Bannon

Good point. And that actually answers a query I've had about where corvettes/heavy strikecraft fit in the classification system. So corvettes will now be classified under 'Light' craft and strikecraft are under the 'Ultralight' weight class.

An interesting note about the designation scheme though, I tried to classify Macey's Battlecruiser, the Vanguard into this system. At 268 parts and 140 tons, the Vanguard is just 10 tons shy of being designated as a Cruiser. It ended up as a Destroyer. The formal designation being MSMI-D01. So in terms of raw power of the ships in question, this system in my opinion doesn't really grasp what the actual ship is really capable of. Then again, Macey's ships are all geared to be low part count but highly efficient with enough room for some aesthetic flare so I don't think this system works with his series as well as I was expecting it to.

While working on an update for the Chimera-class and a liquid fuel version of the Firefly Fighter, I was thinking of making a unified classification/designation system for ships that fall under this thread or any ship in KSP in general that works within the parameters of KSP. I was also thinking that this could be used by the KIDA crew though I'll leave it to them to decide on it. Kerbal Space Program Ship Designation Scheme [Organization/Role][Ship Structure][Weight class][Theater of Operation]-[Specialization][Series Number][Special Designation] Organization/Role M – Military (All military aligned craft fall under this category) G – Government (All government aligned craft fall under this category) S – Scientific/Research (All Scientific/Research and Exploration vessels fall under this category) T – Transport (All Civilian shuttles and Commercial cargo falls under this category) L – Logistical (All infrastructural and logistical craft fall under this category) R – Recreational (All Luxury craft fall under this category) C – Commercial (All commerce related non-transport craft fall under this category) Ship Structure M – Modular (All ships which have detachable components that are critical to the ship’s design. May include up to multiple Senior docking ports for the modularity of the ship. Does not include craft with detachable components that are not critical to the ship’s design) S – Singular (All ships which have no detachable components whatsoever that are critical to the ship’s design. May include docking ports only up to regular docking ports for logistical or transport purposes only. Does not include craft with any detachable critical components.) D – Discarding (All ships which have detachable components that are not critical to the ships design. May include up to senior docking ports for the purposes of logistics, transport, or mission-critical operations. Does not include craft which have detachable components that are critical to the ship’s design) Weight class S – Super Heavy (All ships above 250 tons falls under this category) H – Heavy (All ships between 150 and 250 tons falls under this category) M – Medium (All ships between 50 and 150 tons falls under this category) L – Light (All ships below 50 tons falls under this category) Theater of Operation A – Atmospheric (All atmosphere bounded craft fall under this category) I – Interplanetary (All craft capable of exiting and re-entering planetary orbits fall under this category) L – Terrestrial (All craft bound to the surface of a planetary body fall under this category O – Orbital (All craft bounded by the orbit of a planetary body fall under this category) T – Trans-operational (All craft capable of self-contained transfer between any of the above mentioned theatres of operation.) Specialization Military A – Cruiser (All ‘Heavy’ ships that engage in direct combat with other ships that fall below 500 parts.) B – Battleship (All ‘Super Heavy’ ships that engage in direct combat with other ships between 500 and 700 parts fall under this category.) C – Carrier (All ships that carry other craft that engage in direct or indirect combat with other ships fall under this category.) D – Destroyer (All ‘Medium’ ships that engage in direct combat with other ships below 500 parts.) E – Frigate (All ‘Light’ ships that engage in direct combat with other ships between 200 and 500 parts fall under this category.) F – Strikecraft (All ‘Light’ ships that engage in direct combat with other ships below 200 parts fall under this category.) L – Engineering and Logistics (All ships that perform non-combat support roles in the maintenance and operation of military assets falls under this category.) T – Transport (All ships that carry other craft that do not engage in combat with other ships fall under this category.) V – Multirole (All ships that perform significantly varied roles fall under this category.) X – Prototype (All experimental ships fall under this category.) BA – Battlecruiser (All ‘Heavy’ ships that engage in direct combat with other ships between 500 and 700 parts.) BB – Dreadnaught (All ‘Super Heavy’ ships that engage direct combat with other ships above 700 parts fall under this category.) Government Scientific/Research Transport Logistical Recreational Commercial Series Number [Self-explanatory] Special Designation [Optional. Internally determined by fielding organization] Military Engine type IE – Ion Engine (All Ships with Ion Engines as a primary propulsion system fall under this category) LE – Liquid Engine (All Ships with Liquid Fuel Engines as a primary propulsion system fall under this category) AE – Atmospheric Engine (All Ships with Liquid Fuel Air-breathing Engines as a primary propulsion system fall under this category) H – Hybrid (All Ships with a hybrid engine setup fall under this category) Following this system, the baseline Chimera would be designated MMHI-V01 being a modular interplanetary military ship which happens to also fill multiple roles (Direct combat ship and Carrier) and is the first ship of the series. The Firefly on the other hand would be MMLO-F01IE being an orbital light strikecraft with the capability to mount additional modules that is the first in its series. Of note the [Special Designation] for this is for the type of engine used by the original Firefly with IE denoting Ion Engine Propulsion as I'm also developing an LE variant. All of this of course is just a suggestion and in many ways, is still WIP so I'm also sharing this so that it can be improved upon and modified if necessary.

Any anime fans here who play KSP? I was wondering if anyone has ever considered making a youtube parody video of Kerbals doing what Kerbals do best to the tune of Guren no Yumiya, Attack on Titan's opening song. It would probably be a mix of really funny visuals backdropped by the awesome tunes of the song.

So after a bit of retrofiitting work, I've finally finished the Chimera-class with a not-as-PC-melting part count of 605 parts. It has a delta-V of about 3300m/s on its 6 Nuclear engines and weighs in at 231.29tons. The newly retrofitted Chimera-class with its now fully armored engine modules. The newly designed Combat module currently includes 4 anti-ship SRB missiles that fire individually, 8 Kinetic-kill Torpedoes (Lite-Edition) that fire in pairs for 4 salvos, 2 small decoupler missiles and 2 large decoupler missiles both of which fire in pairs. As seen in the image below, the decoupler missiles also serve as the primary way of reloading new missiles into the module which may be guided in by drone tugs. In addition to these, the engine modules are equipped with forward-facing docking ports (2 juniors and 2 regulars) for mounting additional external weaponry. Combat module armaments Note: As a part count saving measure, the missiles/torpedoes come in stacks compared to the previous Chimera design which allowed the loading of individual missiles into the silos which simply stacked by virtue of the docking ports located on either end of each missile in the previous design. The rear hangar module like the previous design is capable of holding 4 light fighters. Compared to the older Chimera, the hangar is now capable of supporting small fighters that are equipped with either a jr. or a regular docking port as well as the inclusion of a central regular docking port for holding any additional supplies or even a 5th fighter. These may also be used to hold extra ammunition if so desired. The new docking ports Control Groups 1 - NERVAs 2 - Ion Drives 8 - Ejects spent Missile stack docking ports in Combat module 9 - Toggles Large Solar panels 0 - Toggles Comm Array (Comm dish + 3 Antennas + 4 Solar panels) Craft Files: Chimera-class Retrofit: http://www./download/v7glgdkkfadz7d2/Chimera-class_Retrofit.craft The Original Chimera-class Modular Warship: http://www./download/5htce2387u3d7mp/Modular_Warship_-_Chimera-class.craft (For Fun) The Chimera-class Surface Explorer: http://www./download/me5h86gehp9j5wp/Chimera-class_Surface_Explorer.craft DISCLAIMER: None of these craft files have launchers yet so the only way to get them into orbit for now is to either edit them into orbit or use gravity hacks. I will also be releasing my light fighter, the Firefly as my recommended design basis for fighters that are to be loaded into the Chimera. At 25 parts, it's a fairly light design with 260 units of RCS and is powered by 2 ion drives for long-range albeit slow operations. It's design is primarily influenced by Macey's own Mosquito fighters with several modifications. Firefly-class Light Fighter The Firefly is capable of sporting up to 3 torpedoes at any given time which may be stacked if light enough as it is not recommended that kinetic torpedoes be stacked due to their high mass and part count. The Firefly armed with 2 compact kinetic torpedoes and 1 full-sized kinetic torpedo. This fighter was actually my inspiration for creating a large modular warship as the fighter itself is modular by being capable of mounting "Extension Packs" using its rear regular docking port that increases its overall range, weapons capacity, etc. with the SSTO Spaceplane Pack being my favorite Extension Pack. This fighter was originally designed for my older carrier which was ideally capable of holding several extension packs for long duration missions. Unfortunately the carrier failed in its supposed role and had several critical design flaws as well which forced me to retire it before even allowing it to leave Kerbin's surface. The Firefly with an Extension Pack The modular nature of the Firefly The Firefly with the SSTO Pack Control Groups for Firefly + SSTO Pack 1 - Turbojet 2 - LV-909s 3 - Ion Drives 4 - Toggles Ramjet Intakes 5 - Toggles Large Solar panels Craft Files: Firefly-class Fighter: http://www./download/g695jathajbd97y/Firefly-class_Fighter.craft Firefly-class Fighter (Armed): http://www./download/7cqs49258j99f1j/Firefly-class_Fighter_(Armed).craft Firefly-class + Extension Pack: http://www./download/263yd6binni6y1p/Firefly-class_%2B_Extension_Pack.craft Firefly-class + SSTO Pack: http://www./download/was46hkaa59pr65/Firefly-class_%2B_SSTO_Pack.craft

Riki, that carrier is absolutely insane. And I approve of it 100%; especially with how modular your design is. Based on the docking port layout, that could make for a really good resupply ship. Carrying reloads of various missiles to other ships in a fleet. Though a fleet with it would probably lag any normal computer to death.

They're stacked. The torpedoes use 1 half-length I-beam as the penetrator with 8 sepratrons in 2 sets of 4x symmetry in a sort-of stacked manner with a mini-decoupler and two jr. docking ports on the front and rear to allow stacking. I've actually updated the design to reduce it from 12 parts down to just 5. Here they are side-by-side in the VAB As for the engines, I've considered the idea of using the tricoupler with the orange tank and I'll post the pics and the craft files after I've finished armoring them. ====================================================================================================================== Not exactly an update for the Chimera-class but I just wanted to share something that I did with the ship that exploits both its modular design and the fact that I'm still testing everything about it on Kerbin though with gravity hacks when necessary such as in flight and weapons testing. Behold, the Chimera-class Surface Explorer!! And here it is ramming the very first carrier I ever built that I was using for target practice which predates the Chimera-class. For obvious reasons, this was more of me just having fun with the ship rather than actually doing anything particularly useful with it.

Just as an update to the Chimera-class, I managed to trim the part count of the unarmed and no engines configuration from 410 parts in the original empty configuration to just 366 parts in this retrofit. It also looks cleaner and sleeker now following a more standardized design for the hulls of the modules. The Retrofitted empty configuration I've also decided to double the amount of SRB missiles it can carry from 2 to 4 while reducing the kinetic kill torpedo capacity down to just 8. I thought that since this thing can carry 4 fighters anyway, I'll need the main ship for taking out cap ships instead of duking it out with heavy fighters/bombers and corvettes. Overall stability was also improved in the form of Jr. Docking Ports now flanking the Sr. ones that connect the linear modules to the Core module. The new additional Jr. clamps located at the sides of the modules to provide extra stability and reduce docking screw-ups when replacing modules. The next step is to come up with a slimmer kinetic torpedo design since the large part count of 12 per torpedo in the original design contributed to the huge part count of its predecessor. I'm also considering whether to maintain the old engine configuration of 10 Nuclear engines with huge fuel tanks or go for a slimmer one using a bunch of FL-T800s instead with maybe just 6 engines. And there's also the problem of individual fighters' ASAS' interferring with the ships main ASAS as I found out when I was running trial dockings of my fighters on Kerbin with gravity hacks.

So I wanted to let a friend of mine who wasn't really into KSP try to build a ship and then I'll see if I can fly it anywhere. Suffice to say, my friend would make a very Kerbal Engineer given that things ended in a very Kerbal way. The ship in question It's special feature, The Lord of Light! Launch! Launch!? Launch? Launch??? Welp. Amazingly in this run the crew survived since normally they would just be crushed by the upper portion colliding into the lower section of the ship based on a bunch of previous launches.

...while handling chemicals in the lab or givens in a problem set that are labeled 'oxiding agents' and I think to myself "I'll need some liquid fuel to go with that."

Not sure if this has been posted before but I think this should be the more serious creed of KSP. As opposed to Jeb + Anything = FUN

Thanks for the input guys. If my dV calculation is correct, it has 5032m/s of delta-v which I think isn't enough for a trip to laythe. Fully loaded the ship is around 287.32 tons with the engine modules alone accounting for 185.01 tons of the total mass. As such, I'm thinking of trimming down both the part count and mass first before I attempt any sort interplanetary missions with it. Though that is an interesting idea to put colony modules for delivery to laythe. The bridge design was actually inspired by the bridge of the Spirit of Kerbin with a few alterations. And I probably will launch it that way because of how insanely heavy the engines are. As for the armor-plating, it was more of a part count influenced decision since full armor plating would have shot the part count up to probably around 800-850 parts. Though hopefully I could make the engines slim enough in my redesign to armor them properly.

I've been tracking this thread since before the great forum crash that happened earlier this year and I thought that it's about time I contributed. Presenting the Chimera-class Modular Warship. The idea behind this ship is that armor will always lag behind munitions tech somewhat. So instead of designing ships with ever thicker armor, why not just have replaceable parts instead? Chimera-class without the engine modules. Currently the modules equipped on the baseline model are a forward combat module with 2 SRB anti-ship missiles and 12 Sepratron-powered kinetic-kill torpedoes and a rear hangar module with room for 4 space fighters or with a few modifications, a massive amount of spare ammunition. Fully armed, this thing comes in at 572 parts which climbs to 692 parts with the engine modules added. And as a back-up propulsion system, 8 ion drives to be used in the event of engine malfunction or destruction. The modular nature of the ship using Sr. Docking Ports as shown here. I've yet to test this baby out in actual space flight as I'm internally debating whether I should launch the modules separately and just assemble them in orbit or launch it all in one piece complete with its extremely large and heavy engine modules which I'm also thinking of redesigning.

My very first Mun Lander back in my noob days in 0.18 and before I even knew how to use the screenshot feature.

It's orbiting so low that the game isn't even allowing me to timewarp it past 1x speed. The only issue with this station as I've found out for myself twice before is if it hits a mountain while orbiting.