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 Releases-As of 3/18, v.19.1 is the most recent release and requires a purchase/pre-order/donation. You can grab it from the KSP Store or on Steam. -The Demo is v.18.3 (as of 2/12) and can be found on the download link on the KSP main page. It's the same as .18.4 except you can't load mods, your limited only to rocket parts, you can only have three concurrently running missions, and only the Sun, Kerbin, and Mun are available to visit.  NEW FEATURESVERSION 0.19.1 BRINGS: *Native Linux support *Re-entry effects - Note: these are only cosmetic right now but the devs are actively working to include real re-entry physics in the next version or so. *No more launch tower *Rover parts *Now Offered On Steam - Grab from everyone's favorite content delivery outlet and never be out of date or need to use the atrocious KSP patcher. Note for those who already bought it: Squad is working to get Steam codes out but it's going to be a while. You can still grab the game from the KSP store. *Tweaks, balances, and adjustments to nearly everything. Full changelog. Click here to skip right down to the FAQClick here to skip right down to the video tutorialsWelcome to Kerbal Space Program, brave adventurer! Here you'll find the hardiest of explorers, those not afraid to be strapped to an unstable vehicle and hurled into space. Turn back now lest you be sucked into the spectacular black hole that is this sandbox space sim. Kerbal Space Program is an indie project by developer Squad. Let me let one of the devs (Mu) tell you about what KSP is: Mu posted:At its heart, Kerbal Space Program is a game about creating your own space program from scratch. You construct spacecraft and launch them off into the cosmos, attempting to further the science and achievements of Kerbalkind. That or explode spectacularly on takeoff. Reading for chumps? Here's our very own illectro (resident KSP and Space master) whose done up a little video for us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmorOO58KLM I'd also like to direct you to this video also made by our own Abyssal Lurker (resident dark master of KSP). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzttgJPrZec "But Thwomp, I grabbed the game and there's not much to do. What's the challenge?" First off, KSP is in no way complete and still under active development. Secondly, what the hell man?! Isn't going to space challenge enough? Here, check out these videos of attempts to go to space. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkzziGlbK1s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG3x3yBVqVs See? Going to space is tough. If you'd like to know more about what's coming up in future updates, see this wiki and these recent dev posts. What's a Kerbal? Kerbals are the little green men that inhabit the planet Kerbin and bravely man their ambitious space program. Previous versions exclusively featured Jeb, Bill, and Bob Kerman as pilots. Since v.14, there's a whole cast of Kerbals for you to slaughter (though Jeb, Bill, and Bob are still your first crew  ). There's also a happy crew of scientist, engineer, and flight control kerbals walking about the various buildings.Mods So you've learned this game is about trying and failing hard at rocket physics and orbital mechanics. What else does this game offer? How do custom mods sound! Want an absurdly large rocket engine strapped to the command capsule? Sure. How about a re-creation of the Saturn V? Why not? You can find all the available mods over at the new Kerbal Space Port or at the KSP forum's Mod section but here are some goon favorites: MechJeb - An autopilot plugin pack. Offers a ridiculous amount of automated functions. I would, personally, advise you hold off on this one until you've made it to Mun and back on your own but some people have a hard time with orbital mechanics so it can be useful to show how things work. MechJeb assumes you at least have competent rocket designs. Protractor - Our own Enigma has put together a planetary rendezvous calculator to help get you to the newly added solar system. Strap a TI-83 to your rocket and click the '?' button on the Protractor screen for a guide on how to successfully use it. Note: It only gets you most of the way there. Once you're in the general area of an encounter, use a maneuver node to plan your final intercept burn. BigTrak - Based on an old toy, it's a big rover for Munar exploration. Comes with a cuttlefish lander and nice floodlights for the rest of your rockets. NovaPunch - A combination of several early parts packs for KSP that have been expanded and improved upon after their creators abandoned them. Includes new rocket sizes of up to 3m in diameter, Saturn V-ish parts, giant solid rocket boosters, satellites, and more. Payload Fairing Pack - Fancy covers for your rockets. Makes everything you launch look like a watertower. Fairing Factory - Not a mod per-se but a website that creates custom fairings for you to add to the game. Nifty when you can't find just the right part to cover everything up with. Damned Robotics - Adds some mechanized parts like robotic arms among other things. Lastly, if you love this game, please donate using the link on the KSP site. You can "pre-order" and help the devs get all their future features in. Thwomp fucked around with this message at Mar 21, 2013 around 04:04 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 03:24 |
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| # ? May 20, 2013 08:36 |
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FAQ - Help! I don't know what the gently caress! Sweet Jesus there's a lot to this game. Where to I start? The best advice I can give is to follow in NASA's footsteps: 1) Start trying out different rockets. Find a design that doesn't blow up consistently. 2) Slightly modify your non-explody design so that you can reach orbit reliably. 3) Continue with slight modifications to match your next goal (orbital docking, orbit and safely return, orbit and transfer to Mun/Minmus/other solar bodies). 4) Avoid spaceplanes unless you're really bored and want to punish yourself. So I'm doing okay with my non-sucky design. Is there a better or more efficient way to design rockets? Sure is! It's all about fuel management and dumping excess weight. See this graphic below. Asparagus stalk staging is more efficient than crossfeeding which is more efficient than non-crossfeeding.  What's the Navball and how does it work? The nav ball is at the bottom center of your screen. It is designed to help you figure out where you're going. This graphic should help (courtesy of Shanakin):  The purple/pink markers on the Navball indicate the direction of your current target. By default, this is the KSC. You select a target in the Map view by double clicking on anything. The blue markers, which are new in v.18, indicate the direction you should point your craft after you've created a flight plan. And as seen at launch, the cardinal directions on the Navball are thusly:  You'll note that North is counter-intuitively to the bottom at launch. How do I know which way my ship will turn? The two blue windows on the large command module mark the "up" position for the pitch up 'S' or down [W] control. All ship controls are relative to that position. How do I adjust my orbit and use that flight planner feature? First off, see this graphic courtesy of Cojawfee:  Note: Your current orbit is the Black line. the orbit you want to transition to is the Blue line. It is best to adjust your orbit when you are halfway to your "destination". To create a flight plan (or manuever), click on your current orbital path in Map (hit 'm' to pull up Map mode). Click on your path to create a Maneuver node. It'll give you six axis to play with. You pull on each one to indicate burning in that direction. Watch with glee as it predicts where you'll go. Once set, you'll have a burn timer (burn at 0), a Δv calculator (this much change in speed is required), and a blue marker on your nav ball (burn while pointed in this direction). Stop burning once the Δv is 0. How do I get to those new planets/moons?! Our own Enigma has put together a helpful tool called Protractor that helps calculate when to launch and burn to encounter the new solar system objects. Hit the '?' button on the Protractor screen for a guide on how to use it. KSP forums link here With the new flight planning mechanic in v.18, Protractor is a little less useful but it's still awesome at providing direction on when to launch (launch when Θ equals zero). I'm headed towards Duna/Jool/Eve/Moho and I want to use some atmospheric drag to save fuel (aerobraking). How close to these should I pass to lose some speed? Moho - There's no atmo to begin with so aerobraking is out of the question. Bring lots of fuel instead. Eve - Atmo starts around 90km up but turns into a pot of molasses on a winter's day around 60km. Beware going into the molasses. Duna - Atmo starts around 50km but it's really weak unless you go down much farther (around 15-20km is good). Excellent candidate for aerobraking. Jool - Atmo appears to start around 200km but you won't really get any effects until about 138km. However, anything below 125km will almost always result in certain crushing death so if you can hit this window, excellent fuel savings can be had. NOTE: .18.4 changed Jool's behavior a bit and this may not be completely accurate anymore. Proceed with caution. What's the difference between SAS and A(dvanced)SAS? Standard SAS uses just their own internal gyros to control spin. Enabling SAS causes SAS modules to use their gyros to attempt preventing spin on the ship's axis. The standard command pod has a weak standard SAS built in. Adding an ASAS changes this: When ASAS is installed and SAS is enabled, the ASAS attempts to keep the heading constant and spin at zero using all available methods: SAS gyros, wings and flaps, RCS, and gimballed engines. ASAS only uses RCS if you have RCS turned on (using R). Manually adjusting your heading and spin (using WASD-QE) always uses all available methods, exactly the same as ASAS. This also only uses RCS if it's turned on. What altitude is Kerbal Stationary Orbit? 2900 km Keybindings How do I speed up time? [,] - slower [.] - faster Note: Also, you can control time by clicking on the green arrows in the upper left-hand corner. Your maximum speed multiplier depends on your altitude. What other keys are used? WASDQE - for pitch, yaw and roll [SHIFT]/[CTRL] - throttle up and down controllable engines (not solid boosters). [T] - turns on SAS (Stability Augmentation System) modules [F] - temporarily turn SAS off (if it's already on) or vice versa - this is a good way to update what direction you want the ship to point. [M] - orbital map, double-click the planet/moon to centre it on them, [TAB] to centre back on your ship. [G] - Deploys collapse-able landing gears/wings/panels. {B} - Brakes your spaceplanes upon landing. [R] - Turns on the RCS (reaction control system) RCS transverse thrust controls (note these will only work if RCS is turned on and you've added RCS thursters and fuel to the rocket): [H]/[N] - forward/backward [I]/[K] - down/up [J]/[L] - left/right [F1] - screenshot [F5] - Quick Save [F9] - Quick Load What are the planned features of the game? This is stuff the developer is planning or at least considering for future updates: - Management, research of better parts, and training of astronauts - Building surface bases - Missions and goals for the program - A simulator mode that lets you start out in orbit or in a particular situation Thwomp fucked around with this message at Feb 15, 2013 around 18:49 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 03:24 |
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Basic KSP Tutorial Videos/Guides Welcome to the SA KSP Learning Station. These have all been provided by illectro and he's got more than 200 other KSP-related videos on his YouTube channel. Check it out if you want more Scot-narrated goodness. Tutorial - Basic Construction, Flying & Orbiting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgPr4q5tj-Q Tutorial - Moon Landings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVPMTQfOvYQ Tutorial - Flying Spaceplanes Into Orbit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUQXqG_edKQ Tutorial - Orbital Rendezvous & Docking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHkY3FusJIQ General overview videos: Building Goonstation 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCe-1VU3c7Y IVA only Mun mission http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0c-gx03DpM Flypast of Every Planet & Moon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxsVGrbNTmU Thwomp fucked around with this message at Feb 15, 2013 around 18:51 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 03:24 |
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Reserved for future space junk.
Thwomp fucked around with this message at Feb 15, 2013 around 19:10 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 03:33 |
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New thread!  I haven't had the chance to play with .15 but it sounds fantastic, can't wait till tomorrow! Edit: Link to previous thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3447975
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| # ? May 18, 2012 03:35 |
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No KSP first page is worthy unless it has Also Sprach Zarathustra Mit Kazooz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG3x3yBVqVs
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| # ? May 18, 2012 03:37 |
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Look guys, I built a passenger plane!   I tried to fly it to one of the islands near the Kermans' Africa-shaped home continent, but I crashed.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 03:38 |
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afaik ramjets can work at lower altitudes but are horribly inefficient compared to normal jets, I had a pair start to shine at 9km up, then they couldn't get up to a high enough velocity (was hovering around 380-320m/s) to make them truly effective. I then ran out of fuel and had to ditch the plane in the ocean 200km out of ksc. I will add two more ramjets to it tomorrow and see how fast we can get! edit: someone try using srb's to get up to velocity at that altitude, it might work!
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| # ? May 18, 2012 03:39 |
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These patched conics are amazing. I have a friend who's reporting trouble keeping his rocket together, though - anyone having structural issues?
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| # ? May 18, 2012 03:44 |
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After 20 minutes or so of orbital corrections, I finally landed on Minimus, with the first rocket I launched in 0.15. Sideways. And the capsule came off. While the rocket was still firing. Oh well, the boys survived. They'll sit there for a while, maybe I'll rescue them some day.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 03:54 |
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I'm having issues just making a functioning aircraft. Here's Test Craft 1  And here it is a few moments later: 
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| # ? May 18, 2012 03:54 |
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General Battuta posted:These patched conics are amazing. I have a friend who's reporting trouble keeping his rocket together, though - anyone having structural issues? I've had previous rocket designs have engines just fall off. Usually it says structural failure, even if there wasn't that much weight on it. A larger number of Mun landers have spontaneously exploded upon being selected as well... that is more than usual. Edit: Turns out this lander is overpowered for landing on Minimus. By like tons and tons. You could safely do it with RCS, gravity is that low. (orbits are slooooow)  Anyone else losing shadows on the surface? I wonder if thats just a bug they need to hit. Okan170 fucked around with this message at May 18, 2012 around 04:04 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 04:01 |
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Do you even need landing gear for taking off? V The reason I'm asking is the answer appears to be yes, but maybe I'm doing something else wrong. SopWATh fucked around with this message at May 18, 2012 around 04:09 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 04:04 |
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There is only one way to find out! Any estimates for the planetary diameter of Minimus? I know Kerbin is 600km and the Mun is, what, 100km? I can't remember. 
Galaga Galaxian fucked around with this message at May 18, 2012 around 04:09 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 04:06 |
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I had half a dozen people message me on youtube telling me to make a video about going to Minmas - I was mostly successful made it there, soft landed and got back into orbit, but sadly I lacked enough fuel to get home, I think I can do it, I just messed up my initial injection orbit and had to perform a rendezvous, then I probably futzed around too much for my landing. But it literally was the first time trying, I didn't even see the patched conics until I was matching orbits, although I guess it would be unlikely to see one for Minmas by accident because of the inclination of the orbit. Anyway - video is going up now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR0jq85nVwg
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:16 |
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quote:="Galaga Galaxian"] Thwomp posted:A view of Minmus, the new moon from v.15 (courtesy of Okan170) Judging by that (and being there), I'd say it's probably no more than like a diameter 40-50km. It's surprisingly small when you get up close. I mean, you can easily see both poles from 70km up.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:18 |
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Be reeeall careful on final approach to that icy little bastard, the gravity is so low that the thing isn't really even close to round, and I faceplanted into a rise that was loving 4.5 KM tall. I'm sure that's not the tallest peak. I totally dig that Minmus is lumpy as hell because it's tiny - just like a real tiny planetoid body.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:22 |
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In my experience, if you're not sinking a meter or two into the snow of Minmus, you're doing this: That is a fully landed ship, not a screengrab on landing. I do like that all the difficulty is just in getting into the SOI, once there you can do all kinds of hopping around on tiny amounts of fuel.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:31 |
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I did it! I used this unwieldy looking motherfucker As a first stage to put that rocket underneath it into kerbin orbit. Yeah It's not really very effective. Rip.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:34 |
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Yeah once I got a massive spaceplane that was heavy enough that it didn't handle like it was on meth I built a rocket on top (technically the reverse since you still can't switch command pods in construction) and to my dismay there's basically no reason to try to launch something on a plane. Oh well, they look cool.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:38 |
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Yep. Despite kerbins atmosphere extending up to about 70km, apparantly C7 decided engines should have a tough time getting anything about 15km up. Also It doesn't help the lift mechanics aren't entirely accurate yet. I suspect when they get finished completely spaceplanes might be marginally better if well designed.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:40 |
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Srebrenica Surprise posted:Yeah once I got a massive spaceplane that was heavy enough that it didn't handle like it was on meth I built a rocket on top (technically the reverse since you still can't switch command pods in construction) and to my dismay there's basically no reason to try to launch something on a plane. Oh well, they look cool. It's mostly a budget thing on why you'd wanna do that. So I'm sure that will come into play later as the game is released. 
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:42 |
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 Lets be honest. This thing is about as safe as it looks.   The new space plane feature is nifty, but the engines just don't have a much oomph at all compared to the rocket packs. Even with nothing but wings, the cockpit and an ASAS module I'm struggling to put and keep anything vaguely jet-like in the air.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:43 |
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Gentlemen... BEHOLD! Seagull I!
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| # ? May 18, 2012 04:46 |
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0x0hShit posted:The new space plane feature is nifty, but the engines just don't have a much oomph at all compared to the rocket packs. Even with nothing but wings, the cockpit and an ASAS module I'm struggling to put and keep anything vaguely jet-like in the air. Interestingly KSP's rockets are pitifully underpowered compared to real ones. Their thrust-to-weight ratio is around 10 while real rockets range from around 70 to 130.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:00 |
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I was trying to use a gravity assist from the Mun to get to Minmun, which might have worked better if I had realized Minmum is traveling in the same direction as the Mun. However, I was able to get it to boost me to escape velocity from Kerbin! I'm pretty happy with that!
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:12 |
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Getting to minimus is kind of a bitch. The inclination is subtle but it's enough to gently caress up my standard hohmann method I used to use to get to the Mun. Also it's ridiculously easy to mis-time it and just shoot by. Now my girlfriend wants me to meet her at a bar and I can't think of an excuse to not go that doesn't make me sound like an rear end in a top hat. I'll have to wait until she's asleep.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:15 |
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"Time for a maximum performance takeoff!" *deploys landing legs to push craft into a vertical orientation, powers up turbojet engines* "TO THE SKIIIIIEEES"
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:19 |
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Elukka posted:Well, it makes sense. In real life rockets have somewhere in the region of 20 times more thrust than jets. (in terms of thrust-to-weight ratio) Of course a plane primarily uses its wings to stay aloft and if the lift mechanics in the game aren't quite there yet it might be harder to stay aloft than it should be. KSP has a much smaller gravity well to get out of though. Getting to low Earth orbit takes 9.4 km/s delta-v, getting to low Kerbin orbit takes about 3.5 km/s delta-v. The solid boosters in particular need to be strengthened so that they are actually useful, but I think the rockets feel right, as they are despite their low thrust-to-weight. It feels too easy when you use something with real values of thrust-to-weight.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:21 |
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Drone_Fragger posted:"Time for a maximum performance takeoff!" YES!  That got me to 4km and everyone survived!
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:30 |
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Decided to buy it. I have managed to get into an unstable orbit once. My boys survive fairly often when it isn't a total disaster (like decoupling when the part still has firing engines).
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:40 |
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VanSandman posted:Decided to buy it. I have managed to get into an unstable orbit once. The first thing I did was buy this game. I don't know why I'm so addicted.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:43 |
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fermun posted:KSP has a much smaller gravity well to get out of though. Getting to low Earth orbit takes 9.4 km/s delta-v, getting to low Kerbin orbit takes about 3.5 km/s delta-v. The solid boosters in particular need to be strengthened so that they are actually useful, but I think the rockets feel right, as they are despite their low thrust-to-weight. It feels too easy when you use something with real values of thrust-to-weight. Normally you'd mitigate gravity losses through more thrust which is where solids should come in handy - but due to the pea soup atmosphere more thrust past a given fairly low point doesn't do you any good. It'll just give you more drag losses and since you won't actually be able to go significantly faster no matter how much thrust you have it doesn't have a notable effect on your gravity losses. I made a whole bunch of different test vehicles to try and get past the losses but there's nothing you can do near as I can tell. Around 50% of your delta-v will always go to drag & gravity.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 05:46 |
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Things I would like to see in KSP 0.15.1: A) Nosewheel steering. B) BRAKES. Seriously. I've managed to build 3 flight-worthy spaceplanes so far, one of which pulled off this sweet abort-to-launch-site manoeuvre in high atmosphere. Glided it in, touched down at the beginning of the runway at 80 m/s, deactivated the engines, and still ran it right off the edge of the runway at 30 m/s. It didn't break up or anything, it just kept rolling. 10 minutes later at 2x speed and it's still rolling forward at about 2 m/s, 6 kilometers from the runway. Maybe I need drag chutes. VVVVV You are my hero. Katsuma fucked around with this message at May 18, 2012 around 06:45 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 05:47 |
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^^^Press AND HOLD B I've just orbited myself once around in a spaceplane using all stock parts... Mind you it took 10 Ram air turbojects to do it on the manliest pickaxe shaped launch sled... but I did it QuiteEasilyDone fucked around with this message at May 18, 2012 around 06:10 |
| # ? May 18, 2012 06:08 |
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Okay how in the gently caress do you get anything to attach to the surface of the wing in a sane manner.  What am I missing here.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 06:43 |
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The Old Thread posted:WASD, QE are the rotate controls. That should really be mentioned somewhere. Which keys do what rotation is almost never intuitive, so just mash those until it's not retarded.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 06:50 |
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I seriously accomplished nothing at work today once I saw this was out. Well, nothing but a Kerbin-Minimus-Mun-Kerbin round trip. I don't think I can count that as work, though. drat it's tough to hit Minimus properly. I ended up building myself a rocket with an assload of fuel, and did it the hard way. Minimus is moving so slowly it's really quite easy to just catch up to it if you need to. Get close, then waste lots of fuel burning to slow down/speed up.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 07:02 |
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I'm probably doing everything wrong, but these spaceplanes are loving awful. 
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| # ? May 18, 2012 07:03 |
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| # ? May 20, 2013 08:36 |
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Big Mean Jerk posted:I'm probably doing everything wrong, but these spaceplanes are loving awful. I absolutely could not fly them for the first hour or so of trying, and then I got a little better. Making big fatty spaceplanes helps, because then they won't handle like a coked up spider monkey. Also, I pretty much keep ASAS on all the time.
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| # ? May 18, 2012 07:06 |
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