noname_hero

Another possibility that comes to mind is that maybe the craft uses Rapier engines in air-breathing mode for a part of the flight? That could consume LF and leave leftover oxidizer if the craft.

Crisster Kerman is an engineer, so the things she trusts are science and technology, not prayers and superstitions. When she was stuck in a damaged spacecraft, with Kerbin out of her reach, she knew it would be scientists, engineers and pilots who would get her back home, not the souls of some long-dead Kerbals. But those ancient builders were to first to leave a lasting trace of their efforts to create something that would reach for the sky. Tut-Un Jeb-Ahn wasn't just an old temple. It was a symbol, the center of the place where civilization began. And even though that civilization was long gone, their villages and fields burried under sand, their dreams of creating marvels that nature alone never would and ultimately reaching for the sky lived on. Most likely, there were no ancient spirits roaming these places. In all probability, there were no restless souls here to listen to her tales. No reason to tell her own story, or those of her fellow kerbonauts. But some people say that Jeb himself might be a veeery distant descendant of those who have built the temple. Maaaaybe there was some spirit there, happy to hear that Jeb and some of his friends have managed to leave the sphere of influence of Kerbin. And who knew what else might the future bring? What other fantastic tales might Crisster be able to whisper to any souls lingering near the temple? Well, time will tell. Uh, I've also landed a primitive lander on Moho. It wasn't a caveman mission, but I've launched it before landing on Minmus and I was needlessly worried about dV, so it's only got a thermometer and barometer. Don't think I've ever landed a first probe with this little instrumentation on another planet.

Parked the first probe to reach another planet in my latest playthrough around Moho - and still kind of wondering if the rush was worth it. Okay, so I've launched it in the first transfer window in the game. I couldn't have gotten anywhere else faster, save wasteful trajectories, given I've reached Moho before the second transfer transfer window of the game came up. But the amount of science I got from the mission is laughable compared to what I'm getting near Kerbin thanks to better science tech. Oh well, maybe the lander that's to arrive a few days later will give me a bit more

Regarding KAC... I kinda dislike the new stock alarms compared to KAC, so I'm still using KAC even on 1.12.2. CKAN installs it just fine, despite thinking it isn't compatible with 1.12.

And now for an event that's more distant from Kerbol than the Eve anomaly is; I think this is the largest planetary base I've ever landed in KSP, so no wonder Valentina is smiling:

My engineers have discovered that Vector engines and some other parts are *waaaay* more durable than expected. Or that their world is a simulation with some really weird glitches. The hint? Observe the photo of the remains of the first *ascent* stage of my latest Eve lander. The pilot - scientist, really - is now safely in orbit, awaiting a transfer window back home, and the currently unkerbaled science station I've left on the surface works just fine, but I've discovered some weird debris nearby and checked. The stage fell more a kilometer under Eve gravity with no parachute and this much of it survived?!? Have my engineers unknowingly manufactured it out of Kraken bones or what?

I was *almost* sure I had... But I was *still* kinda worried I should have noticed how old the thread was.

Not enough fog, not enough explosions, no loss of video signal, overall realism 1/10

Subassemblies. Okay, I've used the function, but it was like half a dozen times total during all my time playing KSP.

Don't know, wasn't playing KSP five years ago and that transfer window to Duna is only the second one in my current save so I have no idea what she was doing before my space program began either. I simply noticed the thread when I was kinda grumpy about not having anything meaningful to do until that transfer window and I *didn't* notice posting here constitutes courting necromancy.

I feel like the recovery factor is mostly there to give players an excuse to try to land somewhere near-ish the KSC. As mentioned here before, it is often a more efficient use of players' time to not recover boosters and just launch more missions. Recovery transponder fitting always seemed like a pointless option to me, because players who are likely to recover a lot of craft are also likely able to land them close to KSC. I'll admit I have landed boosters too, both full SSTOs and designs that employ throwaway SRB kickers. But that's mostly to see if I can or for roleplay purposes, not as a regular economic strategy.

Mine is getting ready for a Duna mission, or hanging out at the Astronaut Komplex, sometimes murmuring about the next planned mission likely being a boring one and other times complaining about being stuck dirtside while waiting for the next transfer window. Yep, I'm willing to let the Magnificient Four fly boring missions too. But there's already a kerballed research station around Duna, with an ISRU SSTO for trips to the surface and back docked to that station, so even if the large-ish colony module she's planning to land runs into some trouble, she should be ready to punch out and wait for a pickup.

Yes, you have a point about transfer windows no longer being relevant. However, thansfer times might still be, unless the tech can do away with some extra gees. And even then, even straight-line Kerbin-Jool transfer might take many hours and, in addition to this not being commute-friendly, the system will consume way more energy per trip than a Kerbin-Duna trip would.

My guess is he didn't, and that's why Dres is where it is. Okay, I've been there a few times. I think I've visited in pretty much any career I've spent some time on. It was mostly because it is a freak*ng planet, so it makes no sense to ingore it "story-wise", but those visits are kinda boring and feel pointless. It has no atmosphere and is further out than Duna or Gilly, so very little mid-game appeal. Easier to get to than Eeloo or Moho, so little sense of accomplishment. No Easter eggs to speak of, so no reason for such visits either. Orbit way more inclined than Duna and Jool, so transfer windows are either rare or require more dV than what seems justified. To be honest, I feel like one of the most baffling questions about the Kerbol system is why its creators made Dres so unattractive to visit, given the work needed to create it.

Picked up a rescue contract, got a hold of the target capsule, had to save and exit. Came back to play a few days later, forgot I didn't transfer the rescuee, deorbitted the wreckage, pushed the rescue vessel back into orbit, switched vessels. Didn't even notice I'm missing a kerbal and was surprised to see a dead one listed in my kerbonaut center some time later.

What you should be able to do is download the 1.7.3 version and the patches from 1.7.3 to 1.8 and from 1.8 to 1.8.1, at leat I've been able to do that IIRC some two weeks ago.

To be honest, the craft does have some issues. The jet-assisted car in one of the garrages keels over in water, the VTOL in the other garrage handles like cr*p and doesn't have much range, the fairings which used to be around the larger cars broke one of the solar panels during the landing... But I likely won't have time to redesign it and fly the mission again before the end of the month, so I'm happy with it working as it does.

Finally landed the Laythe base I've built after watching Stratzenblitz's video on Arrakeen City:

Besides serious stuff like getting the science data from my Duna lab that gave me enough science to be able to set up a patents licensing strategy that would convert all my future science into funds? I was goofing around with an open-top minijet. And be honest here - how many of you here have never had a plane climb *up* towards the KSC runway?

You're hitting the nail on the head there, I'm afraid. The design I mentioned (probe core, 2-kerbal pilot cabin, 4 passengers) has TWR of 0.3 with 2500 m/s left in LKO and it does feel sluggish to me, as I like having a TWR of 0.5 or higher for regular flights inside Kerbin's SOI. That being said... I hate to sound like an incompetent and jealous a*s, but how the eff you get 8000 m/s left in LKO on a non-ion SSTO? I can only do that if I use a reusable booster, separate the 8k+ stage, and land the booster.

I've always thought that I (kinda) suck at SSTOs. Okay, I *can* build them, but I kind of hate flying most of my SSTO designs, and the main reason is horrible TWR. So I keep hoping that maybe I don't suck so bad, maybe I have unrealistic wishes. I have no problem building small and swift SSTOs that can ferry say two kerbals to a station in a 100km orbit and back to Kerbin. But if I want something midrange, with say 1500+ m/s of dV from LKO? My designs feel so sluggish I only ever test the designs, never use them for regular mission. The latest example? A Mk2-based SSTO that can get six people into LKO with 2000+ m/s of dV left. It has a probe core, a claw, an RTG, radiators, drogue chute, the works. I can take it into LKO and return it to the KSC runway. It can rescue several kerbals from LKO and toss their wrecks into the atmosphere in the process. But it has four Rapiers that run out of oxidizer on the way up and the two NERVs that remain give it an awful TWR. It is another design I'll probably hardly ever fly again. So... Do I suck at SSTO design that bad? Do people actually design and use midrange SSTOs with a reasonable TWR? My own experience is that it is much more comfortable to use short-range SSTOs to get kerbals to/from an LKO and to use reusable specialist craft with better TWR from then on, and fuel is free in LKO once you have ISRU tankers on Minmus. But what do those better than I am think about this?

One way of fiddling with the height of a ground tanker that I've experimented with a bit which works with stock KSP is using aerobrakes on the undercarriage of a tanker. I can even drive an ISRU tanker into the hills west of KSC to mine the fuel. But docking can still be a PITA. And as far cargo goes, I'm with katateochi on this. KSP is mostly about a space program, so ground crew functions are limited, and my headcanon has no problem imagining the vessel I'm launching is the same one I've recovered a bit earlier if it is the same design. No credits are lost if I recover it on runway, one can refuel it before recovery if one really wants to pinch every credit, mission timers can get reset anyway, real-world reusable craft need maintenance... I see little point in spending too much time trying to work around software limitations if the result has next to no impact on gameplay.

The way I see it, you can tell you're going too far with multirole when those add-on functions noticeably degrade the vessel's intended primary function. I slap at least the basic science equipment I have available onto every relay I launch outside Kerbin's SOI, because I send unkerballed probes first. It doesn't add much mass, that mass won't mean anything once the probe reaches the intended orbit, I get some science points even before a kerballed mission arrives, and it gives me a source of science data for contracts. My tourist shuttles on Duna have ISRU, because I can't be bothered with precise landings on top of land-based refueling stations. Sure, I have a mining ship on Ike, so I *could* refuel those shuttles that way, but they're SSTO-and-back even with the ISRU and it is one less mission to fly. I build the interplanetary haulers for Duna with enough dV to be able to haul a resonable lander to Dres or Laythe too, and to park back around Kerbin, because that way I can leave the hauler in orbit, refuel it for free from Minmus, and all I have to launch from Kerbin is a new lander. Is the hauler overpowered for Duna? Yes, but I don't mind having extra dV. My first probe into the Jool system is always a bunch of tiny probes around a big core, so I can leave relays and probe landers around/on at least Laythe, Bop and Pol. Three Oscars, a Spark, OKTO2, an antenna, a survey scanner and a few more bits weigh less than half a NERV. I'd say those are examples of multirole that definitely make sense. But I've also scrapped some ideas after it dawned on me that while I might be able to make certain things work, I could accomplish the same set of functions better with two different vessels. As you're perfectly aware of, a specialist vessel doesn't have to haul the extra mass of some extra parts. This is also a function of one's abilities. I know some players can build one ship that will accomplish things I'd need three for. So my take on this is that you need need to evaluate your own goals and your own abilities and decide with your every build whether you're multiroling or feature creeping.

I do get why you play the Science mode. The reason why I (mostly) don't is that career feels both more challenging and more meaningful. I'm under pressure to be more efficient in career, and things like probes on various bodies keep bringing in rewards for me having managed to land them, instead of just giving me a one-time batch of science points. I've passed all the challenges of the science mode too when I gave the Kerpollo challenge a try. I've completed the tech tree four times now. The trouble is, I like having to watch my funds when I don't have an unlimited amount, but I don't see the point once I can have whatever sum my latest build would cost. i guess I'll have to use that Alt+F12 option if the need arises...

I haven't, and I've already "finished" the career's challenges anyway, so I'd say that's a *great* idea. This isn't multiplayer, so I don't see a reason to shame others for how they're having fun. I don't actually need those extra funds now. But it is good to remember I can have them if those fun projects drain the funds I have.