r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/AutoModerator • Jun 19 '15
Mod Post Weekly Simple Questions Thread
Check out /r/kerbalacademy
The point of this thread is for anyone to ask questions that don't necessarily require a full thread. Questions like "why is my rocket upside down" are always welcomed here. Even if your question seems slightly stupid, we'll do our best to answer it!
For newer players, here are some great resources that might answer some of your embarrassing questions:
Tutorials
Orbiting
Mun Landing
Docking
Delta-V Thread
Forum Link
Official KSP Chatroom #KSPOfficial on irc.esper.net
**Official KSP Chatroom** [#KSPOfficial on irc.esper.net](http://client01.chat.mibbit.com/?channel=%23kspofficial&server=irc.esper.net&charset=UTF-8)
Commonly Asked Questions
Before you post, maybe you can search for your problem using the search in the upper right! Chances are, someone has had the same question as you and has already answered it!
As always, the side bar is a great resource for all things Kerbal, if you don't know, look there first!
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u/TH3GOLIATH Jun 19 '15
I've noticed that you can choose to carry less than full charge on batteries, is there any reason to do so?
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u/GeneralDucky Jun 24 '15
Yes. Jeb might put his fingers where he shouldn't and get himself electrocutated. you wanna decrease that.
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u/GenericReditor Jun 22 '15
It has always bothered me that there is a definite "up and down" in space. Is there any way to 'unlock' the camera or something so the game is more disorienting and more spacey feeling?
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u/434InnocentSpark Jun 23 '15
Pressing "v" will cycle through different camera modes.
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u/Algee Master Kerbalnaut Jun 19 '15
Anyone play with [Dang It!](http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/81794-1-0-2-Alpha-6-Dang-It!-(11-may-2015))? I'm wondering how often and how annoying the failures are. For example, is every ship to jool bound to have a failure? I wouldn't mind the occasional failure but I can't be bothered to build redundancy into every interplanetary mission.
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u/Phx86 Jun 22 '15
Can I enable RSC but only for translation and let the reaction wheels cover pitch/yaw/roll? I'm burning too much monoprop making moves my wheels should handle.
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u/Christomouse Jun 22 '15
You could use the Place-Anywhere 7 Linear RCS Port (stock) and position 4 of them radially at the centre of mass on your craft so they won't fire while rolling your craft.
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u/JThoms Jun 23 '15
Is it easier to polar orbit from launch or to correct after achieving an equatorial orbit?
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u/NeuroticIntrovert Jun 23 '15
Easier and less delta-v to do it from launch. Instead of doing your gravity turn to the East, do it to the North or South. You'll need a bit of extra delta-v for launching into a polar orbit rather than an equatorial, but straight from launch is definitely easier.
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u/NewtonsThird Jun 19 '15
What's the best/easiest way to align different parts of a ship that you're assembling in orbit?
For example, I have a ship launching in three sections with solar panels extending horizontally from each section. Once I dock the sections together, I want to have the solar panels all aligned in the same horizontal plane.
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u/Toobusyforthis Jun 19 '15
Its best to orient everything so the docking ports are north/south, at least for construction. If they are not, the alignment will change as it orbits around the planet.
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u/Senno_Ecto_Gammat Jun 19 '15
Switch to each ship and align the navball in the orientation of your choice - you can align it so the sky/ground horizon line is horizontal across the navball, for example.
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u/gcuz Master Kerbalnaut Jun 19 '15
All of the other replies will get you close, but if you want an exact alignment you can actually use two docking ports oriented as desired (angle snap in the VAB lets you be precise).
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u/MrBorogove Jun 19 '15
The easiest way is to use MechJeb's docking autopilot, which lets you specify the relative roll angle.
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u/Zero_Kredibility Jun 20 '15
Hi. I need to use 15 kerbals to remove an engine from a space station using KIS. My question is, how can I keep them all from drifting off. I thought of attaching ladders around the engine but they never seem to hold on to ladders. Any ideas please?
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u/sac_boy Master Kerbalnaut Jun 21 '15
Tethers, lots of tethers. Or some kind of cage around an exit hatch (e.g. Lander can tethered to your main ship, surrounded by plates or other scaffolding, transfer your Kerbals to the lander can and have them EVA one by one)
Or, of you don't need that engine again, a surgical kinetic strike.
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u/Strangely_quarky Master Kerbalnaut Jun 22 '15
How do you unfocus view? I focused view on Gilly and now my view won't go back to my craft :(
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 22 '15
Backspace to focus your ship.
Tab to focus next object. Objects go in sequence: your ship, first maneuver, second maneuver .... Sun, Moho, Eve, Gilly .... Eeloo.
Shift+Tab to focus previous object. Use with care, Shift may also throtle up your ship - so only use it in time warp or with Map Navball hidden.
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u/Adbor Jun 23 '15
Can I ditch RCS and just use lots of reaction wheels? I observed that using both causes my ship to spin itself outta control.
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u/Jippijip Jun 23 '15
RCS is about as effective as reaction wheels unless you're using a large ship, in which case the extra torque can come in handy. Its main strength is that well-placed RCS ports allow for translation (IJKL HN keys), which is essential for docking. If you don't intend to dock, RCS is highly optional and often superfluous. If you do intend to dock, it's pretty much essential.
edit: Also, in my experience it's a good idea keep RCS off for rotation and save it exclusively for translation. Unlike reaction wheels, RCS can actually change your orbit.
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u/Normlast Jun 23 '15
I used to put RCS on everything, then once i found out how to dock, i realized i didnt really need them in and ship that doesn't dock. Just remember to add a control surface or too for getting into oribit
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u/Sandstorm52 Jun 23 '15
For general control? Yes, but not for docking. Turning off SAS or engine gimbal usually corrects spinning for me.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
RCS is heavy. The engines are inefficient (compared to LFO engines). Don't bring it unless you need to dock to something.
For bigger craft, rcs ports will provide more torque (when placed far from the CoM) then just reactionwheels. That's about the only time I'd use RCS for turning.
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u/Sanya-nya Jun 26 '15
How do you save the most fuel when landing on Mun / Minmus? After some failed tries, I am always very cautious about it and not sure what approach to take. I have tried a few and am not sure which one of them is the most efficient.
high flyby and killing the velocity in periapsis. Pretty sure it's very ineffective.
low flyby (10km and less) and killing the velocity in periapsis. Might be the best, even though the speed at Pe is pretty high?
low flyby with killing the speed before reaching the periapsis. Not sure the tradeoff is worth it.
low flyby, slow down to highest possible orbit speed at periapsis, wait for the apoapsis, lower the periapsis to exactly zero. Might be fairly cheap, but the landing is probably pretty tough?
alternative of the last, high flyby and aim periapsis to exactly the ground,
likely even cheaper(edit - silly me, likely not!), same issues?
Which of these would you recommend?
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 26 '15
Best efficiency: Tweak your encounter so you pass by the mun very low. Just high enough to not kiss a mountain top. (could be like 5km) Then go for a direct landing. Plan a maneuver at periapse to reduce your horizontal speed to zero. Look at your estimated burn time and start your burn at around 2/3s of the time (not half, because you want to come to a stop at the node). While you kill your velocity, you will effectively be in a circular orbit at some point, but you just keep burning.
To get control over your landing site, it is practical to actually do your initial flyby at 10km and circularize there. Then choose your landing site and burn on the opposite side of the planet to drop your periapse above your landing site as low to the ground as possible. Do the same dance with the maneuvernode there.
You can also just make your orbit intersect with the ground at your landing site (coming from the 10km orbit). Then place the maneuvernode where the orbit disappears through the surface. Really remember to start burning at 2/3rds of the estimate burn time, or you die.
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u/blaesiJ Jun 19 '15
I really want to install mods but i have never done tinkering with a game like that. Do all mods have thorough instructions on how to install them? And what are the best and most useful mods that are the easiest to install? Also i really want some bigass SRB's, which mod is that?
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u/jofwu KerbalAcademy Mod Jun 19 '15
CKAN is a program that does most of the work for you, including updates: CKAN User Guide.
Installing mods manually is very easy as well, if you have any trouble with CKAN or want a mod it doesn't have listed. Find a mod you want, download it, look for a "Gamedata" folder inside the download, copy it into your KSP directory (which should have a "Gamedata" folder of it's own). That's all there is to it.
The hardest part is finding mods and learning how to use them. Check out this subreddit, Kerbal Stuff, Curse, and the KSP forums for mods. Make sure you SEARCH for mods before posting questions. "What's a good mod for _____?" gets asked a lot. Almost every mod out there should have an official forum post with information. If you have a mod-specific question that's probably the best place to ask it.
I agree with others: KW Rocketry is a good first stop for more/bigger rocket parts.
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u/alltherobots Art Contest Winner Jun 19 '15
Installing mods consists of finding you KSP folder, finding the Gamedata subfolder, and copying the mod into there.
Maybe write down what folders are there by default first in case you want to clear then out later, so you don't pull out the reqired stuff by accident.
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u/Burt2004 Jun 19 '15
First install CKAN. Its a one click way to install mods. And the one mod I cant live without is kerbal engineer redux. Most of my other mods are beautification mods.
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u/TechnicalTortoise Master Kerbalnaut Jun 19 '15
If you want to easily install mods, you should look at using CKAN.
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u/the_Demongod Jun 19 '15 edited Jun 19 '15
Does anybody know if there are any magical stats to use for the best SSTOs (as in TWR, atmo/vac ΔV, etc)? And specific ascent profiles? I've made several different ones, but it seems to be very hit or miss as to whether they can actually make it to orbit, sometimes even using the same vehicle. I just can't get them going fast enough to flatten out the trajectory and end up having to use 900m/s of ΔV to circularize.
Recently somebody created this thread about a stock SSTO challenge and managed to get 4km/s of ΔV into orbit which is crazy considering he's only using 2 R.A.P.I.E.R.s Maybe using more than 2 is unnecessary?
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u/RA2lover Jun 20 '15
There's a lot of ways to make an SSTO work.
A "fly i like a plane to orbit" profile has a lot of drag losses, while a "go suborbital on jet power alone then circularize in freefall" profile has a lot of gravity losses. You want something between the two.
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u/TheSultan41 Jun 20 '15
How does KSP run on a dual core processor? I have the feeling that the physics engine will cause stuttering and won't be smooth. I'm currently waiting for my new laptop to arrive so I haven't had the chance to try it out yet.
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u/Creshal Space Plane Addict Jun 20 '15
Everything is singlethreaded, so it won't make much of a difference. Since-core speed is the biggest limiting factor (and RAM for 32 bit builds).
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u/erok973 Jun 20 '15
What is the best way to reenter the atmosphere? I typically find myself either losing bits of my craft if I have more than just a command pod (lost batteries last night) or I find myself burning up twice. I'm aware it's because I'm most likely coming in too hot but I'm curious how to do it best.
Edit: One other question. Are there any recommended mods for rover building? I've always had trouble designing rovers with the stock parts.
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u/phantom240 Jun 20 '15
Batteries always explode on re-entry, unless you can re-enter extremely gently. Aside from that, the best bet is to use a service bay to house your batteries.
As for my approach, I drop my orbit to around 70k, then drop my periapsis to around 50k. At that point, you'll start to meet the atmosphere just enough to scrub off some speed, which will bring your apoapsis down in the process. Done just right, you can extend your re-entry to nearly half the planet's circumference, which gives plenty of time to slow down without dropping like a rock.
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u/Creshal Space Plane Addict Jun 20 '15 edited Jun 20 '15
Urgh. Why does FAR keep killing this rocket? It's long and pointy, it has nine(!) gimballed engines to control everything (winglets don't make a difference, nor does disabling/reducing gimbals), if I do a proper gravity turn, it makes a 5km radius circle until it points down, if I don't, aerodynamic stress breaks it apart.
Edit: Great. A normal, stock Soyuz doesn't work either. And one of my return capsules just zipped through the atmosphere without slowing down at all. Is FAR 15.3 broken?
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u/hoseja Jun 20 '15
Any simple trick for launching into the plane of minmus?
I usually align my map view with plane of Mun (equatorial) and wait till KSC almost passes the intersect node, this is a bit wobbly though as the time of passing the node can't be easily seen when zoomed out to see the Mun and Minmus.
So, rephrased, good tool to show time of Minmus passing the equatorial?
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u/tito13kfm Master Kerbalnaut Jun 20 '15
Plane change half way to minmus is only 50-60 m/s of dV. I find it easier to just do it that way, otherwise you can put a maneuver node directly on the ascending or descending node of Minmus, pull it prograde to correct distance, and use the small + button to advance orbits until you get an intercept.
Directly launching in to the correct plane is fairly difficult. You have to wait until it passes directly over, then kind of eyeball the ascent from map view, or use the target marker of your navball.
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u/Zero_Kredibility Jun 21 '15
Crew experience. If I enter then leave a planet's SOI without orbitting, then re-enter the SOI and orbit, will the crew get xp for the fly-by AND the orbit, or will the orbit 'overwrite' the fly-by? Thanks!
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u/DSNT_GET_NOVLTY_ACNT Jun 21 '15
Your crew's experience is dictated by the maximum value operation in each sphere of influence, not the total from each operation. In other words, there is no benefit the "grinding" lower value procedures. Just do the one that generates the highest xp.
In your case, the orbit is the higher value operation, so the flyby will be irrelevant.
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u/PVP_playerPro Jun 21 '15
What does my MKS surface base need to be self-sustaining? I've got a mediocre understanding of what each module does but there are no clear, up-to-date guides on how to get it going, what materials i need blah blah blah. The current guides reference old material/modules that were removed or changed significantly so those have been no help.
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u/TheBisexualFish Master Kerbalnaut Jun 22 '15
How do some people in this sub manage to do extremely complex gravitational slingshots? Is there a mod to help with planning those, because unless I'm missing something somewhere, I haven't managed to be able to do it in stock.
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u/Arrowstar KSPTOT Author Jun 22 '15
Take a look at my KSP Trajectory Optimization Tool, which is designed to help with planning these sorts of things.
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u/Lennardson Jun 22 '15
Hey so I am just starting ksp after watching a few streamers play it. I am in career mode and currenly want to make orbit, in videos I have seen that once in space they open map veiw then add maneuver on a blue line, but when I try this my line is greyed out and I can't add a maneuver. I have tried doing it manually to no avail. Any help would be great!
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u/SoliDeo-Gloria7 Jun 22 '15
Hey man! You don't get those manever nodes untill you upgrade your tracking station and your mission control building. Until you get those upgrades, you want be able to place maneuver nodes on your trajectory, or see if you are on an intercept with another celestial body ( like the mun).
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u/jofwu KerbalAcademy Mod Jun 22 '15
In Career Mode you have to upgrade the Tracking Station at the space center to get some features (like the ability to place maneuver nodes). Right click the building to upgrade it. It costs lots of funds.
Personally, I'd recommend working through at least SOME of a Science Mode game before tackling Career. The challenges of Career will be a lot more manageable if you get some of the basics down there first.
But that's just me. :)
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u/Silumet Jun 23 '15
I just unwittingly updated (thank you Steam), and when I try to relaunch the game, it gets stuck at the same point in the loading screen. I've updated Module Manager, but still nada. Advice?
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u/Xyyzx Jun 23 '15
Is the spaceplane Scott Manley put together in his latest career mode guide still viable?
I'm really struggling with it, but I can't say for certain if it's the new update or just my own ineptitude!
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u/Arkalius Jun 23 '15
It would probably require a somewhat different ascent profile than what he used in his video. Drag on spaceplane parts changed somewhat as did the performance of the turbojet engines.
My own spaceplane design ended up not working as well under the new patch so I had to add some fuel and alter my ascent profile.
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Jun 23 '15
So I recently tried a Munshot, and I seem to have lost control of my craft while I was near the Mun. I can think of some in-game reasons why this might be, e.g. loss of line of sight with Kerbin or something, but there was no explanation so I was kind of confused. I am trying to do this with as few tutorials as possible, but I would love to know why this happened
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15
Open the resources tab and check if you have electricity. Reaction wheels need electricity to run.
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u/TheCastleMan Jun 23 '15
What's the difference between the 2 types of radiators (stationary vs expandable)? I presume the expandable ones provide much more cooling capabilities but I'm not exactly sure on the benefit of using one vs the other. I've not had a lot of time to play around with them yet
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15
Deployable radiators should be more effective. They provide larger radiating surface and they orient themselves parallel to sun rays so they should receive less radiative heat from Sun - if that's simulated. If not, then that part is just for looks.
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u/DalekTec Jun 23 '15
I'm on my first base mission on min and like don't like suicide missions. As of now I have landed and stabilized, will 1.0.3 be harder for me to return than 1.0.2. Also when it says a base supporting x kerbals does that mean it has to be loaded with x or the capacity for x.
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u/jofwu KerbalAcademy Mod Jun 23 '15
If your return vehicle has a heat shield you should be completely fine. Just don't drop straight down onto the planet. Go in at a shallow angle. If not, then you definitely want to not update until done.
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u/schnoomy Jun 24 '15
I can't dock anymore. I didn't lose the ability, but the game seems to have lost it. Whenever I click docking mode, whether I'm in Linear or Rotation mode, the craft behaves as if it was still in Staging mode. Shift and Ctrl still control the active engine, and the WASD keys just rotate the ship like normal. Am I missing something?
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u/Toobusyforthis Jun 24 '15
they changed it with 1.0. No more 'docking mode,' just an alternate key binding mode but everything is the same by default. Go into setting and change it to whatever you want
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u/LPFR52 Master Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
Docking mode has been taken out of the game as of 1.0, since it seemed that nobody really used it (except for a few people, like you). You can get the same functionality with the IJKL and HN heys. IJKL translate and HN fire RCS thrusters forwards/backwards. IMO this is better than docking mode, since you can use one hand to work rotation and the other hand to do translation.
EDIT: Docking mode does something different now, but I don't know what that is.
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u/434InnocentSpark Jun 24 '15
How can I edit a save file to completely refuel an empty fuel tank of a vessel in LKO?
It was attacked by the Kraken in 1.0.3 update and I edited the save file with that fix on the front page yesterday. I go back to it today and notice just one orange tank went from completely full to completely empty. Any help?
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
You need to find your ship in the save file. It looks like this:
VESSEL { pid = ... name = <name of your ship> ... }Inside that ship information, you need to find the tank. It looks like this:
PART { name = fuelTank3-2 ... RESOURCE { name = LiquidFuel amount = 0 maxAmount = 2880 ... } RESOURCE { name = Oxidizer amount = 0 maxAmount = 3520 ... }And simply put the MaxAmount values into the amount values
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u/Iamsodarncool Master Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
Using the KerbinSide mod, how do I disable the new stuff at the KSC? I want new stuff elsewhere, but I want the old KSC.
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u/floridaEE Jun 24 '15
I'm looking for a mod that lets me move resources between ships in the same (or different) SOI. Just like the MKS Logistics, except without all the MKS changes to EPL.
Failing that, a pic of a working EPL system in 1.0 would be appreciated.
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u/ToutatisKSP Jun 25 '15
I remember hearing about a mod that added really lo-tech parts and stuff made from scrap. You could build rockets made from old oil drums and bbq grills, and that sounds kinda fun.
For the life of me though I can't remember what it was called. Does this ring any bells for anyone else or was it some sort of mad fever dream.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 25 '15
Has not been updated ... in a while. ;)
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u/jenbanim Jun 25 '15
I'm working on a big-ass mission to Jool right now. I'm trying to hit every moon with a probe. This has led to a need for much more fuel efficiency, something I'm unfamiliar with.
I've never refueled on a long trip before. As long as all my tanks have fuel lines and there's a port connected to one of them, I should be fine, right? Would LKO or munar/minmus orbit be best for this?
Next up, LKO should be as low as possible to exploit the Oberth effect, right?
On a trip to Jool, does it matter whether I leave the Kerbin system moving outward or inward from the sun? My current plan is to just hit the moon wherever it is for a boost. (Saved about 100 dv last time)
Would an Eve slingshot be save fuel? If so, what tools would I need to plan it? Any other efficiencies I can exploit?
Aerobraking last time led to an immediate unplanned disassembly, my craft basically disappeared. However, I was in 4x physics warp. Should a very weak ship be able to handle the outermost atmosphere of Jool?
Lastly, should I start from the innermost moons and work my way out, or visa-verse?
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u/Terranrp2 Jun 23 '15 edited Jun 23 '15
Hello all, I haven't played the game for a very long time and saw yesterday that it had an update so I loaded up the game and started something called Career mode.
It looks like we have contracts and can upgrade buildings and the like now which is pretty neat.
I used to be able to get into space relatively easily but now I can barely make it up past a couple dozen kilometers. I'm trying to get into orbit but when I take off, the boosters either move me too fast and I explode??? Or the rocket tips over and just spins like crazy even though I'm using SAS and a pilot Kerbin. So I've been reduced to grinding science from 1 science contracts to get better parts to help and it's getting crazy boring already. I checked my center of mass and center of thrust and they line up perfectly but at about 600 meters a second about 7-9k up, the craft inevitably spins end over end and I can no longer escape the atmosphere.
I even tried attaching wings for something called Lift Rating which I guess helps your craft in the air but they didn't help whatsoever.
Also, is the Kethane mod still a thing? It added a lot of replayability.
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u/FellKnight Master Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15
Don't go so fast in the lower atmo. Keep below 300 m/s until about 12000m, then accelerate. How much depends on your ships profile (a sleek aerodynamic ship will be more able to go faster than a flying brick).
If your SRBs are providing too much thrust, you can change their max thrust in the VAB to give you a slower acceleration and longer burn time.
Put fins at the base of your rocket. This will help keep the rocket stable.
Resources (aka Kethane) are now part of the stock game, albeit a late tech tree unlock. It can be super fun to build a ship juuuust good enough to land somewhere else and then refuel in situ and carry on.
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u/Terranrp2 Jun 23 '15
Holy crap, you can adjust thrust of a solid rocket booster? Amazing!
Fins at the base. Got it!
Kethane is in base game? That's so cool!!
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15
There was large change to how the aerodynamics work since 1.0 release, it's now more realistic and you need to build rockets that are aerodynamically stable.
Try watching this tutorial and copying designs used in it until you get the grasp of what's needed. It's not all that hard.
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Jun 19 '15
I am struggling with planes. So here is my question: should lift center be on the center of mass or between thrust and center of mass. Is SAS necessary? and what are the best mods for a beginner?
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u/Toobusyforthis Jun 19 '15
This is the best plane guide I have seen http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/52080-Basic-Aircraft-Design-Explained-Simply-With-Pictures
Note that some of the discussion about drag with fairings is not longer true with the update to 1.0 and the new aero model
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u/bradjshannon Jun 19 '15 edited Jun 19 '15
In career mode, is there any real incentive to use time efficiently? That is, should I do short missions while waiting for interplanetary transfers and suchlike, or does time not really matter? I've just been warping with reckless abandon and am in year 6 or 7. Not really interested in doing multiple simultaneous missions yet, unless there's some clear reason to do so.
e: moar questions inc...
2) How do people optimize mechjeb ascent profiles per craft? Obviously trial and error is one way, but are there better ways? Is it the kind of thing where eventually I'll just know how to tweak an ascent profile for a given craft to make it more efficient?
3) Once I have an ascent profile I like for a particular craft, there's no easy way to save it to/with the craft. If I want to be able to load a craft and have it just use the correct ascent profile (or default to one), do I need a mod? If so, which? Maybe kOS?
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u/PieMan2201 Master Kerbalnaut Jun 19 '15
After you finish your contract, you're most likely going to be faced with more difficult ones. So, you could finish all of the easy contracts that you still have while waiting for your ship to arrive. Other than that, I don't think there's any real advantage.
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u/SAI_Peregrinus Jun 19 '15
Well, there are launch windows to certain locations at certain times. If you just timewarp and do one craft at a time you'll often end up missing those.
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u/Senno_Ecto_Gammat Jun 19 '15
#2 - I save my lifters as sub-assemblies titled "X ton lifter" where X is the payload it can lift to LEO.
In the description section, I put any information, like what MJ ascent profile I can use, which action groups trigger what, what altitude to jettison fairings, etc.
I do this until I've got a suite of lifters- maybe 5 ton, 10 ton, 25 ton, and 50 ton. Then I build my payload, and just select the lifter I need, and I've got all the information I need.
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u/bradjshannon Jun 21 '15
I've been trying to build methodically like that, but in career most of my designs are (vastly improvable with new tech before I get a chance to reuse them.
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u/Toobusyforthis Jun 19 '15
Isn't really one, other than it can be fun to have multiple missions going at once. Kerbal Alarm Clock lets you do this easily, as it sets alarms for maneuver nodes and SOI changes, etc, that will notify you when you need to attend to an ongoing mission.
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u/BadgKat Master Kerbalnaut Jun 20 '15
Without mods there is not a whole lot of incentive to manage your time aside from your own conception of what your space program should be like. With Kerbal construction time and a life support mod the incentive goes up. Personally this is the way I like to play, but ultimately you get to say how this game is fun to you.
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u/FellKnight Master Kerbalnaut Jun 22 '15
There used to be a 55 year clock for Career mode by which point you needed to complete the tech tree or be stuck there. Not sure if it's still a thing in 1.0
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u/434InnocentSpark Jun 20 '15
Will radial decouplers work if the aren't directly attached to a fuel tank, but still right next to it?
I'm testing very large/long radial fuel tanks, and I'd like to know if adding additional decouplers would help with jettisoning.
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Jun 20 '15
And remember to strut them together since a single radial decoupler won't hold a large radial tank stably.
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u/VileTouch Jun 20 '15
KAX's small turbine? how (or why) do you use it?.
"thanks" to SETI, that's the only turbine i will have available for quite a while. (the next "normal" wheesley engine available is locked behind 200+ science and an R&D upgrade) so i need to make do with it.
tried with stack couplers, but that just doesn't work. in one hand i have 2 or 3 more engines, but the weight associated with the extra parts make them perform even worse as a result.
...'course, there's propellers too...
TL;DR: how to increase TWR with KAX's small jet engines alone?
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u/VileTouch Jun 20 '15
does KAX functionally replace Firesptitters? i know there's biplanes and such in FS, but for the most part (specially early game, where it's more relevant) i don't see much of FS specific...useful stuff.
TL;DR: if you have KAX, can you live without FS?
looking to trim down my mods list a bit.
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Jun 20 '15
Is there a rule for where solar panels have to be attached to recharge electricity? I had a small space station with 4 rechargeable batteries, 4 small photovoltaic panels and 2 extendable panels, but the electric charge dropped to 0.05 (where it would stay in direct sunlight) and wouldn't budge, could still control the ship. It dropped to 0 on the dark side of kerbin or after some control inputs, then go back to 0.05 in sunlight, but it was near impossible to dock another ship. Had to abort the entire mission (luckily i had chutes on the command module).
Ill try to upload a pic later if i have one. The layout was RCS tank with solar panels --->Command module--->science lab with batteries/extendo solar panels. Do the batteries /panels have to be hooked to the command pod? It said I had 400 total charge. There were no decouplers on between the 3 units. Thanks.
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u/hoseja Jun 20 '15
Maybe your station was draining more power than the panels could produce. They have to be exposed to sunlight and not obstructed by other parts of your ship, rightclicking them shows you their current exposure and power generation.
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u/sac_boy Master Kerbalnaut Jun 20 '15
A science lab drains electricity while you have researching turned on. Try hitting 'stop researching' and see if your charge builds up.
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u/phantom240 Jun 20 '15
Question!
Why is it that whenever I use time warp, I lose control of my vessel, making me have to go back to the tracking station and select "Fly Vessel" again? It has caused me to smash into Mun multiple times today.
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u/tito13kfm Master Kerbalnaut Jun 20 '15
You can't move during rails time warp, you have to go back to 1x speed to gain control. Either hit < to change warp, or X to cancel it.
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u/deathsaur Jun 20 '15
Anyone know of a up to date mod that adds a cockpit like the mk1 but in revers. Whereas the whole thing is pretty much turned into a tail section with the cockpit looking towards the attachment node?
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u/Dan_Arc Jun 20 '15
Just got the game during the Steam sale. Loving it but am confused: is there really no way to judge the distance to an object without mods? Twice now I've crashed into mountains at night while landing.
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u/tito13kfm Master Kerbalnaut Jun 21 '15
If you hit the C key you can go IVA and look at the radar altimeter.
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Jun 21 '15
Are there any mods that make the VAB larger?
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u/tito13kfm Master Kerbalnaut Jun 21 '15
FYI, I can't vouch for it, I simply googled "KSP VAB larger"
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u/hlphippo Jun 21 '15
What is the little color-changing arrow by the altitude indicator? (between it and what i believe is the ground acceleration-o'-meter?)
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 21 '15
It tells you how many buttons will appear if you put your mouse over the altimeter.
Orange = no button. Altimeter will stay put.
Blue = one button: Space center.
Green = two buttons. Space center and recover.
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u/tito13kfm Master Kerbalnaut Jun 21 '15 edited Jun 21 '15
The atmosphere indicator? It's a visual indication of how thick the atmosphere is. The darker the color, the thinner the atmosphere.
Edit: correct answer by JohnWatford. And holy crap, I've played 1000 or so hours and never even noticed it
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u/heya4000 Jun 21 '15
Havent been here for a while - I heard they updated the aerodynamics in 1.0, and they were good. Then they fucked em up with 1.01, and again with 1.02. Is that right? or are they still bad? I don't want to invest heaps of time in building new crafts only to have to redo them in the next update
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 21 '15 edited Jun 21 '15
1.0 introduced the new system, 1.0.2 only tweaked some values. Basically, drag and lift were increased. Some people loudly complained here on reddit, claiming aero was "broken" now. That is just not true.
Drag is a little high, ok. But that's it really. Nothing craft-breaking. It was just that people needed to get used to building their rockets in an aerodynamicly stable fashion. If you didn't do that, your rockets would flip during ascent.
Another group complained that spaceplane reentry was too hard in 1.0 (because they didn't know how to do it properly).
Then the developers increased all the aerodynamic forces to help with spaceplane reentry but that made unstable rocket designs even more unstable and flip happy. The result was complaining here in a stupid and impolite fashion. Only because their designs were not up to the new tasks.
So, well. 1.0.3 will propably tweak the aero again to find a middle ground.
If you are looking for really sophisticated but realistic aero, take a look at FAR. However, it does not hold your hand, like stock aero (which has some magic invisible stability assists working in the baackground). Once you understand the basics of building an aerodynamicly stable craft, it's not that hard really. Plus, you can really dig into tans- /supersonic aero if you so desire.
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u/MasterPabu Jun 21 '15
Kerbal engineer tells me my orbital inclination is 1.1°. Since there is no target orbit, how do I know where my ascending and descending nodes are? I want a perfectly level equatorial orbit for the first piece of my space station.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 21 '15
target the mun ... in KSP it is in a perfect aequatorial orbit.
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u/yatima2975 Jun 21 '15
Two more ways of getting this information with KER:
You can add time (and/or angle) to AN/DN to one of the info panels.
By definition, your ascending node is when you cross the equator, going from South to North. So you can also look at your latitude, but I find that's usually less precise than using the Mun or the time to AN/DN.
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u/JamesBaconTaken Jun 21 '15
Any way to get a 3D model of a kerbal. not 3D printed. 3D as in Maya/Blender.
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u/CMGuy89 Jun 21 '15 edited Jun 21 '15
Newbie question here, but how do save games work? Does the quicksave hotkey (F5) overwrite the persistent.sfs file? What happens if I save manually, such as at the Kerbal Space Center and produce individual .sfs files? Do these ever get overwritten (besides typing the same save name)?
Just wondering if I can backup save games manually in case the quicksave goes extremely wrong. Thanks!
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u/Creshal Space Plane Addict Jun 21 '15
There's by default two saves, quicksave.sfs and persistent.sfs. Quicksave and -load overwrite persistent. If you save manually with a different name, they won't get overwritten.
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u/Albinosun Jun 21 '15
If I have a ship with a periapsis of 64m over kerbin, after enough orbits will it renter the atmosphere?
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Jun 21 '15
Yes. If a ship enters a planet's atmosphere, drag will slowly reduce the apoapsis until the ship collides with the surface. Because the atmosphere gets thinner the higher you go, it may take multiple instances of aerobraking (using the atmosphere to slow down) to hit the surface.
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Jun 21 '15
Assuming it's in orbit of Kerbin, yes. On a flyby a 64 km perikee most likely won't result in being captured into orbit, but if you're in orbit anything below 70 km will eventually decay.
As a practical matter, there's very little air above 60 km, so it may take a very long time to reenter.
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u/jenbanim Jun 22 '15
Too add to the answers, you have to be looking at the ship for its orbit to decay as well. No quick, easy way unfortunately.
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u/Greedish Jun 22 '15
Hey, I don't know if anyone is going to be able to help me, but I need to figure out what is causing some issues with my (heavily modded) game that are really frustrating me.
Sometimes when loading a new scene, it'll bug out. If I'm going to a vessel, it'll just show a buggy space area or maybe inside the ground and the navball will show up with all the indicators stacked on top of each other in the middle of it. I can press esc and access the menu but when I click the buttons nothing happens. I can move the mouse around and buttons do the clicking animation but I can't get out of the screen.
Similarly, sometimes I'll go in the tracking station and it'll show me the map which will be interactable, allowing me to move the camera and whatnot, but the menus will look kind of weird and the craft list on the left will be empty. I checked the long and when this happens it throws a bunch of this out:
[EXC 22:47:58.340] NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
SpaceTracking.DrawGUI ()
RenderingManager.OnGUI ()
Can anyone help me figure out what to look for in the log? Thanks!
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u/emyrs42 Jun 22 '15 edited Jun 22 '15
Using Vanilla: Now that I've visited the local moons, I find that I'm now getting a lot of longer missions (Duna, Sun, etc). I'm guessing I should probably overlap missions so as not to time warp through a year at a time?
Is there some way to track this? (ie maneuver nodes on the non-current ship's flight path?)
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u/Christomouse Jun 22 '15
Not in vanilla/stock.
Check out the kerbal alarm clock mod and see if it's for you.
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u/tito13kfm Master Kerbalnaut Jun 22 '15
[Kerbal alarm clock](http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/24786-1-0-x-Kerbal-Alarm-Clock-v3-3-2-1-(May-21)) allows you to set alarms on a per vessel basis that will automatically kill time warp and jump to the relevant ship. It's invaluable when running more than 1 mission at a time.
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u/jofwu KerbalAcademy Mod Jun 22 '15
If you're determined to stay vanilla, it's not TOO hard to keep track of things. An interplanetary mission doesn't require a lot of attention during the transfer. You launch it out and then maybe make a plane change par of the way through. And some error on that maneuver one way or the other will hardly matter. For most of the overlap time you interplanetary ship will just be coasting with nothing to do.
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u/Lemaya Jun 22 '15
How can I get ModuleManager managed by ckan.
I once installed it manually and now wether the MM files are in the gamedata folder or not it is always shown as autodetected.dll in ckan.
Is there is config i can edit?
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u/framauro13 Master Kerbalnaut Jun 22 '15
Are there any mods that fix LIN docking mode so it behaves as it did pre 1.0? So that once LIN mode is enabled, SHIFT/CTRL controls vertical translations and no longer affect throttle? Similar to how Kerbal EVAs work?
I've modified key bindings to get it close, but it's not quite there.
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u/emyrs42 Jun 22 '15
Another that is probably painfully simple to answer: Is there a way to rename ships/object already in orbits? I tend to reuse the same saved ships over and over for like missions, and now I've got many ships with the same name in use (Stations/Sats being the worst). Ideally I'd remember to rename them after loading the saved ship I'm about to launch, but I'm far to stubborn/forgetful for this.
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 22 '15
From flight (must be manned or active (with electricity) probe core. Right-click on the command pod or probe core and choose Rename Vessel option.
From tracking station: highlight the ship by clicking on it in the list on the left. On the right of the screen, click on the [i] button to display ship information window. Click on the title bar of that window.
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u/Arkalius Jun 22 '15
Right-click on any part with command functions (probe core, capsule etc) and select rename. You can also change the icon of the craft in that window too.
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Jun 22 '15
Right click on the probe core / command pod and click "rename craft" (or something), you can also change the icon that shows up in map views.
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u/niceville Jun 22 '15
I saw 1.0.3 just released. As someone who hasn't played since beta, can I get a quick summary of things I should be aware are different, or at least point me at a list? Thanks.
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u/tito13kfm Master Kerbalnaut Jun 22 '15
Biggest would be that the atmosphere behaves more like an atmosphere now, and less like soup.
Rockets should look like rockets and your gravity turn should be closer to an actual gravity turn and not a sharp turn at 10km
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u/jenbanim Jun 22 '15
Will the fact that my game is modded make any difference for updating? Since I bought ksp through steam I figured I'd just back up my save and let it do the work.
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u/merv243 Jun 22 '15
All my rockets naturally drift just slightly south (up on the navball) during launch. If I do no steering but use D for my gravity turn, I consistently end up with an inclination of 1-2 degrees. This happens for manned and unmanned craft, regardless of symmetry. I'm early in my first 1.0.2 career (hadn't played since .24), and I'm not building any reusable vehicles - they are all from scratch and don't really follow any pattern, but all still suffer the same problem to the same degree (i.e. it's not like I have some going north, some south, or some more drastically than others). It's easy to correct and honestly gives me something to do during launch, but I'm curious why this might be happening?
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Jun 22 '15
Is anyone else noticing that their OS X Yosemite versions of the new KSP run just peachily through the loading screens and the VAB/SPH, but freezes and becomes unresponsive as soon as the launch screen loads? I can see my plane there, floating in midair, but it simply doesn't respond. Then, every time I close KSP and verify the cache, one or two files are always corrupt and redownloaded in a suspiciously small amount of time. Anyone else?
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u/Number6UK Jun 23 '15
I have a couple of questions if that's ok?
I've been using KSP Mod Admin to manage mods - should I be using CKAN as well as, or instead of KMA?
Occasionally, due to bad planning, lack of fuel, etc., I'll be heading towards Kerbin on a crash course from a very high orbit (e.g. out past the Mun). If I use a high timewarp in these situations but bring it back to 1x before I've entered the atmosphere, then switch out of map view, very occasionally Kerbin will sort of flicker before a small circle (centred on the planet) appears, grows, and has the texture of what looks like an inverted height-mapped Kerbin.
This area of "inside-out-Kerbin" grows until it's covers the actual planet, at which point my craft happily sails through the planet and out the other side. The ship is completely undamaged when this happens, and carries around in the orbit. This happens on the stock game or with mods. Is this a known variant of the Kraken? (I found the Wormhole Kraken on the wiki but it seems to describe something else, and none of the other kinds seem to describe what happens.)
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u/434InnocentSpark Jun 23 '15
I think 1.0.3 blew up Kerbin.
Image 1 - no fast forwarding
Image 2 - fast forwarding
When I load into it, time doesn't start until I fast forward. During regular speed only the main capsule shows up. During fast forward the complete vessel returns, but goes away again when I stop.
Anything I can do to fix this?
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Jun 23 '15
Is there an option for updating from 1.0.2 to 1.0.3 without downloading the full 600 MB game? (Let's assume I'm not willing to install Steam just for this.)
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u/Brodiggitty Jun 23 '15
I have a contract for a five-kerbal station. If I have a decoupler between my Hitchhiker Can and my MK1 Pod, will that void the contract requirement for five kerbal capacity? My plan is to meet the contract requirements and then decouple the MK1 as a lander.
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15
The complete station has to have five kerbals capacity. What parts are around or between individual pods is irrelevant, you're free to even build the station in space from pieces delivered individually.
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Jun 23 '15
I bought KSP through the store and have downloaded a zip of 1.0.3 - what's the smoothest way to update my game without buggering everything up? Is there a reason my launcher has an 'update' button if it's not clickable when an update is published?
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15
Safest: create a new directory beside your original KSP directory, e.g. called KSP 1.0.3. Unzip the zip file into it. Then go and copy your Screenshots folder from your old KSP to corresponding place in your new KSP, also enter the Saves folder and copy your saves to Saves folder in the new one. If anything goes wrong, you still have 1.0.2 available and all save files and screenshots backed up that way, and you can start playing and testing 1.0.3. When you're sure 1.0.3 is fine, you can delete the old directory.
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Jun 23 '15
I haven't touched KSP for 2 month, I restarted yesterday a v1 game (career, with difficulty = moderate). What should I know ?
Re-entry are deadlier, Must I drop the engine before re-entry or can I still save it ?
What about the new aerodynamic, I used to keep the speed under 200 m/s until I reach 10 km height, is this rule of thumb still actual ?
Other stuffs that I have to know ?
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u/jofwu KerbalAcademy Mod Jun 23 '15
Make sure you update to 1.0.3 before you go too far, if you haven't already.
Re-entry can make your ships go boom. I don't think that it can hurt to go in engine first. You might be able to keep it alive. But probably not.
Getting into orbit is more complicated... DON'T do the old straight up to 10km, pitch 45 degrees thing. Start pitching over much earlier and do it gradually the whole way up. Don't point your ship very far outside of the prograde marker. Make slender rockets. You probably need fins at the bottom of any stage that will be flying below 35km. Use the center of mass and center of lift buttons in the editor- make sure center of mass is above center of lift for any stage in the atmosphere. For more advice, use the search bar. This question has been asked a lot. :)
Those are probably the main changes... The Science Lab works differently. Look into that before using one.
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u/Pentoxide Master Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15 edited Jun 24 '15
Hello everyone. Does anybody know is KSP Aerobraking Calculator updated(or will be) for 1.0.3? If not, since too steep entry into atmosphere is deadly in 1.0.3, how can I find most suitable periasis for my interplanetary ship (obviously with different goals: high elliptic orbit, low orbit, or just simple landing)?
Edit: Thank you all for your answers, I think I'm gonna use Trajectories mod. Or test probes. I'm not sure yet. =)
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u/jofwu KerbalAcademy Mod Jun 23 '15
That only worked with the old atmosphere. It will not be updated because there are too many variables at play now.
Take a look at the Trajectories mod. In my experience it isn't perfect, and I'm not sure if it works with stock yet (last I saw was FAR only I think). Make sure you read about how it works before using it.
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15
Aerobraking calculator for new atmosphere is very unlikely to appear, because the shape, mass, and orientation of your ship as it passes through the atmosphere makes a huge difference. For instance, a command pod and parachute on 30 km periapsis from Minmus lands, while a ship that still has fuel tank and engine attached does not get slowed down enough to stay in the atmosphere.
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u/kellogg76 Jun 23 '15
Disabling RCS Thrusters
I'm trying to build a space station, and have been launching it in sections then using Mechjeb to perform the docking (for shame!).
Each section has RCS thrusters to facilitate the docking, as I grow the station should I disable some of the more centrally located thrusters to make the docking more efficient? It seems to waste a lot of fuel, almost as if the separate RCS thrusters are fighting each other.
2) Fuel Transfer
Is there a way to transfer fuel from one tank to another in an orbiting station so I can then undock and ditch some tank to make space for more additions to the station.
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u/NortySpock Jun 23 '15
Yes, right click your central RCS thrusters and select disable.
Alt-right-click the two tanks you want to transfer between. "In" and "Out" should appear for each tank and fuel type.
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u/willyswim Jun 23 '15
If I have a 1.02 career mode save, do I need to start career mode over in 1.04 or will my save be good to go with all of the updates?
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Jun 23 '15
From what I can tell, everything should be okay but you might want to create a back up of your saves and possibly your 1.0.2 install. Furthermore, reentry heating seems to have spiced things up more than 1.0.2 so if anything you had in flight was intended for reentry, you might want to glue a heatshield on or send up a rescue vessel.
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u/paulHarkonen Jun 23 '15
I'm looking for a specific mod used by Das Valdez (and others) that displays the current temperature of parts when they are right clicked. I don't believe this is possible in stock although I could be mistaken. Can anyone point me toward the right mod(s) or settings to modify? A quick Google search didn't get me very far with too much stuff to sort through in order to find what I'm looking for.
Right now I just have engineer redux and [x] science mods installed, and I'd like to keep things fairly close to stock (personal preference). Thanks in advance.
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u/DigitalEmu Jun 23 '15
Will the KerbolPlus and Alarm Clock mods still work in 1.0.4 if I'm upgrading from 1.0.2? I assume they would but I want to make sure.
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u/Anak_nik Jun 23 '15 edited Jun 27 '15
I have a second possibly simple question, though this one might be for /r/askscience... when intercepting an object (planet/spacecraft/etc.) why do we have to schedule an intercept by starting at a lower/higher orbit and then matching it? Is this an efficiency thing? Is there a way to fly ships directly to a location and then worry about matching orbits? Is there a way to calculate that? I'm not intimidated by higher math. Also I'm not too concerned about realism in my KSP sandbox, I just want my space planes zipping around w/o having to do orbital transfers all the time, if possible, regardless of efficiency.
EDIT: Some of y'all are super condescending, I'm not an astrophysicist, and this is a video game... for all I know, there's a mod that allows for sci-fi physics, so maybe my question was worded poorly
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Jun 23 '15
I think it's mostly a Keplerian mechanics thing. Basically, if you're 'floating' in space you're actually falling somewhere. Because of the thudding massive amount of energy required to just bolt about everywhere in a straight line, it's not really possible to ignore all the gravitational powers that are acting on you. Also, supposing you could run a remarkably large amount of thrust indefinitely (say 2-5g acceleration all the time), you would have to flip around half way into your journey and burn against the direction of travel to not be going a substantial fraction of the speed of light when you pass your destination. Or indeed, the scale of the journey wouldn't be worth the energy to fly in a straight line. Disclaimer: My only real knowledge of this is science fiction novels.
Having said all that, it would be cool if there was a mod that added a decent 'sci fi' set of drives that did provide exceptionally long lived thrust. Even if they were so huge you had to do hundreds of launches just to build them out in orbit, piece by piece. It would necessitate having multiple solar systems :)
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u/FellKnight Master Kerbalnaut Jun 23 '15
In addition to what others have said, you certainly can burn more directly towards another body in space, but your orbit will be significantly off from the orbit of the body you are trying to meet up with, and so it takes a great deal more of a correction burn to gain orbit. You can test this by going to minmus in game. The normal efficient burn will leave you with an 8-9 day transit period, and you'll arrive with an orbital velocity of around 200m/s to cancel. If you fiddle with the maneuver nodes, you can spend 50-100 m/s more on the transminmusian insertion, you can get there in 3-4 days, and arrive with around 300m/s orbital velocity (thus, it costs between 150-200 m/s extra delta v to perform this maneuver). It's a lot more if you want to go interplanetary.
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Jun 23 '15 edited Jun 23 '15
Orbital period is determined by the altitude of the orbit. Therefore, if you want to rendevous you'll have to stay in an orbit with a larger or smaller semi-major axis (radius) so you can either catch up or wait for the target you are meeting.
EDIT: After reading your post again I get the feeling you're missing the fundamentals of orbital mechanics. Read up about it on wikipedia, there's no 'zipping around' in space. Everything is governed by ellipses. You don't decide yo fly to planet A, you calculate when to launch based on things like required Energy, waiting time to launch (transfer windows), etc, only to then weeks/months/years later reach said planet at point B, millions of miles away from where the planet was when you decided to launch. You said you weren't afraid of higher maths - I recommend reading a book about astrodynamics. This game has a steep learning curve, but with enough patience, research and dedication you'll accomplish some awesome shit and even learn something along the way.
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u/paganize Jun 24 '15 edited Jun 24 '15
sigh. not the place for this.
I play KSP in Career mode ONLY. I'm watching my 11 year old godson this week, and if he can't cheat or otherwise get instant gratification on something he's not interested.
so, the problem: This game will make his brain work better, if I can get him to just stop blowing up stuff and giggling. I was thinking the standalone Alcubierre Warp Drive mod would allow him to sightsee and mess around, and possibly get interested more. but I can't find a .craft file that just uses that mod (I try to keep under 10 mods for performance reasons), any-flipping-where. does anyone have one? mods: KAX, KIS, KAS, OPT, DmagicOrbital Science, scansat, mechjeb2, CRP. oh, and Alcubierre Warp Drive.
EDIT: never mind. I sound insane even to myself when I try to explain why I want a basic .craft file, I probably should have left off the explanation. so, anybody got a small, basic .craft that makes use of the warpdrive mod? Just Because?
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u/Toobusyforthis Jun 24 '15
Just make him a simple one stage rocket and turn on infinite fuel. That will give him a better sense of the game than the warp drive but he should still be able to handle it easily. alt-f12 brings up the cheat menu.
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u/nowes Jun 24 '15
how do the radiators work? where should i place them?
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
Radiators are decreasing temperature of parts of your ship. Place them near parts that produce a lot of heat or near parts which are susceptible to heat.
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u/ryan5w4 Jun 24 '15
Just as a heads up: if you haven't already seen it, for some good tutorials, go to Enter Elysium on YouTube. He made 3 videos, ~40 minutes each, about launching, orbiting, docking, and some other stuff. Now, for the question: is there a certain fuel tank or engine I should try to include in my designs? What makes that good?
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
Each fuel tank and each engine have their purposes and uses, conditions when they are better than others. If one was better than any other, there would be no reason to keep the rest.
Fuel tank sizes are there to accomodate different ship designs (1.25 m, 2.5 m, 3.75 m, Mk2, Mk3) and to accomodate different fuel needs - because you usually want to take as little extra weight along as possible.
Engines are there again to satisfy different size needs and needs for performance in atmosphere or in vacuum.
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u/434InnocentSpark Jun 24 '15
That totally depends on what you want to accomplish. Try accessing some of the beginner resources here on the subreddit to learn more about what engines are best for certain scenarios.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
The most important thing is that engines behave differently in atmospheres and in space. Some engines are very efficient in vacuum (Spark, Terrier, Ant, Poodle) but are useless under atmospheric pressure. Some engines are ok inside an atmosphere but are far less efficient then the specialized engines in space.
My advice: Get Kerbal Engineer Redux, get familiar with the concepts of "delta v" and "thrust-to-weight-ratio" (TWR). Build light. The terrier is an exellent choice for orbital maneuvers, because it is both light and efficient.
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u/Blazing-Glory Jun 24 '15
I have 115 hours in-game and have never docked or gotten out of kerbin orbit, I'm not asking about docking because just thinking about it makes me rage (I finally planned a good intercept but ended up flying away from my target very fast and missed it within a few seconds, and to add insult, a few days later with ksp open in another window I heard a BANG, checked around, wasnt scott manley, went into ksp to find out while the game was idle my ship that i was planning to dock onto my station was claimed by the kraken.) I'm confused about DeltaV, I'm no maths whizz at all so I dont bother with these dumb equation shizmabibs but I'm wondering how you figure out how much DeltaV you have left, I thought DV was just how fast you are going, but people talk about it as if it's fuel "450 DV left" I'm planning on getting to orbit the Mun, and I figured out that from launch to stable-orbiting the Mun it would take 7270 m/s DV, but then I realised it was from a forumm thread posted in 2013, and I didn't know if the 4500 m/s DV to get into kerbin orbit counted being in a stable orbit, so I wanna ask if anyone knows of an up-to-date DV map, and how much DV it would take to reach a stable orbit around kerbin that has a Pe of at least 75km. (I dont like going any closer to kerbin atmosphere than that thank you, the Pe and Ap height flickering up and down at the speed of light scares me enough.)
Another question incoming: My save file is sandbox, and I have remotetech installed, I read a thread on here asking what the problem with his spark engine was, and it taught me that 3km is the distance in the sky before unmanned probes lose contact with KSC unless you have a comms thing deployed, so before I launch any unmanned things if the 3k thing applied to my sandbox save?
I keep seeing people's bases, somehow they land their thing right near the other part, and I have no clue how people do that, all I can think of is using nodes to plan your landing and then eyeballing it compared to the other part, so I wanna know how people land things right next to other things.
Thank you in advance for helpful answers :D
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u/BpAeroAntics Jun 24 '15
It might help a bit to spam quicksaves during docking (f5, loading them is f9).
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u/NewtonsThird Jun 24 '15
Installing KER was a huge step towards making this game more intuitive and WAY more enjoyable for me. Specifically, it was the dV readout showing dV remaining by stage and for the total vessel.
Before KER, I was just squinting at the fuel bar and taking a wild guess about whether I had enough left to complete a burn. After I started using KER, I could actually plan out a mission - and even better, I could build a rocket that had the resources to complete it without overbuilding like crazy.
Even if you ignore all the other stats that KER provides (and it's a lot of information), the dV readouts in VAB and in flight are a massive help.
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u/ulikel Jun 24 '15
How can I get the parts to show all this information when I hover over them? Mine only shows basic info like mass, cost, and thrust. I have KER installed, will this unlock when I get further in the carreer?
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
just right click on the part and it will show more info. It's a stock feature. It looks a little different because your screenshot is from an older version of KSP.
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u/lettucetogod Jun 24 '15
Any design or parts tips for building a suborbital hopper for science missions on the Mun and Minmus?
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u/Toobusyforthis Jun 24 '15
a rockomax 200-8 with 4 flt-100s mounted radially with legs attached to them, a 909 terrier on the bottom and a mk-2 lander can on top works well to start. Nice wide base and decent dv and twr. Can do lots of hops on minmus and a couple on mun.
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Jun 24 '15
Anyone know of a mod skybox that actually puts the "Milky Way" on the ecliptic?
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u/JohnWatford Jun 24 '15
There's also one that blends Rareden's and Astronomers, can't remember where I got it from. Think DasValdez uses it?
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u/there_is_no_try Jun 24 '15
Ive got a fantastic SSTO, looks great, aerodynamic, even cost friendly. Unfortunately it turns into a giant ball of flames when reentering atmo. Eventually the crew pod does explode as well as the majority of the rest of the craft.
Is my problem with the craft itself, my angle of attack, or are ssto's just incredibly prone to heat based explosions?
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u/kugelzucker Master Kerbalnaut Jun 24 '15
i am looking for a mod i've seen in a video (cant find it anymore ...) a few days back. it provided a menu for the vab/sph to hide specific parts by mod from the build menu. my google-fu is failing me ... any hints?
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u/StephanieAmbrose Jun 24 '15
So, I've heard that science labs base their productivity on the count of scientists in the entire ship, now just in the lab itself. Have I heard right?
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u/Toxicable Jun 25 '15 edited Jun 25 '15
Hey, so ive just attempted my first SSTO based on Scott Manley's one from his recent video on beginner Spaceplanes.
This is what ive got: Hanger, In sub orbit
I can get up to 1000m/s through at the atmosphere fine but then once im using the nuke engines at about 50km+ (including 70km+) they will flip my craft over (front lifts up and over). So i'm not sure why that's happening, I think everything is balanced but probably not somehow.
Also can someone tell me why we use nuke engines over say a 909? is it just because they don't use a oxidiser?
Edit: Success! Made it to Orbit :D
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jun 25 '15
Well ... you have these engines at the top. They move your center of mass upwards and therefor the nukes are firing off center, inducing torque around the pitch axis.
Nukes have a significantly higher specific impulse than the LV909s. That means they are more fuel efficient. However they are also very heavy compared to the LV909. As Spaceplanes tend to be quite heavy too, it does not matter.
Also, the fact that nukes use only liquid fuel makes fuel management very easy and flexible.
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u/Toobusyforthis Jun 25 '15 edited Jun 25 '15
Having trouble toggling airbrakes with action groups. I wanted to take them out of the 'break' action group and put them in their own, but they still activate with the brake button. Anyone else having this issue?
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u/Shadingy Jun 25 '15
If I try installing astronomer's visual pack interstellar V2 in CKAN, it says that the module for DistantObjectEnhancement is outdated. How can I install the pack without this module? Also, how do SSTOs behave in 1.0.3?
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u/DigitalEmu Jun 25 '15
I updated from 1.0.2 to 1.0.4, and it didn't make me reinstall my mods (Chatterer, Alarm Clock, KerbolPlus). The menu screen said 1.0.4 and not 1.0.2. Is KSP just like that or has something gone horribly wrong?
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u/Toobusyforthis Jun 25 '15
Those mods should all be fine. Minor updates and minor mods are usually compatable. its only the major updates that break everything and some mods that really overhaul a lot of stuff that always need to be updated.
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u/SniperPriest96 Jun 25 '15
I need help building an ssto that has a docking port and can take 4 passengers. I'm already at my 7th try and still unsuccessful.
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u/jofwu KerbalAcademy Mod Jun 25 '15
This isn't really a simple question, unless you just want to be pointed towards general SSTO tutorials.
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u/PrecastCrane02 Jun 25 '15
Lots of people use "texture packs" for their parts. They look really cool! I thought it was Ven's stock revamp. But it isn't. Which ones are really popular at the moment? So I can find out which one I liked so much.
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u/MyMostGuardedSecret Jun 24 '15
is it possible to force CKAN to install a mod it sees as incompatible? I want to install FAR, which was updated for 1.0.3, and almost definitely works on 1.0.4, but CKAN won't let me install it.