Bored of Kerbal Space Program

[Aragosnat]

Sadly. IT is called practice.. Prtactice... Practice.. Practice... All the while tweeking the flight path before then tweeking the craft first stage(bottom) and working up to the top.

[Firemetal]

Ok first of all, you have to know what you're doing. Figure DV amount, calculate or use MJ or KER to find your TWR and DV stats. Then you need to fly the rocket correctly. 3400 m/s at minimum is best for getting to LKO and then 875 minimum gets you on a trajectory to the Mun. 250-350 m/s gets you into a circular orbit around the Mun and around 600 m/s if you don't waste too much fuel landing like me will get you safely on the surface. Reverse this and lower your new Kerbin PE to around 30km to get back safely.

You have to know what you're doing. You can't just rely on trial and error.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Firemetal said:

You have to know what you're doing. You can't just rely on trial and error.

I landed rovers on Duna and got to Eve orbit and back on trial and error. I didn't even have gravity assists figured out at that point. It was only after that I started looking at dV calculations.

I.e. it totally is possible to rely on trial and error, at least within the Kerbin system. Seat-of-the-pantsing interplanetary missions, now, that I'm not sure I'd recommend.

[Firemetal]

1 minute ago, Brikoleur said:

I landed rovers on Duna and got to Eve orbit and back on trial and error. I didn't even have gravity assists figured out at that point. It was only after that I started looking at dV calculations.

I.e. it totally is possible to rely on trial and error, at least within the Kerbin system. Seat-of-the-pantsing interplanetary missions, now, that I'm not sure I'd recommend.

Agreed. Trial and error does work in a lot of situations. This however isn't the right way to go. Right now I have no choice. I really am too lazy to calculate DV and KER hasn't updated yet. Therefore I'm forced to use brute force. When using trial and error, it is best to build much more than you need so you know you won't fail.

Of course sometimes you get lucky.

My first Mun landing was trial and error. I had a rocket so big, it was capable of Duna. 12,000 m/s of DV in the vacuum if I remember correctly.

Fire

[Curveball Anders]

16 minutes ago, Firemetal said:

You have to know what you're doing. You can't just rely on trial and error.

I beg to differ.

I never know what I'm doing, I rely totally on trial and error.

Very many errors actually, but I've never had this fun in any game in my life.

[Firemetal]

Just now, Curveball Anders said:

I beg to differ.

I never know what I'm doing, I rely totally on trial and error.

Very many errors actually, but I've never had this fun in any game in my life.

*Sigh* Yes everyone does. When I say that, I am referring to knowing how to get to orbit, land on certain bodies, rendezvous ect. I apologize for not being clear.

Fire

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Firemetal said:

Agreed. Trial and error does work in a lot of situations. This however isn't the right way to go.

That trial and error period counts in my all-time top three most enjoyable game-playing experiences ever, and I would not trade it back for the world. I would never have done it had someone told me it's the wrong way to play, and slapped me with a ln( Mf/Me ) * Isp * 9.81 equation instead.

So... please don't do that. All of us have our own ways of enjoying the game, and it's not helpful to insist that someone else's way is wrong.

[Firemetal]

Just now, Brikoleur said:

That trial and error period counts in my all-time top three most enjoyable game-playing experiences ever, and I would not trade it back for the world. I would never have done it had someone told me it's the wrong way to play, and slapped me with a ln( Mf/Me ) * Isp * 9.81 equation instead.

So... please don't do that. All of us have our own ways of enjoying the game, and it's not helpful to insist that someone else's way is wrong.

....

ok...

I didn't mean it that way! I meant that you must know how to get into orbit if you want to go to space. Use gravity assists if you want to go to Jool. Kill your velocity for landing and rendezvous! That sort of stuff, Ok? I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough!

Fire

[storm6436]

While it's an echo what many have said:  the easiest way to get good is to get a copy of Kerbal Engineer Redux.   One of the subway delta-V maps is another near-must if you're wanting to speed things along a bit. Armed with both of those, you'll have  automated some of the most tedious calculations and obtained some of the more tiring basic knowledge gained through trial-error (or more calculations if one knows enough orbital mechanics.) 

Step two then becomes practice.   Fiddle with your rocket building to optimize delta-V while minimizing waste...

 Step three is pilot practice. One should understand that the dV map isn't a promise.   If it says 3200dV to Kerbin orbit,  that presumes a certain efficiency in your launch profile...  Which will vary by craft.   Not everyone can reliably make it up there for the map dV cost.   In fact, needing a little extra isn't a condemnation of your skill (or lack thereof), as it is only a reminder there's a little more efficiency left you haven't found. 

 And has been said,  once you get to orbit, you're the majority of the way to anywhere in the solar system.  The first step is arguably the hardest...  Followed by not involuntarily lithobraking. 

 

 Good luck and have fun.

Edited to add:

 I started off doing nothing but trial and error back in... Well, I don't remember how long I've been playing other than it was before any other bodies were added  It's possible you prefer trial and error...  I did for the longest time until I got frustrated with getting nowhere and started looking up how NASA actually does this stuff.  Entirely possible that's not the route for you.   As for me, when I went back to college at 37 to finish my degree...  KSP is why I decided to go for a degree in Applied Math and a second one in Physics. 

 

Edited October 2, 2016 by storm6436

[Aegolius13]

While delta v optimization is important for the big missions, honestly it's not where I'd suggest putting a newer player's learning resources at first.  Since the Mun doesn't take that much to begin with, you can overbuild by a fair extent without running into the problems that plague super-size rockets.  I think it's better to get a feel for what you have to do in terms of maneuvers and mission requirements, then go back and figure how to build a craft do that stuff efficiently.

[storm6436]

*shrug* It's one of the harder things to wrap your head around... If one gets it out of the way early, it makes the rest of the game that much easier. 

[Magzimum]

If you're bored, go do something else.

If you want to get beyond playing stock ships to the Mun and blowing up giant rockets on the launchpad: Play a career. Careers were designed to take you by the hand, and guide you through the steps. While we complain a lot about the missions that you can get, they are quite clever in the sense that the difficulty increases quite gently, and is coupled to the science you have discovered.