Caveman my Nano-crystalline Diamond attempt

[paul_c]

I'll start this thread here for a bunch of progress updates and screenshots, as I start out on the epic journey of the Nano Crystalline Diamond Caveman Challenge 1.11.x

The drudgery of gathering 0.2 of science here and there around KSC:

5 science points earned....don't spend it all at once.....oh its gone:

Off to "grassland":

A very basic science roller:

As a caveman I can't afford radial chutes, so to use the bigger SRB I need to improvise a little.....

 

[Daedalus3000]

The grind... I mean journey, begins!!! Best of luck!!!

[paul_c]

Not much to report. It took me 3 attempts to go orbital, fortunately in the first two I realised I had no chance and was able to abort to a low energy suborbital flight rather than risk money and Jeb. The lack of technology is brutal, however I will now at least try to get to the other biomes of Kerbin and high space, even though they won't earn that much science. Hopefully enough to unlock the next square in the tree, which I kinda need....Need to work out if I get the science jr whether I can still earn enough for further unlocks just within Kerbin. The other option is to unlock the square before "Terrier" engine, then hope for a "test Terrier engine...." contract and borrow a few of them for my own science.....

[Popestar]

In my estimation, the science you can farm from Kerbin with the SC-9001 is the better option.  You can farm science at the KSC with this, hitting the launchpad and the runway without even having to take off, and then roll around the rest of the place to gather the rest of the science.  You can even roll to the shoreline and get science from there for Kerbin's Shores with it.  And then use that science to unlock the node prior to Terrier, which you have to do anyhow.  Because you need both, taking the path to get science - especially when you get hammered on the percentage - is the best route.

Then again, your mileage and career may vary. 

[paul_c]

Not much to report, just doing loads and loads of "test part xxxxx" style flights to build up funds.

I've worked out I need to do at least 15 more orbital flights to reach all the biomes of Kerbin, to earn enough science to afford the next upgrade (science jr etc). Each flight costs ~£12k and ~£6k is recoverable. I am getting good at choosing and doing tests which can fulfil 2 contracts at once, and the better ones pay around £2000 each. So, that's about 40+ flights, assuming I land in the right biome for my science each time.

Even then, the science gatherable around Kerbin with a science jr isn't enough to buy the necessary parts for a trip to the Mun.....

[James Kerman]

Well done @paul_c, it looks like you have made a great start. Your mission report has been moved from challenges and ideas.

[paul_c]

Things aren't looking great, I've calculated even if I gather ALL the Kerbin science, I'm still short. Then I remembered if a Kerbal jumps into the air and quickly jots down an EVA report, it counts as "flying". So.....I will need to revisit all the biomes again and do that for an extra ~6 points. Water, however, is impossible to do. Once you've landed, if you jump up from on top of a spacecraft it doesn't register as flying. And if you are swimming, you can't jump.

So.......I built this thing. All it needs to do is fly over the water and Bill can make an EVA report:

Hang on Bill!!!!:

Even with the thrusters turned low.....he fell off.....and went splat:

Amazingly he is still alive! So we can use him for a Mk2:

This time it is constructed such that all the doors open inwards, and once you're in "the gap", the Kerbal is tightly wedged against the command modules and can't fall out. And.....it works!

Although Bill isn't talking to me any more. I'll let him rest...until we need a report from the upper atmosphere, that is....

[JAFO]

Quote

EVA Report while flying over Kerbin's Water:

This is a most precarious situation.

For once, the report wasn't kidding!

Nice job!

[paul_c]

Still trying to hit Kerbin biomes. I had worked out even if I find them all....and gather ALL the possible science, its still impossible because I'll be -1 science point short of the next upgrade and there's NO contracts being generated with a science bonus.

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Or is it?

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I did a bit of Googling and apparently there are "rare biomes" or more accurately, rare combinations of biome/situation. For example, splashed down in the desert. How? By finding an inland lake/oasis! So I headed off to the lakes in "grassland" and landed near.....

Unfortunately I didn't splash into them....so Jeb needs to take a walk, as a proof-of-concept.....

And he kept on and on.....until it was dark!

But he found the lake and went for a swim, thereby counting as EVA report "splashed down" in grassland...so some more science. 

All I have to do is fly there now....so let's try a desert oasis:

This is the closest out of 3 attempts so far. Also, I need to not land with the hatch obstructed...so it will be a long-winded process.....

(It landed on land not water; with the hatch obstructed - total additional science a big fat zero. Fortunately, its mostly recoverable so not too costly although I am running out of money again).

[JAFO]

10 hours ago, paul_c said:

I had worked out even if I find them all....and gather ALL the possible science, its still impossible because I'll be -1 science point short of the next upgrade
...
apparently there are "rare biomes" or more accurately, rare combinations of biome/situation. For example, splashed down in the desert. How? By finding an inland lake/oasis!

That...

is both interesting and irritating.

Now you've got me curious how the other NCD cavemen got past this point. And wondering if something has changed since they completed it. Time to go do some reading, I guess...

 

Well done on finding a solution, and best wishes for future "rare biomes" landings!

[paul_c]

Its about 8 tries so far (I've lost count), I've yet to splash down in an inland lake. I've landed close enough to have Jeb walk there and gather an EVA report but that only earns 0.32, compared to 1.84 if the ship splashes down. The problem is the very basis parts don't allow to build a spaceplane, so there is little/no control and the approach horizontal speed is ~600 m/s to hit the target.

[Daedalus3000]

Just some ideas to help you with science: Have you re-farmed the KSC with new science equipment? You are right that flying over them nets a lot of additional science you can even do it on the ground with some skill and luck I believe. 2 ideas (I’m no expert just have seen previous nano attempts): if you can get bill into orbit on Eva you can get science for each Eva report above each biome (ok now that I think about this, orbit may be a bit much, but sub-orbit could be doable). 2. If you have the reliant unlocked you can barely squeak by a mun flyby for science. (This works because the reliant has less mass than the swivel making it the better upper stage engine.) just some ideas.

Edited February 15, 2021 by Daedalus3000

[paul_c]

The Reliant isn't yet unlocked.

I unlocked goo, temp and pressure so far (trying to reach unlocking science jr) and I've farmed KSC thoroughly. If you jump up and do an EVA report anywhere in KSC, it reports as "flying over shores".

Eva? Do you mean Eve? In the current rocket, once I reach orbit I have at most ~400m/s delta V left - not enough for any other body. Even if I did have enough for a Mun flyby, I would need to risk a Kerbin to do it since I don't have the OCTO or the Stayputnik unlocked either.

Anyway, I've calculated I should be able to unlock the science jr if I go back and visit the harder Kerbin biomes again.  I still have no idea where "Tundra" is and without a means to do a precision landing, I might get bored and give up before I hit it (I'll need to twice). But even with the science jr unlocked, it only gets me to the "general rocketry" (Reliant but not Thud or Terrier) so I'd need to be lucky or on the edge of getting to the Mun, I could send a Stayputnik though.

Its possible, but without fine landing control its just not probable to hit the right biomes consistently. And no, there are no parts to build a spaceplane either.

[JAFO]

3 minutes ago, paul_c said:

Eva? Do you mean Eve?

I'm pretty sure he meant EVA.

[paul_c]

And if KSP glitches and something weird/nonphysical happens, can I revert?

[Mr. Peabody]

21 minutes ago, paul_c said:

And if KSP glitches and something weird/nonphysical happens, can I revert?

Quicksaving is disabled in Nano-Crystalline Diamond. (Advanced Settings)

Per previous precedent, users completing hard+ difficulty levels w/o quicksaves were granted reverts after catastrophic glitches. The final decision rests with @JAFO, however.

[paul_c]

Ok thanks I'll not risk EVA on a ladder up to space quite yet - but if anyone else thinks its the "key" to progressing, feel free to start yourown NCD attempt and overtake me!

[paul_c]

A little luck as come my way at last. By chance, found the "Tundra" region:

I did walk to the green area too, but didn't reach another biome - I suspect it was highlands/grasslands anyway (no new science there).

Badlands. Note the "marker" (I left the heatshield) there from last trip:

I wasn't too far from a Badlands lake so Jeb took a walk to investigate:

Northern Ice Shelf. Suborbital, but using the orbit-capable vehicle. Reentry isn't too bad, there's excess fuel for a slowdown and the more vertical entry gives better precision on where I'll land:

I think I just need to revisit Tundra and Ice Caps and I'll have just enough science for the upgrade. Not sure.... Run out of money again so its back to contracts for a bit anyway.

[paul_c]

Ice caps here we come:

Yay! Enough science points for the next upgrade, which buys a number of useful things including Stayputnik, battery, science jr, science storage. 

I'll gather the easier/cheaper Science Jr science first, then I'll need to build up funds again to take it further. I've already blown about 6 of them up, they are delicate and don't like landings! I can land a rocket on its engine nozzle, then if it falls over the Science Jr blows up.

[paul_c]

It didn't take long to earn another 20 science points with the Science Jr. I have done most local biomes and flight/upper/space etc. So, I was able to upgrade to "General Rocketry". This buys the T30 Reliant. I tried it once, its pretty useless for my needs because I don't actually need its extra thrust and lack of gimballing in a single engine design leads to almost complete lack of control the reaction wheels in a command module can't overcome. BUT....it means a "test Terrier" contract might pop up. And indeed it did (it wants it tested on the launchpad - something which would never naturally occur, given its optimised for vacuum). 

So.......

A careful, fairly well thought out (I only have the funds to try it once) redesign of my current biggest rocket resulted in this:

Plenty of dV should get it to the Mun and back. Note, the command module - without it, there is no way to control roll etc, I need more science points to buy the reaction wheel on its own; and the blunt Stayputnik on top.

My first NCD shot at the Mun. Note the deliberately short Ap, I am aiming for a flyby only, with a not-too-dissimilar resulting Kerbin orbit after, to get home:

Success! 750km of Pe will be nice for a flyby:

Not much fuel left but hopefully enough to tweak the Pe down for aerocapture, at the top of the homewards orbit:

All science gathered into the lunch box. I'll return the CM home too, and a few instruments, whose £/kg are high:

All for......12.2 science:

No further science points but £11k of money is a nice little bonus too:

[king of nowhere]

i tried that challenge once. i got bored after two hours. i could never do anything so grindy. respect, bro.

[paul_c]

Relay "constellation" (3 satellites) are now in place, thanks to a bunch of contracts bumping the funding up (and borrowing the Terrier for incomplete testing!! I have 1 year before I need to do it...) I figured, if I set the Ap and Pe fairly accurately, they'll all have the same orbital period and it won't drift so much over time?

Battery powered (no solar) but hibernated and thus consumes no idle power. Apparently relaying signals doesn't drain batteries in KSP either.... Note the thermometer, every relay can also do the "science from Kerbin space" contracts - I have about 12 transmits per satellite based on the battery capacity.

I think (I am hoping) the grindy science/contract stuff is behind me now; in that more lucrative contracts will be generated, which pay £2000-5000+ compared to the £200-500 range before; and also more will fit in with the necessary science trips I'll be undertaking, eg "orbit the Mun" etc.

[paul_c]

3x trips to the Mun and orbital insertion with dual-purpose science gathering and relay-equipped vessels, then a bit of rearranging the orbits produced this (orbits are all 1000km x 1000km but the inclinations are skewed a bit):

So I'm ready for Mun landings.....well nearly ready, I need to "borrow" a Thud engine. A contract similar to this came up:

The guy on the phone said, after the tests, normally they get the engine back because it was a static test......my reply...."what's plastic and goes click?"

So a quick design iteration now with 2x Thuds at the 1st stage (they have better ISP than solids but 2 don't make quite so good TWR):

With the Mun relays in place....no real worries on comms so a "Farside Crater" landing is chosen because its lit well:

I goofed up though - the comms being only 27% means I drop off the science earned (needs >80% for full amount) so I'll need to make an additional Mun trip before the next tech tree square can be bought.

Not a bad encounter:

Not as good as one of the relays though!

The contracts are getting better too. There has been a bunch of "science from orbit of Mun", "science from surface of Mun" and since I have the infrastructure there, albeit on battery power alone, I can do a number of these for now and earn ~£6k each time instead of needing to fly something for ~£2k.

[JAFO]

4 hours ago, paul_c said:

my reply...."what's plastic and goes click?"

While I had a feeling I understood this, I decided to google it just to be sure.

An exact-phrase search turned up exactly ONE reference to it. Fortunately, it confirmed what I thought.

[paul_c]

Mun landings 2, 3 and 4 went smoothly. 

With a direct hit on the Mun intercept, instead of burning to avoid it, then burning to enter orbit, then burning to slow down/land, I decided to try a direct landing. Its more scary but I made it with a well-timed burn or two:

A more conventional approach/landing:

With "Flight Control" now unlocked, I can use the "Small Reaction Wheel" instead of the Command Module and save weight, to add more fuel. This rocket has more deltaV (in fact, >7000m/s vac) but the rearrangement of tankage at the top meant the batteries/aerial made it more draggy up front, making it less controllable, it did a whoopsie (360 loop the loop, but I turned the engine off and waited until it was pointing up again) on the way up, negating the gain in dV. So a redesign will be needed here.

I'm out of money again but the £5k "science from Mun" contracts are nice to see. 

Next steps....I need to plan very carefully what the next upgrade is. Electrics and Miniaturisation buy needed stuff for docking and bigger trips, but once again there is the chicken-egg scenario of, I need the science before I can buy them, but I need to buy them to give the capability to gather that science. It can be overcome - just - but its tight!