Kerbal Space Program

[Rare White Ape]

I built an aircraft using stock parts that actually flies.



It's somewhat of a copy of a Russian Miyasischev M-55. They were originally conceived to take out high altitude reconnaissance balloons that were launched by the 'Merkins during the cold war, but that all came to an end when they started using spy satellites and the Lockheed A-12. Neither of which could be dealt with by an aircraft like this. It was then reconfigured as the M-17 Stratosphera and used for reconnaissance like the U-2 spy plane. Later on, the M-55 Geophysica made its apprearance, and is still used to this day for science research.



I wanted to build a replica of the M-55 and expected it to make it off the runway and then immediately disintegrate in a high-g flat spin, so I was really surprised to find that it flew fairly stably right from the word go. It might be a unique quirk of a design like this, where the centres of mass and lift seem to synergise with one another. Or it could just be because I'm fucking awesome.

A few refinements later and it's capable of this: 25km altitude, which is practically IN SPACE. Bill Kerman looks utterly rapt.



It can also do this when it hits thicker atmosphere without killing all Kerbals on board. I'm a little bit disappoint. One day I'll figure out what those new health meter-looking things are for. I didn't find out today



Next steps are to fiddle with the angle of the empennage, because it has a tendency to either pitch up or down quite a bit, and I don't seem to have the ability to change the angle of the horiz stabiliser in infinite increments in the assembly hangar. I also need to change the control surfaces which control roll; the ones on the end of the wings are massive and almost flip it over at high speed.

[KillerB]

They're thermometers for parts... once they start heating up too much they appear. If they fill up the parts go boom.

[Rare White Ape]

With the release of Kerbal 1.0 I finally started doing career mode. For once, having some goal to your space odyssey is nice, rather than outrageous rockets with m0ar boosters or weird space experiments and other frankly cruel acts of Kerbal astronaut torture. And doing these things has given me a fair idea on how to space properly.

But starting with a small selection of parts is hard. Really hard. And slow. And tedious. However, do you know what hard and slow and tedious work brings you?

No, it's not the fabled female orgasm, that'll never happen. I'm referring to creativity!

The mission: Ferry two tourists on a suborbital flight on Kerbin and bring them safely back home.
The problem: I only have a crew capacity of 1, and tourists can't fly themselves.
The solution: Stack three capsules on the top of one rocket, with enough fuel in the final stage to slow it all down enough for a safe 'chute deployment. Place a stack separator between each capsule, with a parachute linked to the staging of each component, viz:



It's good for 75km straight up, with a rocket assisted descent in the last stage. By the time it gets below 250m/sec it's pretty close to the ground and out of juice, so I've gotta smash the space bar in a slight panic to drop the unused mass and separate the pods. It'll give the three pods a nice ~2 minute float to the ground, landing just a few kms west of the launch pad. Surprisingly, dropping from a stationary height of over 70km is more risky than re-entry from low orbit. There's not enough time to wash off speed in the atmosphere.

[Random]

I think I spy some duct tape in there.

[Rare White Ape]

Do you know how I know I love this game?

[Rare White Ape]

[Kchrpm]

Coming to XBox One, PS4 and Wii U.

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah I've been seeing that in various places. It's a strange one. They announced the PS4 version a few weeks ago, then the Xbone one last week, then Nintendo accidentally put up a KSP trailer on their YT channel a few days ago.

I mostly consider it odd because it's such a mouse-and-keyboard intensive game and I have no idea how the developer they've contracted plans to translate that to gamepad use.

Not to mention mods, which make this game worth it on PC, IMO. It's still good to play in vanilla mode, but it's so much better with added technical and graphical updates, which you can add yourself. I don't know if I'd be enthused at all in a console port if I can't add Astronomer's Visual Pack, contract configurator, KW Rocketry, SCANsat, Joint Reinforcement, MechJeb, Alarm Clock, Texture Replacer, etc, etc, etc.

Buuuut, check this out!

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/...ram-1-1-update

The most exciting news is something that should've happened six months ago Maybe the console ports will line up with the new game engine (including 64-bit processing!) and be more stable than KSP is currently.

[Kchrpm]

http://www.polygon.com/2015/8/28/921...aker-interview

For example, Mexican indie studio Squad is bringing Kerbal Space Program to Wii U, and Nintendo is "positioning it as the definitive version of the game," said Baker. Kerbal on Wii U will allow players to examine and create spacecraft on the GamePad, and it will be the only version of the game with exclusive features.

[Rare White Ape]

1.0.5 has been out for two weeks now and I've been enjoying mostly creating aircraft rather than spacecraft with all the new spaceplane bits they've given us.

Plus my aircraft creation voodoo is gaining strength by the day. Here's three examples of neat little jiggers that I've birthed from the space plane hangar, all using stock parts.

screenshot32 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

Starting in the middle is my F-15 copy. It uses the new jet engines with afterburner and huge thrust vectoring range, so it can do crazy stunts previously only seen in the latest Russian Sukhois. I made it when 1.0.5 came out, so it's my first really decent aircraft.

On the left is an F-106, probably my favourite real-life interceptor jet; it's such a handsome devil and looks suitably comical in Kerbal guise. The real aircraft is famous for area rule design (it's predecessor the F-102 didn't follow that and couldn't achieve mach 1 without a major redesign) and even though KSP doesn't simulate area rule I've still replicated it here with the shape of the fuselage behind the air intakes.

The little one is a copy of a de Havilland Vampire which the British introduced in the last days of WWII. I made it tonight, and it's my favourite so far. It flies so nicely, even if it is a little bit slow with its single Juno engine that pumps out 20kN of thrust, as opposed to the F-15 which produces 130kN per engine. One feature I love is how the front landing gear juts awkwardly out from the nose like the real one does.

The great thing about jet engines is that they don't use nearly as much fuel as a rocket, so they'll go for ages with fuel in the fuselage, and you can really extend their range through the use of drop tanks made from Mk.0 parts, as seen under the wings of the F-106. The F-15 looks really awesome with one between the wheels, plus they can be placed according to weight distribution, so they don't screw up their handling characteristics too much!

screenshot35 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot34 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot33 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot42 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot41 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot40 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot39 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot38 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot37 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot36 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr

screenshot43 by rarewhiteape, on Flickr