RP-AXE 0.9.3 (beta)

0.9.3: tree cleanup, Sol textures, dev bridge removed

• Parking and Experimental are gone from the tech tree. Both were developer holding pens. Parts the tree does not place can no longer be researched at all, and the Travers SAR is removed: a first-tier scanner that outclassed the whole tier-9 radar node.
• Upper-Atmosphere Sounding no longer reads as unlocking the thermometer and barometer. You start with both; the node unlocks no hardware and leads to the mass spectrometer and magnetometer.
• The Mission Control "RP-1" contract folder is now called "Contracts".
• No developer bridge in AXE.dll any more. Up to 0.9.2 the plugin carried a dev-only localhost query bridge, off unless switched on by config, flag or environment variable. It now lives outside the mod entirely, and the release script refuses an AXE.dll that contains it. Nothing changes for players.
• The presets let you choose texture size. RSS has one texture pack for every planet: RSS-Low offers 4K ticked, RSS-High 16K; untick it and CKAN asks for 2K, 4K, 8K or 16K. Sol is per system: CKAN offers Sol's recommended sizes ticked (16K Earth and Mars, 8K Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, 4K the rest; about 6 GB) and asks for any system you untick. (Presets re-uploaded with this on 2026-10-24.)
• Sol docs: Blackrack's V5 volumetric clouds, the lunar impactor contract that may not complete on Sol 0.9.5 (a known Sol bug that Sol's next release fixes), and the much tighter Mimas flyby. See docs/SOL.md.

This is a hard career, and you can dead-end yourself in the tree. Science pays for every node, research is never refunded, and the cheap science near home runs out fast. Look a few nodes ahead in the standalone viewer before you spend, and keep a save from before big research decisions.

Install

Until RP-AXE is on the CKAN registry, install two files, one after the other, with CKAN → File → Install from .ckan file:

1. A preset:
   • Real Solar System: RP-AXE-Express-RSS-Low.ckan (textures only, 4K by default) or RP-AXE-Express-RSS-High.ckan (Parallax, Scatterer, RSSVE-HR, 16K textures by default). The texture pack comes ticked; untick it and CKAN asks which size you want.
   • Sol: RP-AXE-Express-Sol.ckan. First add Sol's CKAN repository (Settings → Metadata repositories → Sol). Its first screen lists twelve Sol texture packs ticked at the recommended sizes: keep them, or untick one and CKAN asks which size you want for that system.
2. The mod: RP-AXE-0.9.3.ckan.

Decline the further recommendations CKAN offers, except the texture packs, then start a new Career. A 0.9.x career continues on 0.9.3. An RSS career cannot be moved to Sol.

Sol, extra step. With Sol's repository added, CKAN can skip KSPBurst and ParallaxContinued-Planet-Textures without reporting an error. In the CKAN window, if asked which mod provides KSPBurst, pick KSPBurst Compiler. On the command line, run ckan install KSPBurst ParallaxContinued-Planet-Textures after the two .ckan installs, then name the texture packs too (the command is in the Sol guide); headless CKAN cannot ask for sizes, so without them Sol has no planet textures. Check that GameData/000_KSPBurst/ exists; without it FAR and RealAntennas do not load. Magenta triangles on the ground mean the Parallax texture packs are missing. TransferWindowPlanner and Kerbal Alarm Clock need switching to Earth dates on Sol. Full guide: docs/SOL.md.

Command line, RSS. After the two .ckan installs, run ckan install RSSTextures4096 KSPBurst (or another texture size). Headless CKAN skips both without reporting an error, and without KSPBurst FAR and RealAntennas do not load.

RP-AXE-Express-RSS-{High,Low}.zip are marker packages for the registry presets. You don't need them for a manual install.

RP-AXE 0.9.2 (beta)

0.9.2: avionics strength restored

• Avionics overload is back to 0.9.0 strength. 0.9.1's fix for the doubled patches also halved the overload penalty, but every avionics number had been tuned with it doubled, and that is the strength careers were played at. The double strength is now restored on purpose: misdirection up to 180° off-axis (the controls reverse from about 6% over capacity), twice the noise, overgain squared. The PAW's off-axis figure shows the real limit. RCS translation is doubled the same way, without 0.9.0's leak from one thruster to the next. On a test probe holding attitude through a burn: about 2° off at 2% over, about 6° at 5%, attitude lost from 10%.
• Over-capacity avionics rows are red in the PAW. Every row that means "this vessel lacks capacity" uses one alarm colour, and Capacity shows the vessel mass next to the rating. The rows use the same test that corrupts the controls: a seated crewed pod reads "crewed pod has control", a unit over its own rating while a larger unit steers says so, and launch clamps no longer count toward VAB mass.
• Install presets renamed. RP-AXE-Express-High and -Low are now RP-AXE-Express-RSS-High and RP-AXE-Express-RSS-Low, next to RP-AXE-Express-Sol, so the planet pack is in the name. Same contents.

Install

Until RP-AXE is on the CKAN registry, install two files, one after the other, with CKAN → File → Install from .ckan file:

1. A preset:
   • Real Solar System: RP-AXE-Express-RSS-Low.ckan (4K textures) or RP-AXE-Express-RSS-High.ckan (Parallax, Scatterer, 16K textures, RSSVE-HR).
   • Sol: RP-AXE-Express-Sol.ckan. First add Sol's CKAN repository (Settings → Metadata repositories → Sol).
2. The mod: RP-AXE-0.9.2.ckan.

Decline the further recommendations CKAN offers, then start a new Career. A 0.9.1 career continues on 0.9.2. An RSS career cannot be moved to Sol.

Sol, extra step. With Sol's repository added, CKAN can skip KSPBurst and ParallaxContinued-Planet-Textures without reporting an error. In the CKAN window, if asked which mod provides KSPBurst, pick KSPBurst Compiler. On the command line, run ckan install KSPBurst ParallaxContinued-Planet-Textures after the two .ckan installs. Check that GameData/000_KSPBurst/ exists; without it FAR and RealAntennas do not load. Magenta triangles on the ground mean the Parallax texture packs are missing. Full guide: docs/SOL.md.

RP-AXE-Express-RSS-{High,Low}.zip are marker packages for the registry presets. You don't need them for a manual install.

RP-AXE 0.9.1 (beta)

0.9.1: Sol support, Harmony fixes

Update if you installed 0.9.0. The first fix below affects every install made with current CKAN versions of the dependencies.

• Fixed: AXE's Harmony patches on current CKAN installs. RealFuels 15.16 changed the engine-config window. One AXE patch failed to apply, and Harmony then skipped the AXE patches after it. Each patch now applies on its own, on both RealFuels versions.
• Fixed: every AXE Harmony patch was applied twice. The avionics overload corruption ran twice per physics tick, so 0.9.0's penalty was about double the design: misdirection up to twice the angle, twice the noise, overgain squared. RCS translation corruption also leaked past the thrusters. Over capacity, a craft now flies at the designed strength, which is noticeably gentler. Engine-upgrade tooltip stats and the bimodal-toggle message no longer appear twice.
• Sol support. RP-AXE now runs on Sol (RSS-Reborn) as well as Real Solar System. A generated compatibility layer keeps a Sol career on RP-AXE's RSS balance: per-body science, Earth science removal, gas-giant heat, SCANsat altitudes, ground-station antennas, outer-planet resources. Guide and caveats: docs/SOL.md.

Install

Until RP-AXE is on the CKAN registry, install two files, one after the other, with CKAN → File → Install from .ckan file:

1. A preset:
   • Real Solar System: RP-AXE-Express-RSS-Low.ckan (4K textures) or RP-AXE-Express-RSS-High.ckan (Parallax, Scatterer, 16K textures, RSSVE-HR). Renamed 2026-10-24 from RP-AXE-Express-Low / -High so they cannot be mistaken for the Sol preset; same contents.
   • Sol: RP-AXE-Express-Sol.ckan. First add Sol's CKAN repository (Settings → Metadata repositories → Sol).
2. The mod: RP-AXE-0.9.1.ckan.

Decline the further recommendations CKAN offers, then start a new Career. A 0.9.0 career continues on 0.9.1. An RSS career cannot be moved to Sol.

Sol, extra step. With Sol's repository added, CKAN can skip KSPBurst and ParallaxContinued-Planet-Textures without reporting an error. In the CKAN window, if asked which mod provides KSPBurst, pick KSPBurst Compiler. On the command line, run ckan install KSPBurst ParallaxContinued-Planet-Textures after the two .ckan installs. Check that GameData/000_KSPBurst/ exists; without it FAR and RealAntennas do not load. Magenta triangles on the ground mean the Parallax texture packs are missing.

RP-AXE-Express-RSS-{High,Low}.zip are marker packages for the registry presets. You don't need them for a manual install.

RP-AXE 0.9.0 (beta)

Changelog

The in-game copy (shown once per new version by KerbalChangelog) is
GameData/RP-AXE/RP-AXE-Changelog.cfg; keep the two in step.

0.9.0 — public beta (first release)

• Tech tree: a from-scratch, discipline-based tree of ~530 breakthrough nodes compiled from
  tree/nodes.yaml, science-gated, with an in-game R&D render (discipline colours, hover lineage,
  OR-gates drawn dashed).
• Ported from RP-1: the science instrument suite and crewed science, 35 programs and their
  contracts (running on AXE's own ContractConfigurator types), the engine-config upgrade ladders,
  the DSN tracking-station levels, airlaunch, range safety, non-reentry-rated parts, dev parts.
• AXE's own: avionics with steerable-mass capacity and control corruption on overload instead
  of a lock; an in-editor flight simulator; a funds economy with no build times, tooling,
  maintenance, crew training or reliability grind; free launch-site switching; a capstone +
  program-completion payout model.
• KerbalismLab: 65 crewed-station experiments integrated and rebalanced.
• Packaging: CKAN metadata (RP-AXE.netkan), KSP-AVC version file, tools/package_release.py.