Jump to content

Norcalplanner

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,627

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Norcalplanner

  1. Norcalplanner
    The Karbonite mod by RoverDude has a version of what you're looking for in the form of Karborundum fusion torch drives. They use water and fuel at a 50:1 ratio (same as a NSWR) and have an Isp of 25,000. They're going to push some stations and other craft featuring SSPXr and other NF parts to Grannus for me.
  2. Norcalplanner
    My rule of thumb is 2/3 of the way through the atmosphere if you're still under power. Then again, I tend to play in upscaled systems and try to do single burns to orbit, so I frequently don't have much of a coast phase. As others have said, hang on to the fairing if you've already cut your engine and are coasting to Ap.
  3. Norcalplanner
    Beacons are starting to be deployed, and the Gael - Thalia route is open. Gael - Gratian should be open soon. Here's one of the medium ones fueling up with Karborundum before heading out. Learned the hard way that the medium stations are only good for up to 60 tons or so. Karborundum costs go up rapidly over that mass. Also sent a Longbow to Grannus on a high speed transfer with plenty of Karborundum. Should be there in about 15 years. Edit: And now the Gael - Gratian route is open. Time to spend more time working on atmospheric craft and surface bases... :-)
  4. Norcalplanner
    I'm a big fan of the RD-181 myself, simply because it's a bit more versatile. Compare it to the Skipper, and the RD-181 is superior pretty much across the board. RD-180s are good too, but they're a bit too powerful to be used as a second stage in my typical applications.
  5. Norcalplanner
    Launched a new Karborundum miner to Thalia in my 2.5x GPP career, since the drills on the previous iteration were glitching and refusing to do anything. Also launched the whimsically named Parkehnrhyde Station, intended to be a transfer station for those who will be using the under-development ESLD jump beacon network. Not the most aerodynamic thing on ascent... ...but it looked pretty good once in orbit and the centrifuges were inflated with 9000 material kits. The final on-orbit station has only 29 parts, so hopefully lag won't be too bad. A big shout-out to @Nertea for SSPXr and the awesome station parts contained therein.
  6. Norcalplanner
    Patience, good sir. I'm still lashed to the mast of Karborundum on my current career save, but I'm already planning the mod mix for my first 1.4.x career, and The Spice is front and center. I'll also be ditching MKS and focusing on WBI's suite.
  7. Norcalplanner
    RSS with SMURFF works well, though, because the mass of the capsule is reduced so much. +1 on suggestions to make small corrections far away from Earth. I'll also add two other suggestions - first, dump or burn any excess monoprop that you don't need to maintain orientation during reentry prior to entering the atmosphere to reduce the craft's mass. Second, burn every bit of remaining fuel in your service module or transfer stage prior to reentry to slow down. I've had good success with creating a node between 1000 and 3000 km altitude so that you can dial in the precise amount of radial out needed to maintain your desired Pe. I recall that the heating flux is a function of the cube of the velocity, so scrubbing off just a few hundred m/s is still a worthwhile exercise.
  8. Norcalplanner
    I harbor illogical warm feelings towards that thread where we all learned about gate orbits. Good times... [sniff]
  9. Norcalplanner
    It's possible to launch into orbit in stock for only 3200 m/s with a halfway decent rocket and ascent profile, and 3100 m/s with an optimized design. Doing the math based on these lower numbers should get you in the ballpark.
  10. Norcalplanner
    The main station on the left is powered by an Osprey engine from Near Future Launch Vehicles. Both it and the Thalia Express (bottom portion of the photo) can get away with only with only 3 medium extending radiators each, as they stay in high Thalia orbit (currently 1,000 km). The Karborundum miner, on the right side of the photo, is a different story. It has six large curved radiators around its 2.5m reactor, plus eight medium extending radiators and four large extending radiators. You also need to be aware of the heating bug - pausing the game while mining, or going beyond 1000x time warp can mean destruction for the unwary. The surface of Thalia is not for the faint of heart.
  11. Norcalplanner
    Someone (OhioBob?) said that the base version without any of the extras is working in 1.4.2, but the full version with all the bells and whistles is still being worked on. If you're playing a rescaled game, or enjoy the new content provided via Kerbal Konstructs, then we're still in a waiting pattern. Some aspects are dependent on other mods which aren't quite up to snuff yet for 1.4.2. Honestly, given the number of bugs which were introduced in 1.4.2, I'm still playing my 1.3.1 GPP 2.5x career and waiting for 1.4.3.
  12. Norcalplanner
    Continued exploration in my 2.5x GPP career, in what is rapidly turning into the Karborundum Space Program. We landed a probe on Geminus, getting a good view of Gratian. That was followed by launching and fueling up a mid-size ESLD jump beacon. It'll wait for the next transfer window to Gratian. A large ESLD jump beacon, fully fueled with Karborundum, departed for Grannus at high speed. Lastly, the Karborundum-powered Thalia Express crew transport arrived at Thalia... ... and eventually docked with the combined orbital station / Karborundum miner. Now Galileo, Jade, Sigma, and Bobert have a way to get home.
  13. Norcalplanner
    Newer versions of GPP (with Kerbal Konstructs installed) have multiple launch sites, and upgrades the KSC with additional launch pads and a heavy runway.
  14. Norcalplanner
    I'm working up a mod list for a new 1.4.2 career, and am hoping to get some better performance this time. With that in mind, is there any thread or guide regarding which mods cause the biggest performance hit? Alternately, are there game play techniques which can be used to reduce lag and increase FPS? Currently playing a highly modded 2.5x GPP career install, and starting to get tired of frame rates in the teens. FWIW, computer is an i5-6600k with a mild OC, 16 gigs of ram, a SSD, and a GTX 960. Also FWIW, Scatterer is already on the list of mods getting axed, and I'm strongly leaning towards giving up my beloved MJ.
  15. Norcalplanner
    All my beacons are fully kitted out, fwiw.
  16. Norcalplanner
    The inflatable heat shield generates so much drag that I've seen people use it as a parachute of sorts. Although it will look goofy, you might want to consider placing an inflatable shield on the top of your reentry vehicle as well as the bottom when attacking Tellumo.
  17. Norcalplanner
    @Shadowmage I noticed that there's no height slider in the photos you posted. Will that still be there in the newer version? Also, has there been any discussion about integrating more USI or CRP resources into the tanks? I really enjoy the USI-LS integration right now, and will frequently make a single tank with LF, O, EC, MP, Supplies, Mulch, and Fertilizer. Being able to add things like Karbonite or Water would be appreciated in a SSTU tank. And if I should be asking RoverDude about this instead, please accept my apologies for the social faux pas.
  18. Norcalplanner
    I've read everything in the wiki, and there seems to be some mention about it being more expensive to send Karborundum through. Anything in particular I should be paying attention to?
  19. Norcalplanner
    Simple part packs that don't deviate a lot from stock aren't too sensitive to KSP versions, and will frequently work OK with a few if any modifications. Mods like GPP which alter the game universe and rely on a number of other back-end mods (such as Modular Flight Integrator, Kopernicus, and Module Manager) are extremely sensitive to what version of KSP they're running on.
  20. Norcalplanner
    Somewhat random question for those who enjoy GPP careers... I've looked at this mission report thread, and it looks pretty interesting. Would a few other brave souls be interested in doing something like this in GPP? Basically we'd agree upon a mod list, including KCT so that time has a meaning, and try to be first to Iota or Ceti after taking certain required steps along the way? Just brainstorming out loud here...
  21. Norcalplanner
    I've deployed the smallest jump beacons around Gael, Iota, and Ceti. An unmanned cargo craft successfully jumped to both moons and back again, then finally went to Iota where it will be needed. Next up - sending mid-sized beacons to Thalia and Gratian to facilitate crew transfers and colonization efforts. Still not sure if it makes a lot of sense to send the 900-ton Karborundum tanker through a jump gate vs. sending it the long way around, but I look forward to finding out. This feels new and fun. :-)
  22. Norcalplanner
    Thanks for the reply. The thought was that with a retrograde orbit, it would reduce the total amount of Karborundum needed because of the lower delta in velocity between the sending beacon and the receiving beacon when the two planets are closest in their respective orbits. Can't really explain this too well without drawing something... My thoughts will likely change once I get some experience under my belt. KSP has been crashing more than usual lately.
  23. Norcalplanner
    Does anyone have experience using Stage Recovery with the newer versions of GPP, specifically with the alternate launch sites? If not, I'm happy to be a guinea pig and do some experiments.
  24. Norcalplanner
    So my first load of Karborundum is heading back to Gael from Thalia, meaning that it's finally time to start thinking about sending up beacons. In considering the LOS and vector issues, it seems to me that putting beacons in high retrograde orbits is the way to go for interplanetary jumps. Has anyone else done this? If so, any words of wisdom?
  25. Norcalplanner
    I am many things. Patient is definitely one of them. I'll take a look at the other launch sites and see where everything is at... literally. :-)
×
×
  • Create New...