Puddle Jumper

Except for the Mun launch site. I’d really like to have that one!

Easy, turn up the gravitational constant a notch. I've seen many people wonder about the "pocket-scale" solar system of Kerbal Space Program. The idea and its implementation are not completely perfect, but most of what you see in behavior regarding physics in KSP is easily understood if you remember that (a) the real-life laws of physics apply but (b) the gravitational constant of the Kerbol system is higher than it is in our universe. Never did the calculations myself though, so I don't know the exact value of the gravitational constant. Nor do I know if the makers of the game intended it that way or if it is just a coincidence. Regardless, if you keep this fact in mind, it's likely not necessary to fantasize about a higher density of astronomical bodies. If you want some fun read about a more extreme example of a universe with a higher gravitational constant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raft_(novel)

You clearly haven't read even the last two posts.

Funny idea, but I think it has two major problems. From a more physics standpoint I'm pretty sure this setup will kick out most planets out of their regular orbit eventually. From a gameplay perspective I'm not sure the game supports changing seasons although that could be changed of course.

In the end, the biggest problem with adding a planet is that the system is more or less filled out. The inner Kerbol system has no realistic room for more planets except for maybe a trojan dwarf planet. Adding a second gas planet will mean either adding it outside Eeloo's orbit or making Eeloo a moon. The second option will have severe consequences for save games, while the first option will make it slightly boring as all moons will be frozen worlds.

Because you have more room to stuff planets in.

I'd definitely like a second gas giant. But even better I'd like to have a second star, making the whole system a distant binary pair. I realize travel times would suck because any realistic star would have to be at least 5 times farther away than Eeloo, but how cool would it be to explore a second solar system?

Yeah, I guess it shouldn't be a problem to have different settings in that respect. Maybe one can have different settings making a trade-off between realism and graphics demands. A binary system should be a good idea as well. Even trinary or quaternary systems should be possible, although travel times in these systems would consequently rise as well. For even a binary system to work the orbital axis of the second star would be about five times the size of Eeloo's orbit.

Ah, federal land. I recently watched a YouTube-video about it. Never delved into the subject before, but apparently you guys have land (sometimes quite a lot of it) that's not owned by the state but by the United States as a whole. We don't have something analogous here in the Netherlands. I guess that is an oddity that arises when you have a federalized country.

Alabama, like a lot of US states it is much bigger than my beloved Netherlands. You do have only 5 million people in it though. What do you need all that land for?

Oh, wow, that's kinda awesome, especially since I completely made it up myself. Who is that guy anyway? Every time I read an awesome idea about Kerbal Space Program that never happened his name is somehow attached to it.

Yeah, you can imagine my joy when I thought I saw a tiny dot on the Mun from orbit and discovered an Easter egg. I thought it was nothing or a glitch or something. Still curious I decided for a landing just for the heck of it. Turned out I found Armstrong memorial without even knowing it existed. Still one of the most awesome moments in the game I have had so far.

Well, there are several biological justifications for why Kerbals can survive extended space travel like they do. Hibernation, regeneration, most of them not even that far-fetched. The question I would like to answer is: Why do they have these biological traits in the first place? Oké, my theory. Kerbals are descendants of a long gone spacefaring civilization which after a big societal collapse is now once again setting their sights on the stars. Hey, those monoliths were built by someone.

Damn, that's awesome. They are indeed larger than I thought they would be. Gilly almost as large as Luxemburg. Not bad for a big potato.

I think the physics are okay as they are now. The visuals could be better though. I especially miss cloud cover. Seeing cloud cover in Kerbal Space Program makes the planet feel much more like an actual planet. Ascending above the clouds makes the planet feel much bigger for some reason. I guess it has something to do with distance perception. I never use mods, but seeing Kerbin-videos on Youtube with cloud cover makes it so much more beautiful.