CaptKordite

Careful to attach the rocket to the Launch Base and not the Gantry. Good thing I had a Jettisonable Emergency Escape Head Section (OGB SAS).

The extra punch to the Soyuz hatch clearing helps a lot. It still goes straight up and down if you are sitting flat, such as on the pad, but any bit of slope or angle clears. And the parachute housing floats.

Not only that, it ejects straight up. I had several Soyuz land on 14 degree slopes and clearing the hatch still failed to throw off the parachute. It wasn't flat on top but still enough in the way to prevent egress. It would work if the force vector was applied off-center to flip off the chute mount. Not sure that's even a thing that can be done.

Except that, after landing when you press the "clear the hatch" button, you hear the "woosh" of the parachute supposedly being blown out of the way but it still just sits there blocking the hatch.

I was distracted by the Soyuz not having a hatch but I CAN float nearby and stor experiments in the Soyuz module. Good. Though I'd still like to be able to transfer science because, for example, the Soyuz A doesn't have any way to EVA.

I built a munship, go to mun orbit, collect science, EVA from the habitation module to collect the science. . . and can't store the science in the module. I can transmit it but that doesn't get me all the science points. What do people recommend for transferring the science? I seem to recall some mod being suggested in this thread but can't find the posting. LinuxGuruGamer updated Store My Reports for 1.8 but it doesn't seem to be working on my 1.9.

Go to the Tech Level view and you will find a number of old parts such as grid fins that you can't see in any of the other views (like the upgraded parts like the non-shiny stayputnik on the stock game). The grid fins don't have textures but that's not important. They look OK just grey. Some of the other old parts you'll find there, lacking textures, don't look OK. Earlier in the thread there is talk about going to older versions of the mod and copying the old textures into the new folders.

I just tested and, with the ring retracted, didn't have any problem. I don't know about Escape Fairings but the Grid Fins show up if you select viewing by tech level (I think it's in TL4 or 5).

And another thing. . . the VK3 says it's supposed to have the full suite of SAS controls. Is that the case because it functionally has no SAS at all. Again, is that just me?

Yea, I thought perhaps that but tested a few different designs. Each one ripped off from behind the VK3 but when, using the Canopis (or stock) aeroshell, it did not.

Does the Andromeda VK3 Avionics Package fairing not work or is it just me??? I built a craft, essentially a Vostok with a Stayputnik instead of the crew capsule. I added a HG-5 High Gain Antenna that was "extended" but clipped within the Stayputnik so that only the dish stuck out. I closed that in the fairing of the Andromeda VK3 Avionics Package. But when I launched, aerodynamic forces ripped the antenna off. I built another craft but this time used a Canopis Aeroshell. It did not have the same problem. So it seems that the VK3 doesn't actually protect against aerodynamic forces. Can anyone else test this to see if this is just me or if this is a bug?

A Vostok-based Mun lander. Craft File: https://kerbalx.com/CaptKordite/Vostok-3K-LK-Palomnik Blog Post: https://the-sky-calls.dreamwidth.org/83126.html

I spent something like ten hours trying to figure out how the CameraForward, CameraUp, and CameraPosition settings actually worked and, after all that, I'm still not sure. I would make a change. Think I had a handle on it, make a more refined change and have it be all wrong. But, after all that aimless flailing about, I think I have a workable Module Manager config file for Tantares. The male and androgynous ports have cams. The female or passive ports do not. I even got the periscope to work after a fashion. (That was the worst). I'm still trying to get the Soyuz TMA Orbital Module viewport to be a cam, though. @PART[octans_basic_docking_port_s0p5_1_male|petra_docking_port_s0p5_1_male] { MODULE { name = MuMechModuleHullCameraZoom cameraName = NavCam cameraForward = 0, 1, 0 cameraUp = 0, 0, -1 cameraPosition = 0, 0.6, 0 cameraFoVMax = 60 cameraFoVMin = 60 cameraMode = 1 } } @PART[octans_docking_port_s0p5_1_male|octans_docking_port_s0p5_2_male] { MODULE { name = MuMechModuleHullCameraZoom cameraName = NavCam cameraForward = 0, 1, 0 cameraUp = 0, 0, -1 cameraPosition = 0, 0.26, 0 cameraFoVMax = 60 cameraFoVMin = 60 cameraMode = 1 } } @PART[octans_androgynous_docking_port_s0p5_1|octans_androgynous_docking_port_s0p5_2] { MODULE { name = MuMechModuleHullCameraZoom cameraName = NavCam cameraForward = 0, 1, 0 cameraUp = 0, 0, -1 cameraPosition = 0, 0, 0 cameraFoVMax = 60 cameraFoVMin = 60 cameraMode = 1 } } @PART[sargas_docking_mechanism_s1p5_1|sargas_docking_mechanism_s1p5_2] { MODULE { name = MuMechModuleHullCameraZoom cameraName = NavCam cameraForward = 0, 1, 0 cameraUp = 0, 0, -1 cameraPosition = 0, 0, 0 cameraFoVMax = 60 cameraFoVMin = 60 cameraMode = 1 } } @PART[octans_periscope_srf_1] { MODULE { name = MuMechModuleHullCameraZoom cameraName = LaunchCam cameraForward = 0, 1, -0.1 cameraUp = 0, 0, 0.5 cameraPosition = 0, 0.03, -0.35 cameraFoVMax = 60 cameraFoVMin = 60 cameraMode = 0 } }

Just got my copy of "Galina Balashova: Architect of the Soviet Space Programme" before Amazon shutdown deliveries. I didn't realize the Soyuz orbital module initial design was like a cozy apartment.

My Tantares playthrough is under way at https://the-sky-calls.dreamwidth.org/. I'll be sharing craft files to Kerbal X as I fly them.

Yea, I guess I still haven't figured it out. I tried all sorts of things without any success. Some failures were more spectacular than other. I tried the Unbreakable Joints cheat and the flailing around like the Wacky Waving Inflatable Tube Guy until the payload detached and was thrown ten kilometers. Ditching Blok A seemed to work, though when the craft loaded there was a moment where the whole thing sort of shivered. I guess it wasn't bad enough to break the attachment node and, besides, Blok B and Blok V are enough for the L3 moon mission.

I'm playing around with Tantares and the docking cam settings. With the "default" settings I borrowed from earlier in the thread I can get the cameras to work but they are behind the docking probes. I need to move it forward ahead of the probe or off to one side. What are the measurements and directions from the config so I am not flailing about randomly? Once I understand that I bet I could get the periscopes and star trackers to act as navcams, too.

In building my Energia, I was wondering what those blockie things are on the sides of the boosters. I hadn't realized it's LANDING GEAR!

The Tantares N1 straight from his craft file folder. I'll have to try autostruct tomorrow. I've never used it before and just figured out ways to not need it. Took some experimentation, though.

Just the LFO engines in TantaresLV.

Is anyone else having an issue with the Rotanov RCS Blocks not working (1.8.1) or is it just me? (I didn't expect the Energia to mass in at twice the weight of the N1.)

I loaded the N1 (390 ton), attached the base, and launched. It take a moment and then drops. I loaded up a Proton rocket (132 ton) and it was stable. So, I offloaded fuel from the N1 thinking there may be a mass point but that wasn't it. I emptied out most of the fuel from the N1 to the point where it was lighter than the Proton and it still dropped. As it got lighter it wobbled more before disconnecting from the attachment point but it still just dropped. It's not mass. I tried another experiment. I loaded up a NRAP Test Weight, loaded it up to 1,000 tons, and attached a Launch Base. When physics kicked it it dropped a bit, bounced, wobbled, flipped around, and ended up hanging upside down like it was on a string. The attachment node held. I loaded up an Energia (just short of 900 ton) and it behaved like the NRAP weight. It fell over because it only had the one attachment point at the base but it held. Eventually it failed and broke but it held for a few minutes. Another experiment. I removed the payload. I removed the next stage. Then the next. Each time it would wobble and then drop straight down. Until I had only the first stage and engine. That sat stable. I guess I'm doing it right. It's just something about the N1.

I've just started playing around with Launch Pads in preparation for blogging a Tantares playthrough and found that the N1 would just sort of drop. I guess as physics is enacted, the weight of the N1 is too much for the attachment node and it just falls into the flame pit. I tried putting a bunch of stock clamps underneath it but it wasn't enough. Am I doing something wrong?

After a few years absence, I have decided to return to Tantares. I will be blogging it this time at https://the-sky-calls.dreamwidth.org/. I've already realized that I won't be able to recreate my Dobro lunar lander quite the same way because the Soyuz capsule doesn't have a hatch any more. Will have to add an airlock module. Stay tuned.

What I ended up doing was loading the new version and then going through the files and noting the failures of each craft (RCS, solar panels, hab module, etc) I then loaded the old version withoit overwriting any files. This added back any of the elements that had been deleted (though a number of textures were messed up). That way I could go through each of the craft files and swap out the old parts for the new in the same places. When I was done, I wiped out the folder altogether and loaded up the new version clean. Success, for the most part. Missed a few things and had to do the process again a few times. Of course, I could have just waited for Beale to upload the changed craft files.