HSP: Mission complete.

[The Minmus Derp]

try Kerbol Origins! It has Kool looking planets and adds in the original SQUAD ideas that were never implemented.

[Hotaru]

 

@Nivee~That was totally on purpose and absolutely not just a random Beatles song that I thought had a pretty name.

@DunaRocketeer @SiriusRocketry Wow, thanks! I'm really glad a few people enjoyed HSP at least as much as I did. Honestly, I'd just about talked myself out of doing another career log, but you guys are in danger of talking me back into it. I had the distinct impression that there wasn't all that much interest in HSP, especially towards the end when things started to get pretty repetitive, but maybe I was wrong. I'm not so much bothered whether five people are following the thread or five thousand, if somebody out there besides me is enjoying it then it's worth the effort.

@The Minmus Derp Sorry to disappoint, but Kerbol Origins isn't one I'm looking at right now. There are lots of spectacular planet packs out there--Kerbol Origins, Galileo, New Horizons, Alternis Kerbol if that's still around, Before/After Kerbin, stock-size RSS, the list goes on--and I'd love to explore all of them some day, but for the moment I'm really only considering the three I've mentioned above: Snarkiverse, Gameslinx's Overhaul, and Outer Planets. However, if I ever do a third career log--and that's a very big "if," given I'm not even committed to the second one yet--Kerbol Origins will definitely be on the list of options.

 

I've learned a lot of lessons from HSP, the most valuable being never commit to a big project under stock limitations! I'm kind of glad I did it once but you won't catch me doing it again. Stock limitations drive me absolutely up the wall--particular emphasis on lack of fuel hoses and large landing legs, although the full list is quite extensive. With retrospect, of course, I should've just done the stock-footprints-everywhere thing quick and dirty by myself and then started a modded career log, which is what I really wanted to do in the first place--but I figured I'd zip through HSP in a couple weeks, maybe a month or two, and then move on. I was so sure that I didn't even bother to give it a proper name or flag or anything! Lesson learned, I guess. 

 

So while I'm still not promising anything, here's what I'm tentatively thinking for the next save: 2.5 scale, [Snarkiverse or GPO] + OPM, Kerbalism, KCT, Monthly Budgets, KR&D, all the same utilities as HSP, probably a fair amount of TweakScale abuse, and every part mod ever made. (That last one, maybe not quite literally.) Also thinking of going for more of a kerbo-Soviet style this time, just for something different. I've been testing out this setup in 1.4.3 sandbox and right now it's looking very promising, not to mention that 1.4.3 runs much, much smoother than 1.2.2 ever did.

 

What do you think?

[DunaRocketeer]

Those sound like a good combo of mods, and I like the idea of Soviet style ships - lots of opportunity for creative builds there. I find it's good to take a bit of time between playthroughs; often I'll think of novel spin on the usual gameplay so I'm not repeating myself too much.

[SiriusRocketry]

Perhaps you could do a more narrative driven career with a space race between the Kerbiets and the Kermericans?

Looking forward to it- also I love the idea of standardised launchers- could you do that again?

[Moss]

Wonderful series, good to see it through to the end.

[Hotaru]

19 hours ago, DunaRocketeer said:

Those sound like a good combo of mods, and I like the idea of Soviet style ships - lots of opportunity for creative builds there.

That's pretty much my thinking as well, although I am a little concerned that Soviet part packs like Tantares tend to be more on the "plastic model" side than the "lego brick" side, and I don't want to just end up with Vostok, Soyuz, and Salyut clones.

 

19 hours ago, DunaRocketeer said:

I find it's good to take a bit of time between playthroughs; often I'll think of novel spin on the usual gameplay so I'm not repeating myself too much.

Same, although I haven't actually been between playthroughs for a year and a half now. Whatever I do next, if anything, I don't anticipate actually starting for a little while yet. In fact I may even do a whole other career save first, just for a break and to try out some mods, before I start another mission log. I might post a "highlights reel" of such a career but I wouldn't be keeping a full log like HSP.

 

16 hours ago, SiriusRocketry said:

Perhaps you could do a more narrative driven career with a space race between the Kerbiets and the Kermericans?

I have to admit I'm thinking about it. Pros: would be extremely cool. Cons: would be a massive pain in the rear end to keep the two separate saves coordinated, and I suspect once the novelty wore off it might get very tiresome very fast. I do like the idea though; maybe I'll give it a shot but only commit to going as far as the Mun. We will see.

 

16 hours ago, SiriusRocketry said:

Looking forward to it- also I love the idea of standardised launchers- could you do that again?

This is pretty much a given; ever since my old 1.0.2 save I've generally just saved launch vehicles as sub-assemblies rather than building new ones for every flight. In fact, in my 1.4.3 setup I've actually implemented a couple ideas to give standardized rockets an actual gameplay justification: first, in addition to Kerbalism I'm using Oh, Scrap! which makes new, untested parts much less reliable, and second, I've got a custom Module Manager patch which (among many other things) increases the fund cost of developing new engines a hundredfold. Both of those things, combined with Monthly Budgets hopefully keeping funding relevant, should make development of a new launch vehicle non-trivial even in the late game.

 

@Moss Thanks! And I haven't forgotten your request for a PDF of the whole thread. As I said, it'd be a bit of a project and I'm not up to it at the moment--still just enjoying being done!--but I am planning to do it eventually.

[The Minmus Derp]

Use KerbalKomets by @Angel-125. It adds, well, Komets.

[RobFalcon]

A superb run, Hotaru!  I enjoyed every segment of your playthrough, and watching how you tackled each challenge along the way.  Your final image of the thread was excellent, as well!

Enjoy your break!    I look forward to seeing your next thread, whenever that comes and in whatever format you choose.

As for ideas on the next (since I saw your question), I would tend to lean towards something which changes things up enough so you don't feel you're retreading territory.  The new planets in OPM are superb, but you WOULD be running through the same inner planets.  (Unless you updated your HSP file to 1.4.x and continue from where you left off.)  I've read a thing or three about Gameslinx's Planet Overhaul, as well as Galileo's, and both of those could be excellent options.  I know less about Snarkiverse, so I can't really comment.

I'll admit to being partial to KSS, as I'm planning a playthrough of that once it updates to 1.4.x., but I'm not sure what level of scope you were thinking of going for.

[SBKerman]

Wow! That was one heck of a journey. I enjoyed ever step of it (even the crew rotations ). Superbly done, especially considering stock limitations. If you decide to start another one, whatever and whenever that may be, I'll be sure to follow it.

[DAL59]

On 1/30/2017 at 9:51 AM, Hotaru said:

[The Minmus Derp]

Plz do OPM plz I loved this mission report and i want it to kontinue.

[Lithobrake]

Great job, @Hotaru!

 

[AtomicTech]

On 6/22/2018 at 12:29 AM, Hotaru said:

Daring 10 orbiter Don't Let Me Down during a flyby of Laythe, on its way out of the Jool system.

 

Daring 10: return from Jool.

  Hide contents

With Asrine and the atmospheric data safely aboard, "Gordon" was left in Jool orbit while Don't Let Me Down departed for Kerbin.

 

During a final flyby of Laythe, scientist Urjorie performed an EVA to collect observations.

 

A final correction after the Laythe encounter put Don't Let Me Down on course for Kerbin.

 

Two years later, the ship returned to the Kerbin system.

 

As usual, a long engine burn captured it into orbit. While the Daring spacecraft was originally intended to make a direct reentry to Kerbin, it turns out that the system is actually pretty well overdesigned for most of the missions it's been sent on, and almost every mission has ended up making a propulsive capture instead.

 

The ship adjusted its orbit near apoapsis, then performed a third and final maneuver to circularize.

 

P4 Piper took off at the controls of Dauntless 2106 for mission KS-23.

 

The Dauntless rendezvoused with Don't Let Me Down and picked up the crew; the science data was left aboard the ship for future processing.

 

With the Daring 10 crew aboard, 2106 reentered the atmosphere.

 

It landed safely, bringing to a close the final mission of the Daring project and, at last, achieving the goal laid out for the Space Program four decades ago: to explore every known world in the system and return.

 

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

Well, here we are. HSP is finally over. I set out to land and return everywhere in the stock system with stock parts, and now I've done it. I ended up compromising to varying degrees on practically all the conditions I originally laid out, but on the other hand I also ended up doing the whole project without ISRU and mostly without refueling, which I'm kind of pleased with even if it wasn't really on purpose.

HSP was just supposed to be a fun, quick-and-dirty little project, not a year-and-a-half odyssey, but these things happen. It's been an interesting experience. I've learned an enormous amount about KSP and I have no doubt I'm a much better imaginary rocket scientist for it. But now I'm done, and it's time for a break.

I don't know what I'm going to do next. I have a lot of interesting ideas, but I'm not quite sure yet what I want to do with them. We will see.

 

 

 

I just came across this series and instantly fell in love with it!

I'm looking forward to your future works!

[Hotaru]

On 10/28/2021 at 10:40 AM, AtomicTech said:

I just came across this series and instantly fell in love with it!

I'm looking forward to your future works!

Glad you liked it! Making it was quite the experience.

Sorry to say, future works are unlikely. I've moved on. These days only visit the forum to check Science & Spaceflight. Still start up KSP once in a while for old times' sake, though. Maybe someday. We will see.

[jimmymcgoochie]

“Sunshine on Laythe” I see what you did there 

[SiriusRocketry]

On 11/5/2021 at 2:45 AM, jimmymcgoochie said:

“Sunshine on Laythe” I see what you did there 

I was about to mention that too, after re-reading HSP/CCKP for what must be about the sixth time. Didn't realise the pronounciation of the Proclaimers' album was so similar - although, in fairness, I hadn't really known about the Proclaimers themselves three years ago. Wow. Three and a half years...