LordKael

If i had to guess, it almost looks like you have something clipped funny, and the game is creating an aero effect that is super flat, instead of following the shape of the vehicle like they normally do

I have a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro that I used on KSP v1.1 and 1.2. Now that I am trying to use in on 1.3, however, I cannot map the axes to work. I've attempted to restart the game, with the joystick plugged, unplugged, and in both 32 and 64bit versions of KSP. The game will recognize the joystick approximately 3/5 times, and when it does recognize it, it will remap every control to Joy.03, regardless of what I bind it to. I have confirmed that the Joystick functions, as it works in a variety of other games, including X-Plane 11

I have everything in my file directory, and checked both download locations... in game, however, I only have the ability to make the impetus drive. I'm playing in sandbox, so i should have all parts accessible.

I just installed the mod, and only seem to have the 3 Karborundum tanks and the IB-1 in my parts menu ingame. I downloaded from Space Dock

Also, check your drag. You may have more drag on the nose than the tail, which would cause the nose to reenter more slowly than the tail, resulting in the whole vehicle flipping around to reenter backwards.

If you're looking to truly DOMINATE the Mun (or any celestial body), I would recommend getting some sort of Colonization mod so that you can start all your missions from there. I'm in the middle of getting a Mun/Minmus/LKO system set up so that I don't have any launches from KSC. Stations, ground bases, space docks, tugs, mining equipment, comm nets... the list goes on and on. And thats all just support infrastructure for my motherships to get to other planets.

Oberth effect is the idea that making a burn closer to the gravity source (planet/star) will net more dV than making an identical burn further away from the gravity source. The simplified version is that burning at periapsis is the most efficient.

Keep in mind that this is actually exactly what happened... His AoA was 45 degrees, and the TWR was phenomenal. A 100+m/s take off speed for a craft that probably weighs 5-9 tons, max, is absurdly fast.

The other way this could be achieved by implementing a standardized (or series of) set of milestone "deadlines" as a modified version of World's First. If you do it by X date, you're actually the first, and get a larger bonus than if you do it after the deadline. I can't imagine this would be terribly difficult to make a mod for. Just requires a prebuilt, modular station with sufficient options that a randomly generated combo of the parts won't ever have a problem.

Keep in mind that with modded parts, nothing is impossible. For example, there are plenty of engines that are crazy powerful, but have a double digit ISP. Those seem ideal for this situation.

Are you attaching it with symmetry on? Please provide additional details, such as root parts of both assemblies, at what point in the flight the rover begins duplicating itself, and if either copy of the rover is clipping into the shuttle or each other?

I would think that the thicker atmosphere would sort itself out. You'd get more drag from the prop, but more lift from the wing surfaces, so it would just be a slower flight. A patient player could, in theory, climb until Eve's atmosphere was around the same density as 10km on Kerbin. This should be a huge boon to dV requirements. Yes, you'd need a massive plane, but if you sent a lander made of mostly mk2 parts, with a balanced mass, and then built modular wings and propellor, you could attach via docking ports in orbit before the descent, and dispose of them on the way back up

clearly, a disposable propellor is the best way. Build yourself a stock bearing. Can slow you down for the landing portion of the descent. and get you through the thick part of the atmosphere with nothing but electrical.

I will occasionally even have 3 part ships. Have a mothership that provides extremely efficient thrust, refining, and power, a reusable lander, and a mining set up. This lets me conduct suites of missions within a single transfer/return window.

This gets to be especially important in space. In atmo, your wings and control surfaces will handle the correction, often without you needing to even notice, but once you get to space, the craft will either need a crazy overpowered RCS set up, or enough reaction wheels to stop Kerbin from rotating. In both scenarios, you lose a lot of efficiency by having offset thrust, so building your spaceplane on a single plane will make life much easier. On the subject of building in a single plane: Don't radially attach things other than wings, lights, comms, etc if you can help it. The way the game handles aero occlusion is overly simplified, and node attached parts will create very little drag, especially if you can manage to use only matching node sizes. It doesn't take into account the offset tool (hotkey 2) when calculating the drag, so you can create some really bizarrely shaped planes that would never fly in real life, but fly like a champ in Kerbal

I send a massive mission there at the first launch window, and then once the whole set up gets there, I release orbital probes, landing probes, land the base unmanned, then land the crew in their shuttle. This has the benefit of not risking lives unduly without having to spend decades waiting for separate launch windows for each stage of the mission series.

I watched a Scott Manley video about docking, and then watched EJ_SA on Twitch to learn how to rendezvous. Took me a good couple hours to do the first manual docking, but that was because I put the MJ part on the wrong side of the decoupler, and the craft was crazy unbalanced. After that, I decided to get good at docking, and have discovered a couple really handy tricks: 1) Always switch over to the other craft ( [ / ] ) and select "control from here" on the target docking port, target the docking port of the primary ship, and then switch back and dock. This will keep the target vessel oriented correctly, and makes docking immensely easier. Of course, this only works with smaller vessels, such as a service module for an Apollo style mission. 2) Use RCS only for translation. Add an extra reaction wheel to the craft, and let the computer handle the rotation. Even in stock KSP, the computer can help a ton by keeping the relevant docking ports lined up and facing each other. Then you just have to translate into the correct approach and cruise in. 3) When building a station or a modular ship, start with the heaviest piece first, not just the center piece. Having the vessel you're docking to weigh more than what you're controlling makes the process go much smoother. Hopefully some of those tips will help you continue to master this element of the game!

Many months ago, I saw a video in which a quad thrusted VTOL type lander flared all four engines out to 45 to kill horizontal velocity, and used the same function to hold a hover. I suppose I assumed the flare was to increase stability. Guess this is what I get for getting my physics from movies.

I don't know whether to be flattered that KSP's Lander/Dropship expert quoted me, or upset that I was wrong... Is it a quirk of the game mechanics that your statement is true, or real physics as well?

I tilt the engines on the VTOL system outwards, so that they are pointed approx 30degrees off vertical, and that adds immeasurable stability to the vehicle on landing, particularly on high thrust maneuvers.

I use camber for the engines to increase stability.

Placing a maker or ship out in the waters East of KSC might be especially helpful for aiming.

Can confirm that density is a function of altitude. The best way to get the answers to your other questions would be to look in the game files at the code.

I've had luck building small planes with very little lift, so, fuselage, stabilizers, and control surfaces. KSP uses the water as a very thick atmosphere, but "gravity" (actually buoyancy) pointing up. I've gotten up to about 35m/s with a single Juno engine on a .625m fuselage, using only the elevons as my "wings". Best of luck with your diving!

I too do this; I take the bare minimum for it to be considered a station and fulfill the contract, assemble it in a modular fashion, and then move the useful components to the stations I'm building. I look at these contracts as "Hey, we're gonna pay you to haul heavy stuff into orbit."