Kerpollo^2

[Superfluous J]

Kerpollo²

*When someone completes the challenge I'll make a better badge, I promise!

____________________________________________________________________

The challenge is simple, but a bit hard to define. Sorry about that but here goes.

THE SETUP

Start an Exploration Mode game. Make it with (almost) any settings you want, but document them. Use any mods you want, but document them. Challenge yourself! The only setting you MUST have is that you MUST enable reverts. Not many challenges require that one, eh? I would also suggest not making the science gathering all that difficult. I did this with normal science and it wasn't exactly easy, though you could probably knock down gains to 75% and still complete the whole tech tree in this challenge.

THE RULES

General rules:

• You have 9 specific missions, each to land on a specified world or some specified worlds.
• You must land on the specified world(s) and may not land anywhere else during the mission, except of course Kerbin upon your return.
• These missions must consist of one single launch from the launch pad with everything you need to complete the mission, and end with the successful return of a vessel with all Kerbals alive within.
• This counts leftover things from previous missions! No refueling mission 5 with fuel tanks left in orbit from mission 4. Missions must be self contained.
• Only one mission can be ongoing at a time. You may not launch another mission until the current mission has completed successfully.
• Each Mission EXCEPT the first (Kerpollo) MUST contain at least one Lander and one Orbiter.
• Each Multi-world mission MUST use docking ports on the lander(s) and orbiter(s).

Lander rules:

• Each Lander MUST be Kerbed.
• You may only land ONCE and may not roam from the landing region to another region. You can only get science readings from ONE ground biome per world.
• You may though collect as much flying or orbiting science during the mission as you can from anywhere you can, so long as you don't break the other rules.
• A splashdown can count as a "landing," so long as all other requirements and restrictions are met.

Orbiter rules:

• For single-world missions, the orbiter must disconnect from the lander in some way (decoupler, stack separator, docking ports) and remain in orbit while the lander lands and returns to it.
• If the lander and orbiter do not have docking ports, the Kerbal must EVA from the Lander to the Orbiter, leaving the Lander behind.
• If docking ports are used, the lander can be undocked after transfer and left behind, or brought back, as long as all Kerbals return (and survive).
• For multi-world missions, at each world the Lander must disconnect from the Orbiter, land, return to the orbiter, and dock.
• After this is done, the lander can be discarded or brought to the next world, or brought home, as long as all Kerbals return to Kerbin (and survive).

Some more general rules and guidelines:

• Due to docking port bugginess, if the ONLY reason you can't dock, undock, or re-dock at any point is due to a bug (i.e., the docking ports are connected but won't undock, or they're bumping into each other but won't dock), that in and of itself will not invalidate the mission. However, you'll still have to find a way around any problems this causes. You can use mods or reasonable hacks to do this, just describe what you do. If you're unsure if what you're doing is fine, feel free to ask.
• You may use one lander to land on multiple worlds in the longer missions, and the same orbiter to orbit multiple worlds. You can even use one world's lander as another world's orbiter and vice-versa. Or you can have dedicated orbiters and landers for each world. Or you can do a mix of this.
• Before EVERY launch, make a backup of your save. You will need this trust me.
• You may return to this point at any, any number of times.
• You can also quicksave mid-mission and return to that any time, any number of times.
• If for any reason you cannot complete all mission parameters with the ship launched while complying with all the rules, you must revert to this save to fix your ship. i.e., there are NO rescue missions. One launch, one return per mission.
• I reiterate: This does not mean you can't quicksave/quickload! Save early and often, and reload any time you want. If the ship you built isn't up to task, you must revert and fix the ship. But if you just screw up a landing or time warp through an atmosphere, reverting to a quicksave is perfectly fine.
• The "Only one region per landing" rule counts upon return to Kerbin as well. For rockets, this means no landing on Kerbin's surface and then taking off to land again. For space planes, it means ... well it means the same thing. Note: If your return vehicle splits up into different pods that's okay, so long as they all land in the same region, or you only take any science readings from one region upon landing.
• There are no restrictions on probe cores in Kerpollo². Kerbals don't have professions and probe cores don't help Kerbed vessels.

PROOF

Provide as much proof as you can. This is a big undertaking so I'm hoping for full, picture-laden reports or videos or whatever, but if all you can do is jot down what you did then go for it

THE MISSIONS

You may do these launches in any order, except Kerpollo must be first. In particular, Dunpollo can be done earlier. I only listed it so far down the list because it's a multi-world mission. Other than that, though, this is a pretty decent suggested order.

SINGLE-WORLD MISSIONS

• Kerpollo
  Orbit Kerbin.
  Should be easy.
• Munpollo
  Land your lander on Mun and return.
  You probably won't have docking ports, so must decouple from your orbiter to land and EVA back to the orbiter before returning to Kerbin!
• Minpollo
  Do the same for Minmus.
• Drespollo
  Dres DOES exist. Prove it by landing there and returning alive.
• Eelollo
  Eeloo's pretty cold this time of year, which is fine because it will probably take several years to complete your land-and-return mission.
• Mohollo
  Mahalo for doing Mohollo, and returning from a successful Moho landing!

MULTI-WORLD-MISSIONS

• Dunpollo
  Land on both Duna and Ike and return all Kerbals to Kerbin.
  Remember, you MUST do this with docking ports!
• Evepollo
  This may be the hardest mission of them all. Land on both Gilly and Eve and return all Kerbals to Kerbin.
• Joolollo
  This may ALSO be the hardest mission of them all.
  Do a Jool-5 mission, but you need an orbiter around every world you land on.
  Remember, you can (but aren't required to) reuse landers and orbiters, so long as they're both present at the moon in question when you do your landing.

SCORING

As this is difficult enough, there is no scoring. If you finish, you win! There are, however, tiers:

• Tim C Tier - Do the Challenge as asked.
• Bob Tier - Do the Challenge, but you must fully complete a Tier of the Tech Tree before moving on to the next Tier.
• Bill Tier - Do the Challenge, but you must fully complete a column of the Tech Tree before moving on to the next column.
• Jeb Tier - Do the challenge without ever turning in a mission to Mission Control.
• Val Tier - Combine Jeb and Bill Tiers (no missions, must unlock all of a column before moving on).
• Gabe (RIP) Tier - Do the challenge AND complete the story missions in Mission Control.
  NOTE: You can actually LOSE this tier! If you don't complete ALL story missions for a world before finishing that world, you LOSE because you can't go back to that world!
• Keri Tier - Combine Gabe (RIP) and Bill Tiers (must do story missions, must unlock all of a column before moving on).

THE BADGE

Coming SOON^TM

IN CLOSING

I fully expect I missed a rule, or messed up a rule. Feel free to comment with any questions or concerns. Don't comment though that it's impossible. I just completed enough of it my own self to prove to myself that it's doable (I unlocked the entire tech tree) but will be doing it from scratch, and documentation.

Edited March 5 by Superfluous J

[Superfluous J]

WINNERS (in the order that they finished)

NONE!

PARTICIPANTS (in the order that they started):

@Superfluous J : Going for Val Tier, Normal mode, with a bevy of QOL mods: Micro Engineer, Trim Controller, Alarm Clock, Community Fixes, Maneuver Node Controller, and Even Better Time Warp:  https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/topic/223231-kerpollo2/?do=findComment&comment=4364035

 

Edited February 3 by Superfluous J

[fourfa]

I hope docking, undocking, redocking etc are now stable enough to do a Kerpollo run now!

[Superfluous J]

1 hour ago, fourfa said:

I hope docking, undocking, redocking etc are now stable enough to do a Kerpollo run now!

I hope so too!

FWIW, every single docking I've ever done worked without an issue.

[Mister Spock]

Great challenge! I’ve started doing Apollo-style missions, but only to the Mun and back. I really like that style of space exploration , so someday I hope to try this challenge!

[fourfa]

I had to install the Community Fixed mod to solve some docking problems in the current version…

[Superfluous J]

What good is a challenge if the poster can't complete it?

Hopefully we won't find out as I go through the Val Tier of the challenge on Normal mode with several mods installed:

• Alarm Clock
• Celestial Glow
• Community Fixes
• Even Better Time Warp
• I Wish They Made UI Customizable
• Kerbal Life Hacks
• KerbalHeadlamp
• Maneuver Node Controller
• Micro Engineer
• Probably Askew
• Science Arkive
• Trim Controller
• Wayfarers Wings

Video of the first mission - Kerpollo itself - below:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited February 3 by Superfluous J

[Superfluous J]

Munpollo Part 1.

Spoiler

 

...and I seem to have forgotten to post part 2 here, so here it is.

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited February 12 by Superfluous J

[Superfluous J]

Minpollo! On this mission I encounter several bugs, both in the game and my process for recording videos. Sorry, I'm out of practice and am making some rookie mistakes, both in the game and my process for recording videos.

Spoiler

 

 

[Superfluous J]

After several tests with Drespollo - which experienced enough docking port bugs that I think I know what causes them - I've added a guideline/rule:

• Due to docking port bugginess, if the ONLY reason you can't dock, undock, or re-dock at any point is due to a bug (i.e., the docking ports are connected but won't undock, or they're bumping into each other but won't dock), that in and of itself will not invalidate the mission. However, you'll still have to find a way around any problems this causes. You can use mods or reasonable hacks to do this, just describe what you do. If you're unsure if what you're doing is fine, feel free to ask.

(and no, I don't have Drespollo completed but I'm pretty sure I have a craft that can complete it, and it might not even experience any docking port bugs)

Edited February 13 by Superfluous J

[Scarecrow71]

@Superfluous J

I might take this challenge up after I complete the Duna monument mission (still testing to verify that parachutes work for me)...but I've got a question on the challenge itself.

Why do we not have to simply orbit Kerbol and then come back?

I'm assuming that an orbit of Kerbol is assumed when you go interplanetary, but there are all kinds of different orbits you can get.  Heliocentric comes to mind (as you get both high over Kerbol and near over Kerbol).  There's also the challenge in there of not just having enough fuel, but getting to Kerbol (near) and getting back even though you aren't landing on the surface of the sun.  Still need to deal with timing, and transfer windows back to Kerbin, potential gravity assists...

Any reason why?  Or just simply not in the spirit of the challenge?

[Superfluous J]

6 hours ago, Scarecrow71 said:

Any reason why?

You can't land. Also, I really never even thought of it.

But anyway, no not really any particular reason other than that there's no real Apollo-ness to it, seeing as you can't land. Granted, there's no real Apollo-ness to the first mission (Kerpollo) either but you gotta start somewhere and Munpollo is challenging enough WITH some upgrades, it'd be even worse having to do it with the bare bones starting tech.

 

Edited February 14 by Superfluous J

[Superfluous J]

Drespollo part 1. Mostly went well though I think Jeb's been standing on the launch pad for 15 years.

Spoiler

 

 

[Superfluous J]

...and back again.

Spoiler

 

Got a lot more science from this one than previous missions, which is nice. makes me feel a lot more confident moving forward.

[Superfluous J]

We're going to DUNA, BABY

Spoiler

 

 

[Superfluous J]

Dunpollo part 2, in which we do everything other than "get there"

Spoiler

 

 

[Superfluous J]

Quick update: I totally, completely, 99.9% completed Eelollo.

And by that I mean I was doing Kerbin re-entry when I realized - wait for it - that I forgot parachutes!

So I am re-doing that mission.

[Starhawk]

57 minutes ago, Superfluous J said:

And by that I mean I was doing Kerbin re-entry when I realized - wait for it - that I forgot parachutes!

I know your pain.

Happy landings!   . . . eventually

[jost]

On 3/2/2024 at 3:06 PM, Superfluous J said:

Quick update: I totally, completely, 99.9% completed Eelollo.

And by that I mean I was doing Kerbin re-entry when I realized - wait for it - that I forgot parachutes!

So I am re-doing that mission.

Coudn't you use the personal parachutes of the Kerbals? Or would this hurt the challenge rules?

[Superfluous J]

9 hours ago, jost said:

Coudn't you use the personal parachutes of the Kerbals? Or would this hurt the challenge rules?

It actually doesn't break the rules though maybe it should.

Now it breaks the rules, as I changed them

Also to the best of my knowledge there are no personal parachutes in KSP2.

Edited March 5 by Superfluous J

[Superfluous J]

Eelollo, complete with aforementioned parachute issue.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited March 5 by Superfluous J

[Superfluous J]

Mohollo!

(I *just* posted this so YouTube may be processing it for a bit)

Spoiler

 

 

[Superfluous J]

I'm not going to go so far as to say it's impossible, but I do not believe I can complete Evepollo with the tech I currently have or am likely to gain by doing Joolollo.

I also - after dealing with several bugs relating to quickloading/saving that is making iterative testing of a Tylo lander extremely frustrating - am not sure I have the patience to design and fly an entire single-launch Jool 5 mission with the tech available.

Because of those, I'm putting Kerpollo on the back burner. It was always intended as a stopgap challenge to give me something to do while waiting for more content, and so far it's done that just fine. But you can only lead a dead horse to so much water under a bridge before you ... I don't know. Metaphors are hard.

Edited March 26 by Superfluous J