GoSlash27

And your difficulty settings? Did you move any sliders? Your pics don't seem to show any drag whatsoever. Did you maybe accidentally turn off "apply drag" in the cheat menu? Best, -Slashy

keyscapeunit, That's not a dumb question at all. You can't mathematically design a stage without a DV requirement, so knowing how much DV is needed is critical. If you just want a good reference, it's here: If you want to know the math behind it, I can explain that as well. Since the DV from the munar surface to orbit is 580 m/sec, I multiply that by 3 for a round trip (landing in a precise spot is very wasteful of fuel). 1,740 m/sec DV is a comfortable amount for a round trip. 1,160 would be the theoretical minimum, but you won't manage to do it that perfectly. The more practice you have doing Mun landings, the closer you can shave it. Best, -Slashy

Geschosskopf, Spaceplanes are excellent for logistics duty; ferrying Kerbals and supplies to orbit (and kerbals back home). As you point out, most missions are not ideal for spaceplanes and they will not show adequate reward for the time and effort. But there are a few missions that *will* pay off big in career mode. Specifically missions that must be conducted constantly in career and only go from KSC to a station in orbit. If you can take advantage of this, you can spend a lot more time conducting science in your career and a lot less time fulfilling contracts for funding. Finally... don't assume that spaceplanes can't handle large cargo. They can... but they might not be the best solution for most situations. Except rocket fuel. If you can orbit and transfer "mass quantities" of rocket fuel with a spaceplane, you can pwn Kerbal Space Program. There's no point to any of this in sandbox mode. Career is where spaceplanes really shine. Best, -Slashy

SkyRender, I just attempted to replicate what you are experiencing in my sandbox save. It didn't work. This should confirm that there is something unique about your game that is causing this. Do you have any mods installed? Best, -Slashy

SkyRender, Capsules falling at excessively high speeds is an established issue and I have posted the official workaround for it. If it's not working for you, then you either have a unique bug or there's an error in your procedure. More pics of an example flight would be helpful. Best, -Slashy

keyscapeunit, This Munar lander has 150% the required DV for a round trip to the surface, not counting the additional DV from the RCS system. The trick is to design it from the outset for the DV budget and t/w using the reverse rocket equation. Math is your friend! Best, -Slashy

SkyRender, For the heat on the way up, the cure would be to not follow such a shallow launch trajectory. A true gravity turn won't cause overheating as long as you keep your t/w under 2. On the way back down, include an ablator, and decouple it from the pod once your deceleration settles down. Additionally, set your periapsis to 32 km on reentry. Don't have your capsule on a collision course with the surface from space and expect it to decelerate in time. Best, -Slashy

JeramyM, I would say that tech level 6 is the minimum for a practical SSTO spaceplane*, and it's marginal. There's no room for error or inefficiency at this tech level. If you don't feel confident in your ability to make efficient spaceplanes and fly them precisely, I'd recommend holding off until tech level 8. They can be built at lower tech levels, but they won't have enough payload capacity to make it worth the effort. You can start making really good spaceplanes at tech level 8. * "Practical" = crew capacity at least 4 kerbals, docking port, RCS, and at least 100 m/sec DV in orbit. Best, -Slashy

It's rare, but it does come into play occasionally. If you have a very low DV and thrust requirement and wish to keep your lander cheap and simple, monoprop/ RCS can be a good choice. Best, -Slashy

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this yet: The easiest way to avoid problems with debris is to not leave debris. Every stage should be on a collision course with a surface (or at least have a Pe in the atmosphere) when it gets jettisoned. Best, -Slashy

DunaRocketeer, There really isn't much to see in my case. Just a big ol' fuel tank with solar panels/ docking ports and a couple reusable landers. The disposable part runs about the same way as yours; booster stage never reaches orbit, TMI stage impacts the surface, and SM stage burns up on reentry. I hate leaving debris in orbit... Best, -Slashy

*Golf clap*

I'm scouring the Mun and Minmus early in my career, so I have kind of a hybrid system for that. I have reusable landers to shuttle the crew and instruments between the munar surface and orbit. The station in Munar orbit has plenty of fuel and monoprop for the landers. I use a disposable system to get my crew to the station in low munar orbit and back. It's a good compromise between ease of use and cheapness. Best, -Slashy

Definitely career mode. The game pretty much ends for me once I've unlocked the tree and career adds some challenge. Working contracts gives me things to do after I'm past the hard part. Best, -Slashy

Yes, KSP has a steep learning curve if you want to succeed at it. A *very* steep learning curve. How frustrating it is will depend on how much you enjoy learning or how much you enjoy watching stuff explode. If you like explosions, there is no learning curve and you will have a good time right from the start because you'll *for sure* be making lots of explosions. If you like learning, you will have a really good time because there's a huge amount to learn. KSP is basically rocket science. If you're not a fan of either, well...this probably isn't going to be a game you'll enjoy very much. Best, -Slashy

Rdivine, Yes, you can calculate the "throw weight" of a booster assembly, but there's no way I know to make the process easy. For maximum efficiency, you need to mathematically design a booster for a desired payload. I've got a write- up on the procedure here: The booster assembly is then acceptable for that payload or less. For a booster assembly that already exists, the problem gets hairier. You need to make sure that each individual stage meets it's requirement both in DV and t/w. Whichever criteria for any stage is the lowest is going to be your payload limit for the entire stack. The weakest link in the chain, so to speak. If you are going to have a prefab family of boosters, it is much easier to do it the first way. You can design them from the outset so that "this one is rated at 1 tonne, that one at 2 tonnes" and so forth. If you go through the headache of reverse engineering a preexisting stack, you'll just come up with an awkward payload rating that won't be nearly as handy. Me *personally*... I don't use standardized lifters, but I do use standardized criteria for my designs. They are all 2 stage designs to orbit. Upper stage has .7g minimum acceleration and 1,700 m/sec DV, both calculated as vacuum. Lower stage has 1.4g minimum acceleration (sea level thrust) and 1,800 m/sec DV (50% atmosphere Isp) with fins as required. If I were to design a standardized set of lifters, I would stick to these criteria. Best, -Slashy

wibou7, I'd say we'd have to place your entry in the highest category that your settings don't violate in order to keep it fair for everyone. This career would earn "apatite" IMO since anything higher requires reduced rewards. FWIW even hard mode can be completed without ever needing to grind for money. Best, -Slashy

I think it's just a result of new players wanting to participate in the community. Nothing wrong with that. Good challenges get participation and bad challenges get quickly forgotten. Best, -Slashy

Moesly Armlis, I really don't know where the sliders should be set for the intermediate custom levels. I'd imagine gradually reducing the starting cash, science and fund rewards for harder (more masochistic) challenges. Best, -Slashy

My most recent hard career startup, I killed Val on reentry during her first flight. I *thought* I could do without the ablative shield because it was just barely orbital and the material bay has a high temp tolerance, but nope. It turns out that the materials bay is too draggy to reenter tail- first. It flipped and exploded instantly. Dead Val, no revert

Moesly Armlis, I'm not seeing the reference for the new badges, just some letters. Maybe a problem at my end? As for the HardS... I think I'll pass That would take a lot more dedication than I can muster! I'm rooting for you, tho'. Best, -Slashy

The Thud is actually an excellent early career engine. A pair of them will outperform a Swivel as a booster, and can lift nearly as much as a Reliant, but have the added capability of thrust vectoring. They fit very neatly into their family of early career boosters with tier 1 facilities. The Vector really isn't a fair comparison for any 1.25m engine. It's late tree tech, heavy, expensive, and really too powerful for a 1.25m rocket. It's more comparable to a Skipper or a Mainsail. Best, -Slashy

^This. I personally would hate to try a hard mode career on WAGs. No quick- saves, no reverts, reduced rewards... If you underestimate the mission requirements or overestimate your ship's capabilities, the best thing that can happen to you is you don't go to space today. If it's the other way around and you overengineer your ships, there's a lot of things you just plain won't be able to do because of the pad mass, part count, or cost. The math makes the exercise a whole lot easier, especially if you automate it. The way I do it is by taking the rocket equation and turning it backwards. Click for details This is even better than using a build aid like KER because it allows me to compare all engine candidates for a stage simultaneously and decide which is ideal for the role at a glance. It also tells me how many fuel tanks I'll need, how much the stage will weigh, and how much it will cost. Best, -Slashy

Joe Schmuckatelli, If you've got the Octo and solar panels, then your life just got a ton easier. You can pretty much go wherever you want in the Kerbin system with all the science instruments. And even outside of it. Best, -Slashy

Or C: Launch into Minmus' orbital plane. KSC falls under Minmus' ascending and descending nodes twice a day. That's what I do. Best, -Slashy