Specialist290

You say that like this pic hasn't become the new standard for the meme itself.

Another tip: Don't focus too much on getting the orbit exactly circular. The important thing for orbital periods is getting the length of the semi-major axis right. A little eccentricity is tolerable, and in the real world no orbit stays perfectly circular for long anyway.

Alternately, if it's the equations themselves that are giving you trouble, I'd highly recommend reading these three pages over at the Atomic Rockets website. They try to break things down into layman's terms and try to keep the actual math to something you could do with a handy pocket calculator (as long as it has an "Ln" button).

The tech tree gives me that nice, warm, nostalgic Civilization feel Also looking forward to official subassemblies and the science modules.

It sounds like you already have the Subassembly Manager mod installed, from the description. What you need to do: Pick up the subassembly you wish to save as if you were going to move it somewhere else. The "Load Subassembly" button should change to a "Save Subassembly" one while those parts are selected. Just click on that button to save those parts as a new subassembly.

I'd like to note that I tested a Lunokhod-style configuration a while back. I ran into two main problems during the ground tests: 1. If the decoupler between the lander and rover was too low, the wheels would clip through the lander's surface, causing the rover to do some interesting gymnastics once the rover decoupled. 2. If the decoupler was too high (elevated by the octagonal or square truss pieces), the rover would just sit on top of the decoupled structure without a way to drive down. I think there were also a few problems getting the game to recognize the ramp as a ramp and not as a static object to be collided with or clipped through. Not saying it can't be done or that you shouldn't try, but it's very difficult to get it done right with the parts currently used in the stock game, and other landing configurations might be more convenient in the long run.

The Chase Camera working at all altitudes was certainly a pleasant surprise when I first found out about it. Now I can fly my spaceplanes like I'm actually in a flight sim! It also makes the crashes feel slightly more harrowing, too.

I like RoboRay's idea. Another one that might work is a simple, single-ring "open crosshairs" type of display that's minimally intrusive. Sort of like the HUD in this image (EDIT: or this one, which I think illustrates it slightly better), only it doesn't have to be nearly as elaborate. EDIT: Another idea: What about overlaying a semi-transparent version of the orange target marker that's in the DPAI window over the target port? At the very least, you wouldn't have to use resources rendering a completely new object, and the viewer can more easily associate "This is where I need to be" and "This is where I need the ship to point to get there" if the markers are the same.

Glad we could help, and nicely done! Sounds like that was quite the learning experience Hopefully those lessons will all go into the Mark 3.

Fair enough. Never said you had to, just that you might want to consider it. You could always consider simulated "supply payloads" made from fuel tanks that aren't linked to the main engines. If you have something like KAS installed (since I saw you mention it), you could even use those to double as emergency fuel sources in case one of your landers gets stranded without enough fuel to return once you touch down. That said, as I mentioned earlier, it really all comes down to what you're most comfortable with. Experiment around, and see what works for you.

It's a forum-wide thing. The recent server update seems to have borked a lot of forum features for most people, including me. @OP: Nicely done! Makes me feel like trying it myself in the near future.

In the settings.cfg file in the main folder of your KSP directory (that should be openable with a basic text editor like Notepad), there should be a line labelled "CONIC_PATCH_DRAW_MODE = 3". There are five different drawing modes for the game's patched conics display, numbered 0 through 4. This thread explains the differences between them.

You truly are one of the finest in your field, Whackjob. The only thing that could make that video more sedately charming is if "Blue Danube" were softly playing in the background.

'Salright -- now that I take a closer look at your screenshots, it looks like the docking port on the lander can is positioned in such a way that it's more or less flush with the top of the surface, while I'm used to it still sticking out a little from the top. That would indeed make it a little harder to select on its own. In that case, you might want to consider setting up an Action Group in the VAB so that it decouples from the docking port end. You're correct in that it's technically only "docked" when two docking ports are properly aligned (and thus instructions to "undock" were probably a poor choice of words on my part), but a docking port with its "port" end connected to something other than another docking port can be used as a budget decoupler with no decoupling force. If you have a stack separator between the docking port and an engine and you decouple using the docking port's "Decouple" option, the separator will hold the shroud in place on the engine while the CSM can be moved into position with RCS and reaction wheels. Then, once the shroud is safely out of the path of the lander's docking port, you can activate the separator, which will remove the shroud and allow you to use the main engine as normal. If it weren't quite as late over here, I'd go ahead and do my own in-game demonstration and upload screenshots, but that might have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest. That said, if your current system works just fine and this one seems to be overcomplicated for your needs, feel free to keep doing what you already know

Fair enough. That would be incredibly useful for such a craft, I'll admit. Must not have been thinking clearly earlier.

Those are some very good questions. Really, things like this come down to what you intend to use the base for and your personal play style, but I'll do my best to provide some answers you can use for a jumping-off point at least. The way I play personally, safety is a high priority for my designs, and that includes having a way to get my kerbonauts safely off-surface at any time. (Of course, unless / until life support requirements are added to the game, there's really no reason you can't just leave them on the surface forever, but I like to roleplay a bit.) I'd include at least one "Mun taxi" capable of reaching orbit from the Mun's surface, and preferably enough to bring all my personnel home if I really needed to. Making them Kerbin-return capable is a good idea as a "safety measure," but isn't strictly necessary, especially if you have a preexisting space station in orbit. Then you can use your Mun taxis to shuttle kerbonauts between the station and the Mun's surface (with refueling when necessary) and Orion / Soyuz style capsules moving crew between the station and Kerbin. I'd definitely also include a probe core, so you can fly them manned or unmanned as the mission dictates. This older discussion might prove helpful. Quite a few different and creative ideas for landing rovers were hashed out while it was active. Also, not to toot my own horn too much, but one of my favorite designs is this one, which includes a descent stage integrated into the rover itself. Getting that thing balanced took an awful lot of work, but it's really fun to drive. If you're willing to use mods, why look for substitutes when you could have the real thing? TAC Life Support and Ioncross Crew Support are two of the life support mods I've heard the most noise about, though you should definitely familiarize yourself with how they work if you decide to use either of them. Hope this helps

I'm sorry, but why would you even need to use an RCS system when you're in the atmosphere in the first place?

I think what wafflemoder is suggesting is a system to take oxygen from the atmosphere and store it in a compressed form, then use jets of compressed air for RCS instead of monopropellant. I'll admit it's an interesting concept, but I don't really know how practical it would be compared to just taking a full tank of monopropellant with you in the first place.

That's the problem I was trying to help you avoid: Instead of blowing the separator to separate the lander and the CSM, right-click on the docking port on top of the lander can, then decouple from there. Pull your CSM away using RCS and flip it over, then blow the separator off the engine. That way you don't have to deal with the shroud getting in the way.

Some resources you might wish to make use of: Alterbaron's Aerobraking Calculator, which outputs an estimate for your ideal target periapsis for a given set of initial orbit parameters and a target apoapsis. Since you mentioned Jool, alterbaron has created a reference chart for that planet specifically as well. I created a comparative atmospheric density table a while back, and a few other people have put that data in the form of some handy charts as well. (Kudos to ROFLCopter64Bit and Zeroignite.)

Don't have any answers for the first question, unfortunately. For the second, resource extraction and refining are not yet in the stock game, but the developers have stated that they plan on adding them in the near future. For now, the best option is to download the Kethane mod that's available in the Add-Ons section of the forums, which allows you to scan and drill planets for a resource called kethane, which you can then refine into fuel.

Also, another tip: Once you're in orbit and on your TE&D phase, undock the lander from the command module (or manually decouple it from the docking port, not the decoupler / separator), then flip your CSM around and pop the stack decoupler / separator from the engine bell once you're in position to dock. That way you won't have to deal with the shroud blocking the access hatch of your command module or being in the way while you're trying to dock.

Nicely done! I'll be adding a link to this from the Drawing Board

On a related note, on my first (and only) trip to Duna, I put the parachute on the orbiter bit instead of the lander. Fortunately, it ended up not mattering, since the lander ended up landing safely anyway.

Found this little spot on the Mun: That's two almost identical craters right next to each other, both inside yet another, larger crater. It's right next to my new Mun base, too.