Planet Ribbons Redux

[Unistrut]

The Ribbon thread is dead. Long live the Ribbon thread!

Ahem.

Links:

Kerbaltek's handy automatic generator

Mediafire link for the more DIY oriented user

Capt'n Skunky created some campaign ribbons for the early version of KSP. They were awesome, but only really covered Kerbin and the Mun, as at the time they were the only places to go. We've got more planets now, more things to do. We need more shiny things for our jackets!

So, I created these. They are based on the classic campaign ribbon, with extra optional devices to signify specific achievements.

Please do not make any suggestions that involve any of the following terms: Gold, Silver, Bronze, ___ times, without mods, with mods. The most important achievement is the transition from not having done something, to having done it. You should only repeat a mission until you can no longer learn any new lessons from it, or it stops being fun. You shouldn't feel any pressure to do something over and over again just to earn a different coloured bauble for an internet forum. I will also not discriminate against folks who use mods. My mom worked with satellites, and MechJeb's wall of confusing numbers is far closer to actual satellite ops than the intuitive GUI of the maneuver nodes. I don't use MechJeb, but it's because I'm not willing take the time to understand what it's telling me, and I prefer a more seat-of-the-pants approach to travel. Why should I be rewarded for being a little dumb and a lot stubborn?

If you want me to make a new device, you need to do something novel. A good example is the user, name lost to the ages, who asked "What device do I use when I just take a Kerbal on EVA and rocket pack down to the surface?"

The Geosynchronous orbit dot and Rendezvous cross basically completely obscure the Equatorial orbit bar. This is fine. If you can achieve geosynchronous orbit and rendezvous ships in orbit you are obviously capable of achieving equatorial orbit if you wanted to, so who really cares if you've actually done it or not?

KSPFM-42

RIBBON ORGANIZATIONAL STANDARDS SUGGESTIONS

The Kerbal Space Program, recognizing the need to recognize the achievements of it’s various members has thus introduced the following space exploration ribbons.

1.0 Initial Award:

A ribbon is awarded initially upon entering the SOI of any body in the Kerbol system.

1.1 Asteroid Ribbon

The Asteroid Ribbon is awarded for getting a vessel within 2.2km of an asteroid. The right hand devices are awarded as normal, however, the left hand devices are used to indicate what has been achieved with said asteroid. If you make contact with the asteroid you get the rendezvous award, if you pull the asteroid into a stable orbit around a planet you get the orbit dot, and so on. The ribbon sidebars indicate what body the asteroid is orbiting around, currently restricted to the major planets and Kerbol. A bar should include only one asteroid ribbon, describing the mission that was most AWESOME or your FAVORITE.

1.2 Grand Tour

The Grand Tour shield is awarded when a vessel has visited (entered the SOI of) more than two worlds. A pip is awarded for each planet / moon visited. The craft used on the Grand Tour is indicated in the center. Kerbal Lost and Kerbal Saved are awarded as normal. To the left and the right of the center device are the Orbital Device and arrows and Landing Device and arrows. On the first orbit / landing the device is awarded, and then an arrow is awarded for each subsequent world orbited / landed on. The entire vessel doesn't need to land to be eligible for a Landing Arrow. As long as the lander was carried to the world by the ship that is conducting the Grand Tour it counts for a Landing Arrow.

2.0 Left Hand Devices:

Left hand devices stack, each device being added to the cluster as it is achieved.

2.1 Orbital Devices

The following devices are added to the ribbon as various orbital and maneuvering goals are met:

- Orbit - Awarded for achieving a stable orbit that does not dip into the atmosphere.

- Equitorial - Awarded for achieving an orbit around the equator whose inclination deviates from the body equator by no more than 1 degree. It should also have apoapsis and periapsis with 5% of each other. The goal is control! Should always go under an Orbit Dot.

- Polar - Awarded for achieving a polar orbit that will allow a mapping scan to completely fill the map. No angle or circularity requirements beyond a successful mapping. Should always go under an Orbit Dot.

- Geosynchronous - Awarded for placing a craft into a geosynchronous orbit. If geosynchronous orbits are not possible, may also be awarded for placing a constellation of satellites so as to allow continuous overwatch of a point on the surface.

- Rendezvous - Awarded for the successful docking of two or more craft.

2.2 Atmospheric Flight Device

- Atmosphere - Wings awarded for atmospheric operations, namely takeoff, controlled flight and a great landing at a destination. A good landing is any one you can walk away from. A great landing is one where you can use the plane again afterwards. If a craft is coming from orbit wings may also be awarded for entering an atmosphere and returning safely to orbit.

2.3 Kerbol Escape Device

- Kerbol Escape - Awarded for getting a craft past Kerbol Escape Velocity. This award should only be displayed on the Kerbol ribbon.

2.4 Land Navigation

- Land Nav - Awarded for successfully navigating a rover to a distant (10km+) target.

3.0 Center Devices

Center devices stack, with the Kerbal Lost going under the Kerbal Saved.

- Kerbal Lost - Used to commemorate the loss of one or more brave Kerbals in attempts to reach that body. Kerbal Lost should be added to the ribbon of the body that the craft was in the SOI of when it was lost. Kerbals lost in interplanetary space are remembered on the Kerbol ribbon.

- Kerbal Saved - Used to signify one or more Kerbal saved through the efforts of their comrades. The Kerbal Saved should be placed on the ribbon of the body that the Kerbals were stranded on. Kerbals rescued from interplanetary space are celebrated on the Kerbol ribbon.

4.0 Strange Devices

- Anomaly - The Anomalous Black Dot goes in the lower right hand corner of the ribbon of the body upon which is was found. No further questions will be answered about the ABD or the reasons for it's awarding. You'll know them when you find them.

5.0 Right Hand Devices

The following devices are used to recognize the craft used to reach and/or explore the body in question. These devices, with two exceptions, DO NOT stack. The order of precedence is informal, but the wearer should choose the mission that was MOST AWESOME or their FAVORITE.

5.1 Craft Devices

- Impactor - A (hopefully) autonomous craft that impacted with the body in question and was destroyed in the process.

- Meteor - An (also hopefully) autonomous craft that was destroyed on atmospheric entry.

- Capsule - A craft carrying one or more Kerbals that does not land.

- Aircraft - A craft capable of controlled flight through an atmosphere using aerodynamic lift instead of pure thrust. This may also be used if an aerospace craft makes it to a body with no atmosphere, but flight wings should not be awarded.

- EVA - For landing from and returning to orbit without the aid of a spacecraft.

- Probe Landing - An autonomous vehicle that landed on a planetary surface.

- Rover - An autonomous vehicle capable of surface travel successfully landed.

- Probe - An autonomous vehicle which did not land.

- Lander - A vehicle carrying one or more Kerbals that landed intact.

- Manned Rover - A manned craft capable of surface travel successfully landed.

- Multi-part Ship - An orbital construction capable of traveling to other worlds.

- Station - An orbital construction capable of docking and refuelling craft and housing Kerbals.

- Base - A permanent ground based construction built by two or more landings and capable of housing Kerbals.

- Flag or Monument - A marker on another world.

- Resourcing - An installation, either on the surface or in orbit capable of mining and/or processing resources.

- Armada - Three or more vessels, staged in orbit for a trip to another world and launched within one week of another during one encounter window.

5.2 Return Chevron

One of two Right Hand Devices that stack, a Return Chevron is added when a craft has successfully returned from a world to Kerbin. It does not necessarily need to be displayed with the device of the craft that made the return. If a Capsule that returned is later exchanged for a more awesome Base the Return Chevron earned by the Capsule's return may still be displayed.

5.3 Challenge Wreath

The other Right Hand Device that stacks, the Challenge Wreath is awarded for achieving tasks specific to the world it is available on.

5.3.1 Kerbin SSTO Wreath

The SSTO wreath is awarded for getting a craft into orbit from the surface of Kerbin without dropping any parts along the way. The only pieces that may be left behind are the launching clamps,

5.3.1 Tylo Land and Return Wreath

The TL&RW wreath is awarded for getting a craft down to and safely back up from the surface of Tylo, the Eater of Landers.

5.3.2 Eve Return Wreath

The ERW is awarded for getting a craft back up through the swirling soup that Eve calls an atmosphere.

6.0 Displaying Ribbons

6.1 General Guidelines

Ribbons arrangements for forum use should be no more than THREE (3) ribbons high to avoid angering mods and making the forums look untidy. If you have a large block of ribbons think about unchecking the "Show your signature" box for shorter comments so as to not wind up with a .sig block larger than your comment. Ribbons should be assembled for each body using the graphic program of choice and then saved as an individual graphic. The user should then open a new file and load all the ribbons into that program and assemble them there. Ribbons should not have gaps between them. Devices are optional.

6.2 Ribbon Order

6.2.1 Geographical Order

In this design the ribbons are arranged from left to right starting with Kerbol and going outward to Eeloo. Satellites are displayed under parent bodies (or in the case of Jool, around the parent body). In the interests of compactness Moho may be displayed under Kerbol and Dres and Eeloo may be displayed under the Joolian satellites. The asteroid ribbon should go under Moho or Kerbol.

6.2.2 Delta-V Order

In this design the ribbons are left to right in order of the delta-V requirement to reach said body. In the game's current state, this is: Kerbin-Kerbol-Duna-Eve-Moho-Dres-Jool-Eeloo. The satellites of a system are displayed under/around the main planet.

6.2.3 AWESOME Order

Ribbons are displayed in order of awesomeness. The most awesome mission goes top center by itself. The remaining, lesser missions are arranged in two rows below as determined by the wearer, generally with more awesome towards the upper center and less awesome towards the edges.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Unistrut
Kerbaltek!

[Chruschtschow]

RIBBONS!!! I love it when I can add another device and be it something small like one of the orbit devices

Edited April 21, 2013 by Chruschtschow

[Moustachauve]

Nice

I'll probably not work soon on the shield, but I'll should get around it

Ps : You should put at least one example on the thread

[Moustachauve]

Congratulation to KerbalSnouSnou, who is the 200th confirmed user to subscribe !

[Unistrut]

Two examples of the Grand Tour shield. Amusingly enough, I don't actually qualify for this, despite having sent large reusable vessels to both Duna and Jool. I built the first, fired it off towards Jool, learned some lessons, built the second, and launched it towards the Mun and then Duna. They're currently both parked in LKO awaiting their next planetary transfer window. Once the City of Fresno reaches Jool I'll actually have qualified.

[daveboy2000]

Just wondering, since rovers have been added people are sending mobile bases to planets, rovers weighting over 20 tonnes carrying a dozen or two kerbals. Perhaps this deserves it's own craft device? A manned rover more classifies as a small exploration vessel like the Moon Car during the Apollo missions and the base device is meant for stationary constructions, so withoud wheels.

[apoch1999]

where would i post a "bug" question for the automatic generator on the webpage?

[Moustachauve]

On the thread, there is a link in my signature

[Tristavius]

Loving the grand tour shield... hopefully we might see it in the online generator soon?

[Moustachauve]

I am planning to finish it today, or in the worst case tomorrow

[Moustachauve]

I'm sorry, I lied, It will take me longer, since I am encountering difficulty extracting each layers of the shield as a png without the images being really weird :s

[Unistrut]

Just wondering, since rovers have been added people are sending mobile bases to planets, rovers weighting over 20 tonnes carrying a dozen or two kerbals. Perhaps this deserves it's own craft device? A manned rover more classifies as a small exploration vessel like the Moon Car during the Apollo missions and the base device is meant for stationary constructions, so withoud wheels.

I'm trying to avoid any "This, but LARGER" devices as you start getting into lovely arguments about what exactly the cut off should be. You say twenty tonnes, someone else will argue zealously for fifteen or twenty-five or whatever. So I'm sticking to fairly distinct classifications - manned / unmanned, mobile / stationary, completely without spacecraft, etc.

[Temstar]

I'm trying to avoid any "This, but LARGER" devices as you start getting into lovely arguments about what exactly the cut off should be. You say twenty tonnes, someone else will argue zealously for fifteen or twenty-five or whatever. So I'm sticking to fairly distinct classifications - manned / unmanned, mobile / stationary, completely without spacecraft, etc.

But I feel there is something missing with rovers. The really huge ones with big wheels are quite unlike the little moon buggies in that they're actually first and foremost surface bases design for long term habitation. Their mobility is a secondary function and is only used when the base needs to redeploy to a new location.

So I was thinking a new "mobile base" device for multi-part surface constructions where at least one part is capable of holding 4 or more Kerbals and can relocate, either via traversing the surface via wheels or flying.

[Tristavius]

I am planning to finish it today, or in the worst case tomorrow

Awesome! Shall look forward to it!

Now of course I'll actually have to do a grand tour!

[the_leif]

As somebody who uses MechJeb for certain things, I feel like my achievements shouldn't necessarily be valued in terms of a display of ribbons at the same level as someone who instead does everything by manual control. Have you considered introducing separate "levels" of achievement for manual control vs assisted flight?

I was thinking silver devices for things achieved through use of automated assistance and gold for things achieved through pure skill and perseverance. It would help those who do things the hard way to show off... and I say that as someone who is not one of them. Partially because I feel guilty. Thoughts?

[Eric S]

I was thinking silver devices for things achieved through use of automated assistance and gold for things achieved through pure skill and perseverance.

It's been suggested and shot down before, and I can see why. When you do that, you're basically splitting everyone into two groups based on what mods they use. While automation may seem to be a clear cut line, others will disagree on that being where the line should be drawn. OP engines that make everything easy? hyperedit? part clipping? Basically, the guy that does the ribbons doesn't want to get drawn into that debate.

[EndOfTheEarth]

Could you add a little flag into the top right corner of various ribbons for multiple manned landings? I know that the Probe vs Lander thing generally covers this, but it doesn't allow you to make the claim if, say, you take more pride in your space station or multipart ship than the actual landing, nor does it allow a person to show that they've been to a destination more than once. With flag planting being on the horizion, it seems like a logical thing to do.

[erendrake]

it seems like a logical thing to do.

It does not seem logical to me. I think that they are getting busy enough as it is.

[Moustachauve]

In the old thread, as Eric mentioned, Unistrut informed us that he didn't want to separate the ones who play with mods from the vanilla player. If you think you don't deserve something because you used a certain mod, then simply don't put it in your signature.

On an other hand, If any one that have a minimal "talent" with graphical programs like gimp or photoshop could send me a private message to help me extract each "layer" without weird black things (Or other problem I have), that would be very nice

[Unistrut]

Could you post an example? I might be able to fix it, what with having the source image an all that.

[CobraA1]

Question: What exactly would qualify as a grand tour?

[Unistrut]

A ship needs to visit at least two planets other than Kerbin to be eligible for the Grand Tour shield.

[Temstar]

A ship needs to visit at least two planets other than Kerbin to be eligible for the Grand Tour shield.

What about moons? I thought entering and leaving moon's SOI also count towards grand tour?

But then that raises an interesting question. Suppose a large mothership arrives in Jool and undocks five landers. Each of the five landers land on a Joolian moon and returns to the mothership waiting in LJO. The reassembled combination then leaves Jool to visit another planet.

How does that count towards Grand Tour? Does it still count as "one ship visiting six worlds"?

[Unistrut]

You get pips for moons, but the big shield itself requires a second non-Kerbin planet, mostly to keep swinging by the Mun on the way out to some other planet from qualifying.

As for the sub-vessels, if they were carried from another world by the mothership, then they are part of the Tour.

Edit - The "No moons" thing is why I don't have a GT award...

Edited May 15, 2013 by Unistrut

[Specialist290]

A ship needs to visit at least two planets other than Kerbin to be eligible for the Grand Tour shield.

Just to clarify what might be a technicality: Do gravity slingshots count, or do you have to circularize an orbit at at least two planets with the same ship?