Specialist290

I understand it's more efficient to keep both the drilling station and the refinery at "fixed" points, but is there a reason you keep the refinery component in orbit with the fuel depot rather than on the surface with the drill, and have the fuel shuttle transport raw kethane rather than processed fuel? I've heard some advocating the other approach before for their own kethane facilities, and I'm wondering how these two approaches compare.

As Claw said, the parameters aren't that unstable (thankfully), unless you're already dangerously close to the edge of the atmosphere anyway -- and once a craft is unloaded and put "on rails," the physics engine (including atmoshperic drag) doesn't affect it; it's basically a data point in a fixed orbit, though it'll get automatically deleted if it goes below a certain altitude. In other words, in theory you could have a station safely in orbit with a Pe just above 23km or so and it'll stay there forever as long as you never load it while it's in atmo, but this isn't really representative of how a space station in orbit would actually work, obviously Just a consequence of the way KSP is designed.

Unfortunately, there's a limit to the degree of precision you can get in the game (without resorting to things like editing orbits in the save file) simply because of how the physics engine handles the calculations using floating-point decimal values. The closer you try to get to a perfect circular orbit, the more noticeable this gets (as you can see the Ap / Pe markers actually jerking around as the game keeps recalculating the orbital parameters). The good news is, there's rarely any time when you really need that much precision. The really important things to pay attention to, if you want something that's geosynchronous or something like that, are the semi-major axis and the orbital period. A slightly elliptical orbit will still roughly maintain its position relative to the surface if its period correctly matches the planet's rotation period, with minimal need for adjustment.

It should be available on one of the early nodes of the timeline, if not the very first one. If you're adding the add-on with a preexisting Career Mode save already present, you may have to go back to the tech tree and unlock the parts manually, but that's about it.

Welcome to the forums, and nicely done! Keep up the good work

Welcome to the forums! Glad to hear you've been enjoying yourself. If you do end up having any questions, feel free to ask them in the aptly-named Gameplay Sections thread.

I've been where you're standing right now before -- multiple times, in fact, with KSP as well as with other games I enjoy. It might not be what you want to hear, but the sad truth is, our interests wax and wane in intensity like with anything else. One thing that's helped me in the past: Instead of trying to fight it, acknowledge that you're starting to "burn out" on the game and spend some time taking a break from it. Play some of your other games, go out and see movies, use the time to catch up on some other hobby you've been meaning to catch up on, etc. If you truly still enjoy KSP, you'll most certainly come back to it again, and with a renewed sense of vigor and purpose. If you have to force yourself to continue, you're not really having fun, after all.

I've noticed a few rather heated comments have been posted in this thread lately. I understand that everyone here has their own vision of how the game should be developed, and that each of us has their own list of most preferred features. However, keep in mind even though everyone else may not share your particular vision for how KSP should unfold, they're just as concerned about wanting the end result to be a good product as you are. Keep it civil

I've seen others report this issue before. You may find this tutorial to be helpful, if it's indeed the same problem I think it is. Let us know if it works

Welcome (back) to the forums! As Taki117 mentioned, you may want to take a look at our Tutorials section. In particular, I maintain a small list called the Drawing Board, which is conveniently linked in my signature, specifically to help point users in the right direction for quality resources. Don't forget you can also ask in the Gameplay Questions forum if you still have specific issues that have you stuck. Hope this helps!

During a recent mission to Duna, I made a slight miscalculation during aerobraking which put me on a crash course with the planet. The crew made a heroic effort to safely land anyway and save as much of the craft as they could. They succeeded... sort of. At least Jebediah has plenty of snacks...

Thanks. I'll certainly give it a good look

A few months ago I helped someone proofread a tutorial, and one section in particular ran the numbers for a real-world lunar direct ascent as a comparison to a KSP one in the context of a discussion of when a separate lander might be worth it compared to a direct-ascent profile in KSP. The particulars are on that page, but it basically boils down to the fact that in KSP, the scales of both the solar system and the craft parts involved are such that it's often more efficient to send one command pod / lander can to the Mun than two, whereas in the real world this turned out not to be the case.

Provided they're from different biomes / environments, yes.

If you know exactly what you're doing and what to look for, you can find the relevant craft data in one persistent.sfs file and manually copy-paste it into the other one, which (if successful) should effectively transfer the craft in question over to the other save. I'd highly recommend backing up both files before trying this, though, just in case things go wrong.

I'm going to second sal's observation here. From what I've observed, most of the time the indicator should tick over automatically to whatever the game deems is the most appropriate setting, but if you've already manually cycled through the modes once, it seems to "stick" to whatever you left it on last as long as you're still on the same flight. It's fiddly about things like that.

It seems as though kerbonauts won't take their peers' words on these things, and thus must all try to taste the Minmus surface samples for themselves just to be sure

I don't believe so. From what I've observed so far, the only real change has been cosmetic (in the way jetpack fuel is displayed as a full resource).

If I may make an observation, FORUM_TEST_2-19-14, your account still seems to be under the permissions restrictions we enforce on new users as part of our anti-spambot countermeasures. The option to delete your own posts might be one of the options that's restricted for people who are still on your side of the filter, along with most profile and signature customization options.

D'oh! And now I see you mentioned that in the text of one of your posts right above your comment. Sorry, must have been distracted or half-asleep when I asked that At any rate, looks like preparations for the Duna mission are going nicely. Hope to see the crew en route soon!

You and me both. Sometimes I'll take a look at a design I "finished" weeks ago and think to myself, "Wouldn't it be so much better if I somehow got it to [do this totally unnecessary thing] as well as what I designed it for?" or "Do you think it could still [do this mission] if I added / removed / moved / changed this part for that part?" Then some hours later, I'll realize I haven't actually gotten any flying done As always, keep up the good work!

Welcome to the forums, and glad to hear you're enjoying the game! The KSP forums here are a very cosmopolitan community, with users from all around the globe. While English is required on most of the site's subforums, we do have specific International boards for non-English-speaking users who want to chat in their own native languages. (Also, I can guarantee that you are much more fluent in English than I am in your native tongue ) In general, feel free to contribute. Ask questions, answer other people's, share tales and screenshots of your experiences, and so on. If you're ever stuck on something in the game, you may also want to check out the Drawing Board (linked in my signature), which lists a number of different tutorials and other player resources for the benefit of players of all skill levels, whether you're a beginner wondering what to do next or a seasoned pro who just wants to try something different. Hope this helps!

Welcome to the forums, and glad to hear that you've been enjoying the game In general, don't be afraid to ask questions here on the forums. As you've already seen, this community is full of fellow players who have been in your shoes before and might be able to provide pointers to help you get out of a sticky situation. Also, I try to maintain a little list of tutorials and resources called the Drawing Board (conveniently linked in my signature), many of which have been created specifically with interplanetary travel in mind. Feel free to check them out. Hope this helps!

Unfortunately, as this topic falls under our restrictions against discussions of a political or ideological nature, we've decided to lock this thread. There was indeed a similar thread earlier, but I believe it was also locked for the same reason. Y'all have a nice day