Beeks

I've been considering a lot of things, and while my *current* mission doesn't comply with the ruleset put forth here, i'm experimenting with another, even larger vehicle that should be up to the task at hand. I'm getting very much inspired by the vehicles in Homeworld, and wouldn't mind seeing some KSP equivalents myself. Something the size of a truck can circumnavigate. But a truck the size of an aircraft carrier could do a lot more. Hmm....

This is why I said straight off that I'm fine if my results aren't taken as an actual participation. I went over the top for my own reasons, nothing to do with beating the challenge itself. "The Spirit of the Challenge" is still a valid phrase to live by, and should cover most mods. Its vague enough to allow some interpretation, but concrete enough to build by. For example, the Orion Drive. That may provide absurd thrust and DV, however it will cause other problems like structural issues, having to deal with extreme mass, and what might prove an inability to land in some places without crashing due to a lack of subtle control. This means you will also need a skycrane in addition to a durable rover. Now you have to construct a family of vehicles just because of your engine choice. I'd say that more than makes up for a rover that's a bit light on the EC use. Plus, using the engine you want is fun!

Oh my, thank you very much. (Edit: just to be clear, the rover *is* the ship, but i think you might have gotten that.) On the subject of fuel, i'm actually not convinced i've brought enough! I'm becoming more and more concerned about both getting around Eve/Laythe, and getting to the outer planets. If necessary, i *will* build a ship to deliver more Heavium, but i'm very much trying to avoid that. If i did have to do that, i have 2 grappling claws on the truck (front and back under the frame, not sure they're in any photos yet) that i could use to pick up a Heavium delivery probe. In the effort of being difficult, i'd likely just pick the probe up and bring it with me. In hindsight, replaceable grappled tanks would've been a great non-cheaty way to get around, and would've had the potential for both danger and hilarity. Downside of that, is repeated delivery missions, which i am trying to avoid. I've attempted to calculate how much "fuel" is on board, but it's inexact, as the Heavium Converter supplies Monoprop, LF, O, and EC, all of which get used in varying amounts based on the situation. Being essentially a monster truck with jet engines, it doesn't "fly" so much as "intimidate the atmosphere". Taking off from Kerbin involved a high-speed dive off of the end of the runway, at about 90% of the wheels' breaking speed. From there, if you don't throttle up to full and pitch up immediately, you'll never leave. My strategy for Eve is to simply spiral out, and in my early testing, it'll take a very long time. On the other hand, i'll bet it'd also work as a submarine if necessary, but if it swims anything like it flies that might just not be the best option. I'll let you know how it turns out, but i can tell you that these wheels are strong candidates for any non-cheaty circumnavigations i'll be doing in the future. Large wheels are *so* unbelievably helpful.

I've picked this up again, and as such i've developed a rover that uses a powersource that is, there's no easy way to say it, cheating. It's not infinite fuel, but it's a LOT of fuel that's suspiciously light. Why cheat? 2 reasons. 1) My 2016 work schedule has gone into overdrive (11 hour days, 6 days a week, apparently). As KSP is pretty much the only fun thing i get to do with my tiny amount of free time, i've decided to design my rover toward DRIVING, instead of simply supporting a rolling hunk of metal. 2) I'm taking this challenge up a level. I will circumnavigate *every* solid planetary body, nonstop, in one single mission. My rover rolls on supersized tires, hovers on unfolding KF Repulsors (for water crossings), and flies with the help of modified LF+O turbine engines that fold into the back for better roving weight distribution. I'll be linking the story once i get the time to actually write something up. So far, i'm at 29 days. I've completed an equatorial circumnavigation of Minmus, and i'm less than a day from completing a polar circumnavigation of the Mun. (It actually made it from Minmus to the Mun with the fuel converter turned off, so THAT wasn't cheating at all!) I'm trying to make the most of my trips by visiting all of the easter eggs i can, so my path is a bit erratic on both moons. Nothing *too* out of the way, though, just some jagged lines. Being that my rover is cheaty, i don't expect to be included in the list of circumnavigators that didn't "enhance" their vehicles with this rover. Truth is, i like my truck, i drive it with a wheel and pedals, and i intend to carry out this very long mission that i simply don't have time to engineer proper support for. Hate me if you like, but i'm having a load of fun with this extended driving experience. Here's just a little bit from the few things i have uploaded. I'll have a full piece soon.

Hey! I gotta say first that i seriously love the Buffalo, it's got a great shape! I've been working with it a bit, and I figured i'd offer some feedback. Take it how you like. 1) http://i.imgur.com/GyIazVb.png I'm getting no Artificial Horizon on the HUD, just the black block. The only thing i can do with it is turn the whole thing off. (Major props for putting Trim info on that display though. This is the ONLY thing i've EVER seen that actually displays the trim angle in KSP. Everything else just acts like it doesn't exist, including KSP itself.) JSI, and the ASETs are both updated. 2) Funny Grizzlys. If i look at the Vessel View window on any of the screens, the wheels do this: http://i.imgur.com/S8ZQRD4.png It's like they scale to .5 in one direction. They roll just fine, though, it's only the visuals that seem affected. No idea what'd cause that, and it only seems to happen with these wheels. I haven't tried the Mountian Goats, as i haven't had occasion to. 3) Requests! i) I made my own SAS module (it's just the stock "Advanced Inline Stabilizer" code, with the Chassis1u model and nodes), and think it'd make a tidy addition to the very flexible Chassis parts you already have. You could even stuff 2x the power into the Chassis2u part as well. ii) I'd love a Buffalo Crew Cabin without the side ports. That's just me, though. I can see how fantastic they look in your demo pics, so i can see the use for them. Overall, the models are fantastic, and the textures are definitely amazing. Keep up the good work! I'll keep strapping weird crap to it.

I'm still working on my Kerbin run with both rovers. MechJeb autopilot needs some lessons in subtlety. Ive had to F9 a few times to recover from total vehicle destruction. I've had 2 recoverable rollovers where not a thing broke off, but for the most part when it catches a mystery glitch in the terrain, the autopiloted rover is a total loss. I'd replace it, but i have a job and a house, and will never finish if i do it that way! I haven't used any magic jiggery-pokery on it to make it better, just reloaded after mishaps. I may upgrade the fragile rover using KIS if that's possible. Seems like that'd be more in the spirit of the challenge. Manning ASET's Explorer rover myself has been masterful this whole time, and it makes my drive quite tolerable indeed.

I'm currently attempting this challenge, and have had quite the experience already. I'll start a write-up maybe today?, to try to include all of the high and low points. (Software glitches, hardware glitches, sightseeing gone a bit wrong.) I started out with one rover, but decided that i should also attempt it with a smaller, faster rover controlled by MJ's rover autopilot and a pair of female kerbals the computer randomly assigned. (I haven't found a way to run them both at once, which i'll admit was my original intention.) As of right now, we're both met up on the west coast of the main continent, and after a short trip will perform our first water crossing. The small rover's top speed on water is 42m/s, however the larger, older rover was undertested and has a top speed of just 4.8m/s.

HA! So i did. I must've managed to do a partial JSI update somehow. This will greatly improve my climbing ability, which is excellent because my expedition is currently in a mountain. Gotta say, i love this rover pack, and these wheels are my favorite so far. This mod made me break out my old USB steering wheel.

Sorry if that image is too big, it's my first post, and i don't know how to limit things yet. As you can see, i'm getting a strange behavior with the wheels. They've started acting this way since i installed a JSI install (for RPM). I have no option for selecting suspension or tire direction, and both are onscreen simultaneously. Both positions will grab on to a node, and the wheel does work as it should, except the extra suspension will catch on things. What else might you need a look at to fix? The only thing that changed after i installed the rover and its dependencies was the upgraded JSI, and Module Manager 2.6.6, which i think came with JSI.