Kerbfleet: A Jool Odyssey-END OF CHAPTER 21! (and hopefully not so many talking heads in 22!)

[Geschosskopf]

5 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Don't tell anyone, but I sort of cheated to make a "pressurized" compartment. There's a value in the Texture Replacer config file @Default.cfg to let you change the minimum pressure at which kerbs can wear their IVA suits. I just set mine to zero:

Ah, cool to know

1 hour ago, Kuzzter said:

Bwahahaaaa! Continuing...

Yes! Took about forty minutes of real time. There's 2800 dV left in the tanks and I even have a few tons of oxidant left over to run the vernor RCS system. Now we'll get all the life support systems spooled up and prep the hangar deck--Skimmeroo is next. 

Well done!

But FWIW, in the real world, "conn" is not the helmsman nor any actual person or job.  The conn is an abstract power best defined as having the final say in the decision-making process of where the ship goes and how it gets there.  The person who has the conn is the person whose orders are obeyed by the guys who actually manipulate the ship's controls, even if somebody of higher rank is on the bridge at the time saying to do something else.  By default, the conn vests in the officer-of-the-deck (OD) who, on real ships, is usually the only officer (or at least the senior officer) that the normal watch schedule is supposed to be driving the boat at that point in time.  When the watch changes, one of the rituals is that the outgoing OD tells the incoming OD, "you have the conn", and the new OD says "I have the conn", this all being for the benefit of guys actually manning the control stations.  It's pretty much the same as when pilot and copilot say "you take the airplane" and "I have the airplane".

So, for example, the skipper could come onto the bridge during a normal watch, which of course has its own OD already there.  The OD still has the conn unless the skipper takes it from him, which of course he can do because he's the skipper.  But if he doesn't, it doesn't matter what the skipper says, the man at the wheel will only obey the OD until the conn passes to the skipper.  This facilitates training junior officers in driving the boat.  A junior officer will be OD and have the conn but a senior officer, or even the skipper himself, will be looking over his shoulder to make sure he doesn't screw up.  During battle stations and other emergencies that interrupt the normal watch schedule, however, usually the skipper gets on the bridge ASAP and the 1st thing he'll say after the obligatory "CAPTAIN'S ON THE BRIDGE!" is shouted out is "I have the conn".

[Mister Dilsby]

Whoops! Thanks, G, you're right of course I should have said 'helm'. I meant helm, really I did, but I was too caught up in pasting screenshots and making rocket noises with my mouth. Will correct  

[Geschosskopf]

33 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

Whoops! Thanks, G, you're right of course I should have said 'helm'. I meant helm, really I did, but I was too caught up in pasting screenshots and making rocket noises with my mouth. Will correct  

Well, before you get too far into the corrections, a further clarification is in order I'm afraid.  The "helm" is the inanimate control station (steering wheel on a real ship, console on a starship) and the "helmsman" (helmskerb?) is the biological robot whose duty it is to manipulate the inanimate control station at the orders of the person with the conn and otherwise not move a muscle.  So the person with the conn would not give orders to the helm which, being inanimate, is incapable of heeding them.  Instead, the person with the conn would say, "Helmsman, use 5^ left rudder to make your course XYZ".  To which the helmsman would reply, "Aye, sir, using 5^ left rudder coming to course XYZ", and then once he gets there and straightens out, he'd say "Sir, steady on course XYZ as asked for".  But sometimes things get a bit hectic and the person with the conn will just yell "hard right rudder" or some such, and because nobody but the helmsman can manipulate the rudder, the helmsman would know that order was addressed to him.

Edited February 14, 2016 by Geschosskopf

[RocketSquid]

1 hour ago, kerbalstar said:

 Kuzzter, just wondering how do you post your pictures?

Just wondering.

 

Imgur. I recommend it, since it is free, easy, and has the additional feature of having albums, which on the forums can display a lot of screenshots in a small space

[Just Jim]

She's flipping!!!  

I have to admit, I was holding my breath reading that!!!  Glad it wasn't too many pages... lol... 
I probably would have passed out... 

Outstanding fun launch, and beautiful ship!!! 

 

 

[Kerbalstar]

28 minutes ago, RocketSquid said:

Imgur. I recommend it, since it is free, easy, and has the additional feature of having albums, which on the forums can display a lot of screenshots in a small space

Thanks.

[Mister Dilsby]

55 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

Well, before you get too far into the corrections, a further clarification is in order I'm afraid.  The "helm" is the inanimate control station (steering wheel on a real ship, console on a starship) and the "helmsman" (helmskerb?) is the biological robot whose duty it is to manipulate the inanimate control station at the orders of the person with the conn and otherwise not move a muscle.  So the person with the conn would not give orders to the helm which, being inanimate, is incapable of heeding them.  Instead, the person with the conn would say, "Helmsman, use 5^ left rudder to make your course XYZ".  To which the helmsman would reply, "Aye, sir, using 5^ left rudder coming to course XYZ", and then once he gets there and straightens out, he'd say "Sir, steady on course XYZ as asked for".  But sometimes things get a bit hectic and the person with the conn will just yell "hard right rudder" or some such, and because nobody but the helmsman can manipulate the rudder, the helmsman would know that order was addressed to him.

Aargh. Might have to retreat to Starfleet usage on this. Pretty sure Picard calls Data 'Helm' sometimes. If that fails, I suppose she could always just call him 'Dilsby'  

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

Aargh. Might have to retreat to Starfleet usage on this. Pretty sure Picard calls Data 'Helm' sometimes. If that fails, I suppose she could always just call him 'Dilsby'  

I'm pretty sure they refer to them as both, as there can be more than one helmsman, so it's easier to just say, "Helm, set course to 190, 280, 360"

Edited February 14, 2016 by Guest

[Starhawk]

49 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

Aargh. Might have to retreat to Starfleet usage on this. Pretty sure Picard calls Data 'Helm' sometimes. If that fails, I suppose she could always just call him 'Dilsby'  

Janeway definitely used it.

Happy Concerned landings!

[loch.ness]

I'd say - don't get too bogged down with the details.  It looks awesome and you're clearly having a lot of fun.

 

We are too.

 

Or punch another hole in the fourth wall - This is the sort of thing I could see Bob trying to correct Val over only for Val to point out that Kerbfleet has its own terminology.

[rlin]

On 2/12/2016 at 2:10 PM, Kuzzter said:

Let's do this.

[snip]

The crew in the group shot are, from left to right, Sarjint Sarge, Enzin Nimzo, Looty Lisa, Jr. Looty Kenlie, Kaptin Tedus, Captin Val, Comder Dislby, Sous-Leuti Clauselle, Lt Comder Bill, Lt. Comder Bob, Lt Kernel Jeb and Jr Looty Melbe. And while the game never crashed during any flight of the Intrepid, having fourteen kerbs on the pad under it crashed just about every time. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get those shots--I'm glad I won't need to do that again for a while!

And once again I'd like to thank @Angel-125 for that amazing bridge viewscreen. It works great, and it adds so much to the "bridge playset" experience. I'm going to nominate it for Modding Monday and I'd like to invite you all to do the same  

Next up, we'll see if I really can get this thing to orbit! Whoooo!

Hmm... I wonder if the Intrepid will bring rovers for Sarge to drive around.

[soundnfury]

9 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

Well, before you get too far into the corrections, a further clarification is in order I'm afraid. <snip>

It gets even more complicated.  See, I reckon the right terminology to use is not from ships, but from airships.  At least on the R.101, rather than a helmsman, there were two coxswains, the rudder cox'n and the elevator cox'n.  Admittedly, that was because the controls were large, mechanical, and took a lot of effort to move (so a single person couldn't manage both).  But since the Intrepid can move in three dimensions (like an airship) rather than two (like a ship), I think the 'helmsman' should be called a cox'n.

Confusingly, at sea, a cox'n is the person in charge of a boat.  But since the Intrepid carries other vessels, it's clearly not a boat.  I think?

[Mister Dilsby]

9 hours ago, loch.ness said:

I'd say - don't get too bogged down with the details.  It looks awesome and you're clearly having a lot of fun.

 

9 hours ago, Starhawk said:

Janeway definitely used it.

Ha haa! Well if it's good enough for Kate Mulgrew it's good enough for me.

9 hours ago, rlin said:

Hmm... I wonder if the Intrepid will bring rovers for Sarge to drive around.

Quadhammer is a rover (sort of), and there is a spot in forward Q bay for a small one. I haven't made on yet but will probably throw something together.

2 hours ago, soundnfury said:

It gets even more complicated.  See, I reckon the right terminology to use is not from ships, but from airships.  At least on the R.101, rather than a helmsman, there were two coxswains, the rudder cox'n and the elevator cox'n.  Admittedly, that was because the controls were large, mechanical, and took a lot of effort to move (so a single person couldn't manage both).  But since the Intrepid can move in three dimensions (like an airship) rather than two (like a ship), I think the 'helmsman' should be called a cox'n.

Confusingly, at sea, a cox'n is the person in charge of a boat.  But since the Intrepid carries other vessels, it's clearly not a boat.  I think?

Yeah, ultimately I need to fall on this being only mildly military--and game command discipline:real life discipline as game physics:real life. That is, just enough to be fun, and hope my attempts don't annoy the actual soldiers, sailors, airkerbs and marines around here too much.  

[Mister Dilsby]

9 hours ago, loch.ness said:

I'd say - don't get too bogged down with the details.  It looks awesome and you're clearly having a lot of fun.

 

10 hours ago, Starhawk said:

Janeway definitely used it.

Aha! Well, if it's good enough for Kate Mulgrew it's good enough for me   Hey, command discipline in this comic is going to relate to real-life pretty much the same way physics does--that is, enough structure to play with but not quite real. 

9 hours ago, rlin said:

Hmm... I wonder if the Intrepid will bring rovers for Sarge to drive around.

There's always Quadhammer, of course. In addition I have room for a small one in forward Q bay, I haven't designed one yet to go there but I probably will.

[Geschosskopf]

10 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Aargh. Might have to retreat to Starfleet usage on this. Pretty sure Picard calls Data 'Helm' sometimes. If that fails, I suppose she could always just call him 'Dilsby'  

I believe you're correct in TNG usage, and ships and languages evolve over the centuries so I'm sure that's totally correct in the TNG universe   Also, you only have so much space in your voice balloons without obscuring too much of the picture.  I just mentioned that as we were on the subject.

1 hour ago, soundnfury said:

It gets even more complicated.  See, I reckon the right terminology to use is not from ships, but from airships.  At least on the R.101, rather than a helmsman, there were two coxswains, the rudder cox'n and the elevator cox'n.  Admittedly, that was because the controls were large, mechanical, and took a lot of effort to move (so a single person couldn't manage both).  But since the Intrepid can move in three dimensions (like an airship) rather than two (like a ship), I think the 'helmsman' should be called a cox'n.

Surface ships often have (had?) 2 as well, the helmsman at the helm (steering wheel) and the "lee helmsman" at the engine telegraph (on steam ships, just a communications device and not the actual throttle).  And old-school submarines had even more:  rudder, bow planes, stern planes, ballast tanks, and engines.

1 hour ago, soundnfury said:

Confusingly, at sea, a cox'n is the person in charge of a boat.  But since the Intrepid carries other vessels, it's clearly not a boat.  I think?

Right.  Coxswain is usually applicable to smallcraft, and is normally a job title, not a specific rating,  I guess they considered the R.101 a boat based on the gondola size, not the gasbag size.  Or perhaps flying the airship required more initiative and authority on the part of the steering hands than a ship.

See, "coxswain" traditionally has more cachet than "helmsman".  Instead of being a mere servomechanism to turn the wheel on order, coxswains had some authority of their own.  The officer specified a destination and the coxswain would make that happen by using the tiller as he saw fit and giving orders to the oarsmen.  Plus, in the absence of higher authority,the coxswain was in command of the boat and responsible for it and all aboard.

[Starhawk]

1 hour ago, Kuzzter said:

Aha! Well, if it's good enough for Kate Mulgrew it's good enough for me   Hey, command discipline in this comic is going to relate to real-life pretty much the same way physics does--that is, enough structure to play with but not quite real.

Yup, as you've pointed out, they're Mildly Military.

Happy Concerned landings

[DMSP]

Did you end up switching to the Fusion Reactors, or are you still using RTGs?

[Angelo Kerman]

Well, the Buffalo is designed to fit into the Mk3 cargo bay... Which reminds me, now that I have internal monitors that work, I can set up the crew module's monitor properly.

Edited February 14, 2016 by Angel-125

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Your mothership launch vehicle looks positively normal compared to what I cooked up for my Jool-5 mission:

 

[Mister Dilsby]

10 hours ago, Starhawk said:

Yup, as you've pointed out, they're Mildly Military.

Ah, I do appreciate when others do the troping for me  

7 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Well, the Buffalo is designed to fit into the Mk3 cargo bay... Which reminds me, now that I have internal monitors that work, I can set up the crew module's monitor properly.

Yay! But I think any additional rover needs to be smaller still--the space I'm working in is under the Jooldiver probes, in forward Q bay.

4 hours ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Your mothership launch vehicle looks positively normal compared to what I cooked up for my Jool-5 mission:

Well, you're the Mad rocket scientist, not I...

On 2/13/2016 at 5:43 PM, insert_name said:

in the next chapter it would be cool to have a good look at the intrepid

 

9 hours ago, DMSP said:

Did you end up switching to the Fusion Reactors, or are you still using RTGs?

Well, let's take a look then!

If it looks like I'm having way too much fun with this, it's because I am having way too much fun with this  

 

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Did Dilsby just sarcasm?

[Guest]

I love that ship.

[Dman979]

Krysler building? I was just at the (Kerbulan) Empire State building yesterday.

Awesome ship, btw. It just gets better and better!

 

[Just Jim]

Hey, put that helmet back on!!!  hehehe  

[Geschosskopf]

1 hour ago, Kuzzter said:

If it looks like I'm having way too much fun with this, it's because I am having way too much fun with this  

Well, how much crawfish and, more importantly, Tabasco, Zatarain's, and Tony Chacere did you pack?  Otherwise, it'll be a very long trip even with a French chef