EtherDragon

When you have a passionate discussion over whether it's more correct to refer to it as "Mun" or "The Mun"

It's also possible your entire Mun Landing was faked in some studio. =p

Conclusion of the Minmas Mission:

That's a really good question that I don't know the answer to. But Strategies is one area that I really hope SQUAD makes a balancing pass for 1.0. Most "pro" players turn rep into money and science with a couple strategies.

KSP is going full release mode, probably with an in-store boxed version, and Certainly with a new Steam Release Promotion and all sorts of stuff. I bet the community is going to expand like crazy once official release hits. In fact, I'm working on new sets of tutorials and science videos to sort of "start over" because I believe there will be a huge herd of new players hungry for information.

Finally, a Mun Landing! - - - Updated - - - And now we set our sights on Minmas, this is the first half:

I don't think the graphics are outdated at all. I do agree that they can be developed a little further though, as we know some of the art and capabilities are second-pass assets. The visual style for KSP is highly internally consistent, which actually makes for a better and more modern graphic design. Hyper-realistic games also need to have a consistent art and design style or the extra detail actually seems jarring and off-putting. For me, I prefer the current design, which is a bit on the toy side. I like the idea that we're playing with toy people (Kerbals) with their toy rockets to navigate their toy solar system to find out the answer to the ultimate question - What is this mystery goo, and where did it come from?

This! If you feel so bad about it, then buy copies for your friends... hehe!

I think the bulk of the balancing is going to take place in two areas: 1. Parts costs and parameters in the VAB / Hangar. ISP Values for all engines with a particular focus on air-breathing engines. 2. Career mode progression costs for building upgrades. I would like to see another look at strategy initiation costs, particularly earlier in career mode. Some of them are so expensive as to be useless for a really long time. If I had all the power in the world and unlimited money to make changes in the project here is what I would want: Early Career Mode: You start off with JUST the VAB, Launch Pad, Mission Control, and the "Original Three" Astronauts. Don't even start with the Astronaut Complex or R&D, let alone other buildings. Certain buildings only become available after a specific condition is met, then you earn or buy your level 1 building After your first launch, and completion of any of the starting contracts the level 1 R&D Building unlocks for free. Tracking Station, Astronaut Complex, and Strategies Building (forgot the name) becomes available after reaching orbit, but you have to buy level 1. Only after reaching the tech tree where space plane parts are available are you allowed to buy the level 1 SPH and Runway. Introductory strategies in the Strategy Building should be affordable and approachable to start, especially since early career people will experiment with switching strategies. BENEFIT: This gives a much less complicated start up to early career. Right now career mode can seem overwhelmingly complex at first with Contracts and Strategies and Managing Crew and building and launching a rocket that doesn't immediately self destruct on the pad. Early career, should be very simple at first, a few buildings each with a clear purpose, to guide the newbie to their very first launch which earns Science, Reputation, and Funds. Each new concept is introduced over time, making it easier to focus on and integrate into what you've already learned. After a few launches you reach orbit and learn about Mid Career Mode: You've earned and unlocked all of the level 1 buildings and are starting to work on level 2 buildings. In all cases the building upgrade costs should be reasonable and proportional. You've probably initiated a strategy that helps you with your play style, but now are thinking about changing strategies and commitment levels. Strategies can be generally more expensive to kick off at higher commitment levels, but should for sure be approachable - some of them are still so prohibitively expensive they are useless until much later. If you want certain strategies to be later-game only, they should not be available until a certain building upgrade level. You're beginning to take manned modules into orbit around other planets. Resource gathering contracts begin to appear, offering a good balance of reputation, science, and funds. Late Career Mode: You've unlocked level 2 of all buildings and are starting on level 3 unlocks. Building upgrades in this tier can be pretty expensive, and require some "grinding" to get to, but not too much grinding please. Interplanetary resource gathering contracts become the most lucrative ones, but yield little rep or science, so that deeper in the late-game players a really challenging set of tasks for experienced interplanetary explorers to earn their tier 3 upgrades. End-game: As it is now! Once you've unlocked all the tier three stuff and the entire tech tree, the solar system is yours to explore, colonize, and mine for resources - pretty much like Sandbox mode.

Step 1: Learn Spanish. Step 2: Record your phrase in Spanish. Step 3: Use Audio editing software to Reverse the recording. Step 4: Use Audio editing software to increase the pitch of the recording - note do not change the pace of the recording.

When you are on the launch pad, looking at your rocket - go to the contracts section and click the + next to notes. It should give you the detail of exactly what to do to get the thing to register as a successful test. It might be something like "Activate the part through staging" or "Run test." If it's via staging then the contract will only complete when the part is activated through staging when the condition is met, e.g. Landed on Kerbin. If it says "Run test" or something, try right-clicking on the part to see if there is an option to perform the test. This is typical of things like Landing gear to require a "run test" option.

Yea, I ran into this same issue in one of my let's plays. "Power" means some kind of durable / renewable power like the RTG or solar panels. Batteries don't cut it, unfortunately.

Another two part episode, this time we aim to land on the Mun: And the Build:

Let's see if I can't find some old footage... Yea, there it is! So I had a great interplanetary design that I really liked. It packed a 4x engine cluster on the back and lots of extra asparagus staged fuel cells that would decouple as the mission went on. But, the main thing was the engine cluster was 2x LV-Ns and 2x LV-T30s. I would only switch on the LV-T30s when I had a big ejection burn to do, so I didn't have to orbit a bunch of times. This thing clocked in with plenty of Delta-V to reach Jool, enter and leave orbit of several of Jool's moons (launching some probes at each one...) and return to Kerbin with all of the Science! discoveries - even though I threw away two perfectly good (and full) fuel tanks! I fired up the LV-T30s only twice, IIRC, when leaving Kerbin, and again when leaving Jool. The rest was done on longer burns with the pair of LV-Ns. Turns out I would have had more if I didn't accidentally throw away a full set of tanks. @Kerba Fett, I really like the idea of using the thrust limiter on the big engine to tune for gas mileage.

Have you tried closing your air intakes during reentry?

And the conclusion of Episode 14:

In this first part of a two-part episode it's finally time for Mun shot!: These missions are getting too big to cover in a single episode - so the Builds will be bonus features like this one:

So, some of the best games in the world follow the Play, Create and Share model. Little Big Planet, and Mod Nation Racers are two great examples. Now, KSP has some share available, but you have to manually copy craft files and stuff. Sometime soon, after 1.0 I would love to see the following features added to round KSP into a full Play, Create and Share game! 1. Steam Workshop integration. This would allow people to easily share craft files and scenarios. 2. Scenarios! This would be a bigger feature, but being able to make our own scenarios with an editor would be awesome! Users would make new interesting challenges, and custom tutorials for people to play through.

Let's ask the question a different way, with some scientific definitions and see if you can't answer your own question! "Is it possible to achieve a geostationary orbit in KSP?" What is a geostationary orbit? It's an orbit where the orbital period is equal to the length of the day. So let's re-ask the question: "Is it possible to achieve an orbit where the orbital period is the same as a single day?" Well, to have a given orbital period, you need to have a specific semi-major axis. Ask again: "Is it possible to achieve an orbit where the semi-major axis results in an orbital period of one day?" Now for one other fact - the semi-major axis of a circular orbit is equal to the radius: "Is it possible to achieve a circular orbit where the radius results in an orbital period of one day?" As Two of Three pointed out, yes! A circular orbit with a radius of 2,868.75 km results in an orbital period that is equal to one day.

Burning more than half your fuel is actually pretty typical. It takes a considerable amount of energy to go from stopped (on the ground) to orbiting at altitude. You'll learn about this over time, but this is one of the reasons that rockets have multiple stages. Reaching Orbit is all about Isaac Newton, an extremely tall mountain, and a really big canon. Isaac hypothesized and demonstrated mathematically that if a tall enough mountain existed such that a man could wheel a powerful canon to the top, a sufficiently powerful charge in the canon would send the canon ball completely around the Earth. Launching your rocket is quite similar. First thing you do is launch from the launch pad to build up enough momentum to make a "mountain" (of momentum, instead of earth) and coast to the top. Once at the top, the rocket continues firing sideways to build up enough velocity to circumnavigate the whole earth.

Hey, since you're getting a great understanding of Parabolic and Hyperbolic trajectories (calling them orbits is a little misleading...) One thing to consider with Parabolic trajectories, is that, similar to a circular orbit, they are more mathematical constructs than they are physical reality. Mathematically, it's possible to engineer a Parabolic orbit/trajectory (yes it's both). With eccentricity = 1 a parabolic trajectory can maintain an orbit ... just barely. If you so much as sneeze in the wrong direction you're going Hyperbolic. Also, one generalization you can make. Hyperbolic trajectories don't necessarily mean you're going interplanetary. A hyperbolic trajectory around the Moon, just means that you fly by the moon; you are probably staying within orbit of the planet. With that knowledge, you are armed with enough info to know about the Semi-Major Axis and Sidereal Period. Semi-Major Axis: Quite simply, this is the average distance from the center of mass for the Periapsis and Apoapsis. Maths: Sma = (P+A)/2 If your orbit is circular, then the Sma would be equal to the radius. Sidereal Period: Simply put - the Sidereal Period is the Orbital Period. It is the time taken for an object to complete a full orbit when viewed from a static frame of reference.

I play KSP for several reasons. Rocket science is fun! Figuring out how to build something capable of landing on the Mun or reaching a different planet is really challenging - even though I've done it several times, it's a new challenge each time I build from scratch. The Career mode is really well done! It's one of the best tycoon style games out there, and it's only 0.90 right now. Sure there are some balances that need to happen, and tweaks when certain things become available. But overall the concept of Rocket Scientist Tycoon is right up there with Transport Tycoon, Railroad Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon, etc... I absolutely love Play Create and Share games. Think Little Big Planet, and Mod Nation Racers. KSP is really only a Create and Play game, but the sandbox nature is really well done with plenty of implied goals out there, even if you don't play career. I'll be filing a suggestion for later versions on how to add the Share element which would make KSP one of the quintessential Play Create and Share titles out there.

Another rescue mission in Episode 13, gives us a much needed payday:

In episode 12, we make an attempt at our first satellite mission:

Why, to get to the launch-pad of course!