A players confession : Why I don't like going to space

[Triop]

I've been playing this game for some years and it is now the only game I play.

But I'm not going to space. Anymore.

I did when I started playing this game and learned from youtube how to orbit and land on the Mun/Minmus.

But after that came the inavitable; docking.

I've spend so much time learning to get close in orbit but never succeeded getting close enough to actually try and dock.

Then I found out that most people use all sorts of mods for docking, just because it is too hard..

For me the dream of going further then the Mun and Minmus was over....

I wasn't going to use mods to do what this game was ment to do on its own, so I kept trying and failing.

But I still loved the game and started making jets and cars and boats and imagining all sorts of missions for them.

I've kept on playing and enjoying the game and never went back into space.

 

This was my confession.

 

[Jacke]

18 minutes ago, Triop said:

But after that came the inavitable; docking.

I've spend so much time learning to get close in orbit but never succeeded getting close enough to actually try and dock.

Then I found out that most people use all sorts of mods for docking, just because it is too hard..

I could help you learn how to rendezvous and dock, with whatever level of modding you're comfortable with.  Just recently relearned meself.

[Superfluous J]

I frequently dock without mods. I even made a tutorial for it.

 

[TheSaint]

Docking without mods isn't really that hard. I've been playing for six years, the only mod I've ever installed that automates docking is MechJeb, and I very rarely use the Docking Autopilot because I'm better at docking manually. It's all about practice, and a little bit of gaming the system. (Because, in reality, they don't rotate the ISS to bring the docking ports around to face the incoming craft.)

And these are my confessions.

[Triop]

@Jacke @5thHorseman @TheSaint

Thanks for the support, I'll give 5thHorseman's video link a shot.

Maybe next time you see me on Duna...

[Jacke]

23 minutes ago, Jacke said:

I could help you learn how to rendezvous and dock, with whatever level of modding you're comfortable with.  Just recently relearned meself.

BTW, that was in the Community Caveman Jool-5 mission, meaning it was completely manual.  With all level-1 facilities, that's also without maneuver nodes or targetting outside of about ~50km.

[tg626]

Guys "look at what I can do under such difficult circumstances! Its easy!" To someone who is struggling is not helpful. 

I suggest some YouTube. Learn not so much ksp but orbits in general, scott Manley is good for this. 

Also consider installing mechjeb and just watch what it does. Then try the tutorials. You'll get your lightbulb moment went you pierce the mental barrier that is keeping you from "wrapping your head around it"

Thats how I learned. 

That said, it is a real shame that something like navyfish's docking alignment indicator isn't stock. You still have to hand fly it, but it gives you some feedback on what's going on. 

Hell, Apollo had an eye piece and a target to hand fly their docking, it wasn't automatic and it wasn't "seat of your pants" like stock KSP. 

Edited November 29, 2019 by tg626

[Bill Phil]

Docking is not necessary for interplanetary flight - patience is.

Every time I thought of making a cool ship in LKO I ended up abandoning it - I've found it much easier and more practical to just launch everything I need in one go. Of course that can be tough to do by itself, but it's an extension of something you can already do.

That said, docking isn't too bad. Though I do recall frustration back in like 0.19 when I first tried it out. It's tricky alright. But the hard part is the initial rendezvous, which is actually not too bad. Generally I treat it like a planetary transfer and try to go from one circular orbit to another. Setting this up makes it easier on you. A lot. Then I plot maneuvers and see what gets me close. Once you're a few km in you can cancel target relative velocity and then burn towards it, correcting as you go. Cancel relative velocity again once you're in close. Then I recommend pointing one ship "north" and the other "south" (well, the ports really, but you can use "control from here" to get that done). Then you can pretty easily dock the two even without RCS. Once you're close enough you can just tell the two ports to point at each other and then you can go in for a final approach and docking.

Of course that may not have helped at all...

[Jacke]

1 minute ago, Bill Phil said:

Docking is not necessary for interplanetary flight - patience is.

Even simple docking only in Kerbin orbit allows the simplest method of providing a large vessel: Launch the mission spacecraft as dry as possible of propellants, then launch tankers to dock with the mission spacecraft and fuel it.

That combines the power of surface checkout of the mission spacecraft with a larger spacecraft for a given launch vehicle.

[Bill Phil]

4 minutes ago, Jacke said:

Even simple docking only in Kerbin orbit allows the simplest method of providing a large vessel: Launch the mission spacecraft as dry as possible of propellants, then launch tankers to dock with the mission spacecraft and fuel it.

That combines the power of surface checkout of the mission spacecraft with a larger spacecraft for a given launch vehicle.

Oh yes. But it isn't necessary. I've flown missions to Duna and Vall and back to Kerbin with single rockets. Admittedly I used docking Apollo-style in orbit, but it wasn't necessary at all for the Duna mission. I just wanted to.

[tater]

I've never used a mod for docking, actually. For me, figuring out rendezvous and docking was much harder than a Mun landing (and return). Once I grokked it, it became what I liked doing most, actually.

[micha]

Rendezvous with the stock interface is easy.  Have different coplanar orbits (adjust your orbit as needed to match the target ship's orbit, just be higher (slower) or lower (faster) than your target), then plot a maneuver node to get "close" (no more than a couple of km).  A couple of minutes before closest approach, start using the NavBall (in "Target" mode) to pull/push (depending on how fast your approach is) your velocity vector on top of the target vector. You'll get within meters this way, just be patient or you burn through a lot of unnecessary fuel. Little tweaks go a long way.

But docking itself is a PITA with the stock interface. It's not exactly difficult, but just tedious to get lined up properly just visually.

I don't understand why the stock docking mode (which I never bother with anyway) doesn't add some indicators. DPAI really should be stock, it's so easy to dock with it (I barely look at the game, just the DPAI window).

[Jacke]

In some ways the best mod to aid docking is used in the VAB: RCS Build Aid.  It helps to build the balanced spacecraft that manuever well during docking, having little coupling between translation and rotation.  Used it so much I can now do good designs even without the mod.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Jacke

[tg626]

14 hours ago, Jacke said:

In some ways the best mod to aid docking is used in the VAB: RCS Build Aid.  It helps to build the balanced spacecraft that manuever well during docking, having little coupling between translation and rotation.  Used it so much I can now do good designs even without the mod.

That's another "helper" that ought to be stock.