Barefoot Friar

"O'er the mountains of the Moon, through the Valley of the Shadow, ride, boldly ride," the Shade replied, "If you search for El Dorado." What the poet is telling you is that the Mun used to be much flatter, so choose a periapsis of 5-8km to avoid any unplanned lithobraking.

I ended up with an ASUS RX550 4GB. I had a devil of a time getting it installed. Turned out I was using the wrong cable between card and monitor. I have always used RGB cables just because I had them. This card needs either an HDMI, a Display Port, or a DVI cable, and since I found an old display port to DVI converter, I tried it. No dice. My (rather old) LCD monitor won't accept HDMI, so I couldn't try that either. So I bought the seven dollar DVI cable and boom. It worked plug-n-play. Amazing graphics, and that's just stock. I can look at Duna now, and can even do an EVA without stutter! And that's with everything turned way up! My next purchase will be an 8GB stick of RAM. Might not help with KSP, but it will let me do other stuff in the background. Thanks for the help!

KSP 1.7.3 on Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit. Lots of mods. My base on Duna, upon loading, jumps up in the air and flips over, and crashes upside down. (It does this in very slow motion because Duna takes up a lot of visual processing power, and I can't figure out how to speed it up, but that's another question for another post.) How do I get this to stop? I have tried going to it directly from the Tracking Center, and I've tried going to it from the station in orbit. Both times it leapt about five meters up into the air, flipped over, and crashed to the ground where it rocked and wobbled for a while. It's built on eight L2 Landing Struts. It only started this when I tried to adjust the graphic settings to speed Duna up. I've reverted the changes. Ooo, just checked my Mun base, which is almost identical. It jumped up, too, but only about three meters and settled right back down on its legs, though somehow one of the solar panels got knocked off. How do I fix this? What is the cause?

Thanks, @Geonovast!

I've got about $50 to spend on a new video card. It ain't much, but times is tight. I'm running KSP 1.7.3 with Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit on an Intel® Core™ i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz × 4 with Intel® Haswell Desktop graphics and 7.5GiB (8GB) of RAM. I'm posting here because I use about a dozen or so mods. Even with a pure, clean install Duna bogs my system down awful at half resolution graphics, anti-aliasing turned off, and terrain scatter off. What I mean is that I visited Duna and even from orbit whenever the planet is within view my framerate tanks and the game freezes for a few seconds at a time. It doesn't do that with Kerbin, Mun, or Minmus. It does it minimally with Ike. Haven't gotten to the other planets yet. I had installed EVE and a skybox, but had to take them both back off again. And I can't watch the ground during a Kerbin launch if I have more than about ten or fifteen parts. So, am I better off waiting (a long time, I suspect) for a lot more money, or is there a card out there which will meet my low budget and actually bring some improvement? Nvidia works better with Linux, generally, so I was looking at this: GeForce GT 710 2GB. But I don't know. Any suggestions?

I'm just flat out not buying it if there's no native Linux port. I could run Windows on a VM, I suppose, but I'm not going to go to that much trouble for KSP2, especially since KSP1 works great as is.

Sorry, @Snark. I wrote it three or four times before it came out right, and I forgot to move it to the right place. . Awesome! Thank you!!

Does this work in Linux, too? Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit with all packages up to date as of this morning.

In 1.0.5 I could take a Kerbal on EVA, do an EVA report, and send it without getting back in the pod. As long as I was within range (5km, IIRC) I could use the pod as a relay. Is there a mod that allows the same thing in 1.7.3?

I don't have screen shots for all of it, but I've been fairly productive. I landed a base at the East Crater, not too terribly far from the Mun arch. Probably about 15km away. I sent a crewed science lander ("Standard Lander 2") to the Twin Craters and then hopped over to the base to leave the science in the lab there. I launched a lander ("Luna 2") to send to Duna. I dealt with a bug on my Munar station where the solar panels showed full coverage but were not generating current. I was trying to land an empty lander ("Luna 1") near the base to use in an emergency (read: needed the docking port on the station) but encountered some sort of bug in MechJeb which first crashed it into the Mun and then upon reverting did something to the engine. I just reverted again and then quit out... I think it's a mod conflct related to OPM and Kopernicus, since it was working fine before I installed those today. Oh, yeah. I installed OPM and Kopernicus today. The planets are showing up in the tracking center, but I haven't had time to launch anything toward them yet. Relevant shots: 1. Our intrepid explorer sets a flag on the Mun's Twin Craters in front of the Standard Lander 2. Valentina is at the controls. 2. Flying over Mun Base Alpha and the lander. I'm using several mods, including StockAlike Station Parts (and the expansion) and the entire NearFuture line. I've also got the Kerbal Planetary Base Systems mod, but haven't gotten any of those parts in my science career yet. I had another but my internet sucks so it won't upload properly.

I have largely felt the same way. Kerbal Alarm Clock has been awesome because it lets me multitask. But then I realized that I had flags on five planets and science stations in orbit around four of them within four or five Kerbal years, which for a space program seems a bit... fast. Of course we only have the space programs of Earth for comparison, and the real solar system is much larger so the distances and time involved is much longer, but still... It just seems wrong somehow to have an entire space station in orbit around Mun, complete with a science lab and an entire fuel tree, within a Kerbal week. I've gotten okay with warping some, and with focusing more on one thing at a time. Then again, the whole planet of Kerbin is united and is a space-faring utopia so they literally have nothing else to do. Maybe it's not so unrealistic after all. (Of course it's a game. Play it the way that makes you happy.) Edit: Dang, I didn't see this was from 2016. Unintentional necro. Sorry.

Awesome. Thank you!

@OrbitsR4Sissies May I please have the .craft file for your miner?

I went looking for a fight and spent five page laughing my guts out before I finally got your pun. ;-)

Yesterday I finally decided to upgrade to 1.7.3. I've been playing 1.0.5 since it came out. I briefly tried 1.1.2, but found it too buggy for my computer. Also I kind of hated the new UI, which I found to be juuuust different enough to be annoying. For instance, I don't like the little menus that pop up on parts when you right click them, because they have a frustrating tendency to pop up under whatever MechJeb window I have open at the time. Anyway, I had a good game going in 1.0.5, and had taken several years away from the game in general when my kids were being born and we were just trying to learn to survive on no sleep. So over the summer I picked it up and started exploring more. I had my mods just right, the game was stable, and I was having fun. I don't really know why I decided to switch. I may go back to the old one. Shoot, I may even go back to my old 0.23.5 install just for kicks. It would be nice to just plow into Eve at 7km/s and not worry about exploding. But back to the new game. I got all my mods installed. And I mean ALL THE MODS. Some of them aren't working, but I don't really care right now. I started a new science career so maybe I need to sort the mods before I go further but dang it was nice to land on Minmus for the first time in a fresh install of a new version. (Specifically what isn't working is OPM and Astronomer's, but I think from researching today I've figured out my problem so we'll see...). I still don't like the UI. And I hate the way they changed the way the venerable old Jumbo-64 looks. I don't like the way a few other tanks look, either, so I'm going to create my own mod of old parts brought forward because yes, it's that important to me. That said, I saw the new vernors and immediately thought of the laser turrets in Portal 2. "Are you still there?" And 1.7.3 lags like hell where 1.0.5 doesn't. Maybe I've got too many mods. I'll pull them all out and re-add them, one by one, until I get it right, just in time for a new version to come out. Such is life.

What do you mean I can't aerobrake at Eve at 7km/s when I hit the atmo?? Nope. It's either blow up before getting 5km into the upper atmosphere or get flung out past Duna (prograde flyby) or well below Moho (retrograde flyby). And since it's just a refueller, I took the explosion route and will send another later.

I'm sitting here playing my old 1.0.5 install. I've got the mods I like. I've got a game I started way back in 2016 before putting the game aside while my wife and I had two kids. I'll play the newest one later, when I finish my current game. I have old ones saved back to 0.25. I wish I still had my first install, 0.18, but for some reason I deleted it.

I can see from this that I was off by a good margin in my intra-system dv allowance. I'll need to do some more testing. At any rate, this is very elegantly shown, whereas mine is random scribbles in a spare notebook I found lying about. I probably ought to invest in a whiteboard; it would make me look way cooler and smarter to visitors.

Thank you!

May I please see it? I'd like to know if my calculations are anywhere near correct.

I'm in 1.0.5 (and I get extra smarm, since I have versions stockpiled all the way back to 0.21) and I will not be using 1.1.x until it is fixed. I may even wait until 1.2. 1.0.5 looks beautiful, runs great, and has yet to crash on me, even though I'm running nearly a dozen mods. That said, if 1.1.2 works better for you, yay! You do you.

Just to keep myself accountable and to inform any interested parties: I got to Tylo after using way, way too much fuel in my Jool insertion burn, disconnected my lander and the tug from the mothership, got it into the orbit I wanted, and then realized that the lander has no control authority because it lacks both RCS and a reaction wheel. It was late, so I quit for the night. Then I got an idea for an entirely new mothership design that I want to try. So I want to just start over from scratch. After testing the daylights out of everything first, of course. In fact, I'm giving some thought to doing it with ISRU, but I haven't decided yet. Edit: Also, @sdj64, you rock. Just thought you needed to know that.

@sdj64 Thanks! I went ahead and began the challenge without those parts, so as it turned out I don't need them after all. Still, it will be good for future challengers to know it's available. I am completing this in 1.0.5 because 1.1.2 was crashing way too much to be usable. If this isn't acceptable, I won't even waste your time with an entry. Just let me know. Thanks again for your help.

Dear Billy-Bob, Here are the first few newspaper clippings you requested regarding Project Zeus. KSC is trying to put a Kerbal on each of Jools moons in one go. How amazing! Anyway, I put the clippings in the right order, but they aren't all here yet -- the mission is still going on, after all. I'll send more of them when I find them. I also found a stack of photos, so I've included them. Be sure to look at the descriptions that I wrote on each one. First, the latest stories. Project Zeus Begins Exploration of Jool System By Jebbles Kerman Y1 D241 KERBIN SPACE CENTER (KerbinPress) -- Kerbin's space exploration initiative began a new era of discovery today with the launch of Project Zeus, which promises to land a Kerbal on each of the five moons of Jool. Dr. Wehrner von Kerman, Chief Engineer and Program Director of the Kerbin Space Center, spoke at the gala dinner on the floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the KSC. "Going to Jool is not very hard," said Kerman, "and landing on Pol, Bop, or even Vall isn't difficult, either. What is hard is landing on all five moons in one unsupported mission. We believe we have developed the right hardware to do the job, and testing has already shown that we are on the right track. We also have five excellent astronauts in Jebediah, Bill, Bob, Valentina, and Siesa. They are already hard at work training for the landings and assisting with mission planning. We intend to launch by the middle of next year, and plant our first flag within three years." Kerman promised that all of Kerbin would be kept up-to-date with the mission as it proceeded. "We have every intention of publishing photographic evidence, along with technical information pertaining to the mission so that we can avoid any silly conspiracy theories regarding this effort," he said. KSC Administration has also released the proposed budget for Project Zeus, which comes in at √1.5 million. It includes five launches to low Kerbin orbit, where the ship will be assembled. The main component of the ship is Red Dragon, a nuclear-powered vessel with space for six Kerbals. Red Dragon will push three other vessels: the Centaur lander intended for Jool's moon Laythe, a second lander, named Lucy, which will land on Tylo and Jool's three smallest moons, and an in-system refueller and tug named Tumnus. This will be pushed out of Kerbin orbit by a kicker drive which consists of the Urlum V core which will also launch Red Dragon. Once in orbit and assembled, Red Dragon will mass just over 700 metric tons. Kerman stated that although excitement for the project is high, the budget "will be a hard one to work with, since it doesn't give us any room for a refuelling mission, should it become necessary," though he noted that in the extremely unlikely case that astronauts were stranded in Jool's orbit the funding would probably come through. "We hope that we don't have to find out the hard way, however." The five astronauts associated with the program were not available for comment at press time. *** Project Zeus Nears Launch; Red Dragon Close to Completion By Jebbles Kerman Y2 D227 KERBIN SPACE CENTER (KerbinPress) -- In a press conference today Dr. Wehrner von Kerman, Chief Engineer and Program Director of the Kerbin Space Center, stated that the planning phase of the much anticipated Project Zeus is coming to a close, with a launch becoming more and more likely within the next few days. "We are pleased to announce that after much planning, many simulations, and even some major software setbacks, we are nearly ready to launch Red Dragon and the other associated modules which comprise Project Zeus." The software setback Kerman mentioned refers to the "1.1 Fiasco", a rather optimistic software "upgrade" that quickly showed its ugly side. KSC quickly reverted to a previous, much more stable version to run the ships of Project Zeus, but not before losing several experimental vessels. Kerman also claimed that so far the project was running under budget, despite the software and planning setbacks. However, sources within KSC claim that the project has already eclipsed the √1.5 million budget after at least two prior iterations of the Red Dragon were built and tested -- the latest of which fell victim to the 1.1 Fiasco, which lead to the loss of the two vessels. These same sources claim that after rolling back to a previous software version, all of the crafts had to be completely redesigned. "Some parts became unavailable, and others were incompatible with the old software," one engineer said, agreeing to speak on the condition of anonymity. "It turned out that the vessel we had planned to build was simply no longer feasible." According to a report released by KSC Engineering, Red Dragon will cost √470,690 before launch costs are considered. Kerman plans to use the massive Urlum X launcher to boost Red Dragon into low Kerbin orbit. This launcher consists of an Urlum V launcher with four 5-meter boosters and four 2.5-meter boosters, making it one of the largest rockets ever assembled and flown by KSC. Other components will be launched with the slightly smaller Tylo rocket, a single-stack measuring 3.75 meters in diameter and boasting a single Titan I engine. Kerman stated that the launches would begin soon, in order to catch a favorable transfer window to Jool that would peak within the next few days. "We will have to get everything launched and assembled in orbit," he said, "and it will take the hard work and dedication of everyone here at KSC to make it happen." Jebediah Kerman, mission commander and pilot for all five of the landings, was eager to get started with the mission. "We've been training hard here on Kerbin, and we've all logged countless hours in the simulators as we worked on our own skills and also helped the engineering team with their proposed designs. We're all really excited to begin." *** Red Dragon Launched Amid Fanfare By Jebbles Kerman Y2 D240 KERBIN SPACE CENTER (KerbinPress) -- Red Dragon, the main vessel of Project Zeus, successfully launched from Kerbin Space Center today with five astronauts aboard. KSC Mission Control was more tense than usual immediately before and during the launch, pointing to the fact that they had only simulated it once. However, the room erupted in a cheer when Valentina Kerman, ship commander and pilot, radioed confirmation that the ship had successfully entered orbit around Kerbin. Red Dragon rode into orbit atop a massive Urlum X rocket, a 1,407 metric ton beheamoth capable of easily lifting the 368.8 ton Red Dragon into low Kerbin orbit. At a cost of √977,443, the launch takes up nearly two thirds of the proposed budget of √1.5 million. However, sources within the administration say that the remaining launches will put the project severely over budget, blaming recent software malfunctions and lost ships for the overage. The five astronauts selected for the mission have been training for months in preparation for the mission. The mission's executive officer and Red Dragon co-pilot, Jebediah Kerman, will pilot all of the landings, including the one on Jool's innermost moon Laythe, which will be a solo landing. For the remaining four moons of Bop, Pol, Vall, and Tylo, he will be joined by one of the other four astronauts, with a different one for each moon. Bill Kerman, Red Dragon's chief engineer, will accompany him to Vall. Mission Scientist Bob Kerman is slated to land on Pol. Science Specialist Sieisa Kerman will land on Bop, while Mission Commander Valentina Kerman will assist him in the Tylo landing. Although Red Dragon has launched, the mission still has four more launches before the mission can leave orbit around Kerbin. Still to be launched are the two landers which will be used in the attempt, along with a robotic refueller craft to be used within the Joolian system and an "Interplanetary Kicker Drive" consisting of an Urlum V lower stage, which will be used to push the vessel out of Kerbin orbit. Additionally, these launches will be accompanied by larger-than-necessary service modules to fully fuel the ship in preparation for the mission. The next launch is planned for tomorrow, despite cloudy skies forecast over KSC. *** Project Zeus Underway Red Dragon Ready to Leave Kerbin Orbit By Jebbles Kerman Y2 D241 KERBIN SPACE CENTER (KerbinPress) --After five launches in six hours, Wehrner von Kerman, Chief Engineer and Program Director of the Kerbin Space Center, announced that Project Zeus is ready to begin the next phase: the journey from Kerbin to Jool. Those five launches mated the five modules of the Red Dragon ship. Kerman said that the astronauts were excited to begin their three year trek to Jool. Spirits at Mission Control were indeed high, as all of the launches had gone smoothly, with only minimal need for simulation before the actual flight. Technicians also reported that their computer software was running smoothly, with no apparent bugs or framerate lags despite the number of modifications being used for this flight. "Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for, because what you think is better might not really be better," said Gene Kerman, flight director of KSC. Mortimer Kerman, KSC's chief financial officer, spoke about the costs of the mission thus far. He reported that Project Zeus has gone over budget, largely due to unexpected costs associated with launching the Centaur lander. "All together it comes to √2,055,906. But remember that in this situation money is basically meaningless. If we were in a different mode, we might have a problem if we went over budget. But now? It's just a way to measure something. Not sure what, mind you, but something." Ignition of Red Dragon's twelve nuclear LV-N engines is scheduled for later today, beginning the flight to Jool. *** (Note to the reader: This is a Jool-5 attempt written as newspaper clippings. I will be updating the Imgur album periodically as I make the attempt, and further news clippings will be added to the OP, so future readers will have a more streamlined experience.)

Give me a reason to visit other bodies by re-tweaking the science and by increasing the number of interesting things to observe. Tie them together, if at all possible.