ÑóẊîöʼn
7th August 2011, 23:53
(Posted here because Chit-Chat has been disappointing me recently)
Kerbal Space Program (http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/)
I recently came across this excellent little piece of freeware, currently in Alpha, that allows you to build and test rockets out of a selection of components. The default ones that come with the game are fairly limited, but it has an active modding community that has already produced a profusion of new parts (http://www.kerbalspacerepository.com/), greatly increasing the scope of potential designs.
Now let's meet our intrepid astronauts!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/kerbal_space_program_characters.jpg
Meet Bill, Jeb, and Bob Kerman. They're Kerbals, natives of the rather small planet you'll be launching your rockets from. As astronauts go they're a fairly useless (if rather cute) bunch, forcing the player to take control, but it's amusing to see their faces whenever the rocket is doing anything other than standing still:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/kerbal_space_program_characters_fac.jpg
As you can see, the best and brightest of Kerbal aren't exactly natural astronauts. Except for Jeb. Jeb is happiest when the engines are roaring away and his colleagues are shitting themselves. I think he has the right attitude. If the crew is remotely representative of the population of Kerbal, then there may be hope for them yet, in spite of having less piloting ability than a turnip.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/Kerbal20Space20Program.png
On the other hand, if rockets like this keep getting built, then I predict the extinction of the Kerbal species in under a century.
So what rockets have I been building? During an extended experimental period, my designs were thus:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/screenshot1.png
This is the Pluton MkI, the very first design I launched, made completely of non-custom parts. It did surprisingly well, and I was able to safely land Bill, Jeb and Bob... in the nearest sea.
Stability seemed to be an issue, so the addition of a few fins...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/screenshot2.png
... resulted in the Pluton MkII. I also added a stage seperator in between the capsule and the last fuel tank in order to reduce the load on the descending parachute.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/screenshot3.png
Having got the hang of the very basics of rocket design, and wanting to go further and higher, the Pluton Grande served as an initial prototype due to the design's successful history.
From then on I realised that the stock parts had some pretty sever limitations, and subequently I have designed some larger, better rockets, although I have yet to complete a whole orbit - it's very easy to either undershoot or overshoot, depending on how beefy your rocket is.
I really think there should be more games like this. What do you think?
Kerbal Space Program (http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/)
I recently came across this excellent little piece of freeware, currently in Alpha, that allows you to build and test rockets out of a selection of components. The default ones that come with the game are fairly limited, but it has an active modding community that has already produced a profusion of new parts (http://www.kerbalspacerepository.com/), greatly increasing the scope of potential designs.
Now let's meet our intrepid astronauts!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/kerbal_space_program_characters.jpg
Meet Bill, Jeb, and Bob Kerman. They're Kerbals, natives of the rather small planet you'll be launching your rockets from. As astronauts go they're a fairly useless (if rather cute) bunch, forcing the player to take control, but it's amusing to see their faces whenever the rocket is doing anything other than standing still:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/kerbal_space_program_characters_fac.jpg
As you can see, the best and brightest of Kerbal aren't exactly natural astronauts. Except for Jeb. Jeb is happiest when the engines are roaring away and his colleagues are shitting themselves. I think he has the right attitude. If the crew is remotely representative of the population of Kerbal, then there may be hope for them yet, in spite of having less piloting ability than a turnip.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/Kerbal20Space20Program.png
On the other hand, if rockets like this keep getting built, then I predict the extinction of the Kerbal species in under a century.
So what rockets have I been building? During an extended experimental period, my designs were thus:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/screenshot1.png
This is the Pluton MkI, the very first design I launched, made completely of non-custom parts. It did surprisingly well, and I was able to safely land Bill, Jeb and Bob... in the nearest sea.
Stability seemed to be an issue, so the addition of a few fins...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/screenshot2.png
... resulted in the Pluton MkII. I also added a stage seperator in between the capsule and the last fuel tank in order to reduce the load on the descending parachute.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/NoXion604/screenshot3.png
Having got the hang of the very basics of rocket design, and wanting to go further and higher, the Pluton Grande served as an initial prototype due to the design's successful history.
From then on I realised that the stock parts had some pretty sever limitations, and subequently I have designed some larger, better rockets, although I have yet to complete a whole orbit - it's very easy to either undershoot or overshoot, depending on how beefy your rocket is.
I really think there should be more games like this. What do you think?