MrBonk

Wow...so much great info here! Now I can't wait to get home from work to try more designs out I didn't realise the MK2 parts were so draggy. I originally only used them because I wanted the cargo bay size for doing the "rescue Bob and his wreck from orbit" contracts, but they also *looked* like they should be less draggy than the other bits. I'm very keen to try an all MK1 design now with an inline cockpit, so that's gonna be my first job this evening. I knew I had too much engine when I realised I could go supersonic in such a steep climb, but I ran out of time last night to try anything else before I had to get some sleep. This working-for-a-living thing is seriously interfering with my gaming time these days! Thanks again for all the effort for such detailed replies. This is exactly what I needed to get me going in the right direction (pun may or may not have been intended there lol)

Thanks everyone for the input. I've tried to refine a couple of my more 'promising' designs, using the suggestions regarding drag reduction. I've also been experimenting with different intakes/positions, and had some surprising results. Anyway, following the design hints and launch profile advice, I've managed to get 2 of these into *very* low orbit, with enough fuel to spare to deorbit and then fly the remaining distance back to the KSC, so I'm really happy with that result It's interesting to see just where some of the drag is being generated in these designs. Even the 'joints' between wing panels etc, which is something I hadn't originally considered might be an issue. I used this design HERE, which performed quite well and was able to punch through the 300m/s mark with ease, even in a 45deg climb! I only just made it to orbit with this though, and only *just* had enough fuel to deorbit. The final revision of this is HERE, and had 2 of the Whiplash jets swapped out for a pair of RAPIERs, which made all the difference once I switched them to closed mode for the rocket boost portion. Both designs used a pair of Aerospike engines for the rockets. The final result HERE. So at least I'm finally on the right track. Thanks everyone

Yeah, I got the same issues with the stock setup, so I figured it was probably a Unity thing. Interesting that you don't get the same issues on Linux. I'm using the 64bit version in Win10. The other controllers I tried were both Logitech ones. One an Extreme3DPro joystick, and the other an F710 wireless gamepad. I can get any of these devices to work just fine on their own, but once they're combined with another controller, whichever one ends up as the second one is unusable, due to the input lag. Again, however, I can set this same scenario up using the AFBW mod and all combinations of all controllers work fine. So I have to assume it's in the input processing code in KSP. Thanks for trying to replicate this anyway

Hey folks, I've been playing KSP since 1.2.2 and I've managed to get rocket launching pretty much sorted (stock game, no mods, except AFPW, to get my Saitek HOTAS to work properly), but man, I appear to be utterly useless at space-plane design/flight. I've designed a number of regular planes, which all fly just fine (I do have some experience in full size and model aircraft), but for the life of me, I simply *cannot* get any of my space-plane designs (SSTO specifically) into orbit successfully. I can get them *close*....and I mean *really* close, but I just always end up running out of rocket fuel. I've watched countless YT videos from guys who seem to just point the thing at the sky and blast off into orbit with no drama whatsoever, but my designs all seem to just barely struggle to the upper atmosphere, then invariably fall *just* short of making it into a stable orbit. The closest I've managed to get is an AP of about 72k, but didn't have enough fuel left to circularise. IIRC I managed to get to about 12 or 13K PE before it ran dry. One thing that most of the videos I've seen have in common is the ability to accelerate at the mid-flight stage to well in excess of 400 to 500m/s, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to get much beyond the 300m/s mark. I've tried adding more and various engines, but I either end up running out of fuel too fast, or being too heavy to climb steep enough to make it out of the thicker part of the atmosphere in time. I've managed to find a couple of *really* good posts in the tutorials section for how to get rockets to launch with the most efficient profile, but there doesn't seem to be anything like that for space-planes/SSTO. Can someone point me to anything like that? Or perhaps share their 'hot tips' on space-plane design, so I can try to work out where I'm going wrong? I'd rather not just download someone's craft file and go fly. I'm rather enjoying the challenge of building/flying stuff by having to do the trial and error process myself, but I've run out of ideas for SSTO. Cheers,

I'm so sorry, I only just realised this response was here....I need to check my notification settings in here I'd say it's definitely an issue with the input processing code, which appears to apply to *any* second controller that I plug in. As a process of elimination, I connected several other controllers and attempted to use those, and they all exhibit the same symptom. Whichever controller is the first one detected works perfectly, even if I swap them around so the stick is detected first instead of the throttle etc. Regardless of which one ends up as the second one listed, it lags a great deal. IIRC, the *only* thing that doesn't seem to suffer from this is the keyboard. That appeared to work lag-free no matter what else I had connected. I eventually found a mod called Advanced Fly By Wire, which replaces the joystick controller input code apparently. Once I managed to get this actually working (it wasn't updated for 1.2.2), the inputs are processed perfectly from any controller, no matter how many are connected to the computer. I initially thought it hadn't fixed the issue, but that's because I hadn't removed the bindings in the standard KSP input settings. Once I removed those and only used the bindings in the mod, it's perfect. Unfortunately, the mod still isn't up to date for 1.2.2 and exhibits other issues that are undesirable (randomly losing bindings if other controllers are connected/removed while the game is running, being the biggest one). I'm apprehensive to go back and render the game unplayable for the purposes of making a video (now that I've finally got it working and got all my deadzones and presets sorted, I'd rather not have to go thru all that again)....but if I absolutely have to, I will. I know I'm not the only one with HOTAS issues (I've found other forum posts about this issue), so I imagine it's pretty easy to replicate the issue though. Just plug in a second controller and try to use it.

Hey folks, I just got myself a Saitek X56 HOTAS setup and wanted to use it in KSP. Unfortunately, the inputs from the joystick side are *really* lagged. Oddly though, the inputs from the throttle unit seem to be fine and appear in the game immediately. I've tried all manner of things to get this to work, but I've had no luck whatsoever. I have the most recent driver and profile software from Saitek. I have the most recent version of KSP. I have no mods installed. I've tried: Removing the profile software and leaving just the basic driver for the joystick installed. Plugging the joystick and throttle units into different USB ports on my PC. Clearing all of the settings in KSP and starting from scratch. Now here's the really bizarre thing....I eventually found a forum post from an X52 joystick user, who said a mod called AdvancedFlyByWire fixed his lag issues, so I put that on to see if it would help. When I finally got it working, I can see the inputs from the joystick *instantly* in the configuration windows for the mod. Absolutely no lag, whatsoever. But, when I close the mod windows and go back to trying to fly something, it's just as lagged as before. So, obviously there's nothing wrong with the joystick itself, but rather how those inputs are being translated into and manifested in the game control surfaces. What I *really* don't understand is why the inputs from the throttle side are fine though? Anyway, any hints or tips for how to get this working, or is this something that is going to need a patch at some point to rectify? Cheers.