Post your heartwarming moments

[Gojira]

The rundown

Every now and then, as the player, we'll commit an unnatural act of kindness within a game. Not because the action will get us the infinity+1 sword, but for some reason that doesn't necessarily give us an upper-hand (and in some cases, these actions will hinder us, though we commit them anyway). Whether they are plot-driven or otherwise, we sometimes prefer helping characters rather than destroying everyone that stands in our way while we walk the virtual path to greatness.

General Guidelines

A heartwarming moment does not necessarily mean it makes you d'aww or have a heart attack from how sweet it is. Moments like these can be tragic, but viewed as incredibly kind or heroic when you look back on it.

A heartwarming moment may be completely accidental! Sometimes we're just that good at being...good.

As a personal example from the thread that I cut/pasted from another forum:

I was flying a new plane design that I had seen, and I had to crash land it. The Kerbals inside were stranded 14km from the Space Center, unable to get back in no reasonable amount of time, so I drive a rover all the way over there (takes longer than you think) and pick them up. Unfortunately one disappeared (RIP Edmund Kerman) and I drove them back, then ended the flight.

Notable Examples

My first flight to the Mun in version .16 was a solo landing my Jebediah. He came in low over one of the Mun arches and his ship smashed to pieces. The command module survived the fall to the surface and he climbed out of the capsule and became the first Kerbal to walk on the Mun. However, with no means to return, it looked as though he was to be the Mun's first permanent resident.

The Kerbal Aeronautics and Space Administration, deciding that no kerbal was to be left behind, then placed a 3-kerbal rocket on the pad and had a single kerbalnaut step out and slowly climb his way down the stages. Ezekial Kerbal watched as his fellow Kerbalnauts flew away and 2 days later, landed 200m from Jeb's crashed lander. Following some brief munwalks and a survey of the wreckage, all 3 kerbals climbed into the newly arrived lander and 3 days later splashed down in the ocean, safely.

I had a similar experience. First Munar landing I ever attempted, I landed quasi-safely (broke off one of my engines and landing legs). Since it was on a slope, I found the lander remaining upright. I did an EVA, and then foolishly attempted to lift off enough to stage away the inner ascent stage. Sadly, it didn't work, and the lander crashed. Shockingly, the capsule survived, and Bob proceeded to do another EVA to examine a LV-909 engine rolling away down the hill on its side. (attempts at engine tipping were not successful ). After about 5 days, I managed to get a rocket there and rescue poor Bob and bring him home. He... hasn't been the same since. He scares even Jebediah now.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Gojira
Added another example

[hollie.socks]

Yes that is the extremly tall big bum!

Download at:http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/18913-0-16-Hollie-s-EXTREME-Space-Ships-Anything-is-possible!

[Gojira]

Heartwarming means that you did something NICE just for the hell of it. Not you just DO something for the hell of it.

[Odyssey]

My first flight to the Mun in version .16 was a solo landing my Jebediah. He came in low over one of the Mun arches and his ship smashed to pieces. The command module survived the fall to the surface and he climbed out of the capsule and became the first Kerbal to walk on the Mun. However, with no means to return, it looked as though he was to be the Mun's first permanent resident.

The Kerbal Aeronautics and Space Administration, deciding that no kerbal was to be left behind, then placed a 3-kerbal rocket on the pad and had a single kerbalnaut step out and slowly climb his way down the stages. Ezekial Kerbal watched as his fellow Kerbalnauts flew away and 2 days later, landed 200m from Jeb's crashed lander. Following some brief munwalks and a survey of the wreckage, all 3 kerbals climbed into the newly arrived lander and 3 days later splashed down in the ocean, safely.

[MaverickSawyer]

I had a similar experience. First Munar landing I ever attempted, I landed quasi-safely (broke off one of my engines and landing legs). Since it was on a slope, I found the lander remaining upright. I did an EVA, and then foolishly attempted to lift off enough to stage away the inner ascent stage. Sadly, it didn't work, and the lander crashed. Shockingly, the capsule survived, and Bob proceeded to do another EVA to examine a LV-909 engine rolling away down the hill on its side. (attempts at engine tipping were not successful ). After about 5 days, I managed to get a rocket there and rescue poor Bob and bring him home. He... hasn't been the same since. He scares even Jebediah now.

[zpox357]

Jeb landed quite a way from the KSC so I decided to try and rescue him... In the procces I killed at least 20 kerbals and stranded 4 next to jeb. It was a nice thought though and I am afraid jeb and his new friends had to walk home

[hollie.socks]

Heartwarming means that you did something NICE just for the hell of it. Not you just DO something for the hell of it.

But it was nice...

FOR ME!!!!

[hollie.socks]

[SkyHook]

Jeb landed quite a way from the KSC so I decided to try and rescue him... In the procces I killed at least 20 kerbals and stranded 4 next to jeb. It was a nice thought though and I am afraid jeb and his new friends had to walk home

........MONSTER! Im sure it was fun however My heartwarming story was also a rescue mission, in which I saved a stranded mining ship's pilot. Sillily, I almost crashed, and I ran out of fuel on the way back! I recorded it and put it in my signature, as a reminder to bring fuel for the return trip lol.

[Gojira]

My first flight to the Mun in version .16 was a solo landing my Jebediah. He came in low over one of the Mun arches and his ship smashed to pieces. The command module survived the fall to the surface and he climbed out of the capsule and became the first Kerbal to walk on the Mun. However, with no means to return, it looked as though he was to be the Mun's first permanent resident.

The Kerbal Aeronautics and Space Administration, deciding that no kerbal was to be left behind, then placed a 3-kerbal rocket on the pad and had a single kerbalnaut step out and slowly climb his way down the stages. Ezekial Kerbal watched as his fellow Kerbalnauts flew away and 2 days later, landed 200m from Jeb's crashed lander. Following some brief munwalks and a survey of the wreckage, all 3 kerbals climbed into the newly arrived lander and 3 days later splashed down in the ocean, safely.

Updated with this example.

[ash73]

When I was practising EVAs at first I struggled with the jet-pack controls and a Kerbal got stranded in orbit with zero fuel. I sent up two rescue missions, and the second one eventually managed to capture him on the ladder by maneuvering into rendezvous position; I had to quickly switch to the Kerbal and grab the ladder. Took ages, but it was well worth it!

Edited September 5, 2012 by Bedazzled

[Dizzle]

Troper detected.

If I'm right, I like these forums a little more now.

[Gojira]

Troper?

I got this from Blockland.

[Will_hynes]

After 3 semi-successful landings on the Mun (Semi-successful as in i landed the command pod but lost the rest of each lander in the process resulting in 3 1-way trips...), I've finally landed the ENTIRE lander on the surface so I made Adnie jump out and derp around and managed to get him stuck between my landing engines and escape engine... Still trying to free him...

[Enture]

My first big heartwarming moment was the success (on 1st attempt) of my very first rescue mission to the Mün...

It so happened that Jeb, Bill and Bob, as the true heroes they are (yeah, even Bill and Bob), were the first Kerbals to walk on the Mün. Unfortunately, well... their lander was poorly designed, and tipped over right after MECO:

Upon hearing the news, KSC hurriedly designed a rescue ship, and without even some serious testing, sent Erdbin Kerman rescue his colleagues and friends... Success! Admittedly, the landing wasn't pin-pointed (the stranded crew had to operate a 5km long EVA. Luckily, they had RCS), but at least the rescue pod was standing upright, with enough fuel for the rescue trip.

And here comes the 1st heartwarming moment:

The second one was when the four Kerbals, after a nominal reentry, touched down in on of Kerin's deepest valleys, in a glorious dawn:

So yeah, this mission was a very nice one, full of nice moments

[LaydeeDem]

I got both Jeb and Bill stranded on the Mun after trying to investigate the crash of a surveyor probe.

Bob faced his deepest fears and brought his brothers back home.

[Elven_sword]

When EVA first came out, I sent Jeb to Minmus in a hastily-designed rust bucket. MinMECO came along, and the rocket sloooowly tipped over. I had had plenty of fuel to get back-that was before the pod cracked off the rest of the lander. I was distracted by something shiny, no doubt, and left him there. Yesterday, I remembered him and shot off a rescue mission. The crew? Bill, Bob, and Wehrnie. I promptly kicked Wehrnie out, and set off. Mechjeb set me down too much on target, and I roasted the abandoned pod. The original crew finally met up and went home. Jeb's MinMET? 2 years, 58 days, and 12 minutes. They all made it back safely.

[Dusty926]

Jeb's MinMET? 2 years, 58 days, and 12 minutes. They all made it back safely.

I'm not surprised Jeb lasted that long.

[Elven_sword]

Keep in mind that he was standing outside his pod all along. He was running on the oxygen from his space suit.

[Werwolf]

I had Jeb in my Command Service Module orbiting Minmus, awaiting for the Lander craft to make its way in from Kerbin to link up for crewswap and refuel before making a trip down to the surface. Two days later, Bill shows up and meets up with Jeb's CSM in orbit. I EVA'd Jeb, and was flying him to the lander module for the crewswap. I then noticed the modules were drifting towards each other! I quickly put Jeb back into the CSM, and swapped over to Bill's ship. Alas, a throttle malfunction caused a full throttle incursion of the lander right into the CSM, ripping the engines away from both the CSM and lander modules, and hitting the CSM hard enough to send Jeb into Minmus escape velocity surrounded by a could of debris that once had been the CSM.

The lander module with Bill inside remained in a manageable Minmus orbit, and was later rescued by a ship that I had on station nearby. By the time I got to the point where I could have EVA'd Jeb, he was already 30KM away from the lander module and gaining rapidly.... weighing his options and the risks that his fellow Kerbonauts would have to take to rescue him, Jeb silently turned off all life support systems and radio communications, and commited himself to the Deep. Twelve hours later, Jeb's zoxygen supply ran out, and he died quietly,peacefully and alone, in a spinning command module millions of miles from home, with Frank Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon as a background and the small speck of Kerbin fading from view out the single window.

It was eerily sad.

Edited September 4, 2012 by Werwolf

[Railsmith]

I've had a few moments during the operation of my first Munbase that tugged at my heartstrings a bit.

For one, I landed a crew building just on the outskirts of the base to hold Kerbonauts instead of their landers. Crewed by a single kerb after the only lander flew home with a full complement of crew, there were some lonely nights out there. But then I landed my first rover (and my first mod part, hooray) with Bill as the lone pilot. Seeing as this was one of Bill's first missions to the Mun after he was the first to set foot there, I found a drive to be rather fitting. After a dozen or so kilometers, Bill parked neatly next to the crew building and shook hands with its single occupant.

But the real hullabaloo came when I attempted a minimalist mission, and stranded Kirford on the Mun with bare kilograms of fuel remaining. Some people might have scrapped the mission, but I try to never leave a kerb behind. I knew I could use the lander to get Kirford into orbit with the help of his pack RCS, but I also have never done an orbital rendezvous. And the only point on the Mun that I knew how to consistently get to was my Mun base, some forty kilometers away...

After a ten-kilometer RCS pack flight that almost killed poor Kirford, I set to the task of walking him home. After almost nine hours real-time, Kirford slid gently down on his feet into the canyon that housed my Munbase. Just as he reached the top of the ladder, the sun rose. It was probably my toughest and most rewarding ordeal in KSP, especially considering the fact that I kept an eye on the computer the whole time (it was hilly terrain, and I was worrying about taking a fatal tumble.) Ahh, memories...

[royalkingofgames]

my first 0.16 moon landing i named the kerbals after me and my my friends, i let one of my friends(kerbal) eva and fly around the moon but i hit the very tall nosecone of my ship killing my friend and knocking the ship over i managed to self right but i used all my fuel,so i rescued me and my other friend and left that ship on the moon as a giant gravestone i wrote my friends name and date of death as the ships name and my other kerbals always eva when they orbit past the grave as a sign of respect

[JackAz]

Had a kerbal left on a southern isle of kerbin ( went there during mission) but didnt have any fuel left ! After a few days i decided to go there and get him, felt sorry for him. So i tried to create a suborbital spaceplane with the 3man cockpit, after a fiew attmepts i gave up and made a normal atmospheric plane and after a looooong flight i landed on the isle.

[RedDwarfIV]

Haven't done it yet, but I've set up the Veto aerospace passenger cabin to carry 12 Kerbals, and I'll be sending a rescue plane to the North Pole to pick up the standed Kerbals of three seperate polar research missions - one aircraft is low on fuel, two others have been heavy damaged.

With a good enough design, I should be able to make the return trip too.

EDIT:

Just realised two problems: One, the VA crew cabin has not been given a hatch for Kerbals to enter through, and two, I deleted my old save file and the crashed pole planes are no longer there.

Edited September 13, 2012 by RedDwarfIV

[G Addict]

I recently built a plane based on the GDI Firehawk from the Command and Conquer series. Now, this aircraft looks nice but, true to the original design, has no tailfin making it incredibly unstable. Still, it flies with a bit of wrestling so I decided to make its maiden flight a shot for the North Pole. Jeb naturally stepped up to the plate in order to pilot this thing, and we took off. The first challenge, banking around steeply to a northbound heading without plummeting out of the sky was overcome with ease and I relaxed a bit - maybe it wasn't so bad to fly after all. After a bit of flying, I decided to test its ability to fly high-atmosphere using an aerospike meant to simulate the craft's stratoshpheric engines. Up we went, to 45000m before burning out and plummeting back into the atmosphere at 800m/s. Once we were low enough and slow enough, the autopilot was disengaged and we continued North. Not a hitch in sight.

About half an hour in, the fuel started running pretty low and it was obvious the target wouldn't be reached, so I called for a landing on a nearby plain. Jeb comes in with the engines off, hoping for a glide - landing, but vertical speed was too high and he had to engage the engines, coming in at high horizontal speed. The wheels touched the ground so lightly the suspension didn't even notice, and Jeb let it coast for a bit, got bored and pulled the plane into a powerslide, causing the whole thing to disintegrate. I thought he was lost, but then, out of the wreckage, rolled an intact cockpit with a very much alive Jeb inside, grinning like a maniac. Normally I'd end the flight and leave him to his fate, but at least he gave me some amusement.

So, I dispatched a rescue plane designed to have the fuel to reach the poles and more by flying low and slow on its hour long journey to save Jeb. And so, he was rescued by his eternal pals Bill and Bob and given a severe dressing down by Command for trashing the so-called FiyaHawk.