anaximander

So I've been messing around with a "delivery aircraft"; ie. an aircraft with decent loiter capability, high cargo capacity, and a targeting pod. What I really want to be able to do is to use this aircraft to drop custom payloads onto a target. Primarily, what this means is that a mothership can select a landing site, target it with the pod, and drop a probe which will fly itself to the target. I've been trying to use the Modular Missile Guidance part, but it doesn't seem to be picking up the target, no matter which targeting mode I have it in - the just flies in a straight line until the fuel runs out. Are there any instructions or tips on how to build something that will act like a missile?

The bug where the right-click menus are empty is back again. This is the only mod I have installed, and for some reason all I have in the science lab's context menu is "Status: Locked" and a toggle for the lights. The radiators have no context menu at all, and when I select them in the VAB action group editor, there's no option to deploy them, so they're stuck as static parts. Any ideas?

This sounds very much like EVE's armour hardeners... which might explain why I find its gentle pulsing hum oddly comforting.

I'd go with something like this: Cost = part mass x type modifier x level modifier To explain what those mean: - Part mass is self-explanatory. - Type refers to what sort of part it is. This might be as simple as a modifier for each category - "propulsion", "structural", "aerodynamic" etc, or it could be more specific - "engine", "tank", "fin", "sensor" etc. This basically gets the calculation to take into account the general complexity of the part. For example, structural parts like girders would have a pretty low modifier, while engines would be higher because they're harder to make. Science parts like the sensors might have really high modifiers because their mass is tiny but they're really high-tech, and therefore expensive. - Level refers to the quality of the part relative to the category. For engines, this would probably be based on Isp and thrust/weight ratio. Thus, a really efficient engine would cost more than a less efficient engine that was the same mass, and an engine with higher thrust at the same efficiency would cost even more. For landing gear, the level modifier might be based on their strength; solar panels might use efficiency, batteries could use storage to mass ratio, etc.

Any ideas why every rocket I launch seems to be more aerodynamic attempting to fly backwards? With this mod, everything starts backflipping the moment I deviate even slightly from straight vertical flight - and yes, I've checked I'm not top-heavy.

Absolutely LOVING these parts. My only issue is that the parameters for connection seem to be a bit low in some cases; I've noticed a distinct slide between S2 fuselage sections. I can't attach the hypersonic cockpit to anything without a handful of struts to stop the wobble...

Bravo. Just... Bravo. My only issue is that I now lack retractable gear of sufficient size to support the monstrous aircraft I'm building.

It's possible you just need to practice landing so you can hit the runway at a lower speed. Or design aircraft with lower stall speeds. Or both. Just sayin'.

Theoretically, if you could throw the Kerbal horizontally, rather than vertically, at a high enough speed, it would act the same as an apoapsis-raising burn, so they'd orbit around and land back at the pad. Of course, they'd have to overcome air resistance, and the orbital velocity required at that level is enormous, but in theory it's possible.

The Munoliths aren't part of this mod; they're part of the stock game. This just helps you find them.

Ok, now THAT is impressive. I'd tidy up the UI a little, perhaps, try to make it more intuitive, but in terms of functionality that is just incredible. I'll be watching this one VERY carefully - the moment I see something downloadable, I'm grabbing it. I have the orbital construction mod, but as has already been said, that's for single craft. What I'd use this for is attaching a small lander to my massive interplanetary craft. That way, I can leave the big ship in orbit, drop a lander, then pick the lander up again and move on to a different planet. With the Kethane mod and the fact that this guy says his docking mod supports fuel transfer as well, you can keep your tanks topped up and keep roaming the solar system indefinitely! Squad, you might want to contact this guy - he might have saved you a job...

Having been using this mod with the orbital construction mod for some time, I can confirm that it is enormously useful. I have a combination spacedock/refueling station in orbit, and I've used it to get some great interplanetary ships up and flying. Another thing I'm trying out is to use the empty command pod mod to have your orbitally-constructed ships start uncrewed, so you have to EVA crew to them from the station, and then send up crew transfer ships, for added realism.

Sounds like the Void Bukerneering parts that Kreuzung made as an example for the old electrical energy plugin.

Er... that doesn't actually help... at all...

I'm getting issues using this with ISA Mapsat; the Kethane scanner map works fine but it seems to screw up the ISA map view once you activate it.