Just doing some testing of the Duna Explorer, just to see that it works.
If it works on Duna is another matter. :O:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/872...explorer01.jpg

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4...explorer02.jpg

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3...explorer03.jpg

arrrghh.... cant get my paypal account renistated fast enough..... lol

sooo many issues w/ .13....... need real thing......

.13?

Gee... you´ll get a heart attack of happiness when you fire up 18.2... its like a new game! And worth every penny...

It really is worth it. My only issue is I'm of the the ppl getting the "crash on second launch" bug. I either have to turn the graphics all the way down or it'll crash if I launch something, go back into the vehicle assembly bay, then try to launch something else.

Edit: Solved it, just had to reinstall my video card drivers.

Finally managed to bring my core station, Big Bender into an stable orbit.
I didn't expect that upon decoupling, Bender became debris. I thought an ASAS would be sufficent to let it be controled. Apparently I forgot to put a command part on it. :damn:

As Bender is basically a huge fuel-tank, I had to put him between the stages rather than on top of the rocket, where he loved to wobble around uncontrollably.

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/6454/bender1f.png

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5082/bender2.png

...is that...

Why yes it is. Well there's one thing I didn't expect in space :huh:

Yes bought it the other day.

But..... my laptop can barely handle it. Loading to launch pad takes longer than SH3 w/ GWX :o.

I'm going to rebuild my gaming rig soon (Don't ask how my Raid 5 array fried, just dont), so that should solve those issues.

I've gotten to where I can get a fairly circular orbit (+- 750m @ 85,000m).

Next onto parking into a specific orbit, to setup for rendezvous.

Wow that sounds horrible. I would die in agony if KSP would load so long for me. Specially when you just forget a tiny detail and want to just restart...

Out of curiosity... How did your Raid 5 array got fried? :hmmm:

Kerbal loading times are very quick for me. In fact, I've logged a considerable amount of time in-game over the past few weeks and haven't had a single glitch. Phenominal for a game in alpha.

It's definitely my machine, which is below the recommended specs, so what do you expect? I have to make course corrections in map mode, as the lag is too great in any other view.

:nope:

What I have learned about designing aircraft in KSP....

First of all throw out just about everything you may know about aircraft design, most of it doesn't apply here.

Always try to put your center of lift on or close to your center of gravity (this makes the aircraft far more stable and control-ably agile in the air)
http://imageshack.us/a/img836/2141/screenshot11zc.png

Canards are the spawn of satan, particularly on small craft (unless you really like flipping over and over and over out of control most of the time)
http://imageshack.us/a/img831/3420/screenshot6mh.png

Learn all the controls for building, particularly the one that rotates parts by 5 degree notches (hint it involves the shift key)
http://imageshack.us/a/img827/8759/screenshot9dz.png

Don't be afraid to layer your wings right on top of each other, the game doesn't care about aerodynamics much (I actually ignored this craft for about 15 minutes and it was still flying on it's own, just was doing slow loops over and over and over)
http://imageshack.us/a/img805/3553/screenshot7dr.png

landing gear can be a royal pain (particularly with one size, small) and can cause your aircraft to skitter around/crash on the runway during takeoff/landing if placed wrong. It is also difficult to place them without making it very likely you will tail-slap the runway
http://imageshack.us/a/img825/7834/screenshot10b.png

Ailerons are useless to super dangerous. They tend to interfere with climbing and diving, and make your plane hyper sensitive in rolls as the game does not separate the two and will use ailerons to climb and elevators to roll (for example with this plane, which I use as an example of a well built plane below, I could not get off the ground once I put on ailerons).
http://imageshack.us/a/img594/2690/screenshot15w.png

Fuel drains from front to back, which can seriously unbalance your aircraft as you fly. You pretty much have to manually transfer fuel forward in flight, or design your craft so that the fuel is mostly in line and drains inward using pipes

This for example would be a well designed plane, it is very stable and balanced and has good control characteristics.
http://imageshack.us/a/img26/8807/screenshot14ht.png

It is made out of:
1 mk1 cockpit
4 mk1 fuselage
3 small gear bay
2 delta wing
2 structural pylon
2 xm-g50 radial air intake
3 av-r8 winglet


So why would you want to use planes and not rockets? Well they are incredibly fuel efficient, and very cheap to use and they can be made 100% reusable.

Downsides though is that the selection of stock parts is pathetic (get mods), and these are the most difficult to design type of craft in the game.

They really work hard to make this game the best it can be. I love the team. Its like every month or two is a new big update and its like christmas all over again :) Anything thats majorly broken they fix ASAP and get it out there.

I've tweaked the settings to the absolute minimums, and the ship is now flyable in '3d' view, but map view is so much smoother, I do most of the steering from that view.

Couple questions:

Is there an autopilot mod? Or some feature I'm not seeing? I'd like ot specify a certain orbit, and have the computer do it for me. I can circularize my orbit, but not very well.

Mass Fraction? In the payloader tool, it says 95-99 MF is normal, 90-95 is either super effecient or wrong, <90 isnt going anywhere. I just orbited a 9.5t payload at a MF of .863. Am I not understanding MF correctly, or did I just hit the jackpot with a great design?

look up MechJeb. It's the autopilot your looking for.

Cant get it to install?

Unzipped the 3 folders to the correct spots, I think, but I see no difference in the game.... any help?