Pouicpouic

Small review for the 2nd important milestone: 20 000 km covered with the rover. I don't know if it's my imagination but I have the impression that the parts are fatiguing : - the outer wheels do not touch the ground anymore when stopped (in low gravity) - it turns slightly to the right when accelerating - it seems to me less resistant during shocks - even the SAS seems less efficient Well, maybe it's also because I have less fun than expected on Vall. hint: I can't make jumps as big as anticipated Less than 10 000 km to go !

I bet that the L.E.L.P under construction (with counter-rotative propellers), will go so well on Laythe that its wake will cause tsunamis!

I was wrong... When docking with the transfer vessel, a wheel was broken. I preferred to fix it rather than try several times with potentially worse results. After the repeated destructions on Tylo, I really wanted to have a smooth trip on Bop. It took me a little while to get used to the new gravity, but in the end I managed to maintain a good 35m/s average without any fear. Bop circumnavigation no losses. Let's get out of this hell. reffuel, catch, gas!

Tylo finished! step 1: climb a hill in a few minutes step 2 : go down the trapping slopes as long as possible while keeping the inertia (be careful, this can last more than one hour at more than 80m/s) step 3 : F9 or go back to step 1 It was so exciting that I couldn't resist testing the limits from beginning to end 6d2h48 IGT, nothing remarkable. Preparing for transfer toward Bop.

Hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing for 2 min, thanks, my day is off to a great start! How do you manage to be in warp x2 without breaking the propellers ? --> with a rotation speed <240 rpm you still reach >60m/s ? That's where we see my lack of experience on Eve and with the propellers... and therefore that my rover will not be very adapted... I have the impression that your propellers are rotating in the same direction? If it's the case you didn't have any torque problem that made you turn slightly to the left ? or is it only the blades that are oriented in the same way ? You killed the final boss of KSP so fast! --> the kraken must hate it... watch out for him in the coming days. Wait, your trip duration is really 3d4h IGT ? (308 -->311.4) amazing! Besides this memorable base-jumping moment, did you really do the rest without breaking anything and without reloading? It will really cheer everyone up to see such a safe trip! The moment when Eve became too easy in KSP Bravo !

Look at my videos posted previously on the Mun: from the moment I had a rover capable of this, I needed my weekly dose of tests And on the Mun, you don't need 16 wheels, nor half my rover to have fun jumping craters.

If you go up the topic, you'll see that I've left some tips for the construction and the essential settings to have a robust and drivable rover. Everything is important: the control point, the friction adjustment, the control for the SAS, etc. Since I discovered these settings, I can't send kerbals on a mission without a good rover to make unimaginable jumps And right now, I am clearly in love with my latest creation for this challenge. If someone wants to name this beauty, I'll take it !

Arround 4h30 at 22m/s, considering that we travel 20% more than the theoretical perimeter (difficult to estimate but it gives an idea)

143.3m/s ! amazing new overall PB without breaking the rover

again ! no losses 133.2 m/s. My PB on Tylo, but not global PB (139+ on vall)

New overall top speed : 126,5m/s

On Pol, half a wheel would have been better than 16... but not on Tylo !

Pol completed! Honestly, I drove at less than 25m/s average. But taking the time to admire the landscape, it went relatively quickly. We agree that micro-moons are definitely not the best places to drive. And here we go again! refueling, catching the rover, gas! Next stop : Tylo

Polar circumnavigation of Laythe completed! I think I chose one of the most grounded routes. About 25% of the time out of the water, the only active driving moments around 70m/s average. The remaining 75% in power saving mode on the water at about 35m/s. (approximately 1h20 of autonomy in EC). Forced to pass through impressive slopes A little break at my permanent polar base on Laythe. Now it is a question of succeeding to go to Pol with the transfer vehicle.

Elcano diam (m) peri (km) total% circu km estimés km sur eau Vmax (m/s) km/h Vmoy estimée (m/s) Temps a vmoy (h) IGT (jours théoriques) Kerbin 600000 3770 1,05 3958 0,3 1187 74,5 268 57 19,3 3,21 Minmus 60000 377 1,04 392 0 70,3 253 55 2,0 0,33 Mun 200000 1257 1,08 1357 0 72,6 261 50 7,5 1,26 Duna 320000 2011 1,2 2413 0 76,3 275 53 12,6 2,11 Ike 130000 817 1,1 898 0 93,8 338 62 4,0 0,67 dres 138000 867 1,02 884 0 60,8 219 45 5,5 0,91 laythe 500000 3142 1,04 3267 0,72 2352 76,3 275 40 44,4 20,4 3,40 pol 44000 276 0 0 0 0 0,00 tylo 600000 3770 0 0 0 0 0,00 bop 65000 408 0 0 0 0 vall 300000 1885 0 0 0 0 eeloo 210000 1319 1,05 1385 0 85,1 306 60 6,4 1,07 moho 250000 1571 0 0 0 0 gilly 13000 82 0 0 0 0 eve 700000 4398 0 0 0,3 0 0 76,2 274 53,3 moy TOT mini 25949 14556 total km 3540 78 13 TOT approx 28284 51,46 % total challenge + echecs 6,6 + transferts 8 35,00 % total used repairs kits + res kerbnet 18 + crafts et test' 10 TOTAL ELCANO 120,4 h

Without any mods it seems difficult to do better, but maybe the experts with all the mods can try to find a logic by comparing the values (drag, buoyancy, etc.) ? ok, it's not very interesting but I'm sure there are enthusiasts who want to know.

I noticed a rather curious detail with my propellers and I can't understand why... For Kerbin as for Laythe, with the same settings and in the same position, I sail about 2m/s faster near the poles than near the equator. And on the contrary, in rover mode on the polar caps, I am about 2m/s slower than near the equators (on the flat) For example, I am at about 44m/s cruising speed on kerbin at the equator against 46m/s at the poles (on water) and 70.5m/s on the polar caps, against 72.5m/s at the equator. Knowing that the altitudes are comparable, I can't understand the logic. For Laythe it is the same imbalance: 36m/s on the water towards the equator, against 38 towards the poles. And 72m/s at the equator on land against 70 at the poles. (I'm sure I can find some screenshots to illustrate this but it will take some time) I don't know if you have noticed these differences between pole and equator with the same settings on your rovers?

more than 13 000km done with this rover (around half of the whole challenge), and already 14 (out of 40 at start) repairs kits used. But i have lost at least 4 times wheels just after a quicksave, so i reloaded. Approx 50 reload (F9) in total (Many of them at the beginning of each circumnavigation to test the maximum limits of the rover)

Ike, Dres, Eeloo Completed (see the main topic for details) / Laythe in progress (3/4 done) Top speeds : Ike 93,8 / Dres 60,8 / Eeloo 85,1 / Laythe land 76,2 water 40 Already 14 out of 40 repairs kits used / 13 000 + km out of 27 000km+ done / 7 transfers out of 15 Around 53m/s overall average speed

I can't figure out where to find the fun in "driving" on the water. It's just hours of waiting without pressing any buttons, unless I'm wrong? So, for me, Laythe is by far the first planet that sucks. I still prefer to fight with my rover to reach 40m/s like on Dres than to do nothing for hours. Not to mention the time on the water, I'll wait for the micro-moons before judging

Yes and no... It is almost certain that this is not the best configuration : - I limited myself to about 5 hours of testing - no lift generating part (it would probably be easier and more functional with fins, wings or elevons. But in my opinion, it would have been against the rules of the challenge in case of a jump) - the rover is too large and heavy to do this manipulation on Eve It is not easy to keep the propellers out of the water with such a low CoM, but I preferred to optimize the ground configuration. So the floats are very far from the CoM and really forward (because of the special physics of water) All in all, this creates a big risk of tilting forward in case of landing on the rear wheels of the rover (>30m/s) --> about 15% of the unintentional destructions are caused by this particularity.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1490890801 It was on Kerbin. It works just as well on laythe except that I can't get above 40m/s without flying off into the sky. On the other hand, this reversal will not be possible on Eve. But on Eve the rover floats so much that I don't need that to go fast enough. Yes, the magic of reaction-wheels, I know xD

Eeloo finished, it was longer than expected, twice I lost more than an hour of progress because of my inattention at low speed. Four times I reached more than 80m/s, with a maximum of 85,1. For the 7th time I grabbed the rover with the transfer vehicle to take it to another world. Next destination in the Joolian system. Despite the high cost in dV, I save years of waiting.

I'm a newbie here so my opinion isn't really relevant, but I'll speak as a player with 3000h of KSP. I understand perfectly what Damerell is trying to say, as I have a very particular vision of the challenge, with my own rules. And that's the main point: it's a game where everyone has his own rules and his own preferences. And we are indeed bound to believe or not the story of each trip, there is no practical way to verify anything. On my side I probably don't respect the vision of the challenge concerning the precise point of the routing : I never followed a straight line and I voluntarily chose my route according to several parameters which are not too far from the spirit of the challenge --> but it is a totally subjective vision and some people are maybe really opposed to this point of view. I have many preferences for many things and I'm sure no other player on the forum will be in total agreement with that (e.g. no mods, no warp, no thrust of any kind as soon as the wheels stop touching the ground, no nuclear, no ion, no kraken drive or abuse of atmospheric physics, etc., but I'm not opposed to the magic of reaction wheels in KSP, it doesn't really make sense I agree) Anyway it will not be possible to create as many categories or restrictions as there are ways to play. This challenge is a very good example of this, each trip is unique. And on my side I still like each story, even if I would never play KSP this way.

SDO AIA 335