Kerbal Space Program

[NeonSamurai]

Ah k that make sense. I often use reaction wheels on the boosters, and sometimes the stages. The weight gain isn't a whole lot (unless Delta-v needs are very tight), and they get lost with each staging. Fins can also be very useful in the lower atmosphere and I often stick em on the outer boosters.

Anyhow I have found that on some really large craft MechJeb can be a menace at times, as its maneuvering is very abrupt, which can wobble a craft to bits.

[Arclight]

Aye, thankfully I tend to brace a lot. The small cubic struts make for nice attachment points. Ring of eight of those on each stage, makes a very solid rocket. Boosters I tend to brace to the main stage at the top, and braces between the boosters on the bottom.

Not quite following that just to save as much weight as possible, but close enough:


In hindsight I should probably just have added some more fuel and thrust (radial engines maybe, but so inefficient ) on the upper stage. Shame you can't really use engine clusters in later stages; 4 of the smaller diameter ones are both more powerful and more efficient than a single Skipper.

[NeonSamurai]

You running any mods with that? Feram's Joint Reinforcement is really awesome for long rockets as it eliminates a great deal of the wobble, to the point where you hardly need any struts at all. The next patch is supposed to add some of its features.

One thing I really wish is that the game would allow each part to connect to multiple points simultaneously. The welding mod can help a lot in a few areas and increase frame rate by decreasing total part count, as it merges clusters of parts together into one big part. But it is also tricky to use. Unfortunately the game does not let us attach multiple radial separatrons to a booster stack, which would be nice to prevent some of the torquing.

[Arclight]

Nah, I try to avoid mods in general, but particularly for games that get patched regularly.

I'll grab something particularly useful or a supermod/mod pack, but I dread the days of cobbling together dozens of mods and praying to some greater power to make it work. Nevermore.

[NeonSamurai]

I understand, though to be honest that has rarely been a problem (and I generally use 20-30 mods at once). This game is not like minecraft at least when it comes to splicing things together (seriously it is nothing at all like the nightmare that is bringing mods together in minecraft). It is extremely rare that you will run into a conflict (i think it has happened twice to me, and the conflict was obvious as one mod was not working), and you don't need to do any kind of merging work or editing.

The only nuisance for me is balancing the mods, as a lot of mod makers are terrible at making mods that are balanced to stock. But ya keeping them updated can be a bit of a pain with a new release that breaks half the mods with DLLs.

Anyhow I would suggest still that you take a look, as it is one of the top must have plugins, even if playing only with stock parts. It is real simple to use, and doesn't add any parts, just a plugin, and a config.xml file.
http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/...nt-v2-1-3-7-14

That or wait for 23.x which is going to incorporate some of it's features.

[Arclight]

Aye, they said there were some Unity tweaks they heard about from Ferram going into 23.5 (ARM). Frankly I think I'll wait for the budget to come in proper before really getting back into it again. Into the career at least. Might happen for .24 but apparently more likely for a later version (rumor mill, I dunno).

Might pick up a few more useful mods for the next play though. Getting a proper readout on weight and deltaV and such, pretty darn handy. Launch windows, relative planet postions, etc.

[Gargamel]

Arc, If you're having issues with fuel economy, have you tried aerobraking into orbits?

On a entry into kerbin encounter, you can set your peri to about 45k (fold up any solar panels), and use MJ's landing predictor (show aero nodes), to estimate your api on the next orbit. Then at that api, readjust your peri to 45k again, that burn should only use a few dv. Rinse and repeat till you get a reasonable Api that you won't burn a lot of dv to circularize. I've had savings of upwards of 80% depending on the planned single manuever. Each burn, and there will be a few, should only burn a very little bit of dv each adjustment.

Every planet with an atmosphere can be orbited in this manner. A little trial and error is needed to learn the best aerobrake altitude, the KSP wiki has good info to start with.

If you are aerobraking, then maybe this can help somebody else. I use this technique even if I sent a small lander to Mun and I need to dock or have a precise landing or the return trip.

[Arclight]

Used it to some extend, sure. Generally decelerate just enough to be captured, then drop periapsis into the upper atmosphere and let the orbit deteriorate over several orbits until apoapsis is about where I want it, then circularize.

Not really an exact science in the base game though. Tricky to apply.

[NeonSamurai]

Aerobraking is even more fun with deadly reentry.

Anyhow the new patch is out!

[bertieck476]

For those who dont already own this game, steam has it on a one week sale.
£11.99.

The new patch is pretty good, haven't done any of the asteroid stuff since I had to start a new save so have been focusing getting off the ground again, however I did end up rushing towards high tier Rockets to be able to experiment with the Space Launch System inspired parts which I have to say are rather nice.


Also had an epic moment where I set a return trajectory from minmus straight into a re-entry angle, (Like I usually do) and ended up touching down near KSC.

[Fr8monkey]

Jeb gots game... BOOM SHAKALAKA!!!!

[NeonSamurai]

Suggestion of 5 must have mods for new players from Scott Manley



I agree with most of the suggestions other than procedural fairings. It is a good mod but hardly essential. Mechjeb can be handy for those learning to fly or to automate things as another suggestion (or not), enhanced nav ball would be another one (i think it is still relevant).

[Gargamel]

My laptop lags something serious, so MJ is a requirement for me. what is normally a 5 minute launch to 100k takes me about 20-25 minutes for a decent sized ship. The lag does have a big advantage in manual docking, the slow FPS rate allows for more precise control, it's kinda like time dilation. I like the fairings for appearances, but other then that, I don't see a big advantage, unless it does reduce drag (haven't watched video). Couple other mods i recommend are quantum struts, as the make building in space easier to reinforce docking ports. KW rocketry has a very nice selection of parts. MapSat is really fun, if you can get it to work. makes picking a landing site more interesting. Anybody try the update yet?

[Arclight]

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