warpus
In pork I trust
I could but it wouldn't look as impressive, plus I didn't have any FPS problems with this
Kerbal Space Program
- Thread starter Leonel
- Start date
warpus
In pork I trust
PROJECT ZEUS
Project ZEUS was a mission to Jool from my last career mode save. It was an idea I had that I sketched out on a Greyhound bus to Toronto. I had to save up enough money to do all the launches (9-10) it took to put everything in orbit, assemble it, and send it to Jool. The story begins after all the pieces have already been put in orbit and assembled into ZEUS motherships.
Part 1 - Departure and Arrival
The first ship to depart did not have to be assembled. It was the somewhat compact ZEUS Fuel Refinery, manned by Ferski the greenhorn engineer.. His first job was to catch a class E asteroid and put it in orbit around Minmus so that the other motherships could refuel before setting course for Jool. This mission was also a bit of a proof of concept of the fully financially sustainable nature of Project ZEUS. The only other available engineer had just retired, so unfortunately this was all on poor inexperienced Ferski.
Next up was Valentina and the ZEUS lander, in which she was going to land on all the moons of Jool. She was bringing a module with 8 communication satellites to be distributed in the Jool system upon arrival.
In order to land on two of the moons and make it back to orbit, Valentina would also need 2 slightly different booster stages. This was the most questionable part of the mission; Valentina was putting a lot on the line by agreeing to land on all 5 moons in one ship. She was however my space program's most decorated pilot, being the first to land on the Mun and on Duna, as well as being the first to orbit Minmus and Eve. So hopefully she knew what she was doing.
On closer inspection there appeared to be a design flaw with one of the booster stages. Mission control scientists concluded that the struts observed sticking out of the booster stage would prevent the lander from docking with it. The booster was also designed to be fully autonomous though, so it was coming with the rest of project ZEUS regardless. Valentina's political contacts back home in the meantime organized a grassroots campaign to convince the government to send a mission to Jool in the next transfer window with a new booster.
On the 4th ship to head out to Jool Tamfurt the scientist was preparing for a long stay in the Jool system while studies were to be performed of all sorts of things. Tamfurt was my space program's most established scientist who up until this point was in charge of the science lab around the Mun. He was bringing with him the ZEUS science lab, as well as a module with several science probes
Ferski was able to successfully capture a giant asteroid and put it in orbit around Minmus. Valentina was the first to dock with the new space station and refuel.
After refuelling, all 4 ships swung back towards Kerbin in an attempt to maximize the Oberth effect during the burn for Jool. It was tricky to get everyone to come in from Minmus and swing around Kerbin at the right time and not miss the window.. but somehow it all worked out and everyone made it to Jool in one piece.
After arriving in the Jool system, the first priority of Project ZEUS was to establish a refuelling base outside of the orbit of all of the moons.
Complex docking maneuvers followed as the 3 modular ZEUS motherships began to refuel and reassemble into mission-specific formats.
Back home relief Project HERA was finally funded, assembled in orbit, and waiting for the next transfer window for Jool. Tamfurt's long time professional rival Bob the scientist was on board. Bob was in charge of the science outpost on Duna, where he spent many years studying the northern polar ice cap and with the help of a rover a nearby biome as well. After returning home he was on the verge of retirement, but got annoyed when people started calling Tamfurt the best scientist ever. He was heading to Jool to outscience Tamfurt and restore his reputation as top scientist ever. Along for the ride was also Jebediah, a pilot. He was going to take over operations in the Jool system after Valentina was finished landing on all the moons or die trying.
In the HERA gift package was also a module with 8 extra communication satellites, a return ship for when the mission was over, of course a new booster for Valentina's mission, and an addition to the ZEUS fuel refinery, which included a lot extra ore storage, extra batteries, and solar panels.
I have no idea if this is a good format or not, but this was a complicated project and I thought some people might enjoy seeing what happened. I tried to make the photos small enough to not be a bandwidth hassle but big enough to see the cool stuff.
In part 2 the communication network is put up and Valentina tries to land on all the moons.
Project ZEUS was a mission to Jool from my last career mode save. It was an idea I had that I sketched out on a Greyhound bus to Toronto. I had to save up enough money to do all the launches (9-10) it took to put everything in orbit, assemble it, and send it to Jool. The story begins after all the pieces have already been put in orbit and assembled into ZEUS motherships.
Part 1 - Departure and Arrival
The first ship to depart did not have to be assembled. It was the somewhat compact ZEUS Fuel Refinery, manned by Ferski the greenhorn engineer.. His first job was to catch a class E asteroid and put it in orbit around Minmus so that the other motherships could refuel before setting course for Jool. This mission was also a bit of a proof of concept of the fully financially sustainable nature of Project ZEUS. The only other available engineer had just retired, so unfortunately this was all on poor inexperienced Ferski.
Spoiler :
Next up was Valentina and the ZEUS lander, in which she was going to land on all the moons of Jool. She was bringing a module with 8 communication satellites to be distributed in the Jool system upon arrival.
Spoiler :
In order to land on two of the moons and make it back to orbit, Valentina would also need 2 slightly different booster stages. This was the most questionable part of the mission; Valentina was putting a lot on the line by agreeing to land on all 5 moons in one ship. She was however my space program's most decorated pilot, being the first to land on the Mun and on Duna, as well as being the first to orbit Minmus and Eve. So hopefully she knew what she was doing.
On closer inspection there appeared to be a design flaw with one of the booster stages. Mission control scientists concluded that the struts observed sticking out of the booster stage would prevent the lander from docking with it. The booster was also designed to be fully autonomous though, so it was coming with the rest of project ZEUS regardless. Valentina's political contacts back home in the meantime organized a grassroots campaign to convince the government to send a mission to Jool in the next transfer window with a new booster.
Spoiler :
On the 4th ship to head out to Jool Tamfurt the scientist was preparing for a long stay in the Jool system while studies were to be performed of all sorts of things. Tamfurt was my space program's most established scientist who up until this point was in charge of the science lab around the Mun. He was bringing with him the ZEUS science lab, as well as a module with several science probes
Spoiler :
Ferski was able to successfully capture a giant asteroid and put it in orbit around Minmus. Valentina was the first to dock with the new space station and refuel.
Spoiler :
After refuelling, all 4 ships swung back towards Kerbin in an attempt to maximize the Oberth effect during the burn for Jool. It was tricky to get everyone to come in from Minmus and swing around Kerbin at the right time and not miss the window.. but somehow it all worked out and everyone made it to Jool in one piece.
Spoiler :
After arriving in the Jool system, the first priority of Project ZEUS was to establish a refuelling base outside of the orbit of all of the moons.
Spoiler :
Complex docking maneuvers followed as the 3 modular ZEUS motherships began to refuel and reassemble into mission-specific formats.
Spoiler :
Back home relief Project HERA was finally funded, assembled in orbit, and waiting for the next transfer window for Jool. Tamfurt's long time professional rival Bob the scientist was on board. Bob was in charge of the science outpost on Duna, where he spent many years studying the northern polar ice cap and with the help of a rover a nearby biome as well. After returning home he was on the verge of retirement, but got annoyed when people started calling Tamfurt the best scientist ever. He was heading to Jool to outscience Tamfurt and restore his reputation as top scientist ever. Along for the ride was also Jebediah, a pilot. He was going to take over operations in the Jool system after Valentina was finished landing on all the moons or die trying.
In the HERA gift package was also a module with 8 extra communication satellites, a return ship for when the mission was over, of course a new booster for Valentina's mission, and an addition to the ZEUS fuel refinery, which included a lot extra ore storage, extra batteries, and solar panels.
Spoiler :
I have no idea if this is a good format or not, but this was a complicated project and I thought some people might enjoy seeing what happened. I tried to make the photos small enough to not be a bandwidth hassle but big enough to see the cool stuff.
In part 2 the communication network is put up and Valentina tries to land on all the moons.
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warpus
In pork I trust
PROJECT ZEUS
Part 2 - Exploration of Tylo
The parts required for this part of the mission were parked in a low orbit around Tylo. One was piloted by Valentina and the other one was an autonomous drone.
The ships reassembled and one of them began to distribute a communication satellite network around Tylo.
Tylo got a satellite for the northern hemisphere, one for the southern hemisphere, and a satellite orbiting around the equator for good measure. This was deemed "good enough" by mission control.
Valentina meanwhile was beginning her descent to the surface of the moon. The tug would stay in orbit and await Valentina's return.
The booster was modular in design as well.
Touchdown!
Takeoff was weird. The design could have been better, and no action groups were assigned to the engines. This was not good news for the upcoming mission to Laythe, which also requires the use of a booster.
Back in Orbit around Tylo, Valentina begins a rendezvous with the tug.
Both tugs ended up having enough fuel to bring Valentina and the communication satellite module (now containing 5 satellites) back to asteroid Banks. There both ships refuelled and began to plot course for the second moon on the list.
Part 2 - Exploration of Tylo
The parts required for this part of the mission were parked in a low orbit around Tylo. One was piloted by Valentina and the other one was an autonomous drone.
Spoiler :
The ships reassembled and one of them began to distribute a communication satellite network around Tylo.
Spoiler :
Tylo got a satellite for the northern hemisphere, one for the southern hemisphere, and a satellite orbiting around the equator for good measure. This was deemed "good enough" by mission control.
Spoiler :
Valentina meanwhile was beginning her descent to the surface of the moon. The tug would stay in orbit and await Valentina's return.
Spoiler :
The booster was modular in design as well.
Spoiler :
Touchdown!
Spoiler :
Takeoff was weird. The design could have been better, and no action groups were assigned to the engines. This was not good news for the upcoming mission to Laythe, which also requires the use of a booster.
Spoiler :
Back in Orbit around Tylo, Valentina begins a rendezvous with the tug.
Spoiler :
Both tugs ended up having enough fuel to bring Valentina and the communication satellite module (now containing 5 satellites) back to asteroid Banks. There both ships refuelled and began to plot course for the second moon on the list.
that's a big boat
by the way, random unrelated tip: for separate-launch docking port alignment, try using a tri- or quad-adapter with multiple small docking ports, that way you are forced to line your ships up in the correct fashion and you won't have any strangely angled pieces betraying your symmetry.
by the way, random unrelated tip: for separate-launch docking port alignment, try using a tri- or quad-adapter with multiple small docking ports, that way you are forced to line your ships up in the correct fashion and you won't have any strangely angled pieces betraying your symmetry.
warpus
In pork I trust
That's a good idea. The only thing I had to line up precisely for all these Zeus missions was the lander and the booster, so the ladders matched up properly, etc. But that was actually pretty easy to do, once I aligned everything and was just about to dock, I just rotated the lander until everything matched up. I thought it was going to be a chore, but it ended up more than routine and not an issue
The main reason I use the same large docking port for everything for these missions is so that I can attach anything to anything else, and for better stability. As a result most things are also a bit large, but that's ok, everything is overengineered anyway
warpus
In pork I trust
PROJECT ZEUS
Part 3 - Everything Else
All the other moons were flown to, 3 comm satellites put in orbit of each one, and Valentina landed on each moon with her ZEUS lander. Here she is taking off from Laythe.
After Laythe I needed a new asteroid. I put it in close orbit around Jool this time, to see which approach works better.
The communications network in the Jool system expands.
After all the moon missions were completed and Valentina was sent home, attention could be put to the science probes that up until that point were docked with the ZEUS science lab, orbiting on the far outskirts of the Jool system. A tug picked up the probes and made its way to Laythe.
Five probes were deployed on Laythe, and the last one was fired into Jool itself.
There were several sub-missions here I am not mentioning, there was a lot of refuelling, i had to get a 3rd asteroid.. There were several side-missions that were interesting in scope but did not result in any good screenshots. Several rescues and a couple close calls..
In the end it was time for everybody who was left in the Jool system to go home. But somehow the return was mismanaged and I was moving just too fast and had too little fuel left to break and get in orbit of Kerbin.
I had to reload the game and allow the ship to zoom by Kerbin and continue on its way. I designed a rescue vessel, to be piloted by none other than Valentina. It launched as soon as it could and ended up trailing the returning craft, but caught up to it just after they both left Kerbin's gravity well and entered orbin around Kerbol.
With everyone home safe, and the Jool system now full of communications satellites, the plan was always to launch drone missions there.. However, for now everyone is kind of bored of Jool, and I installed RSS so we'll see what happens
Part 3 - Everything Else
All the other moons were flown to, 3 comm satellites put in orbit of each one, and Valentina landed on each moon with her ZEUS lander. Here she is taking off from Laythe.
Spoiler :
After Laythe I needed a new asteroid. I put it in close orbit around Jool this time, to see which approach works better.
Spoiler :
The communications network in the Jool system expands.
Spoiler :
After all the moon missions were completed and Valentina was sent home, attention could be put to the science probes that up until that point were docked with the ZEUS science lab, orbiting on the far outskirts of the Jool system. A tug picked up the probes and made its way to Laythe.
Spoiler :
Five probes were deployed on Laythe, and the last one was fired into Jool itself.
Spoiler :
There were several sub-missions here I am not mentioning, there was a lot of refuelling, i had to get a 3rd asteroid.. There were several side-missions that were interesting in scope but did not result in any good screenshots. Several rescues and a couple close calls..
In the end it was time for everybody who was left in the Jool system to go home. But somehow the return was mismanaged and I was moving just too fast and had too little fuel left to break and get in orbit of Kerbin.
Spoiler :
I had to reload the game and allow the ship to zoom by Kerbin and continue on its way. I designed a rescue vessel, to be piloted by none other than Valentina. It launched as soon as it could and ended up trailing the returning craft, but caught up to it just after they both left Kerbin's gravity well and entered orbin around Kerbol.
With everyone home safe, and the Jool system now full of communications satellites, the plan was always to launch drone missions there.. However, for now everyone is kind of bored of Jool, and I installed RSS so we'll see what happens
warpus
In pork I trust
A new KSP challenger?
Looks like it has most (all?) of the functionality of KSP.. and much better graphics! Has this game been on anyone's radar?
Looks like it has most (all?) of the functionality of KSP.. and much better graphics! Has this game been on anyone's radar?
Well it was only a matter of time before someone came along and did KSP better. This game has been mentioned once or twice... my strongest concern is performance, that critical area that KSP still lacks.
edit: I bought it. CTD when I re-entered atmo at 10x time warp. Oops. Probably gonna let it sizzle on the back burner until it gets at least one update. At $15 it's the same I paid for KSP, and already has way, way more content than KSP did at the time.
edit: I bought it. CTD when I re-entered atmo at 10x time warp. Oops. Probably gonna let it sizzle on the back burner until it gets at least one update. At $15 it's the same I paid for KSP, and already has way, way more content than KSP did at the time.
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warpus
In pork I trust
Goodbye future social life
I haven't even played the first one because of these horsehockey rigs I have, but no issue.
I hope it keeps expanding on the first one. I see laser-ignitied pellet drives. Orion drives. A lot more base building. Space-based infrastructure? My best hope. The RSS guys will churn out the rest.
I hope it keeps expanding on the first one. I see laser-ignitied pellet drives. Orion drives. A lot more base building. Space-based infrastructure? My best hope. The RSS guys will churn out the rest.
trader/warrior
Deity
Really looking forward to KSP2. From the trailer and Scott Manley's analysis I do worry a bit they'll go overboard with the futuristic tech, but I guess if it has a good tech tree progression it shouldn't really be a problem.
So now we have this new studio making this, and the old Squad studio still working on the original KSP and who knows what else, and then there is the original lone creator of KSP as well as some others of the old Squad developer team who got jobs at Valve. I really wonder what those guys are doing...
So now we have this new studio making this, and the old Squad studio still working on the original KSP and who knows what else, and then there is the original lone creator of KSP as well as some others of the old Squad developer team who got jobs at Valve. I really wonder what those guys are doing...
warpus
In pork I trust
The original Squad guys were ex-modders I believe as well as guys who did not have much experience making games. As a result the game engine isn't super efficient. You see this in action when you arrive at Eve and there are no visible clouds. If the game engine were built well, that would have been in the vanilla game and it wouldn't lead to any slowdown issues. They are to be commended for the game they made, even with all the issues. But completely different people working on the sequel doesn't bother me, since these completely new people make games for a living, and have a lot of experience with that sort of thing. So the game engine for the sequel should be a lot more efficient and well put together. Whether this translates to great gameplay is another story, but I read that some of the Squad guys are in an advisor role or something similar.. and so far everything sounds perfect to me in terms of what they are planning.. so I'm a cautiously optimistic
Which futuristic tech are you worried about? I read that they will not give us FTL engines or anything like that, and want to make the game realistic enough
Which futuristic tech are you worried about? I read that they will not give us FTL engines or anything like that, and want to make the game realistic enough
trader/warrior
Deity
Not anything super specific, just almost all engines were some form of "exotic" propulsion system as opposed to good old solids and liquids. I bet Jeb Kerman would say "Why use that stuff when you can add moar boosters?" To me a big part of the charm of KSP was starting out with humble beginnings and using simple parts that don't necessarily fit the job perfectly to build something innovative, I hope we still have to do that.
And the vast colony-scapes. Having more features and being able to build bigger isn't a bad thing of course. I just hope it keeps the pacing right and getting to the point where you have constructions like in the trailer takes a similar amount of effort and planning to how it is in KSP now, only with less headaches, better performance and better features to get it done.
So yeah this can all be done right if just they keep focus on having a nice progression through the game.
And the vast colony-scapes. Having more features and being able to build bigger isn't a bad thing of course. I just hope it keeps the pacing right and getting to the point where you have constructions like in the trailer takes a similar amount of effort and planning to how it is in KSP now, only with less headaches, better performance and better features to get it done.
So yeah this can all be done right if just they keep focus on having a nice progression through the game.
warpus
In pork I trust
From the sounds of things the traditional engines will be there in some form or another, as they are trying to stay true to the general spirit of the original game (from what I've read). But since there will be other solar systems, you will have engines that don't exist (yet?), such as .. possibly that project orion nuke drive that somebody spotted in the trailer. No FTL drives
If the colony building is well balanced then it will be GREAT. Hopefully you have to land and set up a whole bunch of modules and progress your colony from level to level until you are able to use your colony for things like rocket/plane construction. They say that you won't be able to build rockets fright away, so that seems to be a part of the plan. So I agree, they could do a good job with that.. or not.
Right now building colonies doesn't really do anything. The only bases I've set up were scientific bases, loaded with science equipment, maybe a rover, drone, etc.. Or "bases for fun" that sit there and look pretty but don't really do much. I think it could be potentially amazing to have all sorts of new reasons to build bases and outposts on other moons and planets. Launching rockets from a lower gravity well would be my #1 reason right now, but I haven't really thought about it.
It seems that they will give us much more interesting terrain and things to explore, so driving a rover around or flying a drone or plane around might be a much more fun part of the game. So I can see wanting a base for a fleet of rovers or drones I can use to explore interesting parts of whatever planet. Establishing a foothold somewhere might also feel a lot more epic if you set up a base in spectacular terrain, like on a cliff overlooking something vast, with maybe Jool in the backdrop.. Should look a lot more amazing in the sequel, and the terrain should be a lot more varied, there will probably be clouds and atmospheric effects, I think base building will be a very cool part of the game!
If the colony building is well balanced then it will be GREAT. Hopefully you have to land and set up a whole bunch of modules and progress your colony from level to level until you are able to use your colony for things like rocket/plane construction. They say that you won't be able to build rockets fright away, so that seems to be a part of the plan. So I agree, they could do a good job with that.. or not.
Right now building colonies doesn't really do anything. The only bases I've set up were scientific bases, loaded with science equipment, maybe a rover, drone, etc.. Or "bases for fun" that sit there and look pretty but don't really do much. I think it could be potentially amazing to have all sorts of new reasons to build bases and outposts on other moons and planets. Launching rockets from a lower gravity well would be my #1 reason right now, but I haven't really thought about it.
It seems that they will give us much more interesting terrain and things to explore, so driving a rover around or flying a drone or plane around might be a much more fun part of the game. So I can see wanting a base for a fleet of rovers or drones I can use to explore interesting parts of whatever planet. Establishing a foothold somewhere might also feel a lot more epic if you set up a base in spectacular terrain, like on a cliff overlooking something vast, with maybe Jool in the backdrop.. Should look a lot more amazing in the sequel, and the terrain should be a lot more varied, there will probably be clouds and atmospheric effects, I think base building will be a very cool part of the game!
For anyone reading along, KSP is on sale at Steam for 75% off right now. I just picked it up and I can't wait to play.
Wait... What am I doing here? I'm off to play. Bye!
Wait... What am I doing here? I'm off to play. Bye!
Thorgalaeg
Deity
Wait a second, KSP2 is in the making?
All i want is a solid and modable engine with acceptable performance and physics. Don't care that much about content.
All i want is a solid and modable engine with acceptable performance and physics. Don't care that much about content.
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warpus
In pork I trust
Check out this egg thing that this guy built
He's set it up so that the engines fire on their own, depending on the egg's orientation. Making improvements and releasing updates
He's set it up so that the engines fire on their own, depending on the egg's orientation. Making improvements and releasing updates
