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Kerbal Space Program - space flight simulator game

kerbalspaceprogram.com

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Re: Kerbal Space Program - space flight simulator game

#31

Post by keithwhor »

This is the most fun single-player experience I have ever had, bar none. It should be a mandatory part of the curriculum for high school physics courses, as I wish I had been able to experience something like this when I was that age. Orbital mechanics can be a little bit counterintuitive on first glance, but the sense of reward this game provides for, well, understanding physics, is just phenomenal.

In an earlier build the sun (Sol) was just a single point gravity well, and I spent hours trying to figure out how to manipulate the simulator and the gravity well to accelerate my Kerbals to breakneck speeds. Think the best I got was 0.1c (and completely flung out of the solar system).

I'm glad to see they've added plenty more planets and other celestial objects to interact with. Highly recommend this.

Re: Kerbal Space Program - space flight simulator game

#32

Post by VonGuard »

asdfs wrote: post #30
adventured wrote: post #23

This is a tremendous simulation. I only wish it had an economic side, where you could apply for contracts to complete tasks, like to launch satellites or land on the moon or build a space station, for which you got paid and would then have access to harder jobs that paid more. I understand they're working on building a game around the flight sim aspects, but merely wished it was already here now ;)

The eventual goal is to have a "career mode" (there are currently stub menu entries in the UI), which will likely be similar to what you're envisioning.

Yeah, I was at GDC, and the Squad guys said, behind me in Rocket's talk "Gee, everyone wants resources, we should get that done really soon."

The thing I love about KSP is that the tutorial for how to play beyond the launch pad is literally a NASA video from the 70's about orbital mechanics.

Oh, and there are few things in gaming as rewarding as landing a Kerbal on Duna, and then realizing you've got to just leave him there because it was a one-way trip.

Re: Kerbal Space Program - space flight simulator game

#33

Post by iamdave »

jdavid wrote: post #15

Ok so one of the coolest things in this game is that you can have multiple flights occurring at once. Has anyone been able to intercept another flight they have put into space? What other crazy feats would be interesting to accomplish? From what I can tell you can only attempt things based on this solar system. This game is so enthralling for an engineer. It plagues me every moment since I got the game I love this sa…

>Has anyone been able to intercept another flight they have put into space?

If by "intercept" you mean "put something into orbit with the full intents of building another rocket to take it out of orbit" then yes.

Many times.

And it never gets old.

Re: Kerbal Space Program - space flight simulator game

#38

Post by exch »

bstx wrote: post #16
jdavid wrote: post #15

Ok so one of the coolest things in this game is that you can have multiple flights occurring at once. Has anyone been able to intercept another flight they have put into space? What other crazy feats would be interesting to accomplish? From what I can tell you can only attempt things based on this solar system. This game is so enthralling for an engineer. It plagues me every moment since I got the game I love this sa…

> Ok so one of the coolest things in this game is that you can have multiple flights occurring at once. Has anyone been able to intercept another flight they have put into space? Well, yes. That's how you assemble space stations :)

It is also mighty practical for interplanetary missions. Specially the ones that require landing and return trips.

You can't realistically get the entire contraption + all the required fuel and engines up into orbit in one go. It is just too heavy. It is considerably more practical to send the mission up into orbit in smaller chunks, then reassemble it and optionally refuel at an orbital station, before you begin the actual flight.

Of course, this hangs on the premise that you are capable of docking with orbiting vehicles, which does require practice. So far, I've managed to do it a few times, in order to build my space station/refueling depot. But I'm still losing missions left and right, because I messed up the approach to the target vehicle.

In the interest of saving lives, I've opted to just use remote controlled modules as much as possible. All the dead kerbals are not conductive to successful future funding requests.

Re: Kerbal Space Program - space flight simulator game

#39

Post by fennecfoxen »

exch wrote: post #38
bstx wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ok so one of the coolest things in this game is that you can have multiple flights occurring at once. Has anyone been able to intercept another flight they have put into space? Well, yes. That's how you assemble space stations :)

It is also mighty practical for interplanetary missions. Specially the ones that require landing and return trips. You can't realistically get the entire contraption + all the required fuel and engines up into orbit in one go. It is just too heavy. It is considerably more practical to send the mission up into orbit in smaller chunks, then reassemble it and optionally refuel at an orbital station, before you begin the…

I'd like to second the "practicality" angle; I couldn't muster enough fuel and thrust to get a 2-module space station (two Hitchhiker modules) into orbit without the rockets blowing apart from instability. But the single-module guy is cruising along just fine right now.

Rocket science: Apparently it's hard. Who knew?

Re: Kerbal Space Program - space flight simulator game

#40

Post by AUmrysh »

keithwhor wrote: post #31

This is the most fun single-player experience I have ever had, bar none. It should be a mandatory part of the curriculum for high school physics courses, as I wish I had been able to experience something like this when I was that age. Orbital mechanics can be a little bit counterintuitive on first glance, but the sense of reward this game provides for, well, understanding physics, is just phenomenal. In an earlier bu…

I agree that kerbal should be part of a High School education. I also think that Garry's Mod with WireMod should be part of trigonometry and electronics/programming. I honed my trig by building tracking bots that followed a specified player. Without trig it still would have been possible, but it's so much easier to do it the trig way.

Fun and play should be a part of learning, without them learning becomes a rather dull and boring task of spewing back the memorized rules/formulas without a deep understanding of why or how to use them.

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