On April 02 2014 05:33 Epoxide wrote: 0.23.5 is out :D! Gonna try it tomorrow ~~
It is! The new tanks/engines are glorious. Tweakable light colors. The Claaaaaw. I now have to hope all of the mods are being updated feverishly. (Although the only one I use that seems utterly borked right now is MechJeb.)
You can get a .dll that makes MJ work (more or less) in the meantime: www.sarbian.com/sarbian/MechJeb2.dll Doesn't provide delta v for ions and suicide burn countdown doesn't work either. I only use it for custom info windows, so no idea what else is broken.
I haven't gotten around to trying the asteroid redirect fun, yet. I started a new save as with every patch, but I don't seem to enjoy the science grind as much as I used to and when I just edited the science points it felt even worse.
On April 02 2014 05:33 Epoxide wrote: 0.23.5 is out :D! Gonna try it tomorrow ~~
It is! The new tanks/engines are glorious. Tweakable light colors. The Claaaaaw. I now have to hope all of the mods are being updated feverishly. (Although the only one I use that seems utterly borked right now is MechJeb.)
You can get a .dll that makes MJ work (more or less) in the meantime: www.sarbian.com/sarbian/MechJeb2.dll Doesn't provide delta v for ions and suicide burn countdown doesn't work either. I only use it for custom info windows, so no idea what else is broken.
I haven't gotten around to trying the asteroid redirect fun, yet. I started a new save as with every patch, but I don't seem to enjoy the science grind as much as I used to and when I just edited the science points it felt even worse.
I decided to play some KSP again after a long time. I had not played the game since before science was introduced. I did not think that it was grindy at all to be honest and probably spent the most time figuring out how to get any science. After seeing the options it took me about 12 hours to unlock most things (needed only 2k more science for everything). Considering that my rocket designs were probably quite inefficient and the fact that I was forgetting to pick up easy science on every mission (in retrospect I believe I was missing about 20% science on everyone of my missions), I'd say 12 hours is a really short time for unlocking almost everything. Furthermore, unlocking only the most essential stuff (complete rocketry and science techs) is really fast. Sending a Vessel into the sun's orbit with some mystery goo and getting it back to Kerbin requires almost no tech, is really quick and unlocks science jr. and rocket propulsion up to heavier rocketry, which I felt was enough for doing easy roundtrips with landings on minmus (and mun). Each roundtrip to either of those yields around 1k science when visiting 2 biomes (you can easily visit 3 on minmus). All of that science is far more than enough to unlock all rocket propulsion systems and the whole science tech, which basically allows you to go anywhere in the system and collect max. science. Considering that you can use the same vessel for those roundtrips (30-60 min construction) and that each trip takes around 30-60 min depending on your piloting abilities, unlocking the aforementioned tech takes 2-3 hours. Afterwards, I was getting science just to see how much I can get on a single mission and not because I really needed it for anything. I'm really proud of my mission to Duna with a vessel not constructed in space, a landing with 8x science jr. on Duna (turns out I only needed 4...) and a return to Kerbin, which yielded 2.3k science ^^
Anyway, I really love the science system. It actually gives you a mission to do, while tech being unlockable in a reasonably fast manner. However, I remembered why I quit playing KSP in the first place. It's extremelly addictive and a huge time sink. My Duna mission (with construction and flight) took over 4 hours. I visited only 3 celestial bodies in 12 hours of gameplay. The amount of planets, moons and now also asteroids to visit already feels overwhelming. Additionally, the amount of vessels you can make (rockets, planes, space stations, rovers, bases) makes me feel like I could play 100s of hours without doing the same thing twice... and that's without taking all the mods into account. So, I just unistalled the game again, because I'm afraid that if I keep playing it, I won't be doing anything productive in the next few weeks.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think farming science takes too long. I have simply done it too often and in my last save I had the goal of collecting every science report in the game (almost finished). With the part connection overhaul it is actually a lot easier to do the science tree in 2-3 launches now.
First a launch 180° opposite to the target orbit, then another launch 180° opposite from the opposite side of Kerbin (genius, I know) and third time I left the ship in a highly eccentric orbit and it got hurled out of Kerbin SOI while timewarping for 100days. :D
This game, indeed, appears so simple and cute and fun and then next thing you know you're calculating the delta-V required for efficient orbital insertion from a poorly executed Hohmann transfer and/or creating your own shuttle with working doors (in stock).
I haven't tried the asteroid capture yet - I still have to finish up my Jool mission (launched pre-ARM, so I don't have any of the mighty power of the new parts) and then I'm going to start up a new career save - no removal of debris not on a launch pad or runway and no reverting to avoid death. Should be interesting.
And of course, if getting science isn't all that much fun... well, there's always Sandbox and self imposed challenges until they release 0.24.
I personally don't use procedural fairings or docking alignment ui.
Some things that I think make the game much better is: EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements (aka Clouds) FerramAeroSpace (more realistic aerodynamics) KWRocketry (for fairings and more rockets) DeadlyReentry (makes reentry more realistic)
Some other things that might add more fun to the game that I use: KSP Interstellar (bunch of technology stuff) Infernal Robotics (moving parts) B9 Aerospace (spaceplane parts) TAC Lifesupport (lifesupport, kerbals die without water/food/oxygen etc.)
MechJeb or Kerbal Engineer Redux are pretty handy to have as well as Kerbal Alarm Clock. Really handy for building and KAC helps make sure you never timewarp your way to disaster.
I'm really bad/new at this game, so whatever makes it a bit easier would be appreciative (:
Then you should start with only MechJeb/Kerbal Enginer and Kerbal Alarm Clock. Most of the other listed mods makes the game harder or more complicated. The information to take in from stock is more than enough
What Epoxide said. Do not worry about explosions, rather you should revel in them. It is from giant balls of fire that you learn what not to do, and from there you proceed to wisdom.
Also, you can always check out the KSPTV stream or look for some Scott Manley videos on YouTube to help get a handle on fundamentals. (Warning - both the streamers on KSPTV and Scott Manley can do things that boggle my mind without blinking. I have a clue, have returned from Duna and landed on Eve (no Jool yet) but those guys... woah. Then there's insanity in EJ's shuttle program (stock only, working shuttle cargo bay doors).
I'm of the opinion that MechJeb should only be used by players who already know how to do the stuff MechJeb can autopilot you through. Learning to do that stuff yourself is a big part of KSP and the autopilot feature is just so tempting after a dozen failures.
I'm really bad/new at this game, so whatever makes it a bit easier would be appreciative (:
Then you should start with only MechJeb/Kerbal Enginer and Kerbal Alarm Clock. Most of the other listed mods makes the game harder or more complicated. The information to take in from stock is more than enough
Yeah, I'm really looking for mods that adds more customization and/or makes things perhaps easier. OF course I love aestehtics too!
I think if you play Career mode, the Mechjebness is okay. Also, I'm not sure if they've gotten all the kinks out of the autopilot bits yet for the new version.
On May 04 2014 02:30 felisconcolori wrote: I think if you play Career mode, the Mechjebness is okay. Also, I'm not sure if they've gotten all the kinks out of the autopilot bits yet for the new version.
I think Kerbal Engineer is superior, auto-pilot feels a bit cheaty to me
On May 04 2014 02:30 felisconcolori wrote: I think if you play Career mode, the Mechjebness is okay. Also, I'm not sure if they've gotten all the kinks out of the autopilot bits yet for the new version.
I think Kerbal Engineer is superior, auto-pilot feels a bit cheaty to me
Some, but it won't rescue bad design or timing. Also, there are only so many times you can dock before it gets to the point that you can do this.