NeoMorph

Wo Wow... nice landing there... Your install looks more like a flight simulator though which probably helps. Those beeps brings back memories... I love flight sims.... and KSP is more of a KASA than just a plain rocketry sim after all. I really should put my cockpit together lol. Got all the bits... just not had the time to assemble the damned thing.

I have to say that I have saved many screaming kerbals by auto deploying chutes with this mod when staging fails. Oh and the launch system of attaching a timed smart part to the launch tower so you fire the engines and they burn for 2 seconds before the tower lets go. Makes for a perfect looking launch AND you don't have some engines not developing full thrust instantly. The number of rockets I used to launch and have the stack drop and bounce off the ground before the engine fully throttles up.

Elite Dangerous is like this... BUT... it does say the ship has something called "Flight Assist" which automatically does the braking AND you can turn it off and you keep drifting like real. So you can turn it off, thrust one way, spin your ship around and shoot at enemies behind you. So yeah, even though it's got weird flight mechanics the game explains them away and yet still allows you to fly with real world physics. But there was one game (well two if you include the sequel) that did ENTIRELY without flight assist of any kind. Does anyone remember I-WAR? God I loved that game because you had to work with relative velocities all over the place and you had to learn to burn in the right direction to match up for combat... The whole point about games/movies/whatever being ruined is that KSP has educated us now. I'm not complaining... I'm just saying that watching space movies makes me think "Dammit, Jeb could do better than this" at times. Still hoping someone does a Kerbal Gravity movie...

Does anyone remember the Val Kilmer movie "Red Planet". I'm talking about the bit where he uses an old Russian space probe to get to orbit and meet up with Carrie Ann Moss in the main spaceship? Anyone else think the relative velocity of the main ship to the probe (which is weighed down by Val sitting in it) is going to be frickin HUGE. Plus what are the odds that the thing would be on the wrong plane of orbit too. So getting a rendezvous would be pretty damned hard to say the least. Yup... this movie is the closest to a Kerbal version of a mission to Mars/Duna than any other that I can think of. Val could have made a GREAT Jebediah.

#The first dock is the sweetest, baby I know, the first dock is the sweetest (sung to Rod Stewart First Cut Is The Deepest). Seriously though, learning to rendezvous and dock is the first real tough hurdle in KSP. Getting to orbit is hard but getting two ships together is crazy hard at first. Then you learn about relative velocity and it all makes sense. Before I got that I would see my target shooting past me sooooooooooo many times and then when I got confused because I hadn't got my view in chase mode (nowadays you have to use Locked view mode but back in the day it was Chase cam) so everytime I went to go left I would go down or right or up... every way but the one I wanted. I remember when Romfarer made the Lazor Docking Camera which made life a lot easier... Then someone made the docking alignment indicator... and manual docking became a TON easier... But the first unassisted docking will always be the best milestone of every KSP pilot in my book, because you have to learn a ton of things that lead up to that docking... that is if you go fully manual.

Has anyone else noticed this... You go to watch something like "Gravity" and most of the movie you are going "BUT THAT'S NOT RIGHT!!!!". For example I seem to remember that the Tiangong is in a 350km orbit and the Karman line (edge of atmosphere) is around 100km. Yet if you watch the movie Gravity you see the Tiangong flying right on the edge of the Karman line... and all from some dodgy Kessler Syndrome incident... I... DON'T... THINK... SO.... Yup... I wouldn't have known that if it hadn't been for KSP. Hell, I didn't even know a gravity turn from a Hohmann transfer manoeuvre. But learning all that stuff (and I'm still learning) has made me appreciate KSP more... And yet even though it's kind of spoiled some movies it does make me grin when I imagine Jeb replacing the lead actor. It does make me wonder if KSP is going to influence a new breed of rocketeers/astronauts. I just hope they don't follow in Jeb's footsteps. But ultimately what I would LOVE to see is someone doing a remake of Gravity... but done in KSP with Valentina as the heroine.

Got to say, I panicked a bit when I saw it flying across the screen heh. Thought I had a cute virus or something. I'm normally away over easter so never saw it before.

I keep trying... I really need a CNC machine but every time I get close to having enough money to buy one something else pops up... like my fridge dying and then my main router, then the hard drive in my home server... it's just one thing after another. I'm still working on it... BUT... (and it's a big Kardashian butt)... I need to engrave the sphere... which is another reason I am going a bit wobbly on the enthusiasm. I would have to really learn 3D CNC engraving and omg would that be a tough thing with my memory. Still, every summer (only time I can do any work due to disability) I get out my plans and try to update them. The software side works (or it did do last year) but that is only because of the lovely Telemachus mod. I'm probably going to do a sim that will be a fixed version (hopefully 1.1) to build the sim around. That way I will know what mods work or not. I'm still playing KSP... and I doubt that will stop anytime soon and once I get the 3 axis version working (got a 2 axis aeroplane one working for a friend's sim) I'll carry on posting. I will keep on trying.

If you want one already, just get the Chaka Monkey Exploration Systems collection pack. It has one in there that I use (along with a bunch of other good stuff from other modders). Oh and regarding how software performs on different equipment... you also have to take into account firmware, how much software has been installed onto a machine, drivers, how many peripherals used (which all use drivers), how old the system has been run (as in lots of old crap clogging up the works), temperature of the room the PC is running in, how well the heatsink has been affixed to the CPU and what heatsink compound was used, do you have liquid cooling (all these heat related things can affect the speed of a CPU if it is running adaptive heat management), what bios settings have been uses, what version of bios in in use, what motherboard, what amount of memory, what speed is the memory running at, what type of memory it is, etc, etc, etc. It is not as simple as saying "Oh yeah, I have an i7 running at 3ghz with a Geforce GTX970". Devs can give you an idea as to how their product runs but not definitive proof of how it will run on your system (which is why they give out "suggested" specs). I had one PC that had all the best equipment in it that was available at the time... unfortunately it turned out that the memory I used, while being a top rated (and expensive) model just refused to work right with the top rated motherboard. There was just something that caused them to not like one another. Another fact is that games like Fallout 4 will be more graphics intensive than KSP which is actually CPU intensive. So while Fallout 4 will run fine on your PC it could have problems with KSP. Remember, KSP has to do a LOT of physics calculations to do with flight paths that are not needed in something like Fallout.

I only get single digit framerates if I overload the game with mods... and I REALLY overload my game because I must have Deadly Reentry, RemoteTech, FAR, Mechjeb, Kerbal Engineer, etc... basically all the things that make it more challenging. Then I like addons like KWRocketry, Chaka Monkey Exploration, the NearFuture parts packs, etc, etc until the game gets really crappy... then I pare away what I don't use until I get a playable build. I also force the game to use " -force-opengl" in the shortcut to give me some more speed... and it works. I still need a better PC, and of course the 64 bit sorting out but like you Steve, I would prefer to see optimisation and bug fixes before new stuff is added. When you add new stuff onto creaky foundations you end up with the Leaning Tower of Pisa Kerbin. Personally though, I think I will still be playing this game on my deathbed...

When you nip on to KSP just to try something and you start fiddling with your rocket build... and then 10 hours later you still haven't reached orbit because of OCD meaning you just have to tweak this or reduce the fuel load or chance the flight patch or... or... oooh, I wonder if I can get a better ISP if I reduce the size of the tank by 3mm. I like using smart parts and MechJeb to see if I can setup a complete launch and rendezvous without doing anything (namely for ressupply missions to my space station). I even tried making it dock but ended up ramming my space station and blowing everything up. Ooops!

LOL.... I keep saving up to get a CNC machine and then end up spending it on other things. One of my "on hold" projects is my real FDAI (Flight Director Attitude Indicator) for use with KSP which I am determined to complete once I get a CNC machine (parts need to be accurate you see).

It takes a bit of getting used to and you have to turn down the sensitivity... but once you get used to it... IT'S AWESOME. I got the wireless version so no wires either.... except when recharging. Cool thing is I saw it in use on the Expanse (SyFi space opera series) along with the HOTAS Warthog which I also have... Crazy thing is I have enough hardware now to make my own damned spacecraft simulator (which I keep thinking of doing for KSP, Orbiter and Elite Dangerous). I bought a whole load of extra hardware, buttons and switches and stuff that would let me make up my own sim but then I started work on making it modular so that I could remove panels and plug in other ones for different games... even turning it into an A10 sim for DCS world... but I keep getting sidetracked. I even got some custom built pedals made... This year.... I WILL get this sim done.

Maybe because you haven't watched The Expanse on SyFi? The guy I quoted was being annoyed at the inaccuracies in the series and I was pointing out that using a gaming Joystick in supposedly space rated spaceships is a bit weird... and that they hadn't even removed the assembly sticker (ie how the joystick mounts on the base as they are held together by that big aluminium connector thing). Hell, I had a laugh in last night's episode when they used a 3dConnexion Space Mouse Pro to fly a spaceship. Quite apt I suppose. I looked down at mine and said "OMG, I have all the tools to make a KSP/Expanse crossover". Edit: Here is another fallacy in spaceflight for you... said Space Mouse Pro... you can even see the usb port on the front heh.

Yeah... and have you wondered yet why they forgot to take off the alignment arrow stickers from their HOTAS Warthog joysticks???? Oh and why the hell are they using gaming joysticks anyway... oh... right... budgets... and the builders are probably gamers who couldn't afford their own Warthog joysticks and thought this was a way to get them on the cheap hehe.

OMG... How in hell's name did I miss this mod pack. Seriously, the inflatable heatshield is enough to give it a 10/10 from me (yeah, I've been looking for these since DRE lost its version). Oh damn!.... I wanted to go play on Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak... now I have to go test these parts out in KSP... CURSE YOU, CURSE YOU I SAY...or maybe GET KERBALSTUFFED YOU TEASE!!!...

Yeah... I love the immersion aspect of it. Whether anyone will work out how do do it is another question... I remember reading in SciFi novels how they discarded old nuke engines by dropping them into the sun... then I played KSP and realised what a load of old tat that was as the amount of Delta V needed to shove something into the sun is CRAZY high... even with slingshots. Oh and SciFi did teach me not to store old nuke stuff on the far side of the moon... https://youtu.be/0cq7isloJj8?t=38m47s

You know you play too much KSP when... ... you buy one of these to play KSP...

I tend to use Terriers for one shot Mun missions where the engine will be thrown away. For reusable missions like a space crane that can take stuff from orbit, hover about to get the right spot, land, take off again and head for orbit, refuel, and go right back again... well that is nuke time for sure. The LV-N has the most efficient fuel usage for missions like that. Once you add up the lost Terriers for all the one shot missions where the engine and tank for the lander are lost, well, it then makes the expensive LV-N's well worth the cost. I still think the LV-N should get more inefficient as it gets older due to damage to the nozzle AND it would get "hot" as in radiation hot due to leaks of fissionable material.

Okay... I think I may have gotten the thing flying how I like now. I increased the drag slightly on the wings and tail and the flat sliding no longer occurs. I will do more research but for now it's handling nicely in FAR. The transition from braking angle to landing dive doesn't make the ship go crazy and tumble all over the sky. What is even better is I did it without a joystick (I'm redoing my flightsim controls mountings now I have all-metal ones... well, 90% metal that is). I would still love to look at the original settings where you have to fly it properly to land it.

Yeah, I'm using Deadly Reentry and FAR. I've been doing some testing with other parts to make a ship that is like the dreamchaser and although the design is similar it tends to be unstable in the roll axis (bit like Steve Austin's crash in the original Six Million Dollar Man). But when I go to do it with the Dreamchaser I end up sliding left and right, like the wings aren't actually there. Perhaps increasing the drag from them will help. Anyway, if I have time, I'll hook up my Game Capture HD sometime this weekend and capture some video of the tests if you want. I'll do it with Engineer and FAR keeping track of the stats so we can see what is happening. I think I'll also put together a build with just DC, FAR and Deadly Reentry to make sure that it isn't another mod causing problems (I have quite a few installed you see).

Tried doing Art's fix of disabling pitch and roll on the tail and yaw off the wings... and when I hit 33km the thing just tumbles like crazy. It's like the rear end wants to go faster than the front end. It just wants to do a handbrake turn in the air (especially when on final). The wings feel like they are rocket engines instead of drag stabilisers.

I bet parts from the Buran that actually flew would fetch a decent price on the space collectables market. It is the ONLY space shuttle to fly a whole mission without any crew after all. Just makes you wonder what the ISS would have looked like with two shuttles docked to it... one American and one Russian... or maybe docked to each other... God, that would have been awesome.

I would love the "Impossible" setup because that is exactly what the definition of a lifting body is.The "wings" aren't meant to turn it into a glider... they are just there to give a bit of control when landing. If you ever watch the HL-20 landing tests you will see you probably had it right before the casuals ruined it. http://www.space.com/23385-private-space-plane-dream-chaser-investigation.html Just watch the dive it is initially in... when I tried it the Dreamer it went totally bonkers on me... flipping all over the place even with SAS on. But don't lose hope... it's going to be a more famous vehicle when they really start flying the actual spaceplane to orbit. At that point, interest in your mod will probably skyrocket (pun unintended).

Ahhh... that explains it. Still want to see if it is possible to make it fly like a proper lifting body though.