Threads of the Month January 2016!

[sal_vager]

Woohoo!  Welcome to 2016 everybody, I'm looking forwards to all the amazing stuff you wonderful people post on the KSP forums this year.

But here we're taking a little look back at some of the great threads from December, some of these were nominated by forum members and I think that's the best way to go forwards with the TOTM, so if you see something you really like and think it'd make a great sticky let me know!  ( PM's preferred, and not your own threads )

 

@John FX brings up a good point below, it's not clear how to get to the original comments.

On 03/01/2016 at 6:22 PM, John FX said:

In addition to a sticky `in their areas`, any chance of links to the threads in the OP?

The only links I can see lead to profiles (apologies if they are there and I just have not seen them)

The quotes themselves link to the posts via a little arrow on the side, like this.

Thanks for the heads-up John!

 

 

Starting out we have a great suggestion from @nikokespprfan of taking pictures of your missions to earn reputation, why stop there?  It'd be cool if pics could boost your funds and science too!

Spoiler

On 21/12/2015 at 5:14 PM, nikokespprfan said:

Lately it happened with new Horizons and the Pluto-Charon system, EVERYONE talked about it. It gave NASA a lot of reputation for going to the system. This let me wondering, why can't go to eeloo, take pictures and have the entire kerbalkind talking about my mission, and thus gain some positive reputation. So that is what this suggestion is.

Basically it would be "Reputation experiments". They are parts that take pictures or record video's of whatever the parts are pointed at. And if you put certain things onto you pictures (like for instance, a kerbal on the surface of eve) you gain reputation. It would work EXACTLY like the science system, but you get reputation as a reward, and a pretty picture of course.

 

Imagine the following scenario.

Imagine your first unmanned Laythe rover nearing its destination. As you near the moon, you record photos of the beautiful watery moon, with a Joolrise in the background, and transmit them back. Upon arrival of the pictures, every kerbal on kerbin goes wild, as the pictures are the sharpest ever taken from the moon. Your space program earns science and reputation. (You save the picture as a screenshot). It is time for landing. During the last stages of descend your lander deploys the video recorder and records Laythes surface getting closer and closer. You land, the rover drives from the landing platform and takes a photo of itself and the landing pad.

The landing has succeded.

What do you think?

 

 

I think it's a great idea, that's why it's here

 

 

Next up we have probably definitely the best VTOL builder on these forums with not only an amazing craft, but a great video to go with it, welcome back @Cupcake...!

Spoiler

On 18/12/2015 at 5:26 AM, Cupcake... said:

CRAFT FILES:

https://goo.gl/pFuZwh

 

NOTES:

The athmo edition can be a bit tricky to land on steep terrain, it's recomended to practice on flat ground or water before attempting more difficult landings!

The exhaust jets on the utility edition are a razors width away from the standard cargo size so the engine gimbals are disabled by default to avoid leaving scorch marks, they can be enabled again by pressing 0.

While droptanks can be attached straight to the bottom docking port on the utlity edition it's recommended to run fuel lines to avoid the Morks internal stores being emptied, to this end the fuel transfer on the cargo port is disabled by default.

 

For all those out there that thought the Gnat was a bit on the big side allow me to present the Mork!

Powered by a single Juno engine (with rocket assist of course), the Mork combines supple handling with a highly balanced drag profile.

RCS edition included at no extra cost!

Finnaly we have the utility edition is designed for soft landing small ISRU rigs/cargo etc... It puts out more Delta V then the RCS edition (3.3k vs 3k ) and more importantly weighs in a whole 2t less making it more practical to ship to the Jool system.

The TW ratio is a little short of obscene we're talking about 1.41 fully fueled on Tylo! 

Enjoy!

 

Cupcake...

 

 

 

 

It's amazing what you can do with engines but it helps to know which is good for what, that's where @WillThe84th comes in and helps us out with his info on different engines in KSP!

Spoiler

On 08/12/2015 at 9:28 PM, WillThe84th said:

If you are new to KSP or to Rocket Science in general, you might not know what all the different engines that the game offers do, or how they work, or why you would use one instead of the other. At it's most basic level, the engines in the game take some sort of fuel, and accelerate it out the back of the rocket/plane and, because of Newton's Third Law, this propels the craft forward. How the engine does this depends on the type of engine, and in KSP, at this time, there are five different types of engines. These are: Chemical Rockets, Jet Engines, Solid Rocket Boosters, Ion Thrusters, and Nuclear Thermal Rockets. (There is only one Ion Thruster and only one Nuclear Thermal Rocket)

Quick Note: All engines have different characteristics, thrust, ISP a sea level, and ISP in vacuum. Thrust is pretty self-explanatory, and ISP measures how fast the fuel comes out of the back. (How efficient the engine is)

Chemical Rockets:

Thrust: 2-4000, ISP ASL: 80-295, ISP Vacuum: 290-350 (Not including "Puff" Monopropellant Engine)

     

Chemical Rockets (or Liquid Fuel Engines) require Liquid Fuel and Oxidizer, and is one of the most common engines that you will use in the game. The basic concept is that the fuel is burned inside a combustion chamber and then the heated exhaust expands through the nozzle and is shot out the back. These engines are somewhat efficient, and have pretty high thrust. There is a very large variety of these engines so each one is fit for a particular job. For instance there are some of them that are more efficient in the atmosphere than others and some might be very efficient in space. You're sure to find one that fits your needs.

Jet Engines:

Thrust (Mach 0): 20-360, ISP ASL: 3200-12600

                        

Jet Engines only require Liquid Fuel, but they also need Intakes.  These engines work by taking air from the atmosphere, compressing it, mixing it with the fuel and then burning it in the combustion chamber. They exhaust then shoots out the back, propelling the craft forward. They also only work in atmospheres with oxygen, (Kerbin and Laythe) and if they are deprived of air, (if you go too high) the engines will flame out and stop producing thrust. Like the Chemical Rockets there a different types of Jet Engines in the game. There are high efficiency, low thrust engines, and there are low efficiency, high thrust ones too.

Solid Rocket Boosters:

Thrust: 18-750, ISP ASL: 118-195, ISP Vacuum: 154-220

                              

Solid Rocket Boosters (or SRBs for short) only need one fuel called Solid Fuel, which they carry themselves. These engines differ from other ones because, unlike the Jet Engines and the Chemical Rockets, all of their fuel is stored inside the combustion chamber. This means that when you start these engines (with an ignition charge at the top of the booster) they will continue to run until all their fuel is used up, so you can't shut them off. Solid Rocket Boosters are low efficiency, high thrust engines, and are best used during ascent.

Ion Thrusters:

Thrust: 2, ISP ASL: 100, ISP Vacuum: 4200

Ion Thrusters need a resource called Xenon Gas (pronounced Zee-non) and also require Electric Charge. These engines are very complicated, but basically they use electricity to ionize (charge by adding or removing an electron) particles and then shoot them out of the back at insanely high velocities. These engine are incredibly efficient in space (12 times more than the most efficient Chemical Rocket) but they produce practically no thrust. Because of their low thrust, they are best used on small crafts like probes.

Nuclear Thermal Rockets:

Thrust: 60, ISP ASL: 185, ISP Vacuum: 800

      

Nuclear Thermal Rockets only need Liquid Fuel. The concept of these engines is my favorite. They work by heating up the fuel with a small Nuclear Reactor and then shooting the fuel out the back. The Nuclear Reactor allows the fuel to get hotter than it does in a Chemical Rocket, which means that the fuel is more energetic, which then leads to it going faster out the nozzle of the engine, which means that the engine is more efficient. This engine is about two times more efficient than the most efficient Chemical Rocket, but the Nuclear Reactor can cause the engine to overheat, (so radiators are almost always required) and it doesn't produce much thrust.

R.A.P.I.E.R Engine:

Jet Engine: Thrust (Mach 0): 105, ISP ASL: 3200

Chemical Rocket: Thrust: 180, ISP ASL: 275, ISP Vacuum: 305

There is an engine in the game called the R.A.P.I.E.R, and that engine has two modes, Airbreathing (Jet Engine) and Closed Cycle. (Chemical Rocket) It is mainly used for a type of spaceplane called an SSTO. (Single Stage to Orbit)

P.S: I got all the images from the KSP Wiki.

P.P.S: If I missed anything or did something wrong, please tell me. Also, if you want more of this sort of stuff, say so.

 

 

Great stuff!

 

 

No TOTM is complete without a challenge, and we have @MoeslyArmlis to thank this month with his remake of @GoSlash27's excellent KSP Caveman Challenge!

Spoiler

On 08/12/2015 at 8:13 PM, MoeslyArmlis said:

KSP Caveman Challenge 1.0.5

Facilities upgrades are forbidden!

Crappy runway and launchpad.

Part count of thirty and vehicle mass limit of 18.0 tonne.

No fancy patched conics, maneuver nodes or any other luxuries.

Acquire 1188 Science Points to unlock twenty nodes of the technology tree.

Do you have what it takes to be a KSP Caveman?

Rules:

stock career mode

Include pictures of your Science Archives

No mods that alter game play

No cheat menus or any other shenanigans

 

 

Include screen capture of your career difficulty options

See Cave Walls below for additional options.

 

Include screen capture of your Science Archives in the R&D Complex.

Science Points have many sources just detail the method for the majority of Science Points acquired.
 

My attempt on normal.

This is my lengthy album of my run of the KSP Caveman Challenge 1.0.5.

KSP Caveman Challenge 1.0.5 Album

The ninth and final mission was an orbit and return of Minmus. A two stage vessel with twin Thud booster stage and a Terrier stage that employed a docking port to jettison a FL-T400 fuel tank. Gathered Mystery Goo, Materials Bay, Temperature and Barometer science from high and low space near Minmus.  The encounter almost did not happen and needed to adjust orbit at apoapsis by burning between radial and prograde.  Orbited Minmus with a periapsis of 22 km. Returning to Kerbin with periapsis around 42 km and aerobraking using the engine as heatshield and burning the remaining fuel to decelerate to 2700 m/s.  Returning to Kerbin using two radial parachutes and splashing down safely.

 

The Original KSP Caveman Challenge that Slashy began is is an excellent resource.

If you need some inspiration there are some great videos and detailed missions in that thread.

 

Badge Of Honour

A Caveman can proudly display this badge and gather all the minerals.

 

 

Cave Walls

(excavating, please be patient)

Each KSP Caveman will have their name inscribed on the Cave Wall based on their choice of career difficulty:

 

	Talc
	Easy Career - You had better do impressive quick work of this soft rock career
	GoSlash27 2 hours 7 minute pasukaru76 2 hours 53 minute

 

 

	Apatite
	Normal Career - The minimum amount of flare
	Caithloki MoeslyArmlis GoSlash27 Nefrums pasukaru76

 

 

	Vanadium
	Moderate Career- A tools hard edge can make all the difference
	wibou7 ManEatingApe

 

 

	Topaz
	Hard Career- Happy Shiny Caveman
	GoSlash27 pasukaru76

 

Custom Career Cave Walls with increased difficulty

 

	Corundum
	This career would not wear down a tough caveman. Career details see this post and change science rewards to 30%

 

	Diamond
	For the caveman that are brilliant and posses fire. Career details see this post and change science rewards to 20%

 

	Nanocrystalline Diamond ADNRs
	HardS caveman; Aint that Tuff Enuff! Career details see this post

 

	Order of Troglodyte
	The "Order of the Troglodyte" awards for achievements above and beyond the call of a KSP caveman
	pasukaru76 Duna, Eve, Jool, Dres ManEatingApe Duna

 

 

 

Great work both of you!

 

 

 

From the world of modding comes @rbray89's dynamic texture loader!  If you're using a lot of parts this is sure to help

Spoiler

On 26/12/2015 at 8:45 AM, rbray89 said:

Created a new mod to save graphics memory!
Without sacrificing parts or texture quality, this mod unloads and loads textures on the fly! Increase texture resolution to max again!

Now with updating loading while textures/parts load, IVA texture handling, and caching the full-sized textures!

Fixed certain parts, now unloads only once new textures are loaded. DTL disables ATM now, as there are conflicts.

On DirectX 9 with tons of parts, the system memory went from 3205MB down to 2520MB!

DX11 and OpenGL use graphics memory first, and system memory for spillover, so if you use these graphics platforms, this will not likely show anything on system memory unless you use LOTS of part mods with big textures, or have small available graphics memory.

Side effects include:

• increased loading times at start
• Slight lag when adding new parts when building craft
• Increased loading times when launching new crafts
• VAB/SPH low res "icons". 
• Adding many more mods and/or maxing texture resolution

Download Here: https://github.com/rbray89/DynamicTextureLoader/releases/tag/DTL-1.4.3

This is done in my spare time, and any contribution helps!

Source:

https://github.com/rbray89/DynamicTextureLoader

License (MIT):

https://github.com/rbray89/DynamicTextureLoader/blob/master/README.md

 

 

 

@A35K asks the serious scientific question this month to get those of you with an analytical mind mulling the great unknowns, and it fits right in with the recent release of Episode 7.

Spoiler

On 23/12/2015 at 7:37 PM, A35K said:

Now, assuming we have an unlimited amount of funds and resources, and ways to get them to space, is building a Death Star type station actually physically possible? Will a structure that big collapse under its own gravity? And if it doesn't, unless we have artificial gravity generators, it can't be arranged the way it is in the movies, as gravity would be pulling you towards the walls. What if it spins fast enough to counteract the gravity caused by the mass, would it stay together?

 

 

 

Each of these threads will be stickied in their areas, and don't forget, if you see something worth a sticky let me know

I'll leave this open to comments this time, and start a new thread for February onwards, let's see how it goes.

 

Oh, anyone nominating a grump thread will have their inbox stuffed with kitten pics to cheer them up

 

You can find last years TOTM here.

[legoclone09]

Good choices, I like Cupcake's the most. It's so little!

[nikokespprfan]

@Cupcake... That is a really cool design. +1 from me.

1 hour ago, sal_vager said:

Starting out we have a great suggestion from @nikokespprfan of taking pictures of your missions to earn reputation, why stop there?  It'd be cool if pics could boost your funds and science too!

I think it's a great idea, that's why it's here

why not? (the science and funds thing I mean)

And thanks a lot . It was a very nice surprise.

[John FX]

In addition to a sticky `in their areas`, any chance of links to the threads in the OP?

The only links I can see lead to profiles (apologies if they are there and I just have not seen them)

[sal_vager]

3 minutes ago, John FX said:

In addition to a sticky `in their areas`, any chance of links to the threads in the OP?

The only links I can see lead to profiles (apologies if they are there and I just have not seen them)

It's already there, in each quote you'll see a little → on the right hand side which will take you directly to it

[Cupcake...]

Thanks Sal! Always lovely to be featured here.

 

Cupcake...

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Nice picks!

Nominations, huh?  I'll keep an eye out for stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John FX]

18 hours ago, sal_vager said:

It's already there, in each quote you'll see a little → on the right hand side which will take you directly to it

That`s really hidden well. I had to look a couple of times before I saw it even with directions.

Can I ask for a slightly more obvious way of getting to the threads for future TOTM please?

[sal_vager]

Yeah I'll add how to get to them to the post

 

[John FX]

21 hours ago, sal_vager said:

Yeah I'll add how to get to them to the post

 

cool, thank you.