Search the Community

hmm, a flame fest thread, let's have a shot at it.... devs view on procedural : http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/12/23/kerbal-space-program-dev-on-random-solar-systems-the-joy-of-failure-and-the-cult-of-steam/ reasons for unity : most time saving features, tiny builds, started with it (you want to go back to 0.7.3 by switching engines then go ahead). reasons why I don't want eye candy : as it is intel hd graphics suffer from 2x anti-aliasing (had to turn it off) and settings manually set in the config (lower than lowest in the menu). anyways they stated they NEVER will... let's make a KSP metaphor that people should recognise for this : its like saying "Danny should talk, Scott Manley is awesome because he talks" when we all know that it simply wouldn't be funny anymore listening to Danny make witty remarks at his failures... no he should continue to use text, its better that way... A better suggestion would be like "Danny should make a 1 hour video of his craziness". More content sure, but changing how he makes it is a big no-no... Also unless a super turbo and nitro charged Kraken drive were to be implemented stock, so that you aren't cheating, how would you get to all these places...

Im very grateful to Squad and KSP, not only have they produced a great game (only to get better!) but they have opened up many aspects of physics and orbital mechanics that i'd have never known otherwise. Now, im not saying 'Oberth effect', 'Gimbal', 'Delta V' and 'Aerobrake' etc etc, are words i use everyday, but at least i know them, can talk about them, and its something new i can be interested in. :3

The thing I think a lot of potential 'investers' in this are getting hung up on is that this is one project. The idea is that people are free to try whatever they please, within certain guidelines. Multiple replaceport attempts have been a given from the start, so anybody that wants to start a project should, and should then publicize it here so people who are more interested in joining a project can see what's around. Github is a good idea, details about test environments should be shared. More specific design docs for each project are a good place to start, TrueBorn's doc is a good generalization of the users desires but it's not much to put on top of a project and yell Go about. Project design docs should talk more about specifically how you intend to solve given problems, software, systems API, what flavor soda will be provided, etc. Competition breeds excellence might be somewhat untrue, but people working separately run into the same problems from different angles and cooperation between them makes everybody better, plus there's no way everybody's skills and ideas will fit into one project. I hope we can get some interesting play-by-play going on with people solving the same problems differently soon, I love watching doers do.

When you talk about 'precision' - you might not know (I didn't for several months at least) that when moving, rotating, scaling etc an object you can type in a number for the exact value of the move/rotation/rescale. So you can use it for precise sizes. However, it doesn't have the dimensioning tools that CAD has. As for workflow - I think it's best compared to vim. It's a very steep learning curve that throws most people off. But it allows you to become quite efficient if you master it. If you're just looking to make a model or two, learning Blender might not be the best choice. However, if you plan to do a lot of 3D modeling, it might be a good idea to look into. (As an aside - the graphics program Gimp has a spinoff called GimpShop that changes the UI and controls to be more like Adobe Photoshop. Has anyone done this to make Blender control like other 3d software?)

Yep, I heard this too in the Twitch talk last night. For those who think the Ion engines are too boring... the devs agree.

★★★★★★★★★★★ CHAPTER FOUR: Assembly Required [NOTE: YAY, My seventh unintruppted post. I could probably mess around in here and talk to myself, and noone would notice ) With the death of one of the most prevalent opponents of the SEI, the Anti-Space coalition began to crumble. Edgert found a close confidant with President Madfield, who was quite relieved by this new unexpected development, "Almost like waking up one day to a Christmas present that you didn't expect and were too ashamed to ask for", he said in an phone call. The truss segment of the newly named Space Station Liberty had docked with the station a week ago, delivered up in segments onboard an HLV booster and an assembled with several EVA's by Adam and Billybobfred, of whom were scheduled to return to Kerbin soon. The MAD (Munar Archetecture Design), teams had finalized their Munar Excursion Vehicle designs, and they would be finished soon. But first, they needed to build the modules in orbit It would take three launches of an shuttle to construct an single Munar expedition in LKO, unlike the previously estimated two launches. The crew would remain onboard 'Liberty' while the construction was taking place, an process which could last anything from one day to three months. The Station was now in its operational configuration, and Beyond-Kerbin Orbit exploration could begin. SSK-24 stood on the launch pad, ready to be shot off into space. The shuttle was one of the twelve constructed for the Space Program, and it was an fine masterpiece of engineering. Being completely reusable except for the orange External tank, it could provide low-cost access into space, and would form the backbone of any concentrated space effort, especially one as high-profile and extensive as the SEI. Onboard the shuttle was an massive delivery of rocket parts, needed to construct the Munar Module in LKO. The shuttle was fully staffed with an crew of six, Jebediah Kerman as the commander as per request. "Mission Control, we're ready to launch", Jebediah said proudly. "Jebediah, be careful out there. You're the hero of our nation, and we can't afford to lose you. I'm worried", Gene replied. It was true, Jebediah was the first Kerbal to step on the Mun and was widely regarded as an international hero of sort. Jebediah disliked being thought of as an historical figure, as he said it "Makes me feel like I'm gonna die". But that didn't matter now, he had to accomplish this mission if he was to prove to Edgert that he could command an manned mission to Duna. He had to. "Don't worry Gene, anxiety is not good for your heart" "I'm more worried about yours." "I'm not worried; you are." "What do you mean?" "Gene, I'm Jebediah Kerman. I went to the Mun. If I can get to the Mun, a short jaunt into space isn't going to kill me." "This isn't a short jaunt, its a week-long stay onboard Space Station Liberty" "Ah, well, who cares? My Mun trip was a week." Flipping through the pre-launch checklist, Jebediah took a quick head count. There were six Kerbals onboard, and he was the only Munwalker. He was the oldest, but one of them, Ordas Kerman, had made three spaceflights compared to his two spaceflights prior. He had an entire paylaod bay full of fuel and rocketparts for the assembly of the Munar Module, an act that had violated the protocol set in place after the "Dauntless" disaster three years before. He still remembered that day, the shuttle rising up, only to flip over three kilometers up then nosedive into the R&D center. The R&D center itself took an whole year to fix, and was still scarred from the blast to this day. There weren't even enough remains left of the crew to host an funeral. He took a deep breath. "T Minus Two Minutes", Gene said, going through the usual pre-launch countdown. Jebediah felt his grip tightening on the controls, the alderiane rushing through his veins. He savored the excitement of an space launch, and he wasn't going to waste this one. "T Minus One Minute". One of the crewmembers, an Payload Specialist by the name of Nedbob Kerman, tapped Jebediah on the shoulder. "Are the experiment racks secure?" "Yeah." "T Minus Thirty Seconds". Jebediah stared out the window at the open blue sky above. There was not an cloud in sight. "T Minutes Ten Seconds". There was an rumbling inside the shuttle as its main engines started up. The flight deck started shaking, and one of the astronauts looked around in worry as the deck started to vibrate. At zero seconds, the boosters ignited and the shuttle hurled off the pad, roaring as it hurtled toward the heavens. The onboard computers worked feverishly, transmitting data to Mission Control and providing the astronauts inside with information about their current trajectory. Gene monitored the situation from his seat in Mission Control, reading over telemetry and other assorted data. SSK-24 was the ninth shuttle launch that had had suprevised, ten if one counted the Dauntless disaster. The disaster had nearly killed the entire SSK program, and it wasn't until an massive investigation that it was confirmed that the mission, listed as SSK-14, had an faulty pump that had disengaged on the launch pad, forcing the orbiter to use its onboard, which ran out at around 3KM. With the fuel gone, the engines shut off, and the onboard computer immediately decoupled the SRB's. The spacecraft attempted to glide back to the runway, but instead smashed into the SRB Research Building in the R&D center, causing an chain reaction of explosions that had destroyed the R&D division, obliterated two of the three tracking dishes, and set the VAB on fire. For added insult, the underground hydrailuc pipes that brought water to the firefighters had failed, forcing an complete rebuild of the VAB, setting the space program back by an year and delaying almost every manned launch by two more years. The shouts of several of his colleagues shook him out of his thoughts. "SRB's have been decoupled! SSK-24 is speeding to apogee" "SSK-24?", Gene asked. "Yeah." "This makes it the tenth shuttle mission since the Dauntless Disaster!" One of his friends, and stout Kerbal named Sammund grinned. "Well then, let us drink to the shuttle program and the success of the SEI, shall we?" "No, not now." The orbiter was now heading into the blackness of space. Where the atmosphere ended and space began was always an subject of dispute, with some setting the limit at 50KM, some at 70KM, and even some at 30KM. But it was an generally accepted fact that space was hard to reach, even with the technology and engineering of an Modern Kerbin. The early days of the space race had only proved this, as rocket after rocket exploded. "We've hit the Apogee!", came a cry. The shuttle had now decoupled its external tank and was coasting to its highest point, at which it would fire its engine again and enter into an round orbit. Years of satellite launches had fine-tuned this process, and it had become almost rountine to the different space agencies around the world. Onboard the flight deck, Jebediah looked out into the blackness of space for the third time. An drop of water, condensed into an ball, floated past him. He felt an surge of nationalistic pride that was both embrassing and amusing. Here he was, as an Provincal astronaut, in an Provincal-built spacecraft, conquering space. He quickly shook the thoughts out of his head. "Should we start our experiments?", Nedbob asked. Nedbob was an scientist by nature, and had been assigned to the flight as it payload specialist. As an aspiring scientist, he had no clue on how to fly the shuttle, like most of what Jebediah called the "3rd generation spacers". There was an slight thump as the circulization burn ended, and the computers flashed for a bit. "Sure, go ahead, we're in orbit and we got three hours until our rendezvous with Liberty. Feel free to do whatever you want, as long as you don't kill us all!", Jebediah called out to the rest of the crew. There was an slight murmur of approval as the astornauts began to unbuckle themselves from their flight seats and started to move around the interior, accustoming themselves to the microgravity. Jebediah turned the shuttle tenatively, trying to figure where the sun was, then set the "Sundshader" controls to "Automatic". He couldn't afford to be blinded by the sun, not at this time. Some three hours later, the crew was bored, bouncing off the walls and floating as the station and shuttle slowly danced arund each other, getting closer and closer to dock. Jebediah was asleep, having turned the shuttle onto "Autopilot" mode an hour before. There was an sudden bump as the station and shuttle docked, followed by an fizzling sound as the docking ports pressurized themselves. Jebediah woke up an an start, then made his way to the airlock. Most of his crew were already inside the station, restarting its computers and systems. Nedbob was at the science module, admiring the gleaming equipment that now lay at his disposal, and several astronauts could not hide their amazement as they went from module to module, touching, poking, and generally acting in an curious manner. Jebediah could'nt blame them; although he had flown to the Mun and had one flight flying solo on the longest solo space mission, he had never seen the interior of an space station, let alone an multimodular one. He looked over the mission profile. He had a week to construct the Kerbin-Departure Stage for the Muanr Excursion Vehicle, after which he was to leave a crew of two to assist in the assembly of the main body when SSK-25 docked. After undocking frm the station, the crew was to perform scientific experiments in orbit, then fly back down to Kerbin. Opening the station's blueprint containers, he found the design outlines for the Munar Module. He grinned as he looked through each and every design. "Let's get started!", Jebediah shouted excitedly as he found an roll of duct tape. It was time to begin. ★★★★★★★★★★★

Edit: This post contains BIG SPOILERS for the tech tree, click here to skip these spoilers (smaller spoilers are everywhere but this post basically reveals details for all the items in tier 8) Zulu 1 (Part 4) The mission brings in a lot of science. From here I unlocked the remaining 360pt items in sequence but stopped on the last one. Miniaturization offers a slightly better communications dish, though from my experience in stock it might not be as easy to place. It slightly reduces the power requirements to transmit but not as much as the dish I have now did over the antenna. With the use of regenerating power the power use becomes even less of an issue. It also a reaction wheel I might actually use. Other parts include the place anywhere RCS thruster and the larger radial monopropellent tank along with another tiny fuel tank (tiny fuel tanks don't have as much use in BTSM). Thanks to me unlocking the 3 nodes below it much earlier, and then unlocking those final nodes above in sequence I can see that it doesn't seem to lead to any future tech (I assume this is a limitation of the current tech tree modding as described by FlowerChild). For this reason I'm going to hold off on unlocking it, for the moment that 360 science will provide a bump toward unlocking my next major tech (I have 927 science in the bank). With that covered I'd like to talk a bit about my current tech tree position and plans. My previous tech tree jump to get solar panels was the product of 2 factors - the only techs where nice to have but in my view none where absolutely critical for getting my next batch of science. That was the second part, at that point I'd opened up a large number of potential science targets so I wasn't starved for new missions at that point. Prior to that I was frequently in the position of seeing every tech as vital just to get a rocket into orbit and needed any advance that would let me reach new sources of science since I was always close to drying up my current supply. After completing the Mun mission there was a bit of a breather - the science from that helped unlock the most useful looking 360pt items (the ones at the bottom) and I knew that I wasn't going to exhaust my sources of science in the near future. As I am now on the 1800pt tier things have returned a bit to normal. I'm not as starved for new sources of science as I was in the early game though I'm also not as guaranteed to find large quantities of it, which is important given the large cost increase which now means that I may need to complete multiple missions to unlock a single tech. Of the 1800pt techs they all seem useful thought there are some notable ones. Experimental Rocketry has fuel lines which are very useful, the ion drive less so (though I'll admit I haven't checked to see if the stats are changed to make it friendly to use). Meta-Materials will probably be my first tech as it contains a nuclear reactor capable of powering a probe core. This will be required to advance exploration beyond Duna. Composites has the Science Jr though I think I've been spoiled and suspect that it needs to be operated by a kerbal (this is actually how I assumed it worked when .22 first came out and it was only once I was in space that I found it couldn't be right clicked in EVA). Heavy Aerodynamics is the only item I don't have an interest in. After I've unlocked the other items in this tier I'll see if it seems to be blocking access to anything that looks crucial (for example if there is a grayed out tech to the right of it with a nuclear symbol). If not it may stay locked. Hypersonic Flight offers the inflatable heatshield. I don't really know what the specific benefits of it are. There is also a shuttle cockpit which has an "Active Heatshield (directional)". There is no number of how much heatshield material there is and the nose cone sensor also has the same thing. I'm not sure what kind of heatshield this is (maybe it's reusable?). I don't know if the heatshield terminology is covered somewhere in deadly reentry but maybe the descriptions for BTSM could include some clues for these later heatshields, the way the flat heatshields include subtle clues about what scenario they are good enough for (orbit return, Mun return, interplanetary braking). Advanced Unmanned Tech seems to have the final probe cores, with the same weight and energy consumption regardless of size. I don't have a strong priority on this one but I suspect it may lead to important end game tech. Not Potatos answers the question of where the stock battery models are. These seem to have the stock stats so they are very light. At this stage I'm not entirely sure super light batteries are needed but like Advanced Unmanned Tech I suspect they may lead to something important like a light RTG. Advanced Science Tech is something I won't unlock immediately but is high on my list. It has a very efficient pod for long range exploration and a kerbal life sciences experiment of some kind for studying crew. I'm not sure about the time aspect. Advanced Field Science is crucial for interplanetary exploration and will probably be the second item I unlock after Meta-Materials. While the wheels aren't special the seperate life support supply pods are key to manned missions beyond Kerbin's SOI.

well, I haven't uploaded in a while so I decided that I would make a series to keep myself busy over the march break (nothing to do)... My original video was Rapiers are OP, but I had to re-upload it, in-case you were wondering, it was also my inspiration for the new series as it was my most successful video... Well here it is, Rocket concepts episode 1 : detach the top ! Please tell me how you like it, don't ask for different music or me to talk..... otherwise suggestions are open...

Part 4 Spoiler Alert! Again, if you don't want to see the Duna easter eggs then probably best not to read this bit... We'll leave the boys flying to their next location and discussing the origins of the camera they found in that valley. Is it a remnant of the ancient space-going race who left all those monoliths scattered on the Mun? Was it a secret Krussian probe? And what is it about KSP that makes me want to add the letter 'K' to the start of every word? So, let's talk about the (inept) design of the Dunahopper. First of all, the wings. There's loooads of them, 4 pairs in all. These just about allow the Hopper to reach 6,000 meters on Duna. Having many shorter wings (rather than two long ones) and having them perched on top of an i-beam means that they are unlikely to strike the ground in the (inevitable) rough landings that you get on Duna. The rover wheels were chosen over the more robust aeroplane landing gear to allow a bit of roving where the plane couldn't fly. The tyres tend to burst when the plane approaches 100m/s on the ground, but as I didn't plan on landing that fast (the thing barely flies faster than that) it wasn't a problem. When it was in its spaceplane 'cradle' leaving Kerbin it didn't take off until it was going over 100 m/s, which is why Kenfield needed to be sent up to fix them. We've got two electric engines, mounted in-line to each other. I'm not sure if that would be a help or a hindrance in the real world (I imagine that a propeller causes lot of 'dirty' air behind it) but KSP's aerodynamics engine doesn't seem to have a problem with this as far as I can tell. These are powered by 10 solar panels, and also 2 RTGs (I think- unless I've hidden any more somewhere). Due to Duna's thin atmosphere, these are sufficient to power the engines indefinitely, which was a nice surprise. (Actually, at a high enough altitude on Kerbin the plane can fly indefinitely too, but it's a bit tricky to get up to that altitude in the first place...) Rounding it off, we have air brakes that barely do anything in Duna's atmosphere (switching the engines to run backwards using action groups is a far more effective method of slowing down), and a pair of lights that (before I noticed that Scansat will tell you how far above ground level you are) can be used to indicate when the plane is close to the ground. If you see two pools of light on the ground, then that means you're about to crash. Top speed is about 110m/s, and it handles like a pig. Anyway, back to our intrepid astronauts. Studying the map, Jeb reasoned that the next anomaly, whilst being at a fairly low altitude, was on a bit of a hill, so he landed the plane early and decided to drive the rest of the way. Here we see their first sight of something off in the distance: Jeb: "Looks like we found our anomaly. Whatever it is it looks pretty big. What are we supposed to find here anyway?" Enald:"Well, aerial photographs from the scanning satellite are pretty low resolution, but the shots from this area got some over-imaginative people pretty excited. In the photos it looks like a... well, it looks like a giant face has been carved out of rock." "What, like the face of that weird creature carved on the Mun monoliths? One of those tiny-eyed monsters?" "No Jeb, a normal face, like one of ours. Like I say though, the photo resolution's pretty bad. It's more likely to be a big rock with the light hitting it at the right angle that makes it look like- oh my..." Enald: "This is amazing! Wait here, I'm going to use my jet-pack to get a closer look" Enald: "Woohoo! This is incredible! It is a face! The ramifications of this are immense! Imagine: ancient space-faring Kerbals could have made this!" Jeb: "You think?" "Well, who else?" "I dunno man; I've seen cave paintings of buffalo and deer and rabbits, and they weren't painted by nothing with paws..." "That's a pretty dark thing to be thinking Jeb. Anyway, I'm going in for a closer look" Enald: "Err..." Enald: "Errrrrr..." [Right. I'm not even going to try and explain KSP's dodgy collision detection here. Let's just pretend that this didn't happen]

Part 3 Spoiler Alert! Just in case anyone reading this doesn't know what/where Duna's easter eggs are, and doesn't want to know either, then probably best not to read this bit. Our (debatably) intrepid duo headed off in search of anomalies and glory... Enald: "Err... Jeb?" Jeb: "Yup" "I can't help noticing that this plane doesn't have a cabin" "So?" "Well, that kind of means we're going to be stuck in these suits for a while..." "Haha! I wouldn't worry about that my man. Bill once spent near enough a year floating road Kerbol in one of these suits. We'll be fine." "He WHAT!?" "Yeah, damn fool drunk one too many Tekila Kerbolrises at an office party, got a head full of ego and decided it would be a grand idea to steal an experimental craft from the launchpad and head off to Minmus!" "I don't believe you..." "Except he was so drunk he fell asleep at the controls, overshot and escaped Kerbin's SOI, and used all his fuel in the process. Then he panicked and tried to use his jetpack to get home! HAHAHAAAA! So, I wouldn't worry about spending a couple of days in your suit; it'll be fine." "Good grief! I never- how did he get back home?" "Bob had to fly out and get him. Got awarded command of this mission for his troubles- that and a medal. Bill should have been thrown of the programme, except for the fact that he'd accumulated so much deep space time on his little jaunt that he'd become the most experienced astronaut we have! Ahhh, it's a mixed up world alright... Anyway, you wanna try a barrel-roll in this heap of junk?" "NO! I mean, no thank you Jeb." Actually, a barrel roll would be an exceptionally bad idea in this plane. In a straight line it flew fine. I would just put SAS on, point the nose up about 15 degrees, speed up time-warp to 4x, and wait. After about 5 minutes, the curvature of the planet would force the nose up to about 30 degrees. A wee tap of the 'F' key would disengage SAS for a second, bringing the nose back down again. Lather, rinse, repeat. But when it came to going round corners, this thing had the turning circle of a supertanker. Or an American car. In fact on the first point of their journey, Jeb decided it would be a wise move to land first, and then adjust course. Right enough they're in a pretty big valley here, but it didn't hurt to practise landing before it was really necessary to do so. Anyway, before too long the chaps were pretty close where the map said the first anomaly should be... Jeb: "Hmmm... you see anything?" Enald: "Not yet" "Any idea what we're looking for?" "Jeb, didn't you read the mission book!?" "No Enald, I didn't read the mission book. I did fly a 40-tonne rocket halfway across the known Kerbolar system though, if that counts for anything. Now, do you want to tell me what we're looking for or should I show you a barrel roll?" "Well, one of the scanning satellites was looking for clues as to the mineral composition of Duna, and found a patch- really a very tiny patch- of something unexpected near the surface: metal." "Metal, huh?" "Well, metals really. The most likely explanation is some kind of meteorite. Although I'm hoping for something a bit more exciting; maybe an exposed seam of precious minerals or something. It almost certainly won't be another monolith like on the Mun or back home. We've found enough of those now that we can recognise their signature on the Scansat" "Ha! Well, it's good thing you brought your pick-axe with you, maybe we can take us back home some gol- hey, what's that right ahead!?" "I've no idea. It doesn't look like a meteorite." "Don't look like no pot of gold either. Okay, stow away your table, I'm taking us down..." Enald: "What the...? It looks like a camera!?" Jeb: "Good Kod, so it does. It's not one of ours. I don't think it's working though. Reminds me of a rover or something. Well, get your shovel out and let's dig." "What? No! Don't you know the first rule of archaeology?" "'Don't talk about archaeology'?" "No. The first rule of archaeology is that you only dig if you need to; and when you've learnt all your going to learn about what you'll destroy by digging" "You mean: the dirt?" "Yes, the dirt. If I'd known what we were going to find I wouldn't even have let you park the Hopper this close. We're not digging here Jeb. Our mission is just to see what we can see and report back. I'm as excited as you are by this, but we're not digging." "Fine. Here, hold this camera... TA-DAAA!"

A wild guess: I actually have a practical reason for talking about these things, rather than saying "we are now going to talk about alternating multilinear maps on a finite-dimensional vector space over a field K with characteristic other than 2", which only really sounds exciting once you know why alternating maps are useful. It turns out a lot of this abstract nonsense and algebraic structures can be used in order to strongly type stuff. Physicists usually don't bother with that and say "it's a vector, but beware, it behaves weirdly under reflection". Good luck implementing that safely... Similar considerations apply to numerical integration: I found the numerical analysis course I took last year quite boring "let's make up another integrator by extrapolating an integrator we have; let's now look at ten different ways to do adaptive timestep; let's apply all of this to either a linear differential equation, the logistic equation or the two-body problem", but having an actual problem to solve is fun.

Just a bit of space flight knowledge that I came across that is cool to know. If you mention "Gimbal Lock" to an Apollo astronaut did you know they would cringe? This is the Apollo Flight Director Attitude Indicator... or what we lovingly call the "Nav Ball". If the ship rotates so the indicator shows they are facing somewhere in the red section of the ball that means they are in "Gimbal Lock"... nothing to do with engines this time. It just means the spacecraft has gotten its gyros out of whack because it doesn't like being in that attitude. To fix it so that the FDAI points in the right direction again the astronauts had to make several star sightings with the space equivelant of a sextant. Talk about going old school. That's why there is a "Gimbal Lock" indicator on the Apollo dashboard (in the picture of the DSKY below you can see the Gimbal Lock indicator in the second row, second down)... I thought it was a bit weird on a single stack rocket which is why I went looking for this info in the first place.

Then why not use human babies? They are not as intelligent as a matured human then, we can always make more and we do not have to wait 18 years. It doesnt matter if they die, because they are not able to contribute to society and are more of a liabilitly really. And they cannot express their feelings or talk to the scientists, only scream - like an animal.

All this Soyuz talk made me want to make my own big one:

<p><img alt="image" src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/0ff9377afa68dc3ad3fe6844aaf1bd38/tumblr_inline_n2aqocY4iD1rr2wit.jpg"/></p> <p><strong><img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/d55cf2021863b7c6ba92ac56ae13ed94/tumblr_inline_n2at93g7ml1rr2wit.png"/></strong></p> Felipe (HarvesteR): Settling back in at home after a very intense but really awesome time at SXSW. We’re gearing up to start the last push on development for the ARM update, which I must say is coming together really nicely, and I’m even more excited about it after meeting up with the guys from NASA and getting to talk about our and their asteroid missions. <p><strong>Alex (aLeXmOrA): </strong><span>I’ve been helping with some other Squad projects here at the office, since I’m also the Web Administrator of the company. For <em>KSP</em>, I started working on a system that will show us stats of how far the players have gone in the game. </span></p> <p><strong>Marco (Samsonart):</strong><span> I’ve been trying various approaches for the NASA guided mission, it’s been kicking my ass pretty much all week, thus the need for a guided mission.</span></p> <p><strong>Chad (C7)</strong><span><strong>:</strong> We’re working with NASA to refine the rocket parts that will be included in the new update. I spent some time preparing some explanatory notes that will be useful for NASA during the revision and editing process. It’s been a dream come true working with NASA and I really enjoyed meeting several members of their team in person at SXSW this past weekend, including Jason Kessler and Jason Townsend, who were on our panel, as well as Doug Ellison from the JPL team. </span></p> <p><strong>Daniel (danRosas)</strong><span><strong>:</strong> Only one more sequence to render! And a couple of shots to re-render from the one that I left over the weekend… I forgot to animate some extras in the background, and they look a little frozen heh. After that, it’s all in for color correction, a couple of motions for some UI that will appear in various shots and the final sound design by our sound designer Edu. Also, I’m helping Romfarer with some animations for the Mission Control that are not cooperating. And I foresee some video editing for Max by the end of the week.</span></p> <p><strong>Jim (Romfarer):</strong><span> </span><span>This week i have been reviewing the logos submitted for the manufacturer logo competition in an attempt to narrow down the lists. All in all we received 1,297 logos and it will take a while to select the winners. I’ve also continued working on the application launcher and added better mod support for it.</span></p> <p><strong>Miguel (Maxmaps): </strong><span>Pumped to work on stuff for GDC, otherwise been neck deep in the tutorial process (Yay, 3 hour mission to realize your craft was built wrong) and working on a voiceover for our SXSW video. Attempted to do it in Dr. Seuss rhymes, felt ashamed with the result and had to start from scratch.</span><span></span></p> <p><strong>Jesus (Chuchito): </strong><span>After testing the KSP Server on OSX 10.8.5 , Linux Slackware 14.1 x64 and Windows Professional SP1 x64, I’m developing the chat system.</span><span></span></p> <p><strong>Bob (Calisker): </strong><span>Wrapping up a great time at SXSW, including the opportunity to moderate our panel at the Gaming Expo with NASA and C7 and Harv. Getting ready for GDC next week, which is pretty exciting as I’ll be talking about how communities are now integral in creating the brands for games during the main conference and C7 is sharing details on modular design in </span><span>KSP</span><span> during the Independent Games Summit. We’ll also be conducting some meetings throughout the week, watching some other folks sessions and trying to enjoy San Francisco. </span></p> <p><strong>Ted (Ted): </strong><span>Continuing QA on the NASA pack with the QA team. The pack is really coming together and the QA team and I are incredibly amazed at the content that it contains. Many, many hours of fun and/or testing has been had with it so far (and a few bugs, but they’re swiftly being stamped out).</span></p> <p><span><strong>Anthony (Rowsdower):</strong> In addition to the usual community rounds, I’m neck deep in word docs and on a semi-related note, been helping out with some media pitching for GDC. Speaking of which, have you seen <a href="http://bit.ly/1iaGGcC"><strong>THIS</strong></a> thread? I’m gauging interest on a low-key, unofficial GDC meetup. There’s no guarantee that it’d happen, but you live in the bay area and/or you’ll be around at GDC, vote and let me know your interest. It would be good to know for potential meetups elsewhere, too.<br/></span></p> <p><strong>Eduardo (Lalo):</strong><span> Making some internal reports of development advances.</span></p>

For the record, I didn't call you silly. I mainly just wanted to know your thought-process. Also, it's nice to talk to people on a forum. In like kind I will explain my voting process, since that seems to be in vogue. I simply don't have the time to test all these craft, so I need to cut some out. Therefore I will not test any craft that cannot asymmetrically flame-out. From there I will look at how the craft flies, how many action groups it has and how confusing I find them, how much room for customization the craft has (I consider that a good thing), any notable but correctable difficulties the craft has (learning opportunities), and how much fuel the craft has (can it make a rendezvous to 250km orbit and land). Then I'll probably test Kasuha's craft anyway because it's unique. If I feel I can't choose between two craft, I will take the larger because the Aeris is pretty big for a single-Kerbal craft. Also, i won't vote for the Cormorant for the obvious reasons. There, now we can call each other's criteria silly.

I'm experiencing an interesting form of RUD and before I go talk about it on video I'd really like to clarify what's going on. I'm trying to launch the largest microwave transmitter from KSP interstellar, now this thing is huge but folds up enough to fit inside a 3.75m faring. Outside of the fairing it appears to make drag calculations based on its deployed state which is so huge you can actually use it as a parachute, so you need to stick it inside the an aerodynamic structure to make it move, but quite often during launches it appears that FAR decides that it's no longer protected by the shroud, whenever this happens the sudden addition of drag will tear the rocket apart. So I'm wondering how FAR is making this decision, is it just that the payload is wobbling too far laterally and pokes just a little bit of the model through the shroud and suddenly making it calculate drag for the whole object or, is the faring perhaps splitting apart at the nose a little and drag being applied that way, or is this another hilarious bug. It's pretty spectacular when it happens, and it'll make for good video, but I'm really curious for the mechanics.

Hi, everyone. Several members of the KSP team are getting together to talk about the latest happenings in the world of Squad. SXSW and GDC will surely come up in conversation and you'll likely hear about the latest developments on the Asteroid Retrieval Mission, as well as update 0.24. You will also have a chance to speak directly with the team and get your biggest questions answered. The previous SQ&A plans have changed and it will now be taking place on KSP-TV at the usual Squadcast time of 7pm est! Thanks!

Gratz! Just did my first orbital rendezvous a couple of days ago. I've been to the Mun, Minmus, Eve, Duna, and the Sun, but this basic event over Kerbal gave me a greater sense of accomplishment than all of that. Talk about threading the needle.

That's the direction I'm hoping to go, engines powerful enough to do that, etc. I am also planning on making science labs extremely important for these new techs as well, too the point that the much much later techs will require several in-game years with multiple science labs "connected" via special transmitters recievers constantly talking too each other etc too accomplish. The Transmitters/recievers will be special, that any within range will add a multiplier to the science gain, but at first they'll be weak, only capable of talking within the same planet/moon, than it'll slowly be upgraded as you unlock more too allow it to the next nearest planet and moons (if and when they are within range during the cycles), it'll eventually get too the point that you can have bases and stations talk too each other from any range within the solar system, but even then the science gain wont be super fast. My over all goal is too make the process slow so that it's not just a huge chunk of accomplishments like atm, and that too truly unlock everything will require a very long time to do while building, upgrading, and exploring adding multipliers too the science input.

word: uh. talk stuff.

Love those stations and videos! We'll talk about which mods you're running, cause I really would like to change my Kerbals. I don't want the uniforms, just the faces and female Kerbals.

Well, I'm up to 5 now. Jebediah was the first one .... isn't he always? It was a simple mission to orbit the mun and come back .... I forgot to deploy the solar panels, so now he is in a highly elliptical orbit (ok, so I had other problems as well) around Kerbin with half a tank of fuel and no energy. Lesson learned ... put a few OX-SAT panels on each ship. Soon after Bill went to the Mun to land on it, I mean why not, Jeb's mission went so well what could possibly go wrong ... I added a few cheap solar panels in case I forgot to deploy the main one's after all. Well he's sitting on the Mun in an undamaged craft .... and no fuel. The 2 unmanned rescue attempts were able to land within 2k of him ... well, if you include crashing as landing. Lesson learned LTP, oh yeah and more fuel. So I got to Jool in an unmanned probe, we wont talk about not realizing a certain moon has an atmosphere and getting too far into it for my nukes to get out. Although I did get a lot of science before I crashed. So I figured why not send a manned mission there (not to land, just to look around and scan) and have twice the fuel that my probe had. Well I had a lot of trouble getting there and had to burn way to long even for nukes. Anyway, got there saw Jool and left so I'd have enough fuel to get back ...... Bob, Bobsey, and Mattop are now in orbit around the sun with no fuel. Lesson learned don't over estimate my fuel economy. Well, I plan on rescuing them in the next day or so and unmanned mission are so boring ... so I'll probably be up to 10 stranded Kerbals by Wednesday.

Hopefully not to much ram usage with all of this. Every update makes less and less room for mods. Any talk of optimization?