sjohnson0684

In software versioning, 0.9 != 0.90. These version numbers do not represent a decimal number, but are a series of integers separated by periods to represent the major and minor version numbers. Edit: oops, sorry, missed the point of your post... my eyes read something different (long day)

I personally still have fun playing 0.90, but not career mode. I've been playing science-sandbox, but cheating in enough science points to unlock the entire tech tree and resetting the science back to 0 at the very beginning of the save; basically it makes my game sandbox with science points as a scoring system. I play heavily RSS 6.4x with a good number of difficulty mods, so the tech tree and other career mode components is way more out of balance than the stock version. As for career mode, I hate to say, was poorly implemented. I know the game is still in development, and the devs are working hard to improve the game, but there is a lot of work needed to make career mode balanced and fun. There are so many good ideas floating around the forums that I think could really help improve the career mode experience. I don't have time to elaborate on them at the time, but I sure hope Squad does something before the release, because current career mode feels like it is not even 5% complete and only filled with placeholder mechanisms; I don't feel like I'm running a space program, but just grinding to get funds and science. Edit: Difficulty should not be how "grindy" the game is. There is nothing difficult about having to do a ton of satellite contracts to get more funds, it's just more time consuming and redundant. Hard difficulty should incorporate things such as life support, random part failures (makes you plan for part redundancy), deadly reentry, harder contract deadlines with construction time, less forgiving aerodynamics (mach effects and aerodynamic failures), basic "remote tech" mechanics such as LOS, etc.

Simplest thing would be similar to how KCT does it. When you design a spacecraft in the VAB/SPH and click the launch button, these options could appear: 1) Simulate. This would allow people to launch the spacecraft as many times they want for testing (same as launching and reverting but it cannot be saved to persistent.sfs or quicksaved). 2) Add to Build Queue. This would allow people that like to multitask have several ships being built at the same time and be able to work on other missions during this process to make the best use of their in-game time; when the ship is completed, it'll be moved out of the build queue to where you can launch it, and have options to scrap it or edit it (editing will move it back to the build queue, but only for the modifications). To prevent people from queuing a ton of ships, limit it to 10 or so ships, with reduced build rates in each progressive slot (slot #1: 100%, slot #2: 75%, slot #3: 56%, slot #4: 42%, etc.). Of course the build queue would go hand in hand with the functionality of Kerbal Alarm Clock or a stock version of KAC. 3) Warp to Build Completion and Launch. This would allow people to just skip the above step. Useful for those that do not like to multitask in the game or those that have nothing else going on yet. And like tater said above, if another spacecraft approaches a SOI change, drop out of warp and display a message to the player. I've said this in previous posts, this could be an optional setting and have it on by default for moderate/hard difficulties. I have been re-watching Scott Manley's Intersteller Quest series, and it's funny with all the discussion around construction time that last night I got to episode 87 where he briefly talks about how construction time and KAC should be integrated into the game: Edit: There could be quicksaves specific for your simulation. This could allow the player to go back and test different parts of the simulation, like the launch, orbital insertion and landing on another body, etc. Just a thought.

In a nutshell, the way the Kerbal Construction Time mod works is whenever you build something in the VAB/SPH and hit launch, you have the option to simulate it or build it. The simulation lets you test the ship as many times as you want with an optional configuration to charge funds per simulation, and even allows you to start the simulation on the ground or in orbit of the planets/moons you have been to; it essentially is the same as launching the ship and reverting to the VAB/SPH or launch, but with the optional different starting conditions mentioned and a time limit that you can select. When you choose to build the space craft, it goes into a construction queue; the time until completion is dependent on the parts you use. When the space craft is completed, then you can launch it for real like normal, still allowing you to revert the launch if you have that enabled. There is more to the mod that is completely configurable such as roll-out times and launch pad reconditioning, and time restrictions added to the tech unlocks, all of which I would find unnecessary for stock. I feel that some sort of time restriction needs to be implemented for the higher difficulty settings at least to discourage people from chain launching in a short amount of time, to discourage people from maxing the tech tree before the first Duna launch window even opens, and actually give the contract deadlines meaning. I honestly do not see why people are making such a fuss over having to time warp a short amount of time. You design a rocket in the VAB, simulate it if you choose to do so, have it placed in a build queue, and press a button to either time warp to some other thing that requires your attention (such as a correction burn) or until your new rocket is completed, then you launch it. It is not a time sink unless you really believe a few measly seconds of waiting is, which at that point 90% of the game must be one big time sink since you already have to time warp everything else. And again, I stress that this should be a difficulty option and not required for easy mode/sandbox. As for Snacks!, I think the concept is a great idea for stock life support, and of course, for hard mode there should be death and larger reputation penalties.

The multitasking comment was not directed at people that are not comfortable with build times but at people that find time warping inconvenient (if people do not like time warping, then what else are they suppose to do in between?). The entire game is basically do something, time warp, do something time warp, etc.; adding one more thing to time warp to does not make much of a difference. And as for a narrow view of how the game should be played, all I am doing is suggesting that mechanics that are more realistic that would help to increase the challenge of the game be rolled into the harder difficulties. If someone does not want deadly reentry, life support, build times, etc., then they should play on easy or have the option to disable these individually in the custom difficulties. And I'm not suggesting that every difficulty mod out there should be rolled into stock for the higher difficulties, but some basic ones should; I won't be disappointed if KSP does not have stock KCT, as long as they find other methods to make the game more enjoyable and challenging in the long run at higher difficulties. It's just really irritating when Squad immediately shoots down a good idea because it would be too challenging or not fun for new players, without considering adding it in as a difficulty option for veteran players. I also find your statement about in-game tutorials to be contradictory to your previous statement. If these new players that do not take the time to read forum posts or watch videos on how to play, and do not have proper tutorials built into the game, how are they supposed to learn? Just getting into orbit without added difficulty options is difficult on its own for new players that may think that they can just go straight up to get into orbit. I'm not saying that these tutorials have to be long and teach them every aspect of the game. There should be several tutorials available for specific tasks that show the player exactly what to do: how to build a rocket and launch it, how to get into orbit, how to rendezvous and dock, how to go to the Mun, how to go to Duna, etc. The new player picks which tutorial that they want and when they want it. My ultimate point is that the game needs to be able to stand on its own without reliance on mods. The masses that are going to be introduced to this game on release, for the most part, are not going to be interested in installing a ton of mods like many of us do after they get past that initial fun factor that you point out. I have spent probably 1000+ hours playing the game, but maybe only 5 of which pure stock, which I think is quite sad that I have had to rely on mods so much to continue enjoying the game. That's why the game needs these challenges for higher difficulties, to keep people playing and having fun.

New players should be designing and launching their first rocket in a properly designed tutorial that would not include the construction time, but notifying the player that rockets designed in career mode will have said construction time. And why would pressing the warp button to warp through the construction be any more of an inconvenience of having to warp and wait for a probe to get to another planet? Press button and wait a few seconds is hardly an inconvenience really. If it's so much a problem, maybe players could learn to do multiple missions at once so they have more things to do between launches. Edit: The first launch of a new save could exclude the construction time requirements. If a player fails to design their rocket to do what they want it to do, then it is a great time for the player to attempt to improvise and try to salvage what they can do. Some of the most rewarding accomplishments is being able to take what may initially look to be a failed mission, improvise a solution and be able to complete at least some of your initial goals (or just completely repurpose the launched spacecraft for some other mission). From there, use it as a learning experience so you can improve mission planning later; failure is the best way to learn. When I first started playing, it took me several times to accomplish a manned mission to Moho with a Kerbin return with enough delta-v, but man did it feel good when I finally did it. Too many people in gaming today feel that there should be little to no consequences for their mistakes and that they shouldn't have to put much effort into accomplishing something difficult. Life support and build times would help to add challenge that the stock game needs for the higher difficulty levels. Currently the difficulties only affect the level of grinding required, which is not fun. Hard mode should be hard because of these more realistic game mechanics, not because I have to grind more funds to do be able to do anything. People that don't want build times and life support, play on easy. Let us have our hard mode without having to install a ton of mods. Again, that is the purpose of an in-game guided tutorial, to teach these people how to play without dumbing down the core game; and from there, they can play in sandbox or easy mode career. Once they become seasoned players, play on a harder difficulty. Squad needs to find ways to make the stock game more challenging and increase its longevity for veteran players too without relying too much on the modding community to accomplish such things.

The stock game does need something like KCT. It is currently too easy to complete much (or even all) of science/career mode in a completely unrealistic short amount of time with the ability to chain launches right after each other; so easy that an experienced player like myself can complete the entire tech tree long before the first launch window for Duna or Eve opens. Time restrictions for launches can also improve the career mode experience by having players carefully choose there contracts and plan accordingly (of course, right now the contract deadlines are just too long). Also, if life support is added, it would add additional challenge to rescue or resupply missions (i.e., no magical ships that the player can craft in zero time to rescue a stranded Kerbal on the Mun). This irritates me: "a new player will just timewarp until it's done"; well much of the game already relies on time warping, so I don't understand why this would be an issue. I love KSP and I applaud Squad's huge amount of effort in making and improving this wonderful game, but I wish they would drop this new player catering. Should the game have ways to help new players learn how to play? Yes, through guided tutorials. Should the non-tutorial portion of the game be dumbed down to allow new / incompetent players to play the game easier? No. I'm sorry to sound conceited, but people will either have the ability to grasp the concepts required to play this game or not. New players that are capable of understanding these concepts will learn just like the most of us, while the others will not. I hope Squad will shift their focus more on improving the game for people that will play the game for 500+ hours and less for those that may play for a few hours or less and give-up because they will never be able to understand orbital mechanics.

That may be a separate issue that compounds the memory leak. The VAB/SPH scenes in general cause a memory leak for me, i.e. just loading them and doing absolutely nothing causes KSP's memory usage to gradually increase (I checked the debug logs and I'm not receiving any log spam or exceptions). It's not limited to the VAB/SPH though, as it happens with switching other scenes or switching directly from one vessel to another, but not as bad it seems. Another memory related complaint is: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/105514-BUG-Memory-Leak-Flying-Near-Ground. The game just needs proper optimization, and I hope they have enough internal testing to accomplish this if they continue to forgo more public beta releases. Also, forcing OpenGL seems to help reduce the rate of the memory leak for me, although I have the occasional graphics glitch and FPS drops.

Being a web applications programmer, I am constantly using Linux for hosting web servers, etc., so I have lots of experience with the OS. Linux is a great OS, but it unfortunately comes up short in currently being able to replace Windows for many applications. I used to do the dual-boot setup before my KSP days, and I found that I was having to reboot into Windows a lot because Linux didn't have a replacement program or WINE support for something I needed to do... and then I realized that everything I was doing in Linux could be done in Windows, so why am I inconveniencing myself with constantly rebooting back and forth between the two? Today, my home computer is both my personal and work computer. My production servers are ran in the cloud, and I run my development/test servers in Linux virtual machines within my Windows operating system. I also have several scripts that run through task scheduler that require Windows. So the fact that I would only use a Linux partition for KSP 64bit and the fact that I need my Windows environment running always pretty much makes dual-booting not an option for me. On a side note. I wish Squad had not released KSP x64 for Windows. It has been way too buggy and, for the modding community, it has been a complete headache. A 64bit release should have waited until Unity 5.

Having the same problem. For example, I loaded the game today with an initial 2.5 GB RAM usage, loaded the VAB, alt-tabbed out for a few minutes, and when I came back memory usage was already up to 2.9 GB, never dropping. Obviously something is causing C#/Unity's garbage collection to not work properly. It's really annoying for someone like me who does multiple missions simultaneously and having to jump back and forth between a good number of vessels in one sitting. This really needs to be addressed before they release 1.0. Although off-topic, this is one of many reasons they need more beta releases, so that they can find these game crippling bugs, attempt to fix them, and make sure that it is fixed after releasing it to us early access players. Bugs like this on release will damage Squad's and KSP's reputation.

Great mod. I'm really enjoying using this over other life support mods. A couple of annoyances though: 1) The mod seems to divide and take an equal amount of life support from every container that has the life support resource, which is fine but for one scenario: the command pods generally have less life support and run out first, so when ditching the rest of my space craft before re-entry, I'll end up having 0 life support and have my Kerbals die during re-entry. I know I can always just transfer in remaining life support from a container before staging for re-entry, but it gets annoying having to do this every time and is easy to forget to do so. Is there any way for the mod to deplete the life support storage containers (including the one from Universal Storage) first before depleting the command pods? 2) I prefer to use real 24-hour time in-game, but the mod treats the warnings and time warp cancellations as if the game was using 6-hour Kerbin time. For example, the Mk1 Pod starts off with 3 units of life support, which equates to 18 hours or 0.75 real days; 0.75 days forces the toolbar icon to be red already and causes the time warp cancellation to be already in affect when I know I have plenty of life support remaining. This defeats the purpose of having the time warp setting for me since I have to disable it for every manned space craft I launch without additional life support containers in order to use time warp.

It only happened the one time. I'll let you know if it happens again and will provide the necessary files. I unfortunately won't be playing much in the upcoming days, so I will not of much assistance in squashing this bug. I'll have to give the S.A.V.E. plugin a try to replace my KSP backup script, which of course I forgot to apply to this install instance. Thanks!

Yeah, I have both the main save and the quicksave here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qbi2hexnjw8xac4/ksp_save_files.zip?dl=0 All mods used (most installed with CKAN): Active Texture Management, Kerbal Alarm Clock, Tweak Scale, KIDS, NEAR, Docking Port Alignment Indicator, KW Rocketry, Alternate Resource Panel, Science Alert, Stage Recovery, Station Science, Precise Node, K2 Command Pod, KER, DMagic Orbital Science, Final Frontier, USI Karbonite and Karbonite+, kOS, NRAP. All I know is that I received ribbons yesterday when playing and they persisted just fine, but today after playing for a while with only probes, everything was gone. Thanks for looking into this!

Just noticed today that all my Final Frontier progress was lost in my Career save.; no ribbons, no mission logs or anything. I haven't played a manned mission this KSP run, so I don't know when this exactly happened. Current version is the latest (0.6.5), and I am certain I did not install the bugged 0.6.3. Here's my KSP log in case there is something in it: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7lz4auy3363lgnh/KSP.log?dl=0

Same issue here, with the Mk1 pod in particular. Just started 0.25 today after a small hiatus and this is among the first things I noticed. It's so much more frustrating to do the EVA reports with this bug.

I would normally just role-play it off as a "navigation computer error", but this has happened on more than one occasion, so I guess I will start having to go this route or manually change the persistence.cfg file. That was a suspicion of mine, but the probe was already well behind Kerbin in its solar orbit but was still too far out from Eve's orbit to have any type of encounter. Maybe it came too close to an asteroid this time, which threw it off? I wasn't tracking any at the time though, and I would assume that the same rules for inactive vessels on "rails" would apply to asteroids too... unless there is some sort of background interaction that inadvertently threw the orbit off.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced anything similar to what happened to me below with a probe to Moho? 1) I burned retrograde relative to the Sun while around Kerbin, also making as much of the needed inclination change that I possibly can during the burn. This brought my perihelion down to ~4,300,000 km to somewhat line it up with Moho's orbit. 2) I time warped to the Kerbin-Sun SOI transition with no change in my solar orbit once past it. 3) I setup a mid-course correction at the descending node to finish my inclination change, and to get an encounter with Moho (a closest approach of ~4,000 km). This will occur about 80 Kerbin days later. 4) I leave to go back to the KSC. 5) In the tracking station screen, I see that my probe headed towards Moho is on track, and that the maneuver I had setup is correct. 6) I proceed with working on another mission that lasts about 14 Kerbin days within the Kerbin system (this includes several fast time warps). 7) I go back to the tracking station, and now see that the orbit around the Sun for my Moho probe is off, and that my planned maneuver no longer gives me the encounter with Moho... 8) I go to the probe, and see that my perihelion is now over 5,000,000 km (about a 17% increase) and I have also gained ~300,000 km at aphelion. I try messing with the maneuver node to get an encounter again, but my solar orbit has shifted so much that I am now unable to get an encounter with Moho with a reasonable amount of fuel (i.e., if I create a maneuver to intersect Moho's orbit at the same position as the previous planned maneuver, Moho will be nearly a 1/3 ahead of my probe in it's orbit). Being a programmer, I know how floating point errors can cause issues, especially with SOI transitions and encounter calculations within the game, but the orbit change happened when I was already in solar orbit, after the SOI transition from Kerbin escape but well before the Moho SOI, and it was not the active vessel. From my understanding of the game, the probe was on "rails" at the time and there should have been no calculations that would have suddenly shifted the perihelion and aphelion like it did. I have experienced this several times over the past few months, across several versions of the game, both modded and un-modded. It usually happens with Moho encounters, but it has happened with Jool a couple of times.