Rune's Slightly Used Vehicles

[SG Aero]

@Rune I may try to fly that mission! I'm pretty garbage at flight currently, but I'm getting better! I finally landed on the moon after playing this game on and off for 4 years!

[Zer0-ksp]

Are you the Rune who helped with Hatbat on "Kethane Station"?

[Rune]

1 hour ago, Zer0-ksp said:

Are you the Rune who helped with Hatbat on "Kethane Station"?

Yup, I am that Rune. A shame @HatBat shorta dissapeared from the forums.

 

Rune. I had hoped to get a R-SUV themed video out of him!

[Jarin]

So how's that career going these days? You mentioned it going strong at 1.3.1. Did it survive, or are you on to new things now?

[Rune]

10 minutes ago, Jarin said:

So how's that career going these days? You mentioned it going strong at 1.3.1. Did it survive, or are you on to new things now?

Going well! This is what I am giving the final touches to right now:

One of two twin stacks (yes, I'll do all those dockings, twice), the idea is to get those two rings to the Joolian system to serve as stations around a couple of moons, and set up a reusable transportation system there, with depots and plenty of varied vehicles. The surface bases will make their own way there, and this is actually the second flotilla taking off for the Joolian system... tough the first still has a yer to go get there.

Other than that, Moho and Duna have been 'tamed' (both sport surface bases and orbital depots), and the fleet for Eve left not very long ago. Something absurd like 27 million sitting in the bank, and it is year 2, day 182.

 

Rune. The game clock actually goes slower than a RL clock tough, I don't play as much these days.

[Cupcake...]

20 hours ago, Rune said:

Going well! This is what I am giving the final touches to right now:

One of two twin stacks (yes, I'll do all those dockings, twice), the idea is to get those two rings to the Joolian system to serve as stations around a couple of moons, and set up a reusable transportation system there, with depots and plenty of varied vehicles. The surface bases will make their own way there, and this is actually the second flotilla taking off for the Joolian system... tough the first still has a yer to go get there.

Other than that, Moho and Duna have been 'tamed' (both sport surface bases and orbital depots), and the fleet for Eve left not very long ago. Something absurd like 27 million sitting in the bank, and it is year 2, day 182.

 

Rune. The game clock actually goes slower than a RL clock tough, I don't play as much these days.

Beautiful!  You even managed to get those Mk2 parts looking good.

 

Cupcake..

[Rune]

4 hours ago, Cupcake... said:

Beautiful!  You even managed to get those Mk2 parts looking good.

Thanks! But actually, the only Mk2 parts in there are on already 'old' stuff. In fact, come to think of it, if I upload a couple things (the rings and fuel tank subassemblies), I think the whole thing would be scattered around on KerbalX, awaiting assembly... and while we are at it... yeah, if you get this, and this (I've been meaning to upload those subassemblies for a while now), and you substitute the rings with older, rigid Von Brauns (there are at least two older models in there), all that you see on that pic is already on KerbalX, and you can try your hand at assembling such a stack yourself.

I think some minor OP reshuffle is in order, now that I look, the Vega isn't featured there. But in any case, as I said, all is in KerbalX for those really interested, except the excruciatingly-difficult-to-assemble-rings-that-can-fit-Mk3-payload-bays. That's their technical name. Would you guys really want those? I warn you, it's a poisoned gift, the dockings are beyond tricky.

 

Rune. OTOH, you feel really good when you get the last double dock done.

Edited December 17, 2017 by Rune

[SG Aero]

@Rune have you ever considered joining the naval battle league? I feel like you would do well in it. Also your creative use of fairings would make great armor.

[Halban]

On 15/12/2017 at 1:22 PM, Rune said:

Yup, I am that Rune. A shame @HatBat shorta dissapeared from the forums.

 

Rune. I had hoped to get a R-SUV themed video out of him!

Still here buddy! Haven't played KSP in a while but check the forums every so often. Trying to get something together for Christmas right now. After that there might still be the possibility of that video I promised. Pretty funny how long I've been saying I'd make that...

Seeing as though I'm posting I thought I might as well share this.

 

[Rune]

On 17/12/2017 at 1:08 PM, ShadowGoat said:

@Rune have you ever considered joining the naval battle league? I feel like you would do well in it. Also your creative use of fairings would make great armor.

I have in fact been a part of one of its earlier incarnations, where I sparked a debate on the rulebook by fighting with ships that counted on getting blown to pieces. These days, not so much time.

8 hours ago, HatBat said:

Still here buddy! Haven't played KSP in a while but check the forums every so often. Trying to get something together for Christmas right now. After that there might still be the possibility of that video I promised. Pretty funny how long I've been saying I'd make that...

Seeing as though I'm posting I thought I might as well share this.

Cool to hear from you! As always, keep on creating, and if that promo vid ends up getting done at some point before the heat death of the universe, that would be icing on the cake.

 

Rune. Boy do I feel old in this forum sometimes.

[SG Aero]

@Rune yeah I can understand not having enough time. The naval battle club just isn’t very active rn so it would be great to get some new people in it. Also, I once tried to use a ship like that as well and it did not go over well.

Edited December 19, 2017 by ShadowGoat

[Rune]

Merry holidays! And since yesterday was my birthday, here you go, some presents to use during all that free time to play KSP.

The first is a long-range SSTO, the newest Javelin. I will write it up and put it in the OP at some point, but basically the main thing is 20mT to LKO with 1,200m/s still in the tank, or much more with a lighter payload. And I'm not kidding when I say maximum payload, it takes it like five minutes to actually get going over 400m/s when fully loaded, so the ascent is much more pleasant with less weight so close to the nose. So there you go, a way to get payloads in a single stage to basically anywhere in 'cismunar' space, and with a few crew cabins instead of payload it can also do the standard Minmus->Solar SoI->Mun SoI.>Kerbin roundtrip, for easy training of kerbals to lvl 3 in a single flight.

https://kerbalx.com/Rune/SSTO-Mk-CIVb-Javelin

And now for the more advanced players among you, my latest ring station, the Von Braun Mk XII. Truly a creation for masochists, it is basically one of the previous stations, only broken up in sections that will fit a Mk3 payload bay. So, you know, now you can launch it legit on one of my SSTOs for very little financial cost... and the most challenging docking operations that you can dream of. Basically, the thing will only double-dock if you dock everything with less than 0.1º offset on each dock. Needless to say, the Navyfish docking alignment indicator mod is a must to even try, and SnapDock makes the whole thing bearable... when it works. If you get some issues finding/using them, feel free to ask here, I'll be glad to help you. Because, when you get it to work, the thing is just breathtaking, so totally worth it just for the pics you get during construction, with different ships bringing the pieces and tugs putting them together:

https://kerbalx.com/Rune/Von-Braun-Mk-XII

Of course, this is just the subassembly I'm offering you here, mind you. You will have to put the thing on your launcher of choice and assemble with your own tug (my Sirius and Klaw Pods do the job pretty nice, obviously). This way is the most flexible approach, IMO. And remember that if you aren't the best docker out there, I have older monolithic versions out there on KerbalX.

 

Rune. Feel free to ask questions and such, I didn't take too long to write up this post so I must have forgotten some important detail.

Edited December 25, 2017 by Rune

[SG Aero]

My my that is a nice station. Unfortunately I suck at orbital intercepts so... 

At the moment the only station I have is an asteroid mining rig with a few modules added on to it.

[Rune]

2 hours ago, ShadowGoat said:

My my that is a nice station. Unfortunately I suck at orbital intercepts so... 

At the moment the only station I have is an asteroid mining rig with a few modules added on to it.

Orbital intercept is, by far, the number one thing people have a problem wrapping their heads around (so outside everyday intuition!), so don't feel bad. That being said, correctly explained, it is actually a very easy thing to do once you finally get it and have your eureka moment. I should make a good tutorial or something, because even the guys that know how to do it on the youtubes often explain things horribly wrong, and without nice graphics, it's hard to understand. But if I had to put it in a quick post:

There are two main things to wrap your mind around to get good intercepts with ease: orbital period, and orbital inclination. Let's start with the first.

Orbital period is important, because in order for two things to rendezvous, they need to get to the same point of space, at the same point in time. That is mighty important, remember the phrase because we will come back to it. Anyhow, the key point to remember here you already probably know: higher orbits have higher periods (they rotate slower), and lower orbits have lower periods (they rotate faster). So if you want to catch up, you go low, and if you want to slow down and let yourself be caught, you go high. Only you don't. Because if you change your orbit completely, it won't cross the target orbit anymore, and you lose the close approach marker and everything. Thankfully, you can make your orbit higher or lower than the target's orbit only some of the time, by performing all orbit raising/lowering maneuvers at the point of your orbit where you cross the target's orbit. That way, that point of your orbit won't move, and if you raise Ap, next time you come back to it your target will have gained on you, or vice-versa.

And here is where the second important thing to have in mind comes into play: orbital inclination. Obviously, you want to end up with the same inclination as the target, but contrary to popular belief, inclination is not better equalized before rendezvousing, and it not a very difficult thing to use to your advantage either. See, let's go back to the important phrase of rendezvousing: 'you need to get to the same point in space, at the same time'. Now we will focus on the 'getting to the same point of space' part. Before, we talked about how it was best to do all your maneuvers at the point where your orbit crosses the target's orbit. Well, if you orbit is inclined to the target, the only way to cross its orbit is at the ascending and descending nodes. And that is good, because now you don't have to think about where you want the rendezvous to take place, the answer is always the same: wherever the node closest to the target's altitude is.

A classic rendezvous from an arbitrary orbit to any other orbit, therefore, would go like this:

1- Select the ascending/descending node closest to the target's orbit: that is where all the action will happen from now on, but first we have to make it cross perfectly the target's orbit by doing a small pro/retro burn at the opposite node.

2- Now the place for the rendezvous is set. A rendezvous marker WILL appear at the node, and all subsequent maneuvers will happen there. Look whether the next time you go through that spot your target will be in front of you, behind you, and how much.

3- A single burn at that spot is now theoretically all you need to make the next close approach the final one: if the map is showing you will get there before the target, you need to raise your orbit on the opposite side so you take more time getting back, and vice versa. Careful, if you are currently very little 'in phase' (that's the technical term, it means that the target is directly many degrees apart, for example on the other side of kerbin), you may very well have to put the Pe inside the atmosphere in order to catch up enough to it, or it might be impossible to do it in a single orbit, or it might just be very expensive on dV because you have to double your orbital period or more. Not a problem, get into any orbit with a different orbital period that still passes through that A/D node, wait some orbits, and sooner or later your orbits will come 'in phase' with a small correction (i.e: you will both get to the node where your orbits cross, that 'same point in space', at the same time).

4- When you get close to your rendezvous, just fly it 'by the ball': put the speed indicator in 'target' mode, point the ship directly retrograde, and when you are very, very close to your closest approach, just kill the relative velocity and you will neatly slide into an identical orbit to your target's, fixing inclination and everything else in a single efficient burn, and basically parking right next to the target. It's all RCS and practice from now on.

 

Rune. Remember, just two things to do, and in that order: get to the same point in space, and then do it at the same point in time.

Edited December 25, 2017 by Rune

[SG Aero]

You say that it’s a difficult concept to grasp but considering that I’ve had the game since 2013 it’s kinda disappointing that I can’t do it yet. Part of the problem might also be the fact that I don’t use maneuver nodes very often.

Edited December 25, 2017 by ShadowGoat

[Rune]

Long time no post! There are many reasons, but I will sum them up as 'life stuff'. All good tough, so no worries, it was just a matter of time for me to get back at KSP. And to celebrate, let's show off yesterday's efforts:

Shuttle replica! Always a challenge, and this time the result is very much to my liking, all thanks to the new DLC parts. Because of course you can't see it in that pretty picture, but I've found the perfect SSME equivalent: the Skiff, the supposed J-2 replica. I can already hear how you guys are thinking that I must be crazy, since there is already a SSME replica, and it has way more gimbal than the Skiff. Could very well be true. But hear me out! The Vector has just too much thrust. It doesn't need any SRBs to get up there, so you don't really use the 1.5 staging the shuttle did, in the way the shuttle did. The gimbal, on the other hand, is something that I learned to live without a long time ago (because the Vector is relatively new), and proper designing of the whole thing can make the inevitable torques of such a weird parallel stack, well... manageable. And the challenge! This is the first time in a long time that I have to tweak a design through so much trial and error. I had a blast doing it. But enough writing, let's show you the juicy details:

Look at that part count. And that is with a 30 part, 10mT station module on the bay, so the whole thing is a mere 80 parts empty. And yes, it's only because of SRB power that the thing can take off with TWR a shade above one at full power. It's only by the time the SRBs have burned out that the three 'SSMEs' can give you something approaching TWR 1. And yes, there are only two monoprop engines to complete the orbital insertion (at a realistically gentle TWR of 0,1), and I guarantee you will need to use them, because the margins are tight... That external tank ain't making it to orbit unless the payload bay is empty. And for a final, necessary touch of design, the burns of the SRB bundles is tweaked so they actually have something resembling a thrust curve, with the thrust tapering off and changing it's CoT towards the end of the burn (i:e one pair burns out before the other two so you don't spin out of control when the ET and the SRBs are almost empty). What can I say, the biggest stock SRB is way too weak to build a decent shuttle with, and this way I can simulate a thrust profile that makes the whole thing capable of holding something very close to a stable flight. I also added probe cores with action groups 5 and 20 degrees offset, so you can actually know where your thrust vector is pointing at any given time, and use autopilots and maneuver nodes and such. As a result of all this tinkering, the whole ascent is pretty much a sequence of single key presses, which is really cool: the torques from offset thrust are balanced so they almost do the whole grav-turn by themselves, you just have to help by switching autopilots and control points when appropriate.

Oh, and the most hilarious thing is, all that trying to make it work with subpar engines, 'realistic' SRBs, and tight fuel margins actually pays off: launch cost is about 40,000√ (assuming runway landing of the orbiter), and payload is 10,000kgs... price is about 4√/kg, which if you ask me is the most surprising thing about a KSP Shuttle replica. The thing is economical.

No KerbalX link yet, tough. I want to give it a couple more spins, maybe develop different SRB thrust profiles for different payloads in the bay. I have a feeling if it launches empty right now, the ascent is going to be quite different, since it walks a very narrow razor edge of stability. Also, I might work out somethign so you don't have to un-forbid fuel tanks to reserve fuel for the fuell cells (you didn't think I would add any other power generation part on a Shuttle replica, did you? ) Instead, have more pretty pictures, starting with proof of orbit, and ending with proof of full mission roundtrip without reload:

 

 

Rune. Of course I was going to use the space race parts to build something completely unrelated to the space race era... I also have a semi-inflatable, Von Braun-style ring in the works.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Rune

[selfish_meme]

Welcome back Rune!  Nice Shuttle! 

I too thought the Vector was overpowered. I developed a mini shuttle mod that consisted of just some MM scripts to copy and  better balance the Vectors and kickbacks and resize a few parts to make the tanks out of stock bits. Plus with firespitter add some colour options.

[Dafni]

Welcome back man!

Great replica, and nice post too. Appreciate having you around again.

[Rune]

You guys make me feel all warm and fuzzy, as always.

Also, a few of you have already found out the Shuttle is already on KerbalX, but for the rest of you forumnites, here you go, the thing:

https://kerbalx.com/Rune/Kerbal-Transportation-System

It's got some minor tweaks, and a craft description that you should totally read. The flight manual, in particular, is pretty precise... it is supposed to be flown to orbit without touching WASD, after all.

And while we are at it, I can show you the WiP 'inflatable' ring station. I'm not totally happy with it, too many sections and it still doesn't look as round as I'd like. Meaning I might completely redesign, but the basic idea is sound, I think. I mean, the whole ring fits in two flights of the SSTO that carries it, and then it can fit one of them inside. So compact!

 

Rune. Putting a ring to it since... I dunno. But we are at the MkXV, at least.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Rune

[Rune]

So, the MH parts. Awesome. I like me some big bells:

Not the most game-breaking ship in the history of ever (that would've happened if I used Vectors), but pretty versatile and simple. 10mT to orbit + crew, in a relatively spacious cargo bay. Come to think of it, this can handle any one of my base modules, and it could drop them on Tylo, with some surface refueling, in a reusable way.

 

Rune. That should be useful.

Edited May 19, 2018 by Rune

[Rune]

It's taken me a while, but I've finally realized that the new inflatable airlocks could totally make better connecting tubes than the connecting tubes I used in my surface bases. Duh. Also, they would make assembly much easier, produce no litter on deployment, and make the package about 25% shorter. Yeah, sorry, not sorry, there will be a new base pack using MH parts:

 

Rune. The really bad part is now I have 10+ bases, from Moho to Eeloo, with obsolete docking standards. Time to launch some more, I guess.

[Raptor9]

1 hour ago, Rune said:

The really bad part is now I have 10+ bases, from Moho to Eeloo, with obsolete docking standards. Time to launch some more, I guess.

Hey Rune, welcome back.  Yeah, it's always facepalming to see the old stations and base designs in a save when you upgrade everything.

[Rune]

On 6/1/2018 at 7:48 PM, Raptor9 said:

Hey Rune, welcome back.  Yeah, it's always facepalming to see the old stations and base designs in a save when you upgrade everything.

Imagine if you had been on the same save since before 1.0... Sometimes even I don't know what's going on in there.

But we persevere, because it's fun. And speaking of fun, this ring building mania might be a lot of it, but it is also a kraken magnet. I guess I am doing way more dockings than the game is meant to handle. Still, with Dock Rotate, the only issue is quicksaving enough and minding the autostrutting, not docking with the precision of a neurosurgeon. Thank Kod for that. Because they do look very pretty.

 

Rune. Still, I am not 100% convinced on the inflatable airlocks. What do you guys think?

[Rune]

Out with the old, in with the new! Two flights, a plain-as-it-comes Base-In-A-Box pack, plus the new SSTO doing some trial runs with expansion modules. The base in the background is an old one, of course. I think the rocketship can do the roundtrip to Mun and back for zero net fuel, provided the ongoing refuel on the surface and a depot on LKO to get things started. Much cheap, very fun. And just you wait until I show you guys the KAS crane action tomorrow!

 

Rune. So much easier to assemble...

Edited June 5, 2018 by Rune

[Rune]

As promised, some KAS crane action:

About as much fun as I remember it! And it may not be necessary for munar operations, but the trick will surely come in handy in, say, Tylo. KAS/KIS definitely is the mod I would include with the base game (KER would maybe be the other one, but people fear numbers, so I get that). So much extra gameplay!

 

Rune. Also, 185 parts in that pic. Yes, a 10mT chemical SSTO, docked to a base with eight connected modules. Still only 185 parts.