[karajorma]

So I got there twice. The first looked like this:

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5592/mun21.jpg

That's a great picture! Rocket debris everywhere and 3 horrified looking pilots!

[Nuke]

you could probibly stand that up with the rcs thrusters.

[Bob-san]

you could probibly stand that up with the rcs thrusters.

Nope--I couldn't. It's a shame really. Here's another picture from a more recent mission.

[NGTM-1R]

I think we had a thread about bombing the Moon Mun once.

[Polpolion]

Just started playing earlier today. It's awesome! I can't seem to be able to insert myself into orbits with an apoapsis less than 1400 KM, which I suspect is a result of both me being a terrible pilot and having an extremely under powered launch vehicle. I must say the Orbit View mode is kind of unintuitive since it doesn't retain your orientation switching to and from the other view, and it's terribly hard to keep track of which side of my rocket is the "top." Still, I usually can manage to get into a roughly circular orbit and back down again. I will say that it's an absolute PITA managing to balance everything. Half the reason my rocket is underpowered is because I'm too lazy to add enough SRBs to make a difference. I did notice the symmetry feature which is useful, though.

[MR_T3D]

Just started playing earlier today. It's awesome! I can't seem to be able to insert myself into orbits with an apoapsis less than 1400 KM, which I suspect is a result of both me being a terrible pilot and having an extremely under powered launch vehicle. I must say the Orbit View mode is kind of unintuitive since it doesn't retain your orientation switching to and from the other view, and it's terribly hard to keep track of which side of my rocket is the "top." Still, I usually can manage to get into a roughly circular orbit and back down again. I will say that it's an absolute PITA managing to balance everything. Half the reason my rocket is underpowered is because I'm too lazy to add enough SRBs to make a difference. I did notice the symmetry feature which is useful, though.

SRBs are not terribly useful, a liquid engine with 3-4 fuel tanks is much more efficient

That should help your power problem

[Iss Mneur]

SRBs are not terribly useful, a liquid engine with 3-4 fuel tanks is much more efficient

But SRBs are so much more fun.

@Polpolion: If you are getting orbits that are that eccentric, remember that liquid fuel engines can be turned off (that is, let the apoapsis be 100-150km and then wait till you reach apoapsis and then burn prograde till the orbit is circular).  Also, make sure you are at 90 degs by 80 KM, you don't need to clear the entire atmosphere before you start gaining your horizontal velocity, you just need to be clear of the lower third.

[Polpolion]

I'm finally getting the hang of putting myself into orbit. Low power launches don't seem to be much of a problem; it was just that I was a terrible pilot. After remembering that I could throttle down liquid fueled engines, low-orbits aren't a problem at all. Finally managed to put myself into a nice parking orbit. Apoapsis is at ~78km. It'll decay after a short while, but you don't generally spend long parked anyway; I've got a tank and a half of fuel for my craft's single engine, so I'm tempted to attempt a trans-munar orbit, but I'm worried I'll either not be able to time it properly or not be able to get back. I'll try plane alignment once I put myself into a more stable orbit.

Only problem is you can't really compress time all that much in orbits this low.

Ed: I really hope they fix the HUD in future versions. I might as well be playing Orbiter.

[Iss Mneur]

Only problem is you can't really compress time all that much in orbits this low.

Which is why shooting for 100k is nice because that is the cutoff to get to 4x (probably 8x, because I can do an orbit within 5 minutes at the max allowed compression, but I don't remember) which works pretty good at that altitude, which has mission time period about 30-40 minutes.

[MR_T3D]

Installed the spaceplane parts for more creative designs, made it to the moon and back twice in a row with this one, relatively little drama


knowing your altitude is overrated

but it's nice when it works
2 stages to orbit, 6 solid boosters help get her off the ground.

All them stuts and tanks don't help framerates though

[crizza]

So, if I have to many struts and tanks the game starts to...shudder?
Interesting, now I know why I'm unable to controll my monster rocket^^

[Pred the Penguin]

I'm horrible at this; I can't even get into orbit.

[Herra Tohtori]

So, if I have to many struts and tanks the game starts to...shudder?
Interesting, now I know why I'm unable to controll my monster rocket^^

KSP is a CPU benchmark from hell. You can bring anything to its knees with enough parts and struts and stuff.

[Nuke]

it doesn't help that the game engine has no lod system, and modded parts seem to use non-sane polycounts. though i suspect a lot of the slowdown is caused by the physics, and not rendering. like struts introduce a lot of complex dynamics into the physics system. almost any design i make that uses large numbers of struts slows down the game considerably, and i suspect its a physics thing.

[Bob-san]

It does have a basic LOD system--for rendering planets and the Mun. The real problem is whatever's causing the CPU bottlenecks. I hate the really crappy performance with a big first stage.

[Nohiki]

Just ran out of things to land on or escape from, i need moar planets >

[Pred the Penguin]

I've had minor success building spinning type rockets while listening to Star Trek soundtracks. But I still have haven't made orbit yet... Is it possible to make orbit on the power of liquid fuel engines alone? Also is there anyway to jettison stuff attached to a rocket while still maintaining it's burn?

[Retsof]

Also is there anyway to jettison stuff attached to a rocket while still maintaining it's burn?

  If it is running when you drop it, it will keep going until it runs out of fuel.

[Bob-san]

Also is there anyway to jettison stuff attached to a rocket while still maintaining it's burn?

  If it is running when you drop it, it will keep going until it runs out of fuel.

Though that's also dangerous, depending on the precise part. I've made mistakes a few times, jettisoning boosters and having them crashing back into the stack. Other times I was able to time it right that they released and shot away from my rocket.

[Nohiki]

Well, if you're releasing liquid fueled parts, just throttle down, space, throttle up. As far as the boosters go, the radially attached ones have better chance. If you attach the decoupler on the upper half of the booster, you'll get better results.