700NitroXpress

You should be able to do fine with large part count ships. My average ship is 600 - 700 parts and some of my space stations are around 1500 parts, still get good frame rates at 800 part ships, but once it gets into the thousands I'll get 10 fps or lower, but I don't really mind it all that much. For any future optimization, they would have to write code that acts as a boolean operation between parts in the VAB during construction so that way they could merge multiple components into larger pieces. This would make a 1000 part ship act like a 100 part ship. The collision mesh of the multi part object would all have to be compounded together into one big mesh for a large object. This would be a significant coding challenge. Hopefully they're using custom made collision meshes and not the default collision mesh that Unity generates based off of the model. The physics should then act on the large pieces and not on each small piece individually. At least, that's how it makes sense to me, but I'm a 3D Artist and not a Programmer. Also, I do believe there's a mod called Welder or something like that, it does basically what I described above as far as I know, but I've never used it.

You're forgetting one critical thing about Eve tho. You're only accounting for the gravity of Eve, but not the air resistance that you'll also have to battle. Even at 4km above sea level, you're still going to be in super thick atmosphere for a lot longer than you'll be on Kerban. You're lucky if your craft gets above 100 m/s in Eve atmosphere with those engines. Your craft will feel like it weighs 70% more and it'll feel like you're fighting drag from parachutes deployed during launch. Getting your kerbals up to the seat on top of a craft can be done from an angle if you angle the ladders. You can also attach I beams together and put them on a radial decoupler, then put ladders on the I beams and they can climb from the ground all the way to the top on just one ladder. Then when you launch, just jettison the I beam ladder part along with your landing gear and parachutes. That's what I did for mine, you can see that even tho I broke two of the small I beams, the ladders weren't attached to them so they still work. The I beam to structural plate landing legs allow this thing to bounce at 14 m/s when it hits the ground on Kerban and be undamaged. On Eve, I landed at 9 m/s and nothing essential broke. The Kerbals can climb from the ground all the way up to the top on dual symmetry ladder parts, you can also see that I have one ladder at an angle.

Leaderboards are updated, Sirine moves to #1 and TML moves to #2

Welcome aboard! Just remember that before you head out to mission 01 you have to do the shakedown run to the Mun and back to LKO.

Max points for completing these mission parameters is 700 points.

So I had my own little Kraken attack while flying out to Eve for the mission. I really hate it when this happens.

Those landing legs are going to snap as soon as they touch the ground on Eve and your craft is going to destroy itself. Also, that craft in the picture won't get half way off of Eve.

1: Yes, but you only need 4 kerbals to get max points. 1 team of 2 kerbals at science gear location A and one team of 2 kerbals at science gear location B. Locations C and D only need to have the gear and the actuators on the ground, no additional kerbals are necessary. 2: I'll take care of that tomorrow.

Hodo, ok that's fine then. Sirine, all of those scenarios would be correct for the points, also your map is accurate to where you need to land the gear.

It depends on how many engines you have pushing the payload. But for just one basic jet engine, you're looking at around 15 tons maximum. Over 15 tons for one engine and it won't leave the ground VTOL style. Correction: 15.30 ton limit for one basic jet engine.

The null space bug, it's already been reported before. Try using a different ship.

If anything on that ship is clipping, then that's your problem. Otherwise, make sure that none of the docked objects hit each other ever, otherwise this can happen. Another cause may be that those small girders that are attached to the orange fuel tanks are jumbling around. If any part gets affected by moving when it shouldn't, then it will cause motion on the entire ship. Personally I would suggest scrapping this design and going with something else.

Hodo, is that actuator the same weight as the one I made? Does it still explode when you fire it? It needs to go Kaboom.

Sirine, here are the answers to your questions: Q: (The 3rd crew +10points, or 3rd crew +30points, Most importantly, what is the limit? Can I bring 100 extra crew?) A: The 3rd crew member is worth +10 points, there is currently no limit, you could bring 100 extra crew, but they must be in hitchhikers or their own pods, no lawn chairs. Q: (Minimum completion = 1 actuator landing on target location, and a science gear team with min 2 crew... Is this correct?) A: No, you need 1 actuator landing on the target location, one science machine on the opposite end of the planet, and another science machine deployed close to the actuator. The one that is deployed close to the actuator must be the manned landing with 2 Kerbals. Q: Option 2: Use unmanned gear to complete the mission. (Minimum completion = 1 actuator landing on target location +200 points?) A: No, you need one actuator and two science machines deployed, just unmanned versions. One is deployed on the opposite side of the planet and one is deployed close to the actuator. Q: Land a science team at both science gear locations: 100 points. (Means no science team, is still ok. Just not earning that 100points?) A: Yes, these are bonus points. If you choose not to land a science team, that's ok, but you must still land the 3 pieces of equipment on the planet at the locations specified. Q: Set up multiple actuators, one at each location: 100 points (Is this add up to below rules? 4 actuators = 100x4= 400 points?<---without science gear; with science gear means add the below 200points?) A: No this does not add to it. What this is referring to is that, you set up one actuator at the target LZ and one at the opposite end of the planet, relative to the target LZ. So the maximum point value is 100 points. Q: Set up actuators and science gear at both poles, the target LZ, and the opposite side of the planet relative to the target LZ, 4 actuators total: 200 points (Is it means total of 4 Seismic Actuators? 4 Science Gear, 8 official crew (2 crew each Science Gear)). A: No, you need 4 actuators and 4 science gear only. The crew are irrelevant. However, if you land 4 kerbals, so 2 at the original actuator and 2 at the one on the opposite side of the planet, then that gets the 100 point bonus. Each additional kerbal landed is +10. You do not need to land any kerbals in order to get the 200 points from this bonus challenge. Q: You may return to LKO to get 2 more actuators and 2 more science machines after the first set is deployed. (What is the bonus point for bring all together in a single trip) A: I didn't make one because Moho is far and takes a lot of fuel to get to, especially when carrying payload. Q: Science machine minimum weight is 5 tons. (What is the penalty if not 5 tons, the Eve Rover for Hodo Penalty is only -10) A: It will be the same as the Eve mission -10 points "My current understanding... 1) Minimums mission requirement : Land an actuator on target location: 200points 2) Land an actuator on target location and a science gear with min. 2 crew : 300points 3) Land 2 actuator on target location : o points 4) Land 2 actuator on target location AND 2 science gear on both location with min. 2 crew each science gear: +100points. 5) Land 4 actuator on target location :+400points. 6) Land 4 actuator on target location AND 4 science gear on each location with min. 2 crew each science gear: +200points. 7) Penalty on science machine weight and extra crew bonus not clear. 8) Does the actuator has to be 'fully fuel/weight' while landing on Moho surface? 9) Can I attach "fuel line"/"strut" from/to the bottom tank of the actuator?" 1: No, you need to land the actuator and both science gear in order to get the 200 points. Not landing 1 piece of science gear is -50 points. 2: Yes, but only if you have that second science gear deployed on the opposite end of the planet. Don't forget about the second science machine. 3: Correct 4: No, you would need to land 2 actuators, one at the target location and one on the opposite side of the planet, 2 science teams with the science gear at both actuator locations. This is +400 points because you're getting Option 1 completion and the 100 point bonus from "Land a science team at both science gear locations: 100 points" 5: No, you need to do this "Set up actuators and science gear at both poles, the target LZ, and the opposite side of the planet relative to the target LZ, 4 actuators total: 200 points" if they are unmanned the total is 400 points. 6: No, you would get 600 points just for 4 kerbals 2 at the target LZ, 2 at the location opposite of the target LZ, for the additional 4 kerbals you would get 40 points so the total would be 640 points 7: Science machine weight penalty is -10 points, each additional kerbal landed is worth +10 points 8: Yes, if it isn't than it's -10 points 9: Fuel lines = No, Struts = Yes

Sirine, I just saw your post that was posted on Tuesday, just now tonight. I have a lot that I have to do with my job and class right now since finals are coming up, so I'm sorry for not having prompt responses right now. I also see the mission accomplished report. I'm probably not going to get around to going through these reports until Saturday 12/7/13 at the earliest. I'm not ignoring anything, I just haven't had time lately. I promise I'll get those questions answered and go through the report before Sunday Morning. If you have any additional questions that come up between now and then, just add them to that post and I'll answer all of them. Also, for everyone, Mission 03 will be left up until 12/13/13 and then there will be a new mission that will run from 12/13/13 - 1/10/14 due to the holiday break, I will also be completely unavailable during that holiday break time period.

Add mass to the front and your problems are solved.

Here's mine, 4 Kerbal capacity, lands hard, but intact. Gets all the kerbals back into orbit from sea level.

Your center of mass is off because you're burning fuel, always burn from the rear instead of the front and it'll solve this problem. Lock the tanks by right clicking on them. Also, fly it without Mech Jeb.

Easy fix: Just mount it horizontally instead of vertically. Boom, problem solved.

Duna is easy to land on and easy to get off of. Laythe is a little different, but the low gravity makes it easier than Kerban. For a Duna lander, I'd say it was a waste. For Laythe I'd also say it was a waste there too because Laythe supports air intake engines and jet engines are more efficient than SRB's by a long shot and far more effective for getting back into orbit. It's better to just have a lightweight SSTO lander for every planet except Eve. SRB's are basically useless.

Yes you may. Attachments can go on the top and bottom for docking, you also have to build your powered descent assembly on either the top or bottom so you can land it. But that assembly must detach once the Actuator is on the ground.

Ok, when I had the original landing legs on there, it tipped over so I put I beams on there. Keep in mind that this has to land on Moho intact and not topple over.

Yes, as long as you use the exact same core craft that you started out with.

Ok so the total then would be 185 + 25 = 210

Sirine, I'm getting 2 different totals now for your original mission 01 score and what you just posted... But on your original score post, I added it up again and got the same value.