Rocket Farmer

I play totally stock hard mode so cost of launch matters to me. So pre 1.0 I had an SSTO plane that would nicely deliver s decent payload to Minmas and return or alternatively also did Gilly and Ike landing returns (Duna was a tough place to fly in). With refuelling on the runway I once did a Minmas run, followed by Gilly, followed by Ike. Currently in 1.0 my SSTO can carry a small payload into orbit and return. I can see maybe a Mun orbit and return but that would be about max. So changes were in order. Currently I am having great success with a modified system (not SSTO). Basically I am strapping wings and jets on a rocket and doing most of the launch that way with a breakaway rocket after I drain off the last of the fuel in the wings. Even with a small 2 jet 1 rocket setup I am easily and cheaply lifting 3,500 DV plus a bit of payload in LKO. For me this is great because it makes Duna, Ike, Dres, Gilly return missions cheaper than my conventional Mun orbit missions were all on small rocket designs. Anybody else having good luck with hybrids?

Umm 200m/s is around 720km/h or around 450 mph. Therefore I can't say I would know why a car capable of that speed looks like because I expect there are very few of them (not going to say they don't exist but i haven't seen one yet). As for the lawn mower at 180km/h (110 mph) that seems little fast for a lawn mower too.

You know I have developed almost the same exact profile. After trying everything else I switched to 3x turbo and 1x nuke using a 40 degree rise. I usually have throttled down slightly between 10-15km as my ship tends to get pretty hot throttling up before cracking 20km. In my best run I cracked 1,350m/s before I started losing speed from low thrust. I'm not quite getting the dv into LKO that you have but I was using MK1 so I might have to try switching, try to ensure I'm in your math for engine and I wasn't hitting the nukes as quickly as you (I was trying to coast the last gas out of the turbos). It's a little ways away from my pre 1.0 SSTO to Duna landed and back but all in good time.

In one of the screen shots they released there were 2 side mount parachutes visible in the hanger part list so I expect we are also getting either different sizes of side mount parachutes or more likely we get drogue side mount chutes. So add that to the part list.

Anybody else find this update very intriguing due to asteroids becoming mineable? Instead of the hey look I put s big rock in orbit, ummm now what we will have large gas stations anywhere we want. It looks like this will become a essential component of anybody wanting to do lots of deep space work. Mining minmas, pol, fully etc will be useful but they are all a fair ways from my regular flying routes but with a handy asteroid in Kerbin orbit refuelling is simple and right where you need it. I guess I will have to brush up on asteroid moving but that ought to be much easier with large stockpiles of fuel right there too. I for one applaud squad for taking an existing feature and giving it a great refresh.

Don't feel bad your rocket fell over. Just the other day I had Jeb standing on a rock giving his now inverted Duna lander a dirty look. It happens to all of us. Like the rest of us it's back to the drawing board. Maybe try parachutes next time or more boosters.

Actually my planes typically start pre wheels so I usually have the upgraded runway by the time I get wheels. 2 really high lifted gantries with the plane on a 45 degree angle works fine. Fire up the engine, wait for it to spoil up and release the gantries and off you go. Landing is gliding in at a slow speed till I'm 200-300 above and cruising at 50-60m/s then I hit the attached parachutes and drop on the runway smooth as silk. I didn't know anybody actually used the T1 runway.

Very valid comment. Personally I also so take your time and release when the content is in and the major bugs are squished.

Personally I play totally stock and I see very few bugs. I think many of the bugs are mod issues so adding content that replaces mods will probably make for on average a more stable play. Also the thing with bugs is that you can squish them now but as soon as you start incorporating other new content they will pop up again requiring more squishing. This will probably be especially true if you guys go up to Unity 5. So my vote is to add new content and worry about most of the bugs later (just please fix the asymmetrical burnout of jets, I know you guys have been working on it).

Actually I never bother with rcs at all and pretty much do exactly as you explain except I usually line up from 1-2km away and come in at 10m/s for the last 500m or so so I don't ever actually go completely to 0. With large units I will come in with the engines pointed at my target and flare down to 1m/s 50m out and then flip around and dock. I am always fascinated at how much prep a lot of people take with rocking. I wouldn't say I'm good at it (my kerbals occasionally ram the ports together a couple of times to get it perfect) but most people seem to take a long time and a lot of rcs. Try it without it. With the Nav ball just counter burn to get your crosshairs aligned in the target.

Strangley enough I think his son is our IT guy. Today after coming in early to update some software with our vendor when the vendor went to access some of the files we got a "administrator and password required" screen. So I emailed IT indicating I needed admin access as we were blocked by an admin user request. His response: That shouldn't be necessary..... On the KSP front the only crashes I have ever suffered in 800 hours of playing mod free on Windows have been after the occasional bad Spaceplane crash into the runway. I chuckle as a crash causes a crash but I've had maybe 8-10 of these in total (crashes I mean. .

I'll start. Today on hard mode Jeb was making his way back from his first mun landing. The entire mission went smooth and as he hit ther kerbal atmosphere loaded with samples I fired off the last of his rocket fuel to lighten the craft for a safe landing. He randomly managed to land in a little narrow valley with steep sides that destroyed the whole craft. 100m either way and he would have been safe. Typically I aim for a super low periapsis when coming home and then review the location when I am 24 hours out (4 full rotations which gives you lots of time to adjust a landing zone by about 1000km with a little rocket burn) but I didn't have patched conics yet so I was landing blind. I am reviewing my landing procedures.....

At the end of the day gameplay can be made much better without having to stick to reality. Without fast forward this game would lose a lot but that isn't exactly realistic now is it? Again kerbals needing air/supplies would greatly reduce most people's ability to play the game. So instead design the game for the common player (you know, they guy that probably will never figure out how to get to Duna) and let the mod community fulfill the requirements of the elite 5% that want more realism. That's where Squad will go and it makes sense financially as well. If you expect otherwise prepare for a disappointment.

Well obsessed with KSP your name is accurate. At the end of the day you paid $30 for entertainment. By any measure you have gotten that out of it. It's great that you are skilled and push the game but please realize you aren't the core market. A recent survey of forum users (which would still represent the best players as many people never use the forum or reddit) showed only 10% of players ever visiting Moho, Eeloo and Dres. Only 20% of that same group have ever successfully launched a Spaceplane to orbit (let alone landed it). Heck 20% of players have t made or it yet. So realize it's that type of user Kerbal is designed for. If that doesn't work for you use what addons are available or rage quit. Either way Kerbal will cater to the beginner. TLDR: People who pay $30 and demand a game be built around their unusual play styles are delusional.

Eeloo is my favourite for sentimental reasons. My first mun mission was a debacle that left poor Jeb stranded on the surface. After a much more rigerous design phase bringing excel to bear I designed a great rescue mission that easilyuk brought Jeb home. After some pencilling I realized that that design was good enough to land a Kerbal on Eeloo and return. So my 1st trip outside of Kerbin SOI was sending Jeb to Eeloo and back. Still my most epic mission even after visiting all of the planet's especially as I did it without knowing how to rendezvous. So much learned in that mission and it can eyes how epically large the game was.

I've managed it. Trip to and from Ike. I have also tried landing on Duna but found the thin atmosphere really difficult on a SSTO design. That was managed pre rapier engines. I just never got around to trying again. Use the standard jet engines and a nuke engine. Ensure you boost with the jets into orbit the. Use the nukes to go the distance. It takes a multi jet liftoff but only a single nuke and lots of fuel.

0.26 - Dropping Da Bomb

0.25 - Dropping Da Bomb

Actual space = $$$$$ Low earth above 99% of the atmosphere = cheap and reasonably easy. All you need is a very good atmospheric balloon, a couple of go pros, a GPS receiver, a location more than 100 miles from large bodies of water, and one kerbal figure and you are set. You can hit 15 miles up pretty easy which is above the coloured Ali with nothing but blackness and the curvature of the earth in sight. Total cost probably $1,000 but most of that (go pros, GPS, etc) you would recover. Post your results on here, epic.

What's a "Nessie?"

Meh. Personally I'd preferred if they spent the time developing new moons or planets (Dres sure is lonely hint. Hint. Hint). I'd even take new features (telescopes to discover the planet's before you could fly to them would add a nice progression. Destructible buildings sounds alright but I don't really see the mechanic working as well as they expect. Most decent players spend the majority of their time flying from one planet to another. With little time around KSP there is low odds of it occurring (I personally can't remember the last time I hit a building). On the other hands noobs won't be happy when they burn down their buildings and can't afford to repair them.

Snack ships. Definitely Kerbal approved.

I have never used near/far (as i play totally stock) and it's been too long since my last jet mission to Laythe to comment on the exact math although 1,870 seems about right. The biggest issue I had was landing. I am a decent lander (can land on the runway with no issue) but I found the uneven terrain on Laythe very tricky to touch down on. Even picking a teasonably flat plain I found lots of humps and bumps that made it very tricky. Go try landing 5-6 times in the wilderness away from the flat space center to see if your SSTO can accommodate rough landing situations. For my new Laythe mission om about to launch my SSTO has vertical landing capabilities. Basically after much testing the best method I have found are little engines midship pointed about 30 degrees down from forward (pointed down my usual glide path). As I am landing I can nose up to slow horizontal speed more or trim down to take out vertical. With a little practice and the brakes locked you can stick a landing without even rolling. 2 small tanks hold enough fuel for 3-4 landings as well so it doesn't add much to weight. Best of luck.

I see lots of people complaining about holding down keyboard keys to drive...... You guys do know you can hold alt while pressing a direction to set a steady draw from the wheels right? Simply look at a wheel while doing it to watch the energy draw increase then let go and your rover is off. For a full stop just hit alt and x. Personally for stability I use either a super wide and long base with the fast mustard brown tires or I use a narrow small base with a trailer. With the 2 long box struts wide (angled at 30 degrees down) and 2 long super wide rover I can easily cruise at 30m/s safely on the mun or Duna. I use w,s,d keys for driving and hang a probe control horizontally off the front and a SAS control on the back. When over 50m/s you sometimes have to twist in the air. Also turn the back wheels steering off. I can often run it at 2x speed which also helps a lot. My latest creation using the black rubberized tires is even more stable. It's a super short wheel base that narrow (basically just enough to fit 4 rubberized tires, seat and solar panels). However using a long box strut I attach a trailer with a junior coupler that extends back with a couple of science modules and splayed out aircraft tires. It can be transported in 2 pieces and is basically unflippable. I can easily getting 20m/s on it at 2-3x control speeds with no accidents.

You missed a big one. Kerbals can do magic. You can make then disappear in a puff of smoke only to show up later at KSC.