TCIS's Absolute Beginners Guide To KSP, Part 2

[Chel]

This is the second (and final) part of the Beginner's Guide. If you haven't seen the first part, you can do so here. 

This part will cover the areas of rocket and spaceplane building, controls, and information on KSP's gameplay elements

 

Part 1: Creating your ship

You've entered the VAB, and want to create a vessel. But where to begin? If you want a small, first-time rocket, then you should start out with the Mk1 Command Pod. Then, add a decoupler, and a fuel tank. Pick an engine, and don't forget parachutes. You may want to add fins to the sides (to help you go up, down, left or right), or some SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters. These provide massive amounts of thrust, but cannot be shut down). This is your beginner rocket. It may be a bit basic, but it will help you understand how to create and fly other rocket designs.

On the other hand, if planes are more your thing, then you would go to the SPH. I would start with the Mk1 cockpit, and a fuel tank. Next, add wings. Don't forget to add elevons to the wings (or else you won't be able to go up or down), and a tail fin (go side to side). Then, add a JX-3 'Weasley' jet engine to the back, and you have a plane. But it doesn't stop there. You will need landing gear (or else you will just hit the surface, causing a massive explosion), and air intakes (to provide intake air for the engine). You may want to add parachutes to save your craft in an emergency, or airbrakes to slow you down (useful while you are coming in to land).

Part 2: First Flight

After you are happy with your craft, press the 'Launch' button (the green button, located where the 'save', 'load', and 'exit' buttons are) If you've created a rocket, you will spawn on the launch pad, while for a plane, you will spawn on the runway. Throttle up by pressing 'Z', and then hit the spacebar (don't actually hit the spacebar!). If all goes well, your rocket will be propelled into the air. If it starts to turn one way or the other, press 'T', which will activate SAS. After a while, your rocket will run out of fuel, and you will begin falling back to Kerbin. If you remembered to add a decoupler, press space to activate it. The rest of the rocket will fall away, and smash into the ground, killing thousands of innocent kerbals in the process collide into the surface. Don't activate your parachutes as soon as you've decoupled, or else it'll be a very slow journey. Parachutes automatically activate at 500 meters, so don't worry.

If you've created a plane, then follow the process of pressing 'Z', and then launching with the spacebar. The engine will take time to start up, but should produce enough thrust to lift your plane into the air on it's own. If not, then hold 'S' to pitch up. If it still isn't going up, then the end of the runway should help. If that doesn't help, and you see yourself going into the ocean, then activate parachutes. Remember: Failing helps. It gives an insight into what went wrong, and how to prevent that from happening again).

Part 3: Basic Controls

The basic keyboard controls of Kerbal Space Program are these: S/W - up, down. A/D - left, right. Q/E - roll left, roll right. ESC (Escape) - pause menu. G - landing gear/legs up/down.

Z/X - Max throttle, cut throttle. LShift,/LCtrl - Throttle up/down. R - Activate/Deactivate RCS, or on EVA activate/deactivate EVA jetpack. T - Activate/Deactivate SAS. C - Switch between different camera modes. M - Map view.

Part 4: Gameplay Terms

A quick guide on what words mean. For a complete list, visit my other tutorial, here. 

Re-entry: The process of your craft coming down from orbit, into a planet's atmosphere. It's best to retract solar panels, communication gear, and landing gear before this, to avoid them getting destroyed. A heat shield is an extremely useful piece of equipment, as it can protect your command pod (or probe core), science bays, and other things from the heat.

Velocity: How fast your craft is going.

Vector: The six things that you can use to go certain ways. Prograde is forwards, Retrograde is backwards, Radial is up, Anti-Radial is down, and Normal and Anti-Normal are left and right (unless you're in orbit, which is when they are forwards and backwards according to your camera view).

EVA: When your Kerbal exits the craft, and where you can control them.

MIA: Missing In Action, when your Kerbal is missing.

KIA: Killed in Action, when your Kerbal is dead.

COM,COL,COT: Centers of Mass, Lift, and Thrust. If you have a plane and it's mass is at the back, then it will take off quickly, but then spin out of control. An easy way to solve this is either by dumping fuel at the heavy end, or adding parts to the light end (adding more weight, which balances it out). The center of lift is where the most lift is. This should be in the middle, to give your craft maximum lift. The center of thrust shows which way your engine is going, and should be at the back (unless you are using the 'reverse thrust' feature).

 

Hope this guide has helped you, TCIS. If you need help on anything, or want to suggest something, then don't hesitate to tell me.

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by The_Cat_In_Space