Another Start

KSP was recently updated with a small patch that added some new modules as well as the NASA Asteroid redirect mission.  Unfortunately for me, it broke my saves.  So after another fresh install and adding back in a few mods, I am going to take another crack at my Interstellar Playground series in Sandbox mode.  Last night, I ran a few missions to start to assemble a space depot.  I sent up the command cupola, a space crane/tug and a habitation module.  Tonight my aim is to add some large solar arrays.  I will post pictures tonight.  I'm not sure when .24 will be out, but I hope I don't have to start over again...  

Curse You, Father Time

Once again, my best laid plans go to waste.  I had a late start on my gaming last night.  Watched Red 2 with the girl.  I liked it, but it wasn't as good as the prequel.  I logged into EVE, made some research and market order adjustments and then worked on some video's and made one for Space Engineer's as a sort of tutorial-guide.  I looked at the clock and I thought it was wrong.  It was time to hit the hay so that I could be fresh and ready to deal with the day's calamities at work.  Glad I did.  This morning was hellish.  Now, with the release of the Diablo III expansion, I don't know when I will get back to KSP.  Oh, poor KSP.  

I haven't completely neglected it though.  I have been blogging about it.  I have thrown together a few Mod Highlights and detailed my plans for space conquest.  The weekend might look a little brighter.  I'm green with anticipation.

Stranded, but not Alone: Part 1

In one of my earlier video series, I managed to strand Kerbals on the Mun.  It was okay though.  That is what "rescue missions" are for.  I did succeed and stranding more Kerbals on the Mun.  Wait....That's not what I intended.  Again, it's okay.  That's what Kerbal Attachment System was for.  I turned a route into a victory buy building my first Mun base.  What I had intended was to gather science for my fledgling space program.  What happened was nothing short of disaster.  My capsule lander made it to the Mun, landed safely on the surface and proceeded to gather science.  I did some crew reports, EVA's, samples and used various science equipment.  Once I was finished, I lifted off for my return to Kerbin.  I knew I was tight on fuel, but I didn't know that I didn't have enough to orbit the Mun and then transfer.  I should have waited until my launch phase angle was right.  I might have been able to salvage the mission.  Instead, I pushed the issue, launched and then re-landed near a large crater.  

Instead of losing one of my best Kerbalnaughts, I decided to launch an ad-hoc rescue mission with an empty capsule and probe body on a very simple rocket.  I brought out extra life support because I was using TAC Life Support.  The Kerbal was running out and I wanted to make sure we had enough life support to sustain the return voyage.  If all went to shit, I would have enough life support to move the Kerbal over (assuming the rocket didn't explode) and cobble together another rescue mission. 

Well...Things didn't quite go as planned.  I was able to land the rocket within meters of the downed capsule but the rocket toppled over at the last second.  Mission: Failed!  I was able to enter the capsule, so I had another week of life support on top of the few days I had stored away in the 1st capsule.  Time was of the essence.  We needed to do something.  Instead of sending rockets I made an executive decision and decided to make a Mun base.  

Stay tuned for Part 2 and as always, fly safe-ish.

Mod Highlight: Kerbal Alarm Clock

Have you ever missed a burn or shot past your Munar encounter due to using time acceleration?  I am willing to bet you have.  I know I have done it.  It is frustrating at best.  If you didn't quick save, you could be restarting your entire mission from Kerbal Space Command.  If you were doing a tour of Jool and it's moons, you could have potentially wasted hours of careful planning, perfectly timed burns and a whole lot of luck.  There is a solution however.  In this Mod Highlight, 

I bring you Kerbal Alarm Clock (KAC).  With this handy mod, you can set up alarms for various rockets such as "time to maneuver node", "time to closest approach" or "time to sphere of influence change".  You can also set alarms for transfer windows, periapsis, etc.  Very handy indeed.  You can set your time acceleration to max and KAC will automatically slow down time until you reach your desired warning time (default is 1 minute I think).  I set mine to 10 seconds and if I have a particularly long burn, I set it to half of the burn time.  As far as I am concerned, this is a must have.  Besides, if you were flying a rocket in the real world, someone or something would be telling you when you needed to perform a burn.  It's not even cheating!  Your alarms are set per the rocket so you can launch your Duna rocket a year early, set up an alarm for the best transfer window and then go about launching other rockets.  When your time comes up, KAC will ask you to transfer to the Duna rocket and then you can continue on mission.  This mod is highly useful and versatile.  That is why it is among my favorites.

 

Check it out and as always, fly safe-ish.

Mod Highlight: KW Rocketry

KW Rocketry is a monster of a mod.  There are 100's of parts and just about every one of them is effective, efficient, useful and better than any stock part of the same class.  The fuel tanks and rocket engineers are leaps and bounds above vanilla KSP.  This has to be one of my favorite mods.  It will open up a new world of possibilities while still maintaining the challenge of proper rocket design.  Some of the parts are more efficient (ISP) or carry a bit more fuel (but are still proportionately correct in volume and mass) than stock vanilla parts.  Liquid fuel engines and tanks, damn fine solid rocket boosters, decouplers, RCS tanks and blocks, etc are just some of the parts in this package.  The mod is also visually appealing.  The designs on the tanks are simple but elegant.  The engines have exhaust plumes and they have an overheating state where they turn more red as they get hotter.  There isn't anything I can think of in game that I don't like about this mod as far as parts.  That being said, it does take up a fair amount of memory and it takes a while to load when you first start KSP.  I had some stability issues with the basic install and had to install the texture reduction pack (TRP) which usually comes with the download. Recently, I started with a fresh vanilla KSP install and added KWR back in and I am not having any stability issues without the texture reduction patch.  If you have a lower end system, you might have some issues with larger rockets or stations.  I would suggest installing the TRP if you are having serious FPS drops and/or crashes to the desktop.  

Here is a quick video I made about KWR back when I first started using it.

Enjoy and as always, fly safe-ish.  

Future Mod Highlights

Often I get questions from those watching my videos or reading my blogs.  What mods are you using?  How do you like them?  Where do you get them?

Well, first of all, familiarize yourself with this page, KSP Forum Mod Showcase 

This has a listing of all the good mods and it arranges them by function and also shows which version of KSP the mod has been tested for stability.  Sometimes .22 mods might not be tested on .23 KSP, but they will still work. Others might break saves, be careful!

Over the next few days I will be discussing the mods that I find most enjoyable, challenging or enriching.  I use such mods as KW Rocketry, Kerbal Attachment System and Kebal Alarm Clock.  

If you have any favorites, please leave them in the comments.  I would love to try them out and as always, fly safe-ish.

Any Landing you can Walk Away From...

The thought just occurred to me.  I am not a really good rocket designer.  Yeah, they function, but they might not be as efficient as they should be.  I can live with that.  What I really lack design skills in is space planes.  

I have barely built two SSTO's.  One of them was using a fusion engine from the Interstellar mod (which worked, but it killed my Kerbal (said there was too much radiation).  Don't get me wrong, I have made planes that fly.  They just suck.  I'm working on it.  

The only thing that I am worse at than space plane design is landing the damn things.  I have so many terrible memories of finally designing something that doesn't fly like a brick, only to find out that I haven't the skill to follow a glide slope that either doesn't go on for miles or straight into an explosion.  Anyone else have these problems?

Let me know and as always, fly safe-ish.