colmo

That's up to you - it depends how much ownership you want to take of the mod? My understanding of the Z-pinch is that it has better ISP in atmosphere because the atmosphere gives it something to push against, rather than any need for oxidiser. I'm working off memory here, so may be mistaken.

Oddball question - does FAR have any influence on how drag works in water? If not, could it be added? I understand air and water are both fluids, so there are some commonalities? Edit: This was previously asked here -http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/20451-0-23-Ferram-Aerospace-Research-v0-12-5-2-Aero-Fixes-For-Planes-Rockets-1-7-14?p=616024&viewfull=1#post616024 P.S. I know someone who has worked on hydrodynamics, though he's not a KSP player - I can relay questions to him?

I'm thinking it might be feasible to use something like this mod to balance thrust on a shuttle, not using gimbal but variable engine thrust. It would likely need engines on both the main tank and the shuttle, so not quite like Space Shuttle or Buran, but something in between. As a bonus, it would also align thrust on the separated shuttle too if using e.g. an aerospike cluster. A major benefit is for people preferring to use stock parts only. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/67270-Throttle-Controlled-Avionics-1-2-0-23

Quick q - does this thrust balancing mod (Throttle Controlled Avionics) work on Firespitter rotors or VTOL engines? I see it being very useful for Chinooks and Quadcopters. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/67270-Throttle-Controlled-Avionics-1-2-0-23

My feeling is that they'll sort out the water, making boats possible in stock, once they've fixed aerodynamics. The drag model would be the same for water and air, just different values. They're both fluids, after all.

Those flight cockpits look good. Thanks to the RasterPropMonitor mod, the latest mod cockpits are far outstripping the stock ones. I suggest you follow suit.

I recall a criticism of these was lack of balance between the different sizes - e.g. 3m is much less massive yet not much less powerful or efficient. I also note the 5m air breather is better in every way to the non-airbreather equivalent. Are you leaving the balance as is and maintaining compatibility only?

It's definitely one for the modders to try first, if any are interested? If the physics did happen to work out reasonably well, there'd be some benefit to using tricks from real automotive engineering - suspension geometry and the like. It's a direction the devs weren't really thinking of... But then we have biplanes, aircraft carriers, submersibles and airships at our disposal, thanks to mods.

I'm curious of how feasible it would be to do fully physical wheels i.e. instead of a static object with an animation, they are real rotating entities? Steering, rotation and suspension can be taken care of with other parts. I've seen it done with robotics parts (Sasquatch has a few videos on YouTube, and there were others I can no longer find due to their age), though they of course handled oddly due to using makeshift parts, floppy suspensions made out of hinges, too much or too little grip, and infinite torque causing them to twist and break. As for the pneumatic properties, something akin to the balloon landing systems (such as Chickenkeeper's) might do, as they have the ability to compress and rebound.

Having seen other shuttle mods whip up excitement, before failing to emerge, I didn't get my hopes up for this one. However, those screenshots blew my socks off! I like the stockalike look, the IVA is gorgeous, and that's the first HUD I've seen. If you keep this up, this will take its place alongside B9 as a top tier KSP mod. Don't get bogged down in producing loads of variants and textures - a contained pack of core parts that stick to the central theme and retain the high quality suggested in the screenshots is preferable to a sprawling memory hog that tries to be all things to all people.

Reading continued activity on this thread, I wonder if people are aware that bac9 is no longer with Squad (no reasons were given, nor are likely to), and hasn't posted anything here since Christmas Day? I spotted him on the Unity3d forums, so I presume he's still working in that area.

I note under the latest Nvidia driver that zooming using the scroll wheel is very unreactive (requires much scrolling to get any zoom). Any fixes for this? Edit: D'oh, right on the OP - deleted settings.cfg and all is well. RTFM...

This all sounds really ambitious, yet ID has a track record of delivering! It marries beautifully with Firespitter, of course, but with auto gun emplacements, there's scope for deep fortress/base building. Interesting to see if a modder fancies the challenge? I'm talking more than parts - the ability to deploy and resupply a base would be essential. A fixed KerbTown would help. Having a base that's shot to pieces but still grimly hanging on could be quite a sight!

I'm really hoping water launch works again. Perhaps the performance improvements of 0.23 will help?

For OpenSuse fonts, please amend the OP instructions. All you need to do is 1-Click Install this script, it does the rest: http://software.opensuse.org/package/fetchmsttfonts

I just updated (did Squad issue a patch?) via Steam and ran it again. It works! The fonts have vanished again. Back to the OP for the fix for that...

Yes, everything is minty fresh. I concur that it looks like an old driver bug that has resurfaced, though this is worse.

I've been out of action for a while as the Nvidia driver broke my OpenSuse install. I've finally managed to update to the latest driver, 331.20, and...well, see for yourself: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UtXTIqWTFaQ/UrCG5WdlftI/AAAAAAAAIB4/BMzZGMNTQ6c/s912/screenshot0.png https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IW9g6oweCMs/UrCG5feja_I/AAAAAAAAIB0/L6qQj3GIivQ/s912/screenshot1.png Both 32 and 64 versions do this (one screenshot from each) - sound plays and the game appears to be running, but the graphics are a disaster. I've reinstalled the system multiple times now and it's at the point where I either change distro (OpenSuse) or change graphics card (GTX 660) - this is the most prolonged lack of support for this card yet, and I'm not impressed. Edit: Just reported it to Nvidia support.

Interesting, especially the land vehicle developments. Any thoughts on a helicopter engine? As if they aren't hard enough already...

I find it's only a problem with part-heavy mods - it becomes a chore to find stuff in construction, and then start running out of RAM. The mods you cite aren't part heavy - they make nice improvements on the core game and compliment each other. There are other synergistic mods out there too - Kethane, Extraplanetary Launchpads and KAS; Firespitter, Hooligan Labs and Boat Parts; Krag's Planet Factory and Interstellar; Modular Wheels and Kerbin City; B9 and..erm...everything (e.g. Space Shuttle Engines). You learn to be choosy. If you keep a focused set of mods dedicated to the kind of missions you want to do, you avoid the situation of being overwhelmed by choices.

The planets can orbit the barycentre of both stars, or could orbit just one of the stars. I don't believe any binary systems have been found where both are the case - depends on the distance between the stars I think.

I recommend Gliese 667 as inspiration for a modded system - 3 stars, loads of terrestrial bodies around habitable zones...

I put it down to a new universal force called "narrativity", which overides other forces when the story demands it.

For anyone not liking the idea of a star 'orbiting' another star, that's precisely what happens in a binary system. Technically they orbit each other, but it's all relative anyway. I'm interested in the colour of Serious - it needn't be the same size or colour as Kerbol (not sure if KSP will allow a different colour of starlight), though it should most likely be the same age (so if it's larger, it'll possibly be later or post main-sequence having 'aged' more quickly than Kerbol, and if it's smaller, it'll be earlier main-sequence).

I love to see the non-historical BobCat stuff, where he really shows off his design chops. Looking excellent.