Kayak Club

[purpleivan]

5 hours ago, Paaaad said:

Not really- the Northern and Southern Ice Shelves are just that- if the game was capable of modelling it, there would be water all under those. There's only one way to get to the Northern Ice Shelf from the Water Biome, but you could go right around the bottom of the landmass SW of the KSC, making a submarine circumnavigation possible... If the game could actually model ice shelves properly. I think Unity is to blame for that.

Source: https://ksp.deringenieur.net/

But they could be ice covered land masses, like Antarctica, even if there was an ice shelf at their edge. The gives that impression, with the white ice on top of dark grey mass underneath.

As for Unity being to blame blame for there not being open water under the ice, it's just not really Unity's fault, it's just the nature of using heightmaps to generate terrain from. That method doesn't allow for concave, or overlapping features.

[Hotel26]

3 hours ago, Pds314 said:

It would be nice to see a shot of the whole ring to be sure

Alternatively, Smokey the Bear could send you coordinates by Private Message and then you could simply Like his post if you concur...

In any case, welcome to Kayak Club @Smokey the Bear and I will be updating the Leaderboard shortly.

[Pds314]

2 hours ago, purpleivan said:

But they could be ice covered land masses, like Antarctica, even if there was an ice shelf at their edge. The gives that impression, with the white ice on top of dark grey mass underneath.

As for Unity being to blame blame for there not being open water under the ice, it's just not really Unity's fault, it's just the nature of using heightmaps to generate terrain from. That method doesn't allow for concave, or overlapping features.

Proto-Kerbin from 2003-2005 (Likely early 2004, based on the Celestia version) with no ice as a libnoise example planet. We can clearly see that there are no large subsurface landmasses under the ice.

Sidenote: this is Kerbin, or at least, what would become Kerbin, but don't assume that means it has every detail correct. First off, it's mirrored. Second, there is a major landbridge between the continents where the panhandle of the starting continent should be. Third, it is not populated with actual rivers. Just river valleys. Fourth: many features are added or modified later. Seeing something on this map and looking for it on Kerbin might work. Or it might be a fool's errand. The most obvious example is the big crater, which was loosely inspired by natural terrain and then added on top of it.

They do give some interesting areas. Sadly, they leak their coordinates, so we don't have 16-year-old locations to find or any points to award the progenitors.

Source: Please note that their dimensions are not Kerbin-scale but Real scale. So. I.E. proto-Kerbin was ~6000 kilometers in radius.
http://libnoise.sourceforge.net/examples/complexplanet/index.html

Edited March 11, 2020 by Pds314

[Hotel26]

On 3/2/2020 at 4:25 PM, Pds314 said:

encircled in mountains in the desert. Head northeast east from KSC to get there

On the way, but just assuming from the get-go these directions contain one, small error...  we'll see.  (I'll update this note.)

 

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by Hotel26

[Hotel26]

On 3/2/2020 at 4:25 PM, Pds314 said:

Summer has discovered: Tylo's Colloseum. A massive, fully-enclosed arena encircled in mountains in the desert. Head northeast east from KSC to get there.

I would say that you meant to say "Head East Northeast (ENE) from Dessert Runway".  [click & arrow for slides]

  

  

[purpleivan]

7 hours ago, Pds314 said:

We can clearly see that there are no large subsurface landmasses under the ice.

Weeeeeeell... that's what Kerbin was based on, rather than what Kerbin is and as you said, other features of the landmass has changed (the big crater), so why not the land under the ice (which was added). Plus if I'm being really pedantic, it's impossible to represent floating ice using the rendering/data method chosen for the planet surface, without added continent spanning objects, so in the "reality" of Kerbin, it would have to be solid ground.

Finally and most importantly, if I than darned icewall could have been sailed under my "circumnavigation" could have been done in a couple weeks instead of 3 months... that's gotta be worth something.

Ok, pedentry over... I'm gonna shut up now, I've got a No Contracts career game to salvage

[Smokey the Bear]

On 3/11/2020 at 12:00 AM, Pds314 said:

I think it's correct but with self-shadows and ultra shaders off, it looks very different. It would be nice to see a shot of the whole ring to be sure.

I'll do another flight tonight to get the wider shot, need to test out a bigger aircraft anyways, two birds with one stone!

[Pds314]

I may have slightly obtained a 16384*8192, 134 Megapixel image of Kerbin. Completely not coincidentally the resolution of Kerbal maps.

 

[Smokey the Bear]

Aight, made another flight, got some better pictures:

 

Spoiler

 

Pds314's Original Shot:

 

Spoiler

My shot:

This time with a plane in it!

The mountains in the background of the shots match up, and the crater is unmistakable

[Hotel26]

22 minutes ago, Smokey the Bear said:

The mountains in the background of the shots match up, and the crater is unmistakable

You didn't mention how nice your airplane is!  (It is very nice!)

[Smokey the Bear]

Spoiler

On 2/28/2020 at 8:41 AM, Pds314 said:

This ridge is at greatest altitude of over six thousand meters. She is relatively isolated, surrounded on all sides with grassy plains for many kilometers, standing out convincingly with her darkened yet fertile soil and distinctive lack of glacial ice. Had she not been of Kerbin I should have been so-inclined as to declare her soil as a species of regolith. I shall call this ridge herself The Spine of Dres. None of her peaks, perhaps as they lack isolation from one another, have, to my knowledge, been entitled with their own names.

 

  I have discovered the whereabouts of the Spine of Dres. While the initial clue may have seemed vague, the astute among you will find that the discoverer of the Spine has already provided the information necessary to easily locate the landmark in a prior article...

 

Details enclosed

Spoiler

Fly-by shot of my Marco-3 Long Distance Jet

I quite like this elaborate game of Hide-And-Go-Seek!

Edited March 16, 2020 by Smokey the Bear

[Hotel26]

11 minutes ago, Smokey the Bear said:

  I have discovered the whereabouts of the Spine of Dres.

Excellent work!  This was a tough one and You, Esteemed Adventurer, are the very first to solve this particular puzzle.  Maybe others will now follow in your footsteps.

We look forward, also, to your very own first Discovery!  Bon chance.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Hotel26

[Pds314]

5 hours ago, Smokey the Bear said:

  Hide contents

 

  I have discovered the whereabouts of the Spine of Dres. While the initial clue may have seemed vague, the astute among you will find that the discoverer of the Spine has already provided the information necessary to easily locate the landmark in a prior article...

 

Details enclosed

  Hide contents

Fly-by shot of my Marco-3 Long Distance Jet

I quite like this elaborate game of Hide-And-Go-Seek!

Yup. The coastal shot was intentional. I figure large, distant coastlines are pretty much sufficient with enough searching, and the fact that's it's such a high, unglaciated mountain helps.

[Smokey the Bear]

 

I have discovered, and summit-ed, Hill 303, a frozen collection of rocks standing 303 meters atop the sea ice of Kerbin. While not the closest island landmass to one of Kerbin's Poles, it's proximity to the ocean makes it a recognizable, and navigable, landmark upon the bleak ice for the arctic explorers. It makes for a navigational "attack point" from which to orient and continue on with a trip to the pole.

 

The thorough explorer can verify the discovery of the site by reaching the summit of Hill 303, and seeing his altimeter read the eponymous number (Aim for the central ridge). Good hunting!

[Smokey the Bear]

Back 'Atcha with another polar expedition...

 

 

I have discovered a tucked away bay in the polar regions of Kerbin. It is distinguished by a large spit (seen at the bottom of the second frame) that is two to three kilometers long. The peak of the spit is well over 360 meters tall, unfortunately, my altimeter failed in an ensuing blizzard that quickly fell upon the peak.

 

The bay is named for Sir James Clark Ross, an Arctic Explorer who made his journeys by sea and sail, as opposed to the wonders of air travel in our modern expeditions.

[έķ νίĻĻάίή]

I assume I'm going to have to find Ross bay?

[Castille7]

42 minutes ago, έķ νίĻĻάίή said:

I assume I'm going to have to find Ross bay?

You can find any of the locations on the OP (First Page). There's a leader board on that page showing your rank for the accumulated points. This will show you all the places that players have been.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Castille7

[Hotel26]

On 3/30/2020 at 3:43 AM, Smokey the Bear said:

The bay is named for Sir James Clark Ross

I'm certain this is Hill 303:

 

Not so sure this is the well-named Ross Bay:

 

Co-ordinates provided (via PM) upon request.

[Smokey the Bear]

3 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

I'm certain this is Hill 303:

 

Not so sure this is the well-named Ross Bay:

 

Co-ordinates provided (via PM) upon request.

Right on both counts! Ross Bay looks a wee bit different in your shot but that's definitely just a shader thing, good show!

[purpleivan]

Not been around here for a while but here's a trip to @Koolkei's Unnamed Peak.

To save time getting to the peak, the team decide that speed would be way to go, so something speed was quickly thrown together and lept down the runway.

Officially called the "Snazzy Name".

Well... laziness decided on this in lieu of a proper name.

Soon the Snazzy Name was in the skies and heading... well... in a direction.

At 1430m/s the view most of the way was mainly of fire.

Having reached the vicinity of Unnamed Peak Jeb throttled back and the team began the hunt.

It's got to be around here somewhere.

Ok Jeb... I think I see it, just hang a right.

This certainly looks like it.

Thi

But Snazzy Name has a secret inside, an undisclosed cargo, that cargo being a Low Altitude Underslung Ground Hunter.

I mean for a mission like this, you've got to have a LAUGH.

"LAUGH's away."

"Chute deployed".

"Chute fully open".

Jeb then turned hard to swing back towards the peak to check the wreckage... er, I mean landing site.

Well something's down there and looks to be in one piece, if that little dark blob in the snow is anything to go by.

Jeb put the Snazzy Name down on the grassland towards the shore.

Meanwhile... up on the mountain.

There he is, seems to be in one piece and conscious after his high speed deployment.

Conscious indeed and happy to be here up on Unnamed Peak.

Just needs a way to get home.

Edited April 4, 2020 by purpleivan

[Hotel26]

39 minutes ago, purpleivan said:

Jeb put the Snazzy Name down on the grassland

 

My Chief Test Pilot said that, just looking at that plane gives him "Tunnel Effect".  Yeah, I can see that.  She's a beaut.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Hotel26

[purpleivan]

Ok @Hotel26 here's a couple more entries for you, this time they're both locations submitted by @Pds314 Standrews Island and Madness Meadow.

As they're both quite some distance from the KSC a night takeoff was necessary.

Once over the target another thrillseeker (Val this time) was ejected at low level (about 500m) over Standrews Island.

Happy landings Val.

Sure looks like Standrews to me.

Now to put this thing down.

Time to catch up with Val.

On leaving her seat, Val seemd to want to use the LAUGH she'd decended in as a helmet.

It's not a good look for Val.

Lets try nudging with the plane to set things right.

Nope... just got her to change her mind to wearing it as a suit.

Finally she escaped after attempt number 3.

Jeb swung the Snazzy Name round to get ready to set off towards Madness Meadow.

That's right Val... wave them off.

Confirmation shot of Standrews.

Ok... let's cut to the chase, I think this is Madness Meadow. My mods give a very different (and very streaky) look to the mountainside, but I think this is it.

This look right to you @Pds314?

[Smokey the Bear]

I had some free time the other night and felt inspired to make a badge of sorts for the challenge. I formally submit it to the board for assessment. 

 

[Hotel26]

5 hours ago, Smokey the Bear said:

a badge

I love it! and I for one really appreciate your stirling contribution to the Club!

Let's await the Supreme Judges ruling on this but I for one will wear this badge (in my signature) with pride if/when approved.

Thank you Smokey Bear!!

                                                   

To all, I will clean up the mess in the Record of Landmarks and post the latest scores, later today.  Thank you for your patience.

Edited April 8, 2020 by Hotel26

[Smokey the Bear]

Original Post for Reference

 

Today, I sallied forth to plant my own flag upon the peak of Mt. Keverest. Coming in at 6,763 meters (measuring from Jeb's boots), it's certainly the loftiest ground I have scaled. I've found a bit of a discrepancy in the recording of the true measure of Keverest's peak, as my own data is a few meters different from @purpleivan 's original submission to the club. I shall chalk that up to differences in measuring devices, my altimeter is basically an antique.

 

11 minutes ago, Hotel26 said:

I love it! and I for one really appreciate your stirling contribution to the Club!

Let's await the Supreme Judges ruling on this but I for one will wear this badge (in my signature) with pride if/when approved.

Thank you Smokey Bear!!

                                                   

To all, I will clean up the mess in the Record of Landmarks and post the latest scores, later today.  Thank you for your patience.

Thanks fam, I'm just diggin' the challenge. It's proper fun and a constructive use of all this quarantine time I have!

 

 

 

 

Also... is there any opposition or restriction to purely air and land travel? I would love to do some exploration of the seafloors of Kerbin, but there's not many resources for nautical charting or seafloor landmarks. Most of Kerbin's seas seem to be "landmark-less" as best as I can judge from my expeditions to the sea basin East of the KSC. If anything, just getting to a specific point below the surface of the ocean (ex. coordinates) would take considerable effort... I'm going to do some runs with an exploratory submersible and see if I can find anything interesting.

Map for Reference

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Smokey the Bear