Is upscaling the size of the planets even possile in the future?

[Evenger14]

After playing KSP (200+ hours..), it's really given me a new appreciation for just how big the Earth is, and how much it takes to get off it.

I was wondering if it's even possible to upscale the planets/moons in KSP or not. Not to 1:1 scale, maybe just double the current size, and this is more of a thought exercise than a real suggestion. IIRC (and I may not) Kerbin is something like 1/10 the size of Earth, and using something like the Falcon 9 as an example: Earth rockets are 3.5m or so in diameter, and so are the KSP rockets, yet shouldn't they be able to be 1/10 the size and be as capable as the RL equivalents?

Yes, you can design a 1.25m rocket that can land on the Mun, but it's pretty tricky, and normally involves asparagus staging, where the Saturn V was just one starscraper of pure power. I guess I'm really just confused on how the whole scalling thing works in KSP versus real life.

Image Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/26e87h/comparison_between_the_size_of_the_first_stage_on/

[technicalfool]

I know this is a "download a mod" answer, but the RSS mod shows that it is indeed possible.

It also apparently makes even getting into LKO a rather difficult engineering task.

[stupid_chris]

The problem is not the possibility, it's the implications of doing so, and the scope of the game.

Also, no, with planets one tenth the size of real planets, that doesn't make your rockets one tenth smaller, that's not really how it works. Remember that real life rocket engines and real life fuel tanks compared to their KSP equivalent are actually pretty different on many points.

[Comrade Jenkens]

One of the main reasons the Devs chose this scale is so that getting to orbit doesn't take so long and isn't too difficult. Even now getting to orbit takes about 15 mins and for new players is extremely difficult.

If you upscaled planets or downscaled parts the climb to orbit would take an entire hour (many people only have a very short time to play) and even the most experienced of us would struggle to leave the atmosphere!

[Skyler4856]

I feel as though the universe should be scaled up, not necessarily with larger bodies, but with larger distances

[technicalfool]

I feel as though the universe should be scaled up, not necessarily with larger bodies, but with larger distances

Problem with this, is that even at the current maximum time warp, getting to Jool or Eeloo takes a rather long time. Long enough that at least in 23.5, I haven't even bothered to go there yet. Moho is as much of a challenge delta-v wise, but doesn't involve sitting around and watching paint dry for entertainment as your ship inches its way toward the SOI.

Put the planets "realistic" distances apart, and you can kiss goodbye to anybody ever bothering with trying the outer planets. At least until maximum time warp is at least a thousand times faster than it currently is.

Just take a look at this video from 8m15s onward. You'll see what I mean:

Edited May 26, 2014 by technicalfool

[Guest]

If you upscaled planets or downscaled parts the climb to orbit would take an entire hour (many people only have a very short time to play) and even the most experienced of us would struggle to leave the atmosphere!

This is simply not true. It takes about nine minutes for the Soyuz to get into orbit (a similar time when playing an RSS install) and many people, myself included, get out of the atmosphere playing RSS every single day.

Anyway, it's definitely possible, but you would have to tweak a lot of things about the game. Even my own config for RSS, which is a 6.4:1 scaled Kerbin solar system, requires tweaking of some sort to make it playable. Sure, you can use bone stock parts, but you need some pretty ridiculous launchers.

Edited May 26, 2014 by regex