Welcome XKCD readers!

[mnemon]

Let me be the first one to welcome you here. I had hoped for a long time that Randall would at some point mention KSP, since such a gem of a game somehow seemed fitting xkcd. I hope you all enjoy the game, go beyond the demo version (its well worth it!), and enjoy pulverizing haples Kerbonauts on Mun and all those other hard surfaces that can be found orbiting Kerbol.

And, of course, I am grateful and happy that KSP has the official badge of cool now.

Thanks, Randal, Thanks, Harverster & crew, for making the intertubs fun!

[Capt'n Skunky]

Happy Launching!

Arrr!

Capt'n Skunky

KSP Community Manager

[johnb210]

Hello everyone! I read the XKCD comic this morning, then promptly spent several hours (attempting to) launch rockets!

However, I have a question about everybody's first experience - did I just get lucky, or is it not too difficult to get orbital flight? I'm certainly not trying to brag, but upon launching the game, I skipped the tutorials and created a basic single engine practice rocket. The Parrot MkI didn't launch, so I strapped on two SRB's, and got my first successful launch!

Then I took off the SRB's and put my Parrot MkI on top of a cluster of 5 liquid rockets, and thew in an ASAS, and on the next launch I got a 2million meter ballistic launch! Obviously I needed a little more horizontal velocity, so after 3 more test launches, guessing my manual trim on how much the space shuttle seemed to transition to horizontal during launch, I achieved a stable 200-400km orbit! And I still have enough gas for a deorbit burn, although my 3 kerbonauts are currently still orbiting for endurance testing, I think we'll leave them up until they tell us they're getting hungry :-)

Granted this was all with the demo, wanted to check that out, but now that I've had my fun I'm going to buy the full version when I get home. Thanks to Randall for pointing this out!

John

[sal_vager]

Welcome to the community johnb210

Wow, orbit on your first go? It took me a while, I had no idea what I was doing

[AmpsterMan]

Granted this was all with the demo, wanted to check that out, but now that I've had my fun I'm going to buy the full version when I get home. Thanks to Randall for pointing this out!

John

Yeah the demo is significantly easier than the full game atm. With each release the parts get balanced more and more. As it stands, in ver. 0.16 getting to, landing on, and returning to kerbin with the three kerbal pod is one of the more difficult "standard" thing to do*.

Also, there is currently a bug that gives you more fuel. There is a hotfix for it in the mod section of the forums.

All that being said, welcome aboard!

*Spaceplanes are also pretty difficult as it stands.

[johnb210]

I just found out about the fuel bug, and between that and the demo version I'm pretty sure I just "cheated" my way into orbit!

But that's ok, now when I get home I can try it with the full game, and trying a Mun landing should keep me busy for quite a while.

Thanks all!

John

[thorfinn]

Hello everyone! I read the XKCD comic this morning, then promptly spent several hours (attempting to) launch rockets!

However, I have a question about everybody's first experience - did I just get lucky, or is it not too difficult to get orbital flight? (....)

If you already know about rocketry, then yes, it's easy. Kerbin's gravity well is quite mild compared to Earth, and rocket Isp in 13.3 was quite forgiving, so making a simple two-stage orbiter is quite straightforward. You must keep present that the developers, presenting the demo of a severely incomplete game, wouldn't want it to be frustrating (it has to work as advertisement The balance has already changed in .16 (.17 incoming Real Soon Nowâ„¢) and will be trimmed again as we approach completion: docking will be a game changer, as will be "space race mode".

You'll also notice that the balance of old KSP discourages many of the clever staging tricks you could be thinking about: it's two stages to orbit, three to the Moon and back. Personally, I managed a lunar landing on the first moon on my first try, back when it was made (0.12 if I'm not mistaken) and I'm not the best pilot around here... truth to be told, I had practised powered landing on Kerbin before, but I always failed, so I don't know how much good that actually did me.

You won't get bored easily though, don't worry I believe that each coming versions will become more challenging than the previous, through new objectives, new dynamics, et cetera, for quite a long time still. And I was here during 0.9 when we didn't even have an orbital map, but I'm still playing (on and off) anyway

I just found out about the fuel bug, and between that and the demo version I'm pretty sure I just "cheated" my way into orbit!

The fuel bug is exclusive to 0.16, the demo doesn't have it. It just has rocket fuel with a specific impulse around 500 ^__^

Edited September 10, 2012 by thorfinn

[AncientAstronaut]

The balance has already changed in .16 (.17 incoming Real Soon Now)

LOL didn't you just break your confidentiality?

On topic, John, nice job with the rocket on the demo. You're going to love the paid version. So much more to do.

[thorfinn]

LOL didn't you just break your confidentiality?

You'd have to know if I was being ironic or not.

And I won't tell

[Unikraken]

as will be "space race mode".

Can someone tell me what this is? I haven't seen any posts about it, but I'm pretty new.

[Awaras]

Can someone tell me what this is? I haven't seen any posts about it, but I'm pretty new.

The game will eventually have a campaign mode with budgets and research. You will receive rewards for completing missions and stuff like that.

Edited September 11, 2012 by Awaras