The Versatility Marathon Challenge

[700NitroXpress]

I guess we will see.. hopefully not too much "err"ing! And, good luck yourself. There will be many points I don't try for..

Pending approval of the "VIC-20", this is the mission package for the first challenge:

Core craft and Mission 01 package approved, good luck!

[700NitroXpress]

Alright, so what I'm going to do with the NASA launch points is just compact them for each mission. So you'll have to launch all craft for the mission using NASA launch vehicles and you get 100 bonus points for the mission. I'm also going to put shuttle missions as: you can only get 100 points max per mission.

Mission meaning: the mission posted from Kerbal Space Command HQ.

If you do one shuttle mission, you get 50 points, if you do 2 shuttle missions you get 100 points, any additional shuttle missions don't award more points until the next mission.

This takes effect on Mission 03

[Hodo]

I've a bug waiting for fix.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/60126-LV-N-Engines-no-fuel-after-attachment-on-top?p=811782#post811782

My mission can't proceed due to this bug. So, I might need to send another version of the interplanetary-traveler-module.

Never had that issue, but I use TAC Fuel balancer mod. Which lets me balance the fuel balance automatically.

[Death Engineering]

Core craft and Mission 01 package approved, good luck!

Thanks! Your concept for a "sustainable" challenge is excellent - good job!

Couple of questions, if I may..

1. "Landing on both Poles and the equator +10 points" - Is this +10 points for doing all three on Mun and another +10 for Minmus?
   
2. "More than one Kerbal lands on a moon +5 points per Kerbal" - Is this scored for each extra Kerbal on both the Mun landing(s) and Minmus landing(s)?
   

[700NitroXpress]

Thanks! Your concept for a "sustainable" challenge is excellent - good job!

Couple of questions, if I may..

1. "Landing on both Poles and the equator +10 points" - Is this +10 points for doing all three on Mun and another +10 for Minmus?
   
2. "More than one Kerbal lands on a moon +5 points per Kerbal" - Is this scored for each extra Kerbal on both the Mun landing(s) and Minmus landing(s)?
   

1. You only have to do it once, if you do it for both moons then it's 20 points.

2. I may not entirely understand the question... If you land 4 kerbals on Mun, you get 20 points, if the same 4 kerbals land on Minmus then that's 20 points. Mission total is 40 points. The scoring per moon is independent of the other moon.

[700NitroXpress]

New mission is posted, please understand the rules changes to NASA launches and Shuttle Missions. If you have questions, ask them.

[Death Engineering]

1. You only have to do it once, if you do it for both moons then it's 20 points.

2. I may not entirely understand the question... If you land 4 kerbals on Mun, you get 20 points, if the same 4 kerbals land on Minmus then that's 20 points. Mission total is 40 points. The scoring per moon is independent of the other moon.

Thanks, that answered my questions. Just one more.. do I need to refuel the core craft and deliver the mission package on a single launch, or can multiple launched be used to refit and equip the core craft? Say, could I send up a tanker then one or two separate launches of parts for the next mission?

[700NitroXpress]

Thanks, that answered my questions. Just one more.. do I need to refuel the core craft and deliver the mission package on a single launch, or can multiple launched be used to refit and equip the core craft? Say, could I send up a tanker then one or two separate launches of parts for the next mission?

You can do as many launches as you want to equip the core craft for the mission. Once you head out for the mission, then you can't return or refuel until the mission is complete or you suffer the point penalty. So you can launch up a refuel ship, then launch up the satellites, then launch up rovers, launch up a lander, launch up crew, and so on. The number of launches you do has no impact on point values, unless it's all NASA launches or 2 shuttle missions. NASA launches are not applicable for Mission 01. Just leave orbital debris.

[Hodo]

Quick question about the monstrosity you want on Moho, ok two.

1- is it a subassembly or a regular craft file?

2- Is there anyway to reduce the parts count down? 150 parts is pretty hefty for some, and may actually make this mission impossible for my current craft due to the parts count, not because of the mass or any other reason.

[Sirine]

Quick question about the monstrosity you want on Moho, ok two.

1- is it a subassembly or a regular craft file?

2- Is there anyway to reduce the parts count down? 150 parts is pretty hefty for some, and may actually make this mission impossible for my current craft due to the parts count, not because of the mass or any other reason.

I agree. It should be done in sub-assembly, and 150 parts is for only 1 side...the mission could be 2 sided or 4 sided. (150x4)

Small update: Eve&Gilly Rover both attach to the main module.

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[700NitroXpress]

Quick question about the monstrosity you want on Moho, ok two.

1- is it a subassembly or a regular craft file?

2- Is there anyway to reduce the parts count down? 150 parts is pretty hefty for some, and may actually make this mission impossible for my current craft due to the parts count, not because of the mass or any other reason.

1. It's a regular craft file for the VAB.

2. I guess you could remove some struts, maybe the Xenon gas tanks if you really need to. 150 parts should be no problem unless you're using a laptop.

[Sirine]

1. It's a regular craft file for the VAB.

2. I guess you could remove some struts, maybe the Xenon gas tanks if you really need to. 150 parts should be no problem unless you're using a laptop.

If you insisted on the 150 part count. Hodo, TML and I will not going to be happy and "enjoy the game" for this mission. Left you alone for your own define mission.

Btw, I'm using laptop.

[700NitroXpress]

I agree. It should be done in sub-assembly, and 150 parts is for only 1 side...the mission could be 2 sided or 4 sided. (150x4)

You're allowed to take just 2 to Moho, drop them off, then return to Kerban and collect the other 2, then go back to Moho. Which is what I would recommend because there's no point in taking all 4 in one trip. So that would only be 300 parts total for the actuators.

I just got done launching my Eve escape pod into orbit and it's 608 parts.

[700NitroXpress]

Here, I'll ask that you at least test it first and see how your computers do, then if it's a problem, I'll make another one with a lower part count.

[700NitroXpress]

I made a low part count version for those of you that can't handle the 150 part version.

New version is 68 parts and it's a subassembly, 28.99 tons

[Sirine]

I made a low part count version for those of you that can't handle the 150 part version.

New version is 68 parts and it's a subassembly, 28.99 tons

Thanks. That is much better.

[700NitroXpress]

Thanks. That is much better.

Ok, good to hear. The new one is now linked in the mission description, and it's a subassembly, I just removed the old one and updated the image. I tested it and it works just the same, rules for it remain the same.

[700NitroXpress]

I got my Eve escape pod assembly docked to my core craft.

[Sirine]

I got my Eve escape pod assembly docked to my core craft.

I have no ideal how you bring that 'giant' up there...Are they fully fuel?

[700NitroXpress]

I have no ideal how you bring that 'giant' up there...Are they fully fuel?

I use my Leviathan lifters. The eve escape pod is about 200 tons so that's nothing. The escape pod is fully fueled, I have to refuel the core craft a little bit because I used some RCS and liquid fuel for intercept and docking. I'm sending up the science package, engine assembly and landers right now. It's going to be a little tricky because I have to dock 2 docking ports at once.

[Sirine]

I use my Leviathan lifters. The eve escape pod is about 200 tons so that's nothing. The escape pod is fully fueled, I have to refuel the core craft a little bit because I used some RCS and liquid fuel for intercept and docking. I'm sending up the science package, engine assembly and landers right now. It's going to be a little tricky because I have to dock 2 docking ports at once.

Ic, That is an accomplishment by itself. Looking forward for your successful mission report.

And I'm gonna resend my interplanetary-core-module, due to the game bug.

[Hodo]

1. It's a regular craft file for the VAB.

2. I guess you could remove some struts, maybe the Xenon gas tanks if you really need to. 150 parts should be no problem unless you're using a laptop.

I am not using a laptop and I am still limited. My i5 quad core with 8GB of RAM and a NVIDIA 260GTX does not like large parts count. Its not even that the game is taxing my computer, it wont dedicate more than 1 core to KSP anyway, it is however the fact the game wont let me use my GPU to do the physics calculations, which the Nvidia cards do so well.

I think I may look at the craft and see if I can tweak it by dumping parts I know I can replace with the same weight and function just less parts count.

Oh I built a lifter that can get it to orbit, or anything for that matter.

SP-406

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EDIT-

After I spent the past 2 hours building the most powerful SSTO lifter I have ever designed. You make a smaller version... LOL figures.

Well at least I have something to refuel my space station in one trip now.

[700NitroXpress]

And I'm gonna resend my interplanetary-core-module, due to the game bug.

Yeah, I saw that in your post, that's fine.

[700NitroXpress]

Hodo, this game was made in Unity. Unity games only run on a single core and I don't think Unity has support code for Nvidia PhysX. That's why the game seems to run slowly on everyone's computer. I do think you're running into RAM limitations tho, I use 6.5 gb of RAM right now with KSP open and the internet open. So depending on how much stuff you have on your computer, you could be slowing down due to RAM constraints. Either that or you have a slow i5. What's the processors clock speed?

Yeah, there's a new low part count version out now since the 150 part version was too high. The SSTO still serves a very good purpose tho.

Edit: Just checked, Unity doesn't have physics acceleration support of any kind, which means that KSP will never have it unless they change engines.

Edited December 1, 2013 by 700NitroXpress

[Hodo]

Hodo, this game was made in Unity. Unity games only run on a single core and I don't think Unity has support code for Nvidia PhysX. That's why the game seems to run slowly on everyone's computer. I do think you're running into RAM limitations tho, I use 6.5 gb of RAM right now with KSP open and the internet open. So depending on how much stuff you have on your computer, you could be slowing down due to RAM constraints. Either that or you have a slow i5. What's the processors clock speed?

Yeah, there's a new low part count version out now since the 150 part version was too high. The SSTO still serves a very good purpose tho.

I read about the Unity engines limitations when I first got the game. But the game shouldn't use more than 3.4GB of RAM. It isn't written in 64bit only 32 bit so it can't recognize more than about 3.4GB.

My CPU is an i5-3470 running at 3.20GHZ normal clocked, with 8GB of RAM on a W7/64.

I will download the new module thanks for the lower part count. I am still considering retiring the XI-2 and replacing it with one of my SSTOs that I have that I know will do anything it is asked.