MacroNova

It seems the shields don't just ablate due to atmospheric heating. If your spacecraft starts to overheat for any reason, some of that heat will dissipate through the shield, wearing it out.

RIP my F5 key. (But seriously, your mod is awesome and I am really excited to play with it in 1.0)

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet (or I missed it) but you can tone down engine gimbaling in the tweakable menu.

Good thread. I said this elsewhere, but I really think that some of the early Kerbin Survery contracts need to be at lower altitudes so it's clear to and possible for the player to use a plane. Instead of "above 19,000m" make it "between 1000m and 8000m." As for the landing legs, I assumed I was supposed to use them to land my Heatshield + Science Jr + Capsule, not to land the whole spacecraft engine and all. But I stopped messing with this when I ran into the same re-entry orientation issues as everyone else. IMO, good career mode balance means I have the tools to do most contracts when I get them or shortly thereafter, and it means I only need to do a certain type of contract a couple of times.

Having played career mode in the past, I knew that Hard would be very grindy and so I picked Normal instead. I was glad I did, as the progression so far seems reasonable. It sounds like Hard is not the right mode for you OP. You don't have to play every game on the hardest difficulty to feel like a playa!

I'm really liking 1.0 but that doesn't mean I won't come to the forum to discuss its flaws. Constructive feedback from the community is very valuable. Unfortunately there's also that other kind of feedback floating around.

Well, this is certainly good to know! And I'm glad they made the change. I literally never used the shielded panels prior to 1.0.

Well, docking mode does give you the slightly different UI.

Hey Matt, shouldn't you be beta testing Long War? :-D There was definitely a learning curve with the new heat shields and re-entry system, and actually flying a craft safely from orbit to the ground was not as satisfying as I was expecting. Eventually I got good enough at it that it didn't bother me too much, but I really think Squad should rebalance this ASAP. It was much smoother with DRE/FAR.

With the jet engines and survey contracts, I think the solution is to simply retune the altitudes for the contracts. Instead of surveying at over 19,000 meters, how about surveying BETWEEN 6000 and 11000 meters, that way the obvious choice is a plane and the plane can actually do the job.

Try to bring a materials bay and/or goo canister and/or thermometer on your missions, and remember to run the experiments in various biomes and various altitudes. Don't forget about crew reports and EVA reports. I brought some science experiments for a high Munar flyby (only takes about 900 more delta-v than getting to orbit), and between those and crew/EVA reports I brought home about 80 science I think.

heretic!!

I've sunk an appalling number of hours into this game. Whatever criticism might be leveled against Squad - both warranted and not - I know that I got my money's worth, and then some. And I know I will continue to reap incredible value from my purchase. Plus I got to be a small part of an excellent game's development. Thanks Squad and all the best as you move forward!

In that case, my sin is wishing you could use the computer when you have a Kerbal on board. It's so much better at piloting than the Kerbals are.

It's still productive to discuss what you think would be best for the game overall. This thread addresses the assumption that many seem to be making, that a more realistic atmosphere would be less fun. Many people have made various points to the contrary, explaining why they think a more realistic atmosphere would be more fun, even for newer and less-skilled players.

Oooh, good tip!

Thanks for the responses guys. I was trying to design a Mun/Minmus base that wouldn't be a total bear to land. You know, something a little wider so it wouldn't tip over on me instantly. Still playing stock right now, so ridiculous looking craft launch just fine. I know I can re-orient things in orbit with docking ports, but the weak joints and slightly-offset modules that would result from that make me hesitant. I guess that will have to be the answer if put FAR back in.

Having the hardest time attaching certain parts to each other radially, particularly the Hitchhiker Storage Container. I can attach the Radial Attachment point to the side, and I can attach radial attachment points to each other, so clearly it should work. Is it just not possible or what?

That would be way too punishing. That means you can't complete the tech tree until you do every single experiment at every single biome in the game. Which means you have to visit many biomes multiple times as new science instruments unlock. So tedious! I don't think it should be possible to unlock the whole tree without ever going to another planet, but I also don't think it should require quite that level of grinding.

There seems to be an assumption among many in this thread that the current stock atmosphere is more fun than a more realistic atmosphere would be. In fact, I think a more realistic atmosphere would just be different. It might require relearning a couple of things, but once you learn them, flying in the new atmosphere will be just as easy as the old one. And heck, a new player won't even know the difference. Some people find it fun to launch crazy monstrosities into space, which would be harder with a more realistic atmosphere. But some people also find it fun to design rockets that are aerodynamically logical and will tip over if poorly designed. Plus you get that satisfying feeling when you get to space, release the fairings and reveal your spacecraft in all its spaceworthy glory. Again, this isn't about difficulty, but people having different tastes. So put me down for preferring more realism in the atmosphere, and also put me down for not believing this would make the game more difficult or less fun.

Definitely not Final Frontier. Hopefully there will be many frontiers still to come. I like Kerbal Space Program as the actual name, with We Have Liftoff/Ignition as the "tagline."

I strongly recommend you work on your rendezvous and docking skills, as that will open up many new possibilities for you. Where are you having the most trouble?

I bet the contract has like a 15 year expiration date. Something tells me you will be able to unlock rover wheels before then.

Concentrate on making the new aerodynamic model the best possible blend of realism and fun. If that means some old designs don't work, then so be it.

Isn't it much more efficient to launch to orbit and rendezvous with an orbital station, than do a sub-orbital hop and landing for that? With the orbital station, it's one landing and one launch per biome. With the surface outpost, each biome you explore requires two sub orbital hops and two landings (one out, and one back).