Rover Adventures - Around Kerbin NEEDS YOUR HELP!

[Wooks]

ALRIGHT FOLKS, POLL IS OVER, TRANSPORT SHIP IT IS, CAPSLOCKS

I´m halfway through my journey around Kerbin on a rover, no mods, no hacks, only stock. So far the trip has been pretty straightforward and going around the planet on wheels presented no other challenge than patience and... well, patience. I started on the Kerbal Space Center flagpole, pointed north and "W" my way to it, crossed the artic and now I am at the equator on the other side of the planet.

Before starting this rover thingy I checked detailed maps, discovering that there was no straight path by land to and from the South Pole to complete a simple round trip. A couple months ago it seemed like something I should take care in the far, far future. Alright, the future is now.

The options are the following:

Amphibian Rover: I´ll modify our actual rover or design a new one, and it will be used to go across bodies of water. It will enter the water on wheels, navigate to the nearest shore and leave the water on wheels to continue the journey. It needs to be able to travel by land efficiently. This will allow a straight line, but it arises one question: Is it still a rover?

Transport Ship: The unmodified rover reaches a shore, a transport ship lands near it, loads it onboard, goes over the water (on the water or flying) and delivers it on the other side. This will allow a straight line, no broken rules.

Direct landing: I´ll skip all the fuzz, when the rover reaches a shore a new one is launched and lands on the other side, no matter how far it is. This will allow a straight line but is kind of cheating... right?

Go around until you find a land path: I will not cross the south pole and will drive around until I can get back to the space center, no matter how squiggly and redundant the trip is.

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.

The latest episode if you don´t know what the hell I´m talking about:

Please leave your vote and if you think of anything else leave your thoughts below, ideas are welcomed.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Wooks

[Skyler4856]

Transport ship

[Wooks]

Transport ship

Remember to leave your vote on the poll, and thank you.

[Whackjob]

*singing* You take the low road, and I'll get the high road, and I'll get to Kalifornia befooooore ye*

*In all fairness, this design was a total failure*

Edited March 9, 2014 by Whackjob

[cantab]

Send your usual replacement rover transport empty, have it pick up the current rover and driver, and fly them across the water.

[Wooks]

Send your usual replacement rover transport empty, have it pick up the current rover and driver, and fly them across the water.

This one rings true to me.

[sikatdakota]

Transport Ship

[Wooks]

*singing* You take the low road, and I'll get the high road, and I'll get to Kalifornia befooooore ye*

http://i.imgur.com/QYnHgZ2.png

*In all fairness, this design was a total failure*

I tought about this more than once... tempting.

[Xacktar]

Send your usual replacement rover transport empty, have it pick up the current rover and driver, and fly them across the water.

I also agree that this fits the show's objective very well. *thumbs this up*

[ArmchairGravy]

Does the rover have a docking port on top of it? If so, transport ship fer sher. If it doesn't have a docking port then good luck getting it across the water!

[AllenM3]

I vote building a boat/ferry, that your current rover can drive onto. Cross the water gap. The. Drive off of and continue on the journey.

[davieholgate]

you may want to see this its literally taking the very dangerous route if your kerbs are up to it.

[AmpsterMan]

Heh, thanks for the shoutout. I suggest doing the whole transport ship thing not because it is easy, but rather because it is hard!

[Wooks]

Does the rover have a docking port on top of it? If so, transport ship fer sher. If it doesn't have a docking port then good luck getting it across the water!

It doesn´t have a docking port, it separates from the transport ship with tiny decouplers because docking ports act weird under pressure. I could reconfig the rover and the carrier.

[Wooks]

you may want to see this its literally taking the very dangerous route if your kerbs are up to it.

Nassault movies are the best. And NO!

Edited March 9, 2014 by Wooks

[Goldham]

*singing* You take the low road, and I'll get the high road, and I'll get to Kalifornia befooooore ye*

Snip

*In all fairness, this design was a total failure*

It wasnt a failure, it was a unplanned success in crashing.

[davieholgate]

Nassault movies are the best. And NO!

well, even if you crash on the other side you can easily send a replacement directly to crash site, right?

[Wooks]

Heh, thanks for the shoutout. I suggest doing the whole transport ship thing not because it is easy, but rather because it is hard!

Hardcore is the only reason I´m doing this!

[goldenpeach]

The transport ship is quite cool(and hard).

If you want a challenge, make a boat, drive it to the rover by water(it's a boat after all) amd use it to take the rover to land.

The problems:

-making a boat is hard in KSP

-making a boat which can travel long distance is even harder

-driving it to the rover is long

-the rover have to be able to go on the boat.

If you do that for the challenge, this will add a LOT of challenge.

Ps: if you want even more, use a skycrane to put the rover on the boat(it could be some sort of plate with engine which land near the rover, the rover drive on the plate which take it on the boat).

Edited March 9, 2014 by goldenpeach

[Wooks]

The transport ship is quite cool(and hard).

If you want a challenge, make a boat, drive it to the rover by water(it's a boat after all) amd use it to take the rover to land.

The problems:

-making a boat is hard in KSP

-making a boat which can travel long distance is even harder

-driving it to the rover is long

-the rover have to be able to go on the boat.

If you do that for the challenge, this will add a LOT of challenge.

Ps: if you want even more, use a skycrane to put the rover on the boat(it could be some sort of plate with engine which land near the rover, the rover drive on the plate which take it on the boat).

This is the most stupid idea I have ever heard.

I love it.

[Madrias]

I, for one, would love to see an amphi-rover. Even if it's only used for water crossing, it'd be an interesting challenge. Driving, whether on land or sea, straight across in a reasonably un-squiggly line.

[kinnison]

well, you need to update your "Wheels on ground rule" if you want the options 1 through 3. To a "Wheels on water" or "wheels on Transport"

Tho i think a Direct landing to the NEAREST SHORE on the other side would be more interesting

[Vostok]

No option for build a giant bridge?

Take it round the long way, or build a boat methinks.

[Merinsan]

I must see what happens! I am now subscribed!

Oh, and I vote for a transport ship.

[Wooks]

No option for build a giant bridge?

Take it round the long way, or build a boat methinks.

Giant bridge is a secret option