KSP Caveman Challenge 1.1

[killakrust]

16 hours ago, MoeslyArmlis said:

Thanks goes to killakrust for refining the kerbal corral.  The battery prevents the kerbal from sliding off the ladder during acceleration.

About using the kerbal corral and going further than kerbin.  The use of time warp would send the kerbal afar from the vessel.  You would have to rendezvous the kerbal to the vessel in space before setting up an orbit.  This is something that i am interested in doing next in my career.  Bob is going to rendezvous with a Mun probe lander and complete sceience around Mun.  Then the lander is going down to the surface.

Gosh, thanks for that. I assumed that's what other people would have done already, but perhaps not documented it.

Time warp can be fun. If you move your kerbal near the craft and have them intercepting, you can time warp, and the kerbal will magically float through the ship. I didn't dare take it out of time warp while Val was clipped inside the craft. I assume the Kraken would appear or something.

[wibou7]

6 hours ago, GoSlash27 said:

FWIW even hard mode can be completed without ever needing to grind for money.

I know that, it's just that I didn't started a career specifically to complete this challenge.

I just thought I could finally attempt it while starting my career anew... and I hate grinding for money in a real career, it just puts a limit on real fun thing.

You are right, "Normal" would be fair; although it probably deserves a special mention

[pasukaru76]

Today I managed to send a caveman probe to Minmus and another to Duna. The Duna mission alone made enough science (including dipping into the lower atmosphere) to unlock another 90 point tech node. Next stop shall be Eve, and I think a Jool fly-by is not out of the question.

 

[GoSlash27]

1 hour ago, pasukaru76 said:

Today I managed to send a caveman probe to Minmus and another to Duna. The Duna mission alone made enough science (including dipping into the lower atmosphere) to unlock another 90 point tech node. Next stop shall be Eve, and I think a Jool fly-by is not out of the question.

 

*Golf clap*

[wibou7]

So here is my submission. It was getting harder and harder to gather science. Still, on my last mission I managed to bring back science from Minmus surface

 

Note: I couldn't find how to show the difficulty of an already created career, does anyone know how to do that? Anyway, the difficulty I used is shown in the picture (Hard difficulty, but with Fund and Reputation reward at 100%).

Edited December 18, 2015 by wibou7
more awful typos...

[Moesly_Armlis]

On 12/17/2015, 6:11:35, pasukaru76 said:

Today I managed to send a caveman probe to Minmus and another to Duna. The Duna mission alone made enough science (including dipping into the lower atmosphere) to unlock another 90 point tech node. Next stop shall be Eve, and I think a Jool fly-by is not out of the question.

 

Demonstrating that caveman are very capable is awesome.  These types of behaviors are always rewarded.   There would be an Order of Troglodyte Award for you, however I do not see your name on any cave wall.  Did you complete the previous caveman challenge?

edit: I just now realized that you are on your way to becoming a KSP caveman.  In flying colours!  Great job.

 

22 hours ago, wibou7 said:

So here is my submission. It was getting harder and harder to gather science. Still, on my last mission I managed to bring back science from Minmus surface

 

Note: I couldn't find how to show the difficulty of an already created career, does anyone know how to do that? Anyway, the difficulty I used is shown in the picture (Hard difficulty, but with Fund and Reputation reward at 100%).

Wibou7,

Great job on completing the caveman career challenge.  That custom career setting has quick save and reverts and doesn't qualify for the Topaz mineral and instead you have earned Vanadium.

 

 

An update to my trial hardS career:

 

The goal was to unlock docking ports.  Bob was sent up on the elevator.  Jebediah drove the elevator and Bob rode along using the battery seat,  A Mun lander probe, a probe attached to a empty command pod and a transport vessel that was designed for Bob to ride along inside the service bay. were sent into orbit around Kerbin.  Bob then rendezvous with the Mun lander and completed Goo and materials science in space high around Kebin.  Then Bob returned to his transport and then started his journey to Mun. 

The trick with this tactic is make sure the target velocity is zero otherwise when using time warp Bob will drift too far away from the vessel.  The transport vessel had to maneuver back to Bob and once aboard retrograde into Mun orbit.  The lander was brought into Mun orbit and then rendezvous with Bob.  Bob again completed science in space high around Mun.  Then back to the transport vessel to reduce orbit to 50 km. 

The lander again rendezvous with Bob and he completed science in space low around  Mun.  The vessel that had a command pod rendezvous with Bob so he could complete EVA in space low around Mun.  The command pod was used to temporarily store the EVA reports.  Bob made several orbits and then returned to his service bay transport.  Then returned to Kerbin orbit were he rendezvous with Jeb and the elevator. Bob boarded the vessel and returned safely to Kerbin.   

Bob spent about 20 days in space with his helmet light turned on just to keep him comfy. The lander also landed and transmitted science from the surface of Mun.  The vessels in orbit around Mun and Kerbin have probe cores, antenna and lots of battery.  These orbiting satellites are now able to transmit science from space around Kerbin and Mun to complete contracts.  With the thirty science points earned the docking port is unlocked and another mission with Bob on extended EVA is drafted.

 

 

 

The new features of the docking ports are fantastic.  The docking port can be set up in the editor to have staging.  That means it works just like a decoupler with slightly more drag but is 30 kg lighter.  Having a limit of 18 tonne that 30 kg lighter is important it can mean an extra battery.   Progress is great!

The lander is refueled once in Kerbin orbit and another refueler is sent to Minmus.  With the docking port the Minmus mission will involve multiple landings.  Jebediah lands and returns to refuel as well as have Bob reset the science equipment.   The team made three landings:  Lesser Flats, North Pole, Great Flats.

After returning to orbit around Kerbin a vessel was sent up to rendezvous with Bob and Jebediah.  This vessel has twin chutes, a FL-t100 fuel tank and command pod for Bob to relax in.  The parts are docked to the lander and then all is returned to Kerbin.  This Minmus mission returns a massive 128 science points.  Bob only spent a little over forty days on EVA in space.

Edited December 19, 2015 by MoeslyArmlis

[Bev7787]

AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!! MUST DO THIS AGAIN!

No seriously, I should

[GoSlash27]

I just finished easy mode (adding more flair). True to it's name, it's very easy.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g13/GoSlash27/KSP/CaveHard105/easy/EZ3_zpszb5gjp5j.jpg

First "flights" to gather the low hanging fruit from the pad and runway.

1 manned flight to orbit (orbit 1).

1 manned flight to orbit for science sweep. (orbit 2)

1 unmanned flight to high Kerbin space for science with low tech probe (probe 1)

3 unmanned flights for flyby science at low Mun, high Mun, and low Minmus (probe 2)

Best,

-Slashy

 

[GoSlash27]

I'm just about finished with my "vanadium" career. 45.4 science points to go. I'm debating whether I should hit up 3 biomes on Kerbin for them or a single biome on Minmus...

Best,

-Slashy

[Moesly_Armlis]

Slashy you are a very progressive caveman!  Keep up the great work. 

What was your Kerbal time on the Talc run?  I am going to keep track of that as well as Talc represents a speedrun type play..

 

Currently on the lawn I am building my first vehicle within the hardS career trial.  The new update to the docking ports have me very excited.  Previous vessel building with docking ports entailed a host of issues.  Now these docking ports can be set up as staging and the outcome predictable. 

Whoever was the genius to bring to life that chunk of code deserves several dozen cookies.  Many thanks because I now feel like the kid who got to open up a present early and turns out it is amazing.

 

In my opinion every caveman should build a rocket.  Applying Hammers to an 18.0 tonne vessel is wonderful.  As an example the LV-T45 does not have enough TWR to lift an 18.0 tonne rocket, but with some Hammers that baby will fly.  Remember before launch to take cover in the bunker.

 

With this build there are three Thumper-Thud boosters that are attached to a core vessel. When "Voltroned" together it will become a glorious 72 tonne vessel.  The payload is fuel for the landing missions on Mun.

The taxi used to haul these boosters around has a manifold made from docking ports and makes use of the disable/enable crossfeed so that multiple engines can be controlled for forward and reverse.  The result is caveman style action group.

 

Edit: after fabricating a complex staged vessel I figured all was going to be fine because of the dockingport staging function.  Care still must be taken on the order of assembly otherwise failure will ensue.

Edited December 21, 2015 by MoeslyArmlis

[Bev7787]

Oh no, not again!

[GoSlash27]

7 hours ago, MoeslyArmlis said:

Slashy you are a very progressive caveman!  Keep up the great work. 

What was your Kerbal time on the Talc run?  I am going to keep track of that as well as Talc represents a speedrun type play..

MoeslyArmlis,

I didn't try to complete my talc career in the minimum Kerbin time, but rather in the minimum playing time and with the least amount of effort on my part. I'll check and see.

*edit*

And of course "moderate isn't quite done yet.

 

Best,

-Slashy

Edited December 21, 2015 by GoSlash27

[pasukaru76]

8 hours ago, MoeslyArmlis said:

With this build there are three Thumper-Thud boosters that are attached to a core vessel. When "Voltroned" together it will become a glorious 72 tonne vessel.  The payload is fuel for the landing missions on Mun.

Wow, that is some serious caveman engineering.

[wibou7]

15 hours ago, GoSlash27 said:

I'm just about finished with my "vanadium" career. 45.4 science points to go. I'm debating whether I should hit up 3 biomes on Kerbin for them or a single biome on Minmus...

Best,

-Slashy

With your skills, I'd consider an offense anything less than a Minmus landing.

Hmmm now that's thinking about it, I'm not sure which one of Minmus landing or Mun landing is harder in caveman.
Mun is easier to reach / harder to land and return from, where as Minumus is harder to reach but ridiculously easy to land and return from.

[GoSlash27]

3 hours ago, wibou7 said:

With your skills, I'd consider an offense anything less than a Minmus landing.

Hmmm now that's thinking about it, I'm not sure which one of Minmus landing or Mun landing is harder in caveman.
Mun is easier to reach / harder to land and return from, where as Minumus is harder to reach but ridiculously easy to land and return from.

wibou7,

 I think you're underestimating my laziness

It's equally easy to land on Mun or Minmus under caveman conditions, but it's easier to return from Minmus. I'm thinkin' I'll just wrap this one up on Kerbin, tho'. Cheaper and quicker for such a small amount of science.

 Best,

-Slashy

 

[GoSlash27]

Vanadium career complete. Now to get into the harder challenges...

http://s52.photobucket.com/user/GoSlash27/slideshow/KSP/CaveHard105/Intermed

 

I elected to finish the career with science from Kerbin biomes. I built a pretty smexy lookin' science jet:

Best,

-Slashy

[Moesly_Armlis]

On 12/21/2015 at 3:53 AM, Bev7787 said:

Oh no, not again!

Now in 1.0.5 get paid for constructing. 

 

This is an outpost that takes off eh. 

This rocket build almost worked except that the Thud boosters would not separate. The cause for failure as I understand is related to the last part being docked.  The idea will be to attach a part to the top section of the vessel.  This will allow that part to be the "root" part of the assembled vessel and should reduce staging issues.

Now my skyscrane constructing and operating skills are poor at best so I will have to think of another option.  Reaction wheels are not unlocked so this vessel was very hard to pilot.

 

 

On 12/21/2015 at 7:11 AM, GoSlash27 said:

I didn't try to complete my talc career in the minimum Kerbin time, but rather in the minimum playing time and with the least amount of effort on my part. I'll check and see.

This time: 47 day 3 hour 51 minutes will be posted and if you want you can always improve it.

A speed run is all about time and shortcuts. In terms of playing time you want to find quick alternatives as well. 

Use a scientist to reset the equipment and store reports.  There are three science reports for the mystery goo on the launchpad.  The science roller gathers data and Bob stores the data.  Leave Bob in the field and recover the vessel.  The next flight Jebediah rolls around and Bob follows and pushes the pod when the battery is depleted.  When involved in the harder careers the SP are scarce and gathering all SP is important.

When doing science, there is no need to click on the Keep Data button.  Just switch scenes and all data is retained and the science report message boxes are filed.  Place the science report message box into the top left by dragging it with the mouse and then continue to reset and gather all the science.  Then use the "[" to go to a nearby vessel that will cause the scene to switch.  The science reports message boxes will all disappear and the science reports retained.  This tactic can save numerous clicks. 

Last bit of advice for gathering science around KSC is learn to drive a science roller.  A command pod with materials bay and mystery goo can roll around and has considerable distance.  Direction change can be costly on the electric tally.  Make direction changes while rolling and never while stationary.  While rolling and with the correct rhythm a science roller can change/retain its heading with minimal electric cost.  From  the previous 1.0.4 KSP, I was able to start from the launch pad, roll all the way down the crawlerway and finish at the VAB Main building doors.

Use a Flea and launch a science roller toward the VAB and land in the crawlerway.  Then roll over to the VAB Main building doors.  This tactic will gather four biomes: Crawlerway, KSC, VAB, and VAB Main building and in a very quick time. Then have the option to roll and then push it to Mission control.  Do not recover Bob.  The vessel can be launched again with Jebediah and have Bob walk/run over to the next landing site and start rolling and gathering more science.

Funding was not an issue for my hardS career.  The funds all came from the milestones and very little contracts had to be completed.   Satellites used in Bob's EVA missions are in orbit around Kerbin, Mun and Minmus.  These satellites are providing supplemental funding. 

Now during my construction phase I increased my funding by repeating three missions to gather science from space.  Using the efficient ScienceFarmSpace vessel and returning from Kerbin space with sixteen mystery goo containers that are separated and collected.  With more than forty eight science from Kerbin space contracts my funding is not an issue. 

The reputation is still at negative thousand and funding should have been collected immediately instead of venturing off world.  This would allow reputation to grow while going off world.

 

Good luck breaking rocks gathering corundum.

 

Most sincerely,

 

Moesly Armlis

Edited December 22, 2015 by MoeslyArmlis

[GoSlash27]

MoeslyArmlis,

 I decided to redo my easy career first to get better time in-game. I have 405 science left to collect at the 47 minute mark.

Best,

-Slashy

[GoSlash27]

I have a better in- game time for my Talc career. 2 hours, 7 minutes.

http://s52.photobucket.com/user/GoSlash27/slideshow/KSP/CaveHard105/Speedrun

On to Vanadium!

Best,

-Slashy

[pasukaru76]

I dare say I completed the challenge in hard mode. I decided for myself to not circumvent the "no EVA" restriction, so most of my space program relied on unmanned probes for gathering science.

Early science was gathered from the usual progression of short flights to nearby biomes, followed by going to orbit and on a Mun fly-by. Then, with all the 45 point nodes unlocked in the tech tree, I built a science rover from spaceplane parts and harvested all the KSC science to unlock the first 90 point node. With the OCTO probe core and OX-STAT solar panels unlocked, I then gathered most of my science by landing probes on the Mun and Minmus.

I also went interplanetary and sent probes into orbit around Duna, Eve, and Jool. I used a rendezvous approach instead of Hohmann transfers for my interplanetary missions, which made for long mission times, but also meant I did not have to rely on external tools like transfer window planners.

During my Jool mission, I fat-fingered the timewarp controls while my batteries were enabled (and out at Jool, the basic solar panels don't do much), which meant I could not actually send any science home.

My manned space program was fairly limited in the later stages of the game. I did a Munar orbit mission and a Minmus fly-by. The latter had an unfortunate encounter with the Mun on the way back to Kerbin, which turned a survivable reentry periapsis into a head-on crash into Kerbin. In total I killed the original four plus one hired pilot.

There are some things that I didn't do (yet) which I think should be doable unmanned within the given restrictions: Dres orbit and landing, Eeloo fly-by, Moho fly-by. 

 

Edited December 27, 2015 by pasukaru76

[Raven.]

Question, I'm thinking about attempting this challenge. But I have a question first. What all needs to be taken as a screenshot? I see references that we need a screenshot of the difficulty options, the science screen, and the science archives. I also see some people taking screenies of their flights. Do we need screenshots of our flights as we progress? Any other required screenshots that I'm missing?

[Moesly_Armlis]

On 12/24/2015 at 7:14 PM, GoSlash27 said:

I have a better in- game time for my Talc career. 2 hours, 7 minutes.

http://s52.photobucket.com/user/GoSlash27/slideshow/KSP/CaveHard105/Speedrun

On to Vanadium!

Best,

-Slashy

All right Slashy, I will update the time.  The one benefit in doing the Talc mineral is that it is like practice for the corundum or diamond levels.

 

Looks like there has been activity in the cave.

2 hours ago, pasukaru76 said:

I decided for myself to not circumvent the "no EVA" restriction,

This is too harsh.  There is no need to circumvent a restriction you just opted to not EVA in space and to make it harder with increased difficulty instead.  If you complete the corundum or harder career without EVA in Space that would be a Troglodyte award.

 

2 hours ago, pasukaru76 said:

I also went interplanetary and sent probes into orbit around Duna, Eve, and Jool. I used a rendezvous approach instead of Hohmann transfers for my interplanetary missions, which made for long mission times, but also meant I did not have to rely on external tools like transfer window planners.

Any caveman that decides to go interplanetary is awarded with the Interplanetary Troglodyte award.  Great work.  I will review your report and you will be notified of your awards.

 

30 minutes ago, Raven. said:

Question, I'm thinking about attempting this challenge. But I have a question first. What all needs to be taken as a screenshot? I see references that we need a screenshot of the difficulty options, the science screen, and the science archives. I also see some people taking screenies of their flights. Do we need screenshots of our flights as we progress? Any other required screenshots that I'm missing?

The bare bones are the screen shot of your difficulty and your science archives. Anything else is helpful as others may learn.  Also if you do something extraordinary you might get a Troglodyte award.  So it is a good idea to take screen shots and create an album online.  Have a good rock breaking fun time.

 

Most sincerely,

 

Moesly Armlis

 

 

P.S.

 

Over on the Vehicle Assembly Lawn there is a request to make a challenge.  The idea of assembling rockets spawned from the cave. Now I am administrating this challenge but would enjoy to see rocket assembly submitted as a challenge.  Any caveman want to create this challenge?

 

[Moesly_Armlis]

With bravery and determination pasukaru76 visited four craters of Mun, three Flats of Minmus, sent experiments in orbit of Kerbol, visited Eve's upper atmosphere, flew by low to Duna and dipped into Jool's SOI.  The difficulty setting indicates a hard level so your name will be added to the Topaz Wall.  A caveman going interplanetary receives an Order of Troglodyte award. For the three planets visited you receive three troglodytes.  Just remember do not feed them after midnight.

 

Welcome to the clan pasukaru76 !

 

[Bev7787]

I see he beat me to Jool...

 

But i am still going to Laythe

[Moesly_Armlis]

22 hours ago, Bev7787 said:

But i am still going to Laythe

That is great to hear.  You should redo the challenge so you can get the fancy new badge too.

 

As for going interplanetary I have been designing some new tools.  Here is the H2Vcrane that can lift a payload above twenty metres.  Then a taxi will dock with this lifted payload and transport the payload to the top of a rocket assembly.  The payload can also be increased and built out horizontal.  The H2crane lifting capacity is around forty tonnes.  This example also verifies that a rocket built horizontal can be then erected vertical for launch.

VAL Beyond Twenty Metre

This was tested in the simulator. Next up is trying it out on the lawn and completing the Zemond rocket.

This horizontal construction style can be utilized for other vessels styles.  The vision is for a caveman to build a space plane horizontally using docking ports.