Angelo Kerman

Should be fixed in 0.2.7 - Fixed issue where the throttle wouldn't be updated during Hover Mode and forward flight.

Glad it's working for you. I'm currently working on other projects now that the saucer is stable. I'm doing some work on Pathfinder and updating my toolset (breakpoints in Visual Studio at last, yay!), then I'll be back to work on the mothership. My plan is to have it done by fall. Sounds like a long time, but my new job is taking up my day..

Wow, little mini warp nacelles, where did you find those?

Yes. Phase 1, prototyping, is done. Proof of concept is the Flapjack, gravitic engine is working well, and I can make saucers fly in KSP. They can also move like flying saucers in lore. Phase 2 is the Excalibur mothership, which could be considered as a flying portable colony with FTL that employs the technology and techniques perfected in Phase 1. Phase 3 are the aforementioned stock form factor versions of components like the gravitic engine and gravitic displacement generator.

Stock versions of the generator and engine are slated for Phase 3,so fear not. if you need something soon, you could always clone an existing part and add functionality..

@shdwlrd All you need are a couple of Buffalo puddlejumpers and you're set.

@shdwlrd Cool ship! Thanks for posting your pics, it's really great to see what people are doing with the mod. Adding more power to accelerate a larger mass was one of the major design goals of the gravitic engine, and I'm glad I could pull that off. I wanted it to be distinctly different from regular engines but still have similar game mechanics to make it intuitive; it had to be based on acceleration instead of thrust to simulate the artificial singularity. I'm also happy that I was able to find a workable version of Crazy Mode to emulate the insane maneuvers that the bouncers flying saucers are reported to do. Anyway, KFS 0.2.6 is now available: - Fixed issue where the gravitic engine wouldn't produce acceleration when MechJeb tried to execute a maneuver node. - Added infrastructure to KerbalActuators to support MOARdV Avionics Systems. - Removed debug code left over from last release. - Improved Crazy Mode performance when there are no other vessels in physics range. I think at this point the gravitic engine is pretty solid. I'm also thinking of making a half-keel for those situations where it would look more fashionable for the half-circle designs @shdwlrd is making..

I finished polishing up the latest patch to my flying saucers mod, and took the prototype for a spin:

That was a great chapter! I wonder how Badie will adapt to this strange new world...

Will add that to next release’s task list. Next release will also have another bug fix for the engine along with infrastructure support for MAS. It should be ready in a couple of days. Hopefully the gravitic engine will be pretty solid at that point and I can start on the mothership.

@JadeOfMaar put it well, thank you. I forgot to mention that Graviolium is supposed to be hard to find on the surface of planets. So much so, that only E e and Dres have small amounts. Asteroids are your best bet.

Your creativity continues to amaze me.:) To answer your questions, it sounds like Eve and Dres aren't showing enough percentage, but I'm not sure if it's their resource levels or the seed value for your game. Maybe @JadeOfMaar can take a look. Propellium can be found on any planet that has an ocean. That's what the Hydroscoop is for. KFS also lets you make Propellium from Ore. You can also split Water into Propellium (and Oxium) if you have Pathfinder installed.

Did the kerbal faint?

Just need to edit the effect in the engine config. Not too hard but you’ll need to learn how to change float curves. Much appreciated, thank you:)

KFS 0.2.5 is now available: - In the flight scene, you now have the ability to recover resources that are normally stored in the Refinery. - Some resources, like Graviolium, are now considered restricted in OmniStorage tanks. You can allocate space for a restricted resource in the VAB/SPH, but it won't be added to the container until launch. This avoids the problems associated with adding resources in the editor that can give a craft a negative part cost. No such restriction applies to vessels reconfigured after launch. - Lowered the Flapjack cargo bay floor slightly to make it easier to sit kerbals inside using the external command seat. - Crazy Mode movement is now affected by thrust limit in addition to throttle setting. - Fixed issue with Crazy Mode failing to function when multiple vessels are loaded in physics range. Known Issue: MAS occasionally throws an NRE when multiple vessels are in physics range (specifically, DSEV's Estonian). When this happens, Crazy Mode's GUI is no longer rendered. Workaround: Close and re-open the VTOL Manager.

This problem seems to also happen when you have multiple vessels loaded in physics range. Still sorting this one out..

KSP’s event system fires multiple times and is causing the multiple windows to pop up. Trying to mitigate the problems. I have the resource issue fixed but haven’t reproduced the Crazy Mode not working when you drop a probe under the saucer yet. On the plus side Crazy Mode now is affected by the thrust limiter in addition to throttle setting. I was buzzing KSC this morning with just hover mode and crazy mode engaged, and not depleting my GravityWaves.

If you haven't unlocked the fusion reactor yet, and are using something like SAFER, then yes, your saucer will be underpowered. Are you using KFS 0.2.4?

The more props you have in your IVAs, the more effort it takes to render them, so I'm not surprised that your rendering speed improved after removing the props. Unfortunately right now it would take a lot of work to put textures where the MAS monitors are. IVAs are a large time investment for little return, so removing the IVAs is your best bet if you need to improve game speed. Making multiple versions of the IVAs is unfeasible at the present time.

Star Base Kerbal! @DStaal I'll look into it, but lowering the floor may result in less space available. In the meantime I'll be looking at the latest bugs and seeing what I can sort through. I have an idea about what's going on with the resources.

The only thing better than a tri-modal rocket engine is one that can hover:

That was cancelled, but some parts did make it into the mod:

There is a bundled config for OSE Workshop for when you don't have CRP installed.

Chapter Two: Eve of New Pursuits As the vonKerman tanker fleet arrived in Eve orbit and reported in, KSP’s Pioneer-4 quietly entered the purple planet’s gravitational sphere of influence, plotted and burned an inclination change, and made its capture burn. In both high and low orbit, the probe performed several science experiments before settling into a long-term orbital survey. KSC wanted a thorough scan of the surface before attempting to send down Pioneer’s lander... Meanwhile, the Abenturer’s first tanker arrived with barely any fuel in its tanks, but the vonKerman ship took on all of it regardless. The tanker careened into Eve’s atmosphere to measure its destructive effects. It broke up at 40km altitude, spewing radioactive debris across the already irradiated landscape. The World’s First Organization even recognized Kerbin Galactic’s accomplishments around Eve. The second tanker had less than half its fuel remaining when it docked with the ship. To reach their next destination and then go home, Lagatha transferred all the liquid fuel into the core tanks and discarded the outrigger fuel pods. They were originally intended to be jettisoned on the Abenturer’s journey to the Mun, but that proved unnecessary. After lightening the load, they had 5.5km of delta left in the tank. They’d get a bit more once they discard the landers, Lagatha knew. They needed about 1,200m/sec to reach their next target, leaving about 4.2km for the trip home at the current mass. And if needed, Lagatha could make some drastic changes to the ship to get them home, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. After Irina confirmed her numbers, Lagatha initiated the transfer burn… *** Captain James watched the video as the last Kerman States ship left Kerbin orbit. Then he turned his attention back to the Mk1 Munbus’s accident investigation report for the- well, he lost track of how many times he’d read the report. As with many times before, he shook his head. The Munbus left Minmus and arrived at Skybase safely, where Team Loner boarded the bus and boosted for the Mun. They arrived without incident, but the landing didn’t go well at all. In fact, Loner and his crew were lucky to be alive. They’d made the landing attempt at night, which probably didn’t help any. Loner got disoriented and couldn’t figure out where the ground was. Additionally, the Mk1 Munbus couldn’t rotate fast enough from vertical to horizontal flight before hitting the ground. The resulting crash totaled the Munbus, but Team Loner survived unharmed and retreated to Munbase Enterprise. “Spectacular sight watching the fleet leave orbit,” Loner said over the wireless. “Yup,” Captain James responded. “But just wait until Duna Expedition Two leaves orbit in a couple of years. The preliminary designs for the Exploration Cruiser will put the Protector class to shame. We have to get the Lesser Flats Refinery and Minmus Shipyard up and running first of course…” “How’s that going?” “Well, we sent a starter module and a drill truck to the site, but we’re still working out the logistics on how to move Minmus Base and all the resources,” Captain James admitted. “KSC is still working on the Pipeline project, so we’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. I’ve got a lot of respect for Valentina, but she chose a lousy spot to drop a base. Anyway, I called to say we owe you an apology about the Munbus. It-“ “Wasn’t a manufacturing problem,” Loner interrupted. “The workmanship was fine. It was the design that failed us. KSC over-engineered it in some places and under-engineered it in too many others. Nearly fatally so, I should add. I mean seriously, did we really need three Skippers? One is more than enough. And there just wasn’t enough torque to spin around for landing once I got reoriented.” James nodded while Stelissa and Jane took notes. “We need more powerful RCS,” Captain James thought aloud, “fueled by the liquid fuel and oxidizer. That would pack a bigger punch. Add more reaction wheels for good measure… Huh. I just thought of something. Stelissa and Jane, can you two make a modular version of the Munbus?” “Modular? Why,” Stelissa asked. “The Mk1 is- was- essentially a flying fuel tank,” Captain James explained. “Almost 3k delta. We don’t need that much to make a suborbital hop, but if the central tank was cargo space, we could definitely use that. If it’s modular, we could string a bunch of cargo modules together and move the base, then reconfigure it for moon shuttling. Plus, if it’s modular enough, it could fit into the Exploration Cruiser’s payload bays instead of being launched separately.” “I get it,” Loner said, nodding. “You could make any number of configurations. Swap out the center tank for more passenger capacity, for instance. Or swap in a science lab. Or add more center modules for more capability. Mulch, if you do it right, you can have modular command pods and engines, making it easier to upgrade.” “Exactly,” Captain James agreed. “Stelissa, can you do it?” Stelissa thought it over, did some mental math, and hemmed and hawed for a few seconds. It looked like she was having a conversation with herself. “Yes,” she said finally. “Ground reconfiguration will be tedious and slow, but orbital assembly and reconfiguration is definitely possible. The Munbus will need a lot of changes though.” Captain James grinned. “Time to design the Mk2 then,” he directed. *** A week later, the Abenteurer arrived in Gilly orbit. In contrast to the massive purple planet and its toxic atmosphere and radioactive oceans, Gilly was a small airless “potato” of a world- more like a large captured asteroid. And unlike their stay at Eve, the crew intended to set foot on the small world. Their Falke landers were more than adequate for the job, so Lagatha decided to do something different- dock both together so that two crewmembers could make the trip! That way, the whole crew could set foot on the tiny world for their troubles, and the Abenteurer could make use of one Falke’s liquid fuel for their trip home. As Alice made the necessary resource transfers and modifications to the “passenger Falke,” Irina worked the science instruments to glean as much as they could from orbit just in case something went wrong with the landing. By the time the Abenteurer reached its apoapsis, Alice and Irina both finished their tasks and the ship was on the light side of the moon once again. Lagatha and Irina boarded their respective landers and undocked from the Abenteurer. After moving away from the ship, they docked them together. Lagatha ignited her lander’s engine and extended its landing legs. They aimed for the moon’s highlands and midlands. Irina thought that flying upside down during landing was a bit odd, but with a surface gravity of just 0.5% of Kerbin’s, she had no practical difficulties. The landing proved to be tedious and slow, but eventually they made their way to the surface. Both kerbonauts exited the craft, planted the flag, took surface samples and EVA reports, and then boarded their tiny lander and returned to the ship. Even if they wanted to take an extended stay, they had neither the resources nor the equipment to do so. It was enough just to be the first to walk on another pristine world. Back at the Abenteurer, Lagatha didn’t even bother to dock the Falke. Instead, the crew did the space borne equivalent of “hot swapping,” where crews are quickly swapped out of an idling aircraft for another sortie. In this case, Hanse and Alice took Lagatha’s and Irina’s place, and then promptly sped away and aimed for Gilly’s lowlands. After what seemed like an hour of searching, they finally found the biome, landed, planted another flag and took surface samples. With the low gravity, it didn’t take long to return to the ship. Alice undocked her lander and discarded it before spacewalking to the Abenteurer. Hanse docked his to the mothership to offload the last of its liquid fuel before also discarding the lander and spacewalking. The crew spend the next several minutes dumping every non-essential resource no longer needed for the mission: soil, monopropellant, even spare equipment. For all their efforts, the ship had nearly 5k delta-v remaining in the tanks. The only thing remaining was to leave Gilly orbit and plot a course for home before returning to their cryogenic slumber… *** As another week passed, the Minmus Expedition 2 team completed redesign and assembly of the Mk2 Munbus. It looked much like its predecessor except for the stronger RCS thrusters, modular design, aft fuel cell array, and redesigned command pod that could separate from the rest of the craft and perform a safe atmospheric entry in the event of an emergency. While it kept its extended range configuration, the team also designed a science lab module, logistics module, mining module and cargo flatbed module as well as the support vehicles needed for ground reconfiguration. If the new prototype performed well, they’d send it to the Mun and build another one to help move Minmus Base. If it performed well. Captain James was about to find out. “Captain, are you sure it’s a good idea for you to test pilot the Munbus? We can remotely fly it, you know,” Marnica said over the wireless. “After what Team Loner went through, I owe it to them to make sure this thing flies as advertised,” Captain James transmitted back. “But-“ “Captain’s prerogative,” interrupted. “Minmus Control, Munbus 2. Am I cleared for takeoff?” James could hear Marnica’s sigh over the wireless. “Munbus 2, you are cleared to launch. Squad speed,” she said formerly. While there was no other “air” traffic in their vicinity, Minmus Base adopted air traffic control rules to avoid problems in the future. They hoped to set a precedence. After performing final systems checks, James activated the engines and set them up for vertical boost. Munbus 2 lifted off the launchpad effortlessly. As soon as he had 20m/sec of upwards velocity, he flipped the fully fueled Munbus over. “Uh, Captain…” Marnica called out. “Just testing the new RCS and torque,” James responded. “She handles like a dream! Going vertical…” He rotated the ship vertically, switched to the Skipper, and boosted straight up. He let it fall back down and hit the main engine again, arresting his descent. Switching back to the landing jets, he set the new Munbus down on the landing pad. Marnica breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, that was an impressive test flight. I thought you were going to just go up and come back down.” “I did,” James called back over the wireless. “I just needed to test the improvements out. I’d say we’re vindicated. Even fully loaded, the Munbus is pretty responsive, albeit a bit fuel hungry with the new RCS thrusters. But she’s ready to head to the Mun.” After he exited the vehicle and the team performed more system and safety checks, Marnica and Captain James certified Munbus 2 for flight. “Let’s build one of our own,” he said smiling, watching Munbus 2’s autopilot handle the ascent and head off to the Mun. Three trips and two weeks later in their new Munbus, MEX 2 finished transporting and re-assembling Minmus Base’s components and combining them with newly printed components to form the Lesser Flats Refinery. They also moved their Big Brumby- the last of the capsules- to the new complex. Captain James also sent the refinery’s drill truck 30km away to mine blutonium for processing into nuclear fuel for the facility’s Nukeworks. It would take another couple of weeks at least to fire up the nuclear reactor as well as finish building the tank farm, but the refinery finally found its feet.

Wit luck, sometime this year. I'm focused on getting the bugs worked out of the engine first before tacking the mothership. That way the "sports model" Flapjack will be easier to fly...