How about newer engines?

[Joseph Kerman]

Scramjets, pure ramjets, turboscramjets, turborockets, hybrid rockets, and even throttle-able SRB's (they're real, all right).

[TheRagingIrishman]

5 hours ago, Joseph Kerman said:

throttle-able SRB's (they're real, all right).

link? I know you can pre-calibrate a specific thrust curve for srm's but I've never heard of throttle-able srm's (unless you're talking about solid-liquid hybrids)

Edited August 25, 2017 by TheRagingIrishman

[John FX]

Just now, TheRagingIrishman said:

link?

They might mean the thrust curve you can get by shaping the solid fuel. not throttlable in flight but the thrust can be varied over the burn.

[The_Rocketeer]

1 hour ago, John FX said:

... by shaping the solid fuel.

So, snail shapes go slow and cheetah shapes going fast? Who knew...!

I'm not closed to the idea of new parts as a rule, engines included, but I do think that there are already redundancy issues with the ones we have in KSP. Unless the engine adds something new that makes it unique (think of the Dawn, Nerv or RAPIER), you're basically just playing top-trumps, inventing new cards just to be the best. None of the engines in KSP are exactly like their RL analogs, all are abstracted to a certain extent. Thus, I don't find the argument 'these exist in real life, so they should exist in KSP' very compelling. I'd prefer an example of an engine in RL that fills a niche that no engine in KSP currently does. A great example would be a water pump-jet/impeller engine (jetski propulsion) - nothing like this exists in the game yet. I could get behind a suggestion like that, because it's not just a tweak but an entirely new direction that opens up many more possibilities.

[Greenfire32]

16 minutes ago, The_Rocketeer said:

So, snail shapes go slow and cheetah shapes going fast? Who knew...!

Everybody knows that red shoes make you run faster.

17 minutes ago, The_Rocketeer said:

I'd prefer an example of an engine in RL that fills a niche that no engine in KSP currently does. A great example would be a water pump-jet/impeller engine (jetski propulsion) - nothing like this exists in the game yet. I could get behind a suggestion like that, because it's not just a tweak but an entirely new direction that opens up many more possibilities.

Could make submersibles and other water craft actually worth doing. Of course then they'd have to make the oceans worth exploring which is a similar problem that planets currently have so...run that circle lol

[Joseph Kerman]

6 hours ago, TheRagingIrishman said:

link? I know you can pre-calibrate a specific thrust curve for srm's but I've never heard of throttle-able srm's (unless you're talking about solid-liquid hybrids)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-propellant_rocket

"Once ignited, a simple solid rocket motor cannot be shut off, because it contains all the ingredients necessary for combustion within the chamber in which they are burned. More advanced solid rocket motors can not only be throttled but also be extinguished and then re-ignited by controlling the nozzle geometry or through the use of vent ports. Also, pulsed rocket motors that burn in segments and that can be ignited upon command are available."

[The_Rocketeer]

6 hours ago, Joseph Kerman said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-propellant_rocket

"Once ignited, a simple solid rocket motor cannot be shut off, because it contains all the ingredients necessary for combustion within the chamber in which they are burned. More advanced solid rocket motors can not only be throttled but also be extinguished and then re-ignited by controlling the nozzle geometry or through the use of vent ports. Also, pulsed rocket motors that burn in segments and that can be ignited upon command are available."

So having looks at the source, this looks a bit theoretical to me. There is no example of a real world rocket demonstrating this, just a patent citing functional specifications for a propellant grain that does not appear to exist yet.

[Theysen]

1 hour ago, The_Rocketeer said:

So having looks at the source, this looks a bit theoretical to me. There is no example of a real world rocket demonstrating this, just a patent citing functional specifications for a propellant grain that does not appear to exist yet.

I can't remember the rocket for the life of mine but iirc there is a solid which used thrust ports / thrust deflection to nullify the force applied to the rocket. 

[klgraham1013]

I'd love a 2.5m jet engine that didn't have a fuselage, intake, and pylon attached to it.  You know.  Like every other jet engine in the game.

Edited August 26, 2017 by klgraham1013