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Kerbfleet: A Jool Odyssey-END OF CHAPTER 21! (and hopefully not so many talking heads in 22!)


Mister Dilsby

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@r_rolo1, I really appreciate your civility in respecting what I don't want to discuss on the thread. Thank you. You do raise some points about observation, though, which are fair and deserve to be addressed.

The question: Why didn't anyone notice Kerbulus before? 

Well, the real answer of course is that I didn't invent Kerbulus until sometime during the Eve story. :shrug: But I think I can show some plausible reasons why everyone with an opportunity to do so did not notice it until the needs of the Story dictated that someone should:

1. The mission to Duna

Obviously Kerblus is invisible when the crew leaves Kerbin for Duna, so their first chance to see it is when the Hummlebee's solar orbit diverges from Kerbin's enough that Kerbulus is no longer behind the sun. However, I think that for the entire trip Kerbulus would only have appeared in the daytime sky, and would therefore be as invisible to the Hummlebee crew as Mars is to you and me at noon. Here's the positions of the planets as the crew is getting ready to leave Duna. At this point they've only been at Duna for a few weeks, so this should be a good indication of where everything was the whole time they out there:

DPplbDb.png

...and Kerbulus is of course 180 degrees around from Kerbin, pretty much behind and to the left of the sun. I think that even if someone were looking for a planet over there, they wouldn't have seen it. And besides, both on the way there AND the way back, the entire crew was in hibernation and thus couldn't have noticed an extra planet in the sky no matter how bright it was.

2. The journey to Eve

Again, the crew is in hibernation.

3. Operations in and around Eve

No time right now to search for a map to see where everything is. (but if I find one later I'll edit to add it) If there was any time where Kerbulus should have been visible, I'll just say everyone was too busy to notice, what with craft exploding and all. :) Either Eve's brightness or Gilly's shadow could have interfered with a visual observation--and again, no one was looking for it. Remember, this is a species that mistook some very large objects for smudges on their instruments for years, and needed to go to space to figure out how ladders work. We can't judge them by human standards.

4. Bob and Tedus on Eve's surface

Since I am playing with EVE installed, I can truly say the night sky over Eve is too cloudy to see any celestial objects. The only reason they could 'see' the satellite overhead is their suits picked up its transponder.

5. Departing Eve for home

Well, Jeb saw it. He was looking at Duna and noticed a bright, blue spot. He doesn't know the sky well enough to 'connect the dots' on his own, so when Bob arrogantly dismisses his observation (totally in character, and I hope I get no arguments on that point :) ) he just goes back to being goofy old Air Service Jeb.

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Thank you for this detailed explanation, @Kuzzter. Still, I think that no Author should have to explain all of a story's little twists and turns, as long as it's not something unreasonably illogical. Especially if this story takes place in its own, well-defined and delimited universe with its very own natural laws and physical constants :)

Edit: It's something like the XP rating on INSULTINGLY STUPID MOVIE PHYSICS

Edited by Flow
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41 minutes ago, Flow said:

Still, I think that no Author should have to explain all of a story's little twists and turns, as long as it's not something unreasonably illogical.

Generally I agree with this 100%. But I think this case is a little different for a couple of reasons. First, before I'm an author I'm a KSP player and forum-goer like everyone else, and this is as much a Mission Report as it is a novel. I should expect some discussion about any parts of the Mission that other players don't think are reasonable given their own gameplay experience. Second, this is a novel that's being published, serially, within in its own comments section. I think that knocks me down several pegs from lofty and unassailable Dead Author status. :) 

In any case I really do enjoy the discussion and respect that quite a lot of you know quite a lot more than me about quite a lot of subjects. Some things I don't really want to discuss are:

1) Unjustifiable insinuations that I, or any other author providing content on this Forum, stole an idea from any other author here.

2) Which mods I will or won't use, or other personal gameplay choices we all have to make for ourselves.

3) Narrative/story direction: Suggestions are fine, and so is rampant speculation. But I'm pretty deaf to demands. 

4) Issues arising from the game itself (and my decision that the story take place within the observable rules of the game)

5) Worldbuilding choices: My Kerbals are different from your Kerbals. Yours might do smoochy things, or shoot at each other. But your Kerbals are your Kerbals, and my Kerbals are mine :) 

I'm not listing these to try to give any 'rules' for this thread--I wouldn't want to do that even if it was my right, which it isn't. But I do like to respond to as many reader comments as I possibly can, and if I don't respond to something... well, maybe it's because it fits into one of the above categories. :) 

 

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Well put, Kuzzter, and respect to you for having the patience to explain that to clearly to us.

Honestly, arguing against your point No. 4) makes as much sense to me as demanding that Pacman jump over the walls in his 2-D universe

Edited by Deddly
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5 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Generally I agree with this 100%. But I think this case is a little different for a couple of reasons. First, before I'm an author I'm a KSP player and forum-goer like everyone else, and this is as much a Mission Report as it is a novel. I should expect some discussion about any parts of the Mission that other players don't think are reasonable given their own gameplay experience. Second, this is a novel that's being published, serially, within in its own comments section. I think that knocks me down several pegs from lofty and unassailable Dead Author status. :) 

In any case I really do enjoy the discussion and respect that quite a lot of you know quite a lot more than me about quite a lot of subjects. Some things I don't really want to discuss are:

1) Unjustifiable insinuations that I, or any other author providing content on this Forum, stole an idea from any other author here.

2) Which mods I will or won't use, or other personal gameplay choices we all have to make for ourselves.

3) Narrative/story direction: Suggestions are fine, and so is rampant speculation. But I'm pretty deaf to demands. 

4) Issues arising from the game itself (and my decision that the story take place within the observable rules of the game)

5) Worldbuilding choices: My Kerbals are different from your Kerbals. Yours might do smoochy things, or shoot at each other. But your Kerbals are your Kerbals, and my Kerbals are mine :) 

I'm not listing these to try to give any 'rules' for this thread--I wouldn't want to do that even if it was my right, which it isn't. But I do like to respond to as many reader comments as I possibly can, and if I don't respond to something... well, maybe it's because it fits into one of the above categories. :) 

 

1) You stole my Admiral Shirley suit texture!

2) You should use Alternis Kerbol Rekerjiggered.

3) Jeb should go to jail for smoking ore in the next chapter.

4) Orbital mechanics are too realistic. You should try to do a more Star Wars style approach.

5) The Kerbulans do smoochy things, shoot each other, and eat earth goats. That is my headcanon and if you don't meet my expectations I'll stop reading.

main-qimg-60410796fdd1176dbb93a8386b3905

The Kappa-face above means that I am kidding. For Kraken's sake, do not take this post seriously.

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Yup, definitely counselling.

That last panel is great!  I'm guessing that must have come from the 1.0 release video.

"I know I've been mad.  I've always been mad, like most of us are.  Pretty hard to explain why you're mad.  Even if you're not mad."
- Pink Floyd

Thanks, Not-Parkaboy!

Happy Concerned landings!

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3 hours ago, Starhawk said:

That last panel is great!  I'm guessing that must have come from the 1.0 release video.[snip]

Thanks, Not-Parkaboy!

Yes it did, along with Sandwich Guy. Love those videos, there's gold in them if your screencap is quick enough :) 

1 hour ago, Parkaboy said:

Gene might need an interpreter to talk with the mad kerbals! I think Jeb is up to the task,

Good idea! Even if Random Word Salad and the various forms of Space Madness are mutually incomprehensible, no one involved in that conversation will notice!

34 minutes ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

I'm left speechless

Me too. I stared at that last panel for a few minutes trying to come up with some brief 'end of page zinger' words for Gene and Wernher and then thought, "I can't think of anything, which means they can't think of anything, which works pretty well actually" :) 

18 minutes ago, Deddly said:

I cracked up at the first panel. "I thought that was a thing now"

Apparently it is, according to Not-@Starwhip :D 

Edited by Kuzzter
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On 1/2/2016 at 4:09 PM, Just Jim said:

hehe, no.....  any similarities are purely coincidence..... :wink:

The "any similarities are purely coincidence" avoidance. It's confirmed. Kerbulus is in Ekimo Station. :D And also CHEEZ!!!
 

Edited by TopHeavy11
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I can just imagine how Sandwich Guy's job interview must have went. 

Mort: "Well, since your letter of application didn't mention any, what exactly are your qualifications, aside from holding a sandwich in your hands?"

Gene: "Wait a second, that guy's holding a sandwich!? Hired! You're exactly what we've been looking for!"

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17 minutes ago, Parkaboy said:

I'm pretty sure sandwich guy is Wernher's intern, Linus, though...

Trivia time: to the best of my recollection Linus Kerman has never appeared as a character in a Kerbfleet comic*! (yeah, I know...here come the conspiracy theories...) So that could indeed be Linus (whose name Gene doesn't know because hey, intern) Or maybe lots of Kerbals in lab coats look alike :) 

*meaning, no character has ever been identified as Linus anywhere in a comic panel.

Edited by Kuzzter
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13 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

Trivia time: to the best of my recollection Linus Kerman has never appeared as a character in a Kerbfleet comic*! (yeah, I know...here come the conspiracy theories...) So that could indeed be Linus (whose name Gene doesn't know because hey, intern) Or maybe lots of Kerbals in lab coats look alike :) 

*meaning, no character has ever been identified as Linus anywhere in a comic panel.

Linus is the Dres of the admin crowd. Wait, no, that would be Gus Kerman.

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Billy-Bobby Kerman: "One seat for two cheese is enough?"

Looks like he's not as mad as you'd think- he's figured out there's two guys to pick up, and they only have one seat free. How will this work I wonder?

 

The cheese must be protected! :D

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4 minutes ago, FlyingPete said:

Looks like he's not as mad as you'd think- he's figured out there's two guys to pick up, and they only have one seat free. How will this work I wonder?

Hey, I'm an engineer; I meet insane people who are able to do basic math all. the. time.

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