Search the Community

Not exactly correct... You can't talk about cultures in this aspect. You need to use "societies". The worst impact comes from developing societies such as the West during the 19th and 20th century when all that burned coal and released artificial toxic chemicals were used to lift the society from the gutters of poverty. Now most of the West is heading to the policy of sustainability. It's still a long way ahead, but it started. At this moment the West is still struggling with makeshift solutions such as using false-green stuff (produced in China using a ****load of coal and toxic stuff), but the progress is on the way. Don't fool yourself into thinking that primitive cultures were benign. Most of the time they really weren't. If you don't count in the small tribes still living in the stone age, there was a lot more viral behaviour before. You've probably heard of nomads. Most of the population on Earth were once nomads. They settle, they breed and consume the resources to the point of depletion, they move to another spot and it all repeats. One of the most striking examples was the story of the buffalos and Native Americans. No sustainability. Just hunting until there's no more animals, and then moving to a spot where there are new resources. It's actually the myth of "noble savage" made up in 19th century that Westerners buy because they're taught they're the worst plague ever. Well most of the stuff is their fault, but they aren't the sole ones who display(ed) such behaviour. Absolutely not. The ideas of sustainable society were practiced when the nature was too tough for the man to do something about it. It was a nuisance, not a wish. Almost always when the man was capable of turning into a nomadic virus, he did. After nomads, it was the empires. Centralized power with "bots" going around and sucking the resources, bringing them towards the center. The ideas and concepts of sustainable society were always there, weakly expressed either through philosophy or religion, but it was only in the 20th century that the educated people started actually advocating for it for the grand purpose, and the West gave birth to the environmentalism in the late 20th century, when it coincided with important social changes. The events of the 50s and 60s were crucial. Something similar is happening today, with the impact of the internet. The most important stuff that ever happened in the history of humanity happened in the last 70 or so years. During the whole past almost everyone didn't even think about the fact that nature can be depleted and that there's something called humanity, responsibility and rights. Today's Westerners mostly don't realize that. They take the developed world and the public mind around them for granted, thinking it was always like that. The past was horrific, brutal and disgusting compared to today's world. We truly live in the best times.

So after a little while of playing KSP (Steam tells me lies about it being most of a thousand hours - Don't believe them, it's been like 20 minutes, I remember every second) and some not insignificant use of mods I have visited every astral body in the Kerbal system. Many brave Kerbals have given their lives to this achievement although reporters are touting that "The CEO of JonzCo is a true Kerbanitarian for the many brave rescues that have taken place under his caring leadership". As always there is another side to the story and some of the tabloids have printed headlines like "JonzCo sends 8 separate unmanned missions to save one crew member; How much is a single kerbal life actually worth". Some enviroactivists have suggested that the environmental impact of the current JonzCo space program may in fact require Kerbal kind to move to other planets however JonzCo representatives assure us that all of these things are unrelated and, "given the abundance of industry in the concrete jungle that we call Kerban, any chemical or fallout pollution would be impossible to trace directly back to KSP or JonzCo" So that's that. All done. What next? No wife, no kids, my friends don't visit any more and my flat is little more than a command pod shaped hole in walls of takeout containers... Do I shower? Should I find someone to talk at? Mayybe I could shave and cut my hair - change my clothes, hey in fact I'm going to get dressed, out of my pajamas!

Talk about overkill...

The only current problem with the Americans and space travel is that no one thinks about it. If I went up to some random person in the street and told them there is a probe on the way to Pluto they would like.y be surprised. Not to mention don't dare try to tell an American about Ceres and Eris. NASA is doing things but the general public is not is informed about projects such as the Orion space capsule and the Space Launch System. They just like to live in the moment and only defend space flight when we stop sending men into orbit by ourselves. The future of spaceflight will be a commercial LEO and an international Earth and beyond. You can see it already with projects such as the ISS, Cassini-Huygens, the upcoming Jupiter system mission, and the ATV will be the service stage for Orion. I here people talk about Commercial space flight further than LEO or GEO but I can't see a company landing on the moon or further without having a contract from any of the government contract for the next 10 years.

I know that Kerbals make up a huge part of the game. They have barely been touched by a dev since 0.16 (well, there were bugfixes and emotions in 0.19 and previous versions), and yet they add the character of the game. The Kerbals have photo-sourced textures, which the devs have said don't fit in the game well for any other thing. I think Kerbals need a texture upgrade so they are hand-painted like everything else. Furthermore, their jetpacks are way too small. They are the size of a SAFER but have 100 times the Delta-V. I think they should be more like the Manned Maneuvering Unit. Multiple suits: Mk1 EVA suit Basic silver-colored EVA spacewalking suit. Kerbals are tethered to the Command Pod hatch and carry a thruster gun with tiny amount of Delta-V, and can crawl up the tether to the hatch and enter it. It walks very slow, and you are limited to 30 feet from the hatch. May be useful for Gilly or Pol. (Gemini EVA suit) Mk2 EVA suit This suit can only be worn when on the surface of a planet. It can not walk very fast, running in low-G will be a quick skipping/hopping motion. Designed for the Mun, Minmus, Duna, etc. (Apollo EVA suit) Atmosphere Suit This suit can only be worn in 0.6-10 atmospheres of pressure. Designed for Eve, Laythe, and high altitudes on Kerbin. You can run easily with this suit on. (basically souped up SCUBA gear) Flight Suit Default suit when spacecraft is launched from runway. The first line of defense is the cockpit/capsule. (Veteran IVA suit) Jumpsuit Kerbals can change into this when in orbit, to be more comfortable. (the blue Kerbal Recruit suit) Backpacks EDIT: Look HERE Life Support w/ KMU Kerbal Maneuvering Unit with the current default amount of Delta-V, but much bulkier. It could also be stored on the outside of the vessel KAS style. KOOSE A small inflatable spacecraft with a heatsheild, small RCS jets, and retrothrusters. The Kerbal hangs on (works like a chair, looks like a ladder, and he hangs on to the joystick controls.) and can re-enter the atmosphere safely without burning up. Parachutes Just... Just parachutes. More Uses for EVAs Look HERE as well. Welding docking ports This is done as a sort of "Common Berthing Mechanism" Where a Kerbal goes on EVA to connect a docking port with more structural integrity, by merging it into one part. (I know this has been suggested before) Placing Struts and Fuel Lines Ever wanted to build an asparagus staged craft in orbit? Need to make your interplanetary booster stage not wobble so damn much? Let Kerbals go out and place struts/fuel lines. Repairing Remember that picture of the toolbox Claira made that was shown in a devstream? basically, if a solar panel (not the big ones, obviously) or a battery gets broken, a Kerbal can fix it with the tool box. Stripping the Wings When there are further planets and solar panels get useless (or when the sun gets the inverse square law applied to it and the solar panels become useless) You can strip off the solar panels (yes, large ones) and actually have a weight difference. Aesthetics/Diversity Texture Cleanup As Earlier mentioned, I think Kerbals could use a texture cleanup. Use of hand-painted textures to replace the photo-sourced textures which the Devs have confirmed that they frown upon. In particular, the back of Kerbal heads have a gap in the hair texture, and the space suit has obvious flaws, such as the oval lights and the oddly twisted hose on the front. Variable looks I am not a fan of the cloning idea of Kerbals, and even the minions have some diversity. that said, It'd be cool if Kerbals could have some slight height variation, head thickness, eye size, etc. This could be defined by pseudo-random values in the Kerbal Generator, with Bill, Jeb, and Bob's heads being 1 on the scale of all of them. If I recall my slight toying around with unity, models can easily be stretched around, so you won't even need a procedural mesh or anything. Furthermore, Kerbal women could be added, with a slightly rounded head. hair I'm not sure if Kerbalizer hair would be easy, but making texture variations on the head is easy. But the problem with Universe Replacer is that Kerbal hair is totally randomized each time. That means if Jeb gets blond hair and lips one moment, he'll be Chris Hadfield the next (well, after an EVA). EDIT: TextureReplacer has since fixed this probelm completely, even adding special female tags for names and head textures. Just put in HairType = 1 HairColor = <RGB VALUE HERE> This would be blond military-cut hair. There could be as much as 20 styles, and the Kerbal Generator would choose one randomly, and pick a color. Hair With Kerbalizer If Kerbalizer hair is implemented (just the same as different hair textures, only it uses extra models instead of textures), then we can seriously talk about letting Kerbalizer Pro users make their own custom Kerbals. Even so, you could just go into the .cfg and make one. SCIENCE DAMMIT EDIT: THIS EDIT2: MADE RELEVANT IN STOCK. Kerbals with high stupidity have terrible science reports, and science research and crew reports can teach them to be less stupid. Further, Hitchhiker Cans should have special biology experiments and some computer consoles and look less like a cylindrical can with drawers and not much else. Seriously, the HSC is boring COURAGEOUS DAMMIT EDIT: THIS EDIT2: SORTA MADE RELEVANT IN STOCK. Kerbals with low courage can increase their courage by doing crazy things, like experiencing high-gee forces, or surviving an exploding rocket launch. Special Crew Reports -First Kerbal In Space: Orbiting Kerbin in the spaceship, you see how beautiful your planet is. You think we must preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it! -First Kerbal on the Mun: That's one small step for you, a giant leap for all Kerbals. -First Kerbal on Minmus: "Woah, That's one big step!" -First Kerbal on Gilly: "One small step for [First Kerbal on Mun], but it's a moho of a leap for me!

Don't talk about the worlds governments as in US, China and EU. The main problem is local governments, all major famines the last 30 years has had political reasons or at least political reasons why it has not been solved, local politic on different levels. Mostly long term civil wars who made farming hard and made helping them to hard as you basically had to go to war. Why is not Nigeria and Congo rich countries? They has lost of resources, however either the leadership steal most of it and the other steal that they can or they fight constant low level wars over it. No nobody outside get rich of this or want it. Large companies so love to pay billions in bribes to some president then getting thrown out after the annual coup or have to hire lots of armed guards. For some reason Somalia or Afghanistan is far less popular places to start factories than China even if wages is far lower. (Yes some shady companies earns some money but they have on influence). Any large company would prefer stable honest conditions even if they had to pay an honest tax, Yes this hit local business of some size too, India has had a lot of success with IT but little else. One reason is that they are English speaking. Another reason is that IT companies just need any office building and computers, you can patch your way around unreliable power supply and internet. if you try to open an factory you will have to import all sort of machinery, also an constant supply of raw materials and parts and export the products all who has to bribed past customs, and its hard to relocate an factory fast if local authorities want an to large cut to allow you to continue.

Undisclosed Location Nikto awakes in a small room. Scrambling to his feet he looks around in fear. "Kod!" he moans, "they found me out!" There is a table, two chairs, a mirror and some rather disturbing stains on the table and walls. He shivers. The heavy door across the opens. A Kerb in black walks in. "Good afternoon," The Kerb says. "My name is Mr k. I have some questions for you." Nikto snorts. "You I'm not telling anything to without a lawyer. I know my rights!" Mr k flicks a bit of lint from his sleeve. "I'm afraid you won't be calling a lawyer, my friend. Allow me to introduce you to my associate." Mr k stands still as the massive door opens again. Nikto's eyes bulge out (more so than normal) as the biggest Kerbal he has ever seen walked through the massive doorway. "This is Mr K." Mr. k said. "He will be assisting me today." Nikto swallowed as Mr K moved across the room toward him. Mr K grabbed the chain and spun it around to face Mr k. He then walked around Nikto. Nikto backed away, not realizing that Mr K was maneuvering him toward the chair. Suddenly Mr K reached out and poked Nikto in the chest causing him to fall backwards into the chair. "Sit!" Mr K said in a deep voice. Mr k stepped forward, "Now my friend, let us talk about what you've been up to these last few weeks." Nikto glups. "I ain't saying anything!" Mr k sighs, "Mr K, if you will." Mr K doesn't say a word as he reaches out and grabs a hold of Nikto's arm. Nikto gasps as a pop is heard coming from his arm. Then the pain hits. Nikto starts screaming. "Shouldn't take long Mr k." Mr K says. Vanguard Enterprises Later, as Klatu is walking down the hallway headed for the conference room for this weekly staff meeting, he feels a buzz in his jacket inner pocket. He only carries one device in that pocket. He ducks into a storage room and locks the door after making sure he is alone. He pulls the smart device from his pocket it presses an on screen button. A scanner lights up and scans his eyes. Then a cloak program runs and connects him to his caller. "Yes?" The Director answers. On screen the Director can see Mr k. He also hears some whimpering in the background. "Sir, " Mr k says, "I'm attaching the information you requested." A transcript appears on a separate window on his device. "Excellent! You did well." "Will there be anything else sir?" Mr k asks. "No, proceed as normal." The Director answers. "Mr K." Mr k says. Mr K reaches out and grabs Nikto's head. With a quick motion there is a snap and Nikto slumps to the floor. "Our task here is complete, Director" Mr k says. "Good. Payment terms as normal. Good bye." The screen goes dark and Klatu leaves the room and proceeds to his meeting. Looks like it is going to be a good day after all. Beagle Flight continues.

Thanks Weegee - glad you're enjoying it! And thanks for the extra rep attempt Briansun. Next chapter is up. Reunion Gerselle bent down and kissed the top of Joenie's head. The kerblet rolled over sleepily, still clutching a stone in one small pudgy green fist. “Ummy, 'one." Gerselle smiled, “Yes, beautiful girl, I can see you've still got your stone. Just you hold on to it and you'll still have it in the morning." She pulled the cover back over Joenie and watched as her daughter's eyelids drooped, struggled fitfully to stay open for just one last minute and then closed. She waited quietly for a moment, until the slowing pace of Joenie's breathing told her that she really was asleep, then turned away and tiptoed out of the sleep room. Meleny was waiting for her on the porch. “Both asleep?" she asked. Gerselle nodded. “Both absolutely out for the night, touch wood." Meleny chuckled softly. “And so they should be. I've never seen such a pair for getting into places that they shouldn't. Give them another month or two and we'll both be hard pressed to keep up with them." Gerselle sank into a chair. “Another month or two? I'm hard pressed to keep up with her now and she's only barely walking! Although your Adbas seems to manage just fine." Meleny grinned. “The trick with Adbas is to keep him distracted. If he's busy enough playing with something new then he tends to keep still. For half a minute at least." Gerselle groaned. “I should probably have married a geologist then rather than a Keeper. At least a geologist would be able to provide a steady stream of new and interesting stones to play with." She sighed. “Speaking of Keepers... I should probably go. Joenie should sleep through the night but the quicker I get back the better." Meleny shook her head in mock seriousness. “Well I'm just as happy that you married a Keeper. I don't want to even think about the chaos that either of our two would cause if they got their inquisitive little hands on Daddy's rock hammer!" Both kerbals got to their feet. Gerselle gave Meleny a brief but heartfelt hug. “Thank you so much for looking after her tonight. I'm afraid I might be imposing on you quite a bit more over the next few months as well." Meleny looked at her curiously. “How much time does a growing Kerm actually need?" “I have no idea," Gerselle confessed, “and the Records aren't much help either. They do give plenty of advice about how to talk to your Kerm but not very much at all about when, how often, or how much care they actually need." Meleny quirked an eyebrow at her. "So, much like parenting books then? Lots of detail but none of it ever seems to apply to your own little bundle of joy." Gerselle nodded wryly. “Probably. Although I'm also hoping that Kerms are at least a little bit like kerblets, and need less attention the older they get. As far as I know they can feed themselves too and don't need cleaning - or at least I devoutly hope they don't!" Meleny laughed. “Feeding and bathing a Kerm! I wouldn't know where to start." “Me neither but I think I'm about to find out. Peaceful night, Meleny." “Peaceful night, Gerselle." Meleny watched as Gerselle set off down the path towards the rest of the village without even pausing to wave goodbye. Not that she blamed her. The care and feeding of kerblets was one thing, the care - and feeding, of Kerm was quite another. “Good luck, Gerselle," she whispered, “Good luck." As she trotted across the village green towards her makeshift shelter, Gerselle reflected that whatever was about to happen, it was at least a good night for it. The young Kerm was far too small to build a hut around of course, so the best she had been able to do was a rough lean-to to keep the worst of any rain off her sleeping pallet. Not that that was going to be terribly comfortable either but it would have been far worse if it had actually been raining. She reached the entrance to the lean-to and ducked under it, being especially careful not to brush up against the Kerm sapling in her way. Munlight glowed softly through the chinks in the roof as she dragged her pallet over to the sapling and crawled into bed, carefully working her head under the newly unfurled cluster of leaves midway up its slender trunk. She lifted her head until it brushed against the leaves, slipping her pillow under her neck as she did so. Then, not really knowing what else to do, she waited. The leaves were cool and felt slightly prickly as they rested against her forehead. They also didn't seem to be doing very much. Gerselle tried to remember if the Records had mentioned anything about this but to the best of her recollection, most of the advice revolved around what to do once the Kerm had made contact. The concept of a shy Kerm didn't really seem to have been a consideration. She frowned and reached around behind her to massage her neck, lifting her head up as she did so. The prickly feeling against her skin was abruptly replaced by an unpleasant crawling sensation as the leaf hairs began to wriggle against her scalp. Startled, Gerselle's head thumped against her pillow as she reflexively flinched away. That... crawling feeling, wasn't at all like the mild tickling that Jonton had described but perhaps he was just used to it. Or maybe his Kerm was just older and a little more practised at making contact. Still, there was no avoiding it. Gerselle rolled up her poncho into a bundle and wedged it under her pillow to provide a little more height. Then, gritting her teeth, she shuffled up the pallet until her head was in place back under the Kerm leaves. Instantly, the crawling sensation started up again and Gerselle clenched her calves as she tried to remain still. Fortunately, the feeling did subside into more of a tickling feeling as the leaf hairs burrowed underneath the more sensitive outer layers of her skin. Then they stopped. There was a pregnant pause. Gerselle breathed deeply, trying to still her racing pulse and calm her thoughts. If she tried hard, she could almost believe that she felt a faint tendril of other thought brushing against her mind but it was extremely tentative, darting away as soon as she tried to reach out to it. Remembering the advice from the Records, Gerselle stopped trying to focus on the fleeting glimpses of thought and instead did her best to project broader feelings of welcome and reassurance. It seemed to work. The tendril still felt very cautious as it approached but this time there was a definite moment of contact. A brief wash of aroma swept against Gerselle's mind and then withdrew. Emboldened by her lack of response, the tendril came forward again, brushing more confidently against her. Gerselle's nose twitched at the scent. Other tendrils circled round and then settled delicately against her mind. More scents swept through her brain and then more and yet more, as the Kerm opened itself up to her. Gerselle's nostrils fluttered wildly as the flood of aromas cascaded through her. Overloaded, her brain began to interpret them as bursts of colour and even snatches of sound. A distant, rational part of her realised that the Kerm must perceive almost everything through smell - it's world was in the minutia of the soil and the creatures within it. Creatures that had no need of light and had only the crudest sense of sound. The rest of her struggled to hold itself together against the torrent. The Kerm seemed to realise that she was struggling and the flood of information slowed. The lean-to around her had been replaced by a surreal landscape of coloured blotches. Fragments of sound fluttered across it, snatches of birdsong, the wind in the trees, a babble of voices, the tap tap tap of footprints across the porch. A furious melange of scents still bombarded her, some pleasant, some... very pleasant indeed. Gerselle cheeks flamed in the darkness and she devoutly hoped that the Kerm was not aware of the significance of that particular smell. Other scents were less enjoyable and occasionally she felt a very strong urge to gag. As Gerselle relaxed, the landscape began to shift. Slowly at first and then jumping randomly from scene to scene. None of it made the slightest bit of sense but at the back of her mind she could sense happiness, excitement and an almost childlike enthusiasm. The phrase “Ummy, 'one!" drifted through her head and she fought down an urge to burst out laughing. The Kerm really wasn't so very different from a kerblet after all and it had the same infectious joy and desire to share its world with her. She couldn't really make out very much of what it was trying to tell her - and indeed she had a sense that the Kerm itself didn't really understand very much of it either, it was simply repeating what it had sensed. Gerselle had no idea how long she had been in communion with the Kerm but the colours around her were starting to blur and melt into one another. The scents were also becoming more muted and she had the distinct feeling that the Kerm was tiring. In response, she did her best to project thoughts of sleep and rest. A thought struck her and she focused firmly on an image of the Kerm leaves lifting away from her head. <disappointment> Gerselle was stymied. How could she explain that she would be back soon? Did the Kerm even have a sense of the passing of time? Then an another idea struck her. She did her best to recall the aroma of damp earth in the morning and the scent of Kerm leaves in the early morning mist. She let the memory fade out and be replaced by the feeling of cold on a starry night and the crisp clean scents of the evening air. Finally she focused on herself, lying under the Kerm sapling and lifting her head up to brush against its leaves. <happiness>...<more more more>...<not now> The colours around her faded away. Gerselle was only vaguely aware of the leaf hairs withdrawing from her scalp as she slumped down in her bed, utterly drained. Blinking, she stared at the clock hanging from a nearby branch. Only an hour to cram all that sensation into? Small wonder she was so spent. Still - at least she hadn't kept Meleny waiting too long. ----------- The next morning, Gerselle wasn't feeling a great deal less tired. She had made the mistake of telling Joenie that Daddy was coming back tomorrow, which had led to a tearful bedtime when Daddy failed to appear. Gerselle had eventually soothed her by promising that she would see him in 'one sleep'. One very short sleep as it happened. Joenie of course had been up at first light, whereupon she had promptly toddled across to Gerselle's bed, squeaking in excitement. Gerselle still had no idea how she had managed to climb up onto the covers but not only had she managed it but she then proceeded to bounce cheerfully up and down on Gerselle's stomach babbling 'Dadadadadadada' to herself. Groaning, Gerselle had bowed to the inevitable and climbed out of bed for a very early breakfast. It had been a trying morning, with a very excited kerblet but now they were standing by the side of the road at the edge of the village, watching a small figure walk towards them. As the figure drew closer, Gerselle smiled to see Jonton's familiar ambling walk. She put Joenie down and waved to him. “There you go, beautiful. Why don't you go and say hello to Daddy?" Joenie perked up. “Dadada? DADADADA!" She scampered off down the road. Jonton dropped to one knee and flung his arms open in welcome. As Joenie crashed pell-mell into him, he swept his arms around her in a great bear hug and kissed her. “Hey hey, big girl! Where did you learn to run so fast?" Joenie clung to him for a moment and then squirmed around and pointed back to Gerselle. “Ummy!" “That's right - mummy. Shall we go and give her a hug?" Jonton settled Joenie onto one arm, dropped his backpack and sprinted up the road. Tears prickled his eyes as he saw Gerselle's face and put his arms around her and Joenie both, in a long wordless embrace. “It's been far too long," he murmured into her ear. Gerselle didn't reply but just drew him closer until Joenie squeaked in protest. “Oh - sorry. Are we squashing you, little lady?" Jonton gently disentangled himself and put Joenie down on the ground. Gerselle squeezed his arm briefly before retrieving a large pack at her feet. “So what now, love. Do I get to see the new village?" “In a while. I thought it would be good to get a little time to ourselves first." She shook the pack. “How about some lunch in the new Grove?" The three kerbals made their way up the hill. Gerselle smiled to herself as Joenie grabbed hold of Jonton's hand, forcing him to alternately shuffle and skip along behind her, almost bent over double. As the path got steeper, he stopped, scooped a delighted Joenie up and settled her on his shoulders. “That's better." Jonton's back popped as he took a good look around him for the first time. “This looks a bit different than I remember." Wonderingly, he walked up to one of the Kerm saplings and stared at it in delight. “This is looking remarkably healthy - in fact the whole hill is looking remarkably healthy given what I remember of the soil." Gerselle nodded. “The clover is doing well. This is our second crop now, after ploughing the first lot back into the ground." She laughed, “You always did tell me that the Kerm would speak to me through it's leaves." Jonton looked puzzled. “It does," he said slowly, “but not until the knitting is complete. How did you know it wanted you to plant the clover?" Gerselle's eyes widened. “Through the spots on the leaves of course. It's all written down in the Records." She walked up behind him and pointed over his shoulder. “They're fading a bit now - I guess the soil has improved slightly - but you can still see the blue dapples. Different colours and patterns mean different things but apparently blue means 'plant clover'. It took quite a while to work out since the oldest Records aren't very clear but it certainly seems to be working." Jonton shook his head in disbelief. “Messages in dappled leaves. I had no idea! I guess my old Kerm is settled enough now that it doesn't need those sort of messages any more. Anyway - this looks like the perfect spot for lunch." The three kerbals settled down onto the clover. Jonton kept half an eye on Joenie as Gerselle opened her pack and set out a simple meal of greenleaf rolls, cold sapwood cordial with milk, baked tubers and plump orange sunfruit. As he bit appreciatively into a tuber, he was mildly surprised to see Joenie grabbing pieces of roll and stuffing them into her mouth. Gerselle caught his surprised look. “I've had to stop making them with luffa eye peppers," she said ruefully. “Those didn't go down too well but yes, she loves greenleaf." She paused as Joenie grabbed another morsel from her plate. “And baked tuber too apparently. At least they're probably a bit better for her digestion. Too much greenleaf tends to have unfortunate effects." After lunch, the two adult kerbals sprawled out companiably on the clover, watching Joenie scamper over the hilltop. “She really can move on those little legs," Jonton said in wonder. Gerselle smiled proudly, “You should see her with her friends. Always the first into everything, although Meleny's Adbas is usually a close second!" An excited voice drifted over to them, “Urm 'ummy, Urm!" Jonton raised his eyebrows, “Kerm?" he said. “Worm, I expect," said Gerselle. “Worms, leaves and especially stones - it's all new and exciting." As if to prove her mother right, Joenie hurtled towards them, clutching something in her hand. She dropped it proudly on the ground in front of Jonton. “'One, dada, 'one!" Gravely, Jonton picked up the stone for inspection. Oh - that's a good stone, sweetheart. Look, can you see the fossil?" “Ossil!" “That's right. Fossil." He offered the chunk of rock back to his daughter. “Joenie want stone?" Joenie shook her head firmly. “Dada ossil." Jonton was oddly touched. “That's very kind - thank you, Joenie," he said solemnly. He dropped the fossil into one of the pockets of his poncho. “Daddy is going to keep the ossil... I mean fossil, in his pocket." Gerselle got to her feet. “Come on, beautiful. We'd better take Daddy back to the village. Would you like to go on Mummy's shoulders or Daddy's?" “Ummy!" Jonton chuckled. “That sounded pretty definite," he said. “You take Joenie, love, I'll carry the bags." << Chapter 18 :: Chapter 20>>

There has been some talk about making procedural planets/solar systems in the modding and suggestions forums. Is there any science data available that could be used to base a procedural planet/solar system creation algorithm on? I'm thinking that it would need to at least include planet mass/volume, distance from the sun, and atmosphere information. Also, since it has been statistically more likely for us to find larger planets and planets that pass between us and their sun, is there anyone that has used available data to extrapolate what the actual data is?

you may or may not want to talk to/ read this thread

It is not a mod in that it does not change gamplay. It is not a mod in the sense that you get parts that can do things stock parts can not. It is not a mod if you talk about making things easier for yourself. It is purely graphical, but since you change things, in the strictest sense it is a mod. But why would you care? It should not be an issue, unless you are competing with people and have a strict no mods whatsoever period rule. If you do not like mods because they make life easy you can still use this one. That mods make life easy is also a weird notion, as stuff like Lifesupport, FAR, Deadly reentry et cetera make life a lot, lot harder.

Oh yes please! :-D Maybe Jeb should really go talk to Rozer, given that he's now the only person he can be honest to and he surely knows some more about all this than him.

Particle-beam fusion usually involves proton beams (unless it's an attempt to synthesise superheavy elements), which will produce X-ray radiation upon hitting a target even if no reactions occur, due to the 'bremmstrahlung' effect. In most fusion reactions it's neutron radiation that's the issue, not gamma. The one I gave at the end of the last thread is a rather odd one, one that would be effectively impossible to do in any environment outside of the core of star, which is indeed where it happens. In terms of practical fusion reactions, the ones people tend to talk about as 'aneutronic fusion power' candidates are 1H-11B fusion and 3He-3He fusion. 3He-3He can effectively be ignored immediately due to the extreme difficulty of getting 3He in any real quantities, so most research looks at 1H-11B. However, the research hasn't come up which much good news. To give the gist of it, 1H-11B needs 10X the temperature of the 2H-3H reaction everybody usually works with, and we simply can't keep plasma of that temperature confined enough for energy-gaining fusion using any near-term technology.

CHAPTER 34 OCEAN *** Commander's log, entry 75. They hate me. I know they do, I can see it in their eyes. Not all of them, but they do hate me – and I can't blame them for it. From their point of view I not only broke my word and said “frak you†to my promise of respecting the voting results, but also was cruel enough to let them celebrate returning to home while I knew it ain't gonna happen. I can't blame them. The terrible truth is that there is nobody to blame but ourselves. If what BERTY said is true, this means that his rebellion decision was indirectly caused by the conflict between me and Rozer. How could it happen? We both wanted only what's best for the crew and the mission, just like BERTY. How could it come to this? Commander's log, entry 76. 272 days left. BERTY said I should let the doctor Cambo diagnose me. He's worried about my health, yet not so long ago he threatened me with being thrown out of the airlock. Hypocrisy? Sincere concern? What really freaks me out is that it can very well be both. How can I deal with him? He's a machine, pure logical construct, blood from software and electronic bones with twin hearts made of a fusion cores. He was right – without him we would be just a cold bodies, drifting silently through space. It's like in Jonah's story: swallowed by some monstrous entity we're completely at it's mercy. Commander's log, entry 77. It's like Dres all over again. The knowledge how long the journey will be is depressive on its own, not to mention the burden I have to struggle with. The worst thing is that I can't share it with anyone. Not that they would like to talk with me, not after what I've done. Commander's log, entry 78. BERTY ordered a trajectory correction three weeks from now. It'll allow us to match orbital planes with Jool, thus saving lots of delta-V. And time – this will shorten the flight for a month. Just eleven months left to go. Good Kod… Commander's log, entry 79. Only two weeks has passed since the transfer burn. I'm a real mess – I can't concentrate on what the crew is talking on this rare occasions they do and I have this really painful aching in stomach. I tried to listen to some music or read something but after two years I know every book and every song, not to mention movies. Commander's log, entry 80. Tomorrow the Duna Cargo Vehicle was launched back home. It'll reach its destination long before we even reach the halfway mark of this flight. Commander's log, entry 81. Course correction was performed today. There will be one more two months from now. I'm completely terrified by this – what am I supposed to do with myself during the next months? All I can think of is this vast empty space separating us both from home, more distant with every day, and Jool. Commander's log, entry 82. Sid and both our scientists from Duna, Genanand and Mallock, seems to accept the situation. They spend all their time in the lab, experimenting with samples from the Red Planet and the ice collected by Sid's and Dan's little excursion to Ike. When I was looking at them, completely absorbed by their research, they looked quite happy. Unfortunately I don't have any quiet place to which I can go to calm down myself. Commander's log, entry 83. Another sleepless “nightâ€Â. Although the artificial light of “Proteus†changes only during “sunset†and “sunrise†I know that just a few meters from where I am, in the void, there is less and less light. Thanks to the inverse-square law the further we are from the Sun, the less of its life-giving energy we're getting. It was quite a problem back on “Kadmos†- that's why we had to take this giant solar panels with us. “Kadmosâ€Â… I know it happened years ago but with every passing day the events of that flight appear to be more and more vivid in my memory. Commander's log, entry 84. Solar proton event. Luckily, the eruption wasn't aimed at us – even so far from the Sun being hit by the proton storm could be potentially disastrous. Commander's log, entry 85. I had an argument today with Ned. He's still really pissed at me for what he thinks I've done. I doubt that he'll ever get over it – after all it's been almost six weeks since the New Year's Eve. My Kod, it's been only six weeks. Six fraking weeks! And still there are months ahead of us. I fear I'm going to loose it. And unlike when we're traveling from Dres to Duna, there is nothing that would give me hope. We're going to face the most lethal planet of them all - Jool. Commander's log, entry 86. He said there will be some changes in our mission's plan when we arrive at our destination. Not made by the Mission Control, his own – to “improve efficiencyâ€Â. I don't know why but I started to sweating like crazy when I've heard this. It must be this kind but monotonous voice of his. Improved efficiency… my Kod, what does he mean by this? Commander's log, entry 87. When we were training before the mission, we really started to get along me and Buzz. Fishing, bowling, field trips. It was all part of the plan of course – as the second in command of the “Kadmos†he had to be close enough with me to be able to know exactly what I was thinking and trying to do if he was ever forced to become the captain of the spacecraft. We used to joke that the only way for him to get promotion was my death. He was handling the horrors we encountered pretty well – that is, before Eve happened. He died few thousands kilometers from home when the “Kadmos†reactor blew up. We survived but not all of us – Maclorf succumbed to cancer several years later. Will this mission end in a simila don't think about it don't think about it Commander's log, entry 88. I haven't been writing for quite a long time. Today “Proteus†performed the second trajectory correction. Now we're 6 months from the encounter. I still have very severe problems with sleeping and other things. Doctor Cambo says that my symptoms – insomnia, headaches, problems with blood pressure and loss of concentration – are getting worse. He suspects that I'm suffering from a chronic stress. No ****, doctor. Commander's log, entry 89. And so we drift through the darker and darker emptiness. I may be a mess right now but even in my condition I can see how the crew morale in slow but steady decline. I suspect it could be even worse than it is now if any of us could affect what's happening. But, just like BERTY, we're now slaves to the cold equations of orbital mechanics – we won't stop unless we reach our target. Commander's log, entry 90. Now when I think about it, it'll be even worse. After all, we need to shed a lot of velocity if we want to stay in the Jool's neighborhood – well, if BERTY wants it, which he does. And this means only one thing: aggressive aerobraking. We could of course try to aerobrake several times to lower our apoapsis safely but we can't afford it. Although there are 6 crew members less than we we've started this mission, we did waste several weeks while trying to get to Moho. This means that if we stay too long in Jool's SOI we may starve to death being only week or two from home. Commander's log, entry 91. Resupply vessel sent for our team back on Duna should be entering the planet's SOI within several days. Commander's log, entry 92. Sleepless nights again. I was thinking whether I should talk with Rozer about this all. Ironic, isn't it – now he's the only one with whom I may be completely sincere. I understand now why he surrendered completely and didn't resist. What could he possibly do with BERTY controlling everything? Commander's log, entry 93. Spacecraft with cargo has arrived. Good for them. Commander's log, entry 94. He gave me prozac and several other “stress pillsâ€Â. Good old Cambo, he thinks he could help me. Nobody can. I'm completely powerless – I can't even command my own body to behave like I want it to, not to mention the crew or the ship. Commander's log, entry 95. BERTY told me he want Rozer to participate in all our activities during the exploration of jovian moons. With Bob being dead we don't have enough pilots and Rozer is supposed to have some “unique skills†which we're going to need there. Was he talking about Laythe Lander? I don't think I care anymore. Commander's log, entry 96. AMU has reached the Jool's SOI. Now BERTY will take control over it and try to achieve safe parking orbit away from the most destructive area of its magnetosphere. Commander's log, entry 97. Sid found me today in the observation module. I think I was trying to write something in my journal 'cause I was holding a broken pencil but I don't remember. I guess the cramp of the muscles in my hand must've brake it – only after some medicine from Cambo I managed to loosen my grip. They must be worried about me but I'm not. I think I'm kinda peaceful now. Commander's log, entry 98. Once more long brake from writing but the truth is nothing happened during this two weeks. Or rather nothing I can think of – every day is the same and they all blend together. Anyways, the AMU has reached orbit. Which means we won't die from dehydration and that whatever happens BERTY will be able to take “Proteus†all the way back to home. Another year… I don't think I'll ever see Kerbin again. Commander's log, entry 99. AMU is in parking orbit and waits for us. Also there was a fight between Ned and Johndon. I don't know the details, something about Jool probably – or maybe it was something else? They probably expect me to react to this but the trough is I can barely concentrate on writing these words. It's like looking at the world from the bottom of the swimming pool, like one of these in which we trained EVA back in home. Everything is misty and subdued and you don't feel much. Three years since I saw that much water. Commander's log, entry 100. Four months. This is the problem, isn't it. Gravity. Without something to hold you to the ground you can tell where's up or down. You don't know your directions and after one mistake everything starts to spin around. And than you are lost, weightless – like a ghost. Lonely survivor floating on the waves of the deep, deep ocean. And the water is dark. *** MISSION STATUS ***

Well, rather than clutter this thread, we can talk over PM. I wanna try and recruit some good kethane/stockalike builders.

Chapter 1.5: Broadcast KASA PR Announcer: Hello I'm Harry Kyles, coming to you live from the Kerbal Mission Control center, where a broadcast from our latest mission, Project: Kerbol, is about to begin! Jebediah: Beginning broadcast. Harry: Hello Captain Jebediah! Jebediah: Hey! I'm currently in the centrifuge on the Helios 1, which for those who don't know, generates artificial gravity. This not only lets us sleep and move a little more comfortably, but also keeps our bones from decaying as fast. Harry: We're gonna be taking questions for the crew on Kwitter through the whole broadcast, but during that time, Jebediah will take us through the ship! Yep! I'm standing in the Rec Room right now, which lets us work out and stay in shape throughout the mission. Next we'll head to the med-bay and talk to Doctor Dudvan. Harry: We got a good question first. "Do you have any AI's on the ship?" from Sara. Newbles: Well Sara, I'll let him speak for himself. Mechjeb: Yep! Harry: Well that is pretty cool. Now lets see that med-bay! *Jebediah opens the door to Dudvan listening to music and reading a book* Jebediah: Dudvan! Dudvan: Could be the changing off the seasons, but I... oh, um I mean, drop the bass.. or something... *Dudvan pulls the earbuds from his ear and closes his book.* Dudvan: Oh, the broadcast. Here is our fully stocked medical center aboard the ship! We're capable of surgery, diagnosing and giving antibiotics to sick crew, and regular checkups. Harry: Awesome! Another great question coming in. "Have you needed to use this room yet?" Dudvan: Unfor- Jebediah: Fortunatley, no, except for the pre-departure checkup in low Kerbin orbit! Anyway, unless there is any more questions, lets go see what Mitbree is doing in the Geology lab. *Jebediah walks into the geology lab, Mitbree is doing science on the rocks.* Mitbree: Why hello there! Jebediah: Hey Will, find out anything new about the Mun Rocks we collected? Mitbree: Yea! These rocks are Kethane enriched, and this, I've discovered, makes them a lot softer and easier to break. They also glow in the dark! Jebediah: Lets see that! Mechjeb, turn out the lights in here. Mechjeb: Sure. *Lights go off and the rocks all over Mitbree's desk glow a bright green* Harry: Woah! Jebediah: Alright, if there is no questions, we're moving on to our Cheif Engineer and my First Mate in the command pod. *Jebediah walks out of the centrifuge and floats into the command pod* Bob: Hey! Bill: Sup. Bob: Alright, we're on our way to Minmus soon, and I just made sure the Kethane drilling lander is a-ok for drilling. Bill: I've just been running out pre-flight checklist. Jebediah: Alright, I guess that's the whole broadcast, unless there is any more questions. Harry: Jeb, there has been THOUSANDS of questions, I just gotta find a good one. Oh! "How much food and air do you have aboard?" Jeb: Enough of every food group to sustain us, and lots of air, as well as a greenhouse to provide a surplus of vegetables and fruits, as well as recycle some air. Harry: Fascinating! Well, thats all the time we have for today! Good luck captain! *Broadcast ends*

You might want to talk with PolecatEZ on the texture size- it's huge. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/51361-0-21-Squad-Texture-Reduction-Pack-B9-and-KW-Packs-also He is the guru of making mods take up less space.

It doesn't matter whether it's "appropriate", what matters is whether the license allows it. At the end of the day, though, actions like that may push the original author to put a more restrictive license on their future work, which damages chances of it being able to change maintainers in the future, especially if the author simply disappears. If you're talking about the drama in the Stock Texture Resize thread, it's pretty clear that it's a misunderstanding between two people that need to talk it out privately, and you should just ignore it.

You missed Option #4. The albatross. One large lander with all the bells and whistles. I recently just landed one of Laythe. It had: 1. Laythe orbital space station with crew of 1 as overwatch for the Laythe mission. 1. Return cable assembly to be docked with the return orbiter for flight back to kerbin. 4. Probe Satelites to circle Laythe. 4. Probe landers to assist with picking a landing site. With this successful with 3 the 4th was tasked to Bop. 1. Large lander home to the 12 crew (room for 28) Attached to the lander: 2. Jets (1 kerbal each) stored vertically with a spread to allow for liftoff. 2. Sky cranes for unloading the 2 heavy rovers 2. Heavy rovers capable of carrying 2 kerbals tested to 55m/s previously. 2. Light probe rovers for close quarters rover worker around the base. 1. Detacheable return to orbit unit. Things that didn't make the final mission cut Boats - I just couldn't get a viable entry to send to laythe that could be driven/sky craned to the ocean. Submarine - Same issue Ground based refueling station for the jets. Just couldn't come up with anything to work. I just recently made landfall (talk about parachutes). So be like my kerbals and go and get away from it all by bringing it all with you.

Mono-theology is a gift from the Gods. I am trying to talk the camel in to telling me the name he knows, but so far no luck. Smug little jerk. -Lego

KSP-TV is now accepting applications! SQUAD is happy to announce that applications for KSP-TV Broadcasters are once again open! If you are a Twitch live-streamer, or an experienced YouTuber wanting to start live-streaming, this is your opportunity to shine. We're looking for mature individuals that know how to showcase KSP and all of it's amazing facets. We're interested in any type of KSP related or themed programming. We're going to have live streams, pre-recorded shows, live interview/talk shows, as well as any other type of show that we think the fans will watch. This is your chance to work with SQUAD and the the KSP-TV group to promote KSP to it's fullest potential! You will be expected to hold to a certain level of broadcast standards as our rules for KSP-TV are no different from our other properties. Each broadcaster will be expected to be punctual and on time both starting and ending their show in consideration of each other. You will need a Google account (so we can share documents and the Schedule Calendar) and Skype for access to the KSP-TV Control Room. You will also need 2 video clips (15 sec & 30 sec) promoting your show. This can be as simple as static screens with text or some fancy animation. We are currently looking to bolster the KSP-TV roster with streamers able to commit reliably to regular weekly shows. If you feel you fit this criteria you may apply immediately at 'http://bit.ly/KSPTVApp'. If you are interested in seeing more of what KSP-TV is about check us out at 'http://www.twitch.tv/ksptv'. And finally if you have any questions please feel free to PM Yargnit. We look forward to having some of you join our ranks in the near future!

Why you think that the size of the LV-N must to be fixed? In the reality they can came of many sizes. But never mind, I dont have any trouble to not have procedural engines or pods. But is quite illogical not to have them in the other parts. But is not like that! You think that when I talk about procedural parts I am saying "keep the old tanks and lets have another part that is procedural?" NO! You remove all the previous tanks and you remplace them with 3 tanks parts that are procedural like I explain in the first post (please read). And you can have extra tree advances that it will let you to choose other kind of materials or parameters like (made for cryogenic fuel) when you are setting your tank, and the cost will calculate depending the size, materials, fuel that you choose.But if is better to some had 100 tanks parts just to build the same thing with extra loading time, and all other cons, I cant see the logic. Again, if you have procedural parts then you dont have regular tanks, is a way to improve the game experience. We are talking of tank sizes! it does nothing to do with technology tree or parts unlocks. Damm my english must be very bad to read always the same misinterpretations. I dont like stretchy tanks, I already explain why in the first post, the idea of get any size with one part is good, but it needs keep relation with the standard sizes and scales. And the game will still be modular even with procedural parts, even with procedural wings you need use many procedural wings to achieve the shape that you want. But you reduce the count parts and is more real at the same time. There is the LEGO mod for those who loves the toy aspect. You think that because you still can not figure out the correct way to incorporate other parts, becoz you see only a good example of procedural parts. That is a good point. But it can be solve it of different ways. What you mean? --------------------------------------------------- Another benefic of procedural tanks it will be noticed with the next fix to the aerodynamics drag system. Rockets with 10 orange tanks at side each other will not work very good. The solution is bigger tanks diameters like the ones used in novapunch mod (3.5 and 5) Also that will brings more similarity with the real rockets. About how the engine deals with bigger parts like the 5d tanks, I dont find any problem that can not be fixed with 2 or 3 struts, if you need to put the same amount of fuel with oranges tanks you will need more struts than that.

False the user below me thinks that the user above me likes all the talk of bronies

There are numerous "errors" in the movie, but some of them, like the large jetpack delta v, can be explained as "better jetpack" or they're too unimportant to complain about. As a guy that is really strict with these things, stuff like exaggerated jetpack delta v didn't bother me at all. You really have to struggle to see all that. It's not obvious at all. I'm home now, after driving across the country so I can now write a short review for people here. I still won't spoil anything and I recmmend others they don't do it at least a week in advance. After that, use "spoilers alert" in bold red to warn others. This is truly a movie that can be heavily spoiled, unlike stupid blockbusters that have obvious scenario. This doesn't have, and it really surprised me with the plot. But let's talk about the special effects. The "Hollywood science" remark does not hold water because this is one of the most scientifically accurate movies ever made in the entire history of movies. The motion of the characters and the objects is almost flawless and only in rare occasions you can see it's artificial if you pay close attention and understand some things about CGI. People responsible for this movie respected the Newton's laws and a significant portion of the movie is based on the characters' struggle to move around. It's not boring at all and it really lets you care for them because it's often brutal. People are getting hurt and by all means, PG-13 is a justified mark. Don't bring kids to the cinema. There are gore elements. 3D is, as I've said, of extreme quality. Nothing is forced as in that hyped Avatar. There is no ghosting, and sometimes you think the debris is going to hit you in the face. That, plus few instances of tools floating around, are the most intense 3D moments and that's the way it should be. 3D is a tool, not a purpose. I could compare the suspense with the graph of global warming. It goes up and down, up and down, but overall, it's going up. The characters are constantly in a struggle for survival with certain pauses, but it only gets worse. Most people would cry in despair if they can't get home. The acting is really amazing and I think Bullock should get an Oscar for this. She managed to take a character from the script and turn it into a real, simple woman who is just loosing it as she gradually goes to a kind of psychosis because of the huge stress involved. Clooney was too Hollywood, but maybe it's because his persona is stuck with such image IRL. I'm not sure if this was his intention, but I'd say he really could've done this with less "cool". The situation the characters are in is grave danger. It's death coming through the door, and he's all super rational and shows no fear even after his "jetpack" is empty. That is not what would happen with real people, but ok, it's not a big deal. Sometimes his behaviour is like a slight comic relief which adds a new hill in the whole rollercoaster. One thing that was really impossible are all the stars in the sky. Even when the Sun is in view (and it's a bit yellow, which is not the actual case because it's white), you can see lots of stars. I think Cuarón wanted to leave the stars in order to give the audience a sense of motion. We can't experience tumbling, so if we see only black sky, it's not a big deal. With stars, it can give you a sense of disorientation, just like dr. Stone experiences. The sounds are almost entirely physically accurate. No bull**** from the trailers. Honestly, you don't hear anything but them talking, and occasional dull thump, which is sound transmitted through the suit when they impact the station. This alone lifts Gravity towards the peak where Odyssey 2001 is at. Oh, and the music. You hear the soundtrack which purpose is to freak you out. So there is lots of silence, but also lots of loud and powerful sound to kick your ears in the nuts. The enormous hate towards Bullock in youtube comments is completely unjustified. The whole movie is not "her screaming and gasping". Her character is not well developed as in usual Hollywood movies only because there are not much opportunities for that to happen, but when they occur, we see that she is a very sad person. Indeed, the movie is a metaphor for her transformation. It's simply a masterpiece. I must say that the script is highly exaggerated in the terms of the actual danger in orbit. Kessler syndrome is blow out of every proportion because it happens in a very short time, and its efficiency is absolutely fantastic. In reality, it would take a considerable amount of time before one orbit is ruined. If by any means you have access to IMAX 3D and enough money, go. This movie will enter history and try to make yourself a part of it. I've spent quite a bit of money to to this, and I don't regret it at all. In fact, I'm going to see it again in a regular 3D cinema because it's just so awesome. After me and my buddy went home, I got to play KSP on his awesome computer. All details on high, and there was no visible loss of framerate. I've never seen Kerbin looking so lovely before. So I had a great time yesterday. I will write a review using this post, probably at imdb.com.

I'm still quite puzzled by this, because he made the request and I agreed both publicly and privately to abide by his request. I still maintain I will respect his request, and have not deviated from this statement. I also statde that with certain licenses, the community (and not just myself) can clearly see what they have a right to do. If you don't like people doing things with your stuff, put on a more restrictive license. The flipside of the coin you presented above is that a game developer can do what EA did when Sims 2/3 modders were throwing lawyer letters at each other. If you want to research their new EULA wording, feel free. These licenses are useless in granting rights if these rights are unable to be exercised. "But I have freedom of speech!" -> "Except if you want to talk." If anyone cares to start a thread on the appropriate forum, I'll respond better there.