Things to do in Sandbox

[Volcanix]

Hey there,

I hope there is no other thread like this, at least I have not found anything similar. In this thread, I'd like to collect a couple of things you can do in KSP's Sandbox mode because I've gotten pretty bored lately and thought it would also be helpful for other people to have this.

I've got a table which contains a stock and a modded section, of course, if you are only using mods like MechJeb or EVE, it is still stock, but for example "map Kerbin's surface with ScanSAT" would go to the modded section. Please submit your ideas under here, and I'll keep this updated. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to tell me.

I'll begin with a couple of basic things and will add my own ideas if I get new ones. If anyone has got examples for different things to do, please post a link under here and I will attach it to the table. I hope it helps.

Last updated: 28.08.14

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 1000, align: center]

<tbody>[TR]

[TD=align: center]Stock[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Modded[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Special [/TD]

[TD=align: center]Little stuff[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Explore Kerbin.

Fly to the poles with a plain, search for anomalies and easter eggs, or just drive around with a rover. Build a base or just fly around with a plane. You can use the mod Kerbin-Side to launch from other locations, for example.[/TD]

[TD=align: center][ScanSAT]

Map the surfaces of planets.

ScanSAT's mapping sensors can give you nice maps of planets for example to help with finding landing sites. It has 4 different sensors and each has it's own function. For example, some sensors can mark anomalies on a map and some else show you the slopes of a planet. It's a great mod and I recommend checking it out![/TD]

[TD=align: center]Land / takeoff from every planet.

Although this is more a challenge than a task to do, this may be quite an achievement to have landed and taken off from every planet. Maybe you can also plant a flag on every planet as a bit of an achievement, if you want it to be a bit harder, plant a flag on the poles of every planet. Don't underestimate Eve, Eve has a very thick atmosphere compared to Kerbin and according to the KSP Wiki it takes about 11.500m/s of ∆V to take off from Eve, it's a really hard challenge to takeoff from Eve. If someone managed to do it, please post it here.. I'd be interested in it.[/TD]

[TD=align: center]​Use different orbits.

KSP players usually use equatorial or polar orbits. Use something else! Make your orbit special, or make a sculpture or something else out of orbits! [/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Build a station.

Build a space station. The first station you build should usually be in an orbit around Kerbin, but it's up to you where you place it. Stations can have different purposes, like refueling ships that fly to interplanetary missions or doing science in orbit, but that's not really necessary in sandbox mode. You can also use it as a crew habitat or build a replica of the ISS. Usually, stations consist of a core module, a habitat module, and a fuel module. Feel free to add other modules like escape pods or even docking drones![/TD]

[TD=align: center][Karbonite / Kethane]

Build a mining base / refueling outpost.

Karbonite and Kethane add resources to KSP which enable you to mine them and convert them into fuel or use them to generate electricity. Using this advantage, you can build a mining base / refueling outpost for the resource and use it to refuel your ships. One important thing to mention is that to find Kethane you first need to scan a planet / moon for it and the resource concentration is like "all or nothing". Karbonite uses different concentrations instead of it which means you can find it nearly everywhere but there are hotspots where the concentration is really high.[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Make a space tourism program.

Do you know Virgin Galactic? It's a british spaceflight company which offers suborbital spaceflights for anybody who is able to do it (the launch "produces" quite a lot of G-Force, which is why not everyone is able to do it) and has got enough money. VG and also other spaceflight companies plan to make a "hotel" in space - a space station around Earth, with quite a lot of wellness and fitness stuff. Maybe you can do that for you Kerbals too? Make a space tourism program where you offer sub-orbital flights or even build a "hotel" on other planets or a station! SSTO's are a clever choice for making this.[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Do stunts.

Build a nice-looking jet to fly around at KSC and do stunts like close fly-bys at the VAB just to see it explode afterwards - expect Jeb is flying. You could also make an orbit right through a canyon which would be pretty nice to think of.. Imagine having a station flying through a canyon on mun.. Or build a rover equipped with a SAS module to do stunts in mid-air on low-grav surfaces.[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Explore Kerbin's System.

Kerbin's system consists of Kerbin itself and two small moons which are orbiting around Kerbin, Mun and Minmus. Explore them. Land on them, plant a flag there and fly back home or even build a base on a planet of those. You can also land a rover on them and drive around with it. It's a lot of fun, but pay attention to the terrain and don't forget to quicksave![/TD]

[TD=align: center][RemoteTech 2]

Build a satellite network.

RemoteTech 2 brings new difficulties to the game. With RemoteTech 2, unmanned vessels need to be connected to the KSC with the help of other satellites. By putting satellites in a geostationary orbit around Kerbin you ensure they have connection to the KSC and you got the ability to steer the vessel. You can also configurate RT2 so that you will have a delay depending on the distance between vessel and KSC.[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Launch a space station and de-orbit it.

Sounds silly, doesn't it? Well, actually it's pretty fun. Assemble a space station in orbit, make asure you've got a lot of modules docked together. Evacuate all Kerbals or put them into escape pods, then use an engine to de-orbit it and watch it during reentry.. Prepare for structural failures, or just dock off some stuff in mid-flight and there you go - DESTRUCTION! Jeb approved. [/TD]

[TD=align: center]Use Gravity Assists.

Although this is not a lot more effective, it's nice to see your ship using <enter planet="" here="">'s SOI to swing into another. Here is a nice tutorial on how to do a gravity assist in the KSP wiki. Maybe the fly-by even satisfies you and motivates you to land on the planet you've just flown past.

</enter>[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Do a challenge.

There are plenty of challenges in this subforum, if you are bored and think you can do one, search for one that interests you and do it. Maybe you can get into the Top 3 or better? Have fun with it![/TD]

[TD=align: center][PlanetFactory]

Explore new solar systems.

PlanetFactory gives you the ability to explore new solar systems like this or even create your own ones. In the basic mod three sample systems are already included, so have fun exploring them.[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Optimize your lifters or build new one.

Build your own lifter family. A good example is the Lopac Lifter Family. Try to build something similar to it and optimize your lifters, for example build a recoverable launch stage or SSTO's for full recoverability! Got an efficient lifter? Try to lift more? The NRAP mod is great for construction of lifters.[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Fly a stock craft.

Tired of building your own rockets just to see them explode and your Kerbals getting killed? Me too. (But I accidentally deleted the stock rockets..) Just pick some of the good-locking stock rockets / planes, for example the Kerbal X, and take it for a ride to Mun.[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Explore the System.

The system of Kerbol (the sun of the solar system) is pretty big and offers a wide variety of planets to explore. Laythe for example is a nice places to visit as it offer oxygen which gives you the ability to fly there with jet engines.[/TD]

[TD=align: center][Part Mods]

Build a vessel with only mod parts.

May not be a hard challenge, but something good to kill the time. Try to build a rocket / plane using only mod parts or as little stock parts as possible. It gives your vessel a lot of new things to discover. Have fun with it![/TD]

[TD=align: center]Develop a Kraken Drive for 0.24.

"Kraken Drive? What's that?", you may ask. And here is your answer. It seems like the "bug" making the creation of this was more and more fixed, but maybe it is still possible to build a kraken drive in 0.24. Or not? You can find it out. Maybe you should watch tutorials on these in old versions.[/TD]

[TD=align: center][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Build bases on other planets.

Building bases on other planets can help you service your landing and launching rockets / spaceplanes with fuel. You may consider using Kerbal Attachment System, it's a mod that adds new parts which make it easier to connect parts together, it allows you to pull stuff or even hang on cliffs. [/TD]

[TD=align: center][Extraplanetary Launchpads]

Build rockets from other.. place.

EPL (Extraplanetary Launchpads) allows you to build rockets / spaceplanes everywhere as long as you've got the needed resources for it. You need to fuel it and supply your EPL "Hangar", or better launchpad with the resources. You can build a ship everywhere where you can supply your base / station and have got the needed things required for a launchpad "base" to work. Have fun![/TD]

[TD=align: center]Make a mod.

The most people on the KSP forum usually watch for new mods in the Add-on releases sub-forum, because mods are really wanted in KSP. Some add new parts or even new planets, other mods are just there for enhancing the graphics and some change the contracts you get. If you CAN code a mod and have got a good idea for it, then make one. A lot of people will be interested if your mod is going to be good and offers something new and interesting.[/TD]

[TD=align: center][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Do an ARM.

ARM stands for Asteroid Redirect Mission. You need to build a rocket which 'docks' with an asteroid with the help of the claw and then redirects it - maybe to Low Kerbin Orbit, maybe on Kerbin's surface. You might want to build an astro-plane.. just like

. Or you could try making an asteroid swim.. But to be honest, I've got no idea how to do that. They are a bit too heavy, or not?[/TD]

[TD=align: center][KSP Interstellar]

Build... crazy stuff.

KSP Interstellar offers a whole lot of new parts and new game mechanics. Build nuclear fuel mines on planets, fuel facilities, antimatter supply lines, microwave beamed power arrays, tritium breeder reactor setups, emulate Robert Zubrin's Mars Direct mission to Duna with the in-situ methane resource system or do an alcubierre-drive powered grand tour of the solar system. Simple, right?[/TD]

[TD=align: center]Hit the sun or escape the system.

As they both require a lot of ∆V (as far as I know) this may also be kind of a hard challenge. Try to fire your rocket out of the system or crash into Kerbol. Pay attention to not bring Jebediah with you, if you're unlucky, Kerbol will explode when it gets in contact with Jeb. Believe me. No, this is not just a placeholder text to fill up that gap down to the margin of the table. Anyways, try to do this. It should be hard, but it will give you some nice screenshots, especially hitting the sun![/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]Be green!

Not really needed in Sandbox but still nice to have: Reduce your fleet to a couple of ships who can do a lot of things like a lifter family or simply an SSTO which brings all the cargo to your station, reuse your rockets / planes *SSTO* and recycle - or better, recover your dropped stages for being green![/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD=align: center]Do a grand tour.

Grand tour means to visit every planet in KSP's system in one trip. Maybe you can forget about Eve.. But it would still be a big accomplishment to do so. The rocket used for this usually doesn't visit the KSC during the trip, except maybe a refuel in Kerbin's orbit. Decide for yourself![/TD]

[TD][/TD]

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[TR]

[TD=align: center][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD=align: center]Break a speed record.

​Either land speed or airspeed. I don't know any records yet, I'm sure you will find some people who recorded a record for KSP on YouTube, I'm pretty sure Scott Manleys "Your physics have no power over me" broke already a record, but it was with cheats. So, try to put a new speed record there, either land or air, and post it on the forum. I'm sure other people have already tried the same and will share their results.[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD=align: center]Be in a geostationary orbit of 2 planets at a time ( Duna and Ike ).

I actually have no idea how to do this, but SorryDave said it is possible with those two planets. I bet Scott Manley has already made this, but I haven't found a video of it yet.[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

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</tbody>[/TABLE]

got an idea? Post it and I'll add it!

Thanks for reading and/or participating!

Edited August 28, 2014 by Volcanix
Added new stuff!

[Halban]

Great thread. Can't wait to see this grow a little more

[AlexanderB]

Serious ideas:

Explore the system

Land (and take off from!) on every planet and moon

Locate and visit the easter eggs,

Build a base or space station in another planets or moons orbit or surface

Make a space tourism program (regular round-trips between kerbin surface and some other planet or moons surface, a good reason to start a base or station there, SSTO vehicles are pretty much a requirement too, unless you keep replacing them for every new group of tourists.)

Less serious:

Build crazy contraptions that defy the laws of physics, or at least bend them to the very limit.

[Volcanix]

Great thread. Can't wait to see this grow a little more

Thank you! Have you found this via my Twitter?

By the way, when are new videos of your channel coming out? I really enjoyed the Kethane Station series, a new series or new cinematics would be great.

Serious ideas:

Explore the system

Land (and take off from!) on every planet and moon

Locate and visit the easter eggs,

Build a base or space station in another planets or moons orbit or surface

Make a space tourism program (regular round-trips between kerbin surface and some other planet or moons surface, a good reason to start a base or station there, SSTO vehicles are pretty much a requirement too, unless you keep replacing them for every new group of tourists.)

Less serious:

Build crazy contraptions that defy the laws of physics, or at least bend them to the very limit.

Thank you for your ideas. I just added a new section called "Special" with will list a couple of crazy ideas. I also added your ideas to the list.

[Robotengineer]

Another thing with scansat, is map planets and find easter eggs, I've been doing this on the Mun and it's pretty fun.

[Spartwo]

Go on a grand tour, emphasis on the grand part. Cockpits, MMU's, the whole shabang.

[Volcanix]

Another thing with scansat, is map planets and find easter eggs, I've been doing this on the Mun and it's pretty fun.

Thanks for your addition, I added it to ScanSAT.

Go on a grand tour, emphasis on the grand part. Cockpits, MMU's, the whole shabang.

I'm sorry, what do you mean by a grand tour?

[Halban]

Thank you! Have you found this via my Twitter?

By the way, when are new videos of your channel coming out? I really enjoyed the Kethane Station series, a new series or new cinematics would be great.

Yup, found it through twitter xD

As for new videos, I'm actually creating a film and a whole new cinematic series with SuestraGaming: so you've got that to look forward to. For now there's a new episode of the Kehane Station being released tonight. Hope you enjoy it

[Volcanix]

Yup, found it through twitter xD

As for new videos, I'm actually creating a film and a whole new cinematic series with SuestraGaming: so you've got that to look forward to. For now there's a new episode of the Kehane Station being released tonight. Hope you enjoy it

t

What the heck just happened? My laptop trackpad clicked and my whole text was away.

Okay first of all nice to hear you've found this through twitter it's nice to have some YouTubers from KSP on twitter to keep updated about new videos 'n stuff like that.

and also good to hear a new KS episode is coming out today. Will a trailer for the film come out? Or have you got a date when it could come out?

[Halban]

Okay first of all nice to hear you've found this through twitter. It's nice to have some KSP YouTubers on twitter to keep updated about new videos 'n stuff like that. And also good to hear a new KS episode is coming out today. Will a trailer for the film come out? Or have you got a date when it could come out?

I don't have a date yet, we're still in preproduction. But I should be releasing a preview fairly soon and then a trailer perhaps a couple of weeks after that.

[AlexanderB]

Sweet. Thanks for adding them.

[Volcanix]

I don't have a date yet, we're still in preproduction. But I should be releasing a preview fairly soon and then a trailer perhaps a couple of weeks after that.

Okay, good

Sweet. Thanks for adding them.

No problem! Thank you for submitting some.

[Megalodon 720]

Build a Space Station with modules for different purposes, then de-orbit it and halfway through re-entry undock all docking ports.

[problemecium]

Stock or modded: Try and develop a better lift vehicle, e.g. a reusable launch stage like SpaceX's. Already have one? Well can it carry 200 tons?

Stock: This thread seems to have forgotten the Asteroid Redirect Mission. Do that. Build a roid-plane or roid-boat.

Stock: Develop a new 0.24-compatible Kraken Drive, because nobody seems to have done that yet.

Modded: Explore a new Kerbolar system using one of the various planet packs.

Special: Make a mod.

[Kasuha]

Back in the time I had personal challenge to plant a flag on each pole of each body with surface. In the end I left out Eve and had to plant some flage imprecisely due to crazy terrain right on the pole but I considered it a success.

[Spartwo]

Thanks for your addition, I added it to ScanSAT.

I'm sorry, what do you mean by a grand tour?

A grand tour is a trip around all of kerbols bodies landing on each of them(Maybe not Eve).. all in a single trip. This is usually done via mothership and small specialized landers but can be completed. The only contact these ships should have with KSC after departing is refueling(sometimes not even that)

[cantab]

Use different orbits. So many players seem to stick to circular and equatorial, make life more interesting!

Do some stunt flying or driving. Buzz the tower, orbit through a canyon, catch air in a rover, that sort of stuff.

Pull off a gravity assist. It's always satisfying to fly past a planet just so to drop you into space near another planet hundreds of days later.

Fly a stock craft. No worrying about design, just pick a ship and go somewhere.

Hit the Sun. Escape the system. Both are possible but quite challenging and a change from the usual orbitings and landings.

Mods: Build a ship with only mod parts, nothing (or as little as possible) stock. A whole new set of performance figures will give a fresh feel.

Edited August 24, 2014 by cantab

[Volcanix]

Build a Space Station with modules for different purposes, then de-orbit it and halfway through re-entry undock all docking ports.

Gooood... very good.. Haha

Stock or modded: Try and develop a better lift vehicle, e.g. a reusable launch stage like SpaceX's. Already have one? Well can it carry 200 tons?

Stock: This thread seems to have forgotten the Asteroid Redirect Mission. Do that. Build a roid-plane or roid-boat.

Stock: Develop a new 0.24-compatible Kraken Drive, because nobody seems to have done that yet.

Modded: Explore a new Kerbolar system using one of the various planet packs.

Special: Make a mod.

Thank you, added it!

Back in the time I had personal challenge to plant a flag on each pole of each body with surface. In the end I left out Eve and had to plant some flage imprecisely due to crazy terrain right on the pole but I considered it a success.

Good idea, added it to land at every planet!

A grand tour is a trip around all of kerbols bodies landing on each of them(Maybe not Eve).. all in a single trip. This is usually done via mothership and small specialized landers but can be completed. The only contact these ships should have with KSC after departing is refueling(sometimes not even that)

Ah, okay, thanks. Will add it now.

Use different orbits. So many players seem to stick to circular and equatorial, make life more interesting!

Do some stunt flying or driving. Buzz the tower, orbit through a canyon, catch air in a rover, that sort of stuff.

Pull off a gravity assist. It's always satisfying to fly past a planet just so to drop you into space near another planet hundreds of days later.

Fly a stock craft. No worrying about design, just pick a ship and go somewhere.

Hit the Sun. Escape the system. Both are possible but quite challenging and a change from the usual orbitings and landings.

Mods: Build a ship with only mod parts, nothing (or as little as possible) stock. A whole new set of performance figures will give a fresh feel.

Good ideas. Added them. Thank you!

[M4ck]

Maybe mention Extraplanetary Launchpads, below the KE/KA mods? You know, an orbital shipyard used for launching all these crazy ships that are simply impossible to launch from the ground It can be resupplied using KE/KA or by harvesting asteroids. Or a whole Munar/Minimunar ground research and launch facility, a whole extraplanetary KSC!

And by the way, I'm honoured I think I still have that save somewhere, even after my HDD died a while ago...

[Mohole]

Uh... has anybody even said, break the landspeed record, or make the fastest thing possible (you've made) stop without crashing.

[Volcanix]

Maybe mention Extraplanetary Launchpads, below the KE/KA mods? You know, an orbital shipyard used for launching all these crazy ships that are simply impossible to launch from the ground It can be resupplied using KE/KA or by harvesting asteroids. Or a whole Munar/Minimunar ground research and launch facility, a whole extraplanetary KSC!

And by the way, I'm honoured I think I still have that save somewhere, even after my HDD died a while ago...

Uh... has anybody even said, break the landspeed record, or make the fastest thing possible (you've made) stop without crashing.

Thank you for your ideas, I'll add them soon.

And yeah, you're honoured - the story really inspired me to do more with KAS, it's a great idea!

[SorryDave]

Be in geostationary position over two bodies at the same time.

This can be done with Duna and Ike.

[Volcanix]

Be in geostationary position over two bodies at the same time.

This can be done with Duna and Ike.

Hey there, I've just seen your post in "Welcome aboard"

welcome to the Forum and thank you for your idea! I've got no idea how to do it, but I'm sure i will find a tutorial on how to do it! Thanks!

Have fun on the Forum!

[Volcanix]

Wooo!

We've hit 1.000 views! Thank you!

I still need some points at Stock and modded. We've already got a lot of special things to do, but I'd really like to have more "normal" things to do that a lot of people have already done, so not stuff like a grand tour or something similar. It would be really helpful.

If someone wants to I can make this list to a .pdf list or Word, I think (hope) that's possible with Pages on Mac.

I hope we can get together a couple of more points. Maybe has someone got some good screenshots from one of the "tasks" in the table? Or something new to add? I'd appreciate if anybody would post it^^

Thanks!

Volcanix

[SorryDave]

I've got no idea how to do it, but I'm sure i will find a tutorial on how to do it! Thanks!

Have fun on the Forum!

I have not done it yet, but it is not hard. Ike is nearly in a geosynchronous orbit and also tidal locked with Duna. You just need to match its orbit outside of its SOI (just over a million meters). Although you would not be orbiting Ike, you would be in a geostationary position with Ike and Duna.

And thanks for the welcome, this is a great community!