The only thing wrong with 1.0...

[TMS]

Yep, they're garbage... but I wasn't expecting them to be great, based on the previews and descriptions. The nonsensical mass issues, the frag grenade effect and lack of persistence all contribute towards relegating them to irrelevance. I'm afraid I deleted them and installed the pFairings mod after two short uses.

I hope Squad can refine the system somewhat, because the ability to shape the fairing is quite a neat addition. However, suspect the development of that novelty feature got in the way of making them functional.

[Majorjim!]

Yep, they're garbage... but I wasn't expecting them to be great, based on the previews and descriptions. The nonsensical mass issues, the frag grenade effect and lack of persistence all contribute towards relegating them to irrelevance. I'm afraid I deleted them and installed the pFairings mod after two short uses.

I hope Squad can refine the system somewhat, because the ability to shape the fairing is quite a neat addition. However, suspect the development of that novelty feature got in the way of making them functional.

Agreed. Currently the fairings are crap to be honest and actually a danger to the cargo. I too hope squad sorts them out as soon as possible.

[Rokmonkey]

I do like where they are going with fairings. Part Procedural, part not. It's a decent system, but the end product you get from Procedural Fairings is far cleaner, visually appealing, and sturdier.

[m4v]

don't care about Apollo to be honest, there are better points to make than this.

[CaptainKipard]

It's almost as if "1.0" was part of the name and not a version number.

[Majorjim!]

don't care about Apollo to be honest, there are better points to make than this.

You don't care about Apollo???

[Wallygator]

These stock fairing so not "suck" totally, but they do great a general lowering of air pressure...

I like the attempt, I do not like the current implementation.

1) Allow the specification of how may pieces it breaks into

2) Allow having the fairing not break apart at all, just disconnect

3) Fewer restrictions as to exact placement of the segments

4) Allow closure of the fairing at any point in the build

5) Allow designation of the fairing specifically as an interstage if needed to simplify construction

6) make them look just a bit thicker

7) Allow external and internal attachment to the fairings and also the base

Just my thoughts...

[Foxster]

Do not use them. Ever. Complete waste of space.

Compare these two craft...

The only difference between them is that the first has a shell covering the various bits of the payload.

DeltaV left at 100km orbit:

With shell: 5276

Without shell: 6378!

So, you would lose nearly 20% of your useable dV by using a shell.

This is due to two things:

1. The mass of the shell. Nearly 2 tons! And some of this stays with deployment, so you are pushing it around for the whole of the mission.

2. Its high drag, higher than most of the parts it's protecting.

This goes for all the nose cones too. Most of them have high drag, often higher than the part they are covering.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Foxster

[Rokmonkey]

@Foxster

Well, you do have one of the scanners sticking out of the fairing, that's not helping your case. And they patched it so that mass of the fairing gets ejected now.

[Foxster]

@Foxster

Well, you do have one of the scanners sticking out of the fairing, that's not helping your case. And they patched it so that mass of the fairing gets ejected now.

Umm, your first point isn't really valid, both ships have that part sticking out. All the other payload parts are inside. The comparison of a shelled and shelless craft remains valid.

Good second point though. I didn't know that. You still have to push it into space at its max weight though.

So here's an interesting idea:

Here I have put the shell on top and its upside down, so it builds down. With a nosecone stuck on top.

It reduces the overall drag and you can detach the whole thing in space.

dV of this craft at orbit? 6410. So just slightly better than not using a shell at all.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Foxster

[Alshain]

Apollo staged away the SLA anyway (after Apollo 7 anyway)

Yes, but the SLA only covered the top ~1/3 of the LEM and the rest had to be extracted. That would be hard to recreate in KSP using any method, stock or mod.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Alshain

[Brotoro]

...Does anyone else get the problem where the fairings won't recognize a left-click, and so won't place the next section? I am getting that constantly. Maybe 1 time out of 50 it will actually work, and when it does it's while the current piece I'm moving is bulged out 30 feet. And if I do get lucky and manage to build the fairing to the top, it won't register the final click to set the tip piece...until 50 clicks later when it decides to register twice and then deletes the whole thing...

Yes, I ran into the problem where it refused to recognize my mouse-clicks most of the time. I was using the fairing around a high-part-count payload, so I thought it might be due to lag effects in the editor. Also, the rocket was VERY laggy during flight with the fairing compared to without...and the extreme legginess continued after I blew off the confetti.

At least my rocket was probably safe from radar-guided missile attack with all that chaff I dumped.

[X-SR71]

Yes, I ran into the problem where it refused to recognize my mouse-clicks most of the time. I was using the fairing around a high-part-count payload, so I thought it might be due to lag effects in the editor. Also, the rocket was VERY laggy during flight with the fairing compared to without...and the extreme legginess continued after I blew off the confetti.

At least my rocket was probably safe from radar-guided missile attack with all that chaff I dumped.

This might sound stupid and you both probably know this, but you can only place the fairing when the text turns green. If it's orange, it's colliding with something inside and wont accept placement.

[Hcube]

Agreed, the fairings are very meh right now. I'm sure they will get fixed, but meanwhile ill probably install PF, because i feel bad for detonating a Kessler bomb every time i launch a probe. Also, interstage fairings, much like saturn V's single-part one (the black and white striped one between 1st and 2nd stages)

[LostOblivion]

The stock fairing system is pretty abysmal compared to the alternatives found in mods. If Squad wants to put feature X in the game and feature X has been shown to work well in mods, then I really think it's weird that they went and made something that is completely different.

I think that the fairings were rushed into the game because they are needed in the new aero, but the ones we have now are both functionally inadequate (you're usually better off without them, just put more fins at the bottom) and esthetically bad (grenade). HOWEVER, I absoluty LOVE the explode effect in the VAB! Couldt't be solved a better way...

[Brotoro]

This might sound stupid and you both probably know this, but you can only place the fairing when the text turns green. If it's orange, it's colliding with something inside and wont accept placement.

Ah... This "color" thing you people keep talking about.

Yes, I could easily be missing a color change from orange to green because I'm colorblind. Why do people insist on simple color changes as an indicator? Why not just have the text telling you to left-click appear or disappear depending on whether or not there is a collision? Or have a little check mark appear. If the makers of DVD/BD menus could learn to follow this simple rule, my life would be happier.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Brotoro

[MacroNova]

It doesn't help that the colors of the text when making a fairing do not stand out at all against the background of the VAB. I have a really hard seeing them myself and I have three perfectly working light cones in each eye, thank you very much. I have to frequently rotate the camera to get a better backdrop.

[GusTurbo]

Ah... This "color" thing you people keep talking about.

Yes, I could easily be missing a color change from orange to green because I'm colorblind. Why do people insist on simple color changes as an indicator? Why not just have the text telling you to left-click appear or disappear depending on whether or not there is a collision? Or have a little check mark appear. If the makers of DVD/BD menus could learn to follow this simple rule, my life would be happier.

Yeah, this is a serious problem. This game has no reason NOT to be colorblind-friendly.

[Temeter]

I'm not colorblind and the color of the text isn't completely obvious.

[John FX]

I don't want them to separate at all. I want the structural fairings that proc fairings has (as opposed to the aerodynamic fairings). I was trying to just dump the separation into the highest stage that would disappear once the command module separated but the picture above is what I got. You simply have to stage them away or they break apart and cause havoc. Which is stupid, because I guess Squad didn't think people would try to recreate Apollo.

Strangely, when asked about the exact issue during the introduction of fairings, apollo style fairings (for example an interstage that could have engines thrusting through them and be dropped later) were explicitly affirmed. As were fairings that fell as a ring.

The new fairings are SUCH a disappointment. Nowhere near as good as they were described.

EDIT : I agree that the 'explode to view contents' feature is pretty swish. Very nice.

Edited May 4, 2015 by John FX

[Aerindel]

I like them. They could be better but for right now I am really happy that all my rockets look like rockets now and not flying oil drilling platforms.

[Majorjim!]

Strangely, when asked about the exact issue during the introduction of fairings, apollo style fairings (for example an interstage that could have engines thrusting through them and be dropped later) were explicitly affirmed. As were fairings that fell as a ring.

The new fairings are SUCH a disappointment. Nowhere near as good as they were described.

EDIT : I agree that the 'explode to view contents' feature is pretty swish. Very nice.

Really? Can you find that original post?

[TimePeriod]

I like them too.

Allows good room for flavour.

[Renegrade]

Yeah, this is a serious problem. This game has no reason NOT to be colorblind-friendly.

Exactly. It's easy to accommodate, so why not? If we were still in early access, I'd go "that's a pre-release polishing item" but uhh... we're not in early access anymore.

I'm not colorblind and the color of the text isn't completely obvious.

Ditto. It's a small area undergoing a small shift, barely noticeable if you aren't aware it happens, especially as you aren't looking directly at it when you need to know it's status.

There's some UI slackin' goin' on here!

Also, just having an indicator going "NO BAD!" is not the best diagnostic tool. Ideally, it should add like a little descriptive tag like: [LMB] Place Cross-Section [bLOCKED] ..so we know WHY it's not working. It would reduce "y u no <whatever>?!?!" rage-face moments.

[Foxster]

So, lets summarise what we have so far...

1. The shells look nice - except they are less than useless because using one makes a craft use more fuel, resulting in less dV by orbit.

2. The deploy animation is cute - except its like a grenade going off and it can damage parts like solar panels.