Is there some little design quirk you build into every vehicle?

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

I'm not talking about over-arching themes like modular, or streamlined, or reusable. I mean some little combination of parts you put on just so you know its yours.

For me: Everything needs a probe core, usually a fullsize Hecs, that probe cobe must have an antenna, and that antenna must be off-center.

How 'bout you

[sardia]

A service bay with a probe core, antenna, mechjeb, a thermometer, and a KIS storage box. Sometimes I'll add monopropellant or extra battieries/solar panels, but that's standard on my ships.

[Renegrade]

I usually sink an OCTO or QBE into most of my craft via clippy haxing~

My 1-man lander cans usually feature an off-center antenna, on the corner just to the left (and above) of the door (left when facing the can, it would be on the right when exiting the can).  I'll usually put a similar antenna, facing upwards, slightly to the left of the parachute on the top of a mk1 pod on a science-gathering one-shot vessel.  A similar antenna appears on most of my rovers, although with a sporty backwards tilt.

Some other quirks is that I don't ever re-enter landing cans of either type (the description implies it's not rated for that even with a shield), and I use probe cores as thrust plates on very small ships heh.

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

2 hours ago, Renegrade said:

A similar antenna appears on most of my rovers, although with a sporty backwards tilt.

OH I do that too!

[Findthepin1]

If it doesn't have an RTG I'm not flying it.

[I_Killed_Jeb]

My basic antennas pretty much always get mounted flush and in-line with the ship. Same with RTGs. Dunno why, just satisfies me haha

 

I also arrange my science parts in a rather specific way to minimize EVA movements

[cubinator]

I have a pretty standard command pod/reentry vehicle. It's a 2.5 m command pod, with a Science Jr on top, and a 1.25 m parachute on top of that. A 2.5 m heat shield underneath, and a radial drogue chute on the main parachute. I attach whatever science payloads I can fit next to the ladder so that it's easy to EVA and get to them quickly. I may also attach a few static solar panels to the sides of the pod too.

[dangerhamster]

As soon as the parts are unlocked I put a monoprop powered braking system on my re-entry units. Just for those "does the horizon look lumpy to you Jeb moments".

[n.b.z.]

Used on every vehicle:
1. Probe core for unmanned testing
2. RTG policy: see Findthepin1 above
3. Some antenna, just for looks. On spaceplanes, I usually mount the pointy Cummunotron 16 on the tip, and hook it up to the gear group. This way, retracting the gear increases the pointy look of the craft more than usual.

Used often, but not always:
4. Another RTG or two, if reasons such as reaction wheel spamming are present
5. Another probe core or two, for reasons that I've always planned to write a post about, which I never did. EDIT: I now did this.

Edited May 2, 2016 by n.b.z.

[worir4]

Lights! Lots and lots of lights everywhere! 

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

OK people I just realized this entire thread fails w/o pics. 

I get some by morning

[GoSlash27]

Nothing comes to mind that marks my vehicles as uniquely "mine" other than what my engineering style imposes upon them. They're never bigger or more expensive than they need to be to get the job done and I make no allowances for aesthetics... so I guess that's my hallmark: Small, cheap, and crude.

*edit* If my ships had a theme, it would look like this:

Best,
-Slashy

Edited May 1, 2016 by GoSlash27

[Ozymandias_the_Goat]

Inevitably forgetting something

[I_Killed_Jeb]

4 hours ago, cubinator said:

radial drogue chute on the main parachute

genius

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

For me, 2. Drouge chutes if you have parachutes, and an MRS Radial Probe Core or MechJeb on all manned spacecraft

[flatbear]

accidentally putting on something backwards. (an unintentional quirk/mistake)

 

Does anyone know how to hack the bottom docking port to flip around? I didnt realize it was on backwards until I was already in orbit... D:

Edited May 1, 2016 by flatbear

[I_Killed_Jeb]

1 hour ago, flatbear said:

accidentally putting on something backwards. (an unintentional quirk/mistake)

Does anyone know how to hack the bottom docking port to flip around? I didnt realize it was on backwards until I was already in orbit... D:

Not the most elegant solution, but something I've done in the past to cheat/rectify a post-launch discovery of a screw-up is -

open the exact craft that was launched in the editor

fix/add the desired part

save craft

open up the craft file as well as the persistence file

locate the ship in question in the persistence file, and paste over the relevant bits from the newly edited craft file

voila

[flatbear]

2 hours ago, I_Killed_Jeb said:

Not the most elegant solution, but something I've done in the past to cheat/rectify a post-launch discovery of a screw-up is -

open the exact craft that was launched in the editor

fix/add the desired part

save craft

open up the craft file as well as the persistence file

locate the ship in question in the persistence file, and paste over the relevant bits from the newly edited craft file

voila

how does this work with staging? is it already factored into the persistent files or do you get rid of all the unnecessary stages (boosters and stuff) when you edit the craft again?

[AbacusWizard]

Kerbal Inventory System would also work. Send an engineer (with some helpers, if it's more than 1 ton) to detach that part, then flip it while re-attaching.

[cubinator]

3 minutes ago, I_Killed_Jeb said:

genius

Putting it there sideways makes it discreet as well as useful.

[mrclucks]

I tend to try to make every thing vertically symmetrical.  4x symmetry is basically a religious thing for me, Unless it's a bigger part like scansats scanners.  Even antennas will be 4x because I think it looks better.

For small probes and landers, I try to make everything as compact, and close together, as possible and will use a little bit of part clipping but nothing too big(usually makes the craft more expensive and heavier, but making an interplanetary probe that can fit inside a 3.75 m service bay is oddly satisfying

[cantab]

https://flic.kr/p/GbwT2K

See the "blister" holding the reaction wheel and battery? That's something I put on a lot of rockets, usually to mount a probe core (including on this rocket, round the other side) on either the first or second stage in a way that's aerodynamically streamlined but not completely hidden. Controlling from that probe core during ascent reduces SAS overcompensation when the rocket flexes.

[problemecium]

Everything I've built since somewhere around 0.21 is fully recoverable and reusable. Some things are meant as "permanent" installations, and thus don't include parachutes, but I always make sure these can continue operating indefinitely, for example by including retractable solar panels (ever since the unshielded ones were made non-retractable I haven't used them once), so that eventually if I decide to decommission it I can just use a Klaw and a wad of parachutes to recover it.

I don't like three- and six-sided symmetry on my ships for some reason, and thus always go with two, four, or eight sides.

I tend to overuse the Offset tool if for no other reason than to make sure all surface-mounted parts are aligned to "the grid."

[LordKael]

I add either a KAS port or a Docking port Jr. to every vessel that has a Kerbal on it, for emergency resupplies. Likewise, no Kerbaled vehicle can be Klawed to.

 

[Shadowsteps]

Not sure if this is what you were going for but: Any time I attach SRB's (or separating, radial boosters of any kind) i put the decoupler at the top of the booster, instead of at the middle and attach a strut at the bottom.