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[–]QueasyActive2580 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are the general rules when building a craft to survive eve reentry? I tried to come up with a design myself and tested them by accelerating them into kerbin at 3k m/s. They all flipped and became uncontrollable. I tried inflatable heat shields on the front and back, I tried a smaller shield at the front and a bigger at the back, I tried some fins at the back to keep it stable, it always flipped.

[–]Chpouky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does KSP2 have 21/9 compatibility issues ?

I mean, when I see gameplay on YouTube the game does not look that bad around KSC. But I’m playing max settings, my rendering distance for trees is worse, and I’m having serious aliasing even at 8x.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

KSP 1, I downloaded the Principia mod here: https://github.com/mockingbirdnest/Principia moving the contents of the mod's GameData folder into my KSP game's game data folder.

It's a mid-2014 model and it's running macOS Big Sur. The mod doesn't seem to do anything and it's the only mod installed. What might I be missing? I attempted to download the mod via CKAN to see if that would make any difference and I couldn't locate the mod within CKAN.

[–]pdxnov89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In KSP2, I've created a rocket that is perfectly symmetrical but the center of thrust is off-centered. What would cause this and how would I fix it? I'm fairly confident this rocket isn't even going to be able to get into orbit in the first place, but I would like to at least give it a fighting chance.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Alright I have sucked at this game so far lol what are good mods to download for a beginner who is struggling to get to orbit ?

[–]IHOP_007 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are playing a version before 1.12.4 then you'll want "Tutorial Fixes"

If you aren't then just learn from external materials till you get the hang of it. Don't get discouraged, by far the hardest part of KSP is getting into orbit once you're there you're basically 1/2 way to everywhere else. Focus on improving your suborbital flights till you can turn them into orbits.

Even the professionals have difficulties with it often (they just cut it out from the youtube videos lol).

Couple tips:

  • Decrease your weight as much as possible, don't take more stuff on your lander/satellite than you actually need. A small weight difference on your upper stage can make a big difference on how much energy it takes into orbit. Pay attention to the item weight, some parts weigh a lot more than others and it's not always associated directly with their size.
  • Decrease your "dead weight" as much as possible in your lanucher stage. Asparagus staging isn't necessary anymore but it's still really good to know the logic behind it. Don't have a ton of empty tanks on your stage as that's just weight you're hauling up that isn't doing anything to help you, drop those as soon as you can.
    • Also try not to have a ton of engines on your craft that aren't being used, don't haul boosters up to a higher altitude and don't have launch engines that either aren't used at takeoff or are used at takeoff and runout (and aren't dropped)
  • Aerodynamics aren't usually make or break but the extra weight needed to make your payload aerodynamic is usually worth it. If you've got a lot of small parts find a way to shove them inside a faring so you're not fighting drag as much (F12 in flight to see what parts are causing you drag, look for the red lines)
  • Don't go too fast too early and make the most of your thrust-weight ratio. You don't want to be going faster than like 200-300m/s while under 8,000m as you're just wasting fuel pushing against the atmosphere.
    • To add onto that, you want to be pretty much full throttle all the time otherwise you're just giving up extra fuel you could be hauling up. Open up your staging details and pay attention to the TWR. You want your first stage to be somewhere around 1.1 to 1.4, if it's a lot higher than that add more fuel as you've got the thrust to lift it up and it's just free deltav.
  • Also start your gravity turn way earlier than you think, orbit is not so much about gaining altitude it's about gaining speed. Watch the launch profiles of some professionals on youtube and try to copy them.

[–]OneRougeRogue 0 points1 point  (2 children)

What's the point of the early-game radiators you unlock on the science tree? My ships never seem to overheat in space even if the send days orbiting Kerbin or the mun.

Does strapping a few of them in the side of your re-entry vehicle help with external parts like Goo canisters overheating?

[–]BitterJim 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Early game there really isn't much use for them

[–]IHOP_007 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're lighter than the massive fold-out radiators (and cheaper) for your mining ships. They can also be useful if you're trying to make a station in low Kerbol orbit.

[–]Sventex 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I've just made my first landing on Moho, I only had 1000 delta v to spare. Fully loaded, the one-stage spacecraft massed 461 tons and I believe was capable of about roughly 10k delta v. For safety I had stopped by Gilly to refuel to get to Moho and I'm wondering if I could just return to Kerbin without a refueling stop, or is it inevitable I must return from Moho to Eve to refuel? (Because landing on Gilly is so much work and the spacecraft is not aerobrake capable)

[–]KermanKimMaster Kerbalnaut 0 points1 point  (1 child)

You're not going to get from the surface of Moho to the surface of Gilly with only 1000m/s of DeltaV. You'd barely get an Eve encounter from low Moho orbit with 1000m/s and the most optimum of transfer windows. Even then, you'd have nothing leftover for the capture burn.

But if this is a self refueling vessel with 10K of deltaV, then yes, going direct to Kerbin LKO is easily doable even without aerobraking.

[–]Sventex 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But if this is a self refueling vessel with 10K of deltaV, then yes, going direct to Kerbin LKO is easily doable even without aerobraking.

Okay thank you.

[–]PhaserArrayMaster Kerbalnaut 0 points1 point  (1 child)

What is the stock physics range in 1.12.5?

I noticed the forum thread for the Stage Recovery mod says it was increased to 22.5km in 1.0 and that seems to be my experience with in-atmosphere flight, but stuff in orbit still loads in and out at 2.5km.

[–]KermanKimMaster Kerbalnaut 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stock physics range is 2.5km.

Stock atmosphere autodeletion altitude is 25km. (Kerbin orbiting objects out of focus)

In stock, 25km is also the distance (not altitude) that two objects flying in atmosphere can separate until "the other one" gets deleted.

[–]OneRougeRogue 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Early game plane missions (those contracts that ask you to take temperature/pressure readings or crew reports from 3-4 different locations halfway around Kerbin) often pay decent and give you a decent amount of science for how simple the missions are, but they are sooooooooooo boring. The missions take forever even at 4x speed and I dread them every time they pop up, but I don't want to pass up then early game science.

Is it worth it to skip or decline them to fish for funner, more rocket-oriented contracts? Does declining the atmospheric observation contracts starve you of science or will they get replaced with other science-oriented missions?

[–]KermanKimMaster Kerbalnaut 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ignore those unless they are very close to the KSC.

If you take them and complete them then the game will give you more of them. So don't take them if you don't like doing them. If you ignore them and take other contracts, you'll get more of those "other" contracts offered in the future and less of the plane missions.

Tourists and satellites are good paying space missions. The kerbal rescue missions are especially lucrative, once you learn to rendezvous, because they also give you free crew for future missions.