To FAR or not to FAR... That is the question.

[astropapi1]

So I'm on a thin line now.

I've been on some kind of mod spree this week and ran into FAR.

AFAIK, this mod:

Makes fairings and nosecones work (I've been using them anyways).

Gives you better post stall maneuvering.

Makes wings work better.

Now to my questions:

-I have B9, TV pizza and aerospace, and PWings installed, will their wings work correctly?

-Does it make the game easier, or harder?

-Does it work with all part mods that don't add wings?

-Do planes break easily if not strutted as hell?

-Will I have to worry for it being compatible with other stuff all the time?

-Can I go back and uninstall it normally if I don't like it? (without using MM).

Thanks for your help, guys.

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

1: Wings should work

2: Matters, do you build planes and rockets properly?

3: It should

4: Matters how much G's it goes through

5: No, if it isn't compatible it wont simulate aerodynamics

6: Easy as deleting Squad folder and FAR Folder then running the patcher

[stupid_chris]

I've been asking myself the same question. And what is really keeping me from doing this is the lack of proper robotics in the game. Because sometimes when you want to launch something really really large, you can't put it under a fairing. And when they come with this problem in real life, well they make it as a contraption, so that it can expend in space but in the meanwhile it fits under a fairing. As they will do for the James Webb telescope. But for now I can't do that and I really don't feel like brute forcing a not aerodynamic 100t payload in space, so I guess I'll have to wait :l

[ferram4]

1. TV Aerospace, B9 Aerospace and pWings will all work correctly; I believe that Firespitter is also compatible. A quick way to check is to open the part.cfg for one of the wings in the mod and look to see if it has a "FARWingAerodynamicModel" or "FARControllableSurface" PartModule defined.
   
2. I've heard people complain about both. If your planes and rockets are already aerodynamically stable, then you will find it easier; proper aerodynamics reduce the dV loses to orbit. If they aren't stable, then your rockets and planes will flip and you won't go to space. Generally, smaller payloads are easier to launch while larger payloads become a severe engineering challenge. Docking lots of parts together becomes important if you want to have anything truly gigantic in space.
   
3. Yep! It's surprisingly robust given what a lot of the modders come up with.
   
4. Depends on what you do; honestly, struts are more necessary to prevent KSP's "symmetrical parts don't have identical strengths" bug.
   
5. You only have to worry about compatibility for wing parts, and most mods with those parts will advertise FAR-compatibility. Odds are, if you can find a mod, it is compatible with FAR.
   
6. You'll only have to delete the FerramAerospaceResearch folder; the people who need to delete the Squad folder are people who are updating from 0.9.4 (not ModuleManager-powered) to 0.9.5 and 0.9.5.1 (ModuleManager-powered).
   

You may want to make a copy of your KSP install for FAR, since sometimes the proper aerodynamics can get on people's nerves.

Edited June 22, 2013 by ferram4

[astropapi1]

Hey Ferram! Didn't expect you to pop up here. I think I'll try it out and see how it feels.

[3_bit]

Without FAR, you will not go FAR. This shall answer your question.