Kerbin Exploration Project [On indefinite hold] (Warning, image heavy!)

[RealKerbal3x]

The screenshots for the next chapter are uploaded to Imgur. I'm planning to post it tomorrow

(Oh, and as you can probably tell, I'm trying to make enough posts on this page to get a second one, as the page loading times have got rather large with all of the images.)

EDIT: Well, there we go, page 2!

Edited July 23, 2019 by RealKerbal3x

[RealKerbal3x]

The team continues their journey, this time heading south! This chapter is short, but hopefully interesting...the plot thickens!

Spoiler

This chapter is dedicated to @SiriusRocketry, who recently left the forum for greener pastures. He was always a great guy, especially in his support for my mission reports early on. Sirius, if you ever decide to come back, you're always welcome here.

Captain's log, mission day four.

As I write, the Deep Purple is heading south, on its way to its next destination, a small island a hundred or so kilometres from Cove of Lakes. We will be stopping for only one night there, before taking a short flight over to another island. The really big destination comes after the island-hopping trip - we will be landing near the Star Mountain Range, where the prospector satellite in orbit has detected anomalous radiation readings. I plan to send in the tilt-rotor craft to investigate, since the likelihood of bursting a gas cell or damaging an engine while flying the airship through the treacherous mountain range is too great. We are in for a rather boring few days until we reach the mountains - there isn't much of interest on these two islands. But this radiation signature -whatever it is - will certainly be of interest.

Getting up from her computer, Captain Valentina Kerman walked forward to the command gondola, where Milrie was monitoring the controls.
Milrie glanced up at her. "We're on our way, Captain. All systems are functioning normally."
Val sat down at her normal station and fiddled with the screen above her head. "What information do we currently have on the Star Range anomaly?"
Milrie responded: "Not much. We only know about the radiation. At the moment I reckon it's one of Kermarcia's old nuclear missile bases, from the Second Great War."
The captain furrowed her brow. "Or...it could be..." She hastily pressed a button on the ship's intercom. "Melbur, could you come to the command gondola please? And bring that rock you found on Big Island..."

The Deep Purple continued its flight across the old Sea of Kermarcia, which had been the territory one of Kerbin's most powerful nations until it, and the rest of Kerbin, fell in the nuclear exchange of the Second Great War. On board, Valentina and Melbur discussed what the anomaly sitting within the Star Mountain Range could possibly be.

"Kermarcia wouldn't have built a missile base in the Star Range" Valentina said. "In my history classes at school, I learned that most of Kermarcia's nuclear warheads were on board airships, or submarines. The leaders of that country wanted to flaunt their missiles, to deter their enemies. It wasn't like them to hide a launch site within a mountain range - and anyway, the Second War brought significant geological upheaval in that area. Before the Second War, the Star Range wouldn't have been nearly as useful for hiding things like missiles."
"So," Melbur said, turning the chunk of rock over in her hands. "this radioactive anomaly probably isn't Kermarcian, and was probably placed there since the Second Great War."
"In those two thousand years when Kerbin was a nuclear wasteland." Val added. "Definitely not a missile base."
"I bet that this rock has something to do with it." Melbur smiled thinly.

***

"We're flying along the terminator right now." Milrie studied the orbital maps on his computer screen as the airship cruised across the sea. "The island is just visible on the horizon. What should we call it?"
"Looking at the orbital map, it appears to have peninsulas stretching out in all directions. So, I suggest Sprawl Island."
"Sprawl it is."
"Prepare a landing on the flattest spot you can find. We'll only be sleeping on this island once, so I want it to be comfortable."
"Aye, captain."

 

[RealKerbal3x]

Goodness, have I not posted anything here in almost two months? It's time for a quick update...

This will continue - I have no intention of abandoning it. I probably would have made a new chapter sooner, but then we received news about the Unity update that's happening in version 1.8, and I decided to hold it off until then. Currently the FPS I get with the airship is kind of jarring and I'm hoping that the improved performance that the update promises will make it a bit more bearable, so that I'm more motivated to actually fly it.

Also, the KEP is only the beginning! I now plan to write two further stories after this to complete the Project Unknown trilogy. The content and names of the next two novels will remain secret for now, but I've figured out a way to weave several of my planned exploits into my epic work of fiction. This may spell the end for my standard mission reports, but you have to agree that writing books is way more fun

[MacLuky]

Looking forward to the  next chapter. Nice writing.

[RealKerbal3x]

On 9/30/2019 at 2:30 PM, MacLuky said:

Looking forward to the  next chapter. Nice writing.

*like* Thanks a lot

[TheKSPBeginner]

I am too

[RealKerbal3x]

I feel like it's time for another update, because 1.8 recently dropped and with it came the Mod Armageddon. Here's the report on KEP-required mods that have been affected (and unaffected)

- KIS and KAS are broken. Since both of these are necessary for the auxiliary vehicles to be held within the airship's cargo bay, the story will have to go on hold until they are fixed. Hopefully it won't be too long.

- Some of the parts from the Buffalo mod have missing textures, most likely because of the switch from DDS to DTX5 texture formats. Once again, it probably won't be too difficult for @Angel-125 to fix, but then again what do I know about modding. None of the parts from the Heisenberg mod appear to have the same problem, which is good.

- By an absolute miracle, the long-abandoned Hooligan Labs mod that keeps the airships afloat is still working in 1.8! 

Overall, the performance improvements of this update are quite noticeable - I hope they're enough for me to have a semi-bearable framerate while flying the airship. As soon as the mods are updated, I'll be back with another chapter!*

*assuming my life doesn't get in the way again

Edited October 19, 2019 by RealKerbal3x

[Angelo Kerman]

This weekend I will be handling the DXT5 texture updates and see what calamity has befallen my plugins. Nice to know that Hooligan Labs still runs. Gives me more time to code up a backup solution, just in case. Hooligan Labs remains the best plugin for Heisenberg.

[RealKerbal3x]

1 hour ago, Angel-125 said:

This weekend I will be handling the DXT5 texture updates and see what calamity has befallen my plugins. Nice to know that Hooligan Labs still runs. Gives me more time to code up a backup solution, just in case. Hooligan Labs remains the best plugin for Heisenberg.

Great!

And in case you haven’t seen it, this thread was stickied at the top of Addon Development - it might be useful

Edited October 19, 2019 by RealKerbal3x

[RealKerbal3x]

I think I’m going to have time this weekend to make significant progress towards a new chapter, if not actually post it. Stay tuned!

[RealKerbal3x]

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but I think I'm going to have to put this story on hold for now  I've tried to find the cause of the massive performance issues I get whenever I load the airship, but have been unsuccessful - and it's just not fun playing with six frames per second. It's going to be some time, but hopefully next year I'll be able to get a new computer that can really do this justice. Until then, I've got an idea for another fan fiction that might interest you...stay tuned for that

Edited November 16, 2019 by RealKerbal3x

[Gleb]

Great writing, RealKerbal3x! 

[RealKerbal3x]

4 hours ago, Gleb said:

Great writing, RealKerbal3x! 

Thanks  While this one may be temporarily dead, I’ve got another story in the works

[KerballingSmasher]

That's sad. I really liked this!

[Dr. Omicron]

cool

[NH04]

Will this thread make a comeback? I have enjoyed it so far.

[RealKerbal3x]

16 hours ago, NH04 said:

Will this thread make a comeback? I have enjoyed it so far.

Sadly, probably not - at least not in its current form.

I've since moved on from the mod-filled save file this was done on (though I still have a backup of it somewhere), and am now mainly playing on a mostly-stock career game. But there is potential for a sequel/reboot/entirely different mission report detailing my exploration of Laythe once I get there in that game. That might be a while - I don't have much time for KSP these days - but certainly stay tuned for it. Thanks for reading!