Kerbal Space Program

[CoolP 283]

the official KSP forums are a much better place.

They won't get the joke on the cfg tweaks. ^_^

[RoboRay 126]

They won't get the joke on the cfg tweaks. ^_^

 

Quite so. 

 

Anyway, I prefer conics mode 0.  It shows your future encounters around where the planets are right now instead of in the currently empty space where the planet will be when you arrive.  This lets you focus your view on the planet and see exactly where your orbit will take you. 

 

This makes precisely lining up a capture from clear across the solar system possible.  You can dial in a perfect aerobraking pass, polar orbit insertion, moon encounter, or whatever very easily from a long way off, where a few puffs of RCS are enough to do the job instead of having to fire your fuel-guzzling main engines when you reach the destination planet.

[Bjoern 1,177]

They won't get the joke on the cfg tweaks. ^_^

 

Oh, that was a joke...

[CoolP 283]

Anyway, I prefer conics mode 0.  It shows your future encounters around where the planets are right now instead of in the currently empty space where the planet will be when you arrive.

Mmm, made me think. Makes me wanna try. B)

 

eDITED: LOOKING GOOD: Oops, still in KSP mode. :blush:

[RoboRay 126]

After taking some time off, I knuckled down and finished the movie.  I've decided to not go back and fix the little problems in it as I've been working on it for months and with the holidays coming up and my spare time ever declining, it would probably take months more to polish it to perfection.  I think it's in a state that accomplishes my goals, warts and all, and is "good enough" for someone's first film project. 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

All mods used are listed in the closing credits.

The craft file is available for download here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14176520/Falcon%20III.craft

Note:  This movie was filmed in KSP 0.21 using the versions of the mods available at that time.  I have not tested this craft in 0.22 or with newer versions of those mods (if any).  If you have issues loading the craft, please ask for help here.

[CoolP 283]

Great video and I'm glad they made it home. Even pretty close to the KSC, huh? You should see my landings, I'm happy when I hit the right planet. :wacko:

 

Thanks for the craft file, I guess I'll add the correct mods soon and test it in the sandbox. Surely serves as an inspiration for my clumsy designs.

[rbruvoll 0]

Nice to see others here that enjoy flying above the atmosphere too.

 

By no means an expert at the game, but got good knowledge about the principles of spaceflight, and have three stations, a dozen or so landings on Mun and way too much gametime to show for. 

 

Havent read through all the pages in this thread so this might already be suggested, but to spice up the game and make it more enjoyable and realistic I suggest the following mods:

-MechJeb (guidance, autoflight ++. Makes everything a hell of a lot easier and closer to real ops)

-KWRocketry (lots of great rocket parts)

-DeadlyReentry (should speak for itself... Forces you to plan reentries and equipment)

-Kerbal Joint Reinforcement (less wobblies = more real)

 

For additional challenges I also have the Kethane pack (surveying and mining on celestial bodies) and I use CrewManifest for transferring crew on my station flights.

 

..and remember: Never leave a Kerbal behind!

[CoolP 283]

..and remember: Never leave a Kerbal behind!

Even if you stack some more to that (initial) one being lost until, eventually, being able to rescue them all. :Party:

[RoboRay 126]

Even pretty close to the KSC, huh? You should see my landings, I'm happy when I hit the right planet. :wacko:

 

I didn't show it, but I made a short retro burn on my way back to Kerbin to delay my arrival by about an hour, letting the planet rotate around so that I could splashdown in Booster Bay.  I usually target that area, due north of the Auxiliary Airfield out in the islands.

 

MechJeb's Landing Guidance window can display an impact point marker on the planet's surface in the Map screen.  It takes planetary rotation and even atmospheric drag into consideration, making it pretty easy to come down close to where you want to land.

[CoolP 283]

[RoboRay 126]

Well, I don't really consider information and tools that would be available to someone operating a real spacecraft to be cheating. 

 

A lot of people hear "MechJeb" and think "push one button and it does everything for you" but the truth is you don't ever have to turn on the autopilot.  The stock instrumentation provided by Squad is adequate for coarse navigation, but if you want fine control over your trajectory you simply need more precise information.

 

A real returning spacecraft would be receiving guidance or would have the instruments to allow you to maneuver into the proper corridor for a targeted landing.  For descent guidance, MJ's just providing something that you should already have.

 

I have not installed MJ in 0.22 yet as I'm giving Kerbal Engineer another shot, but I'm finding that KER is still missing some of the information MJ provides.  I can accomplish missions just fine with the stock instrumentation, but I can fly them a lot more realistically (and precisely) with better data sources.

[japascoe 98]

<p>Indeed, at the very least a real mission would have a pre-programmable timer that would allow you to precisely execute a burn of exactly X seconds starting at time Y, something that's hard to pull off with manual controls.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>On a completely unrelated note, fans of KSP will probably appreciate this comic: http://xkcd.com/1244/</p>

[CoolP 283]

[Lowflyer 97]

And in my opinion the best thing about MechJeb is that it's entirely optional. B)

[CoolP 283]

I was wondering if they would use something like it in the final version of the game.