SOVIET AAR "Testing the Red Stuff" - 0.7.17
Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 6:00 pm
So, I ran a few preliminary tests on various campaigns and have noticed that the soviet sandbox is currently not very feasible (big penalties for not launching pioneer which is unavailable). Another thing is the UR-700 bug.
So, onwards with testing the other soviet hardware we have here! My plan is to launch the GSA sandbox and use mostly soviet hardware to see how it goes. This time I will not strictly follow the soviet RL plan, but I will go the N1-LK way (as the UR-700 is bugged).
Playthrough so far: I had pretty sucky starting SET men. Fired one on the spot. This will slow me down in the early game, no way around it.
My plan so far is to launch Vostok duration I and II, then go with Voskhod and Space walk. After that, its gonna be the Soyuz-N1-LK. I am pessimistic about getting to the moon in 1969, but we shall see.
For purely RP reasons, I'll be assuming historical NASA mission dates, to see if I can outrun the yankees (unlikely).
4.1957 - Sucessfully launched sputnik.
1.1958 - Launched extended sputnik, opened Vostok. (I'll be going directly to the R-7 Voskhod rocket to offset the early-game delay I had with my satellite.) USA Launches their first real satellite - Explorer
2.1958 - Opened Pioneer (I know it is not a soviet design, but currently there's a bug and without it I won't be able to complete the game). US launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
3.1958 - Sucessfully completed extended sputnik.
4.1958 - Started developing the R-7 Molniya NASA formed.
1.1959 - NASA launches Pioneer 4 moon flyby (they beaten me to it by a long shot)
2.1959 - Vostok capsule is really lagging behind, only 55% reliability. The "Mercury Seven" astronauts are selected by NASA. (Good thing mine are already far in training, at least I have an edge here)
1.1960 - Risky Suborbital unmanned Vostok launch (Vostok capsule just 80% reliable) sucessfull
2.1960 - Subortbital manned Vostok flight NASA launches its own suborbital mercury fight Opened Voskhod program
3.1960 - Uncrewed orbital Vostok.
4.1960 - Orbital duration I Vostok
1.1962 - Pioneer lunar flyby. US orbital manned flight Opened Luna impactor
4.1963 - Mariner 2 flies past Venus and enters a solar orbit.
2.1963 - Opened Soyuz program. Suborbital unmanned Voskhod
1.1964 - Opened N1 program
2.1964 - Orbital unmanned Voskhod
3.1964 - Luna 3 Flyby
SADLY I HAVE FOUND A BUG - the game does not recognize the Suborbital manned Voskhod mission, even though it was completed.
Oh well, since this is a bug (and I was workign on establishing the root cause and testing it), I have launched directly the orbital mission, skipping the suborbital flight. The penalty turned out to be a laughable 5%. I passed the mission.
4.1964 - Orbital manned Voskhod
1.1965 - Orbital manned Gemini flight
2.1965 - NASA Spacewalk (beaten me to it)
3.1965 - Luna 2 Impactor
2.1966 - Voskhod Spacewalk Surveyor 1 soft-lands on the Moon
3.1966 - Opened Zond 5 unmanned lunar flyby program Lunar Orbiter 1 enters orbit around the Moon
1.1967 - Unmanned Soyuz suborbital test
2.1967 - Opened the lunar N1LK program (at long last, I doubt I stand any chance of getting to the moon in 2 years).
3.1967 - Orbital unmanned soyuz test, launched on an N1 (made it, big step twoard the moon)
4.1967 - Manned orbital Soyuz, launched on an N1 (cutting corners to get here, but made it)
2.1968 - Zond 5 lunar flyby
3.1968 - Unmanned lunar N1LK flyby test
4.1968 - Manned lunar N1LK flyby Manned Apollo flight
1.1969 - Manned orbital lunar N1LK test Apollo lunar lander tested in Earth's orbit
2.1969 - Apollo lunar orbital pass
3.1969 - Lk lander test in orbit American Lunar Landing
4.1969 - Soviet Lunar landing
Well, I officially done it. and in 1969 too! I did lose the space race though, but not by a large margin. While I did go slower at first, and allowed the US to make the first spacewalk - but other than that I managed to do better than the RL soviet program. I think that I focused on the moon landing and that gave me the edge. Looking abck, i think I might have avoided Zond 5 or even Voskhod alltogeather and might have been able to tie with the US.
To be honest the US caught me on the last streach. Fact is, my spacesuit and lunar lander research was lagging and I was running out of money (though that latter part didn't matter much, as in early 1969 I either way had tow ait for the spacesuit and lunar lander reliability to build up before the LK lander test).
Overall, this playthrough felt much more realistic than previous BASPM versions.
So, onwards with testing the other soviet hardware we have here! My plan is to launch the GSA sandbox and use mostly soviet hardware to see how it goes. This time I will not strictly follow the soviet RL plan, but I will go the N1-LK way (as the UR-700 is bugged).
Playthrough so far: I had pretty sucky starting SET men. Fired one on the spot. This will slow me down in the early game, no way around it.
My plan so far is to launch Vostok duration I and II, then go with Voskhod and Space walk. After that, its gonna be the Soyuz-N1-LK. I am pessimistic about getting to the moon in 1969, but we shall see.
For purely RP reasons, I'll be assuming historical NASA mission dates, to see if I can outrun the yankees (unlikely).
4.1957 - Sucessfully launched sputnik.
1.1958 - Launched extended sputnik, opened Vostok. (I'll be going directly to the R-7 Voskhod rocket to offset the early-game delay I had with my satellite.) USA Launches their first real satellite - Explorer
2.1958 - Opened Pioneer (I know it is not a soviet design, but currently there's a bug and without it I won't be able to complete the game). US launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
3.1958 - Sucessfully completed extended sputnik.
4.1958 - Started developing the R-7 Molniya NASA formed.
1.1959 - NASA launches Pioneer 4 moon flyby (they beaten me to it by a long shot)
2.1959 - Vostok capsule is really lagging behind, only 55% reliability. The "Mercury Seven" astronauts are selected by NASA. (Good thing mine are already far in training, at least I have an edge here)
1.1960 - Risky Suborbital unmanned Vostok launch (Vostok capsule just 80% reliable) sucessfull
2.1960 - Subortbital manned Vostok flight NASA launches its own suborbital mercury fight Opened Voskhod program
3.1960 - Uncrewed orbital Vostok.
4.1960 - Orbital duration I Vostok
1.1962 - Pioneer lunar flyby. US orbital manned flight Opened Luna impactor
4.1963 - Mariner 2 flies past Venus and enters a solar orbit.
2.1963 - Opened Soyuz program. Suborbital unmanned Voskhod
1.1964 - Opened N1 program
2.1964 - Orbital unmanned Voskhod
3.1964 - Luna 3 Flyby
SADLY I HAVE FOUND A BUG - the game does not recognize the Suborbital manned Voskhod mission, even though it was completed.
Oh well, since this is a bug (and I was workign on establishing the root cause and testing it), I have launched directly the orbital mission, skipping the suborbital flight. The penalty turned out to be a laughable 5%. I passed the mission.
4.1964 - Orbital manned Voskhod
1.1965 - Orbital manned Gemini flight
2.1965 - NASA Spacewalk (beaten me to it)
3.1965 - Luna 2 Impactor
2.1966 - Voskhod Spacewalk Surveyor 1 soft-lands on the Moon
3.1966 - Opened Zond 5 unmanned lunar flyby program Lunar Orbiter 1 enters orbit around the Moon
1.1967 - Unmanned Soyuz suborbital test
2.1967 - Opened the lunar N1LK program (at long last, I doubt I stand any chance of getting to the moon in 2 years).
3.1967 - Orbital unmanned soyuz test, launched on an N1 (made it, big step twoard the moon)
4.1967 - Manned orbital Soyuz, launched on an N1 (cutting corners to get here, but made it)
2.1968 - Zond 5 lunar flyby
3.1968 - Unmanned lunar N1LK flyby test
4.1968 - Manned lunar N1LK flyby Manned Apollo flight
1.1969 - Manned orbital lunar N1LK test Apollo lunar lander tested in Earth's orbit
2.1969 - Apollo lunar orbital pass
3.1969 - Lk lander test in orbit American Lunar Landing
4.1969 - Soviet Lunar landing
Well, I officially done it. and in 1969 too! I did lose the space race though, but not by a large margin. While I did go slower at first, and allowed the US to make the first spacewalk - but other than that I managed to do better than the RL soviet program. I think that I focused on the moon landing and that gave me the edge. Looking abck, i think I might have avoided Zond 5 or even Voskhod alltogeather and might have been able to tie with the US.
To be honest the US caught me on the last streach. Fact is, my spacesuit and lunar lander research was lagging and I was running out of money (though that latter part didn't matter much, as in early 1969 I either way had tow ait for the spacesuit and lunar lander reliability to build up before the LK lander test).
Overall, this playthrough felt much more realistic than previous BASPM versions.
