Deddly

Looks like we come at KSP from two completely different angles. That's great, and I think having players like you will eventually move Squad to perhaps add more of the kind of content you are looking for, and the rest of us will appreciate that as well. Even though we have wildly different views, I've really enjoyed this dialogue, @Accelerando. Thanks for putting your opinion forward in such a way that it encouraged discussion rather than confrontation.

@Accelerando Whilst I do appreciate where you're coming from, and I would also like to see more detailed planets and things to explore and discover, I have to disagree with you on what's happened since 0.18 beta. It was great as it was, but it has improved and a lot of important physics concepts have been added. As has been said, KSP is a tool. A milling machine is a tool, but you can't actually do anything with it other than make things yourself, so you could argue that it's not useful in itself. Lego is just a bunch of bricks that don't do anything at all apart from make noise when you shake the box. The whole point of tools like this is they stimulate your own creativity and let you do or experience things that you never could do or even imagine before. It's this part of KSP that has improved over time. It's not the number of stock craft or big features that is impressive, it's the little tools like the "gizmos" that provide for almost endless variation and customisation that you, the user, can tweak and experiment with. It's the details, like heat transfer and atmospheric drag, that make us learn something as we go along. Yes, KSP is not about the game, it's about what you and others can make out of it. Just like a quality tool costs something to buy, KSP has a value that increases as more customisation is added and improvements are made. But not everyone appreciates or needs a quality tool. Why buy a milling machine if all you need is an electric drill? Maybe the free demo is enough, in that case, but I think most of us appreciate the additional functionality of the full release.

If you can do it, I do believe you'll be the first! Please give it a go and report back, I'd love to hear how it goes for you.

You make some nice suggestions there, @Accelerando (maybe you should put them in the suggestions section as well?), but I do think you underestimate what Squad have achieved with this project. If I were a betting person, I'd wager that the total hours they have spent working on this game far exceed the number of hours any of us have used it for.

No failures here, just research So how many engines is "lots", and what speed did you get up to?

Oops, sorry about that. I only looked a few days ago and I already got the name wrong. It was actually Kathna. Janny was also there, and was Kenlie's first fan.

That's true, though - as @Archgeek mentioned - the basic fin seems to have better stats than any other lifting surface.

Well, Up Up and Away is a challenge to get the highest altitude you can, but I don't want to limit it to within the atmosphere if some genius comes in here and suddenly gets a Solar escape velocity This is very valuable information, Rocketeer. How many engines did you use to get to 9.6 m/s, and do you have a picture of the craft you got airborne at 16 m/s?

@Torgo, I have thought about that, too. In fact, I thought of it to the extent that I went back in the story line and found the first comic where Kenlie started writing back in Eve: Order Zero. The reactions of Lisa and the others who read his stories were exactly how I would imagine they would be for people who have no concept of villainy. Interestingly, Lisa did come to accept it quite quickly, even though it seemed outrageous. She even called out for Martystu to save them when they were in danger.

It's officially a thing! If you think you can do it, go for it

There was once a wonderful and entertaining challenge by @GoSlash27 that culminated in a successful SSTO spaceplane powered by nothing other than ion engines and electric charge. Even with what were back then massless parts, it was an incredible accomplishment. Today, a lot has changed. Because engines work more realistically in atmosphere nowadays, the ion engine produces hardly any thrust at all at sea level on Kerbin. I have seen a few speculations that an ion plane might be possible, but I've never seen one work. So here's the challenge: TAKEOFF CHALLENGE: Can you get a plane to take off from the runway using no propulsion other than ion engines? Alternatively: UP, UP AND AWAY: Can you invent an innovative launch method to get an ion plane in the air and beyond? (Rover wheels to build up speed on the ground, take off from a mountain, electric propellors etc., but not a rocket booster stage) @Ultimate Steve refined his plane - now Ion Plane 7B - and managed to climb to 7537m from the top of a mountain. @Ultimate Steve launched from Kerbin's tallest mountain and could actually gain altitude and speed from there. Top speed was 70.4 m/s Also valuable for research: FREESTYLE: What is the lowest-altitude stable and level flight you can achieve using only ion thrust? (Anything goes to get your plane up there to start with, but the plane must be able to hold itself at that altitude and speed under its own power) @Draconiator can fly his plane at just 3480m altitude. @wibou7 Used a SRB on a cart to boost Winter Goose to a high enough altitude that it could sustain flight. The craft can hold level flight at about 4250m @ 50 m/s Rules: No parts mods or mods that change the gameplay, like FAR. Visual mods are fine, I can't see a problem with MechJeb and things like that. No cheating or hyperedit blahblahblah I have attempted to take off using a cluster of ion engines and two enormous wings. Maximum speed on the runway was 8 m/s, and not even close to takeoff. Please post your failures also, so we can learn from each others' mistakes.

Glad he used a CO2 extinguisher. For a moment there, I was worried about how they were going to clear a load of dry powder in zero g, and it's totally not geeky that it's the first thing I thought of.

Maybe we should make a new challenge to actually achieve takeoff using only Ion... Should be difficult

I did suggest starting with 1.0.5. It's more stable for unmodded installs at the moment. Sorry to hear the game crashed on you already though, but I'm glad you only paid what you feel it is worth.

Also, you might want to start with 1.0.5 if you want to avoid the bugs. I believe your steam key allows you to get that version too.

Sorry that was the first impression you got from the community. We're working on it Having said that, I think it's only to be expected that most of the people here are die-hard fans of the game and are likely to disagree with your opinion that it isn't worth full price. Try saying that in an Apple products forum and see what response you get Anyway, I for one am glad to welcome an open and honest person to the forum. It will be interesting to see whether or not your opinion changes about the value of KSP over time. Have fun!

Maybe they are using these

Oooh, wow this is intreguing! The Kerbulans did mention that Wernher has developped nuclear propulsion for them but they lost him before they could make him weaponise the tehnology. Could it be that there is actually no mirror Wernher, just the one who escaped using the very technology he refused to weaponise for the Kermulans? Or has Wernher of Kerbfleet really been an imposter the whole time after having brutally murdered his counterpart, which would explain the terrible design of the Eve Atmosferikdipperkraft - a craft that was practically designed to kill its ocupants? In which case, what is his agenda, since it appears the Kerbulans don't know about him? Does he belong to one of the Kerbulan rival factions and is he using an innocent alien space programme to develop the technology he needs to get a shot at his enemies? Whatever the case, I think we're in for quite a ride.

I haven't used wheels (or anyhing else) much yet in 1.1, but I have a car with four-wheel drive in real life, and in very slippery situations like mud and snow it performs better without traction control. Could be similar to what you are experiencing, @Geschosskopf?

Or like Parkaboy.

Landing in water sounds like a sensible solution.

@Red Iron Crown Thank you for the clarification. Don't worry, I wasn't thinking of putting it in my signature. I just wanted to make sure I understood the rule correctly.

If I give someone a link to dropbox, and instead of linking directly to the homepage I give them my referal link that gives them and me extra space, would that be against rule 2.2i? 2.2 Forbidden content Messages which contain, discuss or link to the following are explicitly forbidden: (i) "Links that promote projects and/or products that are meant for the personal profit of either party, this specifically includes linking through ad.fly" I am assuming that it would be against the rules, unless the rule is talking about financial profit.

...following from @Vanamonde's answer, that means that you can't actually upload pictures to this forum. You have to use a service like imgur or Dropbox

I read "SSTO-like-vehicle" as "spaceplane". Is that right, @Thahat?