So I'm loving .90, except...

[Kardea]

"Beta than Ever" is great. I'm not arguing that in the slightest. The features and changes it added really bring a lot of fun to the game. However... the change to SAS modules seems more like a bug than a feature. I understand that Pilot kerbonaut is needed to provide the "direction-hold" style SAS early on, which makes perfect sense. That being said, I unlocked the Advanced Inline Stabilizer (old "ASAS") early on so that I can take Engineers and Scientists up early in the game without having to have a multi-crewed craft. When I get on the pad, though, I get the whole "You don't have SAS functionality because you don't have a Pilot or SAS module installed" message. The fact that the message mentions having an "SAS Module" implies to me that you're supposed to be able to activate SAS if you have the module installed, but I can't find anything that appears to actually provide SAS functionality other than having an actual Pilot aboard. Is there something I'm missing? Kind of frustrating...

For the record, here's what I'm working with:

[Levelord]

From what I understand the 'SAS' module provides the torque needed to steer the craft, while the pilot provides the control inputs for the torque.

Basically, the pilot enables you to hold a heading while the SAS simply makes the steering force of the craft stronger.

[Superfluous J]

You're missing that the Advanced Inline Stabalizer isn't a SAS module. SAS modules include (exclusively as far as I know) probe cores.

SAS is not the reaction wheels, which the Stabalizer provides. SAS is the computer that controls the ship and holds it steady without a pilot present, and that's where the probe cores come in.

[Mesons]

From reading the FAQ posted by Rowsdower, my interpretation is that the modules like the one you have installed should not be called SAS or ASAS modules, but rather simply "reaction wheels." Reaction wheels contained in the part is how they provide torque, and since even before (at least since I've been playing beginning in 0.21) these parts did not provide the "direction-hold" SAS function, I think they are due for a re-naming.

In short, no, you need a pilot or a probe core with SAS capability.

[sumrex]

Oddly enough .90 is irritating to bejesus out of me. Survey quests suck. can launch this need money overweight need money lack of missions with meaningful pay for upgrades on Normal..... Irritating Irritating Irritating Cant even EVA when every science point counts...

[Hodo]

I am just waiting for all of my mods to update so I can roll it over. The short amount of time I messed with it currently wasnt that bad. It was pretty simple but seeing as I mostly use SSTO space planes or just planes in general it wasn't all that bad to me. My F-116 Akula still loaded fine and flew just fine so I was able to fly around and do things. Granted the first thing I did was update the SPH and the runway. Then I uninstalled it and rolled back to .25. LOL.

[katateochi]

as we're on the subject of craft control, anyone notice that the pilot controls behave like an old (ancient) version of mechjeb used to and constantly burns power and RCS?

Not when on stability assist mode, but on all the others. Its most obvious if you switch on RCS and tell the craft to hold prograde. The craft vibrates and pumps RCS out of all the ports, consuming both power and RCS at pretty much full drain.

I just started a support thread on that here

Not to besmirch the devs, but I do find it a bit odd that they didn't make use of the existing solution from MechJeb (coders mantra about not re-inventing the wheel and all that).

[Ziff]

What used to be SAS and ASAS units are now Reaction Wheels. They're called either inline stabilizers or small inline reaction wheel. They are NOT SAS units. The only thing that hold a craft's orientation are Pilot Kerbals and Probes that feature the SAS ability. It actually says "Stability Assist" on them. Some can even hold pro/retrograde.

[Whirligig Girl]

They need to change "SAS Modules" to "Probe Cores"

In fact, I think the whole phrase "SAS" or "Stability Augmentation System" is simply a holdover term and should be phased out. Replace with "Piloting Assistance" or "Stability Assist"

For now, let's say that SAS now stands for "Stability Assistance Scheme".

[SkyRender]

Oddly enough .90 is irritating to bejesus out of me. Survey quests suck. can launch this need money overweight need money lack of missions with meaningful pay for upgrades on Normal..... Irritating Irritating Irritating Cant even EVA when every science point counts...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed that 0.90 has kind of upped the tedium factor of the early game by several magnitudes. I think the building prices are the main culprit, since their upgrades lock away basic features like EVA and surface samples, not to mention the ability to make a craft capable of something more impressive than a Kerbin orbiter. Having to save up millions of Funds just to unlock basic gameplay functionality when you're getting 50,000 Funds from a particularly rewarding contract is not really very fun, is it?

[LethalDose]

I don't really agree with the decision to require pilots or probe cores, but not give us 1.25m 2-kerbal pods.

Haven't spent a lot of time playing it yet. From what I've seen, the unlock thresholds seem kinda... goofy. Seems like more levels of the upgrades would make more sense, so that first one could be slightly less expensive, but yield more goodies. Going from 18 tons to 140 ish seems like a big effective jump.

They were discussing 5 levels of upgrades, but then seem to have shoved everything into 3 now...

And some things don't need to be locked behind upgrades. *Preset* Action groups at VAB 2? REALLY!?

[Superfluous J]

I don't really agree with the decision to require pilots or probe cores, but not give us 1.25m 2-kerbal pods.

Totally agree. I've been playing a single save since 90 dropped and I have a great pilot in Jeb but have barely used Bill or Bob.

Haven't spent a lot of time playing it yet. From what I've seen, the unlock thresholds seem kinda... goofy. Seems like more levels of the upgrades would make more sense, so that first one could be slightly less expensive, but yield more goodies. Going from 18 tons to 140 ish seems like a big effective jump.

They were discussing 5 levels of upgrades, but then seem to have shoved everything into 3 now...

This is partially the fault of us not having the "Barn" tier available, which would have given us 4 tiers total. When we have 5 full tiers for all buildings I expect things to be more smooth.