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Cydonian Monk

By Cydonian Monk
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Cydonian Monk

Cydonian Monk

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10 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

Not sure why you're not able to see the pictures. Only thing I can think of is Tariser and CactEye might not be compatible, but I'm not sure.

I'm mostly certain it's a conflict between Distant Object, Tarsier, VDS Hullcam and/or CactEye. I'm just not sure which of the four is causing it. Could also be a [black magic voodoo] thing.... I'm kinda pushing all the wrong envelopes to keep KSP running with the mods I'm using and with the size of this persistence file. 

I might fiddle with it before I launch Mg-5. 

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Cydonian Monk

Cydonian Monk

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6 hours ago, StickyScissors said:

This series is amazing! 

 

5 hours ago, waterlubber said:

You and me both.

 

Keep up the great work!

Thank you, both of you.

 

--

I went back and fiddled with the FungEye scope and, well, it worked. Gave me this nice shot of Eve.

20160120_ksp0111_eve.jpg

No idea what was going wrong the other night, but it works now. EVE (the cloud mod) is none too happy with it, though its issues might be limited to the preview function (some issues being cloud layers rendering as black or solid white) - I didn't try to get an actual image from the scope. (That might work right.) 

In other news, I spent what time I had this evening merging the rest of the things I want in this save from the old persistence files. (Which was a relatively quick process, since it was already done.) Some weird things going on, such as finding a probe "orbiting" just barely inside of Duna and another "orbiting" at an altitude of ~20km above Duna's surface. Both of those worked out their own issues, presumably in a rather violent manner. Strange that the semi-major axis for the orbits of those two placed them in rather precarious (and ultimately fatal) situations. Did Duna grow at some point?

Any other weirdness will be explained as the kerbals encounter it.

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chicobaptista

chicobaptista

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7 hours ago, Cydonian Monk said:

In other news, I spent what time I had this evening merging the rest of the things I want in this save from the old persistence files. (Which was a relatively quick process, since it was already done.) Some weird things going on, such as finding a probe "orbiting" just barely inside of Duna and another "orbiting" at an altitude of ~20km above Duna's surface. Both of those worked out their own issues, presumably in a rather violent manner. Strange that the semi-major axis for the orbits of those two placed them in rather precarious (and ultimately fatal) situations. Did Duna grow at some point?

Any other weirdness will be explained as the kerbals encounter it.

I think this (and other stuff like it) could be well explained in-story as orbit decay. I know, I know.... KSP doesn't feature decaying orbits, so that's why I said "in-story".

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Cydonian Monk

Cydonian Monk

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1 hour ago, Geschosskopf said:

I love your plays on words in your writing :D

 

;) Thank you. Sometimes I have to stop and redact myself or I go too far into Yogi Bera land, or sound like Edgar Allen Poe's not-so-favourite pet bird.

 

1 hour ago, chicobaptista said:

I think this (and other stuff like it) could be well explained in-story as orbit decay. I know, I know.... KSP doesn't feature decaying orbits, so that's why I said "in-story".

Absolutely, and I've done that too. Most of the things I had in orbit haven't been copied over, especially if they were within ~30km of an atmosphere. Given that exospheres aren't modeled by the game I could probably cut deeper.... but it's also only been ~60-70 years for most of this stuff. And then there's the question of mass concentrations and offset gravity on airless bodies and whatnot....

And krakens. 

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Whirligig Girl

Whirligig Girl

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11 hours ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Landing hoaxes aside, aybe the insane kerbals could go to Eve instead, moar water, gravity, and air!

MMmm. A nice, cool glass of boiling Mercury! Let me step outside for a breath of fresh oven-baked acid. Let me just go on a nice leg crushing jog, eh?

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Cydonian Monk

Cydonian Monk

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At the Forgotten Space Agency we would prefer rehabilitation over imprisionment. Eve, while a good candidate as a maximum security penitentiary, would not do well for healing the mind. Dres on the other hand is a tranquil, peaceful spot where kerbals can relax and focus on becoming whole once more.

Besides, the kerbals of my space programs have an established history of returning from Eve. None have ever returned from Dres. 

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Cydonian Monk

Cydonian Monk

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Asylum Run

Their work with GrandMa complete, Rondous and Sieta made their way to Baile Speir. The FAO had some chores for them to do, especially if Sieta was to remain at the station for her long-term assignment. (At least until the first viable Dres transfer window opened.) As luck would have it, Baile Speir was in a perfect position for rendezvous from Mg-4's orbit. 

They even had a brief fly-by of Kelgee, close enough to make out the details of the staiton, not close enough for Rozor and Agake to see them waving from their windows.

20160120_ksp0113_n-tc8.jpg

20160120_ksp0115_n-tc8.jpg

The routine docking was routine. With only one APAS-styled port open, Rondous didn't have much in the way of choice as to where to put the Nitrogen TC-8. Something they'd need to address if more than one kerbal was assigned to a long-duration stay at the station. (There were rumours the accounting department might be forcefully relocated here as a cost-saving offshoring move.)

20160120_ksp0120_n-tc8.jpg

Sieta jumped out of the capsule and EVA'd over to the cupola module. (A necessary step as she needed to transfer her space wrench to the station.) It didn't take the crazy genius long to notice something was a bit... off with the station. Specifically the lever labeled "Low Kerbin Orbit Communications Relay Network."

"How did Verly miss this? How could anybody miss this?" she asked repeatedly before tossing the lever to the On position. Suddenly a control board lit up, several lights blinking red then changing to a soft, solid green. A few went to a solid red, most likely satellites that had failed over the long decades. 

"Well, the briefing docket did say some systems were ignored while reactivating the facility." Not that Sieta heard him: she was busy comparing the hand-scrawled names on the board to the entries in the documentation. A space pen appeared out of nowhere and she started scribbling notes on the back of an antique envelope. 

"Should you be defacing that?"

"Looks like there were eight polar satellites, four with a long dwell time over each pole, but only two of each are responding. Hmm." More quick numbers. "Very likely decayed due to their low periapsis. Or were eaten by the space witch." 

"The what?"

"You wouldn't think she'd like satellites, but there's no accounting for taste."

Rondous started to question if leaving a mad kerbal alone and in control of an ancient communications network was such a good idea. At least he made sure to hide her space wrench. 


--

... By Lunatics

Agency procedures prohibited leaving an astrokerb in orbit without a means for them to get home. Wernher and Mortimer both argued the old "Obair" capsules at Baile Speir would be more than enough to save Sieta in the event of a catastrophic station failure, but Gene and The Boss were adamant about sending up an escape pod. And what The Boss wants The Boss (usually) gets. So the escape pod plan was voted into the design phase.  

The design discussion was heated and animated. Wernher had hired one of the best 3D artists on the planet to present his proposal, using the entirety of the air conditioner budget to do so. Once they had watched all the movies and run through the concepts, everyone agreed the best option was to just send another Nitrogen up with a single kerbal. It was sweltering in the meeting hall and nobody wanted to argue anymore, so that was that. 

A quick review of the flight roster showed that Elkin hadn't flown since his first flight in the Carbon 5, so he was suited up and strapped into the Nitrogen TA-9. The plan was to send him up with another adapter module, then he and Rondous would return in the N-TA-9, leaving the N-TC-8 at Baile Speir as Sieta's lifeboat. 

Elkin was already strapped into the capsule and waiting on the launchpad. Gene made the first round of confidence votes from the controllers then held the launch until Baile Speir was over the horizon. 

"Ok Radar, bring the Baile Speir up on the board." No answer. "Radar?"

"Ah, negative Flight. I can't seem to find Baile Speir in the list."

"How could you miss it? We're only tracking four space stations. It's Thing three of four."

"Only showing three things Flight." Gene and several other flight controllers quickly congregated at the Radar desk. "It's like they just disappeared."

"CapCom?" Gene looked back down the trench at the capsule communicator's desk. Macfred shook his head. "Ok, let's try rebooting the system. Maybe it's a glitch."

20160122_f9.jpg

The room went dark as the entire system shut down. Slowly fans started to spin, disk started to whir, the gerbils returned to running in their wheels. A light blinked on a terminal on the far side of the room, a text prompt in green against a black screen. 'System Ready'.

"Did it work?" The lights came back on, the Big Board lit up, and almost everyone was still in the same place as when the lights went off. INCO, however, had slipped over to the snack table and was attempting to shove half a pizza into his mouth when the room lit up again. He stood motionless for a moment as everyone watched, then sheepishly made his way back to his desk, pizza slice dangling from his lips.

Radar pulled up the map view. "Looks like it worked, Flight. Except...."

"Except what?" 

"Nitrogen TC-8 and Baile Speir are now on opposite sides of the planet."


--

... Running an Asylum

Their work with GrandMa complete, Rondous and Sieta made their way to Baile Speir. The FAO had some chores for them to do, especially if Sieta was to remain at the station for her long-term assignment. (At least until the first viable Dres transfer window opened.) As luck would have it, Baile Speir was in the worst possible position for rendezvous from Mg-4's orbit. 

Rondous was entirely confused, and kept looking between his hands and the small map display in the ship. "Wait, we were just at the station. How did we get here?"

Sieta ignored him and started punching in the numbers for the rendezvous. "We should meet up with the Baile Speir in 4 orbits, give or take."

"But, we were, we, uh, just, WHAT?!?!" 

20160122_ksp0128_n-tc8.jpg

20160122_ksp0135_n-tc8.jpg

The routine docking was routine. With only one APAS-styled port open, Rondous didn't have much in the way of choice as to where to put the Nitrogen TC-8. Something they'd need to address if more than one kerbal was assigned to a long-duration stay at the station. (There were rumours the accounting department might be forcefully relocated here as a cost-saving offshoring move.)

The docking itself felt entirely too weird, almost as though he'd done it before.

20160122_ksp0137_n-tc8.jpg

Sieta jumped out of the capsule and EVA'd over to the lander can module. (A necessary step as she needed to transfer her space wrench to the station.) It didn't take the crazy genius long to notice something was a bit... on with the station. Specifically the lever labeled "Low Kerbin Orbit Communications Relay Network."

"How did Verly miss this? How could anybody miss this?" she asked repeatedly while looking over the treasure trove of an antique switchboard. Several lights on the board were glowing a soft, solid green. A few others were solid red, most likely satellites that had failed over the long decades. 

"Hey, that was, uh, off. Last time. You turned it on before.... before we ended up back where we were...... Uh." Not that Sieta heard his nearly insane babbling: she was busy comparing the hand-scrawled names on the board to the entries in the documentation. A space pen appeared out of nowhere and she started scribbling notes on the back of an antique envelope. 

"Should you be...? Oh, never mind."

"Looks like there were eight polar satellites, four with a long dwell time over each pole, but only two of each are responding. Hmm." More quick numbers. "Very likely decayed due to their low periapsis. Or were eaten by the space warlock." 

"The what?"

"You wouldn't think he'd like satellites, but there's no accounting for taste."

Rondous started to question his sanity. Was space always like this? This strange, ongoing series of deja-vu's? Surely it was just disorientation due to space sickness. Right? And was leaving a mad kerbal alone and in control of an ancient communications network really such a good idea? He thought about hiding her space wrench but then decided it wasn't worth the effort. "I'll just go wait in the capsule, ok? There are a few things I need to check." 

Like how long until his ride home arrived.

 

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Cydonian Monk

Cydonian Monk

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I think I might've jumped the gun again in terms of merging saves. I managed to run the crew ferry operation yesterday (Nitrogen TA-9), which as a simple up and back took about four hours to finish. I watched most of "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" during the 9-minute game-time reentry. (I'm slowly working my way back through the Apes movies, watching one every Sunday.... Tempted to skip the fifth one, but I'll suffer it out.)

As the next project was to involve aircraft, this 3:1 or 4:1 time slowdown simply won't do. Guess I'll need to cull a bit more from what I copied over.... 90% of the debris would never be found anyway. I do wonder if there isn't one or two large vessels that are causing the issue.

I also had to turn off vessel rendering in Distant Object Enhancement or the game went to 1 frame per minute while orbiting over a certain spot on the Mün where 90% of my landings have been.....

 

Also, as a head's up: After what I post tonight it might be next weekend before I play KSP again. Two nights this week I won't have any electricity at home (road construction is forcing them to move power lines... and by luck they scheduled it on a mild weather week), and the other nights look like I'll be busy. Hopefully in that timeframe some KSP 1.1 news drops. If so, I might just wait it out and run a few more simple missions that don't involve real time interaction / HOTAS. I'm about 95% certain Unity 5 will alleviate most of my slowdown.

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