Kerbal Space Program 1.8: “Moar Boosters!!!” Grand Discussion Thread

[Wolf Baginski]

I am going to stay in Sandbox mode, might try landing something on the Mun, but I don't feel I can trust launch/reentry until after the bugfixes. I am not sure why heat/drag changed, it's not all bad, but capsules come in hot and fast, and stock parachutes suddenly feel inadequate.

 

[Guest]

On 10/23/2019 at 1:53 PM, Maxamaicus said:

Any reason why the shrimp and mite SRBs are so weak? They have less max thrust than two separatron SRBs.

Very disappointing because I wanted to make a massively down-scaled shuttle, but two of those boosters can't get a FL-T800 tank off the ground

15 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

It's not that they're low, it's that the sepratron is high.

I've not used them except in testing but they seem fine. You're not going to use them to lift a Falcon Heavy off the ground but for tiny craft they perform as I'd expect.

They do seem weak for their propellant content, making burn times long. Kerbin ascent typically takes a little over 2 minutes (not to circularise, just attain an exoatmospheric apoapsis), and when you have SRBs that burn for a full minute it's a bit weird because that's usually only shortly before the first core stage drops too. At Kerbal scale, SRBs ought to burn for 30-45 seconds. The long burn times appear to be intentional though, as they're balanced for higher Isp than normal, and the FM1's description suggests it is intended to do double duty as both a liftoff engine and vacuum kickmotor. I would still boost their thrusts to 25 and 60 kN, or at least 18 and 40 kN.

For reference, some equivalent modded SRBs have at least double the thrust: RLA's Boostertrons I & II have 40 and 80 kN (but approx. 3x dry mass and 30 lower Isp), and the SpaceY 05S has 150kN with much decreased burn time (the idea is you can thrust limit it for longer burns). Of course these are mods and the balance starts to wander off everywhere when you involve mods, but these are at least some data points for what stats other players felt were appropriate.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Guest

[Laie]

22 hours ago, Rocket Witch said:

They do seem weak for their propellant content, making burn times long.

Oooh. that's a shame.

I haven't looked at 1.8 yet and hence have no techical data at hand, but I had high hopes that they might be "a better flea" -- suitable e.g. for a JATO rocket.

[Guest]

deleted

Edited March 29, 2020 by Guest

[Lisias]

15 hours ago, said:

Broken mouse wheel, broken textures at KSC, and broken altimeter. 

I don't think this is Linux related. I'm on MacOS, and I have issues with the Altimeter (and Staging) too. I also have a glitch on one of the loading screens (I'm betting something converted from the DX9 times?). I didn't noticed a serious flaw on KSC, but perhaps it's something you had set up that I don't.

What you are getting is something like this?

Spoiler

This happened when I set Texture Quality to 1/8th:

Spoiler

And this also happened when the loading Screen:

Spoiler

I think it's related to the image MIP Maps being used when it should not - or plain missing maps for 1/8th in some cases. This should affect everybody, not only Linux (or Macs)

Edited October 27, 2019 by Lisias
changed one of the images for a better one.

[Jesusthebird]

Instead of a black screen when loading to a flight scene..we should have artwork. anyone else agree? I think itd be a a small and subtle immersive improvement. I know it doesnt last very long...But at least its something to look at

[Guest]

deleted

Edited March 29, 2020 by Guest

[jimmymcgoochie]

The new terrain is infuriatingly crashy. I started a new career due to Ar-mod-geddon and pretty much every time I switch to anything on the Mun or Minmus, or do an EVA, or land on them, the game will crash within a few minutes or even seconds. I've tried dialling the new terrain down to minimum (strangely there are 6 settings for terrain now- low, default and 4x high) and disabling scatters (what are scatters? those annoying rocks that keep popping up with the halos around them at a distance?) but it made no difference. There have been cases where the terrain would flicker as if there were shadows glitching across its surface, and shadows themselves seem to switch between massively pixellated and incredibly sharp without any obvious reason. It's either one of two types of crash- the game freezes, but pressing F5 to save seems to work and pressing escape makes the cursor change and stops the music as if the menu had appeared; or I get a Unity error page which has a loading bar that never goes beyond about 25%. Either way, a game reboot is required. Kerbin is unaffected by all these issues so I have to assume it's the new terrain to blame, which is a shame because when it works it looks fantastic!

I can see the staging menu fine in map view but pressing space to stage does nothing, is that intended/is there a key bind I haven't set? I've had a lot of instances where dropping out of warp in map view would leave the ship unresponsive to controls and I'd have to go back out of map view then switch the probe core to hibernate and off again to get it to work (for crewed ships it usually wakes up again once out of map view). The ability to actually see the staging in map view is an improvement though, as is (re)assigning action groups on the fly, and the correction of a few #autoLOC_(load of numbers) which popped up every now and again.

The new boosters look nice, but are quite expensive and too heavy for use with anything but a level 3 launch pad (pretty pricey when you turn the difficulty up to maximum) meaning they're only useful for later in the career and possibly a bit too far to the left in the tech tree- bumping them a node to the right would mean they got unlocked when you could actually use them.

And now for a couple of things I'd like in the next update:
- Custom paint jobs/colour schemes. The standard sets are a bit boring after a while, an editor with a base pattern (plain, stripes, hoops, polka dots..?) and RGB sliders for each colour would be a great way to make your rockets truly unique. Or failing that;

- Additional paint schemes based on real rockets. There are plenty of historic NASA-type patterns but not much else- Russia/USSR, Europe (including the Arianes and Black Arrow), India and China all have a decent selection to choose from. The Rockomax and Kerbodyne stock tanks have 2 and 1 colour scheme respectively and the little tanks (oscar and the little orange round ones) have one each, it's time to give them an aesthetic upgrade.

A square Big-S spaceplane wing. We have a triangular one, but using them with the Mk3 parts you'll need more than one on each side and they don't look or work right with just triangles stuck to each other, or by using the smaller and thinner square/rectangular wing planks. A square Big-S would complete the set and make building big spaceplanes/shuttles that actually look right much easier. On a related note- ablators on the Big-S wings for an authentic space shuttle experience without burning the wings off on re-entry would be nice.

I'm relatively new to KSP but it's already my favourite game and I can't wait for the sequel!  I hope that the issues I've mentioned above get resolved soon so I can continue to enjoy the game.

[linuxgurugamer]

Do you have any mods installed?

[jimmymcgoochie]

@linuxgurugamer Nothing appearance-related, I've been using nothing but stock parts on this career and only a handful of mods none of which should affect terrain in any way. I'll try a pure stock session and see how that goes.

[linuxgurugamer]

2 minutes ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

@linuxgurugamer Nothing appearance-related, I've been using nothing but stock parts on this career and only a handful of mods none of which should affect terrain in any way. I'll try a pure stock session and see how that goes.

Check to see if you have MiniAVC installed in any directory.  Doesn't  sound like it, but the old MiniAVC on 1.8 was causing CTDs very quickly

[jimmymcgoochie]

 I thought I'd found a mod responsible for the crashes, but I removed it and after a while the game crashed again while on Minmus.   Not sure if the crash-free run with no mods at all was a fluke or indicating that something else is to blame now, looks like I'll be busy for a while.

However, after playing with the settings I've fixed the blurry shadows (shadow cascades to 4 and they're nice and sharp). 

Edited October 27, 2019 by jimmymcgoochie
This is not the mod I was looking for...

[klesh]

On 10/17/2019 at 12:37 AM, Pi_ said:

Thanks for the reply.  Unfortunately, it's gone unfixed for so long now, I don't think any amount of upvoting will make a difference. 

Ya gotta have faith!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cs3Pvmmv0E

 

Quote

=========================================v1.8.1==========================================
1.8.1 Changelog - BaseGame ONLY (see below for Making History and Breaking Ground changelog)
* Fix T-100 fuel tank clipping on surface attach node.

 

[Pi_]

 

Quote

 

On 10/16/2019 at 11:37 PM, Pi_ said:

Thanks for the reply.  Unfortunately, it's gone unfixed for so long now, I don't think any amount of upvoting will make a difference. 

 

 

2 hours ago, klesh said:

Ya gotta have faith!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cs3Pvmmv0E

 

=========================================v1.8.1==========================================
1.8.1 Changelog - BaseGame ONLY (see below for Making History and Breaking Ground changelog)
* Fix T-100 fuel tank clipping on surface attach node.

 

 

That's hilarious!  Kudos to PD after all this time.  Of course it was my original post, not the bugtracker, that prompted this fix.

 

 

 

[RealKerbal3x]

11 hours ago, Pi_ said:

Kudos to PD after all this time.

By the way, KSP is owned by Private Division, but Squad still develops it.

[SiWalder]

On 10/21/2019 at 7:12 PM, HiHoSilver28 said:

While aero changes are not inherrently bad (especially the change from the soupy atmosphere to much more like reality), with the changes made in 1.8, my rockets that were previously stable are now unstable. I'm curious if once they fix the reentry overheating, if that's related to the way the atmosphere drag physics changed with 1.8. Will fixing the overheating return the atmosphere to the way it played in 1.7?

1.8.1 is available and appears to have fixed the issue completely with both the heating and the drag.  For me at least.

Edited October 30, 2019 by SiWalder

[Traffodil]

I'm still getting the /serenity hang issue, but it works fine if I delete Mechjeb2 (2.9.0.0) on KSP v1.8.1. 

Problem is, all my ships around the system that have MJ2 now won't load... along with one crewed capsule that's on a 30 year orbit around Kerbol.. My last save was at year 28

I've lost around 20 ships/rovers/sats.

All my mods are up to date now too... any advice? Thx.

[MechBFP]

1 hour ago, Traffodil said:

I'm still getting the /serenity hang issue, but it works fine if I delete Mechjeb2 (2.9.0.0) on KSP v1.8.1. 

Problem is, all my ships around the system that have MJ2 now won't load... along with one crewed capsule that's on a 30 year orbit around Kerbol.. My last save was at year 28

I've lost around 20 ships/rovers/sats.

All my mods are up to date now too... any advice? Thx.

Did you update Firespitter as well?

[HiHoSilver28]

8 hours ago, SiWalder said:

1.8.1 is available and appears to have fixed the issue completely with both the heating and the drag.  For me at least.

I just tested reentry with my spaceplane and it seems to be fixed for this issue. I think the aerodynamics are still different between 1.7.3 -> 1.8.1, but it's no longer a game breaking issue. I was also having stability issues with fairing launches and I want to test that out next.

Edit: I tested a launch with a 1.7.3 vehicle that had major stability issues in 1.8.0 and it flew fine. I think they fixed the aero issues, which makes me happy! I've been playing 1.7.3 until this got fixed.

Edited October 31, 2019 by HiHoSilver28

[Traffodil]

6 hours ago, MechBFP said:

Did you update Firespitter as well?

I don''t have this mod (I presume this is a mod?)

Thx.

[OrbitsR4Sissies]

Taught my older iMac 2013 with nVidia new tricks with a upgrade to 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. 
And then updated to 1.8.1 (skipped 1.8). 
Oh, my. I may never leave the Mun. The textures, the speed. 
Nice work, Squad. I know bug catching is a pain, but I’m happy to wait until I can enjoy stuff like this. 

[pslytely psycho]

I bought KSP at version 0.13 what, 7  years ago in pre-alpha. No docking, No EVA, No Valentina. This is the most played game I have ever had. Hundreds of hours before it moved to Steam, over 1500 hours since it went on Steam Greenlight. It pioneered early access. Now, around 4 years after release, we are still getting quality updates to the game. I knew an hour into the original demo that this game was something very special. Thanks for improving what I consider to be the best game I ever played. No game is perfect, but this comes very, very close.

I'm still amazed.

KSP2 is going to have some mighty big shoes to fill.

Edited November 1, 2019 by pslytely psycho

[Aaron11]

Why I can't log all solidbooster in 1.8.0 and 1.8.1?

[BezKartuza]

Hello.
Look at the screenshot of the icon with the kerbanauts. You can see the sunlight inside the cab. But they are inside the fairing.
Game Version 1.8.1

[OrbitsR4Sissies]

13 hours ago, Aaron11 said:

Why I can't log all solidbooster in 1.8.0 and 1.8.1?

KSP 1.8 alone adds most of the new boosters.

But you'll need the Making History DLC to get an additional booster.

If this isn't your question, try rephrasing and clarifying for us, or check the Technical Support thread if you think the issue may be a bug.

(Update: Poster's question now appears in Technical Support, so never mind.)

Edited November 2, 2019 by OrbitsR4Sissies