Dres Awareness, Show Your Support! (still not-dead :))

GRS · October 14, 2019

40 minutes ago, Robonoise said:

I’m going to try to build a city In a Dres crater. I’ll post pictures soon if I get rolling on it.

Best of Luck

Robonoise · October 14, 2019

3 hours ago, GRS said:

Best of Luck

Thanks

Robonoise · October 14, 2019

Is vessel mover allowed? I’m trying to launch mine from the ocean.

GRS · October 16, 2019

Hopefully...depends on its purpose.

Robonoise · October 16, 2019

15 hours ago, GRS said:

Hopefully...depends on its purpose.

The purpose is just because it looks cool

GRS · October 16, 2019

10 minutes ago, Robonoise said:

The purpose is just because it looks cool

Then it's Hopefully fine... @SpaceplaneAddict <- This guy's the real judge.

Robonoise · October 17, 2019

I've only managed to land a city bus, city hall, and spaceport terminal. Here are my pics.

SpaceplaneAddict · October 18, 2019

On 10/14/2019 at 4:23 PM, Robonoise said:

Is vessel mover allowed? I’m trying to launch mine from the ocean.

If it's just for extra launch difficulty off Kerbin for bragging rights, I don't see why not.

3 hours ago, Robonoise said:

I've only managed to land a city bus, city hall, and spaceport terminal. Here are my pics.

Very nice indeed. I'll take it this is your submission then?

Robonoise · October 18, 2019

2 hours ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Very nice indeed. I'll take it this is your submission then?

Just part 1, I’m working on getting a couple of apartment buildings and a science lab there now.

Robonoise · October 19, 2019

21 hours ago, Robonoise said:

Just part 1, I’m working on getting a couple of apartment buildings and a science lab there now.

Scratch that, I got the new update for ksp and now it’s lost all my progress. So yes, it is my submission.

Edited October 19, 2019 by Robonoise

SpaceplaneAddict · October 29, 2019

On 10/17/2019 at 3:43 PM, Robonoise said:

I've only managed to land a city bus, city hall, and spaceport terminal. Here are my pics.

It's been a rough few days for me, so I'm sorry for the delay.

Congratulations to @Robonoise for completing the Dres Awareness challenge with a residential outpost on Dres! Your entry will be posted in the OP momentarily.

The Dressian Exploder · October 30, 2019

I was just launching a tiny little mission to Dres. Y'know, just for fun... Thought I might drop a picture of the LV.

It's called the A.B.S.U.R.D. Abominable, Brilliant Stupidly Under-designed Rocket for Dres

GRS · November 3, 2019

LOL...that's one silly name...

TheKSPBeginner · November 8, 2019

An absurd name, tbh

noname_hero · December 4, 2019

I hope I'm not courting necromancy by posting here, but given I'm a newbie, maybe I will get a pardon. Although, to be honest, maybe I should be saying I'm newbie-ish, not a newbie. On one hand, I only bought the game this October. On the other hand, my mission to Dres was my third interplanetary mission, launched after I already went to Duna and Moho (and back).And I only went to Dres because it was my next launch window, not to show true affection.

So why am I writing here? To show other newbie-ish players that overengineering can get you places even when you're still learning the game. This is my first playthrough, career mode/normal difficulty, and I managed to send a manned mission and some probes to Dres.

Okay, my mission was not an impressive one, compared to what others can do (and did). I did some screenshots, the mod can find a selection here, and I can provide more evidence should I get asked to, but it is nothing special. However, I do feel I've learned a few things and I'm happy to share with other newbies, so here goes:

- it is nice to have way more delta v than needed. I had more than 10k m/s before my first transfer burn and it sure made the mission less stressful,

- it is possible to eyeball a lot of things, including transfer windows, and the aforementioned delta v comes extra handy here,

- designing the main interplanetary stage as reusable sounds like a good idea, but using loads of tiny liquid fuel tanks makes refueling a PITA and it stayed unused in Kerbin orbit for years after I got back,

- refueling the main liftoff stage gave me both some extra delta v and better TWR. I know experienced players can use multiple burns, but I'm newbie-ish and those inefficient but powerful engines sure helped me flatten my trajectory before I had to use the NERVs,

- it is possible to reverse the direction your ship's controls use. My design contained drop tanks connected by docking ports and I learned this *after* ditching those and re-docking my lander, but the option does make some of my dockings easier now,

- it is a good idea to add some comm capability to the *unmanned* orbiter if you plan to biome-hop with the lander, because the lander might reach orbit with too little fuel to re-dock. I made this mistake for my mission to Moho, so knowing I *could* remote-pilot the orbiter around Dres was comforting,

- seemingly overheating thermal control systems tend to *not* explode even you run your NERVs for long periods of time. Not all warning signs lead to actual explosions.

And the last lesson I'd like to mention? Saving before your first launch, testing the whole mission and then *loading* that savefile and playing the mission again sure is kond of boring. However, it sure beats discovering a fatal flaw in your design when you're *back* near Kerbin and might have played a few dozen other missions after setting out for Dres. My first attempt ended up with the ship either unable to slow down enough to stay in Kerbin's SOI or with the ship exploding due to reentry heat, so I was glad I made that save. It wasn't *that* disappointing, I *expected* my first attempt to fail, but to fail that late into the mission hurts and it would hurt even more if I didn't plan for such a fail.

So that's another newbie to Dres, and now I'll go back to learning to fly safe :-)

SpaceplaneAddict · December 7, 2019

On 12/4/2019 at 1:24 PM, noname_hero said:

*Well written snip*

Bro, overengineering is my jam. And to me, going to Duna, Moho, AND Dres in the span of 3 months of getting the game is insanity. I've been here for about 4 years now, and I still have never been to any planet (and back) with a small exception of Dres.

I'm expecting some wonderful things from you

GRS · December 7, 2019

Not gonna lie...doing such thing is awesome...i hope you can go to greater heights...

noname_hero · December 7, 2019

I'm afraid I'll disappoint those hopes, as I can already feel I'm hitting a plateau with my skills. I don't have the talent or the dedication that KSP technomages like Scott Manley or Bradley Whistance (and too many others to name them all here) show. But I'm still grateful for the praise I've received here. To be honest, a part of me was kind of hesitant to post my mission here, given all the way more impressive missions I've seen both here and elsewhere.

But then I've realized that KSP is a game. We're not risking real lives, we're not spending real billions. We can get away with things real space program wouldn't do, like ignoring math and precise observations, replacing sanity with strapping on more boosters. I'm *eyeballing my transfer windows*, but I have so much delta v I can get away with it.

*Accepting* that I better build overengineered monsters is what let me fly those missions to Duna and Moho and Dres. Having huge safety margins means that mistakes which could mean mission failure often become simply learning experiences, and don't lead to discouragement that would make me give up on trying.

Maybe other regular players who have problems going interplanetary should stop worrying about what delta v maps say and embrace the tao of massive overengineering too :cool:

Eriksonn · December 7, 2019

Despite what it seems like, i have never actually done any manned moho mission ever, not even landed on moho in any way whatsoever, so good job getting there and back so early into the game. :wink:

About overengineering stuff, i tend to do that in kindof the opposite way to most people, as i dont feel like "more boosters" really fit with my personality very much. Instead i tend to focus on effective upperstages and multi layered gravity assists.

(I really like the near future mod that adds more ion engines and stuff)

I also overengineer on my gravity assists and flight plans, i also use the principia mod for n-body gravity as that makes orbits so much more interesting in my opinion.

So one can say that i overengineer my orbits instead of overengineering my rockets. :rolleyes:

noname_hero · December 7, 2019

I wasn't really early into the game, given I had a fully upgraded VAB and nearly complete tech tree. And if you're talking about the player's experience level, well, going to Moho wasn't that much harder than going to Minmus - and it felt easier than going to Dres. I guess that was thanks to much shorter transfer times and more frequent launch windows, but I already went back to Moho (although with just a surface probe and a bundle of sats), whereas I still have to set out for Dres again.

And I wasn't talking about literally strapping on too many boosters. I do use some, my relay sats around Mun and Minmus even use a single booster (plus winglets) as the first stage, but what seems to fit my personality now is NERV-powered reusable transfer stages, Minmus-based tankers and Kerbin-launched landers plus drop tanks. It is better to have extra fuel and not need it than to not have extra fuel and need it. Even my *landers* tend to carry drop tanks, mounted on two of four radial decouplers.

Brute-forcing my transfer stages gives me both a safety net (I don't mind parking back around kerbin with 2 km/s in my transfer stage and 1 km/s in the lander) and (reasonably) short transfer times. I think I did like *two* gravity assists during the whole time I'm playing the game, and those were because a body I could use for one happened to be in the right place at the right time. I know it is silly to worry about mission lengths, but something inside me dislikes the idea of waiting for a real good transfer window and then sending a ship towards Eve for a gravity assist if I can simply build a bigger ship with more delta v and head straight to Jool the next time Kerbin is in a good position for a launch.

Oh, and there's also the fact that massive transfer stages with lots of delta v mean I don't need that much skill to perform at least some interplanetary missions. Landing on Duna, Moho or Dres doesn't require many new skills if you're used to landing on Kerbin and Mun, and massive transfer stages let me bring landers with the kind of performance I'm used to in Kerbin's SOI.

Well, I began a new playthrough some time ago, this time on moderate difficulty, and I've already got three kerbals headed for Duna (the screeenshots from my Dres mission have been sitting on my HD for some time before I posted them). So... What kind of a mission to Dres might be a good learning experience for a new-ish player who already managed to land a capsule on Dres and land a mobile base (10 wheels plus 1 km/s rockets and ISRU) on Duna on Normal difficulty? I think Christmass might give me enough time to visit Dres again. No spaceplanes please, I can barely make one orbit Kerbin and land. Any suggestions?

Gordon Fecyk · April 17, 2020

Hm, I haven't seen a Dres appreciation post in quite some time. Does JNSQ Dres count:?

This is the last of three videos that deal with the asteroid belt in Team Galileo's JNSQ system. This version of Dres looks rather different and is significantly harder to get to, but not impossible for the Good Ship Overkill.

SpaceplaneAddict · April 26, 2020

Apologies for the delayed response, I don't come to the forum as often as I used to.

Looks legal to me, and I'm the judge so it's whatever anyways

It looks an interesting mod, wish I could play but my computer can hardly handle stock. I will however, give you full credit on an intricate exploration of a revamped Dres.

Congrats to @Gordon Fecyk for completing the Dres Awareness challenge with a detailed and pleasing-to-follow exploration of Dres!