low orbit mission

[zenpunk]

so what's the secret to the low orbit mission... every mission up to that point was almost too easy.. succeeded 1st try without much thinking.. now this one I've failed a dozen times, always just running out of fuel seconds too soon. A little more instruction in the game would be nice, to avoid frustration.

Also, is there a way to see what size your fuel tank is as your a changing its size, so I don't have to use a bunch of trial and error launches just to set my fuel capacity to 10,000?

Thanks for any help.

[軟弱初華]

Move your mouse to the top middle.
Then the bottom will expand and you can see how much "liters" you are carrying.

[jageriv.rodan]

Also, in the rocket design page, you can see how much fuel each stage has, and even adjust down if you need to. That's probably the easiest way to figure out total fuel right now, as far as I can tell.

You might need a bit of pen and paper on the side to total up what each fuel tank has, but if your down to 2-3, it seems to work.

As to the mission itself, I did pass it once already, but it seemed like a fluke, so I'm still working on trying to do so consistantly.

A sense I'm getting is that it would be useful if I could more effectively circle my orbits: just accelerating gets one end out to something like 300 km, while the other side still fails to make 100. I assume thats resulting in an inefficienty in my path somehow, but I am just trial and erroring to figure out how to fix it.

One other tip I might have is try using multiple small engines: the pixie engine is more efficient, and your generally using such a small rocket in this game that even 1 medium rocket is excessive.

[jageriv.rodan]

On the rocket design page, its listed on the general "slider" tab. Figured I should clairify that.

[Wampyre]

This mission is certainly a leap in difficulty from the previous. I've built numerous rockets. I've tried single stage, single 10,000L (11,000 Kg) tank. I've tried a 5,000 litre tank with two 2,500 L tanks attached as boosters with three mage engines bleeding off the fuel to the central tank for asparagus staging.

I can't even get remotely close. I get to 100 Km on apoapsis which does not leave me with enough fuel for a second burn to raise periapsis.

[zenpunk]

Yeah, game definitely needs some kind of tutorial, or at least a more shallow learning curve. I've kind of given up on it... the missions are like easy... easy... easy.. easy... IMPOSSIBLE. With no explanation as to how you are supposed to do it. :/

[leucome]

The idea is to think small.
Like you can reduce the payload weight by using a control chip. They never said we need to bring an astronaut in a module. The goal is just to reach orbit. After that the mission is a way easier.


Also if you use the parts option it's possible to make a tiny rocket with 1/2 size engine to lift that control chip. And voila you can reach a 100km orbit with less than 2000 fuel beating the goal by 8000... I never tried smaller but it certainly possible to make an even smaller rocket than this.

But yeah maybe a briefing about how to achieve the mission may help on the learning curve side. Like something that explain how to save fuel when going into orbit.

[cofibot]

Originally posted by leucome:

The idea is to think small.
Like you can reduce the payload weight by using a control chip. They never said we need to bring an astronaut in a module. The goal is just to reach orbit. After that the mission is a way easier.


Also if you use the parts option it's possible to make a tiny rocket with 1/2 size engine to lift that control chip. And voila you can reach a 100km orbit with less than 2000 fuel beating the goal by 8000... I never tried smaller but it certainly possible to make an even smaller rocket than this.

But yeah maybe a briefing about how to achieve the mission may help on the learning curve side. Like something that explain how to save fuel when going into orbit.

I found the control chip, but I'm not able to delete the command module. How do you remove the astronaut from the payload?

[cofibot]

I got it. I had to click "set primary" in the properties for the control chip.

[cofibot]

https://youtu.be/eORmE_NCbRA

[zenpunk]

awesome.... thanks!

[cofibot]

I finally got it done with the regular command pod (rather than unmanned):

https://youtu.be/uuEIYXMBqxo

[__RjX__]

Thanks for the tutorial, Laminar. Really helpful.

[cofibot]

Thanks for the feedback. I've kinda stopped making videos for a while. Hearing from people makes me want to do more.