InterCity

I'd love the literal polish on my craft. But... My desktop broke. I am stuck with my laptop's Intel HD 6000. Soooo it would probably explode. A kerbal way to go, I admit, but nevertheless an unpleasant one.

The orbital insertion of my first VTV (Vertical Takeoff Vehicle, AKA Buran copy): It was so damn hard to do properly, it was undersized, imbalanced, impossibly hard to fly (Had to use MechJeb to follow trajectory and manually balance it w/ thrust limiter), but hey - here it was. Or maybe one of my later orbiters, designed to have as little footprint as possible. Funnily enough, this particular one was flown by Luzor Kerman

Oversized wings that kill the utility but massively add to style: I guess that if the plane had half the wings, it would fly way better. But I don't care! Because wings!

All sorts of trinkets. Mainly RTGs, Batteries, MechJeb and KER parts, goo canisters etc... But I've already stashed there a SAS module, a command chair, and (agreed, that wasn't the service bay, but rather a repurposed MK2 cargo bay) even RCS tanks. The MK2 RCS tank seems ludicrously big for my spaceplanes, so I prefer to stash the MK1 in the cargo bay instead.

Whoa... I didn't expect so much positive feedback. Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't reply yesterday, it has been quite a sandstorm in the hospital and I really wasn't in the mood for writing on forums - hell, I didn't even get to play KSP with him, since he was already sleeping by the time I was done. Anyway, the kid was released this afternoon. As far as I can tell, he's doing well, and I hope I won't be seeing him anytime soon - at least not at work. I didn't get to read KasperVld's offer in time, but don't worry - I gave him a flash drive with a copy of KSP (he gave me a chocolate in exchange ). I just hope he has access to a computer that can take it. And to think about it, I probably owe him more than the flash drive. Even though I always tried my best to keep my patients as happy as possible, since I know how much it does help with everything, but frankly I was losing faith for quite some time now. Especially elderly patients keep moaning about their health all day, some of them even going so far as accusing me of their current health - following the good old "Back in my day, the doctors..." template. Seeing the boy happy has reminded me why I was doing this on the first place, and that even though it might not be visible at the first glance, it definitely does some work. And it also gives my conscience a better rest. It knows that I've done everything I could. I guess everyone could try being nice. It helps them more than it helps the people they're being nice to. Although when I think about my boss... Edit: Be nice to those who deserve it. It will help you more than it helps them. @StrandedonEarth: Thank you. I did just that

Hello, fellow kerbonauts, I am here to share a story that has happened to me over the course of the last week that ended up in a kid's happiness and where KSP has played an integral part. I'm still pretty astonished that things like that, even though they might sound as little, have so much impact on my way of thinking. As some of you probably know, I work as an internal surgeon in a small regional hospital in the heart of Europe. I usually work long shifts, since there is a terrible lack of internists (or any doctors for that matter). As such, I often find myself taking night supervision? shifts at the hospital. It usually doesn't involve much real work, everyone is sleeping, only sometimes things go bad with some patients or someone gets sick in the dead of night. I usually spend that time either chatting with other people unfortunate enough to have a night supervision shift (the rules require at least one doctor per ward in the hospital at any given moment) or - you guessed it - playing KSP. And just as I am finishing my latest SSTO, I get that strange feeling one has when someone is watching him from behind. I turned around and saw a little boy, about six years old, standing right behind the ready room armchair I was sitting on with my laptop. He was watching my screen. I put the laptop on the coffee table and stood up to maintain at least some dignity, since I've just been caught playing games at work. But it doesn't seem to concern the little guy. He still keeps looking at the screen with his mouth slightly open. He didn't look terribly good, he was pale and his eyes were watery, he was coughing and likely had fever at that time, but that didn't stop him from asking: "Is this a plane?" "Yes", I said, double surprised with his sudden appearance and his apparent interest in SSTO Spaceplanes. "And will it fly?" I pressed the "Launch" button, took off, and rocketed towards the sky. I looked at him, and he was positively delighted. I didn't go all the way to the orbit. Instead, I reverted to SPH and showed him the basics of building planes. The first plane he has built flew nicely, and I found myself teaching him rocket science and basic physics for the following half an hour. Then I realised that the paediatric ward was going to miss him, and took him back there. The nurse was my good friend, so things went quite smoothly, even though she probably had a word with that kid. I thought the story was over there, but it wasn't. The following day I had the afternoon shift. It was quite a mess, a lot of people decided to have appendicitis operated that day. After three routine operations, I was ready to go home, only to have the doctor of the paediatric ward come to me and tell me that her patient was asking for me. So I went there, and he had me playing "The plane game" with him for another hour (where he successfully learned that rockets don't go straight up to space). This more or less happened again three more times. I'd always come to the paediatric after shift, play KSP for about an hour, and then go home. I didn't think much about it at that time, for me it was just a sick kid wanting to play a computer game. I didn't ask for his diagnosis or anything; I was just trying to make him happy. I know how much it helps to be entertained when you're ill. Over these days, he was recovering. Today, I went there again, played some more KSP (We launched a space station core together), then went back to my car. The nurse from the first night has stopped me on the way. She thanked me for coming to the kid and playing games with him. She said that he was an orphan with a case of bronchitis, quite a severe one, and he was alone in the hospital for three days before his adventure. She also told me that he was sad, and his sickness was getting worse at first and then rapidly recovering, the turning point being that night when he came over to the internal ward. I said the usual "That was nothing", as the social conventions require me to, but inside I was thinking about what happened. How a little game can help a sick kid to get better. I know about the effects of the state of mind on the human body, and I think this might just be one of those cases, since he is recovering now. He's still there, in the hospital, and he probably will be there for about two more days before they release him. I think I might be coming again tomorrow, docking some more modules to the station. He should be interested...

One of the denizens of my Duna base got smacked with a lander when I forgot that chutes will no longer cut it. But that only happened once. One of the less usual, but way more common (pre- 1.0.5) causes of death of my kerbals are takeoff tail strikes on heavy transport planes (The N-series SSTO being the biggest offender here due to its tiny wheels, long tail and high takeoff speed). The thing took off and crashed into the ocean a few meters beyond the runway threshold, killing most of the crew. But the funniest thing I have had was an unusual survival that happened before the heat system revamp. I thought I'll get a high atmo EVA report, but... well... nope. Poor Lanski plummeted to his presumed death. Except that he didn't. I was well aware of the diamond-reinforced helmets they were wearing, so I landed him on his head. He bounced about a hundred meters to the air upon impact, landed on his head again and... survived! NASA, you guys really need that stuff.

Good idea!

Not a problem. My glory days are also probably over now, taking in account how long it has been since my last game (over a month). Are you anywhere near europe?

I played since 2009, but stopped playing recently due to lack of time. Reached Diamond 2 at EUNE server, and I have some tips: Don't try to get the kill at all costs. Basically, if you get the kill and die in the process, it is overall worse for you than for them. That is because you are going to miss minions (coloq. farm) and thus gold. Also, killing 16 minions (one wave worth of them) roughly equals one kill, so it's not that much. Despite the urge you might have, I'd recommend only going for the kill if you are ahead enough. Learn to last hit minions ASAP. It will boost your scores enormously. My technique is to wait until they are at about 10% health or so (without hitting them myself, letting our minions to do the damage), then do one attack as last hit. For starters, try to aim for 35-40 minions killed at the 10 min mark, or 80-90 by 20 min. As you learn, push the envelope further and further. When I stopped playing, I was routinely having 70 creeps at 10 min, and I was among the worse players in my division. Ranged champions, especially so-called AP Mids (mages) are easier to play in my opinion, but they lack toughness. Tip #1 applies twice there. Generally, you should try to play the following champions first (in this order): Lux, Annie, Master Yi, Garen, Teemo, Jinx, Ashe, Warwick, Zed. Most others are not too hard either, but avoid Syndra, Orianna, Kindred, Rumble, Heimerdinger, Azir and pretty much any support champion in your first games. These, while very powerful, are extremely difficult to play (but satisfying :)). Bot matches. They help you learn quite a lot in the beginning, and even later in your career, they're good for testing out new strategies and champions. Do not play PvP when angry. Listen to some "Of monsters and men" or whatever you like instead, drink a glass of water or go royally destroy some sorry bot's rear. This applies twice for ranked games, wannabe "champions" take note. Use the mute button often. It's located on the "score" screen brought up by tab (little speech bubble). League community is absolutely god-awful, and you don't really need to hear all the nonsense they throw at you. On the other hand, if you meet a nice player, be sure to honor them after the game. Oh, and don't click that report button unless someone very bad happens. The "Recommended items" for each champion are quite a nice place to start. Take starter items, then essential items, then offensive if you are winning and defensive if you are losing. Buy offensive if you bought defensive the last time or vice versa. Once you reach 30, stay away from ranked games for another half a year or so. Fresh 30s rarely have the experience necessary to rock, and many then find themselves in the bronze league, which is notoriously hard to escape. Well, that's about it... Be sure to check out PassTheJelly's noob mistakes list. And try not to do any of those. If you want some mentoring, I could probably play a game or two with you, given that you are in a compatible timezone.

- World of Warcraft (Cataclysm on a free server, not willing to play the monthly fee) - Cities: Skylines (For relaxation) - Dishonored - Skyrim ... and that's about it. I used to play a lot when I was still studying, but lately I'm too busy to really play anything.

It's a great loss for the music world... May your rest be peaceful, Lemmy Klimster.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I got what I want. It's a brand new Maserati Gran Turismo, black in color with red... Just kidding. It's a 1997 Toyota Camry. I haven't bought it yet, but I think it's decided. Waiting for a mechanic checkup to confirm my suspicion that it's a good buy. It has 345 000 km on it (= about 200 000 mi), and I can have it for about $700. Outside, it looks quite nice, although the paint is slightly faded, but it seemed technically good. Tyres were worn out evenly, engine was running surprisingly silent and I didn't have to wrestle the steering wheel. I tried most of the things Kenobi McCormick suggested, except for listening to the engine with a crowbar. I am probably going to replace the timing belt right away, though, since it's approaching 130 000 km (80 000 mi) since last change. I took it for a test drive, and it handled pretty nicely. It's a bit cumbersome when accelerating, the engine revs up immediately when I press the gas pedal, but it probably doesn't have a 0-100 time of 3 sec. It's the basic variant with 96kW engine, and the car is heavy. Suspension seems OK, nice and soft, probably softer than what I'm used to, but nothing out of the norm. The only thing I hate is the interior. It has wooden panels in it. I hate wood in cars. It's disgusting. Well, nothing is perfect, is it?

Thank you for all the replies. While I am not a car engineer, I think that I can do some minor repairs (fixing hoses, changing brake pads and discs, checking fluids levels). Correct me if I'm wrong, but the good thing about buying a 10 year old vehicle is that you can likely fix a lot yourself, without all those mumbo-jumbo electronics and stuff. A few dents and rust marks here and there are not much of a concern; the car's merely to get me from point A to point B, putting style aside (in that case, I'd sell the old fabia and buy a cheap convertible, you can grab those for about three times the price) . Hopefully I can buy a proper car when my salary goes up

Hello, kerbonauts. I am not sure how to start, but I'll try to give you the story: My wife was complaining that she doesn't have a car. She'd like to have it, because she loves visiting her friends (especially now, when on maternity leave with plenty of time). The problem is that our budget is quite tight. Well... more than that. I've recently got myself a mortgage and bought us a nice new house in the countryside. Now even though I'm a doctor, my salary is still fairly low (my attestation is not yet finished, which basically means that I'm getting half the money for the same work), and the mortgage eats about 70% of my salary. It will (hopefully) get better in about nine months, when I finish my attestation, but until then there's only about $150-200 left from my salary every month. Which means that I only have about $2k (one year of lease) left for the car right now. I do indeed know that in this price range, I'm getting the absolute bottom of the barrel. I'd buy that car for myself, since the car I have now is a Skoda Fabia bought from my parents, which is way better than what one could possibly buy for $2k and thus more suitable for my wife. As for the "new" car, all I want is something that will get me from point A to point B. The thing is that all cars at this price range are either crashed or have well over 150 000 km (100 000 miles) on them, which means that it probably won't be running for long. My question is: will the car run for about a year or two without any major repairs? It will probably be driven to work and back, which is about 20 km (13 miles?) each trip, six to seven times a week, plus some shopping trips. According to the internet, car prices are slightly higher here in the Czech Republic than in the US. The sloppiest cars start at $1k here. For illustration, you can get something like this for just over $2k here. Also, what should I pay attention to when picking that car?

CoM too far behind/not ahead enough of CoL. If you can't pitch down as it is, I doubt that you'll have any manoeuvrability issues even after fixing the problem. On the contrary, I think it still could be quite wild, and as ForScience6686 has said, you don't need that manoeuvrability anyway - it's a shuttle, not a fighter jet. Happy lithobrakings landings!

I think the lowest I could get away with was about 3.2k. Maybe it's possible with better piloting than mine to go under 3k, but as you said, that would have to be a very sleek rocket.

SWAG has never failed me (not after a bit of tweaking, anyway ). Then again, I never let swag do anything more important than a minimus landing.

Highly eccentric Jool orbit passing through the atmosphere. Tried to make an atmospheric pass for science, but couldn't make it back to space. The periapsis was really high, though, so it probably took several passes to de-orbit and get crushed by Jool's atmosphere. This is the only time I actually went to VAB and hit the "Terminate" button with a live crew. Even the ground control couldn't take it... Three stars were added to the memorial board that day. May your souls find peace, Sune Kerman, Seedo Kerman and Billy-Bobfred Kerman.

Hell, I remember the first time I played KSP, lured in by a friend and thinking it was "kind of stupid". Since then... you know the drill. Seriously, kids. Don't play KSP. It will infect you, haunt you in sleep and poison your water supply

5 mb/s download speed, about 2,5 mb/s upload. Unlimited data cap. The ISP company refuses to put optical through our suburb, I'm stuck with ADSL. Sometimes the 4G of my phone is actually faster than my home connection.

Wow, I forgot about London cabs. I like the look of them... I've never had the pleasure of riding a London cab, but as far as I can tell from the local cab drivers, these guys often seem to drive over the speed bumps (and regular bumps) as fast as possible, and the last time I've taken a cab my rear took quite a beating, even though the car was a Skoda Octavia, which I own by the way and never had this problem when driving myself.

Hello, fellow kerbonauts, I've just finished writing the first chapter of a story, and would like a feedback on it. It's about the struggle of the humanity to survive on an alien planet, after the earth and all other colonies were wiped out. I hope my writing (and english, for that matter) are not too lousy, because I am not a professional author and I am not native english speaker, but I still hope that I'll entertain you for ten minutes, at the very least. Here's the link: http://www.inkitt.com/stories/48684 I'm looking forward to your feedback, whether positive or negative

Is this career mode? If so, you've probably not unlocked it just yet...

It depends on how your shuttle is made. If it`s a STS-like thing (Main engines on the orbiter, some SRBs at the sides), then you're probably going to have a bad time. Those are absolute pain to fly in KSP, due to the way the game's physics work. You'll need to align your thrust with the centre of mass of the whole shuttle assembly (at all times!) and pray to the Kod or the Kraken or whatever entity is it that made kerbals that it doesn't shift itself too much. If you used the Buran-like approach (Essentially a spaceplane strapped to a giant rocket - engine under auxiliary tank), you should be relatively fine - albeit it's still a major pain in your rear on takeoff. In this case, you want to shift the SRBs slightly towards the orbiter (so that you have less torque from their thrust) and then you can control it by limiting the thrust of either the auxiliary engine or the orbiter engine. Usually you'll end up limiting the former because of CoM shift as the fuel gets burned (DO NOT FORGET FUEL LINES FROM AUX TANK TO THE ORBITER!!!!), but sometimes when your orbiter is carrying a hefty payload, you might actually want to limit the latter so it doesn't flip. Either way, make sure that you have at least some engine aligned with the CoM of the orbiter (pointing the hollow end towards the rear), otherwise you'll be kinda boned when doing burns. For re-entry, try to have a good landing zone (KSC for best results, the desert also works in case of emergency), because in my experience shuttle replicas tend to be quite nose-heavy when empty and thus need some speed to be landed. Best luck with your shuttles!