ss8913

excellent, I know some other people who are having the same issue that I was, I will also let them know about this. Thank you so much!

@taniwha - apologies if this is already done in 5.5.2/etc but I haven't seen anything about it... in the past, for KSP before 1.2, there was a problem building with survey stakes on all but the flattest of ground - the ship/base/etc would be constructed at the midpoint X/Y/Z between all the stakes, so if the ground wasn't level, part of your building would clip into the ground, which would then summon the kraken with very unpredictable results. My idea is this - add an option so that the craft/base/etc is built at the *highest* altitude of the placed stakes, maybe with a +/- slider to fine tune that? That would allow a base placed on a 2 degree incline to be built so that all the parts are above ground, and then it'd have to settle down to the ground (obviously it wouldn't work for super steep slopes, but that's not the problem most people have.. problem is everywhere but KSC and Minmus, nothing's 0.0 degrees and clipping is a huge problem.. I think this would go a long way to solve it and make ground survey stake-based on-site building a lot more functional. What do you (and everyone else) think?

OK I usually don't have problems getting things from github but I am not finding the download .zip file that the README.md references, for 0.28b2 - can anyone tell me where it is and how/why it's not in the normal place that I [seem to be] used to? Thanks in advance, sorry for the dumb question...

I use CKAN, also not seeing this or taniwha's other great mod (modular fuel tanks) (he may have others lol) ... anyway, taniwha told me that he doesn't CKAN anything, that other people have in the past, and.. pretty much what he said this time, talk to the CKAN folks; I have not yet done so, however.

I've found, even in past stable versions, that part clipping anything into UKS Kontainers (of any size) will cause the ship/station to destabilize and tear itself apart. Don't clip into Kontainers, everything is fine, with all else being equal. There may be other parts that do the same, that I have not yet used?

is "autostruts" a new thing in 1.2? how do you turn that off/on?

If you want to disable what I think you want to disable (differential thrust in response to control inputs, ie, with 2 tandem engines fore and aft, pitching down with the stick would cause a reduction in thrust on the forward engine causing pitch to happen), set your engines to "Thrust" instead of "Thrust and Maneuver".

The number of engines required on the bottom really depends on how much the thing weighs and how much the CoM shifts as the fuel burns off. If you're using really powerful RCS like the ResistoJet units from KSPIE, you can get away with a lot more shift since those things can be tweakscaled up to provide a lot of control authority to offset the off-center VTOL thrust. However for cargo craft it's usually best, I've found, to place 2 strong engines on the ventral surface of the craft, spaced fore and aft of the max/min CoM points, and set them to 'Thrust' (not 'thrust and maneuver') and use the aforementioned RCS units. On the KSPIE engines and RCS, trying to use those engines for maneuvering has.. interesting results. "thrust and maneuver" works fine for stock engines, or at least for engines that react to throttle inputs instantaneously.

Well, I see commits are going into github, so I'm assuming a new version is being actively worked on looking forward to it, I've gotten hooked on having proper gravitational physics in KSP

I haven't used 1.2/new KSPIE yet, but .. quick question, does this version allow for ISRU reactions to run when the vehicle is out of focus? I remember in previous versions I had to have the refinery in focus and warp time for 30 days to fill the tanks... still true or will it happen while I'm doing other things now?

@taniwha - are you not supporting CKAN or are they just having problems? Noted that this and EPL are showing 1.2 on the forums, but not on CKAN. Is this a "wait a while for it to show up" or is this a "I don't put my mods on CKAN anymore and you should download them by hand" ? I'm ok with either, I just need to know so I know what to do

Not yet, no. Ferram4 said that getting it working is also a prerequisite to getting FAR working, so this is a very important thread to follow!

keep in mind with CKAN that it can be days before an update ends up available there. For example, KSPIE has been updated for 1.2, but CKAN doesn't know about it yet. MKS updated for 1.2 almost immediately, and CKAN still does not have that yet either. I'm sure they'll trickle in in due time.

has anyone attempted a 1.2 compile yet? What exactly is necessary, compiler-wise, to build the code for this, anyway? I'm assuming gcc/g++ won't quite cut it since I'm building for Win64.. lol

it just depends on your design. Almost all my spaceplanes have VTOL capability; just put downward firing engines on a second action group. make sure only one group is active at a time, and TCA handles this in the way you'd expect. I've actually done the exact mission you describe (to Duna, Eve, Laythe) with a spaceplane designed as such. I use KSPIE propulsion tech but this also works with stock, B9, other engines.

Reactor is inside a cargo bay. Between the cargo bay and the engine is a Mk3-3.75m adapter and a 2m Mk3 fuselage tank. So.. no fuel pipes but fuel is directly available adjacent to the engine.

so again in the vein of "working differently but not necessarily wrong so I need clarification"... Thermal ramjet nozzles always work when connected directly to a reactor. Makes sense. Thermal ramjet nozzles, when 1-2 parts away from the reactor work with reduced efficiency, but only on Atmosphere mode. Using hydrazine, for example, causes their fuel requirement to peg at 0.00% and no thrust generated. Bug or Feature, @FreeThinker ?

So.. things are working better with KSPIE than they were.. now I'm questioning if I'm doing something wrong... if I just want my VTOL spaceplane (with 2 engines situated for and aft of the CoM) to balance the thrust so that I can fly like a helicopter and have it balance the thrust around the CoM... what settings do I use? ie, how the "old" version of this mod used to work... what are the proper settings? I don't want it to do anything else.. I don't want it to follow terrain, I don't want it to control altitude, I don't want it to hold position over the ground, just balance thrust around CoM on a spaceplane designed as described...?

yeah if you've mastered base KSP and want the advanced version... you want at minimum FAR, DRE, KSPIE, RT, SCANSat, and Principia. Those transform the game from a game into a fairly good aerospace simulator, spanning 1950s earth tech to 2030-2040 projected earth tech (maybe that's a little ambitious but it's theoretically possible).

I've noticed with 1.1.3 specifically that if I slow down time (for an in-system alcubierre jump usually), I can't get time back to full speed, even if I set the slider correctly; this *used to* work. Workaround is to set the slider correctly, then F5/F9 quicksave/quickload, and it's fine again.

Is there any way to lock the autopilot onto LOC/GS with this mod? or is it purely an instrument with no coupling?

since probably never; but almost all the tutorials describe doing it that way, so I was attempting to dispel the myth

I'll see if I can capture one, not sure I have any video-cap software installed. To distill it down though, I have the KAS gui open (ie, right click the winch, "Open GUI"). The MAGNET button is grayed out until i extend the cable. So I extend the cable a few meters, enable the magnet. Drop the magnet onto the payload, the magnet light goes off and the right-click menu on the magnet now shows off, where previously it was on. Attempting to re-engage the magnet fails until the winch retracts to the point that the magnet is no longer touching the payload. That's the long and the short of it ... I'll check the logs too and see if anything is weird. Are there certain part types to which a magnet will not attach?

so... the magnet... is it broken? I used to use it all the time pre-1.1, but now it seems... nonfunctional. Here's a summary of issues: 1. magnet directly attached to the underside of my craft: I turn on the magnet (antimatter power, plenty of EC ) ... land on top of the payload at 1 m/s.. magnet attaches... payload freaks out and *explodes* 2. magnet attached to a winch: I engage the magnet and lower it. as soon as it touches the payload, the magnet turns off. 3. magnet attached to a winch but with the winch fully retracted: same behavior as #1 what am I doing wrong here?

I've built a semisynchronous sat network using principia.. it doesn't need adjusting too often. semisynchronous is easier; the closer to Kerbin you are, the less the Mun screws up your orbits plus semisynchronous is high enough for a 3 sat network to stay in constant contact with KSC.