ack! invited to do a presentation on KSP!

[dizzysaurus]

I've been invited to run a brown-bag lunch session demonstrating KSP.

Has anyone ever done something like this? How would you structure 30 minutes of KSP demonstrations?

[42undead2]

Jebediah, explosions and boosters.

[rryy]

Who are you presenting it to?

[dizzysaurus]

Who are you presenting it to?

IT industry coworkers - brown-bag lunch is an informal way to share knowledge on various topics of interest.

[Richy teh space man]

Mun landing from start to finish?

[Epic DaVinci]

Make it interactive? have the people your are presenting too, shout out suggestions on building the rocket, then build it. see how a group voted ship flys. But do this without putting in any of your knowledge, let them figure out why its exploding.

[Xiphos]

30 minutes will go by quick! I would try to keep it to things that are entertaining....maybe something you haven't tried before or something risky.

[dizzysaurus]

Mun landing from start to finish?

That would show a heck of a lot of the game, sounds like a good idea.

[Crush]

Is your audience interested in video games?

Is your audience interested in spaceflight?

[dizzysaurus]

Is your audience interested in video games?

Is your audience interested in spaceflight?

we're a bunch of sysadmins, software developers and software QA folks. So yes, and yes

[TheHengeProphet]

Mun landing would be an excellent option. It should take approximately 30 minutes to get there and back (a little less if you don't daudle), and shows a great portion of game features.

A Minmus landing could also be good for the showcase, and if you're cocky, both!

[Joshington]

Give them the usual day to day rocket building in ksp.

Lots of struts, lots of boosters, lots of Jebediah XD

But seriously, it wouldn't hurt to work some comedy into it, like throwing kerbals into each other on the Mun.

[legodragonxp]

Preposition a few things to show them the basics. If you have time:

Put a lander or a rover in orbit around Duna so that you can demonstrate a landing there.

Put a manned lander in orbit about the Mun and land and plant a flag.

Place a probe or ship in high Joolean orbit so you can demonstrate aerobraking.

Have a station in orbit and demo a EVA

Have a few premade ships to show.

End with a big rocket made quickly and show a few failures, actually demonstrate failures ate several levels so that there is a steady for of failure.

How the in-game flag be the company logo.

-Lego

[Anton P. Nym]

With only a half-hour I think a Mun landing would feel a bit rushed to an audience coming to KSP without any prior knowledge; certainly you wouldn't have much time to show how vehicle assembly works, which is a big chunk of the game.

I'd go with:

- build an orbiter (that you'd already planned out and tested) in the VAB to show off the assembly process

- launch it into LKO to show launches

- do some basic orbit changes to show off the map display and maneuver nodes as well as how orbital mechanics work in the game

- switch to some orbiters around other worlds to show off the size of the game universe

- switch back to your orbiter and briefly show IVA/EVA

- finish off with a big reentry and splash/touchdown under parachutes

How the in-game flag be the company logo.

That would be a nice touch.

-- Steve

[J0hnsmine]

I want to see a video of this lunch.

[dizzysaurus]

I want to see a video of this lunch.

oh lawdy, fill me with even more social anxiety, why don't ya?!?

[Anton P. Nym]

And because I accidentally edited that bit out of my post... *sigh*

show a few failures, actually demonstrate failures at several levels

That should be there too; reinforce that failure is ALWAYS an option in KSP, but that it's not an ending but rather a chance to improve. Don't want folks thinking the game's hopeless after a few Rapid Unplanned Disassemblies.

-- Steve

[Alfondoo]

I think a Mun landing would be taking it too far, my favorite moment in this game so far was touching down on the Mun for the first time. I hadn't seen any videos explaining how to do it, it was pure exploration and the greatest feeling of achievement I've had so far in the game.

Spend 15 minutes with your colleagues building a very basic rocket with the aim of getting to orbit. Then show them a few pre-made ships (big space stations, rovers, aircraft) maybe finish off by showing something totally ridiculous like boats, submarines, rcs bikes - stuff to capture the imagination. Try to get in a mention of the community surrounding the game as well, it's a big part of what makes KSP what it is.

[Evrion]

Showcase the heart of the game!

For me, that's building, then flying. So: Build, then Fly a rocket.

I recomend showing them a very basic rocket, like command pod, parachute, tank, engine. fly it. Then ask some basic questions to see what they want to do to try the goal of getting to orbit.

How many stages?

Top: fuel amounts, engine?

other stages, how many engines, how much fuel per engine?

Other ideas?

Try to keep this design phase quick, so you can go back to it a few times. See what the crowd comes up with.

[acealeam]

Make it interactive? have the people your are presenting too, shout out suggestions on building the rocket, then build it. see how a group voted ship flys. But do this without putting in any of your knowledge, let them figure out why its exploding.

Exactly what I was thinking!

[Caelib]

Play a Scot Manley video.

[Apollo1391]

you should have them build a rocket and then show them an orbiter you made and the night before the presentation get a lander in mun orbit and to finish off the presentation land that lander and plant a flag with the company logo.

[Agent30632]

First of all, show them how to build a simple rocket, then launch an orbiter, and then Mun flyby.

Seems like enough for 30 min.

[Xeldrak]

30 minutes is basically nothing for a presentation, really. I don't think that you will get very far with this interactive, let them vote approach.

I'd do something like this:

• 5-10 minutes: Explaining what KSP is (stuff like it's still in development, you can get it on steam, right now only sandbox, "you head nasa", campaing mode is planned, plays in a solarsystem that is like ours but is not ours)
  
• 10-20 minutes: Build an orbiter from scatch (let it have at least 2 stages, so they can see staging and SRBs, because everybody likes SRBs), fly it and land it again.
  
• 5-10 minutes: Questions
  

Should you for some reasons be to fast and done under 30 minutes, take stock plane (or better: one you've built before) show them that you can build planes too and tell them about Spaceplanes, VTOLs and Pegasus-style launch Vehicles. You can also do this if there are no questions, what can happen (heavily depended on the crowd you are showing it).

Edited August 1, 2013 by Xeldrak

[DMagic]

I think Apollo has a good suggestion. Have a short, simple demonstration of rocket building (somewhat interactive) that preferably results in failure. Then show how to fix it and show a successful launch. You probably don't want to show the entire launch though, that can be a little boring and it has quite a bit of dead time.

A quick Mun landing from a craft already in orbit that you know works would be a good way to finish.

I think a complete mission is probably not a good idea. There is just too much dead time. One or two minute burns for orbital insertion or ejection to the Mun aren't very exciting. Showing the basics of construction and a few highlights of flight and failure is probably a good way to do it.