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The Elcano Challenge: Ground-Based Circumnavigation (4th)


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  On 6/14/2022 at 7:12 PM, 18Watt said:

 Personally, my list has Gilly at the top.  I took a different approach, wheels on Gilly were just too frustrating for me.  

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Currently on Eve, which is definitely going to take a while, but for gilly I’ll probably just use a small craft that rolls using SAS instead of wheels.

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You guys ever run into the issue where your wheels just stop working? Like for instance, after driving halfway around a planet? asking for a friend.

Anyway, I'll treat you to a classic tragedy in however many parts this is:

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I'm not really that bent out of shape about it. This was supposed to be a test-mission for my new rover, and I guess I did test it. Would have been nice to complete the trip though.

I made it halfway around Eeloo while mostly doing other things. This rover's SAS is sufficient to keep it pointed mostly the right direction and upright enough  of the time that I was able to set it driving and then go make myself a snack or watch a video or something and then come back and slightly adjust course. It cruises around 60m/s on Eeloo and can drive at 2x timewarp. I didn't test higher warp and mostly drove at 1x since it needed less babysitting that way.

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  On 6/18/2022 at 6:42 AM, Zacspace said:

You guys ever run into the issue where your wheels just stop working?

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Well, not exactly in the way you described.  But in general, yes I’ve had rovers deteriorate to the point they barely functioned. That was more of a problem with earlier versions of KSP, but I still strongly recommend frequent quick saves.

Also,  in case you overlooked this rule, you are allowed to deliver and use replacement rovers.  Just like the original rover, any replacements must be flown to the destination from Kerbin- you can’t F12 (cheat) the replacement to where it needs to be.

Replacement rovers need to be substantially similar to the original rover, but do not need to be exact copies.  If you found a few ways to improve the original design, you are absolutely allowed to incorporate them.

So, if you want, you can fly a replacement rover out, and land it near (as close as you can get..) your original rover.  Transfer the crew and continue the mission.

I’m sure you have tried to get your original rover functioning enough to complete the drive.  If your rover is just plain immobile, again, the rules explicitly allow you to fly a replacement rover out to complete the drive.

Unfortunately, Eeloo is not the easiest place to just ‘swing by’ and drop a rover off at.  But I’m sure you already know Elcano runs are never easy.

Oh, it looks like you are using the giant rover wheels, the ones that use ‘tank steering’?  I have never had good results with those, so can’t offer any help getting them to work.

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  On 6/14/2022 at 5:49 PM, king of nowhere said:

We can now say that the experts agree that dres sucks, with moho a close second

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I can't figure out where to find the fun in "driving" on the water. It's just hours of waiting without pressing any buttons, unless I'm wrong? So, for me, Laythe is by far the first planet that sucks. I still prefer to fight with my rover to reach 40m/s like on Dres than to do nothing for hours. :)

Not to mention the time on the water, I'll wait for the micro-moons before judging ;)

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  On 6/18/2022 at 7:45 AM, Pouicpouic said:

I can't figure out where to find the fun in "driving" on the water. It's just hours of waiting without pressing any buttons, unless I'm wrong? So, for me, Laythe is by far the first planet that sucks. I still prefer to fight with my rover to reach 40m/s like on Dres than to do nothing for hours. :)

Not to mention the time on the water, I'll wait for the micro-moons before judging ;)

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I know it would not count as pure Stock entry, but I suggest installing Scatterer: in addition to fancy scatter effects (duh) it also adds waves to seas and oceans, vastly changing the sailing experience. Whether for better or worse is up to you to decide, but it definitely adds a twist

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  On 6/18/2022 at 7:45 AM, Pouicpouic said:

I can't figure out where to find the fun in "driving" on the water. It's just hours of waiting without pressing any buttons, unless I'm wrong? So, for me, Laythe is by far the first planet that sucks. I still prefer to fight with my rover to reach 40m/s like on Dres than to do nothing for hours. :)

Not to mention the time on the water, I'll wait for the micro-moons before judging ;)

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I did a laythe elcano, and it was indeed boring. on the plus side, i could just leave the game running in background doing something else, and only check on it once every few minutes to correct drifting, so it wasn't onerous.

as for difficulty, it's difficult to explain. i like difficult. i did pick slate as one of the most difficult terrain to drive on. but... there is a difference between difficult and annoying. and it's hard to define, and it is why I can't explain it. But other planets are difficult. mountain terrain on tylo is difficult. the poles of Vall are difficult. slate is difficult, and now i am doing wal and it is mighty difficult, but in a fun way. not dres. dres is annoying, without being difficult. moho straddles the line.

this difficulty to explain is also why i appreciate someone else sharing my opinions; perhaps, even if I cannot define what makes dres annoying, there's something objective there.

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  On 6/18/2022 at 6:42 AM, Zacspace said:

You guys ever run into the issue where your wheels just stop working? 

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Happened to me twice now. The first time, on Pol, was no big deal, as it happened when I was literally 500 meters from finishing the circumnavigation.

The other time it occurred was on Eeloo, and it was after I had unloaded a rover that I’d already used to complete Ike and Dres. I tried replacing the wheels with EVA construction, but that resulted in it being unable to drive straight for some reason. So I ended up having to send a replacement.

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  On 6/18/2022 at 7:45 AM, Pouicpouic said:

I can't figure out where to find the fun in "driving" on the water.

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For me, the fun is all in designing a vehicle that works well on water.  That extends to the operation of the boat- Maintaining either good speed or efficiency (or both) while on the water takes a little planning and effort.  Especially if the boat uses liquid fuel, and the weight and COM are constantly changing as you burn fuel.   But yes, otherwise there is a lot of waiting.

Each of the 3 CBs that have water present unique challenges also.

  • Kerbin - the boat needs to have some amphibious capability, as there’s a small stretch of land you need to cross.
  • Laythe - Need to have a lot of range, because there are some very large distances between islands.
  • Eve - Again you’ll need amphibious capability.  Jet engines don’t work.  And it’s Eve.

 

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  On 6/18/2022 at 7:14 AM, 18Watt said:

you are allowed to deliver and use replacement rovers. 

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Honestly it never occurred to me, but now that you mention it I might just send a new rover and finish this.

  On 6/18/2022 at 12:32 PM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

Happened to me twice now.

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Glad to know it's not just me. A little distressing though to know that it's a possibility and seemingly without a better workaround.

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  On 6/18/2022 at 6:42 AM, Zacspace said:

You guys ever run into the issue where your wheels just stop working?

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more than 13 000km done with this rover (around half of the whole challenge), and already 14 (out of 40 at start) repairs kits used. But i have lost at least 4 times wheels just after a quicksave, so i reloaded. Approx 50 reload (F9) in total (Many of them  at the beginning of each circumnavigation to test the maximum limits of the rover)

?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Lett

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I noticed a rather curious detail with my propellers and I can't understand why...

For Kerbin as for Laythe, with the same settings and in the same position, I sail about 2m/s faster near the poles than near the equator. And on the contrary, in rover mode on the polar caps, I am about 2m/s slower than near the equators (on the flat)
For example, I am at about 44m/s cruising speed on kerbin at the equator against 46m/s at the poles (on water) and 70.5m/s on the polar caps, against 72.5m/s at the equator. Knowing that the altitudes are comparable, I can't understand the logic.
For Laythe it is the same imbalance: 36m/s on the water towards the equator, against 38 towards the poles. And 72m/s at the equator on land against 70 at the poles. (I'm sure I can find some screenshots to illustrate this but it will take some time)

I don't know if you have noticed these differences between pole and equator with the same settings on your rovers?

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  On 6/18/2022 at 5:11 PM, Pouicpouic said:

I don't know if you have noticed these differences between pole and equator with the same settings on your rovers?

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Yes, I have noticed that!  There was a discussion about it somewhere, I can’t remember where right now.

A few theories were proposed, I don’t think we ever really established a solid answer.

  • Temperature differences.  That would affect jet engine and propeller performance, as well as drag.  The effects seemed reversed with respect to what I would expect, however.
  • Errors with how KSP calculates surface speed at high latitudes, perhaps rounding errors.
  • Buoyancy and water drag differences at high latitudes- I’m not really sure exactly how KSP calculates buoyancy and hydrodynamic drag.

So yes, the effect you are describing has definitely been observed by several players, including me.  If you have any additional theories to explain the effect, please post them!

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  On 6/18/2022 at 5:22 PM, 18Watt said:
  • Temperature differences.  That would affect jet engine and propeller performance, as well as drag.  The effects seemed reversed with respect to what I would expect, however.
  • Errors with how KSP calculates surface speed at high latitudes, perhaps rounding errors.
  • Buoyancy and water drag differences at high latitudes- I’m not really sure exactly how KSP calculates buoyancy and hydrodynamic drag
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Without any mods it seems difficult to do better, but maybe the experts with all the mods can try to find a logic by comparing the values (drag, buoyancy, etc.) ? ok, it's not very interesting but I'm sure there are enthusiasts who want to know. :D

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Polar circumnavigation of Laythe completed!

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I think I chose one of the most grounded routes. About 25% of the time out of the water, the only active driving moments around 70m/s average. The remaining 75% in power saving mode on the water at about 35m/s. (approximately 1h20 of autonomy in EC).

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Forced to pass through impressive slopes

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A little break at my permanent polar base on Laythe.

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Now it is a question of succeeding to go to Pol with the transfer vehicle. :o

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Edited by Pouicpouic
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Pol completed!

?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Lett

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Honestly, I drove at less than 25m/s average. But taking the time to admire the landscape, it went relatively quickly. We agree that micro-moons are definitely not the best places to drive. ;)

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And here we go again! refueling, catching the rover, gas! Next stop : Tylo  :D

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Edited by Pouicpouic
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On Pol, half a wheel would have been better than 16... but not on Tylo ! :cool:

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  On 6/19/2022 at 11:48 PM, Pouicpouic said:

Pol completed!

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You are really getting through these quickly!

  On 6/19/2022 at 11:48 PM, Pouicpouic said:

I will soon have to put corrective glasses to my pilot)

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Yep, these things do happen as you age.  Or so I've heard..:unsure:

  On 6/19/2022 at 11:48 PM, Pouicpouic said:

Honestly, I drove at less than 25m/s average. But taking the time to admire the landscape, it went relatively quickly. We agree that micro-moons are definitely not the best places to drive

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Yep, that's actually a pretty good speed on Pol.  Much faster and you risk having really high jumps, which can damage a rover.

 

  On 6/19/2022 at 11:48 PM, Pouicpouic said:

I think it's the first time I landed a ship on tylo on the first try without breaking anything.

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I have yet to accomplish that- my personal record is a successful landing on the second attempt.  And I've only done that once.  Another fantastic entry, looking forward to your Tylo entry.

 

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  On 6/20/2022 at 8:29 PM, 18Watt said:

You are really getting through these quickly!

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Arround 4h30 at 22m/s, considering that we travel 20% more than the theoretical perimeter (difficult to estimate but it gives an idea)

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@Pouicpouic @Jack Joseph Kerman I honestly can't comperehend how fast the two of you going through this, let alone that you judge the celestial bodies on how fun they are to drive on

I always found rovers in KSP especially frustrating. Wheels  are prone to random failures while encountering seemingly minor bumps, motors in them are quite limited in terms of speed they can achieve (which makes the previous issue even more frustrating), behaviour under phys time warp is unstable.

But above all else, the wheel do not behave even remotely close to reality. One moment they barely get any traction with the surface and then all of a sudden the wheels randomly generate tons of grip during sharp turning. I saw better car dynamics on mobile racing games for God's sake, surely it should've been easy for the devs to get it right? Because sailing in comparison works wonderfully, and sailing has nothing to do with rocket science! (well, so far at least)

This is especially annoying for me because I'm a massive car nerd and automotive engineering student and I would absolutely love to build rovers and drive them around. But the issues I mentioned above do not make it viable for me to build rovers altogether: I only had sent couple of unmanned rovers on Duna and one each on Moho and Eeloo and the rest of the time I stuck to rockets/planes/helicopters because they are much more reliable. I tried to build a rover not too long ago for 100 EC Challenge (which, coincidentally, is also hosted by 18Watt) and, even though I achieved decent results, I would rather kick myself in the berries than drive that thing again :lol:

You lads (and whoever dared to do this challenge) have my utmost respect

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  On 6/20/2022 at 9:32 PM, OJT said:

I always found rovers in KSP especially frustrating. Wheels  are prone to random failures while encountering seemingly minor bumps

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  On 6/20/2022 at 9:32 PM, OJT said:

the wheel do not behave even remotely close to reality. One moment they barely get any traction with the surface and then all of a sudden the wheels randomly generate tons of grip during sharp turning.

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If you go up the topic, you'll see that I've left some tips for the construction and the essential settings to have a robust and drivable rover.

Everything is important: the control point, the friction adjustment, the control for the SAS, etc.
Since I discovered these settings, I can't send kerbals on a mission without a good rover to make unimaginable jumps ;)

And right now, I am clearly in love with my latest creation for this challenge.
If someone wants to name this beauty, I'll take it ! :D

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  On 6/20/2022 at 9:32 PM, OJT said:

I would absolutely love to build rovers and drive them around.

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Look at my videos posted previously on the Mun: from the moment I had a rover capable of this, I needed my weekly dose of tests :)
And on the Mun, you don't need 16 wheels, nor half my rover to have fun jumping craters.

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Edited by Pouicpouic
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  On 6/20/2022 at 9:32 PM, OJT said:

I always found rovers in KSP especially frustrating. Wheels  are prone to random failures while encountering seemingly minor bumps, motors in them are quite limited in terms of speed they can achieve (which makes the previous issue even more frustrating), behaviour under phys time warp is unstable.

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The Kerbal Foundries mod includes KSPWheel, an entirely different wheel simulation module, which was written out of frustration with the behaviour of stock wheels. (There are some KSPWheel configs for the stock wheels, although they're pretty old and may have rotted). Roving has many frustrations for me, mostly involving cliffs and the dark, but my wheels do more or less obey me.

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Eve complete! This one took a really long time, but all in all I actually found the journey to be quite pleasant and enjoyable, which is something I didn't really expect. About 3/4 of this circumnavigation was done in just the last 48 hours, as I was sort of slacking off for the first few days of it. This run took a polar route as opposed to an equatorial one in order to maximize the amount of time I would be spending sailing in the oceans.

ifF8Oe6.jpg

Full Imgur Album (100+ images):

https://imgur.com/a/ma0R8Ds

Getting to Eve:

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Circumnavigation:

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Base Jumping Shenanigans:

pls sub i beg of you

Boarding the Ascent Vehicle and the Gilly Rover:

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Edited by Jack Joseph Kerman
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  On 6/22/2022 at 5:45 AM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

Jeb had somehow managed to clip into one of the structural fuselages

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  On 6/22/2022 at 5:45 AM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

Bill got out and removed the pontoon's back nose cone, setting Jeb free.

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Hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing for 2 min, thanks, my day is off to a great start! :D

  On 6/22/2022 at 5:45 AM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

The EELP is pretty fast on land, being able to do up to 64-65 m/s. I probably could have gotten it to go faster if I had increased the motor size, but that may have done more harm than good considering the density of Eve's atmosphere.

s54r4d4.jpg

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How do you manage to be in warp x2 without breaking the propellers ? --> with a rotation speed <240 rpm you still reach >60m/s ?
That's where we see my lack of experience on Eve and with the propellers... and therefore that my rover will not be very adapted...

I have the impression that your propellers are rotating in the same direction? If it's the case you didn't have any torque problem that made you turn slightly to the left ?
or is it only the blades that are oriented in the same way ?

  On 6/22/2022 at 5:45 AM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

About 3/4 of this circumnavigation was done in just the last 48 hours

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You killed the final boss of KSP so fast! --> the kraken must hate it... :D  watch out for him in the coming days. :confused:

Wait, your trip duration is really 3d4h IGT ? (308 -->311.4) amazing!

  On 6/22/2022 at 5:45 AM, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

only to crash into an invisible wall

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Besides this memorable base-jumping moment, did you really do the rest without breaking anything and without reloading?
It will really cheer everyone up to see such a safe trip!
The moment when Eve became too easy in KSP :o  Bravo !

Edited by Pouicpouic
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