Better Than Starting Manned (Flower's WIP KSP mod )

[FlowerChild]

Well, what I would likely recommend before playing (or installing) BTSM though is playing the vanilla tutorials in order to get the basics of getting into orbit down pat.

Yes, once the game actually starts I feel you can learn what you need to while playing BTSM, BUT there's the initial learning curve of just knowing what it is that you're trying to do at a conceptual level that I don't really cover.

For people with a physics background, or who closely follow real-world space exploration as a hobby, this might not be a problem, but I think if you're coming into it absolutely cold you'll hit a bit of a brick wall right at the start unless you know the basics of what an orbit is and how it is attained.

Also, the Mun flight tutorial gives you an introduction to transfer orbits, which I think is another prerequisite for those that may not be habituated to thinking in terms of ellipses :)

So yeah, do the tutorials first would be my advice. Once you start on BTSM reaching orbit will be a lot harder than in the tutorial, but at least you'll have the basic idea of what you're trying to do in mind.

[Sarudak]

Is it intended that you don't get the mainsail engine with the big orange tank anymore? And if so what am I supposed to do with the big orange tank?

[Equitis1024]

Is it intended that you don't get the mainsail engine with the big orange tank anymore? And if so what am I supposed to do with the big orange tank?

At first you have to improvise your own high-thrust engine by using the adapters that come with the orange tank to cluster a bunch of smaller engines under it.

[Sarudak]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHGHGHGGHGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did it! After many kerbal deaths (their sacrifice shall not be forgotten). We have finally completed a successful mun landing and return. Including many harrowing moments while trying to complete a docking maneuver with imbalanced rcs thrusters and only minutes of air left. To an over aggressive reentry angle and oscillations that burned off one of my three parachutes. But I did it! That was truly fantastic. Well done sir. Well done.

[Taleric]

Lol so good :)

The ability for craft to become semi-crippled and through sheer piloting/luck you can pull off the impossible :D

A recent one of mine I had a terrible insertion into Eve and JUST made planet fall with enough chutes/panels left to complete the mission.

That and I have an honor roll a mile long, most from one way missions :/

[Rawny]

Kinda necro but I just wanted to give you more props.
Walked by a co-worker's office the other day and saw him watching a Kerbal video. I started talking about your Kerbal mod. He didn't really know what I was talking about as he hadn't played career mode but said he'd look into it. Today he stopped me and told me he started a career mode. The mode was okay but then watched a "Better than Starting Manned" video as I had mentioned he should do. He seemed so pumped about it he looked like a kid the night of christmas eve. I've never played it and I still get to convert people to the tentacly fold. He's the donating type too i think.

You should send out BTW / BTSM business cards so we can spread more seeds, including for RTH one day. :)

Just a good little story I thought I'd share.

[DaveYanakov]

You should share that over on the KSP thread too

[FlowerChild]

Kinda necro but I just wanted to give you more props.

Hehe...word. Thanks :)

You should share that over on the KSP thread too

I was just about to say "the KSP forums have been down the past couple of days", checked, and turns out they're not anymore.

However, given they have been down and given Rawny doesn't even play the mod, it's cool.

[Rawny]

given Rawny doesn't even play the mod, it's cool.

Oh no, its not the mod at all, its the game in it's entirety. From what I've heard I don't think that I'd play Kerbal without BTSM.
:)
:|
... even to my own ears I'm starting to sound to much like a kiss ass. Uhm... You smell funny and I hate your nipple hair!

[Sarudak]

His nipple hair is definitely the worst...

[FlowerChild]

Oh no, its not the mod at all, its the game in it's entirety. From what I've heard I don't think that I'd play Kerbal without BTSM.

No, no, I understood :)

... even to my own ears I'm starting to sound to much like a kiss ass. Uhm... You smell funny and I hate your nipple hair!

Hey! Now you're just playing dirty. Besides, I think my nipple hair looks quite festive ever since I started braiding it.

[dawnraider]

But the soothing caress of the tentacles more than makes up for it :) The spikes kind of hurt, though.

[jorgebonafe]

Hey! Now you're just playing dirty. Besides, I think my nipple hair looks quite festive ever since I started braiding it.

Is Flowerchild is morphing from an eldritch horror to a viking?

[devak]

Hey! Now you're just playing dirty. Besides, I think my nipple hair looks quite festive ever since I started braiding it.

Is Flowerchild is morphing from an eldritch horror to a viking?

viking eldritch horror, with horned helmets.

[DaveYanakov]

I wasn't trying to chastise Rawny, just thought it would be a good story to spread around. I keep meaning to get back to my playthrough but I have much education to do first and the hunt for a jungle temple keeps distracting me.

[Taleric]

Sweet Scott Manley did a video :D http://youtu.be/ZZ1HCK_beIg

[FlowerChild]

Hehe...yup, I'm currently stocking up my bomb shelter so I can hide out there for the next few weeks :)

[Ozziie]

What are we calling the incoming horde? Scottaboos? Manboo(b)s?

[devak]

Hehe...yup, I'm currently stocking up my bomb shelter so I can hide out there for the next few weeks :)

I watched a bit of it but turned that video off quickly. I didn't quite get the feeling that he understood what the mod was for (a more gradual experience and at least some handholding for basic rocketry) and i didn't want to sit through several minutes of cringing.

[FlowerChild]

I watched a bit of it but turned that video off quickly. I didn't quite get the feeling that he understood what the mod was for (a more gradual experience and at least some handholding for basic rocketry) and i didn't want to sit through several minutes of cringing.

I'm surprised by that man, as I'd suspect I'd be the most sensitive to that kind of thing, and I quite enjoyed the video :)

He misstates the intention of the mod as being about realism at the start, and that's inspired me to do some damage control in the comments on the vid, but beyond that I thought he represented the mod in a very positive light, seems to be quite enjoying himself while playing, and provided insight into some of the more technical aspects of the first few tiers of the progression that I think will help any new players "get" what it's about.

The only other real error I spotted was him alluding to more than one person working on the project in a few places, but honestly, I only found that assumption to be flattering.

Overall, relative to what I've seen in the past, I thought it to be quite an excellent vid.

[Stormweaver]

Overall, relative to what I've seen in the past, I thought it to be quite an excellent vid.

He also seemed to like your sense of humour, which never hurts :p

[Larmantine]

FROM YOUTUBE


AndreKSP
1 day ago

Omg why did they make like this!!?? its even more linear then CoD!

I am amazed how your mods always attract idiots who won't even take the time to look what it is about.

[FlowerChild]

I am amazed how your mods always attract idiots who won't even take the time to look what it is about.

I don't think it's particular to my mods man, that's just a segment of the general gaming public. When my mods receive mass exposure like this, the bar is lowered substantially with regards to who is exposed to my work as those people don't generally go out of their way to seek out stuff like I make.

I think the general gaming public is habituated to a massive amount of hand-holding from commercial games, constantly being setup in situations where they can never fail, and being fed repeated positive reinforcement telling them they are uber gamers, so I've long stopped taking it personally that when they're exposed to my mods that they freak out in a variety of ways when the game smacks them upside the head and tells them they suck :)

It's not like the average gamer goes out of their way to find additional challenge, as I think their egos get tied up in what I mention above about receiving constant positive reinforcement. I'm genuinely amazed at how many times I see people go on about how games like 7 Days and KSP are "challenging enough already", when they've both got remarkably shallow progression (admittedly a little better with KSP 0.9), and my personal theory on that is that those same gamers are so tied up in the idea of their own gaming superiority that they don't want to acknowledge that the games they are playing may actually be way too easy to act as a measure of skill.

He also seemed to like your sense of humour, which never hurts :p

Hehe...yeah, I definitely took note of how many times he decided to read the mod text out loud and how he seemed to be getting a real chuckle out of it :)

[logorouge]

That video was a pretty neat introduction of what the mod is like (and for me, what KSP is like in action). It looked pretty damn fun actually. Those missions/contracts I really like too. But that one guy in the comments complaining about linearity... The whole time I was thinking "The author is giving you a skyscraper of possibilities and you're complaining because the building doesn't have 15 front doors? Come on!" Anyway, very neat.

[FlowerChild]

That video was a pretty neat introduction of what the mod is like (and for me, what KSP is like in action). It looked pretty damn fun actually. Those missions/contracts I really like too. But that one guy in the comments complaining about linearity... The whole time I was thinking "The author is giving you a skyscraper of possibilities and you're complaining because the building doesn't have 15 front doors? Come on!" Anyway, very neat.

I'm finding there's a real disconnect in some of the KSP community, and really communities for pretty much any creative games, where people seem to want progression, but at the same time, complain about their creative freedom being restricted soon as any real progression is introduced or their abilities are in any way restricted, even if temporarily.

Again, not something I tend to take personally any longer. I see many attempts at people trying to somehow bring a sense of progression to these kinds of games while remaining entirely open to options, other mods, and total player freedom, and generally only say to myself "good luck" ;)