Save Tim Kerman! - A challenge focusing on implementation

[TelluriumCrystal]

How are the space challenges possible within the time limit? You can't go to Mun within 3 hours....

Hmm... good point. I haven't had a chance to check those over for feasibility (though one or two are meant to be impossible ).

I'll go through them all now and re-balance them. Please do let me know if any other ones seem out of place.

[Kromey]

Completed!

I could have done it in a more Kerbal-esque manner, and I may still re-do it in such a fashion. But after seeing Botoro's BirdDog in action on Laythe, I just had to build my own -- and this happened to be the perfect proving ground for it!

I Got Wheels -- 10 points

This Ain't No Seaplane -- 10 points

Up There -- 10 points

Getting Higher -- 20 points

Supersonic -- 50 points

Landing Like A Pro -- 100 points

Jeb's A Dick (aka The Journey) -- 20 points (Jeb parked the BirdDog there and made Tim huff it to him.)

Hardcore Pilot -- 100 points

Made It Back In One Piece -- 100 points

Total: 420 points

Not a great total, I could do a lot better, but an excellent proving of the BirdDog MkII.

More screenshots are available in the album if you want to see more of the mission, and/or my editorial comments.

[TelluriumCrystal]

Completed!

I could have done it in a more Kerbal-esque manner, and I may still re-do it in such a fashion. But after seeing Botoro's BirdDog in action on Laythe, I just had to build my own -- and this happened to be the perfect proving ground for it!

Total: 420 points

Not a great total, I could do a lot better, but an excellent proving of the BirdDog MkII.

More screenshots are available in the album if you want to see more of the mission, and/or my editorial comments.

Nicely done! And a very interesting spaceplane design too! Adding you to the leaderboards now...

Edited May 19, 2013 by Thrfoot

[FlandersNed]

Hang on, doesn't my submission also get points for 'Up there' and 'hardcore pilot' as well?

Or is it too late to change?

[TelluriumCrystal]

Hang on, doesn't my submission also get points for 'Up there' and 'hardcore pilot' as well?

Or is it too late to change?

Did I not add those? Lemme go recalculate it and check. I'll update the total if it's wrong.

Edit: Total updated, and you have moved out of last place.

Also from here on out, I will not check to add more points to existing submissions unless notified by its author to do so.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Thrfoot

[Tw1]

How are the space challenges possible within the time limit? You can't go to Mun within 3 hours....

You can, but it's not straight forward.

[Holo]

I really want to get |¬µ∂á∫À but I don't know how

[TurkeyXIII]

Behold, the Jumpjet II:

VTOL, deployable glider on the underside, capable of mach 5+...

Video of here:

Achievements:

10 - This ain't no seaplane!

10 - Up There

20 - Getting Higher

50 - Supersonic

100 - Hypersonic

100 - Landing Like a Pro

100 - Hardcore Pilot

200 - VTOL FTW

100 - Yo Dawg

500 - Speed Run

Totals 1190 if you're giving points for both supersonic and hypersonic. Timer was on 27:55 at the end, I think I could get it under 20 mins if I landed better. I reckon 500 might be a bit much for doing it in under an hour, the only disadvantage really is that it limits how many others you can get.

[TelluriumCrystal]

I really want to get |¬µ∂á∫À but I don't know how

I don't either. Someone in a black suit came up to me yesterday and asked me to add it. I assumed it'd be a bad idea to say no.

[Tobmaster]

To make things easier on the submissions, I decided to just update my original post with my updated score and photos. according to my calculations, that should be 1480 now. I never count using spaceplane wheels since it is a flyer...

Thanks again

Edited May 19, 2013 by Tobmaster

[TelluriumCrystal]

Totals 1190 if you're giving points for both supersonic and hypersonic. Timer was on 27:55 at the end, I think I could get it under 20 mins if I landed better. I reckon 500 might be a bit much for doing it in under an hour, the only disadvantage really is that it limits how many others you can get.

Nice work! You had a close call with that second takeoff! I'll go add you submission to the leaderboards.

Also, as far as "Speed Run" goes, I see your point. I'll lower it to 300 to balance it better.

To make things easier on the submissions, I decided to just update my original post with my updated score and photos. according to my calculations, that should be 1480 now. I never count using spaceplane wheels since it is a flyer...

Thanks again

If you used the spaceplane wheels to land, then they count.

I'll go update your score now. Glad you had fun!

Edited May 19, 2013 by Thrfoot

[1096bimu]

Reserving a spot for all these challenges in one go!

10 - This Ain't no Seaplane! – Utilize spaceplane wheels

20 - Race Car – Achieve an over-land speed of over 100 m/s

100 - The Behemoth – Your vehicle, weighing at least 100 tons, travels >2 km without leaving the ground

100 - Low Roller – Your vehicle spends 1 hour touching the ground (may jump up to 10m)

10 - Up There – Reach an altitude of 1km

20 - Getting Higher – Reach an altitude of 10km

50 - The Border – Reach an altitude of 69km

50 - Supersonic – Achieve a speed greater than 800m/s without leaving Kerbin's atmosphere (reentry does not count)

100 - Hypersonic – Achieve a speed greater than 1500m/s without leaving Kerbin's atmosphere (reentry does not count)

100 - Landing Like a Pro – Land horizontally like a plane

500 - Around and Around We Go – Circumnavigate Kerbin without leaving the atmosphere

50 - Spaaaaace! – Exit Kerbin's atmosphere

100 - Orbit Achieved – Achieve a stable orbit over 75km

100 - We Got Time – Orbit Kerbin 6 times

100 - Side Quest – Deploy a satellite with a probe core and power generation capabilities into an orbit of 150km

200 - I'm on Fire! – Have Tim reenter the atmosphere fast enough to cause reentry effects to appear

500 - There and Back Again – Your vehicle enters space to retrieve Tim, then returns to space while returning to the KSC

500 - Difficult Side Quest – Send a probe on an intercept trajectory with the Mun or Minmus

1,000 - Jebediah's Side Quest – Send a probe on an escape trajectory out of the Kerbin System

50 - Scratched the Paint – Return with an obviously damaged vehicle

100 - Yo Dawg – Have a vehicle inside/on your vehicle that returns Tim to the KSC independent of the original vehicle

100 - Cutting it Close – Complete the challenge with less than 10 seconds to spare

500 - No Pod Left Behind – Return the Basic Orbiter pod to the KSC

[Pachi3080]

Accidentally, i killed him when i tryed to land my plane...

Can i get an Achievement for that?

[TelluriumCrystal]

Reserving a spot for all these challenges in one go!

I am very curious to see how you're going to manage all those at once! Looking forward to it.

[Darren9]

I am very curious to see how you're going to manage all those at once! Looking forward to it.

Especially without claiming the 300+ patrs challenge. I have more questions while a vid of latest attempt uploads. Say I have a craft on a craft for Yo Dawg, and that craft on a craft has a craft in it, another separate Dawg. Or I split into two crafts and they separately complete the same challenges? And, I'm leaving a rover parked for a couple of hours and then returning it to KSC, is on the ground but not actively flown good?

[TelluriumCrystal]

Especially without claiming the 300+ patrs challenge. I have more questions while a vid of latest attempt uploads. Say I have a craft on a craft for Yo Dawg, and that craft on a craft has a craft in it, another separate Dawg. Or I split into two crafts and they separately complete the same challenges? And, I'm leaving a rover parked for a couple of hours and then returning it to KSC, is on the ground but not actively flown good?

1. No, you may only complete each challenge once, regardless of the craft completing it.

2. Not sure what you mean, nothing's saying you can't leave a rover parked on the ground for a couple of hours, though it must be back within 3 hours if you want the "Made it Back in One Piece" achievement. If you're asking if not controlling a craft makes it exempt from the time limit (i.e. taking an hour to move a rover back, then taking an hour to move another only counts as one hour), then no. Regardless of what you do, the Timer craft will keep counting.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Thrfoot

[Darren9]

1. No, you may only complete each challenge once, regardless of the craft completing it.

2. Not sure what you mean, nothing's saying you can't leave a rover parked on the ground for a couple of hours (though there is a 3 hour time limit).

For Low Roller, it's touching the ground for almost 3 hours, only about 5 mins with me actually controlling it though.

[TelluriumCrystal]

For Low Roller, it's touching the ground for almost 3 hours, only about 5 mins with me actually controlling it though.

No, that wouldn't count. The requirement is that said achievement must contribute to your efforts to retrieve Tim. If you just ditch it and leave it there for the required time, it doesn't count.

[Darren9]

Ok, I'll let you decide. The Rover heads out towards Tim with everything on-board and is returned to KSC before the end.

I could have:

500 - No Pod Left Behind

100 - Made it Back in One Piece

100 - Yo Dawg

100 - Fill 'er Up!

100 - Landing Like a Pro

100 - Hardcore Pilot

200 - VTOL FTW

10 - Up There

20 - Getting Higher

100 - The Behemoth

100 - Low Roller

10 - I Got Wheels!

I should of gone 100ms on rover wheels, put Tim on the VAB and waited 15 mins at the end but two and three quarter hours is a long mission for me. I had to end it It's a fun challenge - Thanks.

[TelluriumCrystal]

I should of gone 100ms on rover wheels, put Tim on the VAB and waited 15 mins at the end but two and three quarter hours is a long mission for me. I had to end it It's a fun challenge - Thanks

Nice work! Glad you liked it!

As far as "Low Roller" goes, unfortunately it doesn't count since, while you do use it to help get Tim, you don't use it to help get Tim for 1 hour. If you had used it to cross the entire continent (and took an hour to do so), then it would have counted.

I'll go add your score now!

[localSol]

Oh man, I have been trying this for the last 4 days straight. My first two non plane/rocket craft that took the first 3(.3333) days were fun but heroically 'sploded. Finally I decided to try a plane to recover the pod with a KAS electromagnet but when I got within 200 meters of it, it had some kind of bug that caused it to shoot kilometers in the air (and later impact). People say it's a stock KSP engine bug, I think. The same thing happened when I got to the timer vehicle, but at least I was practically there and got the timer MET on video. I had enough electricity to magnetize the command pod indefinitely but couldn't get to it because of the bug. At least Tim's back!

Video (available in 720p):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJCYeFnwTL4

I think I've got : Up There, Getting Higher, Supersonic, Landing Like a Pro, Hardcore Pilot, Made it Back in One Piece, Speed Run = 680

Might try again to see if I can get the pod.

I was thinking of some badges. I love the ones so far! Good variety.

100 - Slipstream - Travel the whole way using the FAR mod, no matter what type of craft you use.

FAR makes moving in the atmosphere trickier.

How about some separate badges that might encourage more people to try, they are failures of the mission :

Kerboic Disasters (all applicable rules still apply, score is separate from the normal score table and you can get unofficial recognition of the badges from the normal table but not the scores with them - name only - in other words these are the only scores you can get if you fail to rescue Tim):

50 - The Red Button - Explode within 5 seconds of launch.

70 - Abort - Disintegrate within one minute of launch.

100 - I Smell Smoke - Crash or fail to get to Tim halfway or less distance to him.

150 - Determined - Travel toward Tim for 30 minutes but run out of fuel/crash/disable your vehicle. Not cumulative.

200 - Could Pilot In My Sleep - Travel toward Tim for 1 hour or more but run out of fuel/crash/disable your vehicle. Not cumulative.

250 - Oh The Humanity - Crash or run out of fuel after you pick up Tim. Not cumulative.

Another reason I suggest that is I spent many hours boating most of the way there (the coasts are really, really long), and then I spun out and broke my seaplane float! Fun trip though. I have a video of that.

Another badge suggestion - ?? - Personal Pan Pizza - Use Taverio's Pizza and Aerospace Mod

Edited May 20, 2013 by localSol

[Designer225]

Time to design a launcher that can launch at both point. Now that's hard.

[1096bimu]

Well looks like I was overly ambitious. I had my design for doing all that in one go, but I couldn't land it like a plane it's too heavy so here is my plan B. After two days of trying I finally got a successful run!

Achievements:

10 - Up There – Reach an altitude of 1km

20 - Getting Higher – Reach an altitude of 10km

50 - The Border – Reach an altitude of 69km

50 - Supersonic – Achieve a speed greater than 800m/s without leaving Kerbin's atmosphere

100 - Hypersonic – Achieve a speed greater than 1500m/s without leaving Kerbin's atmosphere (I forgot to screenshot but this is definitely a hypersonic vehicle at TWR>4)

200 - VTOL FTW – In a winged vessel capable of level flight, land vertically under power

500 - The Dive – Have Tim free-fall >1km (He gets off the ladder and gets back on while in space, so it is technically a "free fall")

50 - Spaaaaace! – Exit Kerbin's atmosphere

100 - Orbit Achieved – Achieve a stable orbit over 75km

100 - Side Quest – Deploy a satellite with a probe core and power generation capabilities into an orbit of 150km (when my Mun intercept probe circles back it will be in a high orbit via gravity assist)

200 - I'm on Fire! – Have Tim reenter the atmosphere fast enough to cause reentry effects to appear

500 - There and Back Again – Your vehicle enters space to retrieve Tim, then returns to space while returning to the KSC

500 - Difficult Side Quest – Send a probe on an intercept trajectory with the Mun or Minmus

1,000 - Jebediah's Side Quest – Send a probe on an escape trajectory out of the Kerbin System

100 - Made it Back in One Piece – Do not loose a single part from your vehicle (or make sure all pieces make it back to the KSC undamaged) (I mean I have stages and probes, as well as the unfortunate kerbanaut who had to make room for Kim)

100 - Batman – Finish the challenge with Tim on the roof of the VAB

300 - Speed Run – Complete the challenge in under an hour

=3,880 points

Edited May 21, 2013 by 1096bimu

[localSol]

Wow, what a mission that was. What happened with Bill? Multi-SABRE rocket 'for the win'.

Are the deflectors needed to keep the fuel tanks from exploding or only as a precaution?

How'd you get Tim to hang on at mach 1.264? I had Tim hang on to my normal plane ladder once while flying to the command pod, but he got ripped off somewhere between 70-200 m/s. It just occurred to me now that maybe it was also (or instead) the G-forces from my pitching up?

[1096bimu]

Wow, what a mission that was. What happened with Bill? Multi-SABRE rocket 'for the win'.

Are the deflectors needed to keep the fuel tanks from exploding or only as a precaution?

How'd you get Tim to hang on at mach 1.264? I had Tim hang on to my normal plane ladder once while flying to the command pod, but he got ripped off somewhere between 70-200 m/s. It just occurred to me now that maybe it was also (or instead) the G-forces from my pitching up?

The deflectors are just landing legs, I needed short ones that could fit under the wings but not too tall such that Tim can't reach the ladder.

As for how he holds on, I don't know actually. At first I was hoping to get him into the cockpit from the start but there was a problem with the connection between two ladders and he can't climb all the way up. So I just had him hanging there and lunched into space. Then I found that he was drifting away while I was already in space so I thought, oh what an opportunity to get back in! So I got Bill out and let him fall to his death, and let Tim in to get back home! Maybe it's FAR, I heard that it makes kerbanauts more aerodynamic.