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[CelticKnight]

I have no experience with this game, only ever having seen the thing listed on the Steam store but never investigating further.

Is the demo a good place to start to see if I'd like it?

 

[Crispy75]

I have no experience with this game, only ever having seen the thing listed on the Steam store but never investigating further.

Is the demo a good place to start to see if I'd like it?

Yes, without a doubt

 

[ThreePiMatt]

Isn't the demo based off a super old version of the game? Lots has changed and you'd only be getting a a real rough cut if it.

 

[gutterboy44]

Yeah I'd almost suggest watching YouTube videos or Twitch at this point. The demo is crazy out dated.

 

[MadYarpen]

It still made me buy full version.

Spoiler

Oooor not. it was rather Project B.E.A.S.T.

Spoiler

Go and watch some youtube vids. Project beast is quite entertaining.

 

[danthefan]

I'm having trouble in really early career mode. There's a couple of contract to test out various types of engine, which I'm trying to do. I accept the contact, I build a craft, I bring it out to the launch pad, check the contracts icon up the top right... and it doesn't seem to have registered at all that I'm using that particular engine. There's some other contracts to test the stack decoupler for example and they're working fine. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?

I just took a screenshot, the bit where it says "Test the RT-10 Hammer.." should have a green tick beside it right?

 

[Jintor]

You need to actually run a test on it by right clicking on the component and selecting "run test", but only at the appropriate altitude.

 

[sammex]

Haven't played this for over a year, looking forward to trying out the full release when Ive got some spare time this afternoon - should be like trying a brand new game! Thanks for reminding me Gaf.

 

[danthefan]

You need to actually run a test on it by right clicking on the component and selecting "run test", but only at the appropriate altitude.

Ahhhh ok thanks.

 

[CelticKnight]

I downloaded the demo, knowing it's an old version, but still had fun.

Now I'm playing the full version (40% off during Steam sale).

And now I'm watching a load of Scott Manley YouTube videos so I don't kill my poor Kerbal's through incompetence.

 

[MadYarpen]

I managed to build a ship that comfortably gets me to low Mun orbit, then I do some manoeuvring to fly over a required spot (focused study mission).

This game is so much fun.

Spoiler

Wasted whole weekend.

Though I'm afraid I won't be able to progress further, I need to do some research to be able to land on the Mun and I don't think there is much science to get at the moment.... Surely there is something I need to figure out, maybe a fly-by near another planet is already possible...

 

[DBT85]

I managed to build a ship that comfortably gets me to low Mun orbit, then I do some manoeuvring to fly over a required spot (focused study mission).

This game is so much fun.

Spoiler

Wasted whole weekend.

Though I'm afraid I won't be able to progress further, I need to do some research to be able to land on the Mun and I don't think there is much science to get at the moment.... Surely there is something I need to figure out, maybe a fly-by near another planet is already possible...

Get as much as you can from goo pods (little and large) from flying over kerbin, in the water, in low orbit and high orbit, and upgrade the astronaut centre so that you can do EVAs while in orbit to get a load of easy science.

Getting to the Mun is easiest, but landing on Minmus is by far the easiest. Its a fiddle to get to in the first place for a new player but actually landing, getting science and getting back are far easier than on Mun due to Minmus having lower gravity.

 

[MadYarpen]

Get as much as you can from goo pods (little and large) from flying over kerbin, in the water, in low orbit and high orbit, and upgrade the astronaut centre so that you can do EVAs while in orbit to get a load of easy science.

Getting to the Mun is easiest, but landing on Minmus is by far the easiest. Its a fiddle to get to in the first place for a new player but actually landing, getting science and getting back are far easier than on Mun due to Minmus having lower gravity.

My problem is that for some reason I cannot (or I cannot yet) use manoeuvres in the map view. I have to manually accelerate - with Mun I know where to "shoot" to be catched but with Minimus I have no idea.

Aaand getting out of my ship is kinda difficult as I have no extendable ladder

 

[DBT85]

Ahh,

Yeh thats really bloody annoying.

IIRC upgrade the tracking station, though there might be another that you have to do too.

You don't need a ladder on Mun or Minmus. You have an RCS backpack!

 

[gutterboy44]

Yep, upgrade the tracking station to get maneuver nodes to show up. I don't think it costs very much, it is the first upgrade for it (or not). Once you can do EVA's, just go to mimus and mun orbits and get EVA reports from low orbit of all the different biomes. Really easy way to bank a bunch of quick science very early. Keep the EVA's don't transmit them. You will get a lot more from bringing reports back home.

 

[MadYarpen]

That's what I was thinking, currently I have it on lvl 2. Lvl 3 is very expensive. and my ships are too, more and more...

 

[Jintor]

You also need to upgrade Mission Control for manuever nodes to show up I think.

 

[MadYarpen]

Got it.

Landed on Minimus. knocked my ship over with Kerbal (wtf...). rised it with rcs thrusters. Took of, and headed to Kerbin. Sadly, I only managed to get to ~150k km orbit.

BUT! This means that with some minor tweaks I'll be able to get there and back.

I wish I could plant flags during EVA

 

[runningjoke]

I wish I could plant flags during EVA

You want to punch a hole in your fuel tank?

 

[PjotrStroganov]

Got it.

Landed on Minimus. knocked my ship over with Kerbal (wtf...). rised it with rcs thrusters. Took of, and headed to Kerbin. Sadly, I only managed to get to ~150k km orbit.

BUT! This means that with some minor tweaks I'll be able to get there and back.

I wish I could plant flags during EVA

You can on planets. And you can set op a rescue mission to save your kerbal from orbit

 

[mrklaw]

Got it.

Landed on Minimus. knocked my ship over with Kerbal (wtf...). rised it with rcs thrusters. Took of, and headed to Kerbin. Sadly, I only managed to get to ~150k km orbit.

BUT! This means that with some minor tweaks I'll be able to get there and back.

I wish I could plant flags during EVA

good practice for docking (or flying close and EVA across)

send a probe core if you only have enough for a one-man capsule.



What are the changes to gravity turn? I need to check the wiki again I think - don't suppose Scott Manley has a handy video summarising the changes?

 

[danthefan]

Ok tonight I am going into orbit for the first time in career mode if it kills me.

Or my Kerbals.

 

[MadYarpen]

You can on planets. And you can set op a rescue mission to save your kerbal from orbit

You need to unlock flags first, which costs a lot at this point for me.

 

[gutterboy44]

Kerbal: Project B.E.A.S.T Part 9 is up!

 

[runningjoke]

I wish they'd do the missions during the day, can't see a thing on their landing attempt.

Escaping Mun into a Kerbin escape orbit... I thought he knew something about the return maneuver. I guess the polar orbit threw him off but he did exactly the opposite of what he had to do

 

[Kathian]

I wish they'd do the missions during the day, can't see a thing on their landing attempt.

But...

 

[Brashnir]

Get as much as you can from goo pods (little and large) from flying over kerbin, in the water, in low orbit and high orbit, and upgrade the astronaut centre so that you can do EVAs while in orbit to get a load of easy science.

Getting to the Mun is easiest, but landing on Minmus is by far the easiest. Its a fiddle to get to in the first place for a new player but actually landing, getting science and getting back are far easier than on Mun due to Minmus having lower gravity.

Science grinding in this is the most tedious, uninspired and shitty thing in any game I've played in a long time.

I got the hell out of career mode in a hurry when I realized that this is what the game wanted me to do. It's just not worth it.

 

[gutterboy44]

Science grinding in this is the most tedious, uninspired and shitty thing in any game I've played in a long time.

I got the hell out of career mode in a hurry when I realized that this is what the game wanted me to do. It's just not worth it.

It takes about 5 missions to where science is no longer a problem. Once you go to Mun and Minmus, there is no grind. You have more than enough to unlock most of the tech tree, including science labs which are science machines. Trying to get every last bit from Kerbin is a waste of time. A polar orbit around Mun and Minums and you are golden. You can also get to both Mun and Minmus with very basic parts. After that, all major science chunks can be had by exploring all of the other planets and moons, which is anything but tedious and uninspired. Getting to new places for the first time is very rewarding. The buck loads of science is just bonus.

 

[Brashnir]

It takes about 5 missions to where science is no longer a problem. Once you go to Mun and Minmus, there is no grind. You have more than enough to unlock most of the tech tree, including science labs which are science machines. Trying to get every last bit from Kerbin is a waste of time. A polar orbit around Mun and Minums and you are golden. You can also get to both Mun and Minmus with very basic parts.

Maybe if you know exactly what to do beforehand. Working your way through it without a guide? It's an awful experience. A normal person isn't going to see a science object and assume they have to run it 15 times in 15 different places, or that you get science from doing pointless crap like taking reports on the launch pad. It's an exercise in pure tedium.

I just went to Sandbox mode because fuck the way career is laid out.

 

[gutterboy44]

Maybe if you know exactly what to do beforehand. Working your way through it without a guide? It's an awful experience. A normal person isn't going to see a science object and assume they have to run it 15 times in 15 different places, or that you get science from doing pointless crap like taking reports on the launch pad. It's an exercise in pure tedium.

I just went to Sandbox mode because fuck the way career is laid out.

You don't have to do that at all. A normal person is not going to try to min/max science. The natural progression of trying to get to objects further and further away from Kerbin give you more and more science. If you don't know how to get to Mun and Minmus easy, they you don't need even 80% of the tech tree yet. I get that people feel the need to unlock everything as fast as possible, but bigger rockets doesn't necessarily make it easier or better. If you already know what you want and how to do it quick because you have lots of KSP experience, you can with almost zero grind. Or you can play the game where you are learning about each part you unlock until you start getting to Minmus and beyond without a problem and at that point you can bank tons of science without grinding. There are contracts that make you build science laps and transmit science from new locations. At no point is the game forcing anyone to grind science from KSC launch pad or getting every biome on the moons.

 

[DBT85]

Science grinding in this is the most tedious, uninspired and shitty thing in any game I've played in a long time.

I got the hell out of career mode in a hurry when I realized that this is what the game wanted me to do. It's just not worth it.

It does suck in the early game just as the tutorials do and its explained terribly. Its one of the many things that they are going to have to improve for the console versions that they are insisting on making.

I have no idea if mods will work on the console versions (I'm certain they wont though) and fuck playing this game beyond Minmus without things like Kerbal Engineer or Docking Alignment mod or a myriad of others.

 

[Brashnir]

You don't have to do that at all. A normal person is not going to try to min/max science. The natural progression of trying to get to objects further and further away from Kerbin give you more and more science. If you don't know how to get to Mun and Minmus easy, they you don't need even 80% of the tech tree yet. I get that people feel the need to unlock everything as fast as possible, but bigger rockets doesn't necessarily make it easier or better. So you can know what you want and do it quick because you have lots of KSP experience, with almost zero grind. Or you can play the game where are learning about each part you unlock until you start getting to Minmus and beyond without a problem and at that point you can bank tons of science without grinding. There are contracts that make you build science laps and transmit science from new locations. At no point is the game forcing anyone to grind science from KSC launch pad or getting every biome on the moons.

The natural thing for most people is to try stuff with rockets, concentrate on flying them, since you don't get any assists, and not even have time to think about collecting science for a bunch of flights until they realize they can't really do much without a few more science nodes.

Then they look through all the quests and try to figure out how to get science. After a few dozen flights of very slow progress, they go through all the menus and find out that they have to do everything they've already done 10 more times in different places.

In my case, that's when I said, "nope," and bounced. Perhaps your experience is different because you started way back in early access. I didn't touch the game until after it was out.

 

[gutterboy44]

The natural thing for most people is to try stuff with rockets, concentrate on flying them, since you don't get any assists, and not even have time to think about collecting science for a bunch of flights until they realize they can't really do much without a few more science nodes.

Then they look through all the quests and try to figure out how to get science. After a few dozen flights of very slow progress, they go through all the menus and find out that they have to do everything they've already done 10 more times in different places.

In my case, that's when I said, "nope," and bounced. Perhaps your experience is different because you started way back in early access. I didn't touch the game until after it was out.

Again, the focus on the tech tree being the end all be all of career mode is flawed. Gaining reputation gives you more challenging contracts, which in turn give you higher rewards. You can run contracts to gain more funds or to rescue other Kerbals for free additions to your roster. I had probably 400+ hours in KSP before 1.0 and playing career mode again in 1.0.5, I am still learning new uses and designs for parts in the first few tech tree nodes. I think they finally got it right in 1.0.5 with the context sensitive contracts. I always have something new to try and at no point am I going out of the way to grind science.

 

[Brashnir]

Again, the focus on the tech tree being the end all be all of career mode is flawed. Gaining reputation gives you more challenging contracts, which in turn give you higher rewards. You can run contracts to gain more funds or to rescue other Kerbals for free additions to your roster. I had probably 400+ hours in KSP before 1.0 and playing career mode again in 1.0.5, I am still learning new uses and designs for parts in the first few tech tree nodes. I think they finally got it right in 1.0.5 with the context sensitive contracts. I always have something new to try and at no point am I going out of the way to grind science.

Great. have fun.

I think it sucks shit, so I'm not going to play career anymore.

 

[gutterboy44]

Trust me, I know what hating career mode is like. I have gone hot and cold on it about 50 times since it was first added to the game. 1.0.5 added context sensitive contracts and it is way better once you shake the old min/max habits. Keeps you busy and gives you some really challenging missions. I have never sent any satalite beyond Jool and it had me doing that as soon as I had some basic probe cores which was cool. The game quickly pushes you out of the comfort zone of Kerbin/Mun/Minmus which is where you will drive yourself crazy trying to do everything there.

 

[Walshicus]

Got it.

Landed on Minimus. knocked my ship over with Kerbal (wtf...). rised it with rcs thrusters. Took of, and headed to Kerbin. Sadly, I only managed to get to ~150k km orbit.

BUT! This means that with some minor tweaks I'll be able to get there and back.

I wish I could plant flags during EVA

Have you considered getting out of the ship and using backpack RCS to push your ship into a lower orbit? Works surprisingly well...

 

[gutterboy44]

Have you considered getting out of the ship and using backpack RCS to push your ship into a lower orbit? Works surprisingly well...

A yeah I totally forgot to reply to his post earlier. If your Ap is really high, you can easily lower your 150Km Pe down to 35Km using the Kerbal jetpack. I have brought down Pe's at over 600Km using nothing but jetpack RCS.

 

[gutterboy44]

The teaser at the end of this week's Project BEAST!!!! Next Monday can't come soon enough.

Spoiler

Drew and Scott Manley, shit yeah!

 

[Brashnir]

The teaser at the end of this week's Project BEAST!!!! Next Monday can't come soon enough.

Spoiler

Drew and Scott Manley, shit yeah!

yeah, that should be good.

I also like that Austin finally realized that you can use the atmosphere to brake this week. I mean, they didn't exactly do it in the most efficient way possible, dumping all that fuel, but they got that bucket down safely.

 

[mrklaw]

yeah, that should be good.

I also like that Austin finally realized that you can use the atmosphere to brake this week. I mean, they didn't exactly do it in the most efficient way possible, dumping all that fuel, but they got that bucket down safely.

why even bother with atmospheric braking? Just getting into a basic orbit - even a high one - will be significantly slower on reentry than just firing yourself at Kerbin. Going for aerobraking just seems overly complex for this level.

Does KSP even have a way to simulate aerobraking for when you're heading to the outer planets, or is it all on you to figure out?

 

[gutterboy44]

why even bother with atmospheric braking? Just getting into a basic orbit - even a high one - will be significantly slower on reentry than just firing yourself at Kerbin. Going for aerobraking just seems overly complex for this level.

Does KSP even have a way to simulate aerobraking for when you're heading to the outer planets, or is it all on you to figure out?

They made it complicated by not getting their original Pe low enough. It is a one and done re entry shot with the right Pe from the Mun. I was able to go straight in from Eve even. Bigger ships coming in fast with more mass and less drag need aerobraking at Kerbin though. Now that they modeled some aero lift to the capsules, you can even do the dip in and out control like Apollo capsules did in real life to bleed off heat when coming from the moon.

Atmosphere and therefore aero braking is not calculated with maneuver nodes. You have to trial and error it (just use a quick save before committing to your Pe), or go super math heavy and use the atmospheric and pressure graphs users have detailed for every planet's atmosphere in the game. There is still a pretty big margin for aero braking, especially if you add air brakes, so once you will learn the ideal Pe's for the planets pretty quickly once you go there a few times. Just like how you slowly memorize the delta V even though that is calculated with the maneuver nodes.

Edit: You can get mods that will do some aerobraking calculations on the map.

 

[Brashnir]

why even bother with atmospheric braking? Just getting into a basic orbit - even a high one - will be significantly slower on reentry than just firing yourself at Kerbin. Going for aerobraking just seems overly complex for this level.

Does KSP even have a way to simulate aerobraking for when you're heading to the outer planets, or is it all on you to figure out?

Well, I was more referring to a standard re-entry where you go for a shallow angle to give yourself the most amount of air possible between yourself and the ground, rather than the banzai runs straight at the planet they were trying before.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

I think Vinny knew 50-60km was still too high up to get pulled in. At one point he mentioned 35-40km.

Next week sounds like it should be great and I wonder if they continue the series after all Kerbals are accounted for. Maybe at least make an attempt on Duna. Personally I feel you do the Mun, you do an orbital rendezvous, and you do Duna and then everything else in the game is basically scaled up versions of those three major goals.

On my own side of things I think I may stop playing until 1.1. I was bringing a bunch of Kerbals home from a space station, wasn't paying attention during reentry and time warped. Things happened and some Kerbals died as a result. Kinda want to start a new career on a higher difficulty.

 

[gutterboy44]

Oh man, I forgot how cool aerobraking is on Duna. Coming in at 2,000+ m/s only 11Km off the surface..it feels like you need to pick up your feet or you will drag your heels.

Sent a probe to Duna to map the surface for ore so I can send a mining mission as well as completing a few contracts involving Duna and putting a satellite in orbit around Duna.

Coming in at the north pole since my final contract orbit is a polar one. Pro tip: be sure to check which direction your contract orbits rotate in. I should have come in at the south pole for the correct direction. I ended up having to reverse the direction of my orbit with like 8 plane change maneuvers. Thank god I had all that extra delta v

Coming in hot. That is my previous stage tumbling off in the distance right before it exploded. Hi Ike!

I had to do some trial and error with aerobraking. 11.7Km ended up being the sweet spot for this vessel. Next up, Duna research station, landing probes and then mining operations!

 

[MadYarpen]

Well, I'm not so advanced, but finally - I got to the Mun!

My ship:

And a proof. With GAF flag of course, sadly I put it in the shadow Tomorrow another try, so I will get better photo.

It was sooo on the edge. My returning Kerbin orbit was like 580.000/49.000 m and I ran out of fuel. Good thing you actually can use air for braking.


Rarely a game gives me so much fun.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Kerbal: Project B.E.A.S.T Part 9 is up!

these are so good.

 

[CelticKnight]

I know it's baby steps stuff, but I just completed the "orbit Kerbin" contract in career mode for the first time. Actually felt a bit proud when I got my rocket into a relatively circluar orbit and when I manged to get good ol' Jebadiah back to Kerbin safe.

Really enjoying this game at the moment.

 

[DBT85]

Holy tit balls thats a lot of rocket to send to the mun!

 

[runningjoke]

Vinny tweeted a link to their ships

https://twitter.com/VinnyCaravella/status/697550645654458369

http://www.giantbomb.com/Kerbal_Project_Beast_Ships_02102016.zip

 

[MadYarpen]

Holy tit balls thats a lot of rocket to send to the mun!

You mean mine? Side tanks get me from Kerbin to Mun and half-way back to Mun orbit (I start with 4 tanks and during burn from Kerbin towards mun I get rid of 2).

I actually need to make it slightly bigger cause I have some contracts for turist transport.