KeithStone

SQUEEEEE! I agree, pistons are a must, but these will work fine for a while!

I feel like I'm checking this page every half hour...I cant wait to have new hinges!!! Also, the flamethrower robot sounds like a grand idea

I think the module you speak of is the admin module, and those hold fuel once you have the atmo miner and a ton of power hooked up and start the generator. I suppose you could use it for supplies, but I'm not sure you could use the functionality of it regenerating your supplies since it is kinda easily an infinite supply mod with far fewer parts than ioncross. But, that is up to sturmstiger to decide.

Patupi: Yes the heatshields work without the plugin. I was going to use the inflatable one as a hab module once.

Awesome stuff! I love the idea of sending up extra heatshields in orbit!

I gotta tell ya Death, every time i get frustrated with a design, a series of explosions, or calculating delta v's, I check out your posts and am really inspired to keep going. You've got some great stuff there!

its tomorrow! can we has new hinges pweeeeease? XD

For this one I really like novapunch. I had a really extreme spaceplane mothership that I built with B9 (it had to be assembled in space) but it wont work very well for this mission. I'll probably swap nova for B9 after this one, and just keep the nova landing gear set.

I have an absolute ton of mods installed. I would like to put B9 back in but with the current version of kerbal's memory management it would force me to remove too much else. In no particular order I use: Novapunch Aies KAS FusTek Mechjeb Engineer Infernal Robotics Lackluster Labs (LLL) Aviation Lights HOME Droman Rubberband Tracks Subassembly Manager Kethane And prolly a few others...lol

Thank you so much for working on this! I love the new sliding hydraulics, and cant wait to have new hinges! So many cranes to build....

Its here! Its finally here! (the laptop that is) Big and heavy and beautiful and more than I should have spent, but MY GOD! I never knew how beautiful Kerbal really was! Went ahead and wiped my saves again, installed way too many mods, and having a new go. I've recreated a couple bits so far, but I'm holding off on the finishing bits until the new infernal robotics pack comes out in a few days so that I can get my hands on all those new sweet hinges (I dont want to install/tweak the original robotics parts just to toss them and rebuild stuffs). In the mean time, I'll post a couple of images on some of the idea's I'm rather proud of. The first is the crew housing pod. At the top inside of the fairing is a small autonomous Duna lifter/landing assistance module (these will be refueled and reused). Three inflatable "crewpartments" are held below, and at the bottom is a small transfer vehicle. The heat shielding for aerobreaking is pending the infernal bits, but this is the main form. Next picture is a view of the inflated crewpartment. Each crewpartment is built on a small supply module, containing 375 supply (total) and long term housing for two Kerbals (inflatable activity module from LLL, max capacity 4). The inflating top does clip through the docking port on top, but this isn't done using part clipping, just in the nature of the part. I would love if the docking port would be pushed to the top, but I imagine it being disassembled/reassembled and stored as needed. In the back you can faintly see a mark 1 version of the duna crane that will be launching in the first window (once I get those new infernal hinges installed). I'll be pulling some overtime to pay off the new rig, but I think I can squeeze enough kerbal in to make more frequent updates (since i wont wait hours just for a couple hundred parts to transfer to Duna on crippled physics).

DOH! Yeah, it started as more of a test run but I got a great hookshot in so I started taking pictures lol. No worries!

IronGremlin I love your dual purpose rover design and comm tower, I was looking at integrating a comms tower in to my first set of habitation pods, but I scrapped it due to..lets say design issues lol! It may come back in to play when the new comp gets loaded up!

The Tankor made it up! Unfortunately, when i tried to grapple up the helipad (instead of just driving) the physics exploded on me and sent me reeling. 5 min 49 sec to the top!

might i suggest no decouplers as well? Though a difficult challenge, stacking decouplers and having them fire at the same time you eject a hook could in essence be used to make a grappling cannon that could fire from the launchpad and win the speed contest. I tried a test run and though I dont have the patience to get all of the angles just right it is definately possible. Just stack winches on top of eachother, set decouplers out to the side, and kaboom! Fired in series it has potential to be speed-breaking

well, I did it, I ordered a new laptop! The asus G750JX should be more than sufficient! Once it gets in I'll be throwing kerbal on and having another go at this challenge!

Looks like my wish might actually come true! Sold the old clunker car, might get a new laptop!

Wow, my laptop feels old now. 2.0 dual core, around 200 parts it starts to have issues, and really chokes around 3-4 hundred parts. I also notice a huge slowdown when I use kas, droman, and kethane together, which are my 3 fav mods... Its all good. Just ran the first half of my half-hour transfer to duna to test out the new heat shields and rover rig. I'll get a new laptop at some point!

Well this is unfortunate...I severely underestimated my laptops ability to handle part counts, and my first simulation of docking several of my assemblies together slowed the physics to a crawl. Darn my trying to cram too much utility in to each lander! Time to uninstall a few mods and see if that helps. Back to the design board!

As far as aerobreaking is concerned, I suppose I'll give away my first tidbit of completed gear for this challenge, my Interstellar Transfer Engine Block (ITEB). Using Droman robotics and LLL, I have a sleek modular heat shield with room above for one unshielded module, about the size of a crew can with a couple docking ports on it. The lower shield protects the sensitive side-panels of the 3 nuke engines. When in interstellar mode, the shields are deployed to make use of the solar tiles beneath them. Hope this helps!

I suppose I should actually toss my name in the hat since I've been working on this challenge for well over a month. Three save wipes later (two on purpose and one update) and I think I've decided on a scheme. My only problems with the ironcross mod is (which i ran with for my first attempt at this mission) is that oxygen is not consumed when you arent actively controling the vessel, and the amount of oxygen you have available in the crew tank is kinda rediculous. I think i like the idea of supplies better, since kerbals will need not only food and water, but tools, games, musical instruments, and whatnots. Once I finish a few more tests on my landing module and transfer stage I'll take and post pics of my mission archetecture and vehicles. Great challenge by the way!

With space colonies popping up on planets and moons across the system, more resident kerbals begin to live their lives on off-world colonies. But if you aren’t a scientist, the local geology of the mun may not be much interest to you. You want adventure, fun, and most importantly, SHOPPING! The commercial empires of Kerbin have heard your cries and are here to say goodbye to those boring “symmetrical†homes, power plants, and mining rigs, and are welcome you to say hello to unique looking shops and service centers! (please note, kerbal corporations would never say your homes are boring…not to your face anyway) The Asymmetrical Commercial Stores Challenge! Rules: Design an asymmetrical structure to bring various goods and services to a space colony. (cannot have any lines of symmetry on the final product) The Building should be visually appealing, you represent a corporation trying to make sales after all. Engines and fuel pods should be slim, hidden, integrated in to the visual design, or jettisoned upon landing. No one wants a wobbly skycrane hanging over the front door. Building can have attachment points but must be landed as a single piece (symmetrical pods docked together in an asymmetrical fashion don’t count, but sprawling shopping malls of multiple buildings connected, or connecting your store to an established colony are fine) Must be landed on a foreign body (anywhere but Kerbin). Shops should be easily accessible to resident Kerbals (doors, ladders, and the like, without having to climb, fly, or drive an extreme distance). Mechjeb or Kerbal engineer should be used to show the weight of the landed building for scoring. Crew manifest should be used to show the maximum capacity of any non-stock parts Mods are allowed, but stock buildings will be scored separately. Mechjeb and Engineering tools like protractor will not count as mods for the purpose of scoring. Hooligan Labs airships parts may not be used as part of the landing vessel, but may be inflated after landing if you wish to have a hovering shop (still must be easily accessible, kerbals don’t want to climb 200ft ladders just to get a sammich).* To be counted as scoring, you must take at least one picture of your lander in orbit, and one of your building successfully landed on the surface of a foreign body, showing the final deployed weight. Base Scoring: Weight of Landed store: Each ton of landed weight is worth 5 points (after removal of any detachable landing apparatus). You may take your final landed weight, times 5, rounded to the nearest whole number. Maximum Capacity: 1pt for each kerbal able to fit in the store (judged using the crew manifest mod) Solar Body Landing Bonus: Mun: 10 pts Minmus: 15 pts Eve: 30 pts Gilly: 40 pts Duna: 35 pts Ike: 45 pts Dres: 60 pts Jool*: 70 pts Laythe: 90 pts Vall: 80 pts Bop: 75 pts Pol: 75 pts Tylo: 100 pts Moho: 90 pts Eeloo: 120 pts * - Jool colonies will not be penalized for using hooligans labs airships to land as it is nearly a requirement to colonize there. Scoring Bonuses: It’s all in the name: Name your store something catchy: (5pts) More than just a name: Write a brief corporate description of your store, what it has to offer, funny gags, etc. (10 pts) Looks about right: Architectural elements of the store at least remotely have something to do with your name (can include a sign, or batteries all over one wall for a battery hut, lots of flexibility here, be creative!): (25 pts) If you build it they will come: Land your shop in an uncolonized area: (15 pts) Repeat customers only: Land in visual distance (1k or less) of a colony of 5 or fewer kerbals: (30 pts) The local store: Land in visual distance of a colony of 20 or fewer kerbals (50 pts) Only in the city: Land in visual distance of a colony of 20+ kerbals (75 pts) Tipping the scales: Center of mass is way off center (VAB picture minus any landing equipment that will be jettisoned “way off†is defined as the mass ball being more than just a hair off center. Looking at it and saying “yup, that’s going to be hard to build a landing system for†works as a good guide. Subjective, up to community rule in case of contesting). (50pts) Skymall, mile high mall: Land using a skycrane: (25 pts) No foul smells: Leave no monopropellant or fuel attached to your store (empty tanks are OK). (25 pts) Don’t scorch the paint: Leave no engines attached to your store. (25 pts) 24 hour store: Store has some form of lights that can run overnight (exterior or interior). (15 pts) Turning Paradise: Have some form of parking garage, platform, or designated space for rovers. (50 pts) Meals on Wheels: Able to relocate your store via wheels: (25 pts) Any ideas for additional scoring options will be considered To start things off, I give you “Soups N’Saunasâ€Â. Come by to relax in our hot tubs, stay for the soup! Massage parlor now open in the small tower. Soups made from no more than 50% pool water, may contain traces of kerbal. Do not eat if you have an allergy to kerbals or peanuts. Not responsible for drowning. No lifeguard on duty. (sorry for my low graphics settings, good ol laptop is old, but good) Score: Landed Weight: 24.8*5 = 124pts Maximum Capacity: 27=27 pts Mun: 10pts Name: 5pts Description: 10pts Looks about right: 25pts If you build it they will come: 15pts Skymall: 25 pts No Foul Smells: 25pts Don’t scorch the paint: 25pts 24 hour store: 15pts Total: 306pts Top that! Let the uneven games begin!

With the announcement of save breaking updates, I suppose I'll post my work in progress just to get a bit of score in here. I was at first trying for the colony ship challenge, but my old laptop cant handle the parts. Instead, i retconned a few of my models to work for the HOME challenge! I was using the Mun as a staging zone just to see how well parts landed and worked together, but since most of them are configured for atmospheric landings it was harder than I thought to land. I hereby present Distalvis! The Big Burtha tug used to move the colonies around still needs a lot of work since i didnt take the weight of the colonies in to consideration, but it has space for TONS of chemically-induced comatose kerbals. Complete with vertical landing capabilities, it was meant to be used for the opt out score, but I neglected to screenshot it after transferring 30 kerbals and leaving for another load. Each colony pod comes with its own "inflateable gym" on top, filled with inflateable gym equipment! (Warning, inflateable gym equipment may not actually reduce bone loss, but it WILL make you feel super strong!) The gas'n'go station is a few kilometers away, planning it as a waystation between colonies and kethane mining. It's actually rather balanced weight-wise, still a pain to land, and the only thing i neglected to test is which way the solar panels would face...DOH! Scoring: Mun: 10 Distalvis: 6 HOME habitats: 90 4 HOME recons: 40 30 Residents: 30 Gas'n'Go Distinct Colony within 10k and an ANT: 10 1 HOME habitat: 15 1 HOME recon: 10 3 residents: 3 Total score: 198 Hopefully the update wont be out for just a LITTLE longer so I can get my score up a bit lol!

Hello fellow kerbonaughts! Keithstone Kerman here, owner of KeithStone Mining Corp, a recent upstart to help satisfy your need for that cool, bubbly, sweet sweet kethane! Our products are still in the testing phase, to ensure that they don’t (often) explode in your face! Keep an eye out for KeithStone mining craft and operational components to help you “Tap in to the Rockiest†places in the universe! All yuks aside, I’ve been so addicted to this game over the past month that registering for an account here seemed to take too much time away from flying contraptions in to space. Figured I’d stop lurking and say hi.