Greetings To All

[Aivoh]

Hello,

I've been playing vanilla .25 KSP about a week now and I'm absolutely hooked!

Spending hours on end zoned out, how did I not discover this game sooner?

My apologies if this is a bit of a run on post as it is a greeting, a progress report

and a few mod questions.

Bio

I'm a 30 something re-married husband and father in the Eastern US,

my hobbies mainly include PC Gaming and PC Hardware.

My previous MMO or sandbox games include DaoC (pre-EA), Eve and Wurm Online,

with brief time spent on Age Of Conan, Star Wars Galaxies, and Stra Trek Online

to name a few.

Progress so far:

I've tried some sandbox and some career mode.

Thanks to Scott Manley videos I've achieved orbit, traveled to the mun and orbited the mun.

Thanks to KSP Planner I have achieved a more successful and efficient stage 1.

(Edit: Also Tiberions Stock Parts Costs and Balance Spreadsheet for 0.24 and metaphors A more accurate delta-v map)

(Edit: I just rechecked the stats for the parts I was using in .25)

I however have not landed my unmanned science probe on the mun I have crashed, flipped and tipped over and over.

I realized that there is a horizontal velocity after my first crash which I can get down to around 30 m/s.

My second crash I redesigned my craft to have a shorter wider design.B

But I can't seem to control my vertical & horizontal velocitys well enough to avoid crashing or tipping and crashing.

My unmanned science probe if your curious.

Stage 1 Lunar Lander http://s28.postimg.org/iqisawbx9/002.pngStage 2 Travel to Mun http://s1.postimg.org/mca4vrvlr/003.png

Stage 3 Orbit http://s28.postimg.org/svm1e7jvh/004.png

MOD Observations & Questions

I've perused the form and mod sections a bit, noticed there are more mods in the forum than on curse

and there are so, so many mods huge packs is there anywhere else I should be looking at mods?

I am wondering if someone might help point me to mods that might suit a few desires.

1. Is there a mod someone can point me to that enlarges or replaces this gauge?

At 1920x1080 I find it very difficult to read.

2. Are there mod alternatives or more design friendly versions of PB-NUK and Mystery Goo container?

Their current design for placement balance and sleek design is difficult and irritating.

3. Is there a multi-point connector in between the size of the "Not-Rockomax Micronode" and "Rockomax Hubmax Multi-Point Connector"?

There is a lack of a multi point connector in between the Micro and Max sizes.

4. Landing gear is their a more crash tolerant landing gear mod?

Currently I am using the LT-2 Landing Strut.

Lastly is there a hot key or faster way to quit?

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and\or reply to my post.

I love this game!

Edited November 16, 2014 by Aivoh

[SRV Ron]

For landing, use the Navball readout for meters/second in Surface mode. To counter drift, use the WSAD keys to tilt the craft towards the retro marker as you slow down to under 10m/s descending. When you can get your craft and the retro marker lined up with vertical, you will have the horizontal drift under control. This takes practice to perfect. You will eventually reach the point where you can land using far less fuel then in your first attempts. Ideal landing speed, under 5m/sec with nearly zero drift. The retro is drifting in the photo below but at the descent rate well under 2 meters almost at touchdown, it can be ignored.

In this Mun example, descent speed was so slow that the drift could also be ignored.

Practice your first landings on the seas of Minmus. The low gravity and altitude of zero in the flat seas will make landing much easier there. Once you get good at that, you can then attempting landing on the slopes of Mun where the altitude readings will be meaningless.

Edited November 16, 2014 by SRV Ron

[Pecan]

1. Is there a mod someone can point me to that enlarges or replaces [the VSI]?

2. Are there mod alternatives or more design friendly versions of PB-NUK and Mystery Goo container?

3. Is there a multi-point connector in between the size of the "Not-Rockomax Micronode" and "Rockomax Hubmax Multi-Point Connector"?

4. Landing gear is their a more crash tolerant landing gear mod?

Lastly is there a hot key or faster way to quit?

1. Several mods provide a lot of information that is not available or only poorly-presented in the stock game. The three best-known information mods are KER (Kerbal Engineer Redux), MJ (MechJeb) and VOID (name too long to type). Amongst other things these will give you detailed figures for vertical and horizontal velocity separately, which is particularly useful for landing. They will also give you altitude above ground, rather than above (arbitrary) 'sea level' which is all the stock altimeter displays. You may prefer TinyGuages or another mod which provides 'instruments' rather than a its own display-window/area.

2. I don't know of any mods which replace the Mystery Goo and other science objects but there are several which add others. The PB-NUK doesn't seem too hard to place except on very small probes but I will offer the construction tip most of us adopt sooner or later - Cubic Octagonal Struts. They attach almost anywhere and provide a new attachment node for anything you are having trouble fitting. In the end, if it was easy it wouldn't be fun.

3. Struts again. Fit anything, anywhere. The Hubmax is not used as often as you'd think and the micronode is a pretty rare part.

4. Struts, and especially girders. To be honest, there are mods like http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/99660-0-25-Adjustable-Landing-Gear-v1-0-1-Nov-9 but landing better is usually the solution, not just creating indestructible gear. Girders have a very high impact-tolerance and can be added if you wish but are also generally more useful for stability than impact.

[Aivoh]

Next Question.

I run Windows 7 64 Bit and bought \ play KSP via steam so how do I know if it is running in 32 or 64 bit mode?

Secondly if it is running in 64 bit, how do I force it to 32 bit?

Thanks

[Pecan]

I don't use Steam so I can't give you a definitive answer but as far as I know the default is 32-bit and you won't have to do anything. x64 is known as unstable at the moment and (AFAIK) you have to force that if you want to run the risk, rather than the other way around.