I´m circumnavigating Kerbin on a Rover - Completed August 24, 2014

[Wooks]

Today I finished my challenge to circumnavigate Kerbin by land, no mods, no hacks, only stock. Started roving north from the KSC on January 24, 2014, went over both poles, one sea, two islands, one ocean, leaving behind 74 EVA Kerbals and 74 flags, reaching the KSC from the south today August 10, 2014.

This is my personal challenge to circumnavigate Kerbin on a rover, no mods, only stock because HARDCORE. It´s a daunting task, I know, but I think it can be done, I´m taking my time and having a blast.

The general profile of this series:

- No Mods, no hacks, no hyperedit, only stock.

- This is a permadeath series, what crashes crashes and stays like that.

- If a rover crashes or there are casualties, a new rover is delivered by air from the Kerbal Space Center to the precise location of the last crash.

- The journey must be made on a rover with the wheels on the ground, no "hopping" over terrain obstacles to deliver a new rover a few kilometers ahead.

- The only exception to the previous rule: If a body of water cuts the path and there´s no way around, then the rover must be taken from the ground, transported over the gap and delivered on the other side.

This is the final episode

Edited August 11, 2014 by Wooks
I completed the challenge ;D

[Redrobin]

The first map is an old map. Also, you need to go atleast about 100 kilometers in the water in the route I see that is the shortest.

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

Go to the North Pole, stop 5m in front of it, walk around. Get out. Walk around. ??? Profit.

In all seriousness, try to tuck up to the poles whenever possible, it will shorten your route

[Retread]

Are you sure about this? Kerbin has a radius of 600 km, and a circumference of 3,770 km. Assuming you can maintain an average speed of 20 m/s, even a perfectly circular equatorial circumnavigation would take over 52 hours, and the circuitous route you have mapped out would probably take much longer. To each his own, but that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me.

[Mr. Rogue Ace]

Mechjeb now has a route ability in the Rover Autopilot... you can make waypoints to the places you need to go and what speed you want to go.

Mind you, there's a lot of hills and what not, so your rover needs to be very stable and very fast!

[Flixxbeatz]

Looks no problem to me, if you have 50+ hours to spare.

[Ekku Zakku]

If you want to do a circumnavigation without flying, the only way to do it is by boat. Me and two or three others have done the journey, and we have a thread for it as well, but I can't look it up right now since I'm at work. I'm sure a quick google search will find it though =3

Anywho, going around 120-150 m/s most of the trip will take between 10 to 13 hours. Way better than 52 hours, if you ask me =P it was quite a rewarding journey though, I definitely recommend it =3

[nubcaker]

Great idea! Why? I have no idea! But do it anyway!

Also, use this mod: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/49216

That way, you can record your path, and save it, which would be pretty cool to see.

[Wooks]

The first map is an old map. Also, you need to go atleast about 100 kilometers in the water in the route I see that is the shortest.

I was thinking going to the north pole, then round the other side to the south and back to the Space Center, less water in the way.

[mythbusters844]

You can use http://www.kerbalmaps.com/ for some good maps.

Are you sure about this? Kerbin has a radius of 600 km, and a circumference of 3,770 km. Assuming you can maintain an average speed of 20 m/s, even a perfectly circular equatorial circumnavigation would take over 52 hours, and the circuitous route you have mapped out would probably take much longer. To each his own, but that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me.

Not if you do it in multiple sessions.

[Motokid600]

Well on Kerbin you should be able to travel at x3, x4 warp the entire time. But you need a stable rover. And.. its gotta float... And it needs propulsion in the water. Make sure you stop as much as possible to quick save as well. ESPECIALY before you hit the water. The kraken lurks in the deep.

Or.. build a vtol that can carry the rover over the water and set it down. I know you don't wanna fly, but if its just to get over the water then it could save you ALOT of frustration. I'd personally rather build a vtol then a boat-rover.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Motokid600

[theend3r]

Are you sure about this? Kerbin has a radius of 600 km, and a circumference of 3,770 km. Assuming you can maintain an average speed of 20 m/s, even a perfectly circular equatorial circumnavigation would take over 52 hours, and the circuitous route you have mapped out would probably take much longer. To each his own, but that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me.

20 m/s? You can go at much larger speeds on Kerbin even with physical timewarps. I have a rover capable of going about 30 m/s on mun at 3x timewarp...

[Wooks]

You can use http://www.kerbalmaps.com/ for some good maps.

Not if you do it in multiple sessions.

Thanks for the link, very useful. And yes, multiple sessions.

[Wooks]

Well on Kerbin you should be able to travel at x3, x4 warp the entire time. But you need a stable rover. And.. its gotta float... And it needs propulsion in the water. Make sure you stop as much as possible to quick save as well. ESPECIALY before you hit the water. The kraken lurks in the deep.

Or.. build a vtol that can carry the rover over the water and set it down. I know you don't wanna fly, but if its just to get over the water then it could save you ALOT of frustration. I'd personally rather build a vtol then a boat-rover.]

When I checked the maps my first idea was to trace a path over land only, then I realized how tortuous it would be. The vtol idea is solid and I like it, but I´d try to design it as a surface ship, some kind of hovercraft... when I get there... if I get there.

[Wooks]

Go to the North Pole, stop 5m in front of it, walk around. Get out. Walk around. ??? Profit.

In all seriousness, try to tuck up to the poles whenever possible, it will shorten your route

Agreed, great minds think alike.

[katateochi]

well, I think you're crazy, but then aren't we all. Go for it!! But I seriously hope you use some form of automation!

Also I think an amphibious rover would be the coolest solution.

[lajoswinkler]

If you want to subject your rover to such tremendous mission, you need those large wheels. You can't do that with the smallest. Chances are they'll break somewhere.

You could do something like KurtJmac does with his Far Lands Or Bust in Minecraft, except you'll be returning to your original spot, and he won't. That would be an interesting thing for youtube.

[Whirligig Girl]

So in a game about space, you want to stay as far away from space as possible? I like your style. You make up your own rules!

[Wooks]

So in a game about space, you want to stay as far away from space as possible? I like your style. You make up your own rules!

I´ve learned how to space and how to air, now I wan´t to know how to ground

[Ekku Zakku]

Knowing how to water is harder than any of those, srsly, save some precious time out of your life and go with the faster option, if you can figure it out XD circumnavigation by water was a blast!

[Tanner Rawlings]

go man go!

[Wooks]

If you want to subject your rover to such tremendous mission, you need those large wheels. You can't do that with the smallest. Chances are they'll break somewhere.

You could do something like KurtJmac does with his Far Lands Or Bust in Minecraft, except you'll be returning to your original spot, and he won't. That would be an interesting thing for youtube.

I had this precise idea after watching the latest episode of Far Lands. Mind you, I´ve never liked that particular series because the rambling and the ranting, only watched a couple episodes, but something clicked in my head watching the latest, I was thinking hard about KSP and what to do with it and had it running in the background just to have some noise. And KA-BLAMO! Stupid idea!

I have a youtube channel with a few vids and of course I want to record my efforts toward the most ridiculous goal I´ve ever set for myself in a game, but on the other hand I lack the voice chops Kurt has so it would be nothing like his series "Far Lands or Bust", not because I think it would be cooler or better, is because maybe mine would not be as entertaining or clever. We´ll see. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Wooks]

I´m an idiot, move along.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Wooks

[Wooks]

Are you sure about this? Kerbin has a radius of 600 km, and a circumference of 3,770 km. Assuming you can maintain an average speed of 20 m/s, even a perfectly circular equatorial circumnavigation would take over 52 hours, and the circuitous route you have mapped out would probably take much longer. To each his own, but that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me.

Hey! Thanks for those numbers dude, really useful, 52 hours of estimated ingame travel at full speed without errors, that´s a number I lacked. Of course I would not do all that in one sit, I plan to do it in half our bursts everytime I play.

I mean, if I can play 3 or 4 hours straight mostly burning orbital transfers and watching lines go from one planet to another and then burning to stop, why not take a quarter of that time to do something different? It may take me a couple months, I think (famous last words)

[FITorion]

Possible? yes.

Don't try to go in the water. It's a bad idea.

Use the black wheels.

It will be very long and boring and you'll want to stop and save often as rovers are prone to flip over.