Deadweasel

Ummm... Downloaded the SPH version, was presented with this: I'm running .20.1.180 EDIT: Nevermind, just needed to change the version number in the .craft file. It loads and runs fine now. EDIT2: Waitaminit.... Thinking on it, why am I not on .20.2? I know I downloaded and extracted it... *sigh* Time to fix that bigger issue first.

umm... Winrar is free (it will just nag you to pay for the full version but will still open those files). 7zip is completely free. Just install one of those and you'll be able to open and extract the actual .craft file. Yes, you need a "default program" to open up archive files.

Agreed! I have yet to be able to build anything that performs even remotely as well as that one does.

Okay, to me the choice should be obvious. You want an appropriate biblical name in KSP? How about: Babylon

I think that one requires the Kethane mod in order to work. You can make your own though. Just download and install the basic version In the SPH, hit Alt-F12 and turn on part clipping Remove the nose spars from the ship Add small capsules on top of the VTOL intakes, and on the ends of the fuel tanks where the nose spars had been connected Fly!

The real C130 Hercules performing a similar method of takeoff (JATO): Why do they call it Jet-Assisted Takeoff anyway? They're rockets, not jets.

Oh THAT is too cool!!

Bummer. Subassembly Loader is working fine for me, and I've got the engine sled saved there so I can play around with reaching a standard setup that works a lot more easily for the Whiteraven variant. Launching balance isn't the problem, so much as keeping the thing stable while trying to use it with the SSTO. The biggest issue as present is the thing's propensity to swing "upward" while under thrust. Annoying as heck!

It is a DAMNED good thing I have beer in me, or I'd be sick right about now. Actually... /bolts for the bathroom

I've been playing with the one Levelord posted on, but I've been thinking about some changes to it that are similar to your idea. Unfortunately, balance is a real bugger to get right, even with quantum struts. I'm going to wind up doing lots of testing, using the gravity hack (which for some reason still seems to have some form of gravity anyway). That, or spend many, many hours launching the things over and over to test them in orbit....

You know, I think there's a point there. The first time I see a Kerbal come back from the "dead", they kind of start to lose their mortality in my mind. Likely that'll be a very critical factor to consider in career mode, but I'm starting to consider looking for working "perma-death" options so that doesn't happen. Crew Manifest supposedly has just such an option, but even though it's enabled, they still come back eventually anyway.

Okay, fair enough.

^^This. It really is a packed-up .craft file. Doing it that way makes the browser offer the file for download, rather than just display the raw text that the .craft file is composed of.

Aren't there already a bunch of threads here on these forums that basically do the exact same thing? Why Facebook? Most people who spend any appreciable time there are too busy trying to become the "mayor" of a coffee joint or get all their contacts to help them raise another Farmville barn anyway. That, or updating their status to tell everybody about their precious snowflake's latest poop.

Some of us actually thought of the ISS first. Also, the question was obviously more of an excuse to show off his (rather awesome) creation, so why be negative about it?

I like clients like Pidgin for situations like that, because I can connect to multiple different chat networks and centralize all my contacts. The downside is that for every network I add to the client, the more memory they seem to require to maintain those connections.

Oh don't get me wrong, it's a pretty image to be sure! It just confused me a bit because I wasn't sure what that massive landscape behind the mountains was supposed to be in the first place. As for the ICQ angle, that makes a lot of sense. Again, please don't mistake my statement for a disparaging remark, I just didn't realize the ICQ network was even still around.

Maybe because it beats trying to develop a complete physics engine from scratch? Thanks to the fact it's built on Unity, one guy was able to produce something playable after a few weeks. If this were built in straight C++, it never would have garnered the attention and fanbase (and income) that it has to encourage continued development. The same disdain has been lobbed Minecraft's way because of its Java taint, but the fact is using the pre-existing framework allowed the devs to shortcut a lot of the dirty work of getting a solid proof of concept out in the wild. That said, I'm hopeful that both projects will eventually decide they've got enough resources and support available to commit full re-writes to cut out the laggy and bloated (AND BUGGY) frameworks to become something entirely faster and better on their own.

Sadly AOL is still a thing in the US. I still run across new systems running their abomination of a software bundle because the old people don't listen when they're told that crap isn't necessary just to access their email. *sigh*

Oops. I will usually do that if my reply will be on the same page.

Somehow I am really confused by this image. Also: holy crap somebody still uses ICQ?!

Yes. Those nasty realistic physics, always preventing me from tossing out the wife and kitchen sink as a means of propulsion!! DAMN YOU PHYSICS!!

I had the same problem with a SSTO that was docked with a drive section. Then I updated the game and brought the persistent file over. After that, I did some upgrading to the SSTO, and sent it up to replace the original. The moment I undocked the original SSTO, it immediately keeled forward, eventually colliding with the drive sled, and falling apart from the fuel tank-forward. It did this no matter how many times I re-loaded the quicksave and tried to change up the process. I finally noticed that at the moment I undocked, the camera moved to focus on the probe-controlled sled, rather than the manned SSTO. This seemed at odds with what I had read about the undocking behavior, so I re-loaded again, and immediately ended the sled's flight, leaving the original SSTO hanging there. Even coming back to it from the Tracking Station, I had no control over it. It simply tumbled uselessly in space, and I had no control over the RCS, ASAS or throttle. The ship acted as if it were under probe control and completely un-powered. Eventually I just killed the whole flight and chalked it up to a quirk in carrying over the persistence file after the update. It seems like the game was ignoring the pilot and assuming that the SSTO was a piece of uncontrollable debris, now disconnected from the probe (which could still control the drive sled just fine). The newly-launched version of the SSTO had no problems afterward.

Burn. Burn like hell. Throw everything out the back as hard and fast as you can. Fuel, your co-pilot, wife, kids and the kitchen sink, fire it all off to achieve orbit and claw your gasping, desperate way to the gleaming oasis of the fuel station above. ...or turn on the cheat. >_>

It does that if you don't dock VERY carefully. I mean even to the point of countering the magnet draw with RCS. Afterward, I discovered it's really a good idea to mount quantum struts to the bird so it links solidly with the drive section while docked. Otherwise it tends to wag just a bit and throw off fine maneuvers.