Barking Sands

I read somewhere that you were planning on tweaking the atmosphere settings to get parachutes working again. I slapped together a quick fix that works well for a gentle reentry at least, but gravity turns to low orbit are a bit out of the question (note that I'm not using the curve variables at all, so they've just been set to zero): ToySolarSystem.cfg at line 112 (Kerbin): [code]@Atmosphere{ altitude = 30000 pressureCurve{ key = 0 101.325 0 0 key = 7000 58.7101 0 0 key = 10000 31.9597 0 0 key = 15000 16.2569 0 0 key = 20000 8.1809 0 0 key = 25000 2.1065 0 0 key = 29000 0.5737 0 0 key = 30000 0 0 0 }}[/code]

Would it be possible to have CKAN manage mods that aren't installed in the KSP GameData folder? I'd like to use CKAN to keep a library of my favorite mods up-to-date, and then use the file manager to manually pull mods from the mod backup library into the game's GameData folder as I decide to use them. It would also be nice if CKAN could keep my personalized settings for each mod in a backup like the "downloads" folder, so I could update or remove mods without resetting them to the default settings.

I love doing rescue missions because it's both fun and it's a great way to bypass that exorbitant cost of new hires. I see more females in need of rescue than males, but it's just barely noticeable. I could definitely see having 10 females in a row, but I haven't had it happen myself yet. From what I've personally experienced, the probabilities of a female vs. a male in a rescue mission is about the same distribution as kerbals available for hire in the Astronaut Complex. I also think that the Steam forum post on this topic was a troll. A very successful troll.

Wow, thanks for this! It was released sooner than I expected. Couple of things right off the bat: In "Experiment.cfg" it reads "Wernher is especially exited" when it should be spelled "excited." Waypoint Manager isn't included in the list of optional dependencies to accompany this contract pack. Definitely should be in that list. Again, you rock. Thank you.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b8izcx1m2omz1vo/RSS_Stock_ISP.rar ^^ Link to a quick "ISP difficulty scaler" mod that ISN'T the ISP Difficulty Scaler, if that makes sense. I just threw together a bunch of config data that boosts ISP to 240% of stock. The stock ISPs are included in comments if you feel a need to tweak around with the scaling. This is more ISP than you'd need for RO, but without any boost to engine thrust, you'll spend more time getting around gravity during launch to orbit and therefore will require more delta-V. This way, stock parts that used to make it to orbit still will, but stock builds that used transition burns to other bodies will now be way overpowered. Only stock parts are included in the list, so no mods like KW Rocketry are supported. Just a cheap fix, hence the name "cheap." Also doesn't fit too well with MechJeb or KER, as the max thrust isn't calculated properly. Requires Module Manager. For RSS now, the early alpha version is available. Instructions are here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/55145-0-90-Real-Solar-System-v8-6-1-Mar-30/page544 (Note posts #5433 & #5435) Don't expect it to work all that well, as it is in early alpha and uses the primary components from the 0.90 version as KSP-AVC will inform you during the loading screen. Some parts of the planets seem to have glowing holes in them, and it crashes fairly frequently but is still playable using the 2048 texture version only.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=451831161 ^^ Completed my first contract (collect science at the Highlands: crew report in flight, crew report landed, mystery goo landed, eva report landed, and materials study landed). I had to exit and relaunch the game because Jeb decided to screw around during EVA (controls don't work, WASD all just make him walk straight forward -- anybody else had this issue?). Upon reopening my career and selecting my vessel to "fly," I finished the round of experiments and clicked the green "recover vessel" button hiding behind the altimeter. The mission still registers as incomplete on all counts in the Mission Control building, and there are just green checkmarks but no green highlights for each of the mission requirements as shown in the screenshot. Did I screw this up somewhere or did I find a bug? Couldn't be bothered trying to replicate it at this point; everything KSP related is going screwy for me today.

Check out Custom Barn Kit here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/121100 ^^ Along with ModuleManager, this mod will allow you to create custom career parameters. Custom strategies aren't possible with it, unfortunately, but it does allow you to tweak around with the hiring cost settings at will. recruitHireBaseCost is the cost of that first recruit hired recruitHireFlatRate is the flat rate increase if using a fixed rate to change hire costs per Kerbal recruitHireRateModifier is a recurring multiplier (like an interest rate) that compounds if not using a fixed rate recruitHireFixedRate is a Boolean (true/false) that selects between fixed rate or compounding rate for price increases Used by itself, the mod will establish a 10,000 fund first hire cost and a 1.5% compounded cost increase for each subsequent hire. Hope this helps.

The 1 point when the contract says only "(+1)" doesn't look right, but that's how it's laid out until it gets changed to reflect the total value followed by the added value properly (if the total value is initially "0" then it won't show a total value at all even when it increases to 1 or more). It should be saying "4(+1)" when the actual total value is 3.5 because it's rounding to the nearest whole number. Squad could add a decimal point or two to make this clearer.

I have a suggestion for this problem: Add a function to the staging panel in the VAB/SPH and in flight. When right-clicking on a stage that has a decoupler, you can toggle "persistent" to have the game continue to track the components attached to that stage decoupler until it is recovered/destroyed (default "off"). Drawbacks to this method: the game would have to use a background simulation for that stage after it's detached, which would eat up CPU/RAM resources and there could be physics glitches (Kraken) as a result. It does have a chance of working, however, and it's also a method that doesn't affect gameplay or performance when not actively applied.

Not sure what you mean by "improve existing parts." You want to be able to spend more funds and science to continue researching parts that you've already unlocked so that you can increase their stats in some way (e.g. higher ISP for an engine; lower dead-weight factor for a fuel cell)? Doesn't sound like something even remotely simple to mod. There is just such a large collection of stats which are unique to each type of component, this sounds like it would be a nightmare just to write up the basic plan before coding even begins.

Did you try the "Wispy Mid-Res Alternative" volumetric clouds on the 2nd step? Suggest you go back and try that one instead.

This is almost starting to sound like a request for a mod to add these elements to a science mode game (which would be a topic for the "General Add-on Affairs" forum). Replacing funds with science points sounds pretty interesting; I'm guessing building and launching vehicles doesn't have any cost or only costs 1 science per 10,000ish funds. Any idea if the reputation system should be sustained or improved? I don't know much about contract modding, but I don't think you can add a building upgrade to the rewards of a contract in a modded script; unless there's some way to include that feature to a rather more complicated plugin. @TW1: I personally use edited career save files to do whatever I happen to feel like doing. Not exactly what you're looking for, but it's a little similar in that it's a way to produce a custom career mode. If you're interested, I have a career save pack including an experimental (WIP) "Vulcan Funeral Affairs" career. Most of the facilities are destroyed at the start and there are zero funds and -1000 reputation. The idea is to save the space center through judicious use of contracts. It's pretty darned hard.

Just looked up Scatterer, and it looks amazing! v0.0151 dated 20 May 2015 (today) still says it's a work in progress. Any idea what they mean by that? It looks pretty complete to me. I'm using the old Astronomer's Visual Pack with E.V.E. with includes "BoulderCo/Clouds/10 Astronomer's Atmosphere" in lieu of a "Scatterer" folder. That adds in some atmospheric scattering with just a hint of warmer colors near the day/night separators. Only folders in my GameData directory related to the AVP mods: BoulderCo DistantObject EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements PlanetShine Everything works just fine. KSP-AVC tells me that there are 3 mods installed during the startup sequence: Automatic Version Checker, E.V.E., and PlanetShine. I'm interested in following Scatterer now though ... does it fix the cloud collisions with mountain tops in AVP/EVE?

If you look to the left, you'll see me dancing in some sort of ... well, I believe the correct term is "jig." This "surface sample" contract doesn't unlock until after the R&D building gets the necessary upgrade I hope. Don't like the prospect of having experiments show up in those lists if I'm unable to perform them. Other than that slight apprehension of mine, it looks terrific. Thank you for the outstanding effort. It's going to be this and the anomaly surveyor that Squad really should consider implementing into the stock game. Seriously, that needs to happen.

Perhaps; but it would help if you posted some of the content from that crash report. Preferably an excerpt of whatever you feel is relevant, or perhaps just add the lot of it to a giant spoiler. Adding spoilers on this forum involves using brackets ],[ (in lieu of parenthesis) in a manner such as: (spoiler=Click to expand giant wall of text ...) Giant wall of text (/spoiler) Just looked at KSPRC v-0.2 [0.90] and it's a big one. That JJ Abrams style lens flare is suspect. Last mod I used that included lens flare was in 0.90, and even then it had a nasty habit of making the ground disappear visually. It also involved backing up and replacing a game file instead of adding a file to a GameData folder. So that mod didn't last very long. Also checked http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/116916-Comprehensive-Mod-Compatibility-List-for-KSP-1-0 for any entry regarding KSPRC and didn't see any. Very likely it isn't compatible with version 1.0.2. I personally use EVE with a few select addons from the old Astronomer's Visual Pack. Doesn't stagger my brain just looking at the stunning visuals, but it really does look amazingly presentable and more importantly it works flawlessly. Might want to look into an alternative, and I recommend AVP.