The SEAK media relations team felt rather hurt by this, and were quick to rebut that they shouldn't be faulted for a taking a while to hit their stride. After all, they protested, nobody was perfect. They felt this was a winning argument and patted themselves on the back. #2 Service Mission: Mun Base Alpha Moniker: MunServ 1 Objectives: Test crew ferry design elements, return long-duration base crew to Kerbin Vessel: Mun Service Bus Crew: Unmanned (3-Kerbal capacity for return) While the DunEx crew settled into their bunks aboard There and Back Again, the watery eyes of the SEAK admins turned back to local matters. The crew of Mun Base Alpha had been dutifully picking through nondescript, grey, sulfur-smelling dust for long enough that they were starting to name Mun rocks and keep them as pets. The admins decided that it was time for a rotation, especially so that they could pry Jebediah away from composing elaborate back-stories for his Mun rock pets and return him to active duty flying mission for the Interplanetary Welcoming Express. Since the main engineers had been too busy working on the DunEx launch, the only design available for a crew transfer lander had been sketched up on the back of candy wrappers by a class of students that had visited the VAB on a field trip. In an inspiring demonstration of faith and pride in the Kerbal youth, the SEAK admins decided to actually launch the design. Fortunately, they had just enough sense to make it an unmanned test. They loaded the child-designed Mun Service Bus up on a Centaur rocket and launched for the Mun. Awkwardly, nobody had bothered to check the Munar calendar before they launched, so the robotic Mun Service Bus would need to land in the dark. The engineers didn’t find this too alarming, until they learned that the craft’s AI was bewilderingly programmed to use its onboard cameras for landing rather than any of the more sophisticated options readily available. To add to the problem, the lander’s robotic brain was – for a reason no one could adequately explain – programmed with propensity to throw caution to the wind and “do it live†in a desperate attempt to impress the female AI that controlled Mun Base Alpha’s solar panel alignment. The robotic Mun Service Bus bravely hurtled towards the uneven ground near the base, bravely attempted a 180-degree turn right before landing so that the pretty solar panel AI could see it’s good side, and then bravely crashed into the surface. (Editor's note: I do not have any images of this exciting event. I was a bit preoccupied attempting to prevent it. Don't worry, in the future, entertainment shall come before safety!) Jeb consoled his frightened Mun rock pets and walked out to investigate the crash. The craft was remarkably salvageable, but didn’t have enough fuel left for the return trip. Jeb and Katmie the Mun Queen shrugged it off and happily returned to discussions on Mun rock breeds and mineral husbandry. (Editor's note: You are expected to ignore the fact that Mun Base Alpha is clearly adorned with a NASA flag. It was built before I had created the custom SEAK flags. It will be fixed for future missions.) The SEAK staff back on Kerbin fumed and mumbled expletives through clenched teeth, but decided it was in poor taste to swear about a design created by bright-eyed children. They felt as though they needed to preemptively make up for the bad behavior they had considered exhibiting. The public relations team began looking ahead on the calendar to plan an ice cream social for the neighborhood kids so that they could feel better about themselves. With Val, Eilla, and Neilberry on an interplanetary trajectory aboard There and Back Again, the overarching mood at the KSC was one of excitement. The Interplanetary Welcoming Express was underway!

Hi everyone! This thread will document my main career mode, Interplanetary Welcoming Express, which will be played as a lighthearted, comical, and often absurd quest to build a network of space hotels around the Kerbol system. Read on to learn more. I’ve been a fan of KSP since the first public release and I’m so happy that squad has seen their vision through to what it is today. It’s high time for me to finally participate in the community, so I hope that you will take a minute to tell me what you think of my intrepid Kerbals’ bold adventures. Thanks for reading! –Will The Story: Kerbals are an industrious little species, and they have taken to space with the kind of enthusiasm you might expect out of someone who has just learned that ice cream sandwiches are incredibly good for you. Every nation, corporation, and bold Kerbal with a tool kit and an unhealthy abundance of ambition is striving to make a name for themselves among the stars. The Space Exploration Administration of Kerbin (SEAK) was originally formed to be the best of bunch, the cream of the crop – to take Kerbalkind to new heights, and to become a shining star leading the way for future spacefarers of all kind! But this proved a bit too optimistic. The universe is big, and surely Kerbals aren’t the only spacefaring race floating through the void. They may not even be the greenest. One night in the aftermath of a particularly destructive staff party, the SEAK administrators determined that it was utterly pointless to try to be the best out of everyone in a universe where they couldn’t be certain of just who “everyone†was. In fact, the next morning in the aftermath of the aftermath of the party, they concluded that effort of all kinds was pointless due to the inescapable scale of the universe and the equally inescapable insignificance of Kerbin in the grand scheme of things. Inspired by the kind of pessimism that can only exist in the deepest of hangovers, everyone more or less agreed that since life almost surely exists elsewhere in the universe, it will likely one day attempt to conquer, subjugate, or otherwise destroy Kerbalkind. They continued to agree that the best way to instill oneself in the good graces of an invading alien race would be to give them freshly made beds to sleep in when they arrive. So, out of a combination of begrudging acceptance of their place in the universe and everyday boredom, the SEAK admins gave up trying to be the best at everything and resolved to build a network of space hotels around the Kerbol system instead. Although it has never been proven, the idea for this unlikely change of direction is most probably attributed to the group of hotel chain regional managers that snuck into that particularly destructive staff party when they found out that the minibars at their own hotel chain didn’t come pre-stocked. So there we have it. After making it through the growing pains of space program infancy, SEAK was restructured and given a new, and (in the words of the SEAK public relations team) altogether more responsible and practical direction. So the Interplanetary Welcoming Express was born! With a newly minted vision of exciting and efficient space hospitality, SEAK Interplanetary Welcoming Express has two primary goals: Create a network of hotels (and necessary support facilities) spanning each terrestrial body in the Kerbol system Develop fast, cheap, and efficient ways of ferrying patrons to and from these futuristic abodes so that they can turn a profit until they are eventually inhabited by invading alien species Everything I do in career mode should lead to accomplishing these goals, although some unrelated missions may be necessary since I have to keep the funds, science, and rep coming in. This will be the ongoing mission log, which will be updated as I play. I will attempt to document my missions and present them in an entertaining way with screenshots, text descriptions, and quotes taken from interviews with the various characters to add a bit of color. DunEx 1 - There and Back Again (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) MunServ 1 - Mun Service Bus KerbServ 1 - Television Satellite Network + Reusable Rockets MinHab 1 - First Hotel! MunServ 2 - Crew Service Bus MinServ 1 - Crew Service Bus EveEx 1 - Fascination (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) I am playing this in career mode with a few of my favorite mods. I am open to adding more mods in the future if I think they will fit well. This list will be updated with the mods I’m currently using. For information and automation: MechJeb, Kerbal Engineer, Transfer Window Planner, Kerbal Alarm Clock, Alternate Resource Panel, Docking Port Alignment Indicator For beautification: PlanetShine, Environmental Visual Enhancements, Texture Replacer, Oinker’s Skybox, Scatterer (sometimes), Hot Rockets For expanded design options: KW Rocketry, Aviation Lights The current state of things: Some of SEAK’s old assets are still sitting around the space center, so the inventory specialists have gathered them up and taken stock to see what might be useful. The aircraft didn’t seem immediately important to the new vision, but they were kept around as test beds for new tech. In addition to the old SEAK hardware, there are two science facilities currently in operation. The habitation engineers began drafting plans to expand the habitation facilities at the existing Mun and Minmus bases, but the SEAK admins were keen to launch an interplanetary mission in order to give their new, lovingly-crafted vision statement validity. What better place to start than Duna? It is friendly, inviting, close by, and (most importantly) the object of some very lucrative contracts. Stay tuned! The first mission log is ready for release and will be posted soon.

I love the variety in your designs. You have made some really cool looking rockets, and the Titan SSTO looks sweet.

I love the look of that thing! Really cool design, thanks for sharing.

I really enjoyed this, nicely done. I was jamming to that background track!

I like the look of the Green Knight 1. It brings to mind the captured V-2s used as sounding rockets by the US after WWII. I look forward to seeing where the program goes from here!

Thanks for the welcome everyone! Starhawk, I'll definitely check out the mission reports forum. Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the community is up to.

Hello everybody, I've been a fan of KSP since the good old days of bright green grass and palm trees outside the space center. Now that we can all enjoy Squad's complete product I figured it was time to get back into the game in a serious way and start from scratch in career mode. I also figured it was time to participate in the community that has made this game so special! I look forward to interacting with you all through the forums. If I were to share an ongoing mission log of my career mode with screenshots, a narrative, and random anecdotes, is there an audience for that here? Thank you all for welcoming me and being a part of this truly great game! -Will