Pecan

With mods I don't think there's anything to get bored of for a long time. Career mode just feels like an official mod to sandbox to me anyway, in the same way ARM is. If I don't want to catch asteroids I don't (I've been vaccinated) and if I don't want to grind science I don't. Looking forwards to RT2 being fixed though. I fancy playing with communications satellites.

If you're happy in Kerbin's SOI then just stay happy. No need for science.

Check out the twisted candle as well, if you haven't already :-) (like bamboo but with engines on lower stages as well as at the top, so you can balance TWR throughout the flight).

As the last few posts have said: spaceplanes can be fun but are just too time-consuming to fly much. Mine are just for LKO crew transfers and all landings - whether plane or rocket - are powered, with ejection/parachute for emergency. A capsule deorbiting doesn't need much fuel or thrust to allow for a good choice of landing site.

Please just stop. You are arguing badly, on your own, against things I neither said nor meant. Specifically, I did not say, nor mean, 'there is now no "need" for anyone to put any thought into vehicle design, because there is one most "efficient" way to do things now'. I said, and meant, "the obvious, easy option is more-or-less the right one as well." Nowhere have I been derogatory about the "easy option" - all I have said is that it is not only easy but, "more-or-less right". Hardly a term of condemnation. NOW I will add that the most obvious, easy option is likely to be the first thing anyone learns/tries [do try to read and appreciate the qualifications in this statement]. Having found out that the obvious, easy option works they may, I hope will, assess other options as well. Having proved to their own satisfaction - one way or another - that the obvious, easy option is not substantially worse in any category than much more arcane options they will probably stick with easy. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. You may care to notice that I have also said "a 'tycoon' game ... has a certain appeal." I have no horse in this race and really am not trying to argue one way or another. I use MechJeb for routine operations as a matter of course. That gets me enough disapprobation for 'wanting it easy' without getting it for arguing against easy too ^^. Just as a stock autopilot would make KSP 'too easy' for some people the ARM parts do for others. Please re-read my post to which you originally responded; I was not saying "slippery slope", I was bemoaning the inevitable flood of "I don't want this" threads that will follow some putative stock autopilot. That inevitability is what I'm drawing from this thread, since the actual 'discussion' is going nowhere. Final comment: I have more than got my money's worth from KSP already. I am happy for Squad to do with it what they will and look forward to enjoying whatever it may be. If I don't like it I have more than 400 other titles on my shelf already and, *gasp* books as well! [General gag, not aimed at anyone so no-one get touchy]/

FIFY, lol. Pictures? [Mood is hard in text. Intended as a 'sounds like fun but I bet you have big explosions' comment]

NOTE: Some engines generate electricity. If you're relying on your engines to charge batteries make sure they're the sort that do.

I was not trying to make any argument as I am really bored of the the "don't like it, don't use it/mod it" responses. It was possibly presumtive of me to suggest designing, flying and navigating were the three main features of KSP and it is, of course, pure sepculation as to whether any autopilot functionality will ever become stock. What is unarguable is that now there is no need for anyone to put much thought into vehicle design - the obvious, easy option is more-or-less the right one as well. Race Into Space is a lot of fun (and free!) and the idea of KSP as a 'tycoon' game (reported somewhere in this thread) has a certain appeal. Such a game would, again presumably, retain building, flying and navigating as secondary features to the science/reputation/cash/contracts career mode. Whether anyone sees that as a 'slippery slope' or 'polished game' is up to them but it will definitely be very different to KSP as we know it.

I haven't even attempted Eve yet. If you're for real, have only been to Mun before and not yet learnt to dock I find it hilariously cool that your next step was to Eve. Congratulations.

Of course not, lots of people have said it's fine if Squad add any old thing because no-one has to use it (#270 prior to yours, for instance) or things can be improved/replaced/provided by mods. Squad might as well stop now, if that's the case. So seriously, I only bought KSP in December (0.22) and have only seen the 0.23 upgrade before. Is there usually this endless bickering where no-one bothers to read the posts they're arguing with, let alone the whole thread? This is the first time I've seen so much acrimony in this forum.

This example may be related.

Several people have reported - and I have seen - many ships develop a 'wobble' in 0.23.5, where they just oscillate all the time; means the navball doesn't know which way you're pointing. For me a few times I just haven't been able to determine whether I even have an intercept at all because the orbit bounces around so much. A short touch of warp sometimes stops the wobble but not always, depends on the ship.

Perfectly good answer, yes. Spaceplanes are such an unrewarding way to spend time for me though that I'll skip it. Look forward to seeing everyone else's hard work though, lol ;-)

You are right and I unreservedly apologise to you and anyone else who suffers from ADD.

I stick mine on a girder and then wrap fairings around the whole thing if possible.

This tractor (tug) is has sufficient RCS fuel and liquid rockets to manoeuvre itself but not much else. It is designed to have fuel and more powerful engines, as well as the payload, docked beneath or on top of the outriggers, as the mission requires. Using this eliminates the shear forces on vertically-mounted docking ports (not that I know whether that would be significant ^^) and allows for easy fuel-load, thrust and push/pull adjustment.

Today I decided to use Module Manager to add KER and MJ functionality to all pods so I always have them handy but my *.craft files can stay stock. Then I deleted the parts so I could save whatever tiny proportion of memory they took up. Then I resumed my last save. Then all the flights were terminated because I'd deleted the parts from KSP before deleting them from the ships. Then I facepalmed. Doh!

By preparing for my birthday party.

I think I am very bored of the circularity of this argument now. KSP used to be a game where you could put time into learning to design spacecraft, fly them and navigate the system. To all intents there is no point in the first of these any more because once someone has learnt to put a few parts together in the VAB that's the only design they'll ever need. Fine - it makes it easy for all the people who aren't interested in designing ships. Flying and navigating will be trivial too once MJ or similar autopiloting is stock and we'll probably have hundreds of "but I don't want this, it makes it too easy" threads. Then KSP will be a career game where you don't need to know much in order to build, fly and navigate spaceships. The instant-gratification-gamers will be happy and the rest of us can remember the solution - self-control and/or mods. Let's just hope for everyone's sake that Squad is happy with the worldwide fame, acclaim and success of KSP :-)

Module manager? Coincidentally, I just came in here to find out the names I needed to add so I could delete the parts. Thanks KingTiger

My stations hold docking adapters that the 'tractors' can pick up if they need more/different size ports. I have now added claw adapters to the stations as well in case the tractors need to grab something that was never intended to be recovered.

[My underlining] = whether you think you agree with me or not, you make my point exactly. No worries; however people want to play is up to them, I think career vs sandbox is getting off-topic. For the OP, as I said earlier, I agree that some of the most fun missions are within Kerbin's system and can be done relatively 'low tech'.

Thanks for the LOLs.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/57197-The-ultimate-Jool-5-challenge-land-Kerbals-on-all-moons-and-return-in-one-big-misson

Kipeo gives excellent advice. To clarify for the non-technical: (On Windows) a document with the extension '.exe', '.com' or '.dll' is a programme and those 'random letters' you're seeing are your text-editor's attempt to translate the computer instructions into something it can display. It's hopeless because the computer instructions just don't make sense to us, only the computer. In order to make, or edit, a program you need to write the 'source' instructions, which are in text files that we can understand (eg; PlanetShifter.cs that Kipeo mentions) then use another programme to 'compile' those instructions into the exe/com/dll form the computer understands. This is what programming a computer means. Most programmes store their data - such as planet information - in their own formats too so they can't usually be read or changed without the specific application (=programme). The way KSP stores a lot of information in a human-readable format (persistent.sfs, *.craft, etc.) so it can be displayed/saved in a text editor is fairly uncommon. Handy though, isn't it :-)