AlternNocturn

Testing Testing...

I was getting sick of my Labrys in Sunglasses avatar anyway. Art for Swans is pretty unique, I like it.

This sounds like a legitimate reason to be angry at a mod-user, but most of the mod users here don't do that sort of thing. For me, back when MechJeb came out, I was happy to land on the Mun using it, but I wasn't proud of it. Actually I didn't care if I was proud of it or not. I just wanted to play the game. If your friend wasn't bragging about it, I'd tell you that he was just having fun with the game.

I assume Unity is a bit like the Unreal Engine, where each object has properties that you can freely edit once it has been added to the world. Check boxes, sliders, drop down boxes, a well as a bunch of other types that have been added to the newer engine incorporates that were not in the original one.

I would think destructible cities would be for a "think about where your crap comes down" aspect of the game and not a "here are some things you can blow up" (even though you can do that, just like you can build mock space colonies even though they're not officially supported). Imagine just haphazardly dropping your capsule and detached orbital stage into the middle of a city, what would happen? I would like to see some effect of that instead of just bouncing off of the buildings or even going right through them. Of course, destructible environments are extremely resource heavy so there could be an option for static buildings. EDIT: Also, I think from a developmental standpoint, cities should wait until close to the full release. They're polish at best.

I meant the forum. The people in this thread appear to be acting civilized so I don't know why I'd target them. But there are a few people who frequent this site that have a marginally negative orientation towards anything that may or may not make the game easier.

I don't use mod engines or fuel tanks just for the challenge of using the stock parts (in my copy of 0.16 I have KW installed because 0.17 crashes and 0.16 doesn't have much to do). I have MechJeb, probodobodyne, Damned Aerospace props, crew tank, cart mod, MapSat, Protractor, MMI satellite pack, PlanEx interplanetary probe pack, a ballprobe thing, hull cam, and TT Modular wheels. I have nothing to gain by being a purist and nothing to lose by installing mods and expanding the game without having to wait for a major update, so if I like a mod, I'll download it and use it, even if it is a little cheaty, like the engine on the ball probe. Also, I really don't like the attitude of this forum towards users who choose not to play the game under their own definition of "legitimately". So what if someone used KW parts and MechJeb to get their ship into orbit, Protractor to get to Duna, and a drogue chute from probodobodyne to land? I got to Duna the day the patch came out, 100% stock. Do I think of myself as better than someone who used MechJeb and NovaPunch? No, of course not. That's not the point of the game. If you want to be competitive, take a challenge from the Challenges forum, otherwise leave these people alone.

Mechjeb made people bad at the game? MechJeb taught me how to get to Minmus. Because of it, I don't even need it to get there any more. My advice, if you really care about being "good at the game", use it as a tool, not a crutch. If you don't care and you just want to have fun, use it as much as you want. I cannot stress this enough: If you're not having fun using MechJeb, don't use it. If you can't have fun without MechJeb, use it as much as you want. The point of the game isn't to prove how good you are. That's only a bonus. I'll see myself out now. EDIT: As for me, I gave up trying to do complex maneuvers with MechJeb because with every new update, it messes stuff up more frequently. Whenever I use it, it's either for the instrumentation or the really awesome Smart A.S.S. In fact, ram0n should make a lite version that's just instrumentation and Smart A.S.S.

Kerbal Is Alright. What? No, I didn't steal that joke from someone else on the forum, what are you talking about. >_>

I landed on Duna when the patch first came out, completely vanilla. The only reason I could do that though was because I tested lander designs before the patch came out, in 0.16. I could probably do it again, but I can't test new designs without the game crashing. Besides that, I love modding my game. Carts, Probodobodyne, MMI, Mechjeb... after a while I can't play the game without knowing that these mods are installed. Also, my stance on MechJeb: Stop arguing about it. It's a mod. In a highly moddable game. MechJeb might take away enjoyment from you, but other people derive more enjoyment when actually using it. Fun fact, this game actually has quite a bit of tedium involved, and tedium can actually take away enjoyment from the game and vastly dull the sense of achievement for some people, including me. Turning a stupidly sluggish vehicle to anti-normal manually is not fun. Smart A.S.S. can take away that frustration. If you don't like it, cool, keep doing what you're doing. If you do like it and use it routinely, cool, keep doing what you're doing.

I don't use it as often any more, but I don't mind if people want to use it to completely automate everything. The point of the game is not to prove how well you can control a rocket. The point of the game is not to prove anything. If you don't want to fly your ship manually, then by all means, use MechJeb. I personally don't consider myself better than these people just because I choose to fly everything manually, just like I don't consider modern pilots better or worse than pilots that flew without computer assistance. People have to realize that tools are created for a reason. If you don't need it, then just keep playing the game how you've been playing. If you think it'll help, install it, learn how to use it, and have fun with it. Again, the point of this game is not to be competitive and flaunt your achievements. You can do that, sure, that's why the Challenge forum was created, but don't use it in an argument that involves people simply playing a highly moddable game with mods. EDIT: Also, let me just mention that I have used MechJeb many, many times in the past. In fact the only reason I could even fly rockets 100% manually now is because MechJeb taught me how to do everything. Still, it's the user's decision whether or not they want to stick to MechJeb or move on to flying everything manually.

I build all my rockets for function first, then if I can, I try to make staging flashy and cool (usually stuff like attaching separatrons to boosters and lower stages, multi-stage landers where the landing legs fly off, multiple parachutes deploying at once, etc.). Like others, my payload is unique for each mission, but it's rare that I ever make a brand new rocket configuration. "If it works, make it better," but I'm usually too afraid to tinker too much to make the launchers more efficient so I usually go with what works.

Okay, so maybe you won't necessarily need NERVAs, but they're still really useful.

I stuck three of these things radially onto a big fuel tank with three smaller fuel tanks for my transfer stage. I got to Jool with enough fuel left to do orbital corrections. For Duna and Eve missions, you don't need anything more than the standard liquid engines. However if you're looking to go to Jool and beyond, or to Moho, you're going to need NERVAs.

Or maybe something like

I've decided on a rather complex but still relatively easy naming convention for my vehicles. Model number -> Name -> Iteration. Model number will start with a two letter abbreviation of the vehicle's purpose: OR for rockets capable of LKO [like orbital capsules or satellites] ER for Minmus/Mun capable rockets IR for interplanetary capable rockets SS for spaceplanes SP for regular planes For rockets, append an M for manned missions. ...followed by a number. For planes, the number will be the number of control surfaces, crew, and engines added together. For rockets, the number of engines and boosters combined in the first stage, and if manned, add the crew capacity as well. For planes, the name will be based on historically real and mythical weapons and armor pieces: katana labrys polegonne aegis tarnhelm mjolnir and volumes more ...and for rockets, names of Earth countries: England Scotland Switzerland Denmark etc. ("America" is not a country, and North America and United States don't really fit for a vehicle) An SSTO spaceplane could be named the SS-011 Labrys II. SS for spaceplane, 011 for 7 control surfaces (2 ailerons, 2 canards, 2 elevators and a rudder), one pilot, and 3 engines (two atmospheric and one aerospike), then Labrys, and II because it's the second iteration/generation. For a rocket with an unmanned payload (i.e. mapping satellite) destined for LKO, we could have OR-005 Cyprus. OR = orbital, 5 engines in launch stage. Forego the iteration number for first generation models. We can even combine the two types of vehicle. For shuttles, just combine the type of rocket with SS for space plane, add the numbers of the plane with the numbers of the rocket, and name it after the main vehicle. For a shuttle just like the real life ones, M-SSOR-017 Mjolnir. M for manned (since technically it's still a rocket), then SS comes before OR because the plane is the main vehicle, then OR for orbital, 017 because we have 5 engines (3 main, two OMS) and two boosters on the first stage, 3 main control surfaces (2 ailerons, 1 rudder), and a maximum crew capacity of 7. Take it one step further, an interplanetary atmospheric plane, like the one I launched to Jool's moon, Laythe. M-SPIR-018 Aegis. 9 engines on the launch stage, 2 engines on the plane, 6 control surfaces (2 ailerons, 2 canards, 2 rudders), one pilot. For a manned vehicle based on the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule that has four winglets attached, M-OR-016 Canada, a 7 man LKO capsule with 9 engines in the first stage. Don't add # of control surfaces. What about an Apollo-style mission with a vehicle based on the Saturn V? M-ER-008 Germany. Simple. EDIT: On multiple occasions, I've built an SSTO version of a normal plane. When this happens, simply change the model number, keep the name and append a "II" after the name. So if there was a SP-006 Polegonne, changing it around to support an aerospike engine, more wing surface and additional control surfaces would bring it to something like SS-009 Polegonne II I haven't actually begun using this naming convention because I can't test designs without restarting the game every other launch since it crashes so frequently. That gets annoying. So I'll just have to record it here until 0.17.1 fixes the issue.

That's seriously cool, too bad the limitations of KSP keep it from being legitimately useful. Still, it's pretty freaking awesome! I might have to do something like that.

So it just sits there in the upper atmosphere and floats? Wicked!

I remember I sent an atmospheric probe to Eve. I don't know who or what was smiling down on me on that one mission, but everything went so perfectly that even though I knew that the transfer stage wouldn't have enough fuel left for big corrections, I still managed to make it without any trouble. Took pictures, found out the planet's gravity, tested the density of the atmosphere. Mission success. However, since then I've never been able to do that again as every mission from then on would have a random problem, like the parachutes would fail to deploy (pretty sure it's a bug, and it's ANNOYING), or I would miss the planet and I'd run out of fuel doing corrections. It's really disheartening.

Anything with rings. Preferably rocky since I want to be able to look up and see the rings from the surface. .

The mountains are different sizes everywhere, but quite a few of them seem to be at least 3 km high. Knowing the exact location of the tallest mountain is next to impossible without sufficient tools (the ISA Mapsat is the best tool we have right now). My advice to you is just don't go below 3.5-4 km.

The highest mountains I've encountered have been well over 3 KM high last I checked, but that was back in 0.14. I think they might be way taller now.

It depends on my current video game obsession. Earlier this year it was the Zelda Orchestra CD that came with Skyward Sword. Currently it's music from Persona 3, and it's been like that for the past month and a half. I suspect my next playlist will be composed of Persona 2 music.

I wish this was how it worked IRL. NASA should have received billions for the Curiosity program.

Fun. It's fun.