Clipperride

Great mission report. Your Agena seems a lot more reliable than the original! I wonder if they will ever make the expansion pack available for the Enhanced Edition? Seeing this, I really hope so.

@Kerbuvim Thanks for the information. I had assumed that the main trophies webpage had grouped all the communities together, obviously it doesn't!

I guess we have to remember that the console market is tiny in comparison to the following the game enjoys on PC. According to the PS4 KSP Trophies webpage, there only a little over 380 players so far. (and I guess a similar number on the Xbox) Not that I am excusing Squad from it's duty to provide us with a bug free final product. Let's hope there's another patch soon.

** UPDATE ** + ** UPDATE ** + ** UPDATE ** + ** UPDATE ** + ** UPDATE ** + I thought I should provide a quick update for those who have been kind enough to read these reports. You may have noticed that they haven't been updated in a while? Reason 1. Is, rather annoyingly, down to a bit of a health problem that laid me rather low for a while. Things seem to be getting back onto an even keel now, but it did cut into my gaming time! Reason 2. There is one problem playing the console version of the game, especially when you have a family. I have to wait until the rest of the household has retired for the evening, before I can take control of the living room TV. In the mean time, the gaming time I have been giving the brain a rest and playing a little GTA Online with an old friend. But rest assured that I shall be back soon to resume the saga! ** UPDATE ** + ** UPDATE ** + ** UPDATE ** + ** UPDATE ** + ** UPDATE ** +

I've checked online and the list I posted is a complete set of Trophies, bar one - Master Astrophysicist (unlock all the other trophies). However, the numbers I gave appear to be for the EU only. Here's the online list. According to this list, so far 351 people have played the PS4 version of KSP Enhance Edition!

I'm not sure if I missed any trophies, but I'll double check when I'm on the PS4. It would be interesting to see the numbers for the PC to compare. Good to see another older forum member posting . It was Apollo that started my life long interest in space and rocketry. As a kid, I was promised Moon bases, trips to Mars as well as a Von Braun style space station. At least KSP allows me to build those dreams myself!

I most certainly can! List of PS4 KSP Trophies (as of -27/02/18) - The groups are my addition. It looks like only a hardcore of players have ventured further than Minmus

Playing the Enhanced Edition on PS4, gives you an idea on numbers due to the trophy system. 11.8% of players have so far planted a flag on the Mun, 2.5% have flown past Duna and the rest of the planet trophies have been won by less than 1% of players.

If you can get to Mun, Minmus and Duna, you can go anywhere! Also, getting to Duna means you don't really suck at KSP. Lots of people struggle to get into Low Kerbin Orbit, rendezvous, docking and certainly making their way to another planets SOI. The more you read tutorials or watch YouTube videos, the more you'll learn. Working out why a mission failed is also a great way to learn what you need to be doing. Hope you keep at it.

I like to fill the Lab up with the full 750 units of data, then have 3 or 4 experiment results ready to go. That way, each time you transmit some science back home, you can top up the amount of work the lab has to do.

A Mobile Processing Lab can be used indefinitely, but you do need to keep it topped up with data from science experiments. To use the Laboratory, you first need to collect science data, by conducting experiments in a particular biome, as you do to gain Science Points. Instead of returning home to the Space Centre, go and dock with your Lab. Ideally the laboratory will be in orbit around a planet or moon (although they don't have to be!) You can then open the Labs information window and Process the data. The more data you have to process (up to a limit) the more Science Points per day the Lab produces. Those points can be sent back to the Space Centre by using the "Transmit Science" command. Hope that helps.

I've just started a Career Mode game after playing Science Mode (without incident) since the Enhanced Edition launched in the hope that the recent patch has helped. I haven't got far yet (first Mun Fly-by), but so far I've only experienced a minor bug. Occasionally, when I recover a vehicle at the end of the mission, it remains at its landing site and has to be recovered from the Tracking Station. One thing I am careful of; I save the game before changing vessels or returning to KSC and always wait for the save to finish before switch views. Whether this makes any difference at all remains to be seen.

KSC update. The Space Centre has been a hive of activity over the past few days. After Val became the first Kerbal to complete an orbit of our planet, her historic vehicle was quickly adapted into a passenger carrying variant. Val's descent from orbit also proved the ideal time to test the main 'chute under the conditions required by the manufacturer. Four passenger flights have already circled Kerbin, each one landing a little closer to KSC than the last, as we refine the timing of the retroburn. Fig 1. Passenger Rocket on the pad. The money generated has gone back into the Space Centre, with building work on the VAB, Launch Pad and Mission Control already completed. Bob took a quick trip round the Centre in a "concept" rover based around the MK1 capsule, a Terrier engine (on loan from manufacturers for comprehensive testing), landing wheels and a full suite of science equipment. He took in a number of locations around the Centre with the science data transformed into new technology by the R&D department. Fig 2. The view from the passenger cabin. With fuel pipes now available, it was time to recreate an old favourite amongst lifting vehicles. Stack two FL-T800 tanks on top of each other and add a LV-T 45 "Swivel" engine. Add three pairs of Radial Decouplers and on each pair of decouplers place another stacked pair of FL-T800 tanks, this time with a LV-T 30 "Reliant" engine on the bottom. Paying close attention to the order in which these radial stages decouple, run fuel lines from the first pair that will drop to the second, from the second to the third and from the third into the central core stage. This "asparagus" staging provides enough Delta V to allow a Mun Fly-by. This will be our next Science mission. All data will be transferred to an Experiment Container for return with the crewed capsule. Fig 3. The asparagus staging ready to launch. Interlude - In which some background is explained. In an effort to knit the two threads of this story together, I offer you the following explanation... With the success and massive budget available to the original space program, it eventually came under the spotlight when the Ruling Kerbal Family were looking to make spending cuts. It was reasoned that private industry could provide enough income to run a space program without spending tax-roots. Unfortunately, almost all of the advanced equipment the Space Complex had been using was on loan from various universities. Once this had been returned it was apparent that quite a lot of funding would have to go into the infrastructure, in order to return to its former glory. With a name change to the Kerbal Space Centre (in association with Big Bob's Bacon Burger) everyone was ready for a new beginning. As soon as the technology and funds are available, a rescue mission will be sent up to retrieve the crew of the Large Mun Rover and Space Laboratories. [I'll build a vechile, switch to the Science Mode save, build an identical craft and fly the missions, thus tidying up those annoying loose ends.]

For anyone who might be interested, I've included the settings I'm using below.

**STOP PRESS** ++ **STOP PRESS** ++ ** STOP PRESS** ++ **STOP PRESS** Feeling a little unsure of what to do next, the lure of a new Career Mode game became too much to resist! I'm not sure how buggy the post patch Enhanced Edition career mode game is, hopefully any remaining issues will have been addressed before I get to the interplanetary phase, which is where I've heard bugs lurk. Career Mode - PS4 - Settings. So far Jeb and Val have earned 1xp each, flying various sub-orbital science gathering missions. The project has been funded by offering a real life test environment to private industry. Heat shields, engines, decouplers and parachutes have all been subjected to vigorous tests which have (mostly) gone well. We have had a slight hick-up with one parachute test, with the demanded speed and altitude parameters proving an ill match with our current flight profiles! We are travelling much to fast between 10,000m - 6,000m and so we may end up building a bespoke vehicle to complete the contract. We have all the technology needed for our maiden orbital flight, which we will launch as soon as it's mission control turn to use the TV. Should that mission prove successful, we hope to move into the lucrative tourist market. **STOP PRESS** ++ **STOP PRESS** ++ ** STOP PRESS** ++ **STOP PRESS**

LMR - Report Five. MET Day 28 Hour 4 Minute 05 Current Location. Sector Q-228* [ 2° 2' 55"N : 165° 18' 30"E : Elevation 3181m] * KerbNet Name Mission Motto - "Why? Because someone has to!" Distance from Landmarks 79.8km from L.S. : 40.0km from Lanleys Step Fig 1. Katlinne uses her jetpack to scout out the route. Onwards we roll, ever Westwards, save for the excursions around the larger crater chains. The sun, now almost directly overhead, beats down relentlessly, messing with our sleep cycles. I think we all starting to feel the pressure of being couped up together with so little spare room. I have it luckier than the others. As the only engineer I have this rear section of the Rover to myself. I can still sometimes hear Mitman snore though! We are due to receive a resupply drop soon. Hopefully some letters from home will lift everyone's spirits. Fig 2. The LMR is just visible as a small black dot towards the center of the image. Fig 3. Selecting a part allows us to see where the Rover is at this long range. In other news. As research onboard the Minmus Orbital Lab begins to wind down, Mission Control has been considering the best method of returning the crew. Quite a few variations of the A1 MK3 Space Plane have been test flown to see what kind of range they might have beyond LKO. It was eventually decided that it would be a dashed sight easier to simply build a rocket to do the job! However, one piece of additional equipment passed its first set of tests. The A1 MK3 is, naturally, based around the MK3 "shuttle" parts. There's a shielded docking port attached to the front node of the cockpit, but that can make docking with smaller targets a bit trickier. Carried up in the cargo hold, a simple structural fuselage based "extender" with a docking port at each end was flown out and round to the front of the ship, before docking successfully. Fig 4 The A1 MK3 SSTO after deploying the docking adapter. And Finally.... Now that the first Enhanced Edition patch has gone live, I'm very tempted to start over with a career save. Watch this space to find out what happens.....

@Alpha 360 and @septemberWaves both mention using solid rocket boosters to get planes up to speed quickly. Another method is to build a rocket sledge!

Two things to consider. 1. Your space station will rotate around its CoM, so once you start adding extensions out to the sides, it makes the whole thing a lot more complicated to visualise. I'd be inclined to leave the SS and maneuver the docking vessel into the right position to dock. 2. As @Streetwind points out, for best results, you need your RCS thrusters equally placed from the CoM. Although stock KSP doesn't offer any specific tools to help, a simple ladder placed on the CoM and extended works well as a measuring aid when building your docking stage.

The only times I've used it were on the (underpowered) laptop. With the cockpit dials too blurry to read, no shadow or lighting effects, vertical landing was a real challenge. At least KerbNet tells you the elevation of the ground below. Now, with clearer graphics on the PS4, I can use the radar altimeter and go back outside for the final 100m. Cheers! I'm getting quite a kick out of the futility of the mission! . It kills a bit of time, so I can get the Science from the 3 labs to unlock the last tech node I want before fast forwarding to the next Duna window, for a Kerbaled mission to Duna and probes to the outer planets. By then the console patch should hopefully be available, so I can start again with a career game. Gotta love KSP!!

LMR - Report Four. MET Day 27 Hour 0 Minute 42 Current Location. Lanleys Step* [3° 23' 41" N : 176° 30' 59" E : Elevation 3909m] * KerbNet Name Mission Motto - "Why? Because someone has to!" Distance from Landmarks 40.2km from L.S. : 71.3km from West Point. 1. Katlinnes view from the driving seat of the LMR. We continue ever further Westwards and as is evident from our position, we have crossed the meridian from West to East. The surroundings remain largely unchanged, although the gaps between craters are now a little wider and so we can keep a fairly true course for once. Katlinne has, for the most part, kept the speed around 10 m/s - 15 m/s, with a top speed so far, of just over 20 m/s. 2. Bouncing along, "riding" the landscape like a dusty wave! The going can be bumpy and we had one very near miss. A change in the camber of the ground brought us down, hard on the Port side. Thankfully the EVA Front Step hit the ground first and a quick application of right roll saved the day. We have been making use of KerbNet to to get an idea of the area around the LMR. It hasn't proved to be that helpful! We have decided that we will keep heading 270° until we see our home planet rise above the horizon. Why? Because someone has to! 3. We spent some time trying to stand on top of each others head, sadly we didn't do it.

Well done on the early transfer to Duna! The plane flies nicely and I've had fun tinkering around with it. [Experimented with widening the tailplane to 3 rather than 2 sections. Swapping out the engine - the aerospike tips her over backwards, but with a TWR of more than 1, it's not really a problem!?! ]

P.S. I was so taken with Val's Prototype aircraft that the images were studied and copied used to build a replica. It flew well straight out of the SPH, without even looking at the CoM/CoL overlays. As a result, I finally got around to visiting the deserted island airport, East of KSC. Thanks!

I'm playing Science Mode, so the issues I've faced are slightly different. But, have you tried saving the game before Recovering the vessel? I ask as this has helped me on occasions when the game seems to revert to an earlier state.

Launching a small space plane from a rocket sledge (to get the Rapier up to speed quickly)