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A Complete-Beginner's Guide - Induction To Construction


Pecan

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PDF download on Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/45q1qu1scdvx5sd/Induction%200.90.zip?dl=0

Edit: 6.3.15 - minor rephrasing and typo-corrections

Update 28.4.15 - Version 1.0 edition and expansion started but there are a Lot Of Bugs in version 1.0, so walking a minefield here.

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Edited by Pecan
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Well Done Pecan.

It is what looks like a great start to a very detailed guide.

Although...Mr manley and cupcake get a mention but no Space Viking Lord Robaz ?...

Still a good read and I'm sure will soon be a go to guide for KSP. I know I learnt something new :) (Patched Conics )

I especially liked how u made it easy for people to put in custom flags early on. "A flag is a vehicle too, as far as KSP's concerned!"

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More amendments and expansion. Chapter 5 - the KSC buildings - done, just an example vehicle and flight-controls to go :-)

Link in the OP, last call for comments before publication (not that that will make further changes any harder).

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Comprehensive and well written, nice work Pecan :)

Well Done Pecan.

It is what looks like a great start to a very detailed guide.

Although...Mr manley and cupcake get a mention but no Space Viking Lord Robaz ?...

Still a good read and I'm sure will soon be a go to guide for KSP. I know I learnt something new :) (Patched Conics )

I especially liked how u made it easy for people to put in custom flags early on. "A flag is a vehicle too, as far as KSP's concerned!"

As much as I love that insane Swedish viking, he's not really the tutorial /teacher type

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Unfortunately, it seems that I haven't given enough reputation to other people since the last time I gave some to you. Nevertheless, I'd say this is definitely looking like it'll be Drawing Board material; it's almost like the manual that KSP doesn't (yet) have. Well done :)

(A small note, though: May want to change the title to "Introduction to Construction." "Induction" isn't strictly wrong per se, but goint with "introduction" might clarify exactly what this is about to people who might be quickly scanning the titles in, say, a long list of potential materials.)

Edited by Specialist290
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Hi Pecan,

Looks like another great guide (I like Exploring the System, although I don't think I've commented on it).

I'm just starting to read through this, and noticed a couple of corrections.

p. 4, Section 2, paragraph 2: "Harvester" should be "HarvesteR" (ending capital 'R')

p. 25, paragraph 4: "As briefly mention, " should be "As briefly mentioned, "

I'll add anything else I notice; would you prefer me to edit this post (neater) or add a new post to the thread (probably easier for you to find)?

Edited by AlexinTokyo
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Owwww! Sprained wrist! Going to slow down the typing a lot. There's always a silver lining though; it might slow me down enough to stop so many typos.

Unfortunately, it seems that I haven't given enough reputation to other people since the last time I gave some to you. Nevertheless, I'd say this is definitely looking like it'll be Drawing Board material; it's almost like the manual that KSP doesn't (yet) have. Well done :)

(A small note, though: May want to change the title to "Introduction to Construction." "Induction" isn't strictly wrong per se, but goint with "introduction" might clarify exactly what this is about to people who might be quickly scanning the titles in, say, a long list of potential materials.)

:-) The manual KSP doesn't have was the target. I thought we've got lots of tutorials about ship-design, getting to orbit, interplanetary-transfers and 'the maths' but we didn't have anything that explained, from the start, just what the hell you were looking at and what all the buttons did. Plus, of course, I'm angling for 'Hey Squad, can I write the official manual and get paid?'.

"Introduction to Construction" wouldn't work - sounds too much like it is An introduction to Constructing things, if you see the shift in meaning. Probably the simplest thing is to change the line order (and it needs a hyphen now I think about it); "A Complete-Beginner's Guide - Induction To Construction"?

Hi Pecan,

Looks like another great guide (I like Exploring the System, although I don't think I've commented on it).

I'm just starting to read through this, and noticed a couple of corrections.

p. 4, Section 2, paragraph 2: "Harvester" should be "HarvesteR" (ending capital 'R')

p. 25, paragraph 4: "As briefly mention, " should be "As briefly mentioned, "

I'll add anything else I notice; would you prefer me to edit this post (neater) or add a new post to the thread (probably easier for you to find)?

Thanks for the close reading. I have an unfortunate habit of not finishing the words I'm typing. New posts please.

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Recommend adding

- a appendix with a keymap for each mode, or a copy/link to http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/25074-KSP-Keyboard-Map-Old-School-Gaming-(2-0-15-Nov)

- "protips" section at the end with hard-won information gathered from the forum threads.

- Chapter 6 should probably be split into 3 or more chapters. Maybe 6, with separate building, launching, flying chapters for planes and rockets. Maybe 2 extra chapters for building and driving rovers.

I assume advanced topics like rendezvous/docking/landing will be covered in a different guide?

Love your "explore the solar system" intro btw.

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Good point on the keybindings, but I don't want to do that much work duplicate the wiki page. That does need highlighting outside of the Annex though.

I will think about 'protips'. I'm not sure what would be useful but still within the understanding of a complete beginner.

I am currently thinking chapter 6 should just be a walkthrough of the building tools in practice and then launch/flight to examine the flight & map modes in the same way the previous screens are shown; pointing out what all the instruments are. Hence, it will only have one ship and one flight (I think; it could change by the time I feel like typing again) - a tech-0 straight-to-orbit flight seems best as it will a) work in any game mode, B) go further and demonstrate more than the flight basics tutorial, c) provide the 'standard' (10km then turn right) newbie instructions for orbit, d) really DO something, without doing too much. Even with such a restricted definition it might need to be split into two chapters but, no, I'm not going to be building planes or doing more than mentioning dV and TWR, since those aren't displayed in-game and jets/wings are well along in the tech tree.

The whole thing is definitely intended to be 'book 1', just so people can find their way around the programme interface without being completely confused. Yes, I am intending to do other guides on orbital manoeuvres, docking, the maths etc., but I'm not in a hurry because I think they're all covered pretty comprehensively by other guides already. When 1.0 comes out (and once I've updated everything again) I'm still intending 'World Of SSTO' with Wanderfound, but I've also offered to update the MJ manual before that.

Perhaps I should put this in context better. I am planning (in reading order):

  1. Complete-Beginners - Induction To Construction (this, obviously). A guide to the programme itself, the interface and how to get around it.
  2. Beginner/Intermediate - In Pursuit Of Science. Maths, manoeuvres and the tech-tree. Science in Kerbin's SOI.
  3. Beginner/Intermediate - Exploring The System (simpler than now, with less flight detail). Sandbox ship design.
  4. Intermediate - A Career In Space. Contracts, money, reputation, strategies, building-upgrades, etc. etc. etc. How to survive Career mode.
  5. Expert (so much humility!) - World Of SSTO, with Wanderfound. Recoverable Single Stage To Orbit (which means To Orbit, not Eeloo!) rockets and spaceplanes.
  6. Expert - Shoestring Spaceflight. Low part-count and cost reusable everywhere.

Edited by Pecan
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"Introduction to Construction" wouldn't work - sounds too much like it is An introduction to Constructing things, if you see the shift in meaning. Probably the simplest thing is to change the line order (and it needs a hyphen now I think about it); "A Complete-Beginner's Guide - Induction To Construction"?

Ah, that makes sense. Must've just been the way my brain parses things.

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Please, please fix your spelling

*ocd intensifies*

Well, I could fix the Americanisms but its a Sisyphean task.

Otherwise, there's not a lot I can do unless you or someone else actually points-out an error.

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...Perhaps I should put this in context better. I am planning (in reading order):

  1. Complete-Beginners - Induction To Construction (this, obviously). A guide to the programme itself, the interface and how to get around it.
  2. Beginner/Intermediate - In Pursuit Of Science. Maths, manoeuvres and the tech-tree. Science in Kerbin's SOI.
  3. Beginner/Intermediate - Exploring The System (simpler than now, with less flight detail). Sandbox ship design.
  4. Intermediate - A Career In Space. Contracts, money, reputation, strategies, building-upgrades, etc. etc. etc. How to survive Career mode.
  5. Expert (so much humility!) - World Of SSTO, with Wanderfound. Recoverable Single Stage To Orbit (which means To Orbit, not Eeloo!) rockets and spaceplanes.
  6. Expert - Shoestring Spaceflight. Low part-count and cost reusable everywhere.

Thats 1 large list or work you've set for yourself pecan.

Just finished re-reading your guide. Wow it really got fattened out. Very comprehensive and easy to breaze through with all those pic's for reference although I did start to get alittle bored by the time I reached 6 sec 3

"Still with me? Nearly ready to go to space but there's still more to see and do!" at which point :rolleyes:I was like but, but, but I want to go Now

Great guide and some good puns to keep people like me reading :D

Edited by KandoKris
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  • 1 month later...

Version 1.0 update started and OP edited.

As expected and noted, version 1.0 is looking pretty full of bugs so I'm expecting a patched version sooner rather than later. Which means, probably before I can get this updated, so I'll have to start again. *Sigh* Sisyphus had it easy.

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  • 4 months later...

Sorry people. Not sure what is happening here.

The documents are gone from dropbox, so I'm re-uploading them.

When I can find them ...

Be warned though that this is a version 0.90 document. Most of the information should still be relevant but some will not be.

Don't like the look of the example rocket, for a start ^^.

Edited by Pecan
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  • 2 years later...
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