Kerbal: Project B.E.A.S.T: Part 06

Awesome, been waiting for this!

@david: The world has been waiting for this!

I like the B.E.A.S.T.!

Ah, the highlight of the week has arrived

Kerbal probably goes surprisingly well with that music:

If this is your fusing episode, then trust me, you're going to want to make a Black Frost. He doesn't have any weaknesses!

Kerbal hyyype!

This feature is so entertaining.

A question though, can you not use solar power to generate thrust? I mean... 4 mph is still 4 mph. With infinite energy and time warp, you'll make it back. Eventually. Right?

yes, more kerbal, I have been playing non stop since the last episode

The next episode is set to be amazing.

Make sure this one has hama

Is it just me, or are they getting worse at building rockets?

20 minutes in, and I'm glad to see they've learned a few things! Sorta! Here's some tips for anyone out there (and the B.E.A.S.T crew if they read some comments):

If ISP is your game, you should check out the LV-N "Nerv" Atomic Rocket Motor. It only uses Liquid Fuel (no oxidizer required, so those fuel tank mistakes they keep worrying about are actually the right choice), and it has a ISP of something like 800 in space! (Compared to the 350ish of their other engines, which means it's over twice as efficient.)

Your delta-V will shoot up like crazy, but just make sure you plan for a longer burn time, as those engines don't have a lot of kick (but the kick that they do have lasts a long time). Also it may spread radioactive material in the atmosphere if it explodes, but I'm sure Project B.E.A.S.T's stellar track record will ensure every launch continues to be a safe one.

Finally, you want normal parachutes and not drogue chutes. Drogue chutes are designed to slow you down before deploying your main parachutes, but aren't enough to stop you from smacking the ground hard.

EDIT: 27 minutes in and I see their newfound knowledge is getting...misapplied, for lack of a better word. Commenting before finishing a GBeast video continues to be dangerous.

Best GB show of 2015 by far!

"We didn't have enough fuel last time, so let's start out by ditching the entire stage that took us to space in the first place" ... What ?

This is, by far, the thing I most look forward to that gets updated regularly.

Fave part of this episode: the denouncement of solid fuel, only to, at the last moment, attach six of the biggest rockets ever created.

The delta-v map that the crew was using.

I was so worried we wouldn't get one these this week!

Maybe use some solid boosters to help it get off the launchpad and up a few kilometers.

Edit: ok Vinny had the idea 5 minutes later. Also the middle engine should be burning with the 6 around it while the fuellines keep the middle tank filled

This is gonna be good!

When they say they're going back to basics I had this in mind.

I don't see why Alex was doubting their product at the end. It seems to me that putting a rocket around your rocket just means your rocket will be able to go further because your other rocket launched your rocket into space. It's like a free rocket ride to space for your rocket. Why have doubts about your rocket, I don't.

Enough math talk... Now is the time for ROCKETS!!

Gotta love papa Vinny.

5 minutes in and Vinny ditching solid rocket boosters, which are designed exclusively to get you out into orbit and have worked on all the other designs, in favour of all those arrayed liquid engines, and you know this will be a great episode.

"I may have this backwards, but".... could be the motto of Project B.E.A.S.T.

I don't know why you guys keep fusing magical skills onto your physical type rocket.

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but to punch Odin in the face" - John F Kennedy 1962

They read the comments! :O

Re: solid fuel vs liquid fuel...

The former is less weight-efficient but more cost-effective. If you're cost-conscious (i.e. playing career mode), then solid-fuel boosters are your 1st-stage bread & butter. Even so, there ain't nothin' wrong with slapping them on your 1st stage in any mode.

Re: getting into orbit without spinning out...

Engines with "gimbal" (vectoring) offer more control. Use struts to prevent wobble on tall designs. Be careful of turning too early; pushing your apoapsis out of the atmosphere is priority #1, and if you have to fly in a straight line upward to do that reliably, then that's what you have to do.

Re: getting into orbit at a decent speed...

Take a look at the G-force meter as you fly (right of navball). This'll give you some concept of your acceleration in the "real world".

One last subtlety...

"ISP" ratings on engines are measures of efficiency (right-click on parts to get info). Some are more efficient in the atmosphere, and others are more efficient in a vacuum. The game has all these tradeoffs in balance-- thrust, ISP, weight, features (e.g. vectoring) & cost. Some engines are esoteric, such as the efficient but heavy LV-N Nerv Atomic, but none are the king of engines; you have to pick them with the stage in mind.

Great series, guys. The trial-and-error of Project B.E.A.S.T. captures the joy and struggle of KSP so well. It's my GOTY 2015; the best vehicle-building game by a light-year.

I love the entire Beast crew, even Austin, but as a guy who really like KSP these videos are torture to watch

'fusing episode'. brilliant

@bbalpert: Wow. That does look exactly like a subway map.

@xymox: That's not how thrust works. To get anywhere, you need to push off something else. Rocket's bring their own something else in the form of fuel which provides double duty of being full of energy as well as something to push off of with that energy. Out of something else to push on, you aren't going anywhere.

Haven't watched the video yet, assuming they get into a situation where spinning makes it look like they are affecting their orbit. That's usually artifacting around your center of control (and thus measurements) being different than your center of gravity. Which is fine and normal but something to keep in mind when it seems something is lying to you.

I love the lack of angle snapping.

I was so pleased when they finally considered the small Terrier engine.

Then they decided to strap on inefficient engines on the sides. Why? How does dragging up less efficient engines into space to use instead of your more efficient engine help?

The moon seems so far away again.

The rocket emerges from the sea of your soul

then crashes, flaming, back into it

@almostswedish: its almost like they have no idea what they are doing! almost.

That ending! My anticipation for the next episode is palpable.

I think about the simple design of the rockets that got us to the moon, then I look at The Luda Lander...

This is the dark middle chapter that I (and I presume most other players) have gone through as well. It's the stage where you know enough to start second guessing all your decisions and massively over-complicating things. The stage where you stop making the BIG mistakes that fail catastrophically all at once (forgetting decouplers, pointing boosters the wrong direction, etc) and start making a lot of LITTLE mistakes that add up over time (needlessly elaborate staging, lopsided rockets, not enough struts, etc).

I feel like this stage is the second big wall that players can run into with this game. The first being the initial "what the fuck am I even LOOKING at?!" when starting up the first few times. It's the awkward adolescence of Kerbal Space Program players.

HOWEVER, I have faith that the crew will be able to break through that wall and come out the other side stronger than ever! I believe in you, @vinny, @austin_walker, and @alex!

I spit my coffee out:

Vinny: "The ISP is efficiency"

Austin: "I have xfinity"

Alex: "The efficiency is very low"

Wouldn't this have worked if Vinny was just more gentle on the gravity turn?

I hope they can make Satan.

The "fusing episode" reference kind of gave me the warm fuzzies. Nothing stops the Beast!

This is the single best thing I have watched in 2016!

Guys, press F12 to get a visual signs of the drag impacting the craft.

That cliffhanger...

This was most definitely the dark middle chapter of the whole thing.

This is a one step forward, two steps back kind of episode :P

After watching the SpaceX landing I started to wonder if BEASTcrew is contracted out to them as well.

Oh duders,

that dark middle section trying to find stability for the 6-engine rocket stage.

"This seems much more stable" -everyone at launch

"It keeps on losing stability"

"Maybe we need more fins"

Maybe ejecting the fins connected to the fuel tanks doesn't do great things for continued stability all they way up :(