Ksc targeter

[Jack5.exe]

I want ksp to have a stock way to target the KSC, so you can  land a shuttle, or land a Falcon 9 on the vab or launch pad. 

[Rocket In My Pocket]

Easily done!

Just send a Kerbal out there to plant a flag and call it "KSC" -OR- drive a rover out there and park it and rename the rover "KSC" -OR- Launch a probe core with Kerbnet and open Kerbnet and make a custom way point named "KSC"

Whichever way, you'll be able to target the KSC's position from the map.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Rocket In My Pocket

[Pthigrivi]

^This is what I do. I agree KSC should just be a fixed, targetable marker though.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

28 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

^This is what I do. I agree KSC should just be a fixed, targetable marker though.

Idk, I sort of like how it encourages player creativity and resourcefulness.

I remember feeling rather clever the first time I made my own "KSC beacon"

[DualDesertEagle]

Sure, getting creative about it may be a nice thing but it shouldn't be necessary. I don't need such targeting either but it would make landings easier if u could target the KSC (or the sea near its shoreline) and have an "encounter" appear with a correctly planned maneuver which would of course have to take the atmosphere into account. I almost always end up overshooting or not quite making it to the KSC coz I can't get the estimate on how much velocity I lose through aerobraking right.

Edited December 15, 2017 by DualDesertEagle

[harrisjosh2711]

I definitely would like to see this. I personally don't like to leave redundant things lying around KSP because that just means my game starts to slow down that much sooner.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

31 minutes ago, harrisjosh2711 said:

I definitely would like to see this. I personally don't like to leave redundant things lying around KSP because that just means my game starts to slow down that much sooner.

Granted, a flag doesn't really hurt performance. Nor does a Kerbnet Waypoint.

Perhaps an easy solution/compromise is if the "Flagpole" at the KSC actually counted as a flag icon on the map view?

I can't imagine that'd take much work to implement.

[harrisjosh2711]

3 minutes ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

Granted, a flag doesn't really hurt performance. Nor does a Kerbnet Waypoint.

Perhaps an easy solution/compromise is if the "Flagpole" at the KSC actually counted as a flag icon on the map view?

I can't imagine that'd take much work to implement.

Yes, I will be using a flag from now on. I guess I never realized you could target a flag. Most of the time I plant one it is planned to be a base so I have always just target what ever pod/etc. I left behind on the surface.

[DMagic]

You can generate a waypoint at the KSC with the debug menu. Just type /waypoint ksc, or  /waypoint-ksc, or something like that (/help should tell you the available commands) into the debug console and press submit. /waypoint will generate a waypoint at your current location.

[Cheif Operations Director]

Check my post Claled Kerbin Infrastructure I suggested it in further detail their

[Rocket In My Pocket]

3 minutes ago, DMagic said:

You can generate a waypoint at the KSC with the debug menu. Just type /waypoint ksc, or  /waypoint-ksc, or something like that (/help should tell you the available commands) into the debug console and press submit. /waypoint will generate a waypoint at your current location.

Nice!

...How possible would it be to make a modlet that automatically does that?

An "Auto KSC Waypoint" would fit in nicely with your other stuff.

[DMagic]

/ksc is the command for a waypoint at the KSC, though I'm not sure where it actually puts it. /waypoint puts it at your current location, but you can also use "/waypoint kerbin lat long" to put it at a specified location, which I assume puts it at the surface.

So you could pretty easily make a simple mod for generating waypoints at specific locations, like the launchpad, either end of the runway, the VAB roof, etc...

Actually, I think you can add in your own commands to the console log, but maybe a separate UI would be easier to use.

Edited December 15, 2017 by DMagic

[Corona688]

5 hours ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

I remember feeling rather clever the first time I made my own "KSC beacon"

I remember that too.  I also remember discovering, after a particularly harrowing landing, I'd been following a flag that had moved itself 10m to the right

 

[Wcmille]

I find it useful to place flags at the west and east ends of my runway. This lets me line up on the runway at a distance like rifle sights.

[kerbalfreak]

This is much needed. MechJeb2 also has and option to target the runway on the Space Plane Guidance, I always use it with Space Planes and didn't needed to plant a flag.

[pandaman]

I never thought of using the Kerbnet waypoints, that's a neat idea.  They won't fall over on physics load or get wrecked when you land on them either. 

It should be fairly easy to create a set of approach beacons, even extending out to sea, using that concept.

[dr.phees]

In a new game I have my KSC beacon cart to drive and set three standard markers: KSC RW09, KSC RW27 and KSC VAB for runway 09, 27 and a VerticalLandingBeacon.

Also I build a small plane to land on the peak mountain and install a KSC approach peak beacon. That one saved a few space plane approaches since the mountain is quite in the way.

[pandaman]

I've just had a play with using waypoints as suggested above.

I couldn't work out how to set them using the Alt F12 menu, but its a doddle with a rover or plane.  Open up the Kerbnet menu and type in the name you want to assign to the waypoint, then when over the point you want it to be refresh the kerbnet display and click the add waypoint button.

The only disadvantages of waypoints over phsyical objects like flags etc. is that they don't show on the normal 'out the window' view in any way and you can't set a waypoint as a 'target', although you can 'activate navigation' from the map view and have one at a time show on the navball.

If you want to make a 'targetable' marker to use as a landing beacon then flags work fine, but tend to get knocked over.  I would suggest dropping a flat plate or just a decoupler ring and rename it to something other than debris.

[DMagic]

I think Waypoint Manager handles showing waypoints in flight and gives a better UI for creating custom waypoints.

It's a shame Nightingale wasn't able to bring in any of it to stock KSP, but I think it handles most of what this thread is asking for. What would be most relevant, though, would be the ability to add in custom waypoint locations (launchpad, runway ends, etc...) so that waypoints for those locations could be easily added.

[nightingale]

19 minutes ago, DMagic said:

I think Waypoint Manager handles showing waypoints in flight and gives a better UI for creating custom waypoints.

It's a shame Nightingale wasn't able to bring in any of it to stock KSP, but I think it handles most of what this thread is asking for. What would be most relevant, though, would be the ability to add in custom waypoint locations (launchpad, runway ends, etc...) so that waypoints for those locations could be easily added.

I never really formalized it, but it does have the ability to save/load waypoints to files, and there's a few preloaded ones that someone provided here:

https://github.com/jrossignol/WaypointManager/tree/master/CustomWaypoints

Your mileage may vary, and I forget how the loading works (I think you may have to rename the files or put them in a specific spot - like I said, it was functionality that never really formalized).