Zylark

MechJeb is excellent for many routine tasks. Getting rockets to orbit and getting landers down safe at a selected spot for instance. But there are also things MechJeb don't do well - amongst them flying aircraft. So might as well get used to flying planes manually. Which isn't that difficult going up, but can be tricky going down. With the latter MJ can help a bit though. The Spaceplane landing guidance/autopilot of MJ have a very helpful target indicator that is nice and easy to follow. Just don't let MJ fly the thing if you value your Kerbals...

The better stability of .25 is reason enough for me at least to prefer it over .24.2. So far, not a single crash, hang-up or glitch. No big bugs, not even medium ones. Only the tiny weeny though somewhat annoying ones. Like press twice to lower landing-legs, wobbly nodes from time to time, difficulty of creating a node on current orbit if next orbit overlaps. The usual stuff we all love to hate. Running with a ton of mods that all seem to play nice with each other. Allthough, the mods that gave me the most headaches in .24.2 is off my mod-list in my new .25 career.

Eve is an ambitious target that needs a lot of work to get done. Not visited Eve since .23.5, but I don't think much have changed. I required three big launches to get all the gear into orbit. Launch 1: Sending up the Eve Lander under its' own power Launch 2: Sending up the Eve Transfer stage Launch 3: Sending up the Eve Return vehicle with a small lander to visit Gilly Then docked the Lander and Transfer vehicles together. Fueled up the return vehicle and sent that off to Eve. Then followed a lot of fueling missions to get the Lander and Transfer vehicles filled up. Had in that save a couple of refueling stations and a Kethane operation going on the Mun, so it required no extra launches. A few pictures: Arrived at Eve, ready for landing. Down safe, not a drop of fuel spent on the lander itself, as the Transfer Vehicle had a small stage I used to do the insertion burn. What remained once back up in orbit again... --- Doing such a project in career mode now that it cost a barrel-load of funds on stages you can't recover is a bit more than I'm willing to do quite yet. Maybe later once I got funds to spare. For now I'll settle for a simple tiny unmanned lander. Much simpler, and at only a fraction of the cost.

I've done nothing different in designing or flying my aircraft - using stock atmosphere / aerodynamics. And whilst the 'souposphere' is as thick as ever and the aerodynamics is very simplistic, I've not noticed anything different in how aircraft handle between .25 and .24.2. If you got problems with aircraft pitching up, it is probably some balance issue. You want Center of Lift to be more or less on your Center of Mass indicator. You also want to balance out fuel. Meaning either you got one fuel tank at your CoM _or_ two tanks equally spaced from CoM _and_ managed by a mod like say Goodspeed Fuelpump to keep the tanks balanced. Also consider wing-placement. High wing is inherently stable, low wing inherently unstable. Mid wing a nice compromise between the two. For the tail (elevator/rudder) you want as big control surfaces as you can get away with - preferably the entire thing should act as a control surface. Though that part is only available quite late in the tech-tree. Can't remember the name right now. Last - Center of Thrust should be level with your Center of Lift. If CoT is below CoL, you'll pitch up and vice-versa.

Ja vi elsker dette landet som det stiger frem Furet værbitt over vannet i de tuuuusen hjem Oh, sorry got gripped by overwhelming patriotism and just had to sing a bit of the Norwegian national anthem... Now the big question is, how can I swap out the 'stock' flag I chose for my current career with the Norwegian flag? edit: Aaah - it's right there in the start of the savefile... Finally Norway gets a manned space-program

Uhm, software development is a very complicated affair. It's not just plugging in some new assets and say some magic words and good to go. Stuff get optimized, rewritten to accommodate new functions and new stuff added. The point is not so much how many new features and assets that get included in a new major update, but that the new update conforms to the roadmap the developers have set out for the finished product. We're in early on an ongoing project. It is not as if we bought into the new billion dollar flashy iteration of CoD or something such trivial. We bought into something different - better. An indie studio with patience and no set deadline. And thanks to us, the funds to complete their vision. So it may take a while, that is fine. Patience padawan I'm very pleased with .25, as it seems a lot more stable than .24.2 _and_ the new features gives a hint of what to come as they get fleshed out. Besides the little things like crew transfers, more parts to play with and so on.

I find Moderate is working nicely for me. Progress is just right smack in the Goldielocks zone. Not too fast, not too slow. At least for my taste - others might disagree. It still allows for quicksave/quickload in case the Kraken attacks - and reverts for launches if you have a brainfart and forgot something important after engaging that first stage.

Axiom of game-design - If an exploit exist, it will be exploited! In my current career (Moderate Settings), only strategy I've employed is 5% of rep going to funds. Getting science isn't a big deal, getting funds is. Especially now that you got to buy each part to make it available for use. Some parts later on in the tech tree is _very_ expensive. Especially with regards to the the Near Future mod parts.

If I could trust the game to not get unstable and crash on me - or blow up my spacecrafts for no good reason - I'd go Hard-Mode. But my experiences from .24 have left me a bit anxious. Though (knock on wood) so far not a single glitch. The game is as stable as 23.5 was. Despite my pile mods. We'll see how it develops as I get assets perma-placed in space and the save-file grows exponentially. So yes, playing on moderate settings. And being somewhat scatter-brained, forgetting to bolt on basic stuff before launch, I do revert launch a bit now and again... but the F5/F9 procedure is so far left untouched.

4.4 - do use StageRecovery, all lifters got parachutes. But I'm not that finicky about landing at KSC, not a big fan of Spaceplanes and I don't mind wasting a bit on transfer stages. Though I do look at my dV reading religiously in the VAB, and try to cram as much as possible into a light as possible payload package. Or get two or more vessels into orbit in one launch.

Think of the limited space available in the cargo bay as a challenge. Design small efficient landers if you absolutely must launch a lander via a Spaceplane or SSTO. Those cargo bays are more suitable for resupplies and probes, but landers are entirely possible with a bit of effort and mods... Was a tight fit, but got it up by Spaceplane and down by SSTO using the cramped cargo bay that is now stock in 0.25. Don't think I could made a lander fit without using the Near Future pack of mods or have it do any useful science without the Universal Storage mod however. Being powered by Argon-Electrical engines, thrust wasn't all that great, so only used it on Minmus. Worked perfectly in that low gravity.

No duplicates anywhere. And in the savefile it says the FuelHatch is available.I'll dive in again and see if the new version solved it. If I'm not back in five minu, uhm, hours, call KSC - we might need a rescue mission edit: New version solved it. All is fine, though I did have to buy the Crew Hatch (go figure) again - but after that everything is as it should be

Don't know if this is an issue with the newest version as I just downloaded it, but in 0.5.2 at least, buying the Fuel Hatch wouldn't stick. I'd buy it in the R&D building, pop off to the VAB, and it's shown as not yet bought, with the option to buy it. Pop off to the R&D, and indeed, it is not marked as bought. Already blown me some 20k on that thing...

Screenshot(s) of your rockets would help to figure out the problem. A few general tips: - Always activate SAS before launch (press T) - Wobble is trouble - Strut it up. - Lower Center of Mass is better. - If you got it, put a reaction-wheel as close to CoM as you can get away with. - Gimballed engines helps a lot with stability - so don't overdo it with the SRBs...

Easy way is to have the 1 seat capsule with some kind of probe attached so as to fly it unmanned. When on the launchpad, go to map-view, select the stranded kerbal as a target and wait until he is above KSC (they always seem to be in an equatorial orbit). Take a note of the Kerbals altidude. Then launch and aim for an AP some 20km below the orbit of the stranded Kerbal. Once at AP, get circular and then simply plot an intercept to the Kerbal. Once within a few hundred meters, equalize relative velocities, switch over to control the Kerbal and then just maneuver him to the rescue-capsule and enter it. De-orbiting is a breeze, point the craft retrograde, and burn about 200dV. If you've forgotten to attach parachutes, you got a problem a bit later on

Woho! Thanks, that is fantastic, great job. Now I can start building my long awaited Station

You just need the first single-cell solar panel. Fuel Lines is over-rated. I made it to Minmus with some very basic equiptment - as most my research had gone into unlocking science stuff. No fuel lines required. Just a lifter that could kick 7.5 tons into Kerbin Orbit.

I really like the Career mode - actually never played Sandbox. And now that it's gotten a bit tougher to progress (playing on moderate - I need my revert and quicksave/load) I find it even more engrossing. I also flavour the game with a ton of mods. For more interesting contracts for instance, the Fine Print mod is awesome. It does give those kinds of missions some here have requested, like say (and is a mission I just did) land on Minmus, collect Laser Surface Scan (from DMagic Orbital Science), Goo Sample and Temperature Sample from Minmus Flats. Combined that with a contract to plant a flag and another to do science in orbit around Minmus. Swatting three contracts in one go and receiving a great payout on Kerbin return. Add to that contracts from Station Science and MKS/OKS, some of which are quite comprehensive - more long term projects than single missions - and there is plenty to keep one occupied whilst of course also doing all the other stuff. Such as setting up infrastructure for resource harvesting and planning the road ahead for going to faraway places. The challenge is to have at least a skeleton of a plan on how you intend to move forward, so that doing the contracts isn't a deviation and distraction, but rather adds to your capabilities. Be that as mundane as science points and funds, to getting reusable assets into service.

I know, this is not helping for the OPs current situation - it's more a tip for future reference. Most these problems arise from the Docking Port having been placed in such a manner that it spans two or more parts, for example if its' been placed by the joint of two Rockomax 32 Fuel Tanks for instance. Also other parts placed in such a manner that it clips into the the docking port can cause problems, like say strut end-points and such. I've not had this particular problem since starting to take great care in how and where I place my Docking Ports to ensure nothing interferes with them or overlaps.

Screenshot of the mission text would help. All missions are procedurally generated (apart from the Explore missions), so conditions and such will vary. To know exactly what your mission is, and how to trigger its' success,, some more info will be needed. That said, most engine tests are through staging. So you need to hit a certain altitude range at a certain speed range, and then activate the engine through normal staging. Which can be tricky - whatever current stage is running is likely not out of fuel within that range, or will go too fast or too slow at the given altitude range. And if you activate next stage with the current stage still running, you're likely to have a sudden and impressive fireworks display...

Resupplying Life Support resources is a breeze with KAS pipes. Also, if you got Universal Storage mod _and_ KAS, you can just swap out spent Life Support 'wedges'. Also I think you can do something similar with the 'kerrycans' that comes with one of the Umbra Space Industries (of MKS/OKS fame) mods. Though I can't remember which, and I haven't been able to test it with Life Support yet. For obvious reasons If you've not installed KAS however, you're pretty much limited to docking two vessels and then transfer Life Support supplies. Which isn't a big deal for ships/stations in space, but can be tricky for resupplying a rover or base on a planet or moon.

Well, I've gone ahead and is knee deep in a new career. However due to lack of TAC-LS no manned stations or permanently deployed ships have yet been launched. Only one-offs for trips to Mun and Minmus and back to Kerbin surface. That's fine for now - still got plenty of stuff to do and science to gather before getting serious about big ships, bases and stations

I'm a bit weary of the word 'realism' used in any game context. Usually it's just used as a semantic tool for somebody arguing some certain feature should be buffed or nerfed because that would be more 'realistic' whilst at the same time entirely glancing over that whatever game it is, there are plenty of features and mechanics that is much further away from any relationship with reality. That said, MJ is a nice little approximation of how a manned spacecraft flight computer would do stuff - certainly simpler than the real deal, and being all-knowing it's data do not come with any margins of error. But since we don't have supercomputers to simulate flight operations before uploading an optimal flight-plan to the vessels autopilot, that is fine. It certainly reduces the tedium of routine operations, and all the data panels both in flight and in the VAB is really helpful. For unmanned probes however, kOS is probably more apt as a flight-computer. Especially in tandem with RemoteTech. Probe computers tend to be simple things in order to save weight, power and make them rugged enough to withstand the temperatures and radiation of space. So manual programming like in kOS isn't entirely far off how it is actually done. Though I assume mission control auto-generate most code from more high-level GUI based tools, rather than only using a Command Line Interface. Then again, a CLI only approach would probably have prevented the Feet/Meters SNAFU of the Mars Climate Orbiter

Update: The entire thing got _very_ unstable, crashing the client, blowing stuff up for no good reason or some serious bug forced a restart of the client every other hour or so. This save abandoned. Though I do have a few shots of the latest little adventure before I decided enough was enough: My little Mun Hopper getting close to the anomaly. Landing is a breeze with this thing. Down safe at the Mun Arch. Meanwhile the MSL Feynman had done all the science it could around Minmus - back to Kerbin to deliver the payload. The Science Bounty from the Minmus mission of MSL Feynman. Which completed the tech-tree with a sizable chunk of science points left over. --- And that's it. Never did get to any other planets on this save. Not even with probes eventhough plenty of them got sent off. I got to caught up with building the Mun base and stuff. Not embarking on anything like that again. Gathering resources, sure, but a huge base, nope. Also RemoteTech was a bit tedious for my taste. I've long since lost count of how many launches I've had to redo because I forgot to deploy an antenna after reaching orbit with an unmanned vessel. RasterPropMonitor, looks fine and all. Works like a charm - but I never used it. Of the new keepers are TAC Lifesupport and the Near Future pack of stuff. Also Scansat and Station Science plus DMagic Orbital Science. Universal Storage as well. Onwards and forwards with new KSP version, new career and hopefully this time getting to other planets.

Somebody is going bananas, like my cats over canned Tuna - anything special going on today? Me, I am just going through my mod folder. Putting things together for a new career with a bit of a different flavour to it. Away with the tedious, memory hogging and not all that necessary mods. Updating to latest available of what remains and grabbing a couple new ones. Hopefully they will all play nice with this new update right off the bat.