Slam_Jones

So Flying Tiger didn't exactly work out, eh? Can't say I'm all that surprised. Hopefully BlitWorks (they're the current one, right?) has better luck!!

Ah, right you are!

I'm feeling very still, and I think my Spaceship knows which way to go... (Soo many 80s and earlier music references in Venture Bros... such an awesome show lol)

The only KSP pic I posted publically on Imgur is one of my Duna City pictures: http://imgur.com/gallery/mcMtIUW It's sitting in the positive zone (+7) but I think it has a lot to do with simplicity and artistic value. Most people who see it don't play KSP, and won't understand the intricasies they may see... but something like geodesic domes, interesting architecture, etc, adds a bit of value to the non-KSP players, I believe. However, for the most part, memes are the popular ones on Imgur. Anything else will be extremely hard-pressed to get too high in the ratings.

Steam take 30% and provides a ton of services, including but not limited to: incredibly fast, stable servers capable of handling bulk downloads with minimal to low latency, a very large playerbase to advertise to, community message boards, verified reviews, excellent front-page placement when on sale, ability to gift games to other users, keeps track of your mods and automatically updates them, allows you to easily upload, distribute, and update your own mods (for games with integrated Steam Workshop) etc etc etc. Never understood why some folks are so averse to Steam. They're a company providing a legitimate service. I can honestly say that without Steam, I never would have heard of, or purchased, Kerbal Space Program, as well as countless other excellent Indie games.

Picked up Battlefield 1 and been loving it so far. Reminds me a lot of the old Battlefield games... I definitely appreciate them doing something besides modern/near future warfare. Besides that, been playing with my Syma X5SC quadcopter. Just got an FPV camera and been practicing with it. Can't say I'm very skilled yet, but I've certainly been having fun!

Are we looking for joke answers or realistic answers? Realistic answer is that, like said above, he is eyeing the strut/pipe/whatever to make sure it is straight. I'm assuming it was recently machined as a prototype or something. Or maybe hes in charge of QC (Quality Control) for struts. But then again that answer is kinda boring, isn't it?

Personally, I'd say that if you're in school, you should be paying attention to the teacher. Then again, I can't claim that I always paid attention in class, so, y'know... All things in moderation.

No pictures, but I think this is technically version 4 here. Version 1: same thing with no wings (compact original version) Version 2: LFO version (just enough TWR to lift off on Kerbin and maybe SSTO to LKO if I can get around the drag issues) Version 3: MPDT (Lithium-powered MagnetoPlasmaDynamic Thrusters from Near Future Propulsion) Version 5: Wider-stance MPDT version - might end up being my official 1-Kerbal dropship due to compact size yet impressive fuel reserves. Version 6: LF Nuclear-powered. Honestly not the best, since TWR is relatively low and doesn't have as much fuel as the MPDTs. But they all look basically the same as that, though often without the wings (for non-atmo bodies) and with different fuel tanks and boosters. ' Biggest issue in testing has been landing without breaking anything...

After wrestling with a bug that caused KSP to freeze every time I attempted to launch a vessel from my Jool Research Station hangar, I finally managed to get the Seeker back out and on patrol. First stop: Pol itself, which the Research Station is currently orbiting. I landed with just over 10,000m/s of dv, so I explored the nearby area a bit before returning to the Station. At the station, I re-filled the Lithium tanks and headed off to Bop next. Admittedly, it was not very interesting there. Since I was unsure of the TWR, I skipped Tylo and headed to Vall next. I used quite a bit more fuel than I expected, but I still managed to return to the Station with a bit under 1,000 m/s of dv remaning. I think this is actually the first time I've landed on any of the Joolian moons (except for Laythe) since I started playing, and I've put 1,200+ hours in at this point! After that, I went back to KSC to find that (due to a graphical glitch) it appeared to be flooded: (visual mod error I believe) And, lastly, made about 6 different versions of this little guy: (and yes, there's a Kerbal in there )

Can do! Will update that post in a moment.

Okay, I found a design I had that does stuff and costs close to, but not over, $1,000,000. it is my Deep Space Relay III with attached Plasma Tug. In LKO, it still has a bit over 15,000m/s of dv, meaning it can easily get to anywhere in the stock system, and, in some cases, beyond. I was a little inefficient during my ascent (I got a very small amount of re-entry flames for a few seconds) so that number could probably be better. Total cost: $904,828 (Modded entry) Mission: Name says it all. A giant relay dish for deep space (well, at least as deep of space as one can get in KSP), to help guide smaller probes and help get science transmissions back to Kerbin. Modlist behind spoiler:

And right off the bat you appear to be confused. Tell me, what is Pac-Man a simulator for? Or Tetris? Angry Birds? Video Games ARE NOT THE SAME as Simulators. One is a game, which means it is designed to be enjoyed. One is a simulation, which means it is designed to be realistic. They ARE NOT the same thing, and, very often, the more realistic it is, the less fun it is. Frankly I'm concerned that more and more often, people are having a difficult time separating fiction from reality.

SlamTek Seeker II in SPH. It can be differentiated from the original by the wider stance, and the forward-mounted retro-thrusters. SlamTek Seeker I cruising over Munar Surface Built what I am calling the SlamTek Seeker, which is a two-Kerbal spacecraft that carries nearly 10,000 m/s of dv, and maintains a solid enough TWR to land and take off from (sans further testing) any airless body in the system. Its purpose is twofold: one, to give me something fun to fly around the various moons (since I very rarely land anyway), and two, to allow for precise scanning of ore nodes and easy area marking. Since it uses MPDTs for thrust, it needs a tremendous amount of Electric Charge to run constantly. As such, I put two small Nuclear Generators on board, as well as 3 very large (but light) batteries to sustain flight while using more power than can be generated. However, the bonus is that it carries an impressive amount of dv in a relatively small package. Sunrise launch of the Hangar and the two Seekers It is equipped with three sets of thrusters: the main set consists of two medium-size MPDTs to provide forward thrust. The next is a set of two small MPDTs to provide retro-thrust. Lastly is a set of 4 small MPDTs attached to the bottom of the vessel, to allow for VTOL capabilities. I then (using the Hangar Mod) built a new Station Section that can store at least two Seekers, loaded them in, and sent it up to dock with the Munar Research Station. Once there, we loaded a Goelogist and a Pilot into one of the Seekers, and sent them down to the Mun. It landed safely with about 8,000+m/s of dv remaining, and then cruised just above the surface at a height of less than 1,000 meters and a horizontal speed of 150m/s for nearly a quarter of the planet. Once horizontal speed was established, I switched to the VTOL thrusters and set the throttle so I had a TWR of 1.00, so I could maintain height and speed. Landed again to mark a decent ore node, then headed back up to the Munar station. During the expedition, the Seeker made two landings, cruised low over terrain for nearly half an hour, then returned to the Munar Station with more than half of its fuel remaining. After that, I made some slight modifications and sent up another Hangar (with two Seeker II ships in it) to be sent off to my Joolian Research Station, which is currently orbiting Pol. Low Kerbin Orbit Docked at the Station above Pol

Hehe my latest station launches have been in the 4-5 million dollar range... And fuel for those stations come in at about 1.2 million per launch (for 10km/s dv) Modded career, of course, but I'll see if I can post a video or two

From what I've read, one would be very hard-pressed to even achieve a 50% efficiency with solar panels. So even in the best of cases with current tech, half of the energy is lost constantly. As stated by Gaarst, even if you achieved 100% efficiency, you would never gain additional energy... you would just be constantly recycling the energy you put in. And 100% efficiency, as far as I've read, is impossible with our current tech at least. I think I tried to come up with a similar idea many years ago. And then I tried to come up with a perpetual motion machine using magnets... and learned about thermodynamics and magnetism, and realized all I did was make a very inefficient electric generator. :\

Apparently this was my first post (back in 0.25 era!)

Seperatrons (likely misspelled...) I used to have issues with my radial boosters attacking the central stack, but it hasn't been an issue for a long time. As such, I usually just save on parts by skipping them.

Well, the name Slam Jones came from a character I made in DC Universe Online a few years ago. The avatar started as my avatar for Euro Truck Simulator 2... I ended up finding the image of seeing a big-rig going by with this particular Panda driving it so amusing that I use it for basically any site that I need an avatar for. Not the most exciting stories, I'll admit!

I think someone once calculated the conversion rate based on the known cost per weight of Oxidizer and (I-beam) Steel. Heck if I can find it again, though! Also, I once did a career where 90% of my funds came from a mining rig I had set up near the Runway

(Replaced old pic with new pic!) (OutLander II, features an Orbital Shipyard, a larger yet more efficient Lithium Fuel module, and, at the very bottom, the Hephaestus Industrial Lander) Launched another large OutLander Station (3 large Toroids, Plasmamagnetodynamic Thrusters, Nuclear Reactors, massive solar panels, tons of science equipment, etc etc) and then sent up a new Lithium Tank to it. This new style of dockable-tank uses 13 less parts than my previous version, and has double the capacity. (Getting the new Lithium Tank into orbit requires a pretty hefty Launcher!) Once I got the fuel hooked up in LKO, I finished off and sent my 'Hephaestus' Industrial Lander to dock with it. The Hephaestus carries 5,000m/s of dv (sans ore), and maintains a TWR that allows it to land on most airless moons. Once landed, it is capable of digging up and refining not only fuel, but also Rocket Parts, which means it can build new vessels, miners, etc on site. The main OutLander (plus current Fuel Tank and Hephaestus) has nearly 7,000m/s of dv. Since it can be refueled by the Hephaestus, this should be enough for now. At worst, I can make another very large Lithium tank on Minmus and dock it to the OutLander, thereby increasing the range of the OutLander considerably. (Hephaestus Industrial Lander in the VAB, shown next to Launcher fairing) Since the Station Science Contracts usually give me a few million kerbucks each (and I can launch 4 at a time) money is rather inconsequential in this particular career. I even have Outsourced R&D active, which takes 50% of my Fund gains and converts them to Science. Since I am using a lot of mods with Community Tech Tree, the highest-Tier techs require 10,000 Science each, which means no amount of Science is wasted (when possible)! Here's the view from one of the Workshops in the central Toroid: EDIT: Oh, and question if anyone knows: I am using Near Future mods, and KSP Interstellar. It appears that, for an unknown reason, my OutLander is producing an insane amount of heat then the radiators are set to Automatic. Enough so that all the radial (non-deployable) radiators have exploded! If I turn off Automation for the radiators, they cool back down. My current theory is that the massive solar panels are generating a TON of heat with their proximity to Kerbol... does anyone know if this is true? I'm worried that if I leave the Automated cooling on, then random other bits will heat up dramatically and explode...

What mod is providing that Kaboom option? I'd check that first.

As others have said, FOR SCIENCE! Sometimes I send average-sized modules and construct them one section at a time: And other times, send up the whole whopping thing in one launch: But in the end, my Stations are more like Ships in that they (almost) always pack enough fuel and thrusters to get them to whatever far-flung celestial body they may be assigned to.

Working on a prototype for a new Deep Space Relay to assist my Kerbals in reaching far-flung planets, and helping get their precious, precious science back to Kerbin. I only have two launchers in this career save, though I will often modify the chosen launcher to best suit the payload. In this case, I was able to remove the excess engines from the Upper Stage, and as a result I get approx 3k m/s of dv with the Upper Stage alone! Add to that the 7k m/s of dv that the Relay itself carries, and you can tell that its gonna be able to get pretty darn far. I just hope the relays are powerful enough to function when it gets there! This new line of Relays has about 20x the transmitting power of the old ones. The generation thereafter, if I get that far, is 50x more powerful than what you see here. (On Launchpad with Launcher) (Showing off the panels and making sure everything is able to deploy smoothly) I also took a few pictures of my Joolian Research Station as it made its transfer burn. Despite having significantly better TWR than Ion engines, the MPDTs have a great ISP as well, making them ideal for pushing large ships a long distance. The drawbacks being that, on large ships, the TWR is still relatively low (for example, this was a 40 minute burn), and they require TONS of Electricity, which means you basically have to put a nuclear generator on board (which means radiators as well!) Regardless, the MPDTs allow me to complete missions that either would be too tedious or boring to otherwise embark upon. (Mod for MPDTs: Near Future Propulsion. Mod for massive solar panels and Nuclear Generators: Near Future Electrical and KSP Interstellar Mod for relay dishes: KSP Interstellar)

Largest single-launch station I've done yet: And, after sending up 1.2 million kerbucks worth of Lithium: ... I get about 8k m/s of dv. Possibly more if I remember to stage the empty tanks.