Varyon

I've noticed the bomb aimer doesn't like to show up on craft with multiple stages until all stages have been fired. Also, if I release my bombs from any altitude when the aimer says 'bombs away', they end up about a kilometer short. I start dropping bombs after the aimer has completely passed over the target. So if you have an ejection system, it had better not be on a bomber, or you'll need to get really good at eyeballing-it. In other news, I rolled out zekes' P1000 Ratte today, dropped some bombs on it. Structural panels are really tough. Like, really tough. Bombs tend to fling your target ridiculous distances, though seeing a 1000+ part tank sail through the air with all the grace of a ballerina is just amazing.

Don't really know what to call it. Has room for two torpedoes at the bow, cargo space for a big orange tank. Took 3 launches, and I could add on more segments... But it's already a lag-monster as it is. Before that, the ill-fated Pangolin Spacetrain. Not enough POWAH.

Do very much want.

Projectiles pass through stock parts. Installed on top of lots of mods, saw the problem, started over fresh, same problem. They impact on armor just fine. Everything is in the right place, but I can see the particle effects hanging out a few meters behind the part I'm shooting at.

This may be the coolest thing. Ever. Of all time.

I've come out of hiding with something pretty cool! What does it do? Heck if I know, it has more delta-V than it has thrust and accelerates almost as fast as my grandmother's walker. But it's pwetty!

Plenty of the "Rocket Builders" are sorta in-character, so relax and enjoy the awesome airplanes. Does Prokhogorsk export these aircraft, by any chance?

Second the motion to do something from Macey's series.

Absolutely do want.

Can't forget the beast that is KIDI, Zekes makes some terrifying stuff. And other amazing awesome people too. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/25376-Showcase-KIDI-Kerbal-Interplanetary-Defence-Initiative

It is definitely an SSTO, but it has serious balance issues during orbital maneuvers. The center of mass is below the center of thrust, and it just tumbles with the aerospikes on. This is without a crew, don't know if Kerbals have mass, but if they do this issue will most definitely be much worse. It does look awesome though, so that's something.

Oh man, I absolutely want this.

"Great Success" - "Catastrophic Failure" The two are mostly interchangeable.

Had an old prototype submission for the Spiritwolf thread floating around in an eccentric, inclined parking orbit. Thought to myself, "Self, one day that old abandoned 700+ part behemoth fully laden with fuel is going to cause a problem." I then retorted, "Dude, have you seen the orbit it's in? I couldn't hit that if I tried." At the time, my self appeared to agree with me. I'm not a smart man. Fast-forward about two months real time. I have a space station loaded up with Kerbals, many of whom were crew of the aforementioned abandoned spacetrain, as another sort of experiment. As the empty crew shuttle pulls away, I notice a little blue icon off in the distance. I think to myself, "Self, why is there a flag in orbit?" I know that this is impossible, and so I am puzzled for a moment. It then occurs to me that bases are labeled with a blue square. "Self," I think, "wasn't that 700+ part monstrosity labeled as a base?..." Oh... Kraken... The shuttle has a crew capacity of 11, including the three operators. There are 8 Kerbals on the station. The station is over 300 parts, the shuttle more than 100, and that Kerb-made comet is approaching with alarming speed. Almost a kilometer per second and increasing. The last Kerbal is halfway to safety when the beast enters physics range. He barely gets onboard when the armored spacetrain collides with my station. Both Hitchhiker modules aboard are vaporized. The shuttle jams on the RCS to get clear, but is clipped by an orange tank covered in structural panels. 5 minutes later, 11 Kerbals at KSC are huddled around a keg of chlorophyll, trying to laugh off their latest escapade. Three of them will never fly in space again. My former parking orbit has been compromised. New parking orbit is now at 200km. The spacetrain 'engine', being armored to withstand these kinds of impacts, is mostly intact. I still get a close encounter with the debris cloud every once in awhile, but the odds if being hit again are astronomically low... right? In my rush to get my crew to safety, I forgot to take pictures, but the colliding object is somewhere in the Spiritwolf/Hanland submission thread, by the name of the Pangolin Armored Spacetrain.

These are absolutely amazing. I just slap a GAU on one of Zekes' tanks and call it a day. Edited due to loss of relevance.

... It was kind of a joke, but you're absolutely right, armor is pretty much useless. I just had images of space banditos riding up on horse-shaped RCS spacebikes shooting decouplers at the command module. With solar-panel sombreros. I'm weird.

I see what you did there... Oh I really see what you did there. And yes, it's waaay more efficient than mine. But yours probably wouldn't withstand a space-train-robber attack.

I really want to see your space train, I came up with the same idea a little while back. Mine is... probably a whole lot less practical than yours. It's way back on page 77, if you're interested.

Well we finally got this beast functional. It took way longer than we expected, but then again our expectations aren't exactly a great indicator of progress. Anyway, without further ado, Paradigm Industries presents the PDM-MDHI-L12 Armored Spacetrain! Sitting at 254.25 tons and a soul-crushing 671 parts, this is probably not the most ideal service vessel, but we love it nonetheless. Sporting no armament whatsoever, the spacetrain is primarily a tug vessel, utilizing the Oberth effect with extreme prejudice to haul fuel into Laythe orbit. Or, it would, if our pilots could master the 'simulation' and actually get it to Laythe. Come on guys, really, how hard can it be? The current loadout for the spacetrain designated "Pangolin" is two orange fuel tanks and four large RCS tanks, armored and equipped with tri-lateral radial docking ports to serve as a temporary fueling station in the aftermath of an orbital engagement. Originally a load of 36 standard torpedoes was to be carried along with its test load of two unarmored orange fuel tanks, however the part count skyrocketed with the addition of this module. As the standard torpedo has been known to be mostly obsolete, rendering the module mostly useless, it was abandoned in LKO and later de-orbited. However, with the addition of the Rockomax 48-7S, the standard torpedo may receive an overhaul, and to accommodate this potential upgrade a new spacetrain has been commissioned to transport these new torpedoes. This vessel will be designated "Armadillo" once completed. The "tractor" engine configuration provides much-needed stability during long burns, as the trailing cargo modules flex significantly during maneuvers. A similar modular load under compression would require vast quantities of RCS and torque to keep the spacecraft pointed in the right direction, burning through much of its intended cargo in the process. This configuration allows for the spacetrain to stay in orbit and receive cargo modules dependent on its task and destination, cutting down on required resources in the long run. The downside to this configuration is that it cannot easily adjust its heading. It is a train, after all. Lighting has been kept to a minimum to avoid attracting unwanted Hanland attention. The spacetrain's sloped armor is sufficient to repel standard torpedoes at most angles, however it is not a front-line combat vessel and should not be treated as such. Continuing Paradigm's trend of operational redundancy, the spacetrain contains a backup probe core, as well as a pair of command modules. Should those all be destroyed, each cargo module contains a pair of large probe cores, just behind each docking port. If the primary fuel tank is critically damaged, the command sponsons will detach. Each command sponson is a self-contained spacecraft possessing RCS and three LV-Ns to escape with its crew intact. However, manual sponson ejection is not currently supported due to structural concerns. If these can be addressed, the next iteration of spacetrain will allow for modular command sponsons. We hope that Spiritwolf will forgive our egregious stupidity in essentially lying prostrate and presenting Hanland with an astrophysical-warfare-equipped (read: absurdly high part count) dreadnaught. Our organization has been purged of Hanland sympathizers, we think, and the greater Paradigm Corporation took away all our missiles just to be safe.

Why didn't I comment on this way back on the 12th? This is just beautiful. Not exactly moth-like as its name suggests, but still very impressive. I might have to steal your "Nuclear Vortex Turbines" for future designs.

That's onion staging. Asparagus staging requires that one set of radials feed into another set. Going to the center just peels off layers, like an ogre onion.

Personally, before we improve IVAs, how about giving the Mk2 and Mk3 cockpits an IVA to start with, which they haven't had since their release. Before expending any further resources on new stuff, FINISH WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE. If one thing bugs me about .21, it's not the SAS, it's not the reaction wheels, it's that to this day, there are unfinished assets that are being ignored in favor of new content.

Desperate times call for desperate measures? I have a subsidiary company within my Paradigm Industries that handles production of military spacecraft. Maybe this fighter is from a new branch of your company, like some kind of armed Loss Prevention? You could also handwave it that the pilots of these fighters are also technicians to keep the autonomous infrastructure maintained in case of "accidental" torpedo impact. Voyager was pretty reliable, but Voyager managing a small drone fleet? There's definitely a need for Kerbal intervention when large probe networks are involved. Paradigm started out as a Kethane mining company. Why are we making battleships? See previous post...

"Because we can" has always been a valid excuse for doing anything, honestly. Considering how dangerous the Kerbol system has been getting recently, it's only natural for a company to want to protect its interests. What if Hanland raids the salvage depot with a pair of Shades? That Trident of yours looks like it can give a Shade a kick in the teeth if it gets too close for comfort. Paranoia is a reasonable course of action if you know everyone's out to get you.

I think I finally have a functional prototype of what feels like a "space train". It's a pain in the Mainsail to maneuver, but it can haul 36 Standard Torpedoes and a Big Orange a respectable distance. With a little fine-tuning (or Moar Boosters) it should be able to make it to Jool. Aerobraking is probably out of the question, though... Pics go up when I get home. I keep saying I quit, but KSP just begs to be played...