Awass

And by pre-programmed, I mean that the launch effects would be like an animation rather than an interactive sort of effect, if need be.

Plenty of talk about re-entry affect and re-entry heat, but what about launch effects? I think some nice puffs of steam (like a from a water sound supression system) and smoke on launch would look really cool, even if it was kinda pre-programmed to reduce particles and frame rate drop etc. Anything would be appreciated

Well there's no single reason why in real life gravity turns start pretty soon after leaving the pad. It's for all the reasons mentioned: safety, minimal drag and stress, and the turn being easiest and least stressful at low speeds.

I sent up a space station core, then tried to dock another part to it only to discover I had put the Clampotron Sr. Docking Ports on backwards.

I am glad that this is a thing, but are there any plans to put this into the stock game?

Sorry. I should use the politically correct term: "massive, convoluted spaceship." Well that describes this rocket at least. I still maintain that Whackjob's creations are abominations that threaten the very existence of the Kerbal universe.

I was thinking multiplayer could work like this: you and a friend(s) have Kerbal Space Centers in different parts of Kerbin. You can have a space race, you can collaborate, you can do whatever you want and have some fun with it. For example, you could make an international space station together. Everything would be in real time, and all players would have to agree to all timewarps and pauses in the game (It wouldn't be too much of an issue because I'm thinking only 2 or 3 players max). Hopefully it wouldn't be too harsh on the system. I don't know much about optimization and all that, but it seems to me that if you limited max debris or something, it could be manageable. The possibilities are endless, and this would be boatloads of fun.

Ask Whackjob. He's an expert when it comes to monstrous abominations of rocketry.

Oh yeah. I thought that my turbojet wasn't working because I was using "rocket fuel", but the problem was that there was a decoupler in the way, and apparently vertical decouplers aren't crossfeed capable.

Ah yes. Now I see them. I think it took a little bit to activate or something.

So what are the numbers inside the graph? Fuel remaining? BTW, my notions about gravity turns came right from the mouth of Scott Manley himself: I guess he focused more on people who started gravity turns too late, so I guess there is room for improvement below 10km.And BTW again, what kind of arc did you end up with during your turn-starts below 10 km? I like to have a nice, long shallow arc before I get to my desired orbital altitude so I don't have to burn too long to circularize.

Can anyone see my ribbons? I made a thing of ribbons, put it in my sig, and saved it, but I don't see it.

I thought the aerospike counted as a type of jet engine? I didn't know it could use rocket fuel. Can it also use jet fuel, and does it actually need no intake air?

Well it also turns out to be most efficient because all thrust is directed entirely into the direction of travel since the rocket is always pointed exactly prograde. This also creates minimal stress and drag as the rocket always meets the air head on where it is smallest in cross-section.

It just seems that if you start a turn too far before 10 km up (with any kind of decent sized rocket), you will start side-slipping rather than following your prograde vector. Seems like this happens because acceleration is so limited up to about 10 km up. It is both inefficient and difficult to to go too far beyond 200 m/s under 10 km with a decent or above sized rocket. Is this just another effect of the kinda messed up aerodynamics? In real life, rockets have a fairly constant acceleration and don't start out accelerating quickly only to begin gradually decelerating until they clear a certain altitude as they do in KSP. And btw, that's a very helpful graph, but what do you mean by turn-start at 0km/5km/10km? Aren't 0km, 5km, and 10km the turn start altitudes?

Well that would explain it, but I have faith that the devs will improve the aerodynamics, so I'll wait.

Well "right after launch" is a relative term. The space shuttle starts its roll program just a few seconds after launch, so I say that counts. BTW, why is it that Kerbin gravity turns have to start at at or past 10k meters to be effective rather than in real life, where they can start within 1000 meters or so? If Kerbin is just a scaled down earth, why do things such as these behave so differently?

My question is, "Is it possible to put yourself on an orbital trajectory by making only one small pitch over right after launch and not touching the controls after that?" From what I gather, that's how it's done in real life so that you're always burning directly prograde, which is most efficient and creates the least stress on the rocket.

Oh yes, I suppose this is a gameplay question. My threads always get moved.

Without any mods, is it possible to do a gravity turn the way they do it in real life by making a tiny pitch-over right after leaving the pad then just letting gravity and projectile motion kick in to send you into orbit? From what I can tell, the controls are not sensitive enough and the weird aerodynamics seem to make it impossible to get that nice gravity-induced arc.

"...Round the decay Of that colossal Rockomax Jumbo-64 Fuel Tank, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away."

"My name is Whackjob, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

That sounds incredibly difficult being that you can't control the skip once you start it, and it's kinda a guess as to where to put the periapsis.

Apparently, yes, yes it should. But let not my error detract from the informative value of this vid.

Really interesting. Much more goes into re-entry in real life than Kerbal Space Program would have you believe. So many factors involved.