justidutch

^^ exactly this. My own newly minted career is set at 40% for science, funds and rep. Much more challenging. And the end goal isn't just to fill the tech-tree, its to put a base on all bodies, ISRU in each system, and grand tour or three, and visit all anomalies which is something I have never done before. All within the confines of $@40%.

In about the 20 missions I've run in 1.2 so far, the game froze on me once, during liftoff. That is it so far, and running on an older Mac AirBook which is quite sub-optimal specs-wise. We'll see what happens when my career progresses to the point of larger part counts, but that is for the future to decide...

The new space program has started in earnest. The scientists and accountants and other administrative types at KSC are quickly discovering, however, that increasing their respective pools of science and funds and reputation are going to take time. They have learned that they will only receive 40% of what they might consider to be 'normal', at least compared to some other space programs that are rumoured to exist. So, within those constraints... A number of simple launches were made in the beginning. The Karman line was breached, then orbits made, experiments in orbit undertaken, and the pilots were improving the timing on their ballistics returns, getting closer and closer to landing at KSC. A number of rescue missions then ensued, at first picking up one at a time... But then upgrades to the admin building allowed the capacity to undertake several contracts at once, so the pick up rate was increased to two at a time. The media were really clamouring for something exotic and groundbreaking, pressuring the admin types to take on Mun missions. A flyby, then reaching orbit, and finally a landing mission occurred. The following ship fulfilled the Greatest Event in Kerbalkind, finally answering the age old question that yes, in fact Mun is made of stale snacks. With the science rewards from the min missions, many new technologies were discovered, namely Moar Boosters. Or at least bigger ones. This allowed a mission to pick up four loners loitering in orbit... And finally, one mission to pick up stranded souls around Mun (how did they get there?) and two in orbits quite far out from Kerbin, which finally made its ballistic return onto the grounds of KSC. Next steps are missions to explore the mint moon to appease the scientists, and to pick up more Mun-stranded weirdos to appease the accountants.

Do you think a species or being that is predicated on wiping everything else out is likely to be the species or being that will learn how to expand across multiple worlds? I don't. I very much doubt that even given another billion years alligators or ants will eventually reach space on their own. My guess is that a species intelligent enough to make contact would be the top of their food chain, but you don't become top by wiping everything out, you become top by co-existing. At least here on earth, which is the only model we have to go by.

Last night I started a new career, and I am excited about it since I have not played for several months now. Stock only, science returns at 40%, rep and cash at 50%, all G-Force crush effects, full need of antennae, etc. Everything hard, as this is what I enjoy. I did three missions so far, and have earned enough science for the first tier. My time is limited though, it will be a slow and lengthy process to fulfill my end-goal, which is to have stations on every body and ISRU in every system. Also, I have never yet done a grand tour with one vehicle, so perhaps that will be another goal when the tech tree is done...

I think that's why beer was invented. Or religion. Or both...

That is actually less than I would have expected. I wonder how much Pepsi would be willing to pay for a week-long slogan orbiting the earth. And then other companies would get in line. I'll bet you could recoup the costs within a year. Not if they are able to adjust their position independently, if they each had RCS and a reserve of monoprop

Like, a 'walk to the chemists' kind of big?

Instead of trying to get a mega-structure, mega-canvas, mega-sphere or anything mega into orbit, I would go for a different approach. I am picturing a collection of cubesats, each with 3 lights (RGB) to act as individual pixels. The cubesats would be able to be manoeuvred into whatever configuration is desired at any time, continuously face the earth's surface, and display the appropriate colour. Therefore you are not restricted to just one slogan or advert, you could change it up to anything at any time. Kind of like a big TV screen in orbit. You would probably need thousands of the things, but whatever.

I guess one would still be called 'Luna', perhaps the other would be 'Moony McMoonFace'. It would be made of a kind of blue cheese instead of Luna's cheddar. The man in Moony McMoonFace would be considered a brother of the guy in Luna, inspiring all sorts of pagan religions whose primary tenets was doling out noogies and pantsing. And there would be a different view in the sky. Sorry; it's a friday afternoon and I've gone loony...

I just bought and tried the PS4 version, but have wondered about this in the 3 years I've been playing PC version as well. When in the map view during a flight, I would love for the PE and AP altitude values to be displayed constantly. It's a much bigger deal in the console version than PC because one needs to switch the controller from flight controls to UI controls in order to hover the 'mouse' over the nodes to show the altitude tooltips, then if one wants to adjust orbit, one has to switch the controller back from UI to flight, thus losing the tooltip. I can only image how impossible it will be to set up a precise orbit in the console versions. Having the altitudes always showing would definitely help out, when using the flight controls in map mode.

Haven't figured out how to timewarp faster than 4x. Any ideas?

Maybe I don't know the PS4 controls yet, but timewarp is an issue. In flight (started a career, managed to get into orbit), I could only timewarp 4x! And, not the regular good timewarp but the bad kind that at 4x shows up red (physics warp?), the kind of warp normally only done when burning. But when just floating in orbit, I could not warp faster than 4x. Even got a message saying that time warp can screw with the physics and don't use it with large ships. Also, when in the map view during flight, it's really difficult to check the altitudes of PE and AP; as OP says you need to press too many buttons to get that info. To be precise, you need to switch out of the controls that allow throttling and manoeuvring to get the cursor so you can place it over the nodes and see the altitude values, then switch the controller back to get the throttle again. I can only imagine trying to set precise orbits will be incredibly frustrating if not impossible, at least the way I'm used to doing it on my laptop.

It gives rise to the question that we have absolutely no idea what else we'll discover regarding the affects of living in microgravity environments long-term. So, we know that living in space is highly radioactive, it will atrophy your muscles, decalcify your bones, slow down your cardiovascular system, redistribute your fluids and even contribute to excess flatulence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_spaceflight_on_the_human_body). And now it'll screw up your vision. I wonder what other effects we'll discover in the future?

I, for one, am looking forwards to the PS4 version. I've played KSP for years, but on a Mac AirBook which isn't exactly built for gaming, so I'm expecting the experience to be much better!

If I could grow polar bear fur for the 3 months a year here in Winnipeg, Canada where it regularly reaches -30 Celcius I would. Then shed it, and do something about my regular skin so it wouldn't sunburn during the summer months where it gets over +30 Celcius. I really, really don't know why I stay...

Well, if you were to read last week's devnote, you will see that they have recently added a new member to the development team, and plan to add more. This tells me (playing for 3 years, best $22 spent ever) that this game will continue to develop for the foreseeable future. Edit: ninja'd! Also: welcome!!!

Wouldn't it be easier, instead of uplifting other species or creating post-humas (as I previously mentioned), to instead just build smart robots in whatever size and configuration and for whatever specific purpose we desire? I think it would certainly be less of a moral issue. Though, I guess that would beg the question of wether you prefer the Terminator scenario versus Planet of the Apes...

Yes, I suppose this would be a very contentious topic of legal and moral debate. I, for one, would be 'pro-choice', but I guess we can't get into that kind of discussion here!

You had me at "blind drunk"...

I understand the question, no problem. The syntax is still a little abnormal, so perhaps this: Is creating a spaceplane that can go suborbital straight from a runway without a mothership possible? By the way, I always admire you and others who fare so well on English speaking forums. I can't even order a beer in Polish!

I know English isn't your first language, so a suggestion: "Sub-orbital plane without a mothership: is this possible?" - if you can edit the title!

I can't see there being a use or reason for uplifting other species; except in the case where doing so would guarantee our inclusion into a League of Peoples. I think that before we are able to do that, we'll have figured out how to uplift ourselves - how to modify a human to be more micro-gravity and radiation tolerant, how to fix or replace our broken cells, how to improve/change muscles, bone structures, etc. Also how to implant tech into ourselves. Basically I am saying that I think we'll be able to modify ourselves to a point where we could become an engineered post-human with whatever qualities are needed for whatever environment we are desiring to inhabit (within reason I suppose). Why do that with other species when we can do it to ourselves and not have to worry about the ethics of creating smart dungbeetles?

I do wonder if the photons trapped in padded cells are wearing straightjackets. badum-tish! Sorry, it's a Friday!

There has been some back-slapping in Mission Control lately, though one corner of the room is slightly subdued... A long-awaited transfer window to the Eve system finally occurred, signalling the time to plot and perform burns for three ships that were waiting in LKO. First up was a ship that will fulfil a contract for a station in Gilly orbit: The burn was successful with a rendezvous imminent, dropping the remains of the booster stage in its beginnings, but upon completion of the manoeuvre the engineers took a look out the window and noticed that the radiators had torn loose, as well as most of the solar panels! Very unexpected. The rest of the ship seems intact, but this may severely dampen ISRU capabilities. It was this ship's team in mission control that weren't in as festive a mood as the rest; in fact they refused to publish any images of the stricken ship. The second ship to depart was one that will fulfil a 'station in Eve orbit' contract, but then make it's way to Gilly and become the ISRU drill ship. Last was GillySix, a ship piloted by Valentina that will visit Eve, Gilly, Ike, Mün, Minmus and return to Kerbin to complete a rather rich contract. The burn was completed with about a third of the Rhino stage's fuel remaining, so it is looking good to be able to complete the mission without refuelling. Here are the three ships on their way, departures spaced about 30 minutes apart.