N_Molson

Also, having an "heavy" heatshield with 100% ablator resource is a good thing as it helps to stabilize the spacecraft in the shield-first attitude. And you can even jettison it later on the descent to make parachutes task easier.

Its funny, on my side it's rather "aircraft and rovers on ice".

They completely rewrote the way wheels are simulated and that's not something you do in 3 days, wait for the patch and you'll see that the new system is much much more satisfying (and realistic).

Agreed, you can definitively land anywhere without using landing legs. There is a ton of stock parts that can make makeshift legs. You can even land on your engine(s) if the surface is flat enough, just come down slowly enough. It might look a bit weird, but it doesn't prevents from playing and making progress.

The two I'd like to see integrated are not in this list : - Remote Tech - TAC life support By the way, putting them into the stock game would require some adjustments or modifications.

Actually they are attached to the "structural decoupler".

This ultra-light design works well for me in 1.1, I really went to the basics : The decoupler is used to balance the mass/lift centers (there's a big sticky in the cockpit : DON'T ACTIVATE !). The 45° "V" tail works perfectly, and saves 1 part while allowing a central engine. The elevons on the wings can be used as flaps (extra lift, extra drag) if the "authority" setting is right (something between 30 and 90), beyond that you get spoilers (aka airbrakes). I can even takeoff and land on the L1 runway (well, one landing ended of the roof after I rolled over, but except for 1 wing, the plane was intact).

Currently I'd say that KSP considers that anything in a "cylinder" beyond the heatshield is protected. In reality, it depends on the spacecraft shape, indeed. Maybe those results about an ESA conducted experiment with a conical-shaped body can enlight you a bit : Figure 8. Temperature distributions around the ESA ARD at an altitude of 85 km (x-y plane). (a) Translational temperature; (b) vibrational temperature.

Alright, my research on low-tech landing gear and ultralights aircrafts has been successful, claiming the lives of only 5 kerbals. With this design, I'm able to takeoff and land safely on Level 1 (aka "the construction site") runway (well, losing a wing and stopping on the roof from time to time isn't a drama, its very Kerbal ) : The tank behind the cockpit is only there for structural reasons and is empty, of course. Fuel is directly stored in the "engine nacelle" (doesn't allows to fly very far away, but fine for the first "below 18,000 meters" survey missions. But the nosewheel steering is really extremely sensitive. Well its possible to define the sensitiveness of the steering axis in the settings...

The way the updates are done is fine. Firstly, they are free once you have the game license, so its hard to complain. Secondly, the game is designed to be modded. Now, I think the game isn't really complete as long as it doesn't has the following built-in features : - An overhauled Kerbin planet. There could be a lot of things to do there. Carrying passengers, cargo to the various companies (Rockomax, etc...) spaceports/cities/airfields. Improving your reputation with those companies, so you get recovery discounts when landing on/near their HQ. Stuff like that seems really doable with the game engine in its current state. - A life support management system. Even a simple one, but I think it has to be there for educational reasons. From CO2 scrubbing and snacks level management to radiations hazard, keeping the 'nauts alive is an essential part of crewed spaceflight. Have some choice in the suits too : from a simple, cheap and light pressure suit for IVAs, to heavier and more expensive stuff for planetary EVAs. - Make each Kerbal somehow "unique". From the moment the "courage & stupidity" skills were introduced, we all expect them to do something important. Also more variety in stuff like hair color, style... (already exists as addons again). - A semi-realistic while playable way to deal with automated probes. RemoteTech is an interesting - while maybe excessive for some players - option. Version 1.1 is a first step towards this ; the ability to write simple programs with conditional would be very cool (basically, action groups trigerred by player-preset altitude, pressure, time conditions). Some parts like parachutes features this, so it's all about making some sort of "flight computer". Again, I'm not worried. We have concerned developpers and a large, proactive community around them.

About shaders : I'm in the same case than Regex (old graphic card), and the LEGACY_UNSUPPORTED_TERRAIN_SHADERS True trick really boosts the performance. But it definitively has side effects : terrain is overall darker, making KSC very "light green" in comparison, and also the ocean behaves weirdly (textures seem to "swap in squares" every second or so). About low-tech landing gear : Ok, I get it, this is the kind of stuff you can find on a very light plane like a Cessna. Still, what confused me is the description specs that display something like "crash speed : 230 m/s". A Me-262 would use something like the next one (which can be retracted). Maybe its simply a typo in the specifications description then

That could be OK if we had a propeller as a first aircraft engine part. But we have to deal directly with reaction engines. If I take the Me-262 (the first plane to use reaction engines), here are the landing instructions : The best approach speed is 230 - 250 k.p.h (63 - 69 m/s). Shortly before reaching the airfield boundary, decrease the glide angle a little and reduce the speed to about 200 k.p.h. (55 m/s) Then flatten out and touch down nomally as with an aircraft having a tail wheel. Touchdown speed is 175 k.p.h. (48.6 m/s). After touchdown, allow the aircraft to tip forward slowly. Only apply brakes when the nose wheel has touched the ground. 30 m/s (108 kph) is much too slow. Even a car runs faster on an highway.

Landing a plane using the low-tech landing gears seems incredibly difficult to me. They seem extremely fragile. I tried with suspension on or off. Also the nose wheel steers the same angle regardless of the aircraft speed. That's a recipe for disasters. The basic runway is simply impossible to use, the aircraft simply bumps, turns and hops in a crazy dance of disintegration. So I feel I'm missing something there. Has anyone experienced the same difficulties, and found a way around ? Also, I wonder if that "friction control" thing plays a role in that mess.

I'm pretty sure they ran out of time to get a lot of things "polished". I'm very confident all those small things are going to be fixed soon. There are a lot of improvements on 1.1 that work perfectly. Nice work Squad & the Beta Testing Team !

That would be cool to be able to size it down independently from the rest of the UI. The most annoying issue, is that on a 1050x1680 screen, the original texture size is too small, and looks almost a bit blurry.

Thanks a lot for those notes, very interesting. In addition, I have the feeling (is it just me ? - I play music and train my hear a lot -) that the audio quality is much lower than in previous versions. It's like the files have been compressed to a higher rate. Is it intentional ? I can definitively hear a lot of "compression noise" in background of all audio FX and some music tracks, that's a pity.

Sure, but they also have a manager that puts them deadlines, the industry works like that, even in "indy" studios. The money they use to develop the game does not rain from the sky, and the % they get for each copy sold is very low The picture of people sitting on a mountain of gold and developing their game when they want to is completely wrong. They have to sell more copies and meet expectations from their manager.

Yeah, that would be a must. And not only 2 runways, but say one by "Private compagny (Rockomax, etc...)" spread all over Kerbin, figuring the major population centers. Maybe the recovery bonus could even be related to your reputation relative to that compagny. You could fulfill contracts for them or even give money to improve it. You could also have some "jealousy" between two rival companies, meaning that getting well with one makes the other angry. And each one would give missions specialized in one area (exploring, rescuing, testing, space stations, space tourism...), to give a strategic depht to the whole "system".

Some background, make Kerbin a more interesting planet, and Kerbals more "unique". - More launch sites (or airports) on Kerbin, and some buildings to figure the major cities. It could open low-end missions like ferrying (a lot of) kerbals or cargo in a specified amount of time (that would give us a good reason to build fast while fuel-efficient jumbo-jets or suborbital spaceplanes, too !). - Being able to invest money and upgrade various launch sites, or additional R&D centers that could earn extra science % bonus. There could also be upgrades for income and reputation bonuses, too. - Add a log for each Kerbal, that tracks flight time (and how much time spent around/on which planet), EVAs etc... - Distinctive suit color/insigna for each rank. The ultimate one being the highly prized Orange Suit (TM) that only Jeb, Bob, Bill & Val are currently allowed to wear. Some hairstyle/color variety, too. - Have those Courage / Stupidity stats do something that impacts gameplay. Transition from a life-time paycheck to a monthly wage. Experienced Kerbals wanting MOAR MONEY, of course. My two Kredi-cents

Chewie, engage the Hyperdrive !

Don't worry, the Squad guys are now Hype Ninjas. They use that deadly weapon like nobody.

I've been resisting in an heroïc fashion those last weeks, but now I begin to be spaghettified by the near-infinite gravity of the Hype Train Black-Hole-Engine-Overdrive !

RemoteTech doesn't seems to like 1.0.5

That's quite an easy fix. Make its cost dissuasive for an expendable use.

The game is much much better since the new aerodynamics have been implemented. It now gives you an idea of how things work. And still its pretty easy. If you have problems just toggle "F12" and watch the aerodynamic forces. Keep the nose of the rocket near the yellow speed indicator. Think in terms of airflow, and add fins if you need extra control.