The Dunatian, Playable Save File (Like a Scenario)

[selfish_meme]

&%*#(#&

[Majorjim!]

&%*#(#&

http://i.imgur.com/fj1LrYb.png

Lol, annoying huh?

[selfish_meme]

I just had a frikken amazing idea about the panels now to wait till I can play.

[selfish_meme]

Mwahahahahaha

[selfish_meme]

Mwahahahahaha

Well that was premature.

[Majorjim!]

Well that was premature.

LOL. Oh well, you only need to find one way to make it work!

[nothingSpecial]

Wow. I only started reading this thread and... Oh my. The savefile with a story to advance in. It's just... Wow. I have no words. It is wonderful.

[selfish_meme]

Wow. I only started reading this thread and... Oh my. The savefile with a story to advance in. It's just... Wow. I have no words. It is wonderful.

Thanks very much, it's good to know some people might be interested in playing it when it is finished.

No updates today, got peed off at pathfinder and sidetracked down a different project. Spoilers soon in my builder thread.

Edit: Spoilers are up

Edited August 24, 2015 by selfish_meme

[selfish_meme]

Progress has been slow, been busy with some other stuff. I did get time to try out an addition to the hab, who needs mods!

Edit: I should probably empty the fuel out first, don't want any hab explosions!

[JAFO]

take your rovers from the Ares 3 base and trek across Duna (seeing interesting sites like mountains, craters, canyons and anomalies along the way) to reach the Ares 4 Duna Ascent Vehicle.

High Detail Map of Duna

Interesting route for journey

Edit: especially if you want to do rover journeys, no really Rover journeys would be good, for the love of mick won't anyone do rover journeys!

Ok.. I'll take a crack at this.. I'd love to be involved in this project.

Naturally, feel free to poke holes in any of the following, suggest alternatives, etc.

To start with, I did some research on Mark Watney's trek. The journey covered some 3200 km, which is slightly more than a full circumnavigation of Duna. So as to present a significant challenge and at the same time, prevent the possibility of taking too large a shortcut, it seems to me that on Duna, we should be aiming for something approaching a journey halfway around Duna.

While the maps in the book are a useful starting point, they're fairly limited, detail-wise, so with the aid of an excellent topographical map of Mars and a fantastic interactive map of Mars that I found online, I took a closer look at Watney's route, as described in the book. It was soon clear to me that Andy Weir must have made good use of topographical maps when planning Watney's journey. The route, as would be expected, avoids steep terrain as much as possible.

Next I downloaded the high-res 3200x1600 topographical map of Duna on the Wiki and marked in the approximate locations of the 3 anomalies and the icecap boundaries. The interactive Duna map at kerbalmaps.com came in handy, too.

My plan was to at least attempt to come up with a route roughly analogous to that taken by Watney. To my mind, one significant feature of the story is that the Ares 4 MAV launchsite is fairly close to the equator. This would simplify rendezvous with Hermes considerably, so I noted that down as a desirable feature to emulate. Watney's descent into Schiaparelli Crater was another feature I wanted to include, along with, of course, his round trip to Pathfinder.

It quickly became apparent that from the perspective of a long-distance rover journey, the topography of Duna is considerably more challenging than that which Mark Watney faced. In particular, finding a route which could logically include any or all of the Duna anomalies simply doesn't appear to be feasible.

The longer I looked, the more obvious it was that there was only one potential route which could be considered a rough match for Watney's journey, and also fulfilled the criteria I'd decided on. As a bonus, the crater I'd picked for the Ares 4 site even had only one gently sloping route into it, just like Schiaparelli. (Ok, technically, there's a second route on the opposite side, but it's less straightforward to reach.) Part of the journey is across the icecap, but I don't really see any sensible way to avoid that.

My next task is to use the rover already crafted to explore key points of the proposed route. Specifically, the Pathfinder location, the Ares 3 site, find a possible site for the buried RTG (if you decide to incorporate that part of the story), and the Ares 4 crater. I also plan to explore the feasibility of an alternative location for Pathfinder, down at the bottom end of the canyon adjacent to the proposed location. (Basically, about where the letter 'a' in the word 'Pathfinder' is, in the maps below.) If the Rover can cope with it, that would be an interesting trip, all the way down the canyon and back out.

Here's the full topographical map of Duna. The 3 small red circles indicate the locations of the anomalies, and the horizontal red lines the approximate boundaries of the icecaps. Sites and potential routes for Ares 3, Pathfinder and Ares 4 are also marked.

Closeup of one proposed route (slightly more direct routes may be viable also, of course):

So.. what do you think?

Edited September 8, 2015 by JAFO

[selfish_meme]

Wow, thank you for putting so much time into this. I really appreciate the effort. There are some great ideas there. If I can I would like to explain what I had in mind, and if you could adjust your scale a bit we can meet in the middle. I am not rejecting anything, it is really good stuff, We just need to harmonise our goals.

So the main aesthetic difference between this and The Martian is that it's KSP/Duna, and it's supposed to be fun. In my mind I was not trying to recreate the hardships and boredom, I was trying to create a Content Pack that was fun to play for a couple of hours. With that in mind I did not want to make the rover journey too long, it would be extremely tedious. I did want to show off Duna a bit, so anomalies and varied terrain (where possible). Though I have no final route in mind I did have a think about it previously and had this as a place marker (from kerbalmaps).

Edit: Whoops I forgot, I thought of reversing the positions of Ares 3 and pathfinder, so when you find pathfinder/sojourner you find an anomaly over the hill from it, as a sort of gag.

I have no idea yet how long this trip would take, I have been working on the craft pretty much exclusively so far. I have all the stuff dropped on Duna for testing but it's not in a final state yet.

I'd love for you to continue contributing, you obviously have some good ideas.

Cheers,

SM

Edited September 8, 2015 by selfish_meme

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

What's the Hermes?

- - - Updated - - -

What's the Hermes?

Oh, it's that thing:

Holy smokes...

[Majorjim!]

Wow, thank you for putting so much time into this. I really appreciate the effort. There are some great ideas there. If I can I would like to explain what I had in mind, and if you could adjust your scale a bit we can meet in the middle. I am not rejecting anything, it is really good stuff, We just need to harmonise our goals.

So the main aesthetic difference between this and The Martian is that it's KSP/Duna, and it's supposed to be fun. In my mind I was not trying to recreate the hardships and boredom, I was trying to create a Content Pack that was fun to play for a couple of hours. With that in mind I did not want to make the rover journey too long, it would be extremely tedious. I did want to show off Duna a bit, so anomalies and varied terrain (where possible). Though I have no final route in mind I did have a think about it previously and had this as a place marker (from kerbalmaps).

http://i.imgur.com/MFuOsjV.png

Edit: Whoops I forgot, I thought of reversing the positions of Ares 3 and pathfinder, so when you find pathfinder/sojourner you find an anomaly over the hill from it, as a sort of gag.

I have no idea yet how long this trip would take, I have been working on the craft pretty much exclusively so far. I have all the stuff dropped on Duna for testing but it's not in a final state yet.

I'd love for you to continue contributing, you obviously have some good ideas.

Cheers,

SM

Dude, you and I are on the same page. I picked that exact landing site and rover trip. It's perfect. You have three wide open spaces with some of the flattest terrain on Duna. Coupled with that beautiful distant mountain range, Ike in the sky and the rover journey through that valley out the other side and up to the face of Duna. Perfect.

Oh, I made the trip recently and it's far man. And I didn't drive from as far south as you have proposed. I would say it took me maybe two hours, as you have to babysit the rover the whole way. Your route is too far I think. Try the drive sometime, it's deceptively far.

Edited September 8, 2015 by Majorjim

[selfish_meme]

Dude, you and I are on the same page. I picked that exact landing site and rover trip. It's perfect. You have three wide open spaces with some of the flattest terrain on Duna. Coupled with that beautiful distant mountain range, Ike in the sky and the rover journey through that valley out the other side and up to the face of Duna. Perfect.

Oh, I made the trip recently and it's far man. And I didn't drive from as far south as you have proposed. I would say it took me maybe two hours, as you have to babysit the rover the whole way. Your route is too far I think. Try the drive sometime, it's deceptively far.

Yeah I thought it might be a bit of a trip, I think the rover is pretty good on Duna and will take some of the risk out, but it will still mean pressing the w button for a good long while.

[JAFO]

We just need to harmonise our goals.

So the main aesthetic difference between this and The Martian is that it's KSP/Duna, and it's supposed to be fun. In my mind I was not trying to recreate the hardships and boredom, I was trying to create a Content Pack that was fun to play for a couple of hours. With that in mind I did not want to make the rover journey too long, it would be extremely tedious. I did want to show off Duna a bit, so anomalies and varied terrain (where possible). Though I have no final route in mind I did have a think about it previously and had this as a place marker (from kerbalmaps).

http://i.imgur.com/MFuOsjV.png

Edit: Whoops I forgot, I thought of reversing the positions of Ares 3 and pathfinder, so when you find pathfinder/sojourner you find an anomaly over the hill from it, as a sort of gag.

No problem.. I've followed along with an expedition posted elsewhere in the forum, that covers the terrain you posited, and believe me, it's still quite a drive.

Looking at that area on the topographical map I linked to earlier, I realised that the map is somewhat out of date. Some hunting around turned up a new project by The GIS-Octopus Mapping and Surveying Agency, to create high resolution maps of all bodies in the Kerbol system. Cyriak has produced some mind-blowingly detailed maps to date, including a lovely set of Duna maps. I'll be switching to those, and will carry on, taking your thoughts above on-board.

Once the above is completed, I think I'll also continue working on my original proposal, for the following reason. Reading through the forum, and in particular the Martian Challenge thread mentioned back near the start of this thread, it occurs to me that quite a few KSP players are rather, umm.. masochistic about their game-play. They actually enjoy it when things are really difficult. It might be fun to have an alternative gamesave scenario, which, like the book, puts the player in a race against time to reach the Ares 4 site. There are a few potential faster-but-riskier routes to my original proposal, which would force the player to weigh up their options before committing to a strategy. IF things come together, it could then be added to your pack as an extra-challenge option.

[JAFO]

Ok.. The high-res topographical map of the area is now ready. At this scale, each pixel represents approximately 400m. I've prepared two versions of the map, a clean one, and one with the three key locations each marked by a single red pixel. At this scale, if the Hab, Pathfinder and DAV are within two hundred metres of the anomalies/lowest elevation spot, they'll still be covered by those single pixels. Here's the one with the red markers. If you have a large monitor and look closely, you can maybe just spot them. The resolution is considerably better than shows in a browser though, it's possible to zoom into them a fair way.

Both maps (and a satellite pic of the area) are in a zip you can download here.

I have all the stuff dropped on Duna for testing but it's not in a final state yet.

If there's anything I can do in the testing/map-checking dept, let me know.

Edited September 9, 2015 by JAFO
Updated to higher resolution maps

[selfish_meme]

No problem.. I've followed along with an expedition posted elsewhere in the forum, that covers the terrain you posited, and believe me, it's still quite a drive.

Looking at that area on the topographical map I linked to earlier, I realised that the map is somewhat out of date. Some hunting around turned up a new project by The GIS-Octopus Mapping and Surveying Agency, to create high resolution maps of all bodies in the Kerbol system. Cyriak has produced some mind-blowingly detailed maps to date, including a lovely set of Duna maps. I'll be switching to those, and will carry on, taking your thoughts above on-board.

Once the above is completed, I think I'll also continue working on my original proposal, for the following reason. Reading through the forum, and in particular the Martian Challenge thread mentioned back near the start of this thread, it occurs to me that quite a few KSP players are rather, umm.. masochistic about their game-play. They actually enjoy it when things are really difficult. It might be fun to have an alternative gamesave scenario, which, like the book, puts the player in a race against time to reach the Ares 4 site. There are a few potential faster-but-riskier routes to my original proposal, which would force the player to weigh up their options before committing to a strategy. IF things come together, it could then be added to your pack as an extra-challenge option.

Hard Mode, that's a good idea. It will still be a race either way, the Hermes is not waiting, theres no way to make it wait.

[JAFO]

Hard Mode, that's a good idea. It will still be a race either way, the Hermes is not waiting, theres no way to make it wait.

Given the extra distance involved, it would probably require an earlier starting date than the regular mode. How much earlier would probably need test-driving to determine.

[selfish_meme]

I've actually got enough stuff I could do a first flush test of the ground based part. I know there is lots of stuff to improve, the DAV is too tall, the DDV looks a bit too cobbled together. The Ares V needs work, I have about 15 Pathfinders, none of which are very good, the last one is the best but still needs work. I was going to tow the solar farm (rather than a second rover) but I think a modified rover with extendable panels might be better. The hab needs finishing. The torpedo doesn't work....um sorry wrong project.

[Majorjim!]

I've actually got enough stuff I could do a first flush test of the ground based part. I know there is lots of stuff to improve, the DAV is too tall, the DDV looks a bit too cobbled together. The Ares V needs work, I have about 15 Pathfinders, none of which are very good, the last one is the best but still needs work. I was going to tow the solar farm (rather than a second rover) but I think a modified rover with extendable panels might be better. The hab needs finishing. The torpedo doesn't work....um sorry wrong project.

For the pathfinder you only need the rover and the pod it landed in right? If so I have something I can post in a day or two.

[JAFO]

Update: I found that Cyriak has even higher resolution maps available, so I've updated the zip to versions that are scaled at 400m per pixel. Same download link as before. Post #141 has been edited accordingly.

[Yukon0009]

Hey heres my WIP pathfinder if you guys need inspiration

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fkafu6cnqhv9hu6/Sojourner.craft?dl=0

[Majorjim!]

Hey heres my WIP pathfinder if you guys need inspiration

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fkafu6cnqhv9hu6/Sojourner.craft?dl=0

Cheers dude, but I have the build already planned in my head.

[selfish_meme]

Cheers dude, but I have the build already planned in my head.

Well mine have ranged from complete unfolding panels with rover on the panel to my latest which I think is even simpler than Yukon's, but I have to deploy the rover underneath the pod with a chute of it's own. Doesn't matter really I'm not going for authenticity on deployment on this (well not anymore anyway).

[selfish_meme]

Update: I found that Cyriak has even higher resolution maps available, so I've updated the zip to versions that are scaled at 400m per pixel. Same download link as before. Post #141 has been edited accordingly.

Thanks, I will check them out tomorrow.

- - - Updated - - -

Hey heres my WIP pathfinder if you guys need inspiration

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fkafu6cnqhv9hu6/Sojourner.craft?dl=0

Thanks mate, I will check that out tomorrow, if I remember it does not have the pobe core. I don't care too much about sojourner, but we may need the probe core (and antennae presumably)