JetJaguar

I build modular craft, with a booster section and a payload section. Each basic booster design is given an incremental Greek letter (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and so on) and incremental modifications are numbered. So, Gamma 2 would be the second revision of my third booster design. If the modification is only extra strap-on boosters to increase capacity, then I stick "Heavy" on the end (Gamma 2 Heavy). Most payloads are given unimaginitive, descriptive names. Satellites built for a contract are named for the company and numbered sequentially ("Winter Owl 3"). Science payloads usually just say what they are: Mun Lander 1 is the first Mun lander, for example. Manned capsules are given themed names, with a different theme each playthrough (last time was birds of prey). The full-up vehicle is then called payload name - booster name: "Winter Owl 3 - Gamma 2 Heavy". Finally, my early career one-offs and launchpad tests are called "X" and numbered (X-1, X-2, X-3...). My system seems complicated when I type it all out like that, but it isn't really.

I've got about 650 hours in Elite: Dangerous and am Elite rank in exploration (though combat Elite is what I really want - I'm only master there). Haven't played in awhile, but I'm just getting back into it since the 4th season was just released. The only add-on that I would consider essential is the Horizons expansion. That enables surface landing and adds a lot to gameplay. If anyone wants to add me I'm Commander Seon Hyo-Jung. My home port is Menzies Station in Tiangchi. It's a fairly quiet system with both Imperial and Federation factions, which helped with ranking up both at the same time. There's also a nearby system with a compromised nav beacon for bounty hunting. See you in the black, o7.

Mine's a picture of Jet Jaguar, a giant, flying, Ultraman-like robot from the movie "Godzilla vs. Megalon". Jet Jaguar is my standard online name, and I always use the same avatar.

My rockets are divided into a payload section and a booster section. For boosters, I always use greek letters for the class name (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma...). Modified/upgraded versions get a letter tacked on (Gamma A, Gamma B). These booster sections are saved as subassemblies. For payload sections, manned command pods get names from a common theme, which changes with each playthrough. In my current career game that's ships from Elite: Dangerous. Probes and satellites are less creative. Contract satellites are just named for the contracting organization plus a sequential number: Zaltonic 2 is the second satellite launched for Zaltonic, for example. Probes get a name that describe what they do - "Duna Surveyor" is a SCANsat/science probe for Duna. So the final, full name is payload section + booster section. "Zaltonic 2 Alpha" would be the name of the second satellite for Zaltonic, and launched using an Alpha booster.

Just an update so nobody thinks I forgot, I'm still working on getting my planets to a shareable state. The pack will include the following: - Kepler 7b analogue, a hot Jupiter - Sedna analogue - Haumea analogue, including the largest member of it's collisional group - Planet Nine analogue I'm choosing these four from my collection because they are more or less complete and support EVE, Scatterer, Orbital Science, Planetshine, and Distant Object Enhancement, and have Final Frontier ribbons. I'm having trouble with one of Planet Nine's moons. You see, these planets were originally made in 1.2.2. But when I simply copied them into 1.4.3, this moon is just a grey ball. As a test, I tried it in 1.3.1 and get the same thing. Once I figure out what changed between 1.2 and 1.3 (any ideas?) and get this moon sorted, I'll upload the pack.

Yes, Kerbal Construction Time adds depth by making time a commodity that you have to account for in your planning. I was first drawn to this mod because it didn't feel right that you can go from nothing to landing on Mun in like two game weeks. In my current game, I just noticed the transfer window to Duna is opening up, and the mission is going to be constrained by what I have time to build and the relatively early state of the tech tree at the moment. Though I primarily use them for roleplaying purposes, the Orbital Science and Surface Experiment Pack mods also help speed up the tech tree. I don't reduce the science payout with these mods because that just makes the grind longer, but I can understand why some would want to do that.

I'm not that far along in a new 1.4.3 career game, and last night I managed to save a bucking rocket and rode it to orbit. It was for a satellite contract, and I have a standardized, basic lightweight design I use for these. The contract called for a materials bay, so without thinking I just tacked one on. Now this rocket is only marginally stable to begin with, but nothing you can't handle so long as you don't stray too far from the prograde marker. Adding the bay must have shifted the cg or aero enough to destabilize it (I didn't check) and after the side boosters staged, it oscillated wildly in all directions. Didn't do a complete flip, but was 90 degrees to the direction of travel many times. Luckily, the satellite is so minimal in design that it has a ton of surplus dV, so once I got high enough to escape the atmosphere it was still able to reach it's planned orbit. I renamed the satellite "The Prancing Pony".

I'm using that mod in 1.4.3 and it still works.

I guess you could add me to that list as well. I'm an aerospace engineer, and a lot of the knowledge I use to play KSP I learned in my Orbital Mechanics and Jets and Rockets* courses in college. That little XKCD comic that shows a graph of understanding of orbital mechanics over time is pretty much true for me, except I've never worked for NASA. *I don't remember what the official name of "Jets and Rockets" was. Something-Propulsion, I think. Everyone just called it Jets and Rockets.

For an example of procedurally-generated intersteller systems, take a look at how it's done in Elite: Dangerous. The entire Milky Way galaxy is explorable. Each system is also it's own instance that is loaded during your hyperspace jump - the hyperspace animation is actually a loading screen in disguise. There are a few cases of stars close enough together that flying to one in normal supercruise is possible, but when people have tried it they find empty space because the system isn't loaded. I understand that the amount of data actually stored in E:D is not as much as you might think. Since systems are procedural, you only need to save a starting seed to rebuild the system on loading. Variety is a problem though. No matter how much detail you add to the procedural generator, you will still eventually see the same sorts of generic planets over and over again.

Well, you'll find out soon enough. Now I'm going to release a planet pack purely out of spite.

What's the deal with the weak reaction wheels? You have to put RCS thrusters on everything to get a decent amount of control.

Was this directed at me, or the OP? If me, then if you don't want to use my planets, you don't have to. In fact, I don't want you to. I'll write into the license agreement that you, specifically, are not allowed. OP, ignore him. Everyone starts somewhere. This is an ambitious goal, but just start by picking one, read some tutorials, and go for it. When you come across a problem, look at other planet packs and see how others accomplished the same thing. I'd start with a gas giant, they're fairly easy.

Tell you what, I'll bundle up the planets I've made that I feel are complete enough for public consumption into a pack and post them up. Maybe I'll have time this weekend to do that. Even if nobody plays them, they might be useful as a tutorial since whenever I ran into a problem, I left comments in the config files to remind myself of the solution.

OPM, and some planets of my own making.