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The Kerbal Centipede (First Sequence)

ihtoit

By ihtoit
in KSP1 Challenges & Mission ideas

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ihtoit

ihtoit

Posted
Posted (edited)

Calm down, this isn't as horrifying as it sounds.

Basically, the challenge is to build the longest, heaviest land vehicle you can using the Clamptron docking ports. The catch is it must be able to move under its own power and not fall apart.

Build criteria:

Each segment *must* be built using the following structural limitations:

*at least* 2 pairs of wheels

1 superstructural segment (ie fuel tank or structural panel)

1 Clamptron at each end

You may use any control method you wish (ie probe core or Kerbal cabin) to move each segment to join with the train. Segments will only count if they are joined with their neighbours via a Clamptron, Clamptron Junior or Clamptron Senior docking port.

You may only use the front and the rear units as the powertrain in the finished vehicle. You may use any power method except stupidly overpowered stuff.

Any structural addon is permitted, including quantum struts. No silly clipping or ALT+F12 shenanigans. No "unbreakable joints"!

*No Command Chairs! Kerbal capacity should utilise control cabins, hitchhiker cans and the like.

*trains by definition consist of more than one like segment. Single unit entries like Hakari's juggernaut will be disqualified.

Scoring:

A. That's A Big Centipede: total finished vehicle tonnage divided by number of cars, that divided by number of wheels. Multiply that by number of Kerbals aboard (not capacity, the actual number you have on board. Be honest!).

B. It Lives!: Train moves under its own power, score points as m/s, double points for a course change of more than 45 degrees.

C. Tom Six Would Be Proud: Take the train around the KSC campus in one piece, pull up alongside the runway. 10 points per segment.

(HISTORY: I built such a vehicle in .18, it consisted of four segments and ran just over 250 tons, sitting across 32 pairs of stock landing gears and powered by LF fans. Each of the back 3 segments had room for (I think) six Kerbals and 21 in the front one, all had running boards along the top and a water board at the back of the last segment. Yes, it was amphibious and had a turning circle like a planet, top speed on land was something like 25m/s and on water 3 or 4m/s). Segments were joined with Clamptrons and reinforced with Quantum struts.

This was the smallest of the four segments, this one sat at the front: it might be familiar to one or two of you as my Ark II Space Bus, only difference is this had a Clamptron and a pair of Quantum struts at the back instead of the water board.

1150677_330775420391795_1264600086_o.jpg

My little project would score...

A: 1.95 with 1 Kerbal, 76.17 filled to capacity)

B: 50

C: 40

Total: 91.95 w/1 Kerbal, 166.17 full

Leaderboard:

1. Bean with A: 213.41/5/24*109 = 193.85, B: 30m/s, C: 5 segments, 50, Total: 273.85

Edited by ihtoit
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Bean

Bean

Posted
Posted (edited)

Ok, here's my entry, Front Module has 1 kerbal and a orange tank, for rocket boost (Not needed to move normally) as well as 3 pairs of powered wheels.

Each of the middle modules has 9 Hitchhiker modules, full of kerbals, with the wheel on an action group to disable them after docking, fuel tanks at either end as well.

The End module is the same as the front but with the pod replaced with a docking port.

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Scoring:

A: 213.41/5/24*109 = 193.85

B: 30m/s

C: 5 segments, 50

Total: 273.85

I didn't both to try without all the kerbals on board, and I'm sure I could add more middle segments/weight if anyone beats me by a small amount

EDIT: After seeing Hakari's entry, you could just do that until the end of RAM and win... Possibly have score A be multiply by number of segments, because you are taking less than the average kerbals*mass per segment and dividing by 4 (Min number of wheels), so there's no incentive to build more than a single module.

Edited by Bean
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Hakari

Hakari

Posted
Posted (edited)
No, Hakari, you failed the challenge by cheating your way in. 1 segment does not make a train. Well done, Bean.

you never said that it had to be more than 1 segment, and your example craft was also 1 segment. In fact, you never even said that it has to be a train.

Nobody is cheating here except yourself, making a challenge and refusing to accept valid entries because your rules make no sense.

Edited by Hakari
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Hakari

Hakari

Posted
Posted
my example was the front segment and in case you missed it, does not feature on the leaderboard.

doesn't change the fact that no where on the OP does it say you need more than 1 segments, on top of the scoring system that rewards 1 segment builds.

any reasonable person would make 1 segment.

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zorque

zorque

Posted
Posted

I think Hikari and Bimu are the same person. Always looking for loopholes and then whining when someone calls them on it. "But the rules don't explicitly forbid blah blah blah."

Prolly the same troll teen behind the keyboard making 2 accounts to feel twice as good about loopholing the way to another leaderboard.

I'll bet that's the reason a lot of folks put "the spirit of the challenge" in the rules. Because, let's face it, one segment does NOT a centipede make.

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thereaverofdarkness

thereaverofdarkness

Posted
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I disagree, zorque. What Hikari said was spot-on. His submission was anything but cheating. He followed the rules implicitly and made a good submission. Using less segments to get a higher score isn't a loophole when the rules clearly state that the score is divided by the number of segments.

Bimu, on the other hand, can't seem to submit anything without copious amounts of cheating. I give him props for pushing the limits of what can be done illegitimately in KSP because he is pretty creative, but his submissions are actually cheating. Hikari's submission was completely legitimate. When the original scoring rules are shown to be poorly designed, it is expected of the author to change the rules, not call cheating on someone who scored well by following them in an unintended fashion. The whole point of these challenges is to put your mind to the test and make something creative that other people wouldn't have thought of.

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zorque

zorque

Posted
Posted

Look, reaver, I wasn't saying Hikari was cheating. I was saying he was ignoring the spirit of the challenge, and then whining when someone called him on it.

Implicit or not, if a challenge has "centipede" in the title, calls for segments held together by clamp-o-trons, and asks that each segment have a docking port at the front and back, you'd probably infer that they intended the challenge to be putting a SEGMENTED vehicle together. So what if the author didn't specifically put "Don't only make 1 segment" in the rules, that should be pretty obvious.

Furthermore, this is a game, not a court hearing. It should be about people getting together and thinking outside of the box to complete a challenge within the spirit of the challenge, not jumping on the weakest link in the wording and exploiting that.

Anyway, that's my opinion, and it's just an opinion. Call me old fashioned (or just old), but I'm just the kind of guy who won't do mods or unlock cheats that make the games I play easier.

I appreciate your explaining your disagreement in a calm and mature manner.

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Fengist

Fengist

Posted
Posted

Hakari, you nub. If you're going to outwit someone, be prepared to outwit them again when they call foul. The man wants segments... give him... segments.

607t/2 segments /4 pairs of wheels (only front and rear of chain powered) yes, the tracks are EACH one piece) = 76.1 (I shall round to 76) * (14 * 8 * 6 * 2) Kerbals 102,144 points.

Oh wait. It moves at 1m/s so 102,145 points.

Daisy1.png

Daisy2.png

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