HyperbolicKerbonaut

Make the tech tree more logical and less grind-provoking. No more of this unlock node X to use stuff from node Y that also needs node Z. It would be great if the tech tree could somehow be tied to the world's first achievements and contracts. Like, if you get into orbit you learn about how rockets behave in microgravity and that allows you to research lower thrust, higher isp engines, or if you do barometric/temperature tests in atmosphere you learn about atmospheric heating and that, coupled with surface samples (ceramic analogue) from Kerbin, allows you to research ablative shields. You unlock the prototype part (which is somewhat nerfed--e.g. less fuel, less thrust--and unreliable) and you have to run tests like in the contracts and you use that data to research the final part. Maybe that's too involved, but I think something like that would give the career progression more depth. Right now, goo, eva reports, surface samples, etc. all function the same way--to provide a single resource, science. Instead, I'd like to see those different experiments also contribute in their own way to the development of the space and aeronautic program. It's a shame that a game requires the player to learn about space travel doesn't reflect that progression in its mechanics. But the mobile lab is a (albeit passive) step in the right direction.

[quote name='Venusgate']"It was THIIIIIIS big!" J/K :P Congrats! Exciting, isn't it! Just wait till you pull it off in darkness with your small battery in the double digits and dropping, and mono in singles :P[/QUOTE] I once saw a video of a guy do an EVA only mission to all the moons and on one of his rendezvous he had a fraction of one 1 unit of RCS left before he hit his command pod.

[quote name='brianorca']The OP ship is aerodynamicly unstable when flying backwards. It needs more drag at the top, which is backwards from our normal launch aerodynamics. You also need a way to shift that drag to the rear again for your ascent.[/QUOTE] This is what I suspected (see my original post).

[quote name='Deadpangod3']OP is rotating his ship so its not behind the heatshields, i believe that is the cause.[/QUOTE] Well, that would be the problem. Why would anyone do that?!

[quote name='Pecan']Pah, space-X, what have they landed lately? [URL="https://xkcd.com/1244/"]Obligatory XKCD[/URL] (Come on Elon, I've got a bet on and can't wait to collect)[/QUOTE] I've never seen that, that's hilarious! [COLOR="silver"][SIZE=1]- - - Updated - - -[/SIZE][/COLOR] [quote name='KerikBalm']Foxster... stop saying you can't land from orbital speeds now. [/QUOTE] The problem is the OP is using heat shields. How is your craft different from his? From what I can see, yours is more stout and has more airbrakes. Is that accurate, or is something else at play?

A Kerbal election would look nothing like an American election for the following reasons: We already know the Kerbals have effectively closed the borders to ALL OTHER LIVING SPECIES and there's no way they're letting those stupid, dirty, murdering, r4pist lemmings back in. So there goes the immigrant debate. Kerbals don't have guns (unless mods). Kerbals are all green, so no race politics. Although they do have gender, which means Val is running against Jeb. (Incidentally, Jeb changed his campaign slogan to Jeb! after the Val supporters complained that his initial slogan "Feel the Jeb" was inappropriate. Kerbals don't need healthcare because they're all going down in a blaze of glory anyway. Kerbals don't have an economy because the budget is 70% Space and 30% Snacks, and also because they're all going down etc. Kerbals don't have a religious demographic to pander to because, let's face it, they're scientists. They also don't have a Wall Street to pander to because the only street is a runway. But it will be like an American election in one respect: we're all going down in a blaze of glory.

I'd also like to see drogue chutes earlier. (I'd really like to see the whole tech tree redone, because it's a nonsensical, grind-provoking mess, but I guess there's a mod for that...) Another solution for earlier career might be to postpone getting into orbit and instead tipping more and earlier and aiming for a lower apoapsis.

[quote name='Gaarst']Here's how to make a spoiler: [noparse][spoiler=Some random text]Some random stuff[/spoiler][/noparse] [spoiler=Some random text]Some random stuff[/spoiler][/QUOTE] ??????

I'm no expert on Eve missions, but from the looks of it, the problem is that your vessel is pointed away from the retrograde marker, meaning that anything above the shields is subject to the atmospheric heating. This might explain why your engines are heating, since if your vessel if tilted far enough the engines won't be protected by the heat shields. But I gather you know that and want to know how to fix it. I think you have two options, one easy, the other hard: EASY: You can add more ASAS modules. This will help keep your craft stabilized during descent. Just make sure you have enough battery capacity to maintain stability. HARD: Your craft is apparently unstable in atmosphere. You need to redesign. I'm not sure what exactly you need to do. It might be a mass distribution problem. It might also be that you need to add some wings to the lower portion for stability. I'm also curious whether the tilting problem happens before or after you activate the airbrakes. I seem to remember having an issue with airbrakes flipping my craft because I had them positioned too low. If you look at how the Space-X rocket handles re-entry, it has the airbrakes way at the top of the craft ([img]http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzAxLzI5LzIxL3NwY3g5ODcwZGZkLjhjNTBjLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/12b8c401/0da/spcx9870dfd.jpg[/img], but yours are in the middle. I wouldn't activate the airbrakes until my speed was sub 2000. They're designed to slow airplanes, not interplanetary vessels; it makes sense that they're blowing up early. I would run a few tests on Kerbin to see what the problem is. Hope that helps.

What makes it a "cinnamon" ramp? And why am I now suddenly hungry?

I know that The Long Dark had issues with save files deleting because of the El Capitan update. Does anyone know if this will be an issue for KSP?

I really like this idea.

Maybe if you right click the docking port and and disable crossfeed. You can also right click a battery and then click the green arrow. That will disable the battery completely. But why would you want to disable the battery crossfeed? I don't understand what benefit there could be.

I've seen a few videos where the navball is tucked into the bottom left corner. I haven't been able to find a setting or mod that does this. Does anyone know how to reposition the navball?

Take a surface sample.

Three lander legs are better than four. Keep your SAS or RCS on as you land and use them to correct any wayward wobble.

Honestly, I've read academic papers that are worse. Ahem, "academic."

Does it actually tell you or is it just gibberish like the other text? I'll check it out tomorrow.

Are you asking if docking with an older vessel invalidates the "build a new ship" requirement? Is that what you mean by "lit"--the green verification in the contracts menu? What mod is KIS?

This. It took me all of a handful of launches to adjust my building and flying style. It really is not that hard, although new payloads and different missions keep requiring me to adjust my designs. I welcome the fact that I have to think about how I engineer my rockets and payloads rather than just slapping on a lot of tanks and other junk, pressing z + spacebar and sitting back for two minutes.

Excuse me if I misunderstand, but you want to know about aerocapture at Duna? I aerocaptured at around 17,000m and there was no overheating, no heat shield required. You may or may not need to burn a little bit, but it's negligible. I had to try a few different altitudes and it seemed, based on only a few tries, that there is a pretty small margin of error between aerocapture and full reentry. My reentry effect is set to 110%. How or why would you aerocapture to get from Kerbin to Minimus?

I saw an apollo-style launch video on youtube that had a fully working elevator on the launch pad. I think it used the medium size rover wheels on an I beam.

The distance and speed records, etc., are automatic, no acceptance of contracts required.

The Explore contracts definitely feel like a collection, like a preamble or gateway to future missions on a given body. Does anyone know how they're triggered? I'm pretty sure I've gotten "land base on Eve" missions before I got an Explore Eve contract. It seems like the exploration contract should come first, and its completion unlocks the other random contracts.

You could...use a fairing.