The Dunatian, Playable Save File (Like a Scenario)

[JAFO]

I did get time to try out an addition to the hab, who needs mods!

http://i.imgur.com/Nou9DTO.png

The hab needs finishing.

I've checked out the hab now, in-game.. looks very good.. one minor point, according to the book, the hab has 3 airlocks spaced (I think) at 120° intervals around it.. just mentioning since you're still wanting to tweak it.

I have no idea yet how long this trip would take

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.

I've now also added the scale from Cyriak's map to the maps.. so it's possible to estimate distances.

Hab to Pathfinder is about 180km each way

Hab to D.A.V. is about 250km

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.

From a purely personal perspective, I'd like to see the second rover-trailer (with panels) get towed, as per the story.. your call, of course.

(Oh yeah.. I'm loving the rover's chassis and bash-plate! Very creative use of parts, there!)

Edited September 9, 2015 by JAFO

[Majorjim!]

Hab to Pathfinder is about 180km each way

Hab to D.A.V. is about 250km

So to travel 180km @ 20m/s will take a little over two hours. You will not have an average speed of 20m/s and due to surface undulations it will be more like three hours.

250KM will take over three and a half hours but in reality would be a little more. This will be very hard to do without breaking the rover. It would however be epic in the extreme.

[JAFO]

So to travel 180km @ 20m/s will take a little over two hours. You will not have an average speed of 20m/s and due to surface undulations it will be more like three hours.

250KM will take over three and a half hours but in reality would be a little more. This will be very hard to do without breaking the rover. It would however be epic in the extreme.

Yup.. and on the revised map, Hab is in the middle, with Pathfinder and the D.A.V. in opposite directions, so, 360km round trip to fetch Pathfinder, then on to the D.A.V. giving a grand total of 710km of rovering to be done..

I did a little experimenting this evening with MechJeb's rover autopilot and a waypoint set to the Pathfinder site. 20m/s on autopilot is not a good idea. Crashed and burned within minutes after getting too much air when topping a ridge at 18m/s. So it's likely to need manual control all the way, or require setting a lower top speed on the autopilot, say, 10m/s or so.

Mind you, I shouldn't have been so impatient to start testing. I started before dawn, and didn't see the ridge coming.. should have warped time forward until after sun-up, so I could see better. Also, the rover's headlights aren't up to night-driving, I might swap 'em out for the brighter ones.

Edited September 9, 2015 by JAFO

[selfish_meme]

Yup.. and on the revised map, Hab is in the middle, with Pathfinder and the D.A.V. in opposite directions, so, 360km round trip to fetch Pathfinder, then on to the D.A.V. giving a grand total of 710km of rovering to be done..

I did a little experimenting this evening with MechJeb's rover autopilot and a waypoint set to the Pathfinder site. 20m/s on autopilot is not a good idea. Crashed and burned within minutes after getting too much air when topping a ridge at 18m/s. So it's likely to need manual control all the way, or require setting a lower top speed on the autopilot, say, 10m/s or so.

Mind you, I shouldn't have been so impatient to start testing. I started before dawn, and didn't see the ridge coming.. should have warped time forward until after sun-up, so I could see better. Also, the rover's headlights aren't up to night-driving, I might swap 'em out for the brighter ones.

Good stuff, we should probably place the base closer to pathfinder, that should reduce the total trip significantly

[selfish_meme]

Yup.. and on the revised map, Hab is in the middle, with Pathfinder and the D.A.V. in opposite directions, so, 360km round trip to fetch Pathfinder, then on to the D.A.V. giving a grand total of 710km of rovering to be done..

I did a little experimenting this evening with MechJeb's rover autopilot and a waypoint set to the Pathfinder site. 20m/s on autopilot is not a good idea. Crashed and burned within minutes after getting too much air when topping a ridge at 18m/s. So it's likely to need manual control all the way, or require setting a lower top speed on the autopilot, say, 10m/s or so.

Mind you, I shouldn't have been so impatient to start testing. I started before dawn, and didn't see the ridge coming.. should have warped time forward until after sun-up, so I could see better. Also, the rover's headlights aren't up to night-driving, I might swap 'em out for the brighter ones.

Would just like to thank you for bringing a little life into this. I must admit I was getting distracted from completing it.

Cheers, SM

[selfish_meme]

Did some more work on the Hab Module, looking good I think, Interior needs completing and one more rover docking port (just a copy of the solar farm docking port).

Updating the craft download on the first page.

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added the rover docking port, will upload later, Inside is a science module, action group one deploys panels and ladders. It has SAS for landing. I still need to put a floor inside and some bunks and stuff, part count is still pretty low so there is room for some gribbles

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It sometimes crashes my game, reverting, better recovering.

[JAFO]

Would just like to thank you for bringing a little life into this. I must admit I was getting distracted from completing it.

You're most welcome. It's a very worthwhile project. And it's also a nice change being involved in a project with a fellow Aussie.. timezone differences negated.

Did some more work on the Hab Module, looking good I think, Interior needs completing and one more rover docking port (just a copy of the solar farm docking port).

Looking very good indeed. On the subject of the solar farm, I noticed that the download link for the solar farm actually goes to the Ares Duna Ascent Vehicle instead. Also, your OP links to a now no-longer-available summary and analysis of Weir's The Martian, not the actual book itself. Reviews suggest it was of little actual value anyway. Perhaps use this link instead?

It has SAS for landing.

Since the story starts with all assets in-situ, why not dispense with the SAS in the hab and just plunk it down in place with Hyperedit? Ditto for Pathfinder, etc..

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Good stuff, we should probably place the base closer to pathfinder, that should reduce the total trip significantly

Suppose we move Hab 90km closer to Pathfinder? That would make a round trip of 180km to fetch Pathfinder, then 340km to the D.A.V., giving a total of 520km. (I messed up with my original total of 710km.. it should, of course, have been 610km )

Edited September 10, 2015 by JAFO

[selfish_meme]

You're most welcome. It's a very worthwhile project. And it's also a nice change being involved in a project with a fellow Aussie.. timezone differences negated.

Looking very good indeed. On the subject of the solar farm, I noticed that the download link for the solar farm actually goes to the Ares Duna Ascent Vehicle instead. Also, your OP links to a now no-longer-available summary and analysis of Weir's The Martian, not the actual book itself. Reviews suggest it was of little actual value anyway. Perhaps use this link instead?

Since the story starts with all assets in-situ, why not dispense with the SAS in the hab and just plunk it down in place with Hyperedit? Ditto for Pathfinder, etc..

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Suppose we move Hab 90km closer to Pathfinder? That would make a round trip of 180km to fetch Pathfinder, then 340km to the D.A.V., giving a total of 520km.

I will fix up the links, the solar farm is included with the new hab module anyway.

I have SAS on the hab module because a lot of the time it isn't oriented correctly when landing using hyperedit. There may be a way to reorient using hyperedit but I don't know it and including a reaction wheel is trivial.

I was thinking about the small crater to the right/north of the anomoly canyon?

A fellow aussie, 😎

[JAFO]

On the subject of Pathfinder, what's the plan for that? Without some mods such as KAS/KIS, it's going to be pretty difficult to put any parts of Pathfinder, or even just Sojourner, into the rover for return to Hab. So I assume the journey is essentially symbolic?

[selfish_meme]

On the subject of Pathfinder, what's the plan for that? Without some mods such as KAS/KIS, it's going to be pretty difficult to put any parts of Pathfinder, or even just Sojourner, into the rover for return to Hab. So I assume the journey is essentially symbolic?

Yeah right now with stock, unless we stick a docking port on it that can attach to the rover, then with the new antennae comma in 1.1 a use might be found for it, maybe a mechjeb module for rover autopilot lol

[JAFO]

Yeah, that crater looks like a good candidate. Smack dead-centre, perhaps? (it might be "small", but it's still 25km across!)

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I'd suggest using the lowest point in that crater, perhaps.. which is at -15.4468 : -34.9365 Elevation at that spot is 750m.

[selfish_meme]

Yeah, that crater looks like a good candidate. Smack dead-centre, perhaps? (it might be "small", but it's still 25km across!)

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I'd suggest using the lowest point in that crater, perhaps.. which is at -15.4468 : -34.9365 Elevation at that spot is 750m.

Sounds good to me

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I'm still concerned the real time drive length maybe offputting.

[JAFO]

I'm still concerned the real time drive length maybe offputting.

Probably the best way to do things then, may be to first of all determine what the maximum amount of drive-time (for each leg) you're willing to accept is, and use that range to determine the locations for Hab and Pathfinder. It will probably mean giving up on visiting the anomaly that resembles

the Curiosity-Cam

, but that's only visible to players using high terrain detail anyway.. for instance, I won't be able to see it with my laptop's feeble graphics powers.

[selfish_meme]

I think most people might put up with more time than me in a rover lol. I did a lot of testing recently and even started an elcano attempt (quickly abandoned) that ended in URD when I tested the x4 physics timewarp

[JAFO]

I think most people might put up with more time than me in a rover lol.

You might be surprised.. From my reading around the forums, most KSP players are enthusiastic about rovers only until they try to go more than a few kilometres in one. After that, they generally prefer flying. Even an hour with your finger on 'w' is a long time. I really take my hat off to the guys who do the marathon charity rover driving events.

For the record, the book gives the Mars rover's top speed as 25km/h.. which is a blistering 6.94m/s. 20m/s is 72km/h, which explains why it's so easy to have URD events when rovering. Hammering along across bumpy surfaces on low-g worlds is a recipe for disaster. I wonder if rovers can be set to have upper speed limits? I've never tried that.. will have to experiment.

Another thought.. good thing Watney was an engineer.. because Mark Kerman will need to be an engineer, to deal with all the blown tyres along the way.

[selfish_meme]

I have ideas for a rebuild of the rover that will make it a lot lighter and more damage resistant, and also maybe handle a bit better, it needs to be really good or people will abandon it before it even gets started.

[JAFO]

I have ideas for a rebuild of the rover that will make it a lot lighter and more damage resistant, and also maybe handle a bit better, it needs to be really good or people will abandon it before it even gets started.

If you're willing to "cheat" a little, you might give this some thought..

How to make an unflippable rover:

[selfish_meme]

Done it, and it's only unflippable on Kerbin, the current suspension can be tuned which is better

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The first version was actually a mix

[JAFO]

Done it, and it's only unflippable on Kerbin

Hmm.. that's interesting.. cuz he demonstrates one working on Eeloo.

[selfish_meme]

Hmm.. that's interesting.. cuz he demonstrates one working on Eeloo.

As you get more weight above the wheels, it helps less and less, I had two at one stage in an earlier heavier version, it seemed to be better without. Plus clipping and mk2 bays...uh uh

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Haha, how stupid am I, the rover already has one, lol I just pulled it apart

[JAFO]

Haha, how stupid am I, the rover already has one, lol I just pulled it apart

I thought I spotted one in there.. checked the COM and decided that maybe I was mistaken.

Thinking back on it, the COM was a bit lower than might be expected..

Edited September 10, 2015 by JAFO

[selfish_meme]

Alright so I built a new rover using all the trickiest suspension and CoL shifting ways I know.

Simpler, less parts, lighter. I also removed any probe cores and only had the single battery.

On the good side, on Kerbin it is virtually unflippable, I didn't manage it but I think I could given the right slope.

On the bad side, on Duna it is still relatively easy to flip, I will soften the suspension some more, good on Kerbin means too hard on Duna.

The real problem is how long the battery lasts, about 5.5 minutes in game time, obviously you are not going far with that, I could not even leave the crater. With the second rover it will have more battery but more weight to move, I am thinking of sneaking in an RTG or two to extend the range, not infinite but at least a proportion of the Duna day. Then the driver will need to stop and extend the panels on the second rover to recharge before nightfall.

Edit: Have updated download links on first page. Also added JAFO to the contributors

Edited September 11, 2015 by selfish_meme

[selfish_meme]

So I headed due west (270) from those co-ordinates and I finally got a view of the crater walls by the time my batteries (plural) ran out. About 10 minutes in. I had added 2 RTG's but they did not provide a great deal more range. So I think with the trailer rover we will get somewhere north of 15 minutes out of a charge before needing to stop and deploy. A Duna day is 18 hours long, so there is no way to run out of sunlight, so a straight run is possible with stops for recharges.

The rover is good and had no problems, it is still possible to flip it if you really try. I am making a couple more adjustments. I included a Science Junior just in case we want to at some point add a science run as part of it, the hab has a science lab. They should all have short range antenna's except Pathfinder and the DAV.

Edited September 11, 2015 by selfish_meme

[selfish_meme]

Docking alignment went much easier than expected, one tiny change to the front of the rover and everything docked easily

Rover craft updated, docks to itself and the hab

Edited September 11, 2015 by selfish_meme

[JAFO]

Docking alignment went much easier than expected, one tiny change to the front of the rover and everything docked easily

http://i.imgur.com/HgIxI0Y.png

Rover craft updated, docks to itself and the hab

Lookin' good!

So I headed due west (270) from those co-ordinates and I finally got a view of the crater walls by the time my batteries (plural) ran out. About 10 minutes in. I had added 2 RTG's but they did not provide a great deal more range. So I think with the trailer rover we will get somewhere north of 15 minutes out of a charge before needing to stop and deploy. A Duna day is 18 hours long, so there is no way to run out of sunlight, so a straight run is possible with stops for recharges.

What kind of speed can it comfortably handle?