Ksheep
2012-07-27, 09:19 PM
Have you ever wanted to launch little green men into space? Then Kerbal Space Program (http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/) is the game for you! This game, which is currently in Beta, allows you to run a space program for the people of Kerben. In it, you must carefully balance weight, thrust, and stability in order to launch your rocket into orbit. Or, you know, you could just slap things together and hope it flies straight. I personally favor the latter.
I know there have been a couple (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207380) previous (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228797) threads on this, but both of them have been dead for too long, and I didn't want to be accused of Necromancy.
Now, on to the game. As the game is still in early beta, there are a LOT of things that have yet to be implemented. Currently, there is only the one planet with two moons (the Mun and Minmus). You can build standard rocket ships or spaceplanes, and there are several dozen parts to choose from. Also, the developers have recently added the ability to send the kerbanauts on space walks, which is always fun. Just make sure they are in the capsule before it reenters the atmosphere.
So, has anyone here played this recently? What stories of adventure and intrigue do you have to share?
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For my daring story, I finally landed on Minmus. First time I even got into it's orbit, and I managed to land it… fairly smoothly. Unfortunately it was on a slight slope, so the lander fell over, but the gravity is light enough that it didn't blow up and I was able to right it with the RCS thrusters.
The funny thing about this, tho, is that I've never actually landed on the Mun. I've gotten close four or five times, but each time I either misjudged the height, didn't slow down in time, or simply ran out of fuel. Something tells me that I'm probably one of the only people playing the game to have landed on the smaller, further away, and arguably more difficult Minmus before the Mun. Granted, I wasn't trying to do this to begin with, I simply wanted to get into the same orbit around the planet as the Mun, but I ended up slingshotting out to the orbit of Minmus… and the entire trip took about 400+ days :smallsigh:. Lucky for me the pilot had some emergency rations.
I know there have been a couple (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207380) previous (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228797) threads on this, but both of them have been dead for too long, and I didn't want to be accused of Necromancy.
Now, on to the game. As the game is still in early beta, there are a LOT of things that have yet to be implemented. Currently, there is only the one planet with two moons (the Mun and Minmus). You can build standard rocket ships or spaceplanes, and there are several dozen parts to choose from. Also, the developers have recently added the ability to send the kerbanauts on space walks, which is always fun. Just make sure they are in the capsule before it reenters the atmosphere.
So, has anyone here played this recently? What stories of adventure and intrigue do you have to share?
------------------------
For my daring story, I finally landed on Minmus. First time I even got into it's orbit, and I managed to land it… fairly smoothly. Unfortunately it was on a slight slope, so the lander fell over, but the gravity is light enough that it didn't blow up and I was able to right it with the RCS thrusters.
The funny thing about this, tho, is that I've never actually landed on the Mun. I've gotten close four or five times, but each time I either misjudged the height, didn't slow down in time, or simply ran out of fuel. Something tells me that I'm probably one of the only people playing the game to have landed on the smaller, further away, and arguably more difficult Minmus before the Mun. Granted, I wasn't trying to do this to begin with, I simply wanted to get into the same orbit around the planet as the Mun, but I ended up slingshotting out to the orbit of Minmus… and the entire trip took about 400+ days :smallsigh:. Lucky for me the pilot had some emergency rations.