RSS HELP!

[Jared Smythe]

I am just getting into messing around in RSS with realism overhaul. I'm fairly confident I got it installed correctly and is running fine. However, when it comes to getting anything to orbit, I simply can't. Even using the Atlas rocket I fail. One big issue is that my engines are burning out long before my fuel is used up and I'm not sure why. Any helpful tips or video suggestions to help me out would be greatly appreciated!

[michal.don]

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

To begin with, RSS/RO is hard. And I mean very hard. There is a lot of things that stock KSP doesn't simulate, such as ullage, rated burn time, limited throttle and ignitions and so on. I didn't manage to get to orbit for a long time, myself.

If you enjoy carreer mode in stock KSP, I'd suggest installing RP-0 as well, which takes you through the whole spaceflight history, from sounding rockets to high atmosphere to landing on the Moon, building spacestations and sending probes to distant worlds. It is demanding, but at least you don't start with hundreds of different engines, having no clue which to use in the first place.

To get you started, I'd suggest @NathanKell's youtube tutorial series, which covers rocket designing and piloting in great detail:

I hope this helps,

good luck!

Michal.don

Edited August 17, 2017 by michal.don

[Ultimate Steve]

Sometimes a mod called TestFlight (I think) simulates engine failures, that might be what you are experiencing. You should ask someone who knows TestFlight more to explain how to work through this. I think the ingame TestFlight menu can be opened with f3, but I'm not sure.

It was frustrating for a bit, which is why I do RO/RP-0 without TestFlight installed. I have enough failures already...

[IncongruousGoat]

Also, Atlas isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to fly. You might want to try something more like Titan II, or R7. Those at least have clear staging sequences, instead of a precisely timed engine jettison.

If you're flying Atlas (I'm assuming this is the ICBM we're talking about and not, say, Atlas V), and you have TestFlight installed, it's very possible you're not flying Atlas's launch profile correctly. Atlas uses a stage-and-a-half design, where the booster engines (LR-89) are jettisoned 133 seconds into flight, while the sustainer engine (LR-105) carries the payload into orbit. If you're not jettisoning the booster engines, you're exceeding their rated burn time and causing engine failures.