The Kerbal Player’s Guide: The Easiest Way to Launch a Space Program

721 Pages·2016·29.88 MB·English

by  Jon Manning

The Kerbal Player’s Guide
The Easiest Way to Launch a Space Program
Jon Manning, Tim Nugent, Paul Fenwick, Alasdair Allan , and Paris
Buttfield-Addison
The Kerbal Player’s Guide
by Jon Manning , Tim Nugent , Paul Fenwick , Alasdair Allan , and Paris
Buttfield-Addison Copyright © 2017 Babilim Light Industries, Ltd, Secret Lab,
Paul Fenwick. All rights reserved.
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November 2016: First Edition
Revision History for the First Edition
2016-11-08: First Release
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978-1-49191305-5
[LSI]
Preface
Welcome to The Kerbal Player’s Guide ! In your hands you have the most
comprehensive guide to Kerbal Space Program (KSP) ever created. This book
covers everything from getting to know the characters and planets, building
rockets and planes, and understanding rocket science to modding and integrating
hardware into the amazing game that is Kerbal Space Program.
KSP is one of the most detailed and realistic space program simulation games
ever created. After buying and playing the game, you will find yourself
responsible for managing little green astronauts, performing research, running
missions — oh, and flying around space in rockets and planes that you designed
and built yourself.
KSP creates a fantasy solar system remarkably like our own for you to explore:
from colossal Jovians to tiny asteroids, you can find it all. The game takes a very
realistic approach to running a space program, so don’t be too surprised if you
learn some actual rocket science along the way as you play the game.
Audience
We wrote this book to be fun and useful for a wide range of readers. If you just
want to learn how to play Kerbal Space Program, we’ve got you covered. If you
want to try out some more advanced play, then you’re also set. If you want to get
really advanced and learn the actual rocket science behind what you’re doing,
how to use (and make ) mods for the game, or even how to build hardware that
interfaces with the game, you are sorted , my friend.
There’s really only one prerequisite for getting the most out of this book: you
need a copy of Kerbal Space Program and sufficient patience for the trial-and-
error process of learning to fly to literally outer space. If you don’t already have
a copy of KSP, we’ll show you where to buy it in Chapter 1 .
Organization of This Book
This book is divided into three parts.
This book is divided into three parts.
Part I
In Part I , we’ll introduce the game and get you flying.
Chapter 1, You Will Go to Space Today , introduces you to the overall game and
gets you flying with your very first rocket.
Chapter 2, Rockets! discusses the ins and outs of rocket design in Kerbal Space
Program.
Chapter 3, Maneuvers , teaches you how to perform orbital maneuvers, which
you’ll find extremely useful when you want to do more advanced space trips.
Chapter 4, Planes in Space , introduces you to the wonderful world of aviation
and teaches you how to build planes that can reach orbit.
Chapter 5, The Worlds of Kerbal Space Program , wraps up the first part by
introducing you to the wider universe of Kerbal Space Program.
Part II
In Part II , we’ll start introducing more advanced parts of Kerbal Space Program.
Chapter 6, Running a Space Program , shows you the finer points of Kerbal
Space Program, including how to manage your resources, perform research, and
run the best space program this side of Kerbin.
Chapter 7, Historical Reenactment , is a collection of missions that you can
follow along with to re-create famous space flights, including the first human
space flight and the first moon landing.
Chapter 8, Getting to the Planets , takes you beyond the starting planet, sending
you out to the distant planets of the solar system. You’ll be landing on icy Duna,
colossal Eve, and mysterious Laythe.
Chapter 9, Rocket Science , peeks behind the mathematical curtain and discusses
some of the actual science that powers space flight.
Part III
In Part III , we’ll look at how you can extend the game for yourself and take
your spacefaring journeys even further.
Chapter 10, Introduction to Mods , shows you how to download and install
modifications to Kerbal Space Program, which can add to and change your
experience of the game.
Chapter 11, Utility Mods , presents a selection of mods that can make your life
easier, such as autopilot systems, tools for managing the various systems on
board your ships, and alarm clocks that will keep you from missing important in-
game events.
Chapter 12, Adding Realism , completely changes the way the game is played by
introducing mods that make the game much more realistic (and much more
challenging).
Chapter 13, Creating a Mod , provides you with the tools you need to create
your own mods, using Blender and Unity to create a custom part that you can
use in your own ships.
Chapter 14, Adding Hardware to the Game , wraps up the entire book with a
tutorial on wiring actual hardware to the game, allowing you to create panels
that interact with what’s happening in the game.
Conventions Used in This Book
The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
Italic
Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions.
Constant width
Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program
elements such as variable or function names, databases, data types,
environment variables, statements, and keywords.
Constant width bold
Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user.
Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user.
Constant width italic
Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values
determined by context.
TIP
This element signifies a tip or suggestion.
NOTE
This element signifies a general note.
CAUTION
This element indicates a warning or caution.
Supplementary Material
Supplementary material (code examples, exercises, errata, etc.) is available for
download at http://kerbal.institute .
Later in this book, we’ll be including source code and snippets of configuration
files that you’ll use to customize the game. In general, if example code is offered
with this book, you may use it in your programs and documentation. You do not
need to contact us for permission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion
of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code
from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM
of examples from O’Reilly books does require permission. Answering a question
by citing this book and quoting example code does not require permission.
Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your
product’s documentation does require permission.
We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the
title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: “The Kerbal Player’s Guide by