nerdboy64

I'm still getting used to the new aerodynamics, so I always end up having my rockets flip around and rip themselves apart in the ascent phase. If I make it into the upper atmosphere I'm safe, but that middle layer is always rough going, at least for pure rockets.

I used to have a very complicated identification system with codes for the type and purpose of a craft (RT = pure Rocket Transport, HSP = Hybrid Spacecraft (used for SSTO planes) Personnel transport), followed by a number to differentiate multiple craft with the same type and role (RT-1, RT-2, and so on). Now though I mostly just give them whimsical names followed by a Mk. I, II, III, and so on. Sometimes I give them a prefix when I'm coordinating multiple craft in a larger program. My favorite is the Duna Extended Research Program because the acronym is DERP.

Now that school's out of my life, I've been working hard on Alpha 1.0. There's still a long way to go, but I'm making good progress. I already have the basics of free-form systems implemented. Additionally, I have added several new weapons to the game, in addition to re-balancing and visually redesigning the old ones. Click here to read about it on my development blog. Here's a screenshot of the new free-form systems in action. Corridors, cargo holds, weapon controls, and crew quarters are all free-form now.

We recently got a new router at my house, and unlike the previous one it comes with a built-in firewall. This has been causing no shortage of problems with Minecraft, FTP and, as I've just discovered, KSP. When I try to start the launcher, the patcher gets stuck at "Checking for updates," and I suspect it's something to do with the firewall. Does anyone know what IPs and ports KSP uses for checking and downloading patches so I can whitelist it?

Now that I can work on the game again, I've outlined my plans for Shipyard Alpha 1.0. In addition to a shiny, new version number, I have big plans for the update. I wrote an "outline" for it on the Brass Watch Games website. Click here to read it, but be warned, it's quite the wall of text. Like seriously, it's about a meter of vertical screen space. I won't blame you if you just roughly skim it.

After five months, I've finally sorted out my server troubles and released the 0.8.1a update. As usual, it is available both as a full download or through the launcher. The update itself is just a bugfix, certainly not worthy of the time it took to get ready, but now that I can upload again, I can get back to working on actual game content.

The changelog is just an HTML file and operates independently from the actual launcher. I updated it preemptively not expecting the update to go wrong, and now I've edited it again to be less misleading. Unfortunately, the server still refuses to accept the update, which is why you're still getting the bug. I'm updating the changelog to be less misleading while I continue to try to work out the server issues. Glad you like it. Hopefully you don't run into any, y'know, game-breaking bugs or anything.

For reasons unknown to me, the server is rejecting the update every time I try to unload it. I will try again in a few hours and, if that fails, sometime tomorrow. Until then, unfortunately, you will have to put up with the bug.

I've never experienced that in my testing. I'll look into it. EDIT: Nevermind this; see below. Run the game and try to reproduce the problem. Then save, quit, and look in your Shipyard folder (wherever you put the game files) and find debug.txt. Attach it to a post and I'll take a look at it to see what was going on when it happened. EDIT #2: I've done some testing and found your problem. What's happening is the enemy is attacking systems with no crew inside, and rather than stay at zero, they're being assigned negative crew values. Crew are supposed to repair systems at a rate of 5 times the number of crew in the system, so your systems are being negatively repaired. I'll try to fix the problem and release a quick update to elminate it. EDIT #3: I'm uploading a hotfix as we speak to address the problem. I've added multiple layers of protection to ensure that a system's crew cannot drop below zero. If this does not fix your issue, let me know and I'll continue to look into it. The update should be ready to download within a couple hours. The launcher will recognize it automatically, but if you downloaded the full archive, you'll have to reinstall manually. I get that a lot. FTL was part of my inspiration, but hopefully I've done enough to make this a different game.

Man, it's been ages since I posted anything in this old thread. It's also been ages since the last update to the game. Or at least, it had been ages, until I released pre-alpha version 0.8.1 earlier today! The new update includes working items, an improved navigation screen, background music and more. Get it from http://www.brasswatchgames.com/games/shipyard/. You can either download the full game as a .zip file, or download the launcher which will handle that for you as well as checking for future updates. NOTE: If you have the launcher version 2.1 or previous, you may get an error saying "The files received from the server are corrupted." If this is the case, redownload the launcher as there is an updated version which fixes this.

I kinda like your original idea of Gladius. If I had to pick something else, maybe name it after some sort of snake since the shape of the hull could also look like a snake's head. Just don't call it the "cobra" because that would be super cliche.

For something relatively easy like Mun or Minmus, I like to RP a little and do it Apollo-style: 1. Lots of big boosters to get off the ground. 2. Fewer boosters to get up to parking (LKO) orbit altitude. Any leftover fuel will be used to begin the orbital burn. 2.5. For larger payloads, an extra stage may be added to help get into and circularize the parking orbit. Otherwise, this job it split between the second ascent stage and the transfer stage. 3. Transfer stage to get payload from LKO to target. For a full Apollo RP, this is the command unit with lander attached. 4. Descent stage to deorbit the lander and get it down to the surface. 4.5. For a fully Apollo-style mission, the lander will have a second stage to get back to orbit, leaving the descent stage on the surface. Otherwise, the same stage will be used for both functions. Depending on the mission either the lander will rendezvous with the command module, which carries the crew back, or the lander will simply fly back on its own.

I made a terrible mistake spaceship. Composed of seven individual components (central core, crew compartment, rear bit, and 4x engine pods), its main features are idiotically flopping about and lagging my PC into the stone age. It also includes a science lab, seating for 15 kerbals, 5 docking ports (though one is only there as an attachment point for the orbital tug that put it together), and as much electrical power as my current research level will allow (I have neither nuclear power nor the 3m battery packs). Once fully loaded with Kerbals and fuel, I plan to send it to the Jool system to perform science and eventually aid in founding a colony on Laythe. Of course, that's assuming it doesn't shake itself to pieces as soon as I fire up the engines.

It's been a while since I posted here, but yesterday I put up a new development news post: http://www.brasswatchgames.com/2014/08/08/shipyard-development-news-8-august-2014/ The hiatus was due to a three-week family vacation and, after returning, my temporarily switching focus to experimenting with 3D graphics and physics.

Maybe at some point, but it would only come after the single-player mode is close to completion. Also, whatever happens, it would have to be run on private servers as I can't afford to make an official server for a free hobby project. For the normal shop ("Merchants' Guild United Trade Post"), left click while your ship is over the shop (within the green box that appears when you mouse over it) and click "shop." Items don't do anything yet, but that will be the main feature of the next update. Shady Steve's Discount Shuttles is a dummy station, and it will also be fully implemented in the next update.