Climbing the KSC buildings.

[dj__jg]

In the 0.21 update, we got amazing new buildings at the KSC. They have a lot more details in comparison to the old buildings, and even feature stairwells and working ladders! After landing on top of the new VAB, I discovered I could climb from the ground to the top of the roof using the various ladders and stairwells. The ladders work just like the ladders you can add on your rockets, and the stairs work like, well, stairs… As I haven't found a thread dedicated to the climbing of the VAB and maybe even other buildings at the KSC, I made this thread, to offer guides on how to climb the buildings. I would however recommend you to discover these routes without looking at the guides, because it's quite fun to try. I will make a section with which buildings have been confirmed climbable, it might be a good idea to look at that before you spend hours trying to climb something, and IMGUR albums giving step by step explanations on how to climb them. If you have climbed a building that isn't in the guide yet, post which building it was, and i will try to climb it and make a guide about it.

LOW-GRADE SPOILER! (Climbable buildings)

• VAB: Confirmed and documented
  
• SPH: Busted: No ladders and/or stairs at all
  
• Radar Building: No ladders and/or stairs as far as i know.
  
• Mission Control: Stairs at the sides of the building, but they don't go all the way to the roof, stop short a meter or so. However, using some nifty engineering, it is possible to reach the top of the building using only ladders, stairs and musclepower:wink:.
  
• Astronaut Complex: Same as Mission control, stairs at the side of the building, but they don't go to the roof, stop short of it a meter or so
  

FYI, the Mission Control building is the unclickable, undescribed building you can see in the Space Center view, if you crash into it it reveals it's name.

I will probably add couple of pictures of the semi-climbable buildings, and maybe try to drop extra ladders on it, for the last meter(s) using the lander you can see in the VAB-screenshots.

HIGH-GRADE SPOILER! (Climbing Guides)

• How to climb the VAB:

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• How to climb the Mission Control building:

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Edited July 31, 2013 by dj__jg
Additional/updated information

[XenonSpark]

Holy crap, that's awesome.

[littlebattler]

I tend to get stuck on the top end of the ladders on the VAB. The first few sets are fine but the last (and longest) ladder is usually where everything broke. Last time I got Jeb stuck at the very end of the ladder, unable to move past it nor fall down. Just floating in place really awkwardly.

[Tw1]

Awesome trick: If you climb all the way to the top, let go, but press F as you fall, your kerbal flies back up to where you pressed F.

At least, it did for me.

[MockKnizzle]

I've driven all the way around the SPH and didn't see any stairwells or ladders, so I don't think that one's climbable. Haven't checked the Astronaut Complex or Mission Control, though.

[littlebattler]

Awesome trick: If you climb all the way to the top, let go, but press F as you fall, your kerbal flies back up to where you pressed F.

At least, it did for me.

I did that for the other ladders, yes

but the last one just made me float in place

[dj__jg]

I tend to get stuck on the top end of the ladders on the VAB. The first few sets are fine but the last (and longest) ladder is usually where everything broke. Last time I got Jeb stuck at the very end of the ladder, unable to move past it nor fall down. Just floating in place really awkwardly.

I got stuck a few time too, if you can't get off, use alt+f12 and whack-a-kerbal to knock your floating astronauts off the ladder, to the ground below. I get into trouble at the end of the ladder pretty often, most of the time i can't actually get off onto the roof. However, if you try often enough, you sometimes get a glitch that shoots your kerbal 10 meters or so into the air, and if you're quick to react, you can open your RCS pack and try to land at the top of the ladder.

[razark]

I tend to get stuck on the top end of the ladders on the VAB. The first few sets are fine but the last (and longest) ladder is usually where everything broke.

I got the guy all the way up, past every single ladder. Until the very end, where he got stuck at the top of the ladder onto the helipad itself.

[OptimumAmoeba]

I found that if you pan the camera around you can find a sweet spot where your kerbal will climb to the top most of the time.

[dj__jg]

I have just climbed to the top of the mission control building, more details are coming…

have arrived.

Edited August 3, 2013 by dj__jg

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Thanks for the tip. I tried to make vehicles to help a two-star kerbal skydive his way onto the roof. Not only was the impact velocity fatal, it cost me a lot of money in damages thanks to destroyed vehicles. Even when I tried to make a vehicle that would land me on the roof, it was near impossible to get it over the target zone.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

8 hours ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Thanks for the tip. I tried to make vehicles to help a two-star kerbal skydive his way onto the roof. Not only was the impact velocity fatal, it cost me a lot of money in damages thanks to destroyed vehicles. Even when I tried to make a vehicle that would land me on the roof, it was near impossible to get it over the target zone.

You can use the ladders to climb up all the way from the bottom I'm pretty sure, I have vague memories of doing it one day out of boredom lol.

Also, this thread is a bit old. (2013) Maybe you could start a new discussion on scaling the buildings in search of Easter Eggs? Most of these people are sadly not around anymore.