sal_vager

You want the experimental version, on the first post.

I\'ll have a go at both bases please.

Okay I\'m testing the Lazor now, my suggestion for the white beam is to keep it simple show the targeted vessel name, think of it as the Lazor getting the other ships transponder signal so it knows what it has targeted, and maybe the white beam should have the ability to get the distance to the target (and ground), this would be much like the current pink marker we see but would be part of the Lazor panel so wouldn\'t disappear when close, and would be more useful than the grey marker we see on debris. This way it\'s not totally dependent on having other colours, and a simple Lazor setup with just the white beam would be useful as a very basic rendezvous and landing aid, this would be good for experienced pilots who only need a few simple tools (distance readout) from time to time and mostly fly by hand and eye. I think those two abilities plus the targeting ability are all the white beam needs, also I like that the beam intensity changes with set range. The green scanning beam currently shows distance, maybe if distance is a basic part of the white beam it\'ll be visible on every subsequent mode? Things that are useful to know about a target should all go into the green mode, such as it\'s altitude, speed, heading and capabilities, maybe the info should be less accurate with distance? That would make it harder to control rovers from orbit but would also help make the system more immersive, you\'d be more inclined to close the distance so you get good readings, lasers are known for operating over very long distances though, maybe later when weather is added the Lazor might be affected by clouds. Also, one green beam might only give you the info when the scan button is pressed, while three might allow for continuous real-time scanning of the target, also later it would be good if a check is made to see how many Lazors are actually hitting the target. The blue beam looks well set up, and later when there are cameras added to KSP, the blue beam could gather the image data from the targets cameras (by communicating with the target), letting us see what the rocket or rover can see, this would be great for remote probe exploration. I tested the blue beam on one ship that was almost 100% mods and with another that was 100% stock, both craft failed to get off the pad, I was able to activate and control it\'s engines though, with both craft there was no activity with remote SAS activated, engine thrust ceased and stages could not be advanced. No ideas for the red Lazor yet, I\'ll put my output log here so you can see the Lazor was working, I have no idea why the ships didn\'t launch, also the decouplers fired but some parts that were off the ground did not fall, that launchpad was 333.6m away from the Lazor test craft. I tested activating the engines and then switching to the stock craft via the Lazors 'Fly' command, it had used some fuel as normal and I was able to launch it, just not remotely. I\'m playing on a Linux PC using Wine to run KSP, so maybe my system isn\'t compatible? I had some issues with older Mechjeb also, but the current version works fine. Edit: Forgot to mention the text that pops up when selecting buttons, that\'s a really good feature and made using the Lazor much easier, thanks.

One RCS tank is enough to get a capsule and chute from the Munar surface back to Kerbin, with a minimum of three thrusters, it\'s not easy sure but it\'s not that hard either.

Well currently you\'d want info pertinent to what you are scanning, if you are trying to dock you\'d want relative velocities and inclination for example, as well as distance. Maybe an ability to scan the terrain below or in front of you could show info such as true height above ground, and slope angle if any, making landing less dangerous. I believe that later we\'ll need a system to scan other planets for atmospheric composition, surface features, temperature and similar, and those metrics will be somewhere in the game for each planet and moon, the Lazor would be the ideal system to scan for these things when they are added to the game. You are right that the Lazor is almost godlike in it\'s ability currently, which is great as an unlockable developer mode, but to help with immersion the system will have to be toned down a bit, not made hard to use though, but there does need to be limits to it\'s power, I do agree though that mouse control of the beam would be a good thing, it\'d be a lot faster and more intuitive as well. Finding Munoliths would be useful but also can potentially remove the fun of finding them if it\'s too easy to do, perhaps the Lazor shouldn\'t pinpoint their location with much accuracy, implementing a fuzzy targeting system now would also save work later if alien ruins are added to KSP.

Okay I\'ll try this later today, I think the white beam should be just scanning and targeting as well, as it\'s a pretty fundamental function that must be performed before any other effects can be used, maybe the white beam can give you the distance to the target as well while green can give you other info like it\'s parts, fuel levels, orbital characteristics (similar to Mechjeb but for remote targets) and stuff like that. Perhaps the Lazor should allow remote control of debris as well, if you ever played Independence War you\'d have seen the REM mode where you could remote control other craft if their command module was missing, the debris would need a SAS or something so you can steer it though. Personally I think the Lazor should be more of a tool than a weapon like Tosh\'s laser, but there\'s no reason why the Lazor shouldn\'t also have destructive abilities, I\'ll see if I can think of a way to make the Lazor more distinctive though.

That\'s already fantastic, but when I get more ideas for you I\'ll definitely tell you Hopefully in future when KSP has more features like multiplayer, the communications Lazor could allow for simulating secure laser communication between two ships. Another thing that might be useful would be a scanning Lazor that can list all the parts, fuel levels and states of things like landing legs on remote ships, this mode would be handy when managing remote craft without having to switch to them just to see if they have enough fuel left.

One of my plans for when docking is introduced is to build a mothership with several landers attached, I could make something like that now and just use Mechjeb to control each lander, but remote control would be so much cooler.

You know where this needs testing? in space! You could make other craft dock with you, or remote control Toshes tiny rover on the Mun, it\'s brilliant

Romfarer wants to activate RCS via his control panel, instead of having to press 'R', it won\'t activate automatically, but I think I know what you mean, you want the RCS on your own craft kept off right? So Mechjeb doesn\'t waste all your fuel while you are trying to maneuver the other ship?

It sounds like you have the dream addon for many people here, if you can use SAS and rotation controls on another ship to hold it steady during rendezvous you\'ll have solved a major problem people have had with docking. It\'ll be better than Mechjeb @Kreuzung, what?, Romfarer\'s Lazer can let you use another crafts RSC if you want to, that is not a small thing, and adding the ability to turn on it\'s SAS (and ASAS with it) is just great.

Last time I tried Mechjeb on an RCS equipped craft it failed to use the RCS and ploughed my ship into the Mun, what Romfarer is trying to do is operate another vessels RCS independently to the current ship, one use would be to deorbit a nearby ship or stage using it\'s RCS while it is in range.

Just being able to rotate and stage other craft would already be amazing, it\'d help for rendezvous and docking, if you can do stuff like activate the other craft\'s SAS and landing legs as well, wow you\'d really have something here. Hopefully someone can help with the RCS, there must be a way.

I think the most useful tutorial for new pilots would be something that shows all the stock parts, what they do and basic rocket construction, we get a lot of pepole asking about landing legs or using multiple ASAS for example. A VAB and ship building tutorial if you will.

Hi TerranCmdr, I had this happen to me with a part that was working fine, I\'m not sure what caused it but I deleted a virtice that was just floating around, I must have moved it without realizing and it wasn\'t attached to anything, but after that the model wouldn\'t load, I was forced to restart the project. Another thing you can try first is redo all your UV maps, as if one part is missing its UV KSP doesn\'t like to build it.

Yeah RCS tank + ground = boom, and so do folded legs + ground. But, I have a working Munar rover with RCS thrusters as the tires, I have to be careful to land on them and not the tanks, also the top RCS tank tends to break off the top of the capsule and no amount of struts will prevent that.

I just tested rolling a thing like this on it\'s side on the launchpad, and the legs explode when they contact the ground, they need to be extended Maybe 2 RCS tanks would be enough to get you home, but all those legs weighs quite a bit.

Will the chute still work when he jeb_kerman gets back to Kerbin? I have had chutes deploy early before and they break.

There\'s no draw distance control, and you can see the second space center from quite far away, you just need to be in the right place More images here. Finding the Munoliths though, now that\'s hard.

The Gimbals were and are the parts that allowed a gyroscope remain stationary as the craft around it rotates, more info here.

Wow that is an amazing time mager42, well done

Hi Vamperion, I can\'t help you with your render distance, but if you try Tosh\'s cart mod you\'ll be able to drive up to the KSC and have a good look.

Hi Trekkin, the only way to move faster than your rendezvous target is to lower your orbit, that way you\'ll be moving faster and can get ahead of it, then raise your orbit again.

It\'s possible to make a stock rover but they are delicate, you\'ll need F5 a lot

I always though AA was for low resolutions where the jagged edges were most noticeable, while at hi res you didn\'t really need it. For me with KSP, I do see a small difference but it doesn\'t seem to matter what setting I choose, 2x is just as good as 8x, but in other games I have seen more of an improvement with higher AA settings, but even then it\'s only really noticeable when the resolution was low to start with.