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Online Space game
by
ah_mini
on 11 Jul, 2011 19:53
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Hope this hasn't been posted before, I did a quick search of the forums but didn't find anything.
Western HSF seems to be at the end of the road for a good while at least with the demise of the Shuttle, but I happened upon a fun little indie game that had me creating those finest 20th century "space pioneer" events!
http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/It's in early development so there are a few glitches (and don't expect ultimate realism, although there is some physics in there). However it's free, not to mention pretty funny and mildly satisfying to get your ramshackle creations into orbit. It's kept me amused during quieter NASA TV moments anyway
PS: I'm not associated with the developers of this game at all, and hope this isn't viewed as spam. Just thought others would like to give it a shot.
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#1
by
Chris Bergin
on 11 Jul, 2011 20:06
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It's only spam if you're Chinese and posting about cheap Nike shoes
But the thread title was naff
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#2
by
ah_mini
on 12 Jul, 2011 07:01
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It's only spam if you're Chinese and posting about cheap Nike shoes
But the thread title was naff
Well yes it was a terrible thread title, but added an air of mystery
Most of my launch efforts on this thing have resembled the early Atlas programme so far. I'm hoping for improvements!
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#3
by
neilh
on 12 Jul, 2011 07:16
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I haven't played it yet, but this youtube video of it looks really cool. Huzzah for rockets like Lego pieces!
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#4
by
Silmfeanor
on 12 Jul, 2011 20:22
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I have been playing it for a day or so quite intensively now, so I'll just give my review:
The people behind it are cool and are very open to modding and implementing your own stuff ( for example lets say a realistic delta core ) so there is the possibility that this could be something really nice. So far it is for fun only, but I can imagine a realistic mod, and then you can show someone why the shuttle cant fly to the moon
- although there might be more problems of people who just want to paste whatever together and think it'll work - in this game it might.
I am having fun, but dont forget this is a very very early pre alpha, but I hope it grows.
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#5
by
John Duncan
on 14 Jul, 2011 18:01
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I already play Minecraft so this is looking real good for a crazed rocket Fan!! Will be downloaded tonight at home.
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#6
by
John Duncan
on 15 Jul, 2011 12:17
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I played this last night for a while and it does verify (using the scientific method
) that lego rockets are not easy to launch.
I think my highest flight was 50km. Everything else I did blew up or ran in circles and THEN blew up.
Lots of potential there and I'll keep playing until I can build a DIRECT launcher of my own!
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#7
by
Pedantic Twit
on 15 Jul, 2011 12:50
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I played this last night for a while and it does verify (using the scientific method ) that lego rockets are not easy to launch.
I think my highest flight was 50km. Everything else I did blew up or ran in circles and THEN blew up.
A few hints for this game:
- A simple two stage liquid rocket will get you to orbit (with margin).
- Aerodynamic drag is absurd and the atmosphere ends at ~35km, so a lofted trajectory is mandatory to get to orbit.
- Solid rockets aren't very practical (see the following videos)
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#8
by
John Duncan
on 15 Jul, 2011 13:25
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Thanks for the tips! My best attempt was with a 2 stage liquid. Three stage is too heavy without solids which I cannot seem to get aligned properly.
A 30km deep atmosphere is absurd. I hope they will change this.
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#9
by
Silmfeanor
on 15 Jul, 2011 13:47
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Lots of potential there and I'll keep playing until I can build a DIRECT launcher of my own!
I made one, see attachments. Meant to be a DIRECT Jupiter - 120.
Sadly there are no things like payload fairings (yet), otherwise i would be able to move the orion stage inside as it should be, but it has all the correct stages and such.
Thanks for the tips! My best attempt was with a 2 stage liquid. Three stage is too heavy without solids which I cannot seem to get aligned properly.
A 30km deep atmosphere is absurd. I hope they will change this.
Do note that the game is not meant to be too serious and is not meant to be earth like - it is not a simulator, but a game. But since it is very moddable I am sure there will be realistic mods made, with a longer atmosphere and more powerfull rockets and the like.
In the standard version, you can achieve orbit at 30 km height with a speed of around 2300-2500 m/s. Still takes some skill, but with SAS your rockets will be stable at the start at least.
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#10
by
Pedantic Twit
on 15 Jul, 2011 14:08
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Just as an example, these two rockets will happily make it to a stable 50x50km orbit. The smaller should have enough prop left for deorbit whereas the larger should still have a near-full upper stage with enough delta-v to get well beyond escape velocity.
Edit: If you lengthen the 1st stage tanks of the bigger rocket, you can get to orbit with fuel still in the 2nd stage and a completely full 3rd stage(!!!)
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#11
by
John Duncan
on 15 Jul, 2011 14:11
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Ok, nice job guys. I can see my mistake was thinking that Earth velocities and altitudes were inforce here. With 50km orbit as a possibility I can probably work it out.
Didn't know you could stack fuel tanks either. I guess those instructions are calling my name.
Was that SD launcher tank made as a mod???
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#12
by
tigerade
on 16 Jul, 2011 07:42
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This is a fantastic game!!! I love it! Thanks for sharing. It's addictive.
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#13
by
racshot65
on 16 Jul, 2011 13:41
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Having fun with this, although every thing I design just spins wildly out of control
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#14
by
Silmfeanor
on 16 Jul, 2011 22:07
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To everyone here: add one or a few SAS modules and hold f / press T to toggle to keep your rocket unable to steer, but atleast moderatly stable. Took a while to figure out, but after that I got to recreating DIRECT launchers, or even the stick, not to mention the insane "hey why not bolt 12 SRBs together" ideas
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#15
by
ah_mini
on 18 Jul, 2011 09:24
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Good to see people are having fun with this game
As some have already stated "Planet Kerbal" is not the same as Earth (it's way smaller, plus the atmosphere modelling is different).
I've got a few ships into orbit now and the thing that really strikes me about this game is that it's not entirely realistic (dedicated sim nuts will be disappointed), yet good enough to teach the basics of how rockets function. On other forums that I post on, many members learn very quickly about things like gravity losses, why you can't just fly straight up and expect to get into orbit, etc. Lots of young people are also really hooked which is only a good thing as far as interest in science and engineering goes.
Also, anyone notice that nothing fazes Jebediah Kerman whilst Bob and Bill seem to look permanently worried/terrified? Seems ol' Jeb is destined to become something of an Internet phenomenon as a result
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#16
by
Johnnyd
on 18 Jul, 2011 20:26
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Great fun, although i have no idea how to insert into orbit. I have been over 1350000 meters up and have reached about 3000 m/s, but I have no idea what all that means!
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#17
by
John Duncan
on 18 Jul, 2011 21:53
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You can get into orbit at 50km and maybe 1500km/s speed. Just start pitching over at 20km or so and let her run. At least that's how I do it.
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#18
by
Johnnyd
on 19 Jul, 2011 14:56
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Thanks for the reply. Well, I have achieved orbit. Well sort of. If you call a an elliptical orbit (I used to own ellipiticalorbit.com by the way! LOL!) from as high as 850000km to a low of 65000km an orbit.
All three plankton aboard are happy & healthy but there are some scary moments when we get close to Kerbal.
Made the 3 revolutions so far and now I have to get back to work!
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#19
by
racshot65
on 19 Jul, 2011 21:10
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Is there a dummies guide to rocket engineering so I can actually get something into orbit ?
) that lego rockets are not easy to launch.