Jarin

Oh I know. I was just hoping not to have to do that anymore.

So, I was really looking forward to the new crew assignment system. I had big plans for it. But I loaded up today, built my dream ship, and realized... my hopes had been dashed! "Can assign kerbals to any part of the rocket" my left bumcheek! I can't load Kerbals into the External Command Seat Say it ain't so, Squad! Tell me this is just an oversight! Why must you deny me my missile-riding cowkerbals?

Great. 'Cause poor Jeb's been stuck in that cupola for two weeks now and is starting to smell a little ripe.

Really? Nifty! I'll have to remember to try that. Assigning action groups was just one more thing I forgot to do before launching. And yeah, EVA activation might have worked but... see: ladder blocking hatch. I figured mods like those probably existed somewhere. Thanks! Off to properly build my first mining outpost... Edit: One more question... anything that'll let me transfer kerbals from one location to another on a ship without EVA? Like supposedly moving through docking ports?

Two mod requests. First, is there a mod that lets me load sub-assemblies when building rockets? I'd like to build my rover, test it separately, then load it onto my pre-built lifter. Secondly, and possibly a bit un-kerbal... is there a test-flight mod? I mean, pick a starting location and drop there to test without the problem of getting there. Three times now I've gotten a remote base unit to Minmus, only to realize after getting there that I forgot something critical, or built the lander wrong. 1st flight: landing gear installed upside-down (hey, I didn't know it flipped when it extended) 2nd flight: What do you mean, "manned missions still need battery power"? *base core dead in orbit, solar panels still collapsed* 3rd flight: Solar Recharger Drone, rendezvous with base core, recharge batteries, successful landing... "The drills extend SIDEWAYS, not vertically? Bloody hell. Oh, and our ladder is attached to block the cuplola module airlock, so Jeb can't even plant a flag. Someone go find Wernher Von Kerman and load him into the Duna Impactor..." Yeah... I'd *really* like to be able to test these things in minmus-like gravity first, instead of taking an hour or two to get to the landing zone, then test. Any mods out there that could help?

That... looks like it might be stock. Is that stock? Can you post a craft file? o.o

Considering how much work it is to intentionally contact an object in space, it's probably not an issue. But I'm the paranoid type, so...

*snip* look at the page number next time, Jarin...

I've had a ton of trouble with nuclear engine stages, to the point where several of my rockets had only outer boosters so my inner fuselage could have a nuclear engine at the bottom without connecting anything. in the end, the secret is struts struts struts. If you want a really rock-solid connection, use the "cubic octagonal strut" in 6x symmetry, lined up above and below the engine, then connect them both vertically and diagonally (each strut should have 3 EAS-4 Strut Connectors running to or from it).

- one unmanned comsat (no mods, decorative only) at 1100km - one manned "Kerbal Spacelab", 1000km - one unmanned fueling depot (due for expansion), 150km - one unmanned ballistic nuclear engine test vehicle on accidental cometary orbit - one unmanned ballistic nuclear engine test vehicle on intentional collision course with Duna Edit: Merinsan, it troubles me how few of your manned ribbions have return chevrons. o.o

As I understand it, purely structural parts cause quite a bit less lag than engines and the like, so a simple part-count is difficult to judge from. (Also, as a side note, the human eye can see a fair bit higher than 32fps. Go take a look at a 60fps movie alongside a normal-fps one and see the difference).

Nice work! Congrats on the landing and rendezvous! Do you have a picture of the final setup that got the rover to the Mun?

So, with a permanent refueling station in low (120km) orbit, I started getting a bit paranoid about the piles of debris littering the 100-200 range from all my earlier testing. Not being forward-thinking, none of my castoffs have docking ports (addendum: would this even be a good idea? I'm not sure) and certainly don't have RGS units, so I had to find an alternate way to deal with them. Enter the Deorbiter Mk 1! Heavy landing gear makes a surprisingly good stabilizer, which means I can basically treat this like a less-fiddly docking maneuver and then just slowly accelerate to keep the spent booster in place while turning to retrograde. The only real issue is if I hit too far away from center of gravity (note to self: most of the mass in a spent booster is the engine) and not having the turning force to counteract the imbalance. As this was a proof of concept, I already have plans for the Mk2. The prototype's flight managed to deorbit two boosters, but ran low on monoprop. I plan on giving the Mk2 a second monoprop tank, and better solar/electrical support (the Mk1 tended to die about 2/3 across the dark side orbit, which screwed up a third rendezvous). I'm considering developing a sort of offshoot Mk3 as an orbital "Tugboat" as well, slapping one of each size docking port on it and keeping it docked at my refueling station.

There was apparently a "great forum apocalypse" or maybe just some sort of database loss/wipe a couple months ago.

I'd hazard a guess that it's 5 posts, which is when your posts don't require moderator approval. (I-am-not-a-spambot-#2)

Just discovered this game a week ago (I'd heard various things about it beforehand, but hadn't worked up the curiosity to look), and already "Kerbal Rocketry" is well on its way to replacing "Vogon Poetry" in my programming vocabulary (I.e. "It's Vogon poetry, but it'll do the job."). Greatest achievement: Full two-tank refueling station at 150km (included achievement: learning to bloody dock) with a 4-way docking strut between them. I'd say return trip from the Mun, but I was following a tutorial video, so that hardly counts. Funniest moment, imagining this scene at Kerbin Space Command: "Sir, I have good news and bad news... the good news is, the nuclear engine test was a success!" "Great! ... what's the bad news?" "Well... we kind of forgot any batteries and didn't extend the solar panels... so the RGU died at full burn while orbit-correcting. The test frame is currently on its way past the Mun and looks to be escaping Kerbin entirely before it runs out of fuel." SO, random stuff out of the way, I've got a couple questions. Firstly, I've been running stock everything to learn how the game works, but I'm curious about mods. Are there any that are considered pretty universal for use? I know almost everyone seems to use MekJeb, but what about others? I'd really like to avoid anything that's at all overpowered, but variety is nice. I've seen "Kethane" get mentioned a lot? Secondly, I'm having issues with heavy-lifting. A six-way asparagus-staged system (3 pairs of large tanks + mainsails) is the best I've managed, but it's horribly unstable, both while staging (boom), and with spinning badly during burn. Besides-which, the entire concept of asparagus-staging, while clever and efficent, sort of strikes me as a kludge, and a sort of exploit to the lack of proper drag calculations. Any good recommendations for lifter designs, or where to get started? (not-a-spambot-#1)