The Armageddon Thread

[SuperWeegee4000]

Here's a thread I figured needed to be made. By now, many of us have been there: You open up the Station of Tracking and there's a class-E space rock heading straight for Terra Kerba. Post your screenshots and stories; scenarios worthy of Bruce Willis and how you got out of them.

That awkward moment when two class-Es are headed straight for you:

[Whackjob]

Wow. Wait, is this the real thing, or is this a mod? Did the update go? Did I miss it? Are the big parts out now?

[SuperWeegee4000]

Wow. Wait, is this the real thing, or is this a mod? Did the update go? Did I miss it? Are the big parts out now?

Oh Whack.... I'm so sorry.

[Whirligig Girl]

Yes, Whack. Just be sure to get on some computer and destroy it do a powered landing of an E-class asteroid on Jool.

[Whirligig Girl]

I hate Armageddon. It's the trash of all blockbusters. It is exactly what's wrong with cinema.

[CaptainKipard]

I'm kinda surprised that I already got two potential impacts as well; C and D

Here's the smaller one. Luckily it's orbit is very similar to Kerbin so it shouldn't be difficult to divert it. Only 68 days!

At first I thought this one was going to hit too, but it turns out I've gained a little moon. So cool. It just spawned in this orbit

[merendel]

I hate Armageddon. It's the trash of all blockbusters. It is exactly what's wrong with cinema.

Funny I thought Gravity stole the crapy space movie crown from armageddon.

Back on topic though considering how the game mechanics work there is not any real sense of tension about an impactor asteroid. If you ignore it it will just dissapear in the atmosphere even if tracked. If you focus on it and watch it reenter it just bounces (unless in the ocean then it sinks) and rolls down whatever hill it landed on. Kinda hard to feel threatend when it slows down to termanal velocity on its own and has the impact tollerance to survive that speed and nothing breaks.

[Motokid600]

.. SHOULD there be consequences? How would that work beyond a big, dumb game over screen?

[merendel]

.. SHOULD there be consequences? How would that work beyond a big, dumb game over screen?

I'd at least like a satisfying explosion even if life just goes on reguardless.

[NoPanShabuShabu]

I just got a new career set up, flew a flight, and decided to check for asteroids. Found a class E, and was like "Ooo, let's track it!" Gonna hit Kerbin in ~128 days. Not sure how I want to play out this scenario, but at least it's a new goal other than max out the tree.

[Whackjob]

So I did miss the update. Oh well. I'm glad you can all enjoy it. I'll get my turn eventually.

How are the rocks discovered? Is there a telescope system? Or is it done via radar?

[merendel]

So I did miss the update. Oh well. I'm glad you can all enjoy it. I'll get my turn eventually.

How are the rocks discovered? Is there a telescope system? Or is it done via radar?

Prety much go to tracking station. Random asteroids will spawn near kerbin on crossing orbits. They are marked by a ? untill you track them and will dissapear if you dont track them after a few days of gametime. If you track them they physicly exist in the world and you can go out and great them.

[NoPanShabuShabu]

Funny I thought Gravity stole the crapy space movie crown from armageddon.

I haven't seen Gravity, but I doubt it has any chance of stealing the crown from Armageddon. That said, I personally like Armageddon a lot more than it's contemporary Deep Impact. Armageddon doesn't pretend to be realistic, Deep Impact does, and fails. Of course this is where Gravity has issues too.

Back on topic though considering how the game mechanics work there is not any real sense of tension about an impactor asteroid. If you ignore it it will just dissapear in the atmosphere even if tracked. If you focus on it and watch it reenter it just bounces (unless in the ocean then it sinks) and rolls down whatever hill it landed on. Kinda hard to feel threatend when it slows down to termanal velocity on its own and has the impact tollerance to survive that speed and nothing breaks.

And meteors of this size wouldn't pose a threat anyway. So what? There's no drama in the game about whether or not you can get Jeb back from the Mun alive either, he will just re-spawn, or exist forever. The drama and fun is what we make of it, and I choose to have fun pretending it's a threat.

[CaptainKipard]

.. SHOULD there be consequences? How would that work beyond a big, dumb game over screen?

I remember the devs a while ago talking about some kind of reputation system for your space program. If that ever gets implemented then diverting should give you rep, and allowing a large asteroid to hit a populated area for example could cost you rep.

[Whirligig Girl]

Funny I thought Gravity stole the crapy space movie crown from armageddon.

Back on topic though considering how the game mechanics work there is not any real sense of tension about an impactor asteroid. If you ignore it it will just dissapear in the atmosphere even if tracked. If you focus on it and watch it reenter it just bounces (unless in the ocean then it sinks) and rolls down whatever hill it landed on. Kinda hard to feel threatend when it slows down to termanal velocity on its own and has the impact tollerance to survive that speed and nothing breaks.

Gravity was awesome. There are a few nitpicks, but they aren't using LOX only powered space shuttle jet fighters to an "asteroid" that's really a spiky comet. They had super small problems, like the ISS, Chinese station, and Hubble being in the same orbit, but it's already an alternate universe anyway! The plot of Armageddon was ass, it put oil riggers In space. How is that even slightly comparable to the masterpiece that is Gravity.

It's like comparing a child's macaroni noodle art to Van Gogh's work. Van Gogh's art wasn't perfect, but would you hang macaroni art in a museum?

[RocketPilot573]

Yep! It's a class E too.

I'll probably need to give my space shuttle a few upgrades before this arrives.

[CalculusWarrior]

But is it the size of Texas? That's what I want to know!

[merendel]

Gravity was awesome. There are a few nitpicks, but they aren't using LOX only powered space shuttle jet fighters to an "asteroid" that's really a spiky comet. They had super small problems, like the ISS, Chinese station, and Hubble being in the same orbit, but it's already an alternate universe anyway! The plot of Armageddon was ass, it put oil riggers In space. How is that even slightly comparable to the masterpiece that is Gravity.

It's like comparing a child's macaroni noodle art to Van Gogh's work. Van Gogh's art wasn't perfect, but would you hang macaroni art in a museum?

Chuckle, I actualy had thought of asking if a childs fingerpaint was your idea of a masterpiece after your first paragraph then I read your second. to be fair Armageddon was a Michael Bay movie. You don't go to them expecting a deep plot. You go to watch explosions with some plot colored paint slapped on the side as an afterthought to justify the explosions. I didnt really think the plot of gravity was of significantly higher caliber and lacked the inherent excuse of not expecting much to begin with.

[RogueMason]

For the record, when a Class E heads my way, I'll have an X-71 on standby

[The Jedi Master]

I've got a Class E headed my way. It will reach Kerbin SoI in 96 days. Did I mention that this is the first asteroid I'm trying to grapple outside of the scenarios?

If anyone can help me with tips on how to redirect this thing, I'll be sure to mention the kerbal of your choice in my story!

[Brotoro]

I've got a Class E headed my way. It will reach Kerbin SoI in 96 days. Did I mention that this is the first asteroid I'm trying to grapple outside of the scenarios?

If anyone can help me with tips on how to redirect this thing, I'll be sure to mention the kerbal of your choice in my story!

There are scenarios?

[The Jedi Master]

There are scenarios?

Start Game-->Scenarios-->The ARM stuff is at the top.

[CalculusWarrior]

I've got a Class E headed my way. It will reach Kerbin SoI in 96 days. Did I mention that this is the first asteroid I'm trying to grapple outside of the scenarios?

If anyone can help me with tips on how to redirect this thing, I'll be sure to mention the kerbal of your choice in my story!

For smaller asteroids, RCS will do the trick. However, for a Class E, you probably want to either do the method of attaching multiple RCS probes to many parts of the asteroid, or simply undocking your spacecraft, moving around the rock, then redocking in the correct location for the burn. It is up to you.

You'll almost certainly want to utilize NTRs, as even with the thrust boost, ion engines still don't give off enough pushing power to do too much. I just did a NASA-styled ARM mission, utilizing ion engines to move a Class A, and that took a great deal of time. A shameless self-plug, I know, but the link to it is in my signature, if you want to check it out.

Lastly, if the asteroid is on any sort of strange trajectory/nasty inclination, I recommend intercepting it as early as possible. The further out you catch it, the less delta-v you'll have to expend to change its trajectory. You may even want to send two craft: one to meet up with the asteroid outside of Kerbin's SoI, the other to actually perform the burn near Kerbin.

Good luck!

[Pecan]

Wot? No gag?

If a big rock comes 'arm a geddon out of here'

[Commissioner Tadpole]

Currently, I've only found Class C and A 'roids.