KSP Caveman Evolved Challenge

[Jovus]

...you know what, sure, I'll give this a go.

Though don't be surprised if I just drop off the radar. I've got an RP-0 save that needs my attention, and, you know, real life keeps interrupting.

Important mods:

• [x] Science!
• BetterBurnTime
• Docking Port Aligment Indicator
• Interstellar Fuel Switch. This might get moved to ModularFuelTanks. I have this because I want to be able to use the NERVA, eventually.
• Kerbal Engineer. I'm aware this makes things way, way easier.
• Kerbal Inventory System. I never use this, and maybe this save will force me to finally do something with it.
• PreciseNode - I might drop this.
• Procedural Fairings
• TAC Life Support
• Universal Storage - I've never used this before, and it looks interesting.

I also have a number of other QoL/visual mods, but nothing that should change gameplay.

This will also be one of the very few times I play the game without Kerbal Construction Time. We'll see how that works out; maybe KCT has been holding me back and contributing to my KSP fatigue.

 

Settings screenshots:

Spoiler

Hopefully I'll get a chance to fly later today or tomorrow.

[Numerlor]

Landed on Minmus, forgot to take much screenshots so I can do it again if needed but I'd rather not because I spent 10 mins aerobraking
Still haven't decided what to upgrade

 

Edited June 10, 2017 by Numerlor

[Superfluous J]

18 hours ago, Numerlor said:

Well count me in, I'll continue in my save from Caveman 1.2. but one small question, does the craft need to return as it was launched or can it be brought down by some kind of shuttle

So long as when you recover the craft you get "successful recovery of a craft that landed on ______" or (for Eve) "...splashed down on ______" then I'll accept it. I'll also accept if you didn't get that (like you used the same ship to land on both Duna and Dres for some crazy reason) then if in your persistence file for the craft before recovery, it lists both planets as landed on or splashed on).

But really, so long as you've got a picture of the craft on the surface of a planet, and another with it (or some part of it) on the surface of Kerbin, and what was on the planet couldbe reasonably expected to return to Kerbin from that planet in the way you described it, I'll be more than happy to accept it on faith.

To everybody: This is a busy weekend so I'll update this thread when I can, though it may not be for a day or two.

Edited June 11, 2017 by 5thHorseman

[Superfluous J]

18 hours ago, Numerlor said:

Landed on Minmus, forgot to take much screenshots so I can do it again if needed but I'd rather not because I spent 10 mins aerobraking
Still haven't decided what to upgrade

Three important things:
1) That's enough proof.
2) You don't need to return from Minmus. You only need to return from PLANETS. You get one building upgrade from landing on each world, and one building upgrade from returning from each planet. Also, the first landing doesn't count because there are 19 of the above things, and only 18 upgrades. So, assuming you've only landed on Minmus, you don't get an upgrade. If you've landed on Mun (or go and do that now) you'll earn a single upgrade.
3) Welcome to the challenge!

[Numerlor]

On 11. 6. 2017 at 5:42 PM, 5thHorseman said:

2) You don't need to return from Minmus. You only need to return from PLANETS. You get one building upgrade from landing on each world, and one building upgrade from returning from each planet. Also, the first landing doesn't count because there are 19 of the above things, and only 18 upgrades. So, assuming you've only landed on Minmus, you don't get an upgrade. If you've landed on Mun (or go and do that now) you'll earn a single upgrade.
 

Yup, I know I don't need to return, that's why I removed landing legs (Expected antenna to brake) But I forgot to take the heatshield and chutes off and had enough fuel so I went with it. I landed on Mun in Caveman 1.2 so I'm counting that in if I got it right

@Jetski how did you dock without patched conics? I have trouble doing it with them

Edited June 12, 2017 by Numerlor

[Jetski]

On 6/11/2017 at 1:46 PM, Numerlor said:

Yup, I know I don't need to return, that's why I removed landing legs (Expected antenna to brake) But I forgot to take the heatshield and chutes off and had enough fuel so I went with it. I landed on Mun in Caveman 1.2 so I'm counting that in if I got it right

@Jetski how did you dock without patched conics? I have trouble doing it with them

get into orbit kinda similar to target

look sideways at the orbits to see if inclination needs adjusting, burn up or down where the lines cross if needed to match

match one part of the orbit, Pe for example so the lines overlap exactly

warp until you are at that point

look whether you are ahead or behind the target in your orbit. 

if ahead, make your orbit just a little bigger than target orbit.  If behind a little smaller orbit (careful not to reenter atmosphere)

warp one full orbit, and watch how much you gain/lose on your target - keep warping/orbiting as the distance ahead/behind gets smaller

if you are impatient, go to Tracking Station to warp

you can (if it looks like you will overshoot) adjust by burning at your matching point (Pe or wherever the overlap is) to catch up faster or slower

when you get kinda close, like within 10km or so, switch to ship view and look around

if you see the little box that shows where the other ship is, quickly double click on it

you are now targeted on the ship, the rest is just a normal docking (set navball to Target velocity, burn to close in)

 

Catching Duna without patched conics is basically the same idea, but much more of a pain because every orbit takes FOREVER, and you can't click on it when you get close.  Took me like 14 years or something awful.

[Numerlor]

38 minutes ago, Jetski said:

Catching Duna without patched conics is basically the same idea, but much more of a pain because every orbit takes FOREVER, and you can't click on it when you get close.  Took me like 14 years or something awful.

Doesn't look like I'm going ot be capable fo that, thinking about disabling comms in some penalty tradeoff and sending small probe to ike so I can have patched conics and launchpad 

[Superfluous J]

I finally got video one, in which I make no progress in the challenge, up.

Spoiler

 

Regarding going interplanetary without patched conics... I don't. My first upgrade (which I just made, though the video will be a while coming. Stupid real life) was to the tracking station and my first interplanetary mission will be a one-way to Duna, where I hope to land on Ike to get maneuver nodes, and then on Duna to get another upgrade, probably to the launch pad.

[ManEatingApe]

Next instalment: Dres and Eeloo.

Using just the basic parts from 90 science nodes and under, was able to combine both missions into a single launch within the 140 ton limit

Tweaking the fuel flow - the Dres mission required less dV so we could plunder some fuel from it to reach LKO.

The level 2 VAB provides basic actions groups, as a convenience "lights" are overridden to run all science experiments and "brakes" collects the results into the science container, so just 2 keystrokes handle all the science for each biome.

Dres Approach

Eeloo Flag Ceremony

The return aero-brake from Eeloo exceeded 15g!

Full Album

Summary after 6 missions:

• Launch Pad Level 3
• VAB Level 2
• Tracking Station Level 2
• Mission Control Level 2
• Astronaut Complex Level 2
• Research and Development Level 2

There wasn't enough cash to upgrade R&D to level 3, so I still have one building upgrade available. However I don't really feel restricted - the newly available 160 and 300 science nodes are powerful enough.

Next up will be a Jool 5 mission.

Edited June 17, 2017 by ManEatingApe

[Superfluous J]

13 hours ago, ManEatingApe said:

Next instalment: Dres and Eeloo.

...

Next up will be a Jool 5 mission.

Well done! I'm really impressed with what you and Jetski Have been able to do within the restrictions. I've so far been floundering at both Duna and Eve, and am seriously considering giving up on my whole "No KER" personal rule. I mean, I'm already in the "Modded" category, right?

right?

[ManEatingApe]

1 hour ago, 5thHorseman said:

am seriously considering giving up on my whole "No KER" personal rule. I mean, I'm already in the "Modded" category, right?

Nooooooo...don't do it!

Nah, just kidding, to me KER feels like a minor convenience. A player of your experience is perfectly capable of calculating the dV figures in a spreadsheet (or a slide rule ) this just makes it quicker.

OTOH the terror of not knowing if you're going to run out of fuel can be part of the fun!

 

@GoSlash27 had the nice idea to upgrade the Tracking Station first, rather than the Launchpad. I like this alternative approach. Even staying within the 18 ton limit you should be able to make manned Duna with 2 or 3 launches docked together. That feels much more elegant than my brute force approach where I floundered around in interplanetary space for years!

[Superfluous J]

4 hours ago, ManEatingApe said:

Nooooooo...don't do it!

Nah, just kidding, to me KER feels like a minor convenience. A player of your experience is perfectly capable of calculating the dV figures in a spreadsheet (or a slide rule ) this just makes it quicker.

OTOH the terror of not knowing if you're going to run out of fuel can be part of the fun!

I'm thinking KER dV in the VAB, but nowhere else. But allowing things like Apoapsis and whatnot in flight, so I don't have to spend the ENTIRE play session in map mode.

4 hours ago, ManEatingApe said:

 

@GoSlash27 had the nice idea to upgrade the Tracking Station first, rather than the Launchpad. I like this alternative approach. Even staying within the 18 ton limit you should be able to make manned Duna with 2 or 3 launches docked together. That feels much more elegant than my brute force approach where I floundered around in interplanetary space for years!

That's exactly what I did, whenever episode 3 comes out (Shooting for Tuesday but you can never tell with these things). My first upgrade was the Tracking Station and using that I not only docked in LKO, but then got to Duna with surprisingly little fuss.

[Superfluous J]

16 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

Shooting for Tuesday but you can never tell with these things

...obviously

Spoiler

 

 

Edited June 19, 2017 by 5thHorseman

[GoSlash27]

I haven't done a single thing on this challenge. Haven't been playing KSP at all lately...

 My plan right now is to land dumb probes on the Mun and Minmus, take the patched conics for the tracking station, then launch a manned return mission to Gilly.

 Since most of my progress will come from unmanned probes, my main concern will be communications.

 

Best,
-Slashy

Edited June 19, 2017 by GoSlash27

[Human Person]

gameplay Mods:

x Science

basic delta v

better time warp

RCS build aid

 

parts mods: installed but disabled via janitor's closet

 

1st launch: just a hop. I took multiple Mysterious goo samples per biome.

2nd launch: Suborbital. To fulfil a testing contract, I went for a unusual design with a liquid 1st stage and solid upper stage. Lots of science were aquired from the upper atmosphere and low space.

3rd launch: going for orbit. quite an eccentric orbit actually to achieve science from high above kerbin. another testing contract for flea boosters was fulfilled

4th launch: solar orbit and return, 1st unmanned mission. If reentry works, we'll do the first mun flyby manned.

 

 

 

that's it for today. Shall I make a new oist next time or edit this one?

 

 

 

[Superfluous J]

2 hours ago, Physics Student said:

that's it for today. Shall I make a new oist next time or edit this one?

Looking good! So you got to Solar Orbit and back by aiming yourself the correct direction before leaving comms range? Very interesting idea. My first Minmus probe failed because I thought the basic antenna reached out that far, and sadly the lowest tier probe cores don't have "aim at" options.

Just post new posts, else you'll not update the thread and I'll not see any progress.

[Human Person]

14 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

Looking good! So you got to Solar Orbit and back by aiming yourself the correct direction before leaving comms range?

I didn't exlain that well at all. I never left comms range. I just barely slipped out of kerbins SOI, then pointed roughly (visually) at kerbin and did a small burn to fall immediately back into its SOI.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Physics Student

[Superfluous J]

2 minutes ago, Physics Student said:

Not exactly. I never left comms range. I just barely slipped out of kerbins SOI, then pointed roughly (visually) at kerbin and did a small burn to fall immediately back into its SOI.

Oh duh. I didn't notice the double big antennas. egg -> face. Still nice job. I'll do something similar if I need some extra Goo/Jr science before I can carry heavy stuff interplanetary.

[GoSlash27]

Well.. I got a little done tonight. Watched my jettisoned stages deorbit from the previous Caveman challenge and I've sent up my Munar landing probe.

 Baby steps, I guess...

Best,
-Slashy

[Human Person]

Installed new mod: all Y'all

 

5th launch: Manned Mun flyby.

6th launch: testing contract (spark on escape trajectory)

7th launch: unmanned mun orbit and return

The next thing I'm going to to is land on the mun and minmus and upgrading the tracking station.

We have the clamp'o tron Jr., so we can use orbital assembly for interplanetary missions or manned mun return missions (the 18 t limit is pretty hard).

 

I'm also proud to announce that we havn't littered Kerbin orbit so far. There's only one piece of debris (a seperator from a contract) orbiting the sun.

 

BTW., I'm only 345 Science from completing the caveman.

 

Edited June 20, 2017 by Physics Student

[Human Person]

I'm so stupid!

 

I wanted to refuel the ship!

 

Let's call the 8th launch a mun landing attempt and the 9nt a relay launch. At least it is a relay!

 

After that followed a series of failed launches, some of wich left me with debris relays (whenever I have to leave a stage in orbit somewhere, I make sure it functions as a relay.

Edited June 20, 2017 by Physics Student

[Jetski]

OK, made some good progress.  After installing 1.3, I finished the Outer Planets mission - Did the Jool 5 plus Eeloo and Dres in a single launch.

Mission report here

I've finished everything now except of course the Eve return, all upgraded except the last runway upgrade

[Human Person]

31 minutes ago, Jetski said:

I've finished everything now except of course the Eve return

Then off you go to Eve!

[GoSlash27]

My no-frills Mun probe has landed. No upgrades for this one.

The Minmus lander is on it's way, and the flyby probes still haven't arrived in Minmus' SoI yet.

Best,
-Slashy

[GoSlash27]

I have landed on Minmus, earning my first upgrade. I will spend it on the tracking station, which will give me patched conics and improved comms.
 Both flyby probes are on their way home. Now to plan what may be the most difficult phase of this challenge for me; a manned landing and return from Gilly.

Best,
-Slashy