DonLorenzo's Forum Campaign: To space, the moon and beyond

[DonLorenzo]

Only mech jeb control modules are allowed. What do the mechjeb fuel tanks, landing legs etc. do? I\'ve not played with them yet. As a rule of thumb only the parts listed in the price list are allowed.

[robsr3v3ng3]

ok cool. Well they aren\'t that unbalanced and they mainly focus on things for small craft, but for the speed challenge because you didn\'t list them you could stick like 32 of these little radial liquid rockets. They only give 20Ns of thrust but in large numbers it\'d be the same as adding a few SRBs and because they run off liquid with a burn rate of 1 they could last a while.

[issarlk]

I\'m joining the campaign a bit late, thanks people for the reduced costs

I emailed my turn 3, thanks for your time running this for us.

[Bellaby]

As soon as I get back to my computer (on the ol\' laptop atm, not a hope in hell that KSP could run on it ;P) I fully intend to give this a go.

I\'ve been browsing the required mods and that unmanned comsat plugin looks freaking amazing, can\'t wait to get a good com sat system set up, been interested in the challenge for a while but never had the motivation to make a satellite network, now i will.

Which leads me to a question; For later turn missions, mun and minmus landings and all that, how would we replicate comsat networks? Since i\'m assuming that everyones attempts are all on one persistence files and can see that comsats from different \'companies\' will communicate with each other. Is collaboration an aim here? since we don\'t see each other\'s results I foresee an issue either in setting up a join network that is efficiently distrubuted, or preventing \'cross talk\' between different player\'s networks.

Erm yeah sorry about the wall of text but i was kind of thinking as i typed.

Will post soon!

oh and what kind of format do you want Don (for the email, concerning budget & other turn data)? For all of the details n that.

- cheers, Bellaby

[DonLorenzo]

Cool, thanks for your interest Bellaby.

I\'m thinking it could be fun to operate a shared persistence file, however I\'m going to be flying all the sattelites into orbit so it will be either my job to create a viable constellation or your jobs to coordinate which inclinations/altitudes and stuff to use. I don\'t really like either solution as it creates a lot of extra work for little benefit. I\'m more inclined towards an abstract solution like stating \'three sats in kerbo-synch orbit allows full kerbin coverage\' and repeating that for each body. That way the focus will remain on craft design and the correct satellite constellation setup within the capabilites of the craft will be implied. Satellite missions are not up for another few turns, I\'ll make up my mind before then.

As for what format I prefer it doesn\'t really matter, but if you keep the following pointers in mind it\'ll make things easier for me:

- Include a finance overview, including your craft, tech and contract entry costs.

- Include the turn number and your (forum) name in the subject line

- Include flight instructions, especially if your craft requires some funky staging or flight profile

- Put your mission and contract submissions in the same e-mail

Good luck with your space program!

Cheers

[robsr3v3ng3]

Just sent off my first submission. Hopefully everything is clear, sorry for the ridiculously high number of instructions XD.

Can\'t wait to see the results.

[Bellaby]

how come SAS modules aren\'t in the price list?

[DonLorenzo]

how come SAS modules aren\'t in the price list?

Probably because I never use them and thus forgot about them! They are available if you want them, at $300 and 30% salvage. I would recommend using mechjeb rather than SAS modules, it doesn\'t give actual force but utilizes the available control authority with robotic precision making previously unsteerable craft quite usable.

[Bellaby]

yeah fair enough, its just something i noticed is all. Also for some reason i get \'failed to send\' notifications. ive sent another one but if that fails i\'ll just pm you

[Bellaby]

bah im 100 short of a 25km rocket, even without research. Guess im going to have to run another 10km mission turn 4 ;(

Or run some sort of fundraiser;

Come one, come all! To the best fireworks display this side of the Mun! Tickets only 100 (kerbs? ;P)!

[DonLorenzo]

So I\'m preparing to do the turn tonight, all is well and there will be some new missions for next turn Some of them will be about putting X in orbit, on the mun, on a place on kerbin etc. What I\'m thinking about is what X should be. I can keep it abstract and just say \'4 mass units or more\' but I\'d rather make a probe, space station, building or whatever out of some mod parts and provide some pre-built stuff as mission jump-off points.

Would you guys like that? Or rather have the more abstract mass figure and not muck about with more mods (I\'d probably use something like NovaSilisko\'s probodobodyne and/or BACE kit)

[Awaras]

It would be nice if you would make a design contest where you build a payload (station, satellite, whatever), give us the craft file, and the winner is whoever puts it into a specified orbit for the least amount of money.

[robsr3v3ng3]

I\'d say keep it abstract for the moment. Because not many people will have the tech research really required to tackle the placement of some thing that maybe awkwardly shaped

[issarlk]

Personally I think a contest to design the payload would be fun. It\'s not like anybody can put it in orbit before a few turns anyway (I think! Some people here seem able to do some crazy efficient rockets)

[DonLorenzo]

The thing with payload design is that it\'s purely cosmetic. You can\'t say \'design a satellite that can last x days and can measure 200-1200nm wavelength at 30arcseconds of sky\' because those functionalities don\'t exist. So I want the challenge to be designing the lifter vehicle. The only question is then, will it be <lift 3 full fuel tanks> or <lift this thing here that i made>. I think the latter is more fun, but it requires another mod download on your part.

[Awaras]

The thing with payload design is that it\'s purely cosmetic. You can\'t say \'design a satellite that can last x days and can measure 200-1200nm wavelength at 30arcseconds of sky\' because those functionalities don\'t exist. So I want the challenge to be designing the lifter vehicle. The only question is then, will it be <lift 3 full fuel tanks> or <lift this thing here that i made>. I think the latter is more fun, but it requires another mod download on your part.

Well, you can make some visually interesting stuff using C7 parts alone, but I would not mind using additional modded parts for the campaign.

[sal_vager]

I like the idea of lifting a satellite, though setting up a fuel depot in orbit is an option too, and don\'t forget the Kubble space telescope if you can find it.

[sjwt]

and don\'t forget the Kubble space telescope if you can find it.

Did you look behind the couch?

[sal_vager]

I found it!

It is part of the Downunder pack but can be downloaded separately, scroll down the first post to find it.

[Bellaby]

what about the powersat satelites? Aren\'t they part of the already required mods list? Or maybe not since that would produce that networking issue i mentioned :/

And i dont mind installing a new part or two, but i try not to inundate myself with a thousand new parts because then things get all confusing

[DonLorenzo]

Turn 3 overview

So here is the next turn update. Technically it\'s open for another 1,5 hours but I\'ve received submissions from all our players and a bunch of new ones. Should anyone still want to submit last minute that\'s allowed and I\'ll update this post.

A lot of cool things happened this turn, many different missions were flown and a wide variety of aircraft were designed. Some notable events, in no particular order include

-The first orbit, proudly established by Awaras

-The first kerbal casualty, sustained by the valorous crew of sjwt. The brave pilot was honourably crushed by excessive G forces. The family has been compensated to the tune of 25% mission profit which happened to be a generous sum of 2400 monies.

-Copious amounts research into Booster Tech, it has now reached its final low price of 3200 monies

-Some new missions shooting probes and telescopes at stuff (see OP for details)

-A new rule: First and Second bonuses cannot be claimed for \'lower\' missions than the highest one claimed by you previously. Ie. if you flew the 80km mission you can\'t claim the 50km bonus. You can do the 50km mission if you like, but no bonus if it\'s still up.

With the announcements for the next turn out of the way, on to the results of this one. First up, the design contest. Four entries were submitted by Sal_vager, Sjwt, Fireblade, Robsr3v3ng3p. Good design efforts made by all, yet some difference in posted speeds. The leaderboard turned out as follows:

1. Sal_vager with a top speed of 1454 m/s. Payout $2000

2. Fireblade with a top speed of 1344 m/s. Payout $1500

3. Sjwt with a top speed of 1016 m/s. Payout $1000

4. Robsr3v3ng3 with a top speed of 994 m/s. Payout $500

Here follows the end of turn finance report and your balances for next turn.

Player: Awaras Mission Completed: Establish orbit Tech purchased: Salvage Tech I Spent:$11600 Income: $22000 New Balance: $23205

Player: sal_vager Mission Completed: 25km Tech purchased: none Spent:$9250 Income: $12000 New Balance: $14650

Player: Sjwt Mission Completed: 200km Tech purchased: Salvage Tech I Spent:$12100 Income: $20500 New Balance: $20405

Player: Fireblade Mission Completed: 25km Tech purchased: Booster Tech Spent:$10350 Income: $11500 New Balance: $11900

Player: Robsr3v3ng3 Mission Completed: None Tech purchased: Salvage Tech I Spent:$1300 Income: $500 New Balance: $8200

Player: Issarlk Mission Completed: 10km Tech purchased: Booster Tech Spent:$8850 Income: $6750 New Balance: $6900

Player: Bellaby Mission Completed: 10km Tech purchased: Booster Tech Spent:$8850 Income: $6750 New Balance: $6900

The new missions for turn 4 are up in the OP, I\'m still brooding on a contract that will be interesting for everyone!

Cheers

[Saaur]

Sorry I fell off the face of Kerbin. My mother-in-law has been sick and I need to go to her funeral next week.

So I\'m officially dropping out of the campaign.

[DonLorenzo]

Sorry I fell off the face of Kerbin. My mother-in-law has been sick and I need to go to her funeral next week.

So I\'m officially dropping out of the campaign.

Ouch that\'s harsh. Have my condolances, don\'t worry a second about internet forum games.

[DonLorenzo]

The contract for turn 4 will be a revisit of the polar booster challenge, the OP will be updated to reflect this shortly. The only difference will be that this time the destination has to be the south pole.

I\'ve given the question of how to handle powersats for unmanned missions a thought and I\'ve come up with the following:

-Upon researching the unmanned pod, you can use it and give commands when within LOS of the KSC, as would be expected.

-Upon researching the powersat, you gain an extra \'launch slot\' per turn which you may utilize to launch a powersat deploying rocket. More than one powersat per rocket are allowed, but only one launch. You will have to fund these launches completely by yourself, however cooperation and cost-sharing is allowed.

-The owner of the powersats can decide for himself whether or not to share the sats, however to prevent favouritism and excessive roleplaying this decision is universal and irreversible. You share your sattelites either with everybody else or with no-one, and you cannot go back on your decision to share them. It is possible to have both shared and private sattelites however.

-To use somebody elses powersat you still need to have the technology researched.

I realize that this makes unmanned missions that require maneuvers outside KSC LOS quite expensive, possibly prohibitively so unless you guys cooperate. I like manned missions much more than I do unmanned, and I don\'t want unmanned to be the de-facto best solution once it has been researched. Since nobody has as of yet invested in unmanned technology I feel I can make these changes without screwing anybody over.

Another thing, if you guys have ideas for missions that you\'d like to fly, feel free to submit them. They might just make it into the mission list for the next turn.

Cheers!

[Awaras]

I have been looking at the parts prices and I have to ask: Why exactly is the gimballed LFE more expensive than the large LFE? It is the same weight as the large with less thrust and the same fuel efficiency. The only advantage it has is that it has thrust vectoring, but the fact that everyone uses mechjeb (right?) makes that irrelevant - mechjeb can keep even the largest, most massive ships (that will probably be outside the realm of possibility in this campaign) stable without using thrust-vectoring engines.

I guess what I am asking is why would anyone playing this campaign even consider using the gimballed LFE? If it was cheaper than the Large LFE, someone might use it, but as it is it is pretty useless.