XLjedi

Thanks for all the responses. I do have KER installed so I had to try to rely on the orbit inclination value. I must not have had it perfect, because I could not get it closer than 1°. ...but that was close enough. I was thinking there might be a way to get the equatorial line of a planet to display in stock, but I guess not. Do any of the scanning tools do that maybe? Eventually, I would like to place a station in orbit with close to exact equatorial orbit for each planet/moon. You are correct, I guess I was thinking in terms of the equator as an orbit with zero altitude. ...and is there any way to select the planet that you are orbiting as a target so it would display the ascend/descend node relative to the equator. I imagine something like this would also be helpful when trying to reposition from equator to polar orbit.

When intercepting a target or another planet, there's a nice ascending/descending node with a dotted line that shows you the optimum spot to adjust the orbit inclination. How would I get something like that to appear when I intercept Minmus and the orbit is a bit off? I want to align the orbit to the equator before I send my lander down.

I really admire the efficiency of part count in the design. Allows you to really focus on the mechanical interactions of each specific part.

Who said I wanted to do this? To be clear... I want to be able to toggle on/off nodes on the tech tree and only have those parts available to work with in the buckets and sections that they typically reside in on the tech tree. So if I were to select these: The SPH and VAB would only have the following 43 parts unlocked within their respective categories: I would prefer that these 43 parts appear in their typical categories in the SPH/VAB part selector areas. The goal here is to limit the overall selection of parts available to the specific categories on the tech tree that I chose to toggle on/off. This is not a display/filter issue or some problem that I have finding parts. I want to put specific constraints on which parts are available so I can design craft for specific points during career leveling. ...or work with a science track specifically geared more toward spaceplanes, or rockets.

Has nothing to do with difficulty in finding parts... or sorting by mass or tech level. There are 61 nodes and over 400 parts! Not surprisingly, I have a difficult time remembering which parts belong to which tech nodes. If I had the ability, in any mode, to toggle off a tech tree node, then it would be redundant. Since I cannot deselect a node in any mode, it's not redundant. I have noticed how the save config file in career mode enables tech tree nodes. I could probably create a simple script to edit the save config file for the tech nodes I want. The only mild downside there is I would have to most likely reload the save in order to change the tech tree mix. It's a slightly better solution than having multiple saves. I have not looked to see if there are hooks available to create a mod that would let me do what I want. ...but I may have to take a look at that today.

Since no one has built the tools I want already... I made a New Year's Resolution to at least create a "Hello World" plug-in before the end of January. I guess I'm almost out of time.

Double-check... sometimes it pulls up a window with certain settings and shows you were it will go, but you have to click a second button or two to confirm/finalize. Like there may be a button at the bottom of a dialog window that says "Export" that you have to click? Also, what are you exporting? Did you pull up the DDS file and exporting directly to PNG, or are you working with the native .xcf file, in which case you may be exporting an empty file depending on what you have selected. I'm confident you will figure it out... however, I added the PNG files to the zip anyway. In case someone else wants them.

@LLL is my hero Try landing this one... using nothing but your throttle.

By default, GIMP will save in its native .xcf format. To save as a different format you would use the File/Export feature to save as anything you want... DDS, PNG, JPG, GIF, etc. You can open a DDS file directly and export as PNG without having to create or save the .xcf file. PNG and DDS support transparent backgrounds, JPG does not. Give the GIMP a try and see if you can convert them to what you want, else just post back tomorrow and I'll put the PNG files in the online zip folder for you.

Yes, but it also opens up the possibility for me to create an enclosed system of ducted fans and label the result "Lectric-Jet" So let's just ignore that statement so as not to call down the Nerf-Mongers on another favorite craft design of mine.

In that case... Do I have a tool for you! I'm recruiting folks to solicit feedback and continue development, but it's pretty dang good as-is if I do say so me-selfs.

@Lt_Duckweed Thanks, and the pic is a bonus! I'm not sure what this means? "1 medium rotor powered by 8 rtgs" I was hoping a few more folks might post the same info so I can plot a weight to engine ratio or something... I can't get any info on these things regarding TWR and it doesn't do me much good to try to plot a curve of my own craft because I haven't seen anything faster than mach 1.0. My craft specs: 2x: EM-32S Standard Rotor Blades 8x: R-12 Ducted Fan Blade (8 per engine) Weight: 6.75 tons I may take it to a separate discussion thread...

Sure, let me know if the sizes work, I went kinda big.

Here ya go! I saved them all in dds format which is native for in-game use (memory efficient). I also included the associated .xcf files that I created with the wireframe paths used to paint each color layer and create the dds files. So if you ever do take a look at GIMP (it's free ya know!) you can maybe recolor them however you like. All the files are here: http://xl-logic.com/KSP/decals/USAF_Insignia.zip

I can export em to whatever format you like, or leave em as layers you can edit to your heart's content in GIMP. Do you have one or more USAF insignia you want? I can do pretty much anything. Have you ever used GIMP? As for the mods, I personally take a rather fine brush to my craft... and do stuff like paint the edges of landing gear doors red, or gold anodized shock tubes. Stuff like this is a bit beyond the decal mod capabilities. Also, when I'm painting craft, I'm applying special filters that I created so I don't destroy the underlying details of the skin. Took some time to get that technique to work the way I wanted. You can see what I'm talking about in these bi-views where I peel back the painted layers. The decal and painting mods that I've seen tend to completely cover the details of the underlying part skins.

Have to admit; I'm confused...

What does "Get to the Mun" mean? I believe the first mission in early career related to the Mun is just a Fly-By mission... So I tend to view a Mun Mission in terms of at least 4 different mission objectives: Fly-By Orbit Land on Land on and return In which case, I view items 1 & 2 as maybe the most likely what you were looking for? In which case, I'm typically more interested in fewest/lowest tech nodes required vs. size/weight/efficiency.

I've done liveries like this one for my SkyShark jet: But, ya kinda gotta repaint the underlying skins... So any graphic would have to be very tailored to the specific part/craft you are interested in painting. Shark teeth are fairly simple vector "paths" in your graphics program (I use GIMP). The "5" below worked fine because the skin was correctly mirrored to both sides of those vertical stabilizers. If you let me know what craft/part you are trying to paint, I'm sure I could help you!

Oh... I thought this was going to be something like a maintain neutral VSI feature request for sustained atmospheric flight. Which I do think would be quite useful. However, not sure I've run into the need so much for what was described. The SAS already does a decent job of holding a set pitch on reentry. ...and roll stabilization seems fine to me too?

Would you mind sharing: straight & level sustained flight or a max speed dive? which engine/blade combination? how many sets of these engine/blade combos? weight of craft in tons? are we talking stock aerodynamics? I'm kinda interested in plotting results to see if I can discern anything from the data.

Appreciate the suggestion, but I avoid ALL part mods like the plague. Anything that adds a part or even a script reference (like KIS) to the .craft file that would be detected as a "non-stock" variant is just a non-starter for me. I do like to use mods for visuals and GUI interface flight tools and so forth.

I'd be fine with it just as an open hangar door, but I guess we do have that at the Island Base. ...and it would have to be open on both sides to allow for drivethru. Kerbal Konstructs might have such a thing already, I might have to look for one.

@swjr-swis Yeah, that seems to be where I'm at too. It's a workaround for sure, but I end up with a hodge-podge of save pseudo-sandboxes and multiple directories of craft. While on that point, aside from a total revamp of the craft storage tool that might allow for creation of directories... I'd settle for a way to easily save/edit/delete directly to the master save directory so all of these saves can efficiently access/edit the same craft.

I am often trying to create craft within a specific limited set of tech tree nodes. Rather than disable the R&D facility in a sandbox game... It would be extremely helpful to be able to enter the R&D facility and have the ability to just click on tech tree nodes to toggle them on/off so I can work with the specific subset of parts that I want in the SPH/VAB.

Without attempting some sort of airspeed record craft... I find the ducted fans produce best results and for a two engine commuter jet type design, I get far better performance from a pair of pusher-prop ducted fans than I do from a pair of similar sized juno engines. Not to mention the craft can circle the globe 5x or more on a single fueling (infinite flight if 100% daylight). For my stated dual-prop ducted fan commuter, sustained average cruising speed at 500m altitude (or below) is in the range of 290m/s in Kerbin atmosphere. I don't bother to test or quote max speed in a dive as it serves no useful mission purpose. Acceleration and low altitude performance is also far better than its juno-powered counterpart easily winning sprints to the Island Base and able to reach max speed within that relatively short distance.