Atkara

I use SSTO spaceplanes in LKO mostly, for a variety of tasks: Carry crews and passengers to/from stations and vessels. Carry equipment to and from LKO, including recovered parts from rescue missions. Carry fuel/ore to LKO to be picked up and distributed by drones. Given the extent of the career they operate in, I fly them frequently and thus, I know my planes. Landing is always something to be careful at, but a less than 5 m/s descent rate on touchdown ensures you won't break the craft -make it less than 3 m/s to ensure you won't bounce off the tarmac. Is it worth it? Well, it's harder than launching rockets, I can tell you that. But once you get right and as you accumulate flight hours, you become better (like all things we practice on) and in the end, yeah, it becomes more than worth it. Should you get into that kind of action? I suppose it depends on what do you want to accomplish in the game, but in the end, only you can answer that.

Obviously I didn't mean you in particular called anyone, anything. That would also have been silly.

Heh... nowadays you're branded an elitist, just by not using the thing. And don't dare to even imply you don't need it. Sometimes I wonder who really hates whom

I think it's just a joke, as the phrase can have 3 possible meanings: Grade-A spacecraft program Grade-a-spacecraft program and Grade a spacecraft program.

No, not necessary. I wouldn't ask you to do something like that, either way.

No they're not -because you started the video at 45m. Given that as far as I could see, the Lf tanks were intact, I had every reason to believe you placed it there. It's possible I couldn't see well. EDIT: Indeed I couldn't see well. DV Stats was covering the resource readouts. Anyway, it seems docking autopilot doesn't come to a stop (or it does?) at say, 1000m before final approach. Good for it (if it indeed happens like that). Which part of "not you specifically" did you miss?

I looked at the video before posting. I know the monoprop tanks were full and as far as I could see, the liquid fuel tanks were also full, which prompted my comment on that part. No, that was a hypothetical scenario which didn't have to do with you specifically. I believe I was clear on that, as I was also clear that it involved a 'here and now' rendezvous, where someone burns 400-500m/s to get a rendezvous on the same orbit, then burn the same amount to match velocities, leaving less fuel than monoprop, depending on the craft. I didn't say that's what YOU did.

Yeah, about that... it's not as easy as an experienced hands-on player can make it look like but on the other hand, it's not as hard as it seems. It's somewhere in the middle and it needs practice. Whether you put time in this, depends on what your goals are in the game.

Technically, he could. What's needed, is to thrust-limit these tasteless RCS blocks to 0.1, do everything at a 0.1 pace and let inertia work to his advantage on the yaw maneuver. You could do it too, although the starting conditions you've set, describe a situation past MJ's initial approach maneuver during which, it does burn a rather significant amount of monoprop. Significant because, compared with Lf/LfO, monoprop is the most precious commodity up there -unless you (not you specifically) used up all your fuel, setting up a 'here and now' rendezvous, which is... what it is.

Maybe the problem isn't the fuel overlays, but the 50 engine exhausts, hitting the ground and generating the smoke effects. Try with surface FX disabled (you can find it in the graphics options)

It's not just roleplay, as thruster exhaust can push objects away in the game. I used to do the same, until I started doing 6+ docking ops per session. Nowadays I keep a 10-15m/s closure rate from 500 to 250m, where I bring it down to 2.5m/s for the final line up. Closure rate at the moment of contact, is 0.05m/s (5cm per second).

I know it does. Never needed anything more tbh. Now, I don't use large tankers. I'd rather bring in asteroids instead and mine them, which I do from time to time. But that's my way of doing things.

No screenshots to show for my first Mun landing -I don't remember ever taking one. But it was a weird lander in KSP 1.0, filled with whatever experiments I had available at the time and propelled by a Terrier and... 4 Ants: a strange decision in retrospect, but one that saved Jeb that day. See, each Ant engine was installed at the lower end of a group of 4-5 Oscar Tanks. The plan was for the Ants to assist the Terrier, as I feared it wouldn't be able to lift the lander off the Mun's surface -shows how little I knew back then and I still had no idea KER was a thing. I did have fuel ducts connecting the Ant-Oscar groups to the main engine -or so I thought. Because halfway into the home transfer burn, the Terrier flamed out. Turned out the fuel ducts weren't connecting to the Terrier's tank. So, I was left with a bunch of Oscars and the Ants attached on them. It was then when I learned one important lesson at the time: once in orbit, thrust, no matter how small, is thrust. I brought Jeb home. If not for these peashooters, I would have to send a rescue mission, which I had no idea how to do back then. That part, I learned some time later, when one of my landers ran out of fuel on the surface of the mun and the automated lander I sent to bring Jeb (again) back, had barely enough fuel left to make orbit. Yeah

You can do pretty much the same thing in the stock game, although I've rarely done it and never on stations.

I use Docking Port Alignment Indicator myself. I used to rely a lot on it. Nowadays, I'll do a rough alignment myself, open up DPAI to see how close I've gotten (which is quite close usually) then minimize the gains on the way in. Doesn't help with claws, but it's no biggie really -you do a rough line up, handoff rotation to the kerbonaut/probecore with target tracking mode (standard thing when docking/grabbing) and the rest is you, playing with translation till you get a proper alignment.

A good way to minimize monoprop consumption is to strip maneuvering thrusters from pitch, yaw and depending on the craft's mass, roll authority too, leaving these to the reaction wheels -which in my opinion, is what everyone should do, whether he's docking auto or manual. Apart from that, docking autopilot will stop in order to approach and will stop again in order to align, none of which I do anymore -unless the docking port is facing in the opposite direction of the approach vector, (in other words, it's on the other side of the target you're docking with) where you translate above/below the target, slide back in, stop, thrust forward, align and dock.

I never objected to either MJ or it's autopilot. What I did say, is that it would've done a much better job in my hands, than what I've seen on youtube and that it docks in a way I haven't used in years.

No I don't. And I don't believe there was a single post in this thread, talking about MJ in general -only it's autopilot segment.

The thread itself starts with a post about MJ's autopilot -not the information feedback part. Don't be so quick to point at people.

How was it like when I started playing? Well, it didn't take me long to realize KSP isn't as gamey as it supposedly claims to be -something I immediately appreciated and still do. I remember the first rocket that made orbit. Didn't know KER was a thing so, I made all the mistakes one would expect. Getting it to orbit wasn't as hard, but I was doing it wrong. It would take me months to get to a proper ascent profile and even then, I wouldn't fully understand atmospheric drag until I got deep into spaceplanes. Alt-F12? No, I refused to do that from the day I learned about it, as my goal was to learn. Nowadays, when I use it, it's to test specific things -never on actual flights.

Hate? No, not hate. I just don't use it. It would've propably done a much better job in my hands, than what I've seen over at youtube, but it docks in a way I haven't used in years and which I consider inefficient. Great automation tool, just not for me -not it's fault, really. It has to obey certain guidelines and constraints, otherwise it wouldn't work. Atmosphere Autopilot on the other hand, specifically it's Fly-By-Wire, that's something I use. I fly spaceplanes a lot and AA performs much better in the air than either the default SAS, or plain trimming (which isn't as responsive at times).

Ah, ok then

Maybe not so. I could've sworn the first time I ever staged a docking port, was in 1.0.5. No advanced tweakables back then.

They do mention in the readme that: "old parts hidden but still included for continuity of saves. They will be deprecated at a later date" While that time hasn't come yet, keeping a backup of any post-1.4.0 replaced parts won't hurt.

They're there, I looked myself before replying in the first place. Don't worry