Does anyone use or need supplies for their bases and outposts?

[Landge]

I was giving some thought about how running supplies could be handled in KSP. Small inline and radial fuel tanks have been done before but I was looking for other types of containers that carried some things that Kerbals crave when they're on break, like Snack food and cold drinks. Don't they ever have the munchies?

Then and a rare flash of inspiration hit me. Why not CRATES! I haven't seen those in the game. How would they be delivered? Maybe something along the lines of the Opportunity Rover, sky crane.

That was nice and neat.

How about add a parachutes and do a supply drop. Would that work on Duna? Definitely Eve or Laythe. Once dropped would a Kerbal be able to move it?

Started out with 12 crates...

48 crates were dropped in that last pic. What Kerbal would want to spend all that time gathering crates? After all they're just a bunch of debris.

Being debris would the crates vanish as soon as I went back to the Tracking Station? During my practice runs they didn't remain around KSP Center and I was not reverting back either. Was it just a local thing? Maybe it was the Kerbals. But all 48 crates at once? This needs another, longer distant, test. I sent a ship to deliver some crates to my Mun base, flew the ship back to kerbin, then recovered it. I go back to the Tracking Station and select my Mun Base.

Here's what I saw...

Yay! The crates do remain! But what would be even better would be to see them disappear one by one over time. I guess as I add more debris in game they'll eventually get deleted. Just like Kerbals were using them.

On another note, how would you go about adding additional icons for stuff? We have icons for Ships, Rovers, Probes, Stations, Landers, Bases, and Debris. How about adding icons for Fuel Tanks left in orbit or supplies like crates?

Heck I'd like to see icons for Aircraft, Manned rovers, and Multi-part ships like those that Unistrut made for those neat ribbons. Those should really be added as awards in game. Just my 2. But I digress.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Landge

[Spyritdragon]

How'd you make them square like this?

[Dortmunder]

That's pretty cool

[bsalis]

Crate work there!

Every decent and proper computer game needs crates. Perhaps they will be a stock part sometime (for science stuffs perhaps).

[Epthelyn]

How'd you make them square like this?

Make one structural panel, then move another one right onto the edge of it. Rotate as necessary and repeat for all 6 sides.

-----

I wonder if it's possible to adapt these to fit seats inside. That way they wouldn't disappear until you removed the Kerbal and it would be a really cool way to send Kerbals to bases etc.

*Loads up KSP*

EDIT:

Krated Kerbal, anyone?

Edited August 20, 2013 by Epthelyn

[Landge]

Krated Kerbals +1 LOL!

By building a box out of these: M-1X1 Structural Panel.

I attach one side to a small decoupler then attach the sides using W or S keys to rotate 90 degrees. Then I attach the bottom to one of the side panels.

I tried making a forklift by attaching a 1X1 panel to a rover, with some Cubit Octagonal Struts for arms, but unfortunately it clips through the crate when I try to get under the crate. The rover in the previous pic is just pushing it into place.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Landge

[Spyritdragon]

It would indeed be fun to have a way of dropping supplies onto the surface of Eve.

Why do you find the crates keep disappearing though? I've never had any debris randomly disappear when it hits the atmosphere that i know of. I've had launch stages floating steadily on a 50 by 100 kilometer orbit and they didn't disappear.

[Epthelyn]

It would indeed be fun to have a way of dropping supplies onto the surface of Eve.

Why do you find the crates keep disappearing though? I've never had any debris randomly disappear when it hits the atmosphere that i know of. I've had launch stages floating steadily on a 50 by 100 kilometer orbit and they didn't disappear.

The altitude depends on the planet involved, but, taking in Kerbin as an example, debris will remain in a stable orbit through atmosphere whilst load loaded at anything above 30km. If it falls below 30km it will disappear, presumably as a "This debris was burned up in the atmosphere" simulation.

All objects unload when you're 2.5km away from them. If a piece of debris is moving or doing anything which could prevent the "Space Center" option (if you're controlling it at the time) it will usually disappear after this distance. Stationary objects will (usually) only disappear when there's enough debris in the system to go over the limit.

-----

Continuing on from my Krated Kerbal, it is possible to make a completely sealed crate (as shown in Landge's instructions) and put a seat into it and still get a Kerbal in it from the outside. If you rotate and zoom the camera until your view is inside the crate, you can right click the seat and get into it. Getting out isn't quite as easy, but fitting explosive charges inside the crate for Kerbal escape works well enough*.

*Disclaimer: This may result in Kerbal death due to high-speed pieces of panel. However, it is science.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Epthelyn

[Landge]

It would indeed be fun to have a way of dropping supplies onto the surface of Eve.

Why do you find the crates keep disappearing though? I've never had any debris randomly disappear when it hits the atmosphere that i know of. I've had launch stages floating steadily on a 50 by 100 kilometer orbit and they didn't disappear.

What I'm experiencing is Krates disappearing after they land. Specifically in the vicinity of KSC. There must be some minimum range where the game deletes debris around the Center.

I don't experience that with other probes or manned vessels. It could be due to the probe body, the crates, I mean Krates, are attached to, is destroyed after the drop.

The altitude depends on the planet involved, but, taking in Kerbin as an example, debris will remain in a stable orbit through atmosphere whilst load loaded at anything above 30km. If it falls below 30km it will disappear, presumably as a "This debris was burned up in the atmosphere" simulation.

All objects unload when you're 2.5km away from them. If a piece of debris is moving or doing anything which could prevent the "Space Center" option (if you're controlling it at the time) it will usually disappear after this distance. Stationary objects will (usually) only disappear when there's enough debris in the system to go over the limit.

-----

Continuing on from my Krated Kerbal, it is possible to make a completely sealed crate (as shown in Landge's instructions) and put a seat into it and still get a Kerbal in it from the outside. If you rotate and zoom the camera until your view is inside the crate, you can right click the seat and get into it. Getting out isn't quite as easy, but fitting explosive charges inside the crate for Kerbal escape works well enough*.

*Disclaimer: This may result in Kerbal death due to high-speed pieces of panel. However, it is science.

INGENIOUS! LOL!

[Spyritdragon]

All objects unload when you're 2.5km away from them. If a piece of debris is moving or doing anything which could prevent the "Space Center" option (if you're controlling it at the time) it will usually disappear after this distance. Stationary objects will (usually) only disappear when there's enough debris in the system to go over the limit.

Go generally anything that is in atmosphere when i decouple it, will thus experience an accelleration and prevent the space centre option, so it will be deleted.

How should i drop boosters then (or crates in this situation) with parachutes so they can be (re)used?

Edited August 20, 2013 by Spyritdragon

[annallia]

Genius... I just use the hitchhiker cans.

[leax256]

i "simulate" supplies buy using the tac mod. that way they will die if I don't give them supplies.

[Landge]

i "simulate" supplies buy using the tac mod. that way they will die if I don't give them supplies.

Interesting, I need to look into that. I'm just not sure I'm ready for that level of realism yet. I'm pretty capable of killing Kerbals without the help of mods.

It would suck having to track every mission I have, hoping my Kerbalnauts don't die waiting for the next planetary alignment to send a supply ship.

I added Clamp-O-Tron Jr's to Jeb's Krates-O-Stuff with a new one on the front of my rover. The first krate connected right away. The second was a bit more difficult. But with a bit of bumping around I finally managed to connect.

Now I can move krates around better than before. Bob still has to push the krates away from the ship and roll the port around for Jeb to dock while Bill releases the crates from inside the transport ship.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Landge

[leax256]

the game warns yo if the food is running low and will attempt to un timewarp you.

I would suggest a combination of KAS and infernal robotics for a non stock alternitive.

[Epthelyn]

Go generally anything that is in atmosphere when i decouple it, will thus experience an accelleration and prevent the space centre option, so it will be deleted.

How should i drop boosters then (or crates in this situation) with parachutes so they can be (re)used?

Provided you drop the crates and stay in the 2.5km limit until they've completely settled they should stay put. If you drop a crate from a plane moving at 300m/s and it takes 20 seconds to hit the ground by parachute then the plane will have moved out of the area and the 'debris' will unload and be deleted; if you do the same but stay within 2.5km of the crate until it hits the ground then it won't be unloaded.

Probably.

KSP messes with your mind if you try to think about it.

[Guest]

This is epic.

[Skorpychan]

Inspired by this, I tried a crew exchange with my Mun bases.

Eight crew dropped off, two returned to kerbin, two killed when the pod tipped over on landing.

[Epthelyn]

Inspired by this, I tried a crew exchange with my Mun bases.

Eight crew dropped off, two returned to kerbin, two killed when the pod tipped over on landing.

All in all, a success. Good job!