The Ladderless Challenge!

[BagelRabbit]

In the beginning, Kerbals climbed up tall ladders to reach their command capsules. Recently, however, several mishaps have destroyed all of the Kerbal Space Center’s ladders. Namely, Wehrner von Kerman forgot his glasses and strapped all of the ladders in KSP onto an ion probe, believing that they were solar panels.

So!

Your job is, without ladders of any type, to transport a Kerbal from the ground into the top of a rocket that is at least four M-Beam 200 I-beams in height.

Rules (please read carefully!):

Do not use mods that add parts to the game. (No Hyperedit, either.)

Do not use the debug menu to hack KSP.

An “Attempt†begins with all Kerbals standing near one another on the ground, and ends with the rocket’s launch.

All Kerbal crew capsules on the rocket must be empty at the beginning of the attempt, and must be completely filled by the end of the attempt.

The rocket must have at least one command capsule of any sort except for external command seats and probe cores. You can add more capsules, if you want a bigger challenge.

Kerbals are allowed to grab the ladders on command capsules, but only so that they can board. If a Kerbal has to climb up or down a capsule ladder, the attempt will be disqualified. Despite what the backstory may have implied, neither Pegasus mini-ladders nor ladders on capsules are allowed.

No parts may break in the attempt. (Staging is okay.)

No Kerbals may die.

The rocket must be capable of taking off after all Kerbals have been loaded, without breaking any parts on any craft. (If you want to fly your rocket to various destinations, that would be cool, but it is not part of the challenge.)

You can use as many separate craft as you want to load the rocket, provided that they follow all of these rules, too.

You can post as many separate attempts on the forum as you want, but each must utilize a different method of transporting the Kerbal to the capsule.

Pictures/video or it didn't happen!

[Let me know if you have any questions or clarifications.]

So, how would this work?

There are many ways that you could get your Kerbal in the rocket, including:

- A giant ramp that drives up to the rocket; Kerbals walk up the ramp to board.

- A VTOL that flies over to gingerly drop off a Kerbal.

-A rocket-powered elevator that carries Kerbals up to the capsule.

-A tiny Mass Relay that pushes the Kerbal up to a platform by the capsule.

I’m sure you could think of more! The possibilities are nearly endless, and with this much freedom to build ladder-replacements, your attempt is only as difficult as you want it to be.

So, how the heck is this scored?

It really isn’t. It’s just a challenge for the entirety of the KSP forum. However, if you love someone’s design, increase their reputation by clicking that little star thing at the bottom of their post. This way, everyone in the forum can enjoy any attempt made.

Go for it!

Edited February 27, 2014 by UpsilonAerospace

[xxjetterxx]

This looks interesting.. Time to make a kerbal cannon to get him up there!

EDIT:

I lied.

Edited February 22, 2014 by xxjetterxx

[Sillychris]

I'm going platform jumping... mario style!

[SpenSpaceCorp]

Hmmmm, maybe I should do it the true Kerbal way- putting an explosion under a Kerbal!

[xxjetterxx]

First entry!

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Edited February 25, 2014 by sal_vager

[Weegee]

Do not use mods that add parts to the game.

Aww! I just had an awesome idea involving a kerbal jumping down with a KAS winch attached from an aircraft. Looks like I can't do that then... Might try something else later.

[xoknight]

Here is my entry... I found a weird glitch... I may show it later

ROCKET POWERED ELEVATORRRRR, and apparently struts have collision meshes.

http://imgur.com/a/DBIU4#0

Edited February 22, 2014 by xoknight

[BagelRabbit]

It's great to see that two of my suggested transportation methods have been implemented! Here's a third: My original proof-of-concept, showing that this challenge was indeed possible using a big ol' ramp.

Not so sure about the mass-relay idea though.

[Kasuha]

[BagelRabbit]

Really great entries so far, everyone! Keep up the good work!

The only bending-of-rules I've seen so far is xxjetterxx's entry. It started with a Kerbal in the little transfer craft and not on the ground, as the rules state. Everyone, though, has used their own amazingly unique method. My favorite so far is xoknight's. I tried a Kerbal elevator and it didn't work, though it came awfully close several times. Nice job, xoknight!

Reminders:

You can post as many entries to the Ladderless Challenge as you want, though each entry has to utilize a separate method of transportation. If you suddenly figure out two distinct methods to loft your Kerbal, go ahead and post them both!

And, as always, be sure to give some reputation to your favorite entry or entries.

[Claw]

Oh boy, I hope this meets the intent of all your rules. I've actually been wanting to see if this design was possible for a while, and your challenge gave me a reason to try.

I took liberal interpretation of "must be 4 ibeams high." The rocket isn't that tall, but the capsule is that high into the air. I can make the rocket longer if you want, but I thought this looked more Rube-Kerberg.

Introducing "The Catapult." Borne from a top secret clown cannon program, The Catapult had to be launched on a night mission to conceal its true purpose.

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Takes a bit of staging, so I don't know if that qualifies as "parts breaking."

Edited February 23, 2014 by Claw

[Captain Sierra]

I think I have one of the best ways so far, and my rocket gets to obit!

Behold!

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Because . . . why bring the kerbal to the rocket, when you can bring the rocket to the kerbal!

[BagelRabbit]

Wonderful, wonderful!

Here's a method of doing it with a stack decoupler.

[note: I actually failed the challenge, as the Kerbal platform hit the ground and exploded. Will try later.]

[Ollij93]

Some of these things are awesome! I'm not nearly creative enough for this

[vat21s]

If my rocket loses parts during the accent to my target destination does that count as damage?

[BagelRabbit]

Here's a bit of a clarification.

As you may have seen in my stack-decoupler-boost method, I consider separating stages okay. That being said, if anything explodes or goes poof, you'll need to try the challenge again.

To vat21s, the rules state that the challenge basically ends at launch. If you need to stage your rocket on your way to your eventual destination, that's okay, as long as you do it a little while after launch.

Great job to Claw and Captain Sierra! Very unique designs. Keep up the good work.

[OptimumAmoeba]

Not as kerbal as some of the above but none the less may I present the Helter skelter.

Loved the elevator and the decoupler.

[Rune]

I just had an awesome idea for a stock elevator: a seat under a big column of tanks with little clearance. Get in the seat, it works as normal. Now get out of the seat, and you will get to the next free spot where a kerbal can stand without bumping into anything directly above the seat... in other words, to the top of the elevator. And it's reusable! Coming down might be a bit tricky, though.

Rune. This is a challenge for who does it weirdest, though

[OptimumAmoeba]

Ok here is my attempt at an elevator, a bit more kerbal than last nights effort.

edit: I forgot it also goes down too, the magnetism of the bottom docking port gives you a nice bouncy soft landing.

Edited February 28, 2014 by OptimumAmoeba

[OptimumAmoeba]

Here's a video of it in action.

Edited March 1, 2014 by OptimumAmoeba

[nobbers12345]

Here I am, kerbal on the launch pad, using a simple ramp as a start

Begin climbing

At the top!

Liftoff!

Say goodbye to the ramp!

I managed an an encounter with minmus, but I didnt plan and get batteries, and I ran out.

This makes performing maneuvers just slightly impossible.

So, using the magic of time warping, I went interplanetary.

In which, Bill refuses to starve to death, so I decided (for once) to not let him suffer anymore after about 40 days.

Goodbye, Bill, See you on the next respawn!

BILL YOU BROKE THE ROCKET BUT NOT ALL YOUR BONES WTF

[xoknight]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233756691

Here I am, kerbal on the launch pad, using a simple ramp as a start

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233756787

Begin climbing

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233756828

At the top!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233756918

Liftoff!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233757018

Say goodbye to the ramp!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233757195

I managed an an encounter with minmus, but I didnt plan and get batteries, and I ran out.

This makes performing maneuvers just slightly impossible.

So, using the magic of time warping, I went interplanetary.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233757305

In which, Bill refuses to starve to death, so I decided (for once) to not let him suffer anymore after about 40 days.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233757429

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233757501

Goodbye, Bill, See you on the next respawn!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233757536

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233760037

BILL YOU BROKE THE ROCKET BUT NOT ALL YOUR BONES WTF

Pretty sure your pictures aren't working.

Edit: oh hey look it that, you can click on the link

[BagelRabbit]

Well, it looks as if the competition has died down a little.

I think that so far, my favorite entries have been the elevators. They're so very Kerbal! And they take some ingenuity to build.

So... can anyone make it further than a Minmus encounter? Can anyone come up with any more methods of completing the challenge?!

[sgt_flyer]

my new mobile rotalift launch tower - i don't know if it qualifies, but i built it for the fun of it anyway -

the tower is able to drive up and down the slope at the start of the runway (but had to do it carefuly )

the rotalift is powered by SAS modules (once the lift is decoupled from the tower, i can held it in place with the landing legs at the top of the tower).

i use landing legs as retractable platforms for my kerbals

the spacecraft ended up making a mün landing and return

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[Heagar]

It takes quite some time to build the device and take the pictures. There is much room for improvements.

BTW: KSP seems to have some issues witch multiple part-heavy objects (860 parts in total). I needed about 10 trys, included 3 game-crashes... But at least: Here is the "Kerbolifter" TM. It's an elevator with weels only.

The last two pictures shows you the mechanic behind (in) it. The big "supergrip" weels (4 total, clipped) are for the movement. The small ones are for holding the cabin in position, sort of.

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