Kerbal Space Program - space flight simulator game
kerbalspaceprogram.com
kerbalspaceprogram.com
I found Kerbal to be a good stepping-stone to Orbiter. Kerbal is more instant-gratification, but it lacks the realism that I've come to love from Orbiter.
I've learned a ton about spaceflight from playing Orbiter. It makes watching real launches much more interesting, since you will actually know what's going on.
Start out with the built-in Delta Glider. Once you're comfortable with that, download the XR2 Ravenstar from http://www.alteaaerospace.com/ (free). It's a much more advanced craft with more bells and whistles to play with, but it's also a bit more challenging to fly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keplers_laws_of_planetary_motio...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtons_law_of_universal_gravit...
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.
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.
(http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD603D8234AE51EF0)
I'd love to see someone in the future optimise a docking procedure and say they got into it from something like Kerbal.
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 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.
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 sandbox space simulator. I hope they keep taking my money and really improve the game. It seems to work slightly better on my mac than on my pc, and the ship builder is a bit wonky, but I hope they improve that soon. Right now I spend too much time building things that should be much easier to construct.
Are any of you sharing designs on the wiki yet?
Well, yes. That's how you assemble space stations :)
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.
Rocket science: Apparently it's hard. Who knew?
That's what the Spaceport is for (and it will soon be incorporated in the game).
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.
It does require a ton of system resources though. I wonder if you could offload the processing to a server and just display graphics on the client?
I love the names and faces of the astronauts and pilots.
And yes, Jebediah is the man. Um, I mean, Kerbin.
Orbiter is not really a game. Its UI is terrible, it’s full of complexity, all that. Now, that’s all fine for a simulator, but not for a game.
If you want a game that gives you better feedback and a much better UI and much more laser-focused prioritization of what’s actually important and essential to putting space travel in a game, then you want KSP.
Orbiter to KSP is like Garry’s Mod (only less accessible and even less of a game) to Minecraft.
Comparing the two doesn’t even make that much sense. You get vastly different things out of them.
(Also, it’s arguably more beautiful to look at.)
The chance to build, launch, and crash your very own space jalopy ought to be worth the price of admission on it's own, though!
Another thought: how can ordinary people help with support space exploration other than writing to congress?