Kerbal Space Program 0.21 is out!

[Gormador]

You are full of talents flowerchild, that's awesome. Reading that big ass post above about technology makes me realize that I had never seen this from that point of view. I would ask you to give yourself a warning for the part about religion, though ^^ Am I alowed to say that I strongly agree ? Oups, warning received, sorry...

Anyway, all this makes me want to play to KSP aven more !! In three days, it looks like my computer will be working hard.

About mods : I guess you guys would recommend to play without any at first, right ?

[FlowerChild]

I would ask you to give yourself a warning for the part about religion

We don't have rules about religion here man, just politics.

Also, what I said is not necessarily about religion, more about the fundamental belief that many have that the concept of our extinction is so unthinkable, that humanity simply can not die out.

Do any of us *really* believe it? Do I? I can intellectually acknowledge the possibility, but it seems to be hardwired into us to dismiss such thoughts as ludicrous, I think because such a thing invalidates most of our desires and goals.

[Gormador]

We don't have rules about religion here man, just politics.

I actually missclicked when trying tout read this reply and ended up on the rule page and saw it... Anyway, I wasn't at all offended ^^

Also, what I said is not necessarily about religion, more about the fundamental belief that many have that the concept of our extinction is so unthinkable, that humanity simply can not die out.

Do any of us *really* believe it? Do I? I can intellectually acknowledge the possibility, but it seems to be hardwired into us to dismiss such thoughts as ludicrous, I think because such a thing invalidates most of our desires and goals.

If the majority of humanity doesn't understand that the so called "immortality of our species" is not a thing, it might also be because we have yet to discover something that coule wipe us out AND at the same time be understood by the majority of humanity. For example, I'm sure a lot of people don't even conceive the idea that the amount of nukes on earth would suffice to wipe us out several times if miss used.

Anyway, as interesting as it is, this is getting very off-topic even for an off topic. And quite methaphysical too! Sorry to have draged you into it ;-)

[abzu93]

About mods : I guess you guys would recommend to play without any at first, right ?

I wouldn't recommend any until you get used to the native parts, game mechanics and can do basic tasks like orbit, land, transfer, dock, and crash gloriously. Recently my major accomplishment was landing on the Mun solely using instrumentation in IVA. It's not as hard as it sounds because it gives you an accurate calculation of your height from the actual surface instead of sea-level... it's just a little unnerving. But even that is native functionality.

There are those who don't use mods at all, but since the game is still alpha, it's lacking in some functionality that some mods provide... like deadly re-entry, better aerodynamics, more info--- things of that nature.

[DaveYanakov]

Flowerchild, I am so, so sorry for planting that seed. I really wasn't thinking.

I played the demo most of a year ago and I was intrigued, sounds like it's gotten to the point where I need to slap money down on this next time a paycheque comes in. And as far as extinction goes, I believe that humans are bastard enough when it comes to survival that a few of us would be fighting the cockroaches for the scraps a the end but yeah, for all intents and purposes the species will be finished if we don't get the hell off the mother rock before we set off a bout of Kessler.

[FlowerChild]

Flowerchild, I am so, so sorry for planting that seed. I really wasn't thinking.

Lol...no worries man :)

With regards to purchasing: honestly, if it hadn't been gifted to me, I'd probably be still waiting on the career mode. Playing now has gotten me in a weird situation where I really love playing, but I'm also not wanting to spoil working through the game with the actual career in place, so I'm putting self-imposed limits in place like not going beyond the Mun.

What you have in there now is basically "creative mode" (well..not quite as bad mind you) where you can build absolutely anything you want. You still need to design it and manually pilot it where you want, but you have absolutely all the tech available to you right from the start and an infinite supply of cash.

I also try to restrict myself through building realistic looking rockets (hence why the one mod I'm using provides those procedural fairings) and trying to use relatively cheap parts that I think are roughly the historical equivalent of what I'm trying to accomplish, but yeah, I'd really love to have a better framework in place.

So my advice is that depending on what you're wanting out of the game and how important the career mode is to you, you may want to hold off on a purchase for a few more releases. They're actively working on the career mode now, so hopefully this is the final stretch before it's in the game.

On the mod front, I also installed FAR (aerodynamics mod), but all the interface clutter it generated, and then reading the current version has bugs that are providing excessive lift, inspired me to uninstall it shortly thereafter. I think I'll just stick with my fairings for now :)

[Katalliaan]

If you really are itching for a career mode, you might want to check out Mission Controller. The author hasn't updated to 0.21 yet, but there's an unofficial update from a fan who wanted to continue using it. There's a few mission packs floating around out there for it already, although I can't vouch for how well-balanced they are, as I've never used the mod myself.

[FlowerChild]

Recently my major accomplishment was landing on the Mun solely using instrumentation in IVA. It's not as hard as it sounds because it gives you an accurate calculation of your height from the actual surface instead of sea-level... it's just a little unnerving. But even that is native functionality.

You may find that to be more difficult with the new Munner terrain man. You really aren't guaranteed a flat landing surface anymore, as my probe that slid down the hill will testify :)

On the external cam front though, the terrain plus the improvements they've made to shadows make it much easier to visually estimate altitude than it was previously. I used to constantly be panicking due to having no real idea of how high up I was until the very last minute, but I find that's happening much less now.

If you really are itching for a career mode, you might want to check out Mission Controller. The author hasn't updated to 0.21 yet, but there's an unofficial update from a fan who wanted to continue using it. There's a few mission packs floating around out there for it already, although I can't vouch for how well-balanced they are, as I've never used the mod myself.

Yeah, I was taking a look at the thread for that yesterday, but will hold off giving it a try until it's updated by the author. Unofficial patches of unofficial mods are a little beyond my unofficial tolerance threshold :)

There were a few things in the OP that also gave me pause. It still seems to be in very early development, and the guy states up front he doesn't have time to put together missions at the moment as he's focusing on the code, so I'm not really too optimistic about getting any actual balance out of a mod I'd primarily want to use for balance ;)

I put up a thread last week asking about the kind of mods that interest me actually, and got a lot of great answers (a few "USE MECHJEB!!!!" posts too, but whatever), so I think I have a pretty good overview of the modding landscape at present, and a good list of mods I intend to check out once they're updated.

[FlowerChild]

AAAAAHHHHH!!!! Espionage can cause foreign nations to detect what you are researching at any given point, with certain research (such as "Star Wars" tech) causing diplomatic crisis and temporarily bumping the doomsday clock way up.

[Katalliaan]

Well, if it's a 0.20 mod that doesn't rely on plugins, it's compatible, since the way parts are defined hasn't changed. Plugins are a different matter, though.

[FlowerChild]

Well, if it's a 0.20 mod that doesn't rely on plugins, it's compatible, since the way parts are defined hasn't changed. Plugins are a different matter, though.

Yup, I realize. Hence why I have me fairings :)

[jkievlan]

Woot! <dances>

Perfect timing too, as I was just thinking I could use a night off from the mod :)

Oh man. You shouldn't have posted this. I think you may have just lost a BTW player.

You might be interested to know that I was also originally a physics major, then switched to computer tech :) Although, my degree is in philosophy. Programming is just my career.

[FlowerChild]

You might be interested to know that I was also originally a physics major, then switched to computer tech :) Although, my degree is in philosophy. Programming is just my career.

Huh...sounds like we have remarkably similar interests man.

[jkievlan]

You might be interested to know that I was also originally a physics major, then switched to computer tech :) Although, my degree is in philosophy. Programming is just my career.

Huh...sounds like we have remarkably similar interests man.

Seems so :) I admit I'm slightly jealous of you and your friend's drunk conversations about the future of humanity. It's rare to find somebody who can hold an intelligent conversion and deal with thorny issues. Good luck on saving the human race :)

[abzu93]

If you really are itching for a career mode, you might want to check out Mission Controller. The author hasn't updated to 0.21 yet, [...snip...] I can't vouch for how well-balanced they are, as I've never used the mod myself.

Mission Controller is based on native pricing, and if you have mod part packs (such as Nova-Punch, or KW Rocketry), then you'll essentially nerf the accounting. Still, the missions are good beginning challenges.

Remote Tech is currently causing me loads of scrapped missions as I learn how to use it. If I was on a budget, we'd be forced to beg, borrow, or steal to get resources to continue the program.

Unrelated:
Best KSP composition story/vid I've seen on YouTube - (non-tutorial, non-let's play):

Spoiler

Show

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II

[FlowerChild]

Mission Controller is based on native pricing, and if you have mod part packs (such as Nova-Punch, or KW Rocketry), then you'll essentially nerf the accounting. Still, the missions are good beginning challenges.

Yeah, that doesn't really affect me given the only part I have installed, and intend to use, are the Procedural Fairings. Part packs don't really interest me, with the possible exception of KAS (that robotic arm one), and I'm still a long way off from needing that.

[WeedFather]

I've been pretty interested in KSP, but I just haven't had the time and money for it. Especially with college coming up in a month. Possibly one of the most interesting things I'm determined to try in the game is building a base on the Mun or Duna, but i suck at the game right now. I'm not really smart and skilled at it. It's pretty technical compared to what I'm used to.

I also find the topic of the technological progression and fate of humanity and space exploration to be something very interesting. It's something I sometimes (but not often enough) think about. However, I don't think I have anything new or good and worth contributing to the discussion and that part of the thread is over with now, so I'll just keep my mouth shut. I:

I've chosen to major in Engineering Technology because it sounded like something I would enjoy and like it would pay well, and I also read that it would involve coding. The main reason I'm interested in coding is game design. Still, I wonder if I should major in physics instead?

I've read that most coders and game makers start with mods and GameMaker Studio, but now I'm just getting off-topic. I'm sorry. You have to excuse my rambling. I'm just a young idiot who doesn't entirely know where to begin learning about game design and the universe.

[FlowerChild]

9 out of 10 game developers start out making games (the remaining 10% start out doing heavy drugs). Make games, then you'll work in games. Then games will crush your soul. Then you'll make a mod restoring a portion of your soul.

Then you'll do something or other followed by profit.

[WeedFather]

Ah. so GameMaker it is, then! Funny how I haven't felt very motivated to try it though. I've been meaning to try the coding tutorial in GameMaker Studio, but I've never gotten around to it yet. I have these ideas I like a lot (which mean nothing, I know), I have the passion about them, but not the drive. Maybe I've just been feeling jaded for these past few years of highschool and this will change when I get to college and/or find my passion or drive in a new place. Maybe it's because it's not game design that I'm passionate about, but story writing, instead.

You see, there are reasons why I want to make my story idea into a video game instead of a movie, a novel series, a tv series, or a web series, but that's something I'll shamelessly talk about in another thread in another time instead of getting off-topic on this thread.

Back on topic, KSP's technical gameplay mechanics are pretty intimidating to me, but I want to land on the Mun and make a space colony so bad. So bad, it hurts my soul and pants, so bad.

[mazer246]

Well, having picked this game up a while ago and only fooling around (Barely even making it into orbit, just explored Kerbin and messed around with aeroplanes and rocket powered cars), I finally got serious with v.21. Wow... First rocket I made got into orbit, and I managed to make the orbit perfectly circular at 200km. ChaChing. Next step was to develop a heavier rocket that could launch something to the mun. After a few failures, and taking some inspiration from the KerbalX stock rocket, I managed to make it to the moon. But then came the tough part... landing. Every time I would touch down, it would be on an insanely steep slope and my lander would start to tip before I slammed on the throttle. 4 touches later, I managed to land on a more or less flat spot... Damn that was fun.

[FlowerChild]

Seriously, the idea I mentioned above when I said I was planning on aiming for the center of craters works extremely well in practice for landing on flat ground. They present you with a nice big bullseye to aim for on the map when planning your descent trajectory :)

[mazer246]

Will try that out for the incoming rover delivery. Although now that I am at the Mun, I am at a bit of a loss as to what I am supposed to do there heh. The module I successfully delivered has a radio tower, solar panels, science, comfort, and room for expansion. Except I dunno what to add on, I have just about everything I might ever need on that one module, except for the incoming rover of course. What do you guys do with your mun bases?

[Dr. Kylstein]

Is getting into orbit much easier in the recent versions than the demo? I've made several attempts with the Vostok 1 and Kerbal 5, but I can't keep control long enough to raise apoapsis before my fuel runs out.

[abzu93]

Will try that out for the incoming rover delivery. Although now that I am at the Mun, I am at a bit of a loss as to what I am supposed to do there heh. The module I successfully delivered has a radio tower, solar panels, science, comfort, and room for expansion. Except I dunno what to add on, I have just about everything I might ever need on that one module, except for the incoming rover of course. What do you guys do with your mun bases?

I mine Kethane (mod), use it as a Forward Operating Base to hold parts and Kerbals, for further extra-planetary expansion, and as a free range rover jumping course.

Space stations are also excellent FOB's. It's easier to mine, processes and send fuel up to a space station from the Mun or Minmus than from Kerbin because gravity sucks. There's also easter eggs on various planets and moons that are fun to hunt down. With no career mode, it's up to you how you want to proceed and what goals you set for yourself.

Is getting into orbit much easier in the recent versions than the demo? I've made several attempts with the Vostok 1 and Kerbal 5, but I can't keep control long enough to raise apoapsis before my fuel runs out.

Yes, because you have more parts at your disposal. Build bigger rockets!

[devak]

Yes, because you have more parts at your disposal. Build bigger rockets!

As i found out, bigger rockets usually are needlessly complex and do not seem to be working as well. or i haven't figured out the proper ratio.


Build smarter rockets. There are some magic fueltank:engine ratios that create great rockets that beat the crap out of some bigger ones i made.