Mister Dilsby

Outstanding, I learned a lot here--thanks!

My experience is that I get about the same RPC (rep per comic) as in the old system, though I would not expect other rep-harvesting channels (the other major categories being (1) helpful advice, (2) sharing spacecraft, (3) modding, (4) moderating, and (5) general snark and villany) to have fared equally neutrally. I do miss the "reputation message" feature very much though. It was a good way to really thank someone, or give them a semi-private comment of support, and It was always a pleasure to get them too. If you think about it, rep messages probably did a lot to cut down unnecessary posts--you could tell someone "cool" or "+1" or whatever in the rep comment if you felt a need to say something, but not say much

Hey, I'm caught up with this now. The general Kerbalkind reaction to the 'menace' was even better than the introduction of the menace itself. It raised the stakes and the emotion for all concerned, and also gave you an opportunity for some really good-looking scenes and graphics. I also find it to be allegorical for certain real-world problems, about which I will not be specific because that could tend to slide the conversation into areas where there are opportunities for forum rules to be broken. So anyway, I'll just say that this is good all around. Now, this is your story: the impending disaster, the secondary effect of arguments and ignorance and counter-productive panic, and Our Heroes rushing to do something to save Kerbin, both on the ground (Walt, Mort, Gene etc.) and in space (Jeb,Val, Subeth etc.) Concentrate on this conflict-- you don't need to spend a lot of time or panels on exactly how many seats are on what ships or who's going and who's staying, unless those things are directly important to the plot. Remember, a reader can only hold so many names and craft in his head at once. If you try to include all the details you'll lose momentum in telling your real story and possibly leave readers confused about what the real story is. Finally, very neat solution with the conference table (looks like every movie conference ever, from the Rebel Alliance to Dr. Strangelove )and pasting the portraits around it. Good visual there

TRANSCRIPT: (easier for me since I can cut and paste ) [Derpstar reaching orbit] Kenlie: Almost there… Intrepid in sight! Samantha: Yes! Nailed it! [Intrepid Bridge] Dilsby: Ahoy Derpstar! Hold station there. Mister Kenlie, you’ll fly the Gumdrop into the hangar. Sarge, suit up—you’ll have to do an EVA to get the rover. Sarge: (off camera) ooh rah! Kenlie: Well, here I go! Bye Sam! Samantha: Bye Kenlie! Have a great time! Kenlie: Ha ha! Yeah… [new page: Kenlie transfers to the Gumdrop cockpit: Kenlie: (thoughts) Now I’ll be alone… just me and my thoughts. Will I think of… them? I have to stop this.I have to tell someone! But who’ll believe me? No one, that’s who. It’s probably all in my head anyway, like that thing with the munolith… …but that was real! At least I think it was.. Oh no, oh no! Murder… terror… Stowaway: Hiya, Kenlie! Kenlie: Wha?! [new page: Gumdrop cockpit] Kenlie: Why me? Why does the weird stuff always happen to me? Stowaway: Hey, at least stuff happens to you! Nothing happens to me. Until now, that is! I’m going to Jool! Kenlie: No, you’re not! I don’t even know who you are! Gregmore: It’s me, Gregmore! We were roomies at the Academy, remember? Kenlie: Oh, that explains it-- I always thought that room was big for a single. Gregmore: Come on, Kenlie, bring me to the Intrepid and I’ll do half your chores. Heck, I’ll do all of them! Kenlie: Nuh-uh. Dilsby would never go for it. Gregmore: He’d never know! See, I’d be you. We look alike—same branch and rank— and besides, I’m pretty good at not being noticed! Kenlie: Well other than that being a really stupid idea, being me isn’t exactly that easy right now, Gregbob. Gregbob: Gregmore! Samantha: Hey, Kenlie? Intrepid’s calling, they want to know why you haven’t undocked yet. [new page] Gregmore: Don’t answer her! Look, I brought you a patch! See, I always felt like you were really a part of the Eve mission, Kenlie, and so-- Kenlie: Ohhh, no, I’m not falling for that again! Now listen up, Gusmore or whatever the heck your name is. If you don’t want to wind up duct taped to a chair, you’ll transfer to the cockpit right now and ride down with Samantha. She’s Air Service, she won’t tell anyone about this. Gusmore: But— Kenlie: GO!! I’m doing you a favor. I’m probably saving your darned life. Tell them I’m coming, Sam. [new page. Gumdrop is undocking and thrusting out of the bay.] Kenlie: Gumdrop Two away. Gregmore (Derpstar cockpit): Hello, you must be Sam! Sam: GAAAH! Sarge: (floating past the Gumdrop): Good evening, sir. Kenlie: Evening, Sarge. Sarge: …I’ve reached the bay. Good-looking rover! Kenlie: (flying into hangar deck) Intrepid, Gumdrop Two ball... [new page] Jeb (from LSO station): Right– er, starboard dock, Kenlie, the one on the greenhouse.. Kenlie: Aye aye. Acquiring… *CLICK* Dilsby (from Bridge): All right, Sarge, you can ‘drive’ on over. How’s she handling? Sarge: (mounted on rover which is flying towards Intrepid) Couldn’t ask for a smoother ride, Comder!

Oh my... I'm starting to think the "Gregmore effect" is real!

Size. The ruggedized wheels, which i do prefer, didn't make it into the bay in testing. Balloons did Also I think they need less power, which is good if you're running the whole thing on RTGs and still want to think about transmitting science.

I couldn't wait either. Transcript will follow for the internet impaired, though there is a lot of dialogue here so it may take a while. MRS, if you happen to start working on it first please PM me so we don't duplicate And now, let's reveal our mystery guest! So, I launched the Derpstar with Gusmore Gregmore aboard, thinking I would indeed have him stow away on the Intrepid, doubling for Kenlie and not revealing himself until the ship had made its escape burn, and as Heinlein and @Geschosskopf have said, "all bills are paid". But I changed my mind. Besides the life support limitations (which I'm sure I could have dealt with) I decided that the story I want to tell for Gregmore in this book would work just as well or better on Kerbin as it would on Jool. And as I started to write it, I realized that this would be a good growth opportunity and a chance for a 'darker' turn for Kenlie, which I thought appropriate given what he's been seeing.

TOTM! Yeah Jim! Whoo! What a love-fest you'll return to when you get back to the thread, congrats!

UPDATE!!! All craft are now docked to Intrepid, and the crew is aboard (not saying yet how many that is ) The final tally is: Life support and habs for 12 crew, 5 year endurance Seats for 34 crew, counting landers and bridge chairs but not counting the two chairs on the docked rover Ship's boat/rover Qwammer with seating for 3, ISRU capability and sufficient dV for a single stage Tylo descent/ascent 2x RCS dinghy Gumdrop, each seats 2, full science, with dV for single stage Bop or Pol visit/return Spaceplane Skimmeroo, seats 2, amphibious, airbreathing, Laythe/Kerbin SSTO capable 4x Scansat probes each with 3600dV 2x Jooldiver expendable atmospheric probes Micro Rover [NOT YET NAMED] with vacuum science suite, RCS maneuver capability and seats for two 808 parts 700+tons, partially fueled Well, who doesn't? But per the above, the system is indeed sized for 12...

Wow. First off, I've done that with docking ports SOOO many times. It's why "hyperedit to orbit in Bill Space Program and check docking" is on my permanent checklist. But fixing it in the save file, I assume with just a text editor and a glass of Scotch, is next-level. Kerbfleet Bill would be quite impressed, as am I

If I ever get a Haddock Kerman, he's immediately being promoted to Captin and given a ship full of 'hydrazine'. I bet @Hotaru knows what I'm talking about

Aw, 'chute' Also love the name Jebbro. It's like he's a really, really male Jeb fan. Like, "Do you even space, Bro?"

Sorry, who were we talking about again?

Sorry, that's the Intrepid's crew manifest. By roster I mean the list of available pilots, engineers and scientists that you get when you pull up a list of available crew to populate a craft

I can at least say it isn't one of them. Whoever it is, he really is a Kerbfleet pilot and he is on the roster--three star pilot, no less!

Yes, it's funny I needed to refer to it a while ago and it took me a long time too it's buried in between Quadhammer landings in Chapter 3. Here it is all by itself:

All right, transcription for the internet impaired... it's short enough I'll do it WALT: (playing guitar) DANANANA!! DANANANA!! DUNN! DUN DUN DUN! DUN DUN NUN! DUN DUN-- GENE: Ahhh…okay Walt, you can stop now—this is the last SSTO flight…Get ready, Samantha. The Intrepid will be in intercept position in three… two… one… mark! SAM: (taking off in Derpstar, with a yellow-uniformed Fleet pilot next to her in the cockpit) Here we go! [Z] [new page] SAM: You’re so lucky, Kenlie! I wish I got to go to Jool! KENLIE: (the other pilot in the cockpit) Lucky? Uh…. yeah, I suppose you could say that… …I mean, it’s not like they had a choice, right? There’s so many boats to fly, and I was the only Fleet pilot left on the roster. By the way Samantha, did you notice our takeoff mass was a little off? SAM: Yeah, by 94 kilos. Don’t worry, I corrected it. [view of the cargo bay containing a small rover and a Gumdrop lander. We see a yellow-uniformed Fleet pilot is sitting in the Gumdrop cockpit!] STOWAWAY: (thought balloon) Doo... doo doo doo... /notMRS

Last flight! Sending up the second Gumdrop, a very compact Rover, Kenlie, and... Yes I know a Kerbal sitting in a cockpit doesn't change the mass. It's funnier this way

An Intrepid class carrier can support twelve Kerbals indefinitely. Take out some of the landers and fuel, and it could support many more. And @Dman979, I think you're only canonically Kerbal in Kerbfleet, if you were going to show up here there'd have to be another crossover which the last time did not improve matters.

Oh my. We must be of an age, you and I. I saw that cartoon (and detested it) myself as a kid. I remember the theme song pretty well, mostly because we used it to mock a neighborhood kid unfortunately named M-m-m-Matt! Yeah, sorry about that. I finally got it out of my own head by (1) writing the comic and (2) starting work on the next song... well, more of an anthem really

Dorky but incredibly useful, with a curved back end? Yep, I think you nailed it...new game! Every time you see the Derpstar yell, "punch derpy no punchbacks!" and slug the person next to you.

Well, I see you've neatly averted the whole Chief O'Brien trope by putting an NCO in charge of the entire flotilla Am liking Sanny best of the bunch, the flower-child energy soaking might make her a bit flaky, but at least she won't try to kill everyone else.

Thanks, and I am forced to agree about the Derpstar. De-orbited with the tank dry, lost power on the way down but pulled off an effortless glide landing within sight of KSC. Second time I figured out the flight profile and intercepted Intrepid with fuel to spare. On landing, overcorrected the undershoot from the previous flight and missed by a lot, but managed to turn and fly to Overshoot Island without much issue (other than coming in a bit too fast, bouncing back into the air at 40 m/s and nearly ending up in the water ) All in all, a very good weekend for the Air Service.

Almost there! Just finishing the ?!!@$ rover so it actually fits in the bay, and we'll be ready for the very last supply flight!

Yes. Filing "munar explosion" away as a potential solution if the size of my cast ever becomes unmanageable