Jack Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Is it possible to orbit the planet? I've seen alot of people talking about this. If so, how do you orbit the planet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvesteR Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 It is possible yes. Orbiting is basically falling forward so fast you miss the ground entirely and just keep on falling ;DSo what you need is horizontal speed. Lots of it. And also, you need to be high up enough so that there is no atmosphere to slow you down, otherwise you just fall back to the ground.So the usual procedure for a proper launch into orbit is this:Launch straight up, and continue to climb up to about 10000 meters.Then, gradually start leveling off. You will start gaining horizontal speed.Now you're basically trading vertical speed for horizontal speed. The idea is to get to 0 vertical speed at about 40000 meters up, and be moving horizontally at about 2300m/sAt this speed, the arc you would describe while falling on a ballistic trajectory is about the same curvature as the planet itself, ergo, you fall and miss the ground.At 40000 meters, the effect of air resistance is negligible, so there's essentially nothing to slow you down and you can cut the power and just coast your way through the orbit.It takes a bit of practice, but it is certainly possible :thumbup:Hope this helpsCheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 Sounds like it would take alot of fuel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvesteR Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Indeed it does. And that fuel also adds weight, which means you need even more fuel to lift that extra fuel. Welcome to rocket science! ;DCheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabri91 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I find it better to just go straight up and pitch horizontally at about 30km, since at 34km or so the atmosphere ends quite abruptly. And since version 0.8 one doesn't need a 7-stage solid fuel monster anymore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epsilon Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 What about deorbiting? You want to bring your little astronauts back eventually? I'm assuming you could fire rockets in the direction of your travel, just as they do in real life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvesteR Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yes, that's how it's done.The NavBall in the UI has 2 green icons. The one with the X on it represents your retrograde vector, that is, the direction opposite the one you're travelling to.So if you point the ship at that and give it a burn, you'll delecerate enough so that you're bound to hit the upper atmosphere, and from there on, it'll do the rest.Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyronius Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 How do I know my horizontal speed though? Is there a display I'm missing?Oh, I think I figured it out; the speed display is total speed and not in relation to the ground, so I should have 2300 m/s and 0 vert spd and I'm good.If I'm understanding it right, the yellow circle should end up on the edge between the blue and the orange at the end, right?Hooray! I think I might have gotten my first orbit. I'm at 58km above sea, 0 vert spd and coasting at 2200 m/s. I'm going to leave the game on for an hour or so to see if it's stable...Btw, has anyone tried a geosynchronous orbit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjameshuff Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 How do I know my horizontal speed though? Is there a display I'm missing?Oh, I think I figured it out; the speed display is total speed and not in relation to the ground, so I should have 2300 m/s and 0 vert spd and I'm good.If I'm understanding it right, the yellow circle should end up on the edge between the blue and the orange at the end, right?You've got it. Unfortunately your rate-of-climb indicator is quite imprecise and your vector indicator isn't really any better at distinguishing small amounts of vertical motion, but if you wait for your altitude to reach a minimum or maximum, you know your trajectory is horizontal at that point and can get a good idea of your orbit or make correction burns to get a more precise one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvesteR Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yeah, the big thing is that we're still missing a good deal of orbital instrumentation...There will be eventually UI panels that are specifically geared towards orbital flight, so you can see exactly what's going on.Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sordid Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Instrumentation's nice, but what this game is really missing is autopilot. I absolutely love building the rockets and seeing how they perform, but trying to keep them on course with the clunky keyboard controls is considerably less enjoyable. Joystick support would make it a little more bearable (KSP doesn't seem to work with mine, it recognizes it fine in config but in-game the stick does nothing), but I'd still rather program the flight path in advance and then just watch the show and take control only when necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Paul Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Instrumentation's nice, but what this game is really missing is autopilot. I absolutely love building the rockets and seeing how they perform, but trying to keep them on course with the clunky keyboard controls is considerably less enjoyable. Joystick support would make it a little more bearable (KSP doesn't seem to work with mine, it recognizes it fine in config but in-game the stick does nothing), but I'd still rather program the flight path in advance and then just watch the show and take control only when necessary.My joystick is also not usable. It registers in the configuration utility, but the game makes no notice of it.Would you happen to have an Xbox 360 controller? Because that's what I have, and I believe that this could be part of the problem. The wired 360 controller in Windows uses a new standard called xinput. It is possible to make it work with the older directinput, but it lacks certain functionality like separate triggers, vibration, and the use of a headset that can be attached to the controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sordid Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Would you happen to have an Xbox 360 controller? Because that's what I have, and I believe that this could be part of the problem. The wired 360 controller in Windows uses a new standard called xinput. It is possible to make it work with the older directinput, but it lacks certain functionality like separate triggers, vibration, and the use of a headset that can be attached to the controller.Yeah, that's what I've been using. I've tried with two other pads as well, though, a Thrustmaster and a no name pad that Windows only recognizes as a 'Generic USB Joystick', and it doesn't work with either of them either, so I don't think it's an input API problem. I also have a Logitech G940 stick, but I don't really feel like unpacking and plugging in that monster, since in all likelihood it won't work either.Here's a thought for the developer: Mapping keyboard/controller buttons to do different things from within the game (preferably right in the VAB by clicking the part in question). Each rocket is different, each rocket requires different controls. It'd be neat to be able to choose which coupler I want to release just by pressing the corresponding button, for example, instead of only having them go off in sequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bureaucromancer Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I tried a 360 controller with the same result as above, works fine in configuration but doesn't in game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superzos Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 You know, guys, I think I'm gonna orbit the planet 8)... Just take a look on the screenshot:http://imageshack.us/f/707/orbitq.png/ [glow=red,2,300]Still climbing up...[/glow] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superzos Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 You know, guys, I think I'm gonna orbit the planet 8)... Just take a look on the screenshot:http://imageshack.us/f/707/orbitq.png/ [glow=red,2,300]Still climbing up...[/glow]Still climbing up, speed stuck at 12510.1 m/s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarnis Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 You know, guys, I think I'm gonna orbit the planet 8)... Just take a look on the screenshot:http://imageshack.us/f/707/orbitq.png/ [glow=red,2,300]Still climbing up...[/glow]...I think you are LOST IN SPACE. Poor little astronauts...It is one thing to get a rocket to go around the planet - that's fairly easy. The hard part is to do so in a controlled fashion that includes hauling enough fuel to do a deorbit as well The tricky bit is that you need a ton of speed and altitude but once you get to a key tipping point, the margins are very small and if you overdo it, you end up with really funky elliptical orbits (or worse) and getting back down becomes tad complicated, especially as the instrumentation is... spartan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superzos Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 omg man I think i'm gonna fly 4ever... Poor litle kerbians... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superzos Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 The tricky bit is that you need a ton of speed and altitude but once you get to a key tipping point, the margins are very small and if you overdo it, you end up with really funky elliptical orbits (or worse) and getting back down becomes tad complicated, especially as the instrumentation is... spartan.That's why KSP needs an autopilot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarnis Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 That's why KSP needs an autopilotNaah, just better instrumentation. Real spacemen fly manually! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superzos Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Naah, just better instrumentation. Real spacemen fly manually!I mean, programmable a-pilot that can break down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjameshuff Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I always find my spacecraft ends up drifting meter by meter up or down after a while, so I have to be constantly making little correction burns. Is it possible to get it to orbit without my help?Hit the exact velocity you need for a circular orbit while your trajectory is perfectly horizontal.Real rockets aren't perfect, and real orbits are never exactly circular, they're elliptical. If you've got enough tangental velocity and aren't above escape velocity, you'll miss the planet and are in orbit around it, just an elliptical one.For circularizing, you need to burn to accelerate or decelerate while your trajectory is horizontal, which would be at periapsis or apoapsis (perikerb and apokerb?). Try to burn with your ship aligned directly on one of the yellow markers depending on which you're doing, and brake at closest approach or accelerate at the highest point in your trajectory to circularize. Don't overdo it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarnis Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Don't overdo it.Indeed. We're talking adjustments of 20-40m/s - the key is timing it right and pointing the business end of a rocket to the right direction.I'd consider an orbit that drifts up and down within 5km as 'stable, circular'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijuin Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I mean, programmable a-pilot that can break downMaybe Jeb modified an automotive cruise control to serve as an autopilot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johno Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I'd be happy knowing what the pink crosshairs do. ;D(Green circle = current vector, yes?)PS: Ijuin! Hail and well met! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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