How time passes in KSP?

[OpenWorldAddict]

I want to know how to convert KSP Time to real time. The reason is that I planning to conduct a Kerbal Space Program 54 hour real time challenge live on twitch. The challenge is to start in science mode at 4 pm on friday to 10 pm on sunday and to see how much I can get done in real time without using time warp. I will most likely be running many missions simultaneously.

Now, I am still going to sleep about 6 to 7 hours a night, have 3 meals, and even do other things in that time span, but that whole entire time kerbal space program will be running on the computer, and I will need to be back on my computer on time to meet transfer windows and encounters. I need to know how much time passes in KSP vs. real time so that I can plan my breaks, know exactly how much real time I have until that next burn I need to make, etc. I will have Kerbal Alarm Clock, but that won't help me if I am not there at critical moments.

I plan to start streaming at 4 pm and go until 6, take an hour for dinner, then go from 6 to 10, at which point I will go to bed. As soon as I wake up in the morning I will have breakfast and then stream all day in 3 to 4 hour segments with time for lunch and dinner on Saturday, as well as taking care of chores while the game is going. I would again be on until 10 pm saturday night, and then sunday would just be a repeat of saturdays schedule. At the end of Sunday at 9 or 10 pm, I would then see how much progress I have made in those 54 hours.

So, how do you convert KSP time to real time?

[stibbons]

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Time should have everything you need to know.

[Guest]

How game time passes in relation to real time depends on the Max Physics Delta Time setting and the overall power of your pc. I would definitely recommend doing a trial run just to make sure KSP will even run for that long under the simplest of conditions, like only one simple ship in Kerbin orbit, much less multiple ships crossing SOI boundrires.

[eddiew]

Short version;

1 kerbal hour = 1 earth hour.

1 kerbal day = 6 hours.

Your 54 hour challenge is thus 9 kerbal days.

But... time is a variable. Whenever the clock is red (happens a lot during launches) it means the game has slowed down the progression of time in order to give you accurate physics calculations and not have your ship disintegrate.

...multiple ships crossing SOI boundrires.

There won't be a lot of SOI boundary crossing; would need a day-zero launch to get to Minmus in the time window. Munlandings would be possible, taking about 6-7 hours between escape burn and arrival.

[Guest]

There won't be a lot of SOI boundary crossing; would need a day-zero launch to get to Minmus in the time window. Munlandings would be possible, taking about 6-7 hours between escape burn and arrival.

You're right. SOI changes won't be a huge factor. Memory usage could be an issue, however. I would make sure the game setup is stable enough to go to bed and still be running when I wake up. Even with a completely stock install, graphics settings can have large effects on stability, especially wip settings like terrain scatter.

[Renegrade]

There won't be a lot of SOI boundary crossing; would need a day-zero launch to get to Minmus in the time window. Munlandings would be possible, taking about 6-7 hours between escape burn and arrival.

FYI - you can do transfers to/from the Mun in significantly shorter time frames than that for just a small increase in delta-v costs. By using a more aggressive burn in LKO, the time to the Mun can be reduced to about 3.5-4.5 hours for a reasonable cost, or even shorter time for less-reasonable costs.

The return trip can also be sped up, by burning towards the planet (burn towards the dot in the 'bottom' half of the navball. Burns between the dot and the prograde marker will raise the PE, and burns on the opposite side of the dot from prograde will lower the PE)

[eddiew]

FYI - you can do transfers to/from the Mun in significantly shorter time frames than that for just a small increase in delta-v costs. By using a more aggressive burn in LKO, the time to the Mun can be reduced to about 3.5-4.5 hours for a reasonable cost, or even shorter time for less-reasonable costs.

Never knew that, interesting That might be a boon for TAC-LS users in the early missions when they only have the command pod's built in supplies (3 days).

[Randazzo]

Isn't there a settings option to have standard 24-hour days and 365 day years?

It's entirely possible I imagined it.

[magico13]

Isn't there a settings option to have standard 24-hour days and 365 day years?

It's entirely possible I imagined it.

Yep. 24 hour days used to be the only option until some time around 0.23.5, when Kerbin days were added (and enabled by default). You can change it in the Settings menu in the Main Menu.

[tater]

Does 24 hour days change the rotation of Kerbin? Does a 365 day year change the orbital period?

from a gameplay perspective, unless you are using magic13's mod, time doesn't matter unless you have life support (and even then not so much).

[Renegrade]

Never knew that, interesting That might be a boon for TAC-LS users in the early missions when they only have the command pod's built in supplies (3 days).

3 days? Oh K-days.. Yep! Even more so in BTSM, wherein you can often end up with an eight-hour craft...

[magico13]

Does 24 hour days change the rotation of Kerbin? Does a 365 day year change the orbital period?

The physical parameters aren't changed, just how it's displayed to the user. So you'll have 4 sunrises per "day" and Kerbin won't be anywhere near where it was a "year" ago.

[Randazzo]

Does 24 hour days change the rotation of Kerbin? Does a 365 day year change the orbital period?

from a gameplay perspective, unless you are using magic13's mod, time doesn't matter unless you have life support (and even then not so much).

I believe it was just for "time keeping" purposes.

Nothing in the game will be different, time will just be labeled differently.