Brapness

I often watch tv whilst playing KSP, so that twinned with phys-warp means long burns don't phase me. I like ion engines as they are

You're toying with powerful forces here, be warned

Launched an ion probe/rover to Duna. I'm actually pretty proud of this mission and I intend to replicate it on Eve and possibly Laythe. Firstly I got to use my shuttle which is great. and even though the wheels broke on landing (needs more chutes) it didn't really matter as there's only one biome on Duna at present, so I got just as much science.

Using B9 and the space shuttle engines pack I've designed some shuttles in the iconic NASA style. I recounted the development in this report http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/66965-Developing-a-shuttle-program-Pic-Heavy I know it's not efficient, though I am getting a fair amount of use out of them. The cargo version has been launching ion probes and the crew transfer version (which can reach a slightly higher orbit) has been getting a lot of use ferrying station crews and bringing back the crew of my grand tour ship To be honest when I play KSP, efficiency isn't nearly so important as style, and you have to admit that shuttles are a stylish way to travel.

@PDCWolf: Has it occurred to you that it may be your unpleasant manner and black and white view of the community that makes people label you a troll. If you are going to criticize someone else's opinion, you should be good natured enough to take criticism of yours maturely.

Jeff (10 chars)

2. You are right, but I don't think it's necessary for the core game. I can see it being a real bore for beginners and perhaps a bit tedious for old dogs, so as I stated I'm happy to use a mod instead. 3. The only problem I presently have with the tech tree is the positioning of probe cores, and perhaps things are a little under-priced at the start. Beyond that I don't really see the 'tutorial' logic in the tree's design. It is branched in a manner of speaking. Unlocking a rocketry node unlocks the next one, as does aerodynamics, electronics etc. In my mind a 'tutorial' tree would just be one straight line. 4. In my career mode save I've transmitted home quite a lot of science from probes only using the small science parts. Yes a manned mission would have returned more, but I lacked the tech to make that a reality, whereas sending a 1 tonne probe was simple. I'd say prior to my last two big manned missions to Duna and Gilly, transmitted data was responsible for about half my science points. 6. I would be annoyed at that attitude if it was directed towards things like contracts or research or docking, because those are core features, but as I said for add-ons like deadly re-entry and life support I have no problem with it.

I think the case here is that water has the ability to be moved out of the way to some extent, whereas ground doesn't (at least not as much). There are a hundred other factors such as angle, speed, composition etc I think its unforgiving in KSP because you enter it, whereupon an extremely strong drag and buoyant force is applied to your vessel, destroying it. That's a guess, I don't really know. But seriously, almost everything in KSP floats. How dense must that water be?

1: A valid point, it would be nice to be able to have a stock system like that, but I certainly don't think it's that essential to how I play. I started out not knowing what delta-v was, found out and did use kerbal engineer for a while, then stopped because I didn't really care about it. 2: I'm with error on this one. Yes it may be more rewarding if you get through the atmosphere safe, it would also be far more infuriating if for the 3rd time your Mun lander burned up because you hadn't quite mastered your descent profile. Perhaps another thing that might be nice as a choice. 3: I have no problem with the tech tree, I like starting out small and working my way up in terms of capability. It adds progression to the game, rather than enabling you to make your first mission an Eeloo base. 4: I would like more science equipment like cameras and smaller stuff for probes. I think given the planned money and reputation system, it's more than reasonable to assume probes are going to become very useful. They're cheaper, easier to send far away and don't carry the same risk. Oh and the Biome argument about EVAs, if that annoys you or you don't enjoy doing it, then don't do it. You are your own master. You are not bound by any rules to do things the most efficient way. In my career file I haven't got half of Kerbin's Biome reports, but I have got science from every object except Eeloo. 5: There's no roadmap as such but there are planned features. Squad has always, quite wisely, not promised anything on a preset timescale because it's a promise they can't keep. I have to say I prefer squad's system to being told a date and then being told they can't make it. 6: While in game features are of course the core of gameplay, Mods give you the ability to make this game exactly what you want it to be, and it gives everyone else that ability too. It widens the audience by making it possible for everyone to get what they want. So in the case of additional features like deadly re-entry and life-support, I'm happy to use mods. So I suppose in summation... I disagree Seconded.

If it's yellow it means it's running slower than normal. A lot of my ships do this to my computer, though I'm sure you are aware the game is completely playable in that state. If you want to encourage it to be green more often you can lower the video settings. It'll always be slightly worse on Kerbin though, or any body with water, because of the way the game handles it. I seem to recall that KSP does oceans by basically having two overlapping planets, so it's not hard to believe they make things slower. A good trick to speed things up on launch is to watch from beneath your rocket, so only the sky and your rocket are visible. On a more topic related note, wow...I didn't think the Kraken could be harnessed, but it seems that Comrade Jenkins is proving me wrong. Hat's off to you sir...

SSTOs still confound me and as such my shuttle disagrees with your argument. (That being said I haven't yet tried an SSTO that uses the rapier engine)

Personally I think the space shuttle is iconic, so I would feel remiss to not try to replicate it in KSP. After weeks of trying (and failing), I eventually downloaded a shuttle engines pack that provides engines with a wider gimballing range and finally succeeded. The cargo carrying version is useless as it can only lift about 3 tonnes into a low orbit, but the crew shuttle is decent. I wrote a mission report about the development. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/66965-Developing-a-shuttle-program-Pic-Heavy

I'll admit to only using them for the first time recently, but I actually quite like them. In career mode I used ion probes as a test cargo for my shuttle program and as such had two in orbit. They're off to Dres and Eeloo now. Even with time warp those are very long burns, but I usually have the tv on in the background when I play KSP so I just watch that. It's possible when money is introduced that ion probes might allow distant travel quite a bit cheaper than conventional rockets, which require much larger lifters to get them into orbit.

That which is Jeb may never die

When I was showing my brother an SSTO attempt. "Don't worry it'll take off when it gets to 80m/s ... any second now ... um ... up? (with hand gesture) ... up ... UP!" Crashed off the end of the runway

Big post today. So our Kerbals, having made it to their final destination, turned their attention to finally returning home. There would be no waiting for refueling, instead they would hope what as left in their tanks was enough. With the aid of an aerocapture around Kerbin it should be. The transfer window was refreshingly close and so 80 days after arriving at Eeloo, Pegasus departed for home. The decision was made to leave Shackleton (and the reserve fuel tank) in orbit around Eeloo, a permanent marker of the expedition. As it happens I may have underestimated the amount that the probe I ejected (now called Daedalus) contributed to the ship's balance as this became an increasingly annoying problem as the fuel was burned up, causing the Bill to reduce to only half throttle. Once the burn was over, the second probe - Icarus - was ejected (further messing up the balance) and it burned retrograde, reducing its velocity about the sun to zero He would be going 114,000m/s when he reached the sun. and then... %$£@$%!!!!!! But through the mighty power of quicksave, all was restored and the Kraken quieted. After some time watching the sun grow larger, our explorers finally spotted a glimpse of a world none of them had seen in 12 years. They then got a little to close a look when Bill slightly overestimated how far into the atmosphere they would have to go Fortunately a few puffs from the engines was enough to push them into a stable orbit. And so 4644 days into the mission and 4480 since its last sight of Kerbin, Pegasus returned into orbit around its homeworld. There was much jubilation amongst the crew, as well as a somber moment remembering that not everyone got to come home. The crew shuttle Delphi, piloted by Billy-Bobbles (who had not even joined the space program when Pegasus left Kerbin) was dispatched to collect the crew. Naturally the first Kerbal on was the last one off, and so Chief engineer Kirberry said goodbye to his girl. Finally the crew were on home ground. Bill, Bob, Tomvin, Seanbert, Jon, Jim and Kirberry, all heroes. And so our story ends. Or does it??? Meanwhile on the surface of Laythe...

The end of my exams, a touch of insomnia and a challenge from a flatmate to watch all 8 harry potter films back to back has given me a plethora of time to play KSP, so our voyage continues and may conclude very soon. The first task of the day was to refuel and replace the lost lander. Mission control decided to replace the heavy lander with a spare fuel tank designed to match the weight of Shackleton. And refueling was done by a secondary fuel tank. I considered adding the additional tank, but I really didn't want to have to refuel that too. As I mentioned earlier, the Jool-Eeloo transfer window is several years away. So our Kerbals were left to mourn Jeb for a while. It seems however I was right to distrust kerbal alarm clock, as a year and 12 days prior to the calculated window I managed to plot a decent transfer, catching Eeloo at its ascending node. This also meant that after breaking free of Jool's SOI (no small feat) only an additional 230m/s of delta-v was required to intercept Eeloo. This meant it still took 64 days to leave Jool's SOI. As the journey to Eeloo continued, I began to sympathize with all those who say x100000 time warp isn't fast enough, but eventually Pegasus reached Eeloo, the farthest reaches of the Kerbol system, the farthest any of my Kerbals had ever been from home. I had a sense of trepidation as I entered orbit. My epic voyage was coming to an end, just here and then home. On mission day 4279, or 4115 days after departing Kerbin, our explorers landed on Eeloo. Naturally the flag would have to commemorate those Kerbals lost, like Scott and Kurt ... and Jeb. Some of you may have noticed the two probes that have sat attached to Pegasus for some time. Now it has finally come to the time to release the first. Firing prograde, she entered an escape trajectory from Kerbal. The other shall do the opposite after Pegasus burns for home and will dive into the sun. Coming next, the final chapter...

happens to me often with larger ships, though it seems to reduce the closer I get to my destination. Usually it means I can't 'plan' burns, which has taught me instead to eyeball it and fly manually. If anyone does have a fix for this it would be nice.

With absolutely no intention of sounding cynical (I often find myself thinking on similar topics). Does it matter if we can’t perceive all of reality or perceive reality in a different way to anyone else? Essentially the only reality that matters to you should be the reality you perceive. ‘Reality’ is a human concept; we imbue phenomena with reality and function. What makes something ‘real’ is your perception of it. I suppose this is where the question of the tree falling in the woods comes from. Think of it like this, if there was no-one to observe reality, there would be no-one to say something was red or blue, hot or cold, large or small; so these qualities that make up your reality are not an inherent trait of the universe, it’s something you have applied to it. So reality and perception are linked, if you can’t perceive it it’s not real.

Like many people, what got me hooked on space was the space shuttle. It is just awesome, end of story. So naturally with a space sim, the first thing I wanted to do was a space shuttle. Nevertheless the actual designing of one eluded me for some time, until I saw some of Scott Manley's videos and decided it was time to try. What followed undoubtedly destroyed more expensive rockets and killed more Kerbal test-pilots than a century of normal rocket flight would have. I have permadeath enabled and so many were killed, that the name generator is just cycling through the used ones-4 Chads died in the making of this shuttle, as did 3 Tomvins. I have scenes in my head where the Kerbal press interviews the program director after the most recent crash and asks why they continue, to which the response is, BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME. Mods used include B9 aerospace because it looks so pretty, and after a while the shuttle engines mod because I was slowly losing my mind. As you may have gathered things got off to a rocky start, the initial designs suffered from all kinds of problems; including most often spinning uncontrollably, and failing to or knocking of parts on take-off. None made it far. Most often when the time came to separate the solid boosters, the balance would go and she would spin out. Or if they got beyond that stage, as the fuel tank emptied they lose their balance. The shuttle also went through many redesigns, from flying like a brick, to being absolutely brilliant gliders, such as the Artemis (all names are just randomly selected from what pops into my head). She flew brilliantly and as a result was one of the few designs I stuck with for a while, but I could never get her into space. She also had a tendency to tear off the tail section on every landing and I mean all of them. By this time I had lost patience and downloaded the shuttle engines mod in order to get engines with a wider vectoring range. They also came with some very thematic fuel tanks. It was at this time I also came to the conclusion that doing this in career mode without many parts wasn't necessarily wise, but I soldiered on. The trial and error design method eventually culminated in Invictus. After so much failure, I was jubilant in my success. Although success is a loose term. That cargo bay is mostly for show, as she can only lift about 2.3-3 tonnes. So I've been using it to launch ion probes. Other variants on the design include Delphi, with a six kerbal crew tank, which is perhaps lighter then it should be, and she can make a higher orbit than Invictus. Of course launch is just one part of the puzzle. Landing is a whole other thing and on Invictus' second flight it was made even more challenging after she broke off part of the left wing when separating the solids on launch. This twinned with my inability to predict even approximately with any certainty where I will be after an aerobrake meant I was headed for the drink. Invictus's decent glide characteristics saved her crew as she came in to ditch at just 30m/s. And that is that. I'm immensely proud of myself, despite these shuttles having little practical use (although Delphi may come in handy for stations and crew transport). I like to set myself challenges while playing KSP and this certainly was one, though I may have copped out a little with the shuttle engines pack.

Impressive, but I'm pretty sure Mechjeb stops this being a 'stock' mission

Been roving round Minmus, collecting Seismic scans and samples. Nice to have a functional rover.

Eve seemed to have it in for my Grand Tour attempt. I flew from Kerbin to Eve, where the Kraken took a fancy to my ship nd started flexing it in all sorts of weird directions. I then stayed for about 6 months, while I sent new parts from Kerbin and rebuilt the ship in Eve orbit. It wasn't the greatest start, but it did let me tweak the design slightly. Pre Kraken attack... Post Kraken attack...

Sorry for the infrequent updates, it's exam season. When last we left our intrepid Kerbonauts they were in orbit above Pol, the one final place that in no other save to date have I orbited landed on, probe or otherwise. As it happened landing was relatively uneventful. Jim and Kirberry landed, took some holiday snaps and then blasted off again. So a transfer was plotted to Laythe. Jebediah, tired of staying on Pegasus as mission commander, took command of the Heavy Lander with Jon Kerman as his co-pilot. What followed was a story of disaster, heroism and sacrifice. The heavy lander was designed expressly with Laythe in mind. I wanted to have a craft able to land and reach orbit, while also minimizing weight and part count. As such the heavy lander is capable of landing on chutes, and then achieving a 90km Laythe orbit with 200 units of fuel to spare, which I think is a fair margin of error. The flight plan switches between the nuclear engines for the descent (simply to lower the periapsis). The nukes and the aerospike on the ascent to get the necessary thrust, to just nukes for the final part of the ascent and orbital insertion. So Jeb and Jon began their descent (and here I will admit to having used a quicksave, landing on land using just chutes on Laythe is hard:(). I generally don’t like using quicksaves, except to resolve bugs. I think it adds to the tension when you need to get it right first time. But there was one thing in my design I hadn’t accounted for, one thing that would spell disaster for the mission, one simple oversight that would have the most terrible consequences. When I designed this lander, landing legs had no shock absorbers. The result was inevitable. Stranded! And Pegasus with no way to reach them, Shackleton had no hope of landing on Laythe let alone taking off again. Help could only come from Kerbin and that was awfully far away. But then Jeb and Jon had an idea, an idea so mad it might just work. I’ve said before I don’t really focus on the numbers, maybe with a significant enough weight reduction they could make orbit, say 2 nuclear engines? So Jon retracted a landing leg to shear off the remaining nuke and then Jeb repaired them in preparation for take-off. One quick holiday snap and they were ready. But she was still too heavy for take-off so they burnt off a fifth of their fuel and finally left the ground. It was a slow ascent, and both Kerbals nervously eyed their fuel gauge. come-on you big metal bird get up there! But it soon became apparent; orbit was a pipe-dream. As their apoapsis left the atmosphere the last of the fuel burned away. With the upper atmosphere clawing at their heels, Jeb exercised his status as mission commander and ordered Jon to bail out and try to reach orbit using his EVA pack. Jeb would stay with his ship. â€ÂJeb, Nooooooooo!!!!†But there wasn’t time to watch as Jeb tumbled down into the atmosphere, Jon kicked his jetpack into gear and powered forward, achieving a low orbit with little fuel to spare. Finally he could mourn his friend who had long before vanished into the oceans of Laythe. Jim set out in Shackleton to recover Jon but despite their attempts, they heard nor saw any sign of Jeb. Rest in peace you magnificent b*****d

Only figured out this one recently by accident. If you hold shift and use the arrow keys in the VAB and SPH you can translate the camera.