Scarecrow88

Tracking station only keeps track of Kerbals if they are EV. Haven't used the crew manifest mod, but I don't think it does what I am suggesting. Kerbal alarm clock is a possibility, but the alarm is associated with a vehicle rather than it's pilot, though that's only a relatively minor problem. The biggest problem there is if your Kerbal trans-ships and you forget to add an alarm to the new vessel, especially if the original vessel 'ends flight'. I guess I could message the author of that mod with my suggestion to see if it's something he might like to include in a future update.

5 Mainsail engines is a bit OTT for getting a 1 man capsule into orbit isn't it. My point is, without knowing what the OP is trying to put in to orbit you can only give him generic tips. Your guide works for your payload, but may be totally irrelevant to the OP.

Not sure if this is likely to appear in Career mode, or if there is already a mod out there that does something similar. I was wondering about a utility or mod that keeps track of where your Kerbals are. I currently have 4 stations, 2 around Kerbin and 1 around Mun and Minmus, as well as a base on the moon, all of which have to be kept staffed. At the moment it's simple enough to put a station in orbit somewhere and then pretty much forget about the crew. Thought it would be nice if we had something that first of all kept track of where everybody was, but also incorporated a reminder that poor old Jebediah has been at Mun base for the last two months and it's about time that someone went up there to relieve him from duties so that he could enjoy a bit of time Kerbin side. I am aware of the crew manifest mod, but not sure it does what I am suggesting. Obviously the tour of duty would need to be user configurable, as it would be no use getting a reminder that Bob needs relieving after 2 weeks if he's on a 4 month mission to Jool, but something like this would give a purpose to some of the missions we fly. Be interested to hear what others think.

Not after high end gaming rig costing thousands but £400-£500 is ok if it can get me what I need. Could go a bit higher if that's what it takes but as this is only for occasional use I don't want to go silly.

Not after a gaming laptop per se just one that is capable of running KSP with reasonable settings. Also tend to use a laptop when away from home but still able to plug in so battery life isn't a major priority. Current laptop has a 15" screen which is fine so don't feel the need to go bigger. Anything fit that or would a notepad be the way to go.

Want to get a new laptop that is capable of running KSP with decent graphic settings. Can anyone recommend one or least give an idea as to what hardware and systems I should be looking for? I have no idea in such matters - my desktop was bought for photo processing so I guess that has a pretty decent graphics card and it runs KSP fine. Looking for similar performance, if possible, in a laptop.

This screenshot was taken on Minmus (obviously) but it's the same lander I used for my first Mun landing.

I've watched videos from a few different people, each of which have helped in their own ways. For Scott in particular, some of his videos have been very helpful i.e. when I was a complete noob, I found his 'Getting to Minmus' useful, both from a rocket design point of view, and the actual process of how to get there and land successfully. Probably the most difficult thing I found to get my head around was rendezvousing and docking. I found Scott's video slightly less helpful on this topic as whilst he showed you what he was doing, he didn't always tell you why he was doing it, which personally I would have found helpful. I have developed my own technique for doing this now, which probably incorporates ideas from a few different tutorials on this particular subject. It's probably not the most efficient method possible, but it works for me.

That's a myth. The target vessel doesn't rotate or move, it only appears to as it's relative heading at different points in the orbit changes with reference to the planet. That's why at one point in the orbit it can be facing prograde, and 180 degrees around the orbit it will be pointing retrograde, yet in relation to anything nearby in the same orbit it is still pointing the same way. I've never oriented my craft north/south, as suggested, and the only time I have had problems with target craft moving out of alignment is if they don't have ASAS fitted or it isn't turned on, in which case it can drift.

If you are pointing straight up just before touch down, but the yellow retrograde marker on the navball is off to one side, it means you are arriving with some sideways moving which is likely to result in you tipping over when you touch the ground. Once I am below 20,000m I try to keep my marker on the retrograde for slowing down, which usually leads to being vertical with no sideways movement.

Your rocket will only turn while the engines are burning if you haven't fitted RCS, as without that there is nothing on the rocket to turn it other than the gimballed engine nozzle, and if the engine isn't running that doesn't work.

Excellent. Just ordered mine.

With a mainsail engine attached directly to the orange jumbo tank, it will overheat if you use full throttle. If you set the throttle two notches above the 2/3 marker (next to the first 'T' in the word Throttle on the display) the engines will start overheating but they never get to the point where they explode. An alternative is to attach one of the smaller tanks to the bottom of the jumbo, and attach the mainsail to that. For some reason that stops them overheating to the point of explosion, but they may need some strut work to keep them stable.

Vanamonde that 2nd design is brilliant. I haven't played around much with the SPH as I haven't had a lot of luck, but your craft flies beautifully. Just taken it out for a test spin, and it's the first craft I have managed to get back down on the runway at the first attempt, and that was during a night flight! And it's a real hoot if you turn the SAS off. Shall be keeping this one in the hangar so thanks for sharing.

MadDog does it for me. His expressions match his name and he's quite comical to watch.

I like Tex's answer; a nice big map to print and consult with. I'll also look at Wiki to see what is there.

Lazro I'm guessing that suggestion was for the benefit of Derek1934.

I've seen a few threads listing easter eggs at certain coordinates, and have even seen lat/long values for the vehicles that I currently have on the Mun, but how does the Lat/Long system work. Latitudes are fairly obvious; 90 degrees north is at the very top, and 0 is on the equator, but what are the longitudes measured from on the Mun. Here on earth we have the Geenwich meridian at 0 degrees, and everything is measured from there but I have no idea for the Mun, or for Kerbin either. Anyone know? p.s. I don't use MechJeb so can't simply plug a coordinate in to a flight computer and say "take me there."

It was getting a bit late when I replied earlier, but this morning I have tried downloading the file to my wife's laptop as she is running the game with no mods of any description, and it all worked fine.

I'm playing in 20.2.186, and flew the craft today to take the images accompanying this thread. I've never downloaded any parts mod packs, so it is definitely stock as far as parts are concerned. I've just downloaded it from Dropbox and it didn't give me a problem, but as I don't have a problem with the original I guess that doesn't prove much. I started playing at 0.19, but can't remember if I built this particular craft then or in 0.20. Mods that I do use include Lazer docking camera, which I know adds code to the persistent file, but I've just checked the craft file and it looks clean as far as that particular mod goes. I also tried loading it in to a version of the game not running any of the mods that I do use, and again it loaded fine. Not sure what to suggest as to what the problem may actually be. I'd be interested to learn if anyone else has a problem or indeed confirmation if anyone else is able to successfully download and use it. ETA: Looking through my old save files, it looks like I built the original in version 0.20 if that helps.

This craft will enable you to get a lander to the Mun, complete with a rover that seats 2. The complete craft Flight is quite stable, with just a small amount of spin becoming evident as you go up. All stages up to and including this one are jettisoned whilst on sub-orbital, minimising debris. The booster rockets used for the ejection burn are the only parts that end up as debris At some point it is necessary to EVA your Kerbals from the command capsule to the lander. Once in a stable orbit around the Mun, the lander can be detached. Landing shows there is plenty of ground clearance underneath for the rover. A minus point due to this is that the ladder is not quite long enough to go all the way to the ground. If you find this a problem, you can always move the legs slightly further up the tanks in the VAB before launch. The rover is held in place by a separator rather than a decoupler, but is still released by a press of the spacebar. Room for two to explore There is no provision to re-attach the rover to the lander, so it has to be left behind. To get the landing crew back to Kerbin, it is necessary to rendezvous with the command capsule and EVA them back over. Whilst the command capsule has enough fuel to return to Kerbin, it makes sense to transfer any remaining fuel from the lander to the command capsule. If you don't mind leaving debris behind, once the crew are all back in the command capsule, the lander can be jettisoned. If you decide to take it with you and haven't transferred the fuel over, make sure to deactivate the lander engines, or your ejection burn won't go as expected. Once a sub-orbital trajectory has been set up for Kerbin, the lander, if you bought it back, can be jettisoned. And here we all are, back safe and sound. The craft file can be downloaded here. Munar Rover craft file As already mentioned, two booster rockets end up as debris, the rover is left behind and the ladder is a bit short. Also, the lander has enough fuel to land and return to orbit to rendezvous with the command capsule, but it doesn't have an abundance of fuel. If you manage to get in to orbit but run short of making a rendezvous, the command capsule is equipped with RCS and can make the rendezvous if you switch vehicles. The rover is reasonably stable but will tip over if abused. Up to 10m/s usually doesn't trouble it, and if you disable the steering on the rear wheels to make it less sensitive, 15m/s can be achieved if driven with care. Hope you enjoy it.

If you want your engines to fire when you de-couple, put them in the same stage as the de-coupler. If you don't, put them in a different stage. Simple.

Both my space stations were constructed using the senior docking ports to attach modules, for their greater stability compared to the smaller ports, and I've never had a problem getting them to mate.

I don't use MechJeb so I also find you need more fuel when trying to position yourself to land in a specific spot on the Mun as opposed to flying in and landing wherever your trajectory happens to meet the surface.

Started putting my first off world base together on the Mun.