MisterDoubleSevens

My first great challenge was landing. Then it was spaceplanes. Naturally, this brought up the problem of landing planes, both space and regular. Then it was NEAR, FAR's little brother. Now? It's figuring out multi-purpose craft (example: sending a Kerbal to Minmus and back while leaving a probe/rover behind using only one launch).

I'm going to assume that when you say "plant-animal hybrid" you mean a something that is, somehow, a reproductively-viable genetic cross between a member of Plantae and a member of Animalia? One that is also competitive enough to survive in the often ill-defined "wild", that is to say without the constant assistance of researchers in case it gets injured or fails to get sufficient nutrition? Because that's literally impossible. No variety of animal gametes can combine with plant gametes, or vice versa. Now, what we could do is continuously artificially select and/or engineer an existing plant until such a point that it sufficiently resembles a plant-animal hybrid. We might start with the existing semi-mobile carnivorous plants, like Flytraps. Or we could start with an animal and figure out how to force its cells to actually make chloroplasts (as opposed to merely retaining those it ingests). Might be easier, actually.

I remember trying this a ways back, but I had no idea how to load mods properly then and it kinda broke. Then I remembered it when I realized that Karbonite and KSPI use the same resource engine and the CRP is designed specifically to not cause conflicts, meaning I have no worries about breakage.

Roleplay purposes, mostly. Probably why I sent scienceless, ScanSAT-less probes to Duna and Eve (justified in-save as being AI cores that have a hardcoded curiosity due to their nature as probes). Alternatively, Karbonite and Interstellar purposes, pretending I have RemoteTech (I don't) and requiring relay stations and satellites, or just goofing around with hilariously impractical ships that I call "space yachts."

First I use KOLA, MOHAWK, EVENING, GILLS, KINSMAN, MUNDANE, MINIATURE, DUNE, IKEA, DREAD, JOLLY, TYLOSIN, LAYERS, VALIANT, BOPPER, POLLEN, or EELS, and then PROTECT, ROVING, LANDFALL, STAG, or SCINTILLATION. And then the launch number, which is a number.

That was actually done a while back: The Wrong Brothers. ------ And now for my suggestion: Make a roleplay save. Build stories for your space center, for the companies and countries represented by all the flags you've no-doubt got, for the Kerbals and the spacecraft themselves. Don't just go to Duna because "science" or "funds," go to Duna because your Kerbals want to explore Duna! In other words, look at the After Action Reports section of the forum... and imagine the entire game like one big AAR that you're in charge of.

Can I say "anything that's not Pol"? Because Pol is cursed. Literally any time my mission has even included a consideration of going to Pol, it fails in some way.

Considering my sig, I should probably mention Pol. Never been to Pol. Every single time I try to go Pol, something always goes wrong. Be it the Jool aerocapture fail, be it an accidental power-outage (caught between Jool and Kerbol with an Ion engine and small batteries) leaving me unable to burn and thus causing me to crash into Tylo... Krak, even the time I decided to go to Bop and then maaaybe Pol, NOPE. Don't even get to the Jool system - I stage twice by mistake and end up with only Ions firing before the transfer window was even ready. Pol is cursed. The game says Bop is home to the Kraken, well Pol is home to bad luck in everything you do.

Ah, I multiplied by a factor of 7, so I underestimated. (Why did I say I squared it? If I squared the base value of 700, I'd have 490000 Xenon in one tank. 700*7 =/= 700^2) Yeah, the ultrapowerful (and power-hungry) Ion engine is pure Rule Of Cool. --------- Made a few tweaks, instead of reposting the whole .cfgs, I'll just highlight changes: +Changed X300 (large Xenon tank) from 4900 Xenon to 5600 Xenon, in accordance with actual math and not random guesses and a failure to comprehend volume. Also made it lighter (1.5 tons -> 0.4 tons), because logically it'd have the same density as the stock one, so volume*8 w/ constant mass = density*8. Unless I'm failing to comprehend math again. -Made REAC (the fission RTG) four times heavier (8 tons -> 32 tons), because I looked up "portable fission reactors" and the closest thing we have just happens to be 3 meters wide and 15 meters tall (roughly the same size as the REAC)... and weighs 500 tons. Source. It's pure Rule Of Fun that I'm keeping the weight so low (that and the RTG model clearly has much less heavy shielding than the SSTAR, probably because stock RTGs work via decay, not fission.) No more nonsense with the TIE lifting the REAC at 2/3rd throttle. +I went into the TIE and lowered the Xenon flow ratio (0.30 -> 0.15), so it's now more Xenon efficient. Still a power-hungry monster that can devour the contents of even the largest battery in mere seconds. I'm making these personal edits/copies as I want them. Partially because I want to get experience self-modding things, because I've seen around these forums the suggestion that "bored of KSP? either make a roleplay save, or make a mod"; and partially because it's fun to make OP stock edits that end up being balanced by sheer virtue of your lack of understanding of part .cfgs (yes, the 440-490 EC/sec for a measly 200 thrust was an accident).

Then you'd confuse everyone who looks between your avatar and sig and your hypothetical dislike of ponies. What if Eeloo isn't actually lonely, and is secretly plotting the demise of all Kerbals?

Basically, I wanted to make some purposely OP stock edits (GASP)... but not too OP. Anyone can give an engine crazy thrust and tiny fuel usage, I want to make a high-power (and high-power-drain!) Ion engine. And then make other parts so that it actually works, because the power-drain is too much for stock parts to handle (despite the thrust actually being pretty bog-standard for 1m engines). Partially because Ion engines are cool, partially because I just wanted a crazy unrealistic Ion engine (something more akin to the Twin-Ion-Engine fighters of Star Wars, hence the name PB-TIE). Now, tested them a bit, the PB-TIE (working name) uses up 894 EC/sec. Knowing this, I purposely set the REAC to only give 400 so it can't power the engine on its own - I also made it heavy (but probably not nearly heavy enough) because there needed to be a drawback to lifting that much power generation. The large Xenon container was just made because I needed a bigger radial size. I'm about 60% sure I calculated the volume of a cylinder when the diameter is doubled wrong - I squared it but that seems really off. EDIT: How did I think squaring the volume worked for doubled radius and doubled height of a cylinder... and how did I mistake 700*7 for 700*700? Ah well, fixed now - the multiplier I was looking for was 8. Thanks FleshJeb! EDIT: I mistook the net EC usage with the REAC and TIE both running (440-490 EC/sec) for the TIE's actual EC usage of 894 EC/sec. { name = ionEngine module = Part author = NovaSiliskomesh = model.mu scale = 1 rescaleFactor = 2 node_stack_top = 0.0, 0.2135562, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 1 node_stack_bottom = 0.0, -0.1872844, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 1 TechRequired = ionPropulsion entryCost = 16800 cost = 57000 category = Utility subcategory = 0 title = PB-TIE Large Electric Propulsion manufacturer = Ionic Symphonic Protonic Electronics description = By emitting ionized xenon gas through a larger thruster port with a higher velocity, this bigger cousin of the PB-ION maintains the same incredible efficiency while also gaining serious thrusting power. All claims that the PB-TIE uses more energy than a small country are completely unfounded. attachRules = 1,0,1,1,0 // --- standard part parameters --- mass = 2.50 dragModelType = default maximum_drag = 0.2 minimum_drag = 0.2 angularDrag = 2 crashTolerance = 12 maxTemp = 4600 MODULE { name = ModuleEngines thrustVectorTransformName = thrustTransform exhaustDamage = False ignitionThreshold = 0.1 minThrust = 0 maxThrust = 200 heatProduction = 0 PROPELLANT { name = ElectricCharge ratio = 5.4 } PROPELLANT { name = XenonGas ratio = 0.15 } atmosphereCurve { key = 0 8200 } } MODULE { name = FXModuleAnimateThrottle animationName = colorAnimation dependOnEngineState = True responseSpeed = 0.5 } MODULE { name = ModuleTestSubject // nowhere: 0, srf: 1, ocean: 2, atmo: 4, space: 8 environments = 15 useStaging = True useEvent = True } }PART { name = rtg module = Part author = NovaSilisko mesh = model.mu scale = 1 rescaleFactor = 3 node_stack_top = 0.0, 0.3268025, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0 node_stack_bottom = 0.0, -0.3268025, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0 node_attach = 0.0, -0.3268025, 0.0, 0.0, -1.0, 0.0, 0 TechRequired = specializedElectrics entryCost = 382000 cost = 330000 category = Utility subcategory = 0 title = PB-REAC Thermonuclear Electricity Generation Device manufacturer = Ionic Symphonic Protonic Electronics description = Through exploitation of the violent fission of Blutonium-235, it's possible to generate absolutely massive amounts of energy. Enough to power a small country, or perhaps a PB-TIE. attachRules = 1,1,1,0,0 // --- standard part parameters --- mass = 32.00 dragModelType = default maximum_drag = 0.2 minimum_drag = 0.2 angularDrag = 2 crashTolerance = 9 maxTemp = 10000 MODULE { name = ModuleGenerator isAlwaysActive = true OUTPUT_RESOURCE { name = ElectricCharge rate = 500 } } } PART { name = xenonTank module = Part author = NovaSilisko mesh = model.mu scale = 1 rescaleFactor = 2 node_stack_top = 0.0, 0.1404661, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0 node_stack_bottom = 0.0, -0.1404661, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0 TechRequired = ionPropulsion entryCost = 8800 cost = 30000 category = Utility subcategory = 0 title = PB-X300 Xenon Container manufacturer = Probodobodyne Inc. description = Designed with the PB-TIE in mind, this larger, heavier, and full-er container holds enough Xenon to power the regular PB-ION for years. It's still a very good thing the invention of the PB-TIE made such a long burn unnecessary. attachRules = 1,0,1,1,0 mass = 0.40 dragModelType = default maximum_drag = 0.2 minimum_drag = 0.3 angularDrag = 2 crashTolerance = 6 maxTemp = 2900 breakingForce = 50 breakingTorque = 50 RESOURCE { name = XenonGas amount = 5600 maxAmount = 5600 } } PART +Changed X300 (large Xenon tank) from 4900 Xenon to 5600 Xenon, in accordance with actual math and not random guesses and a failure to comprehend volume. Also made it lighter (1.5 tons -> 0.4 tons), because logically it'd have the same density as the stock one, so volume*8 w/ constant mass = density*8. Unless I'm failing to comprehend math again. -Made REAC (the fission RTG) four times heavier (8 tons -> 32 tons), because I looked up "portable fission reactors" and the closest thing we have just happens to be 3 meters wide and 15 meters tall (roughly the same size as the REAC)... and weighs 500 tons. Source. It's pure Rule Of Fun that I'm keeping the weight so low (that and the RTG model clearly has much less heavy shielding than the SSTAR, probably because stock RTGs work vi decay not fission) No more nonsense with the TIE lifting the REAC at 2/3rd throttle. +I went into the TIE and lowered the Xenon flow ratio (0.30 -> 0.15), so it's now more Xenon efficient. Still a power-hungry monster that can devour the contents of even the largest battery in mere seconds. +Boosted REAC's output (400 EC/sec -> 500 EC/sec) so that two REACs can power one TIE... barely. Still means you're lifting 64 tons (32*2) to power a 200 thrust engine (with 8200 ISP and the lightest fuel in the game). Or you could power an Eeloo space station.

There's another really obvious split you somehow missed. Hardcore Realism (you guys) vs Loose Realism (us guys) vs STOCK-IS-PERFECT (not us guys). Oh yes, and then there's the few (regex, maybe ferram) who do want Total Realism, but are also smart enough to understand that they'll never get it from KSP and just try to get as close as they can.

On a random note, calling KSP's air "soup" is wrong. Soup would be a better model of air than what we currently have, because hydrodynamics still base drag on cross-section and speed, just like aerodynamics do. Yeah, you heard right. Soup > Stock Aerodynamics. Just thought I'd say that, because "the air is soup" is the single most-common complaint about KSP being unrealistic.

I'm just going to list the biggest gripes I have about realism, because I see that some of these haven't actually been mentioned. 1. Nuclear engines are underpowered and use LFO instead of LiqFuel + fissile fuel (for the fission reaction). 2. Reaction wheels are overpowered. 3. Ion engines are overpowered. 4. The air is more akin to water than air. 5. Planets are too small, too high density, and too close together. 6. Kerbals don't immediately die upon EVA on Eve or Moho. 7. Random failures don't happen. 8. Career mode gives out funds like candy. 9. Asparagus Staging is a thing. 10. Fuselages have fuel in them and wings don't. 11. Jets are overpowered. 12. There is no re-entry heating. 13. Kerbals are somehow immune to G-forces. 14. No life support. 15. Asteroids have no gravity whatsoever. And now, I'm going to say this: I want Realism Mode to be an option when starting a new game, that way people who don't like realism aren't forced to deal with it, but it'll be there and fully supported (unlike mods, which tend to break every major update).

Nevermind, didn't see the Realism thread, missed a page of this one and didn't see the realism debate (was supposed to have) ended in this thread, you know the drill.

Here's one: Don't be a moron and immediately warp to 60-day-away maneuvers or SOI changes. Think a moment. Is the time long enough to start any more missions, perhaps send a rover with that lander, or two probes instead of one? Do so - by the time you realize "wait I shoulda sent more" the transfer window will close and won't reopen for a long time.

I use Sandbox. What is this "tech tree" you speak of?

I sent this thing to Duna. And then to Eve. I don't know why I used MJ's Warp Helper instead of KAC. KAC is better at warp-stopping for SOI changes. Must have been some kind of brainderp.

That random veering-to-one-side-and-rolling that plagues larger aircraft and most rocket sleds. The fact that bi-, tri-, and quad- couplers are agents of the Kraken. Also the fact that those who have not witnessed their evil do not believe those who have. This. So much this.

My first SSTO ever, 100% stock, with (surprisingly) no part clipping. Well, no part clipping that isn't allowed by the weirdness that is attaching things to wings. This particular screen is from a less-than-ideal launch. My angle of attack was far too high, so I was moving too slowly for my intakes to work above 25km when I know they can work at 55km. Which is why I used up half my rocket fuel getting such a low orbit (the Rockomax 48-7S engines are not fond of atmospheric work).

When you overbuild things to the point they actually become less useful.

Anywhere outside Kerbin's SOI that isn't Duna.

I've been having so much fun with this game since buying it during a Steam Sale towards the middle of .23.5 / ARM update. Was a bit confused with the whole "new user" thing, thought it was time-based (you know, waiting a day or two) instead of post-based. As a random note, who else has a tendency to overbuild rockets to the point that they actually lose efficiency?

I use MechJeb for everything except planes (space and regular) and rovers. I always turn off Lost Crews Respawn... and promptly have Jeb die when he sneaks onboard a doomed vessel. (I never revert unless building test craft.)

I made my first successful spaceplane, that's what I did. Nice 147km-152km equatorial orbit. Not pictured: Re-entry heating on ascent. Also not pictured: My failure at choosing the angle of attack, resulting in far too little speed buildup and far too rapid climbing. My intakes died at 25km, while an earlier (but failed, due to forgetting to place the rocket engines) attempt got me an Apo of 80km before the intakes finally gave up at 55km. Even more not pictured: Earlier attempt at a vertical launch plane that used intakes facing clockwise, then rotating clockwise at a speed of "very fast" to cheat the intake system. I'm afraid to try to land. 90% of all my plane crashes occur below 3km.