Mjarf

They're for keeping mining equipment from overheating actually. You also seem to have a significant amount of monopropellant on your crafts, but better safe than sorry I guess.

Good job, your craft got her to Minmus and back safely. Don't take this the wrong way, but there seems to be quite a bit of unnecessary stuff on your lander, or maybe it's for aesthetics?

Vanilla KSP can be pretty too

I don't really get what people are complaining about. The autostrut and rigid attachment features were literally game changers, my rockets are almost boringly stable now, and I launch some pretty wonky stuff sometimes. I remember a time when you had to build a damn scaffolding onto the boosters to keep the thing stable.

I would actually love to see a gearbox for the rover wheels to get more torque.

Huh, it was the other way around for me, I had probably done close to a hundred Mun landings before my first successful rendezvous and docking. The docking maneuver wasn't very difficult, but it was difficult to wrap my brain around how to use lower or higher orbits to catch up or wait for the other craft.

Ah yes, the first successful Mun mission is definitely a kick. I always find it interesting to see how different designs people use for their Mun landers, seems like yours got the job done, so that's a success. Just wait until you do your first successful rendezvous and docking, that's an even bigger high.

Welp, finally got back to KSP after a loong break, let's see what kind of shenanigans my little green dudes get into this time around. You guys seem to have been really productive since my last visit.

It's time for me to start a showcase thread, I've gotten quite eager with crane building in addition to building space crafts lately, so might be fun to share my designs. I like to use names from Norse mythology, might be a bit cliche or a bit corny, but hey, we're all nerds here, right? It'll mostly be cranes at first, but I might post some cargo trucks and maybe even some actual space crafts later on. The first craft in this thread is the Gullfax CH heavy crane, I have tested it with loads up to 40 tons, but the top beams bend quite a bit with this much weight, so this is probably close to the structural limit. It can't lift stuff particularly high, but it's very stable and robust, it's remote controlled via an OKTO 2 core. It has two OX-STAT-XL solar panels on top for recharging, it has a battery capacity of 3205 EC so one can get quite a bit of work done even at night. I might do a version with RTG's for use on the outer planets. It's relatively easy to transport because of it's symmetrical and not overly wide shape. The mods used are KAS, KIS and USI FTT, it will fit inside a stock 3.75m fairing. KerbalX link: https://kerbalx.com/Mjarf/Gullfax-CH

Welp, I build more cranes than Spacecrafts these days, it's fun though.

Congratulations, may your future piloting career contain fewer crashes than in KSP.

That's a really fancy craft you got there. I built something a bit more low tech today, but surprisingly complex: Cue the "Mission: Impossible" theme: Mods: KIS, KAS, and pretty much all of the USI mods.

It's possible that the article I read about it was wrong. I can't find anything about it on Google either.

It'll make a separate part still? It would be fun to make an entire mod, will have to learn 3D modelling too for that...

Not a big feat compared to all the awesome stuff other people in the community do, but today I made my first "mod". We're not exactly talking a game changer, I simply copied and modified the files for the "Nerv" engine to make the "Nerv Mk2" that has higher ISP. I balanced it out with slightly higher mass and lower electric output.

If by "Kerbal Rocket" you mean excessive and complex, this should fit well in this thread:

I have to admit that sometimes when I watch a Sci-fi movie I imagine what it would be like if a spacecraft piloted by Kerbals appeared into the movie and started poking around or intervened. For example, when watching "Apollo 13" I imagine how funny it would be when they're at the dark side of the Moon, a Kerbal space craft suddenly appears and in their funny language ask if they need assistance and one of them EVA's over and knock on the window. the Apollo 13 crew is of course very confused, but grateful to get help from their new green friends.

I agree, The Mun is actually one of the more interesting celestial bodies in the game. More than once have I landed in a location and though "Hey, I like the view, I think might actually build a base here". The other planets aren't very interesting though, apart for maybe the moons of Jool.

AMD Ryzen user here, pretty sure my Windows 10 OS is fully updated and I haven't noticed any difference in performance. KSP actually seems to run a bit smoother than when I just build this latest system, might just be wishful thinking though.

Many good points here, but KSP can definitely be at least as exciting as "cowadoody", it's just exciting in a more rewarding way. "Cowaddody" is just regular adrenaline rush exciting, KSP is more "uh oh, my Kerbals are stuck in interplanetary space, but that means I get the extra challenge and extra reward of saving them somehow:D" exciting. I definitely agree with you about Kerbal Engineer, best mod ever, the features should definitely be implemented in the next KSP version.

Surface docking is a real pain to do, you should definitely be pleased. I needed at least 10 tries to do a successful surface docking at an old mun base. I eventually determined that it was much easier and cost a lot less fuel to just land really close and transfer the fuel with a rover.

Blasphemy! There is no such thing as too many boosters!

To produce more crew?

I'm a bit cliche and use vessel classes with names from Norse mythology, and add a number to show the generation and one or more letters to show it's purpose or special features. N for nuclear engines (except for Freya and Sleipnir class), C for crew transport ships, L for logistics, S if it's equipped with science equipment, and H (as in Heavy) if it's an extra large variant of the ship class. Freya: Extra large interplanetary ships with one or more hangar bays and more exotic propulsion systems. Sleipnir: This is the second biggest class of ships used for interplanetary journeys, they always have nuclear powered engines. Hugin: Smaller short range crafts used either for trips within Kerbin SOI or as a landing craft for Sleipnir or Freya class ships. Munin: This class consists of wheeled rovers or small hovercrafts used for shorter surface trips or biome hopping. Gullfax: Basically space trucks, used for mining or hauling resources, crew or equipment on the surface. Heimdall: This class consists of small to medium sized ships used for orbital logistics, such as moving crew, fuel or equipment to and from ships in orbit. Fenrir: SSTO's/spaceplanes. Kvasir: Probes and comm. relays. Valhalla: Large space stations, usually with one or more fuel depots. Yggdrasil: Space stations dedicated to science. Thor: This class consists of experimental super heavy boosters. Sometimes I think I put too much thought into things in this game, but hey, that's half the fun, right?

I find it interesting that Mars, seems to be as jinxed as Duna is. About half the probes NASA has sent to mars has failed in some way, and in KSP I have actually had about the same luck. I guess it's because I tend to underestimate Duna, it seems so harmless with it's thin atmosphere and relatively low gravity. The thing is that the atmosphere is too thin for effective aerobraking and parachutes are almost dead weight, while the gravity is weak, but not as weak as on Mun or Minmus, so you pick up quite a bit of speed on the way down.