What are the most important things you've learned about playing KSP to pass on?

[Vallius]

1. Have fun! Don't panic if your spacecraft falls apart/crashes/explodes the 5th time--it's all part of the game.

- Real space agencies had lots of these too.

1 (. Revert flight is your friend.

2. Always check staging, your abort system, and your power supply before moving a craft to the launchpad.

3. Simpler and smaller craft usually fly better than large complex ones.

4. Design from the top down, and test every stage of a spacecraft before going beyond Kerbin orbit. For example, if you have a Mun lander, first try launching just the lander to see if you can lift off in Kerbin's gravity and land safely. Make sure each rocket stage (designed for getting your craft to orbit) is capable of lifting the whole craft.

5. Consider saving your reliable lifting stages as sub-assemblies, it will save you a lot of trouble for later launches.

6. Planes are hard to land.

7. YouTube is a great source for design tips, mission planning, and KSP hilarity (I'm looking at you, Danny2642).

8. Use QuickSave/Load at your own risk--hitting the wrong key is even worse than when you hit the space bar too soon. Sometimes, things go even worse the second time.

9. Master the Navball and manuever nodes--master the Kerbol system.

10. Your altitude indicator gives you the distance to sea level--not the actual ground. For this reason, (and a few others) never try to land on the night-side of a body. For this reason I almost always do landings in staging view.

[Benno]

2. Always check staging, your abort system, and your power supply before moving a craft to the launchpad.

Abort system? Do people actually use this? What's it good for?

[cantab]

No. 8: Go unmanned before risking your Kerbals. If you don't want to or can't do the math, replace the capsule with a probe, add more weight until you have the same weight as if you had the capsule, and go on your mission. Or use the glorious F9. Either way.

Better IMHO is to add a probe core to the design. The mass of the Stayputnik or OKTO2 is negligible, zero if you replace the parachute with it. By leaving the original capsule on you don't affect the torque and balance of the rocket.

Just make sure you launch with the capsule actually empty.

Abort system? Do people actually use this? What's it good for?

Saving your Kerbals^* when the rocket beneath them starts veering out of control or disintegrating.

*Saving of Kerbals not guaranteed.

Also, a tip from myself. The LV-1, AKA the "ant engine" is good for course corrections on smaller interplanetary craft like probes. Slide the thrust limiters down to 5%, make sure no more powerful engines are firing, and you have exquisite precision. An RCS thruster gives 1 kN of thrust, an LV-1 can go as low as 0.00375 kN.

Edited March 31, 2014 by cantab

[karolus10]

I learned not to set the rendezvous distance to 0.0km......

Major rendevous tip: Don't make rendezvous transfer right into your target, aim into ~8-10 kilometers lower orbit and slide it back a bit from best closest approach, so encounter distance will be between 50 kilometers (low kerbin orbit example). This way you will had plenty of time to complete transfer to slightly lower orbit and then you plan much smaller burn (less than 10m/s ÃŽâ€V) for "0.0km" encounter ,this way you will gently (and much more precisely) close to rendezvous target without risk of overshooting.

Edited March 31, 2014 by karolus10

[Kasuha]

My major rendezvous tip:

- don't bother with matching inclination, instead change your orbit so it intersects the target orbit at one of inclination points (usually you'll get one of closest approach markers there which helps with fine tuning).

- then put a maneuver right behind that point and perform small correction to get intercept right in the intersect in one or a few orbits (additional 0 m/s maneuvers help with looking up the future).

- when half orbit to the intercept, put another maneuver to the point where you'll meet each other and visually match the two orbits (you may need to use all maneuver handles to achieve that). Then start burning full burn time ahead, delete the maneuver and continue braking the usual way (pushing retrograde marker to target retrograde marker, kill relative velocity, or whatever else method you use).

[Grunf911]

Few Interplanetary Tips i picked up from painful experiences:

- When calculating Electric Charge requirements, take into account distance from Kerbol. Solar panels will produce less charge around Jool then Kerbin

- IF playing with TAC Life support, make good use of transfer windows to other planets, but resource wise put enough food, water, oxygen to last approx 3x estimated trip length: (trip there, trip back and waiting for the return window)

- Aerobrake Calculator - helps but is not accurate if you use FAR (plan for slightly lower periapsis instead)

- If playing with Remote Tech 2 and probes, make sure you pack the correct communication dishes for the given planet you plan to visit (account for cone angle and max range)

- Also if playing with RT2 and probes, take into account signal delay (i.e. 3 min at Duna), when planing your maneuver nodes

Final Tip:

- From my experience sending flotillas of several smaller craft, rather then 1 big interplanetary craft works much better (although is more tedious to administer)

You can always dock them later in orbit around target body.

Here is an example how it worked for me at Duna:

http://imgur.com/a/D92mI

[Vallius]

Abort system? Do people actually use this? What's it good for?

I almost always include an abort system in my manned rockets (you can set it as an action group), so that I can get my Kerbals to safety in the event of an overly-exciting launch.

Previous to the new ARM patch (which gives you an escape tower), you could do this by placing seperatrons on the capsule and assigning several actions to the abort action group (backspace). As an example, my abort system action group will shut down all liquid engines, fire up the seperatrons, jettison the capsule, and open up parachutes. It isn't strictly necessary, since you can just revert a flight, but I include it for safety and a matter of style. It beats mashing the space bar like mad in an emergency (a losing battle for asparagus-staged rockets).

Edited April 3, 2014 by Vallius

[Angvar]

1.Command probes do not like to be installed upside down.

Made a design for a sky crane with lander and it fit best if it was installed wheel s up on top of the rocket. I used a probe core to control the lander and rocket since the rover cock pit was sideways. I was surprised to find that my uber stable lifting rocket set up started to spin almost on take off. Turned out once I turned the probe right side up (upside down for the lander) everything was fine. Till I needed to use the node target system for a really tricky inclination change for a Mun polar landing. The target was on the opposite side of the ball,it made it way more difficult than it should have been.

Thus 2. Do not install landers on rockets upside down. (Not impossible to deal with but a pain none the less.)

3. Mounting a reaction wheel hanging under your heavy tanker rover is bad and only hampers turning.

4. When driving on the Mun I usually stick in Docking mode to avoid the roll effect when accelerating. But I find myself coasting a great deal and have found that if I switch back into Staging I can use the pitch to raise the front end of my rover for jumps. This allows me to land like a dirt bike, or at least spread the impact over my set of wheels. Once I land I find that it helps calm the bouncing that usually follows. I switch back to Docking for when I have to accelerate again. Update: I found that I could simulate the pitch up effect by placing the center of mass just a little behind center. My new rover pitches up naturally on a jump now while in docking mode. Woot!

5. I have found that I prefer 8 wheel rover configurations over 4 or 6. I mount two sets up front and two in the rear with a space in between and the rear sets steering locked. My rovers tend to be heavy (Rover /Science explorer/Fuel tanker/Tow truck) so with 8 wheels I have the extra "Rubber" for those times when I accidently launch off a ridge at 30m/s and find my self flying 30 meters over the surface in a 7 ton rover. Most times I lose tires but I have yet to loose a whole wheel. Yet.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Angvar
Thought of more stuff.

[LiveHereNow]

1) Watch lots of videos on YouTube. They're entertaining but will also show you how to use the tools at your disposal.

2) Don't compare yourself to the people in the videos! Make small goals at first. Try not to say, "I'm going to build a Mun base with my first rocket!!". Try to get a small capsule in orbit. Then get it in orbit and land. Then land at an aimed target. Now try a 3-man capsule. Try for water landings and then maybe a tougher mountain landing. Much can be done and learned w/o going beyond low Kerbin orbit ("LKO"). It's hard to resist building a Saturn V copy w/ your first attempt in the VAB, I understand :-)

3) Try a mission after a successful attempt but trim down your rocket. I often try to take parts OFF a ship to trim it down and see how efficient I can make it. Again, it's a personal challenge but in doing so, you end up learning efficient design. This is how you get to make rockets that can make it to Jool moons and back... something that seemed unfathomable during my first week of play.

4) Learn to dock w/ small ships. Don't try to move giant space-station arrays into place the first time you try to complete a rendezvous.

5) If you hit a "wall", back up your mission goals and start w/ small probes, then scale up your payload as you get closer to your ultimate mission goal.

6) Print out ALL the controls! I didn't know half of this when I started and it made life very difficult. PDFs at the bottom: http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Key_bindings

7) Mun is closer but Minmus-and-back is easier. More flat places to land, lower gravity to escape, etc.

8) Struts! The better you build, the less you need, but once you unlock them, you can build much more complex rockets w/o things falling apart (well, not as often at least).

9) Change your camera view depending on the situation. When docking I find the CHASE view to be quite useful. Sometimes I just cycle through if I'm not getting the "feel" I want.

[TonyC]

1. Get in orbit without MechJeb (did once, will never do it again).

2. Learn how to walk and use EVA (it's so fun !).

3. Stock crafts have imperfections (sorry Squad).

4. Less fuel is more.

5. Asparagus staging is THE solution for everything.

6. Near Future Propulsion is (almost) required to play KSP.

7. Joysticks are really useful.

Edited April 6, 2014 by MegaUZI

[zzguy]

1. Be careful of wobbles on tall rockets

2. Never put kerbals on EVA when not in orbit (transfer to another planet)

3. Never leave a kerbal behind

4. Never make a deal with the Kraken

5. ???

6. Profit

7. And never ever overclock your underwear!

[RW-1]

Hi all,

On manned missions:

If you revert to the VAB and make modifications, recheck your crew loaded, or you may launch Kerbal's you didn't intend to.

My take on MechJeb:

While I haven't used it yet myself, staying stock, it is a tool, plain and simple.

We should respect those who choose to use it and for what, and the same goes for those of us who don't. Does it really effect you that much whether or not another person uses it or not? We all play for ourselves and what we want out of it.

I do disagree with those who from both sides who have to tout that using/not using is "better". It's not because it's your choice, and if you disagree with that, please go back to the beginning of this paragraph and re-read the first three sentences.

We came to KSP for the same reason - KSP, not MechJeb, I mean I don't think anyone ever saw MechJeb first and thought "Oh, I need KSP to use this?"

Now if I could only get my ships designed with enough fuel for my dreams hehehe ....

Edited April 10, 2014 by RW-1

[Angvar]

I have only recently picked up Mech Jeb only after many launches and landings on Kerbin, the Mun and Minimus. It's actually an amazing program. I am glad that I had the chance to learn how to fly/land my machines and manipulate my orbits before getting it. But the process was getting tiresome since I had new goals to accomplish that could only occur after the mundane stuff of launch and landing was done. It is nice to set up the launch hit go and then make some food or take shower. Once I start heading out into the outer solar system I will again take the helm so I can understand what it is I am doing.

In the mean time I just want to know "Are we there yet?"

Edit: I forgot the other thing that is great about MJ and KER in VAB is it saves me from being buried in piles of scratch paper and burning through notes books doing all the math to make efficient rockets. I already spent hundreds of hours doing Calculus in college and really don't want to do more for a video game.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Angvar

[thescientist]

The most important rule: the PTRETS

Point

The

Right

End

Toward

Space

[ayana]

Always quadruple check your fuel lines and struts before you hit that spacebar.

[Starwhip]

Hmm... Well, let's see.

Probably this: Alt-f5, while it is the "Quicksave As" button, is too close to Alt-f4, the "Eff-up your game and make you flip the table" button. So be Very Careful when using that combination.

[iStickyDuck]

If you are using SRBs make sure you have winglets to guide the rocket

[GoatRider]

I test my asparagus staging really quickly just above the launch pad. Throttle up to take off, after you get some speed hit X to kill the engines and then space to stage. Rinse and repeat, remember to wait until the capsule is going down before hitting the chutes.

It makes a heck of a mess on the launchpad.

[RW-1]

Once docked to something, click on a tank, then ALT CLICK on the other to get fuel transfer options.

My Kerbal Station One went thru many different fuel tank launches, was convinced it was because I had a SAS between the tank and the clamp-o-tron blocking my trnasfer, etc.

Now to rework my modules to include a bit of girder work so when connected, they match up and provide some rigidity, at least until I get the larger clamp thru the tree.

[736]

1. Don't overdo your launch craft. simplistic ones usually weigh less

2. Read the stat cards. Isp is super useful; 9 lv-30's are way better than a mainsail.

3. Docking isnt that hard; it's EASIER to learn without autopilots.

4. Aesthetics arem't necessary! they add lots of extra weight and wobble around, especially those I-beam fairings

5. Have fun!

[awsomejwags]

Pack parachutes. Nuff said.

[ArmchairGravy]

One thing I have started using in the last couple of months that has really opened up the rest of the Kerbol system is modular building. I send up a core consisting of a two-man can, habitat module, and science lab. I then dock a lander on top, and a drive module on the bottom. Sending the pieces up separately means I can use a much smaller booster set, and can customize the lander and drive module(s) for the mission. I was finally able to do a Jool return this way and hit Layethe and Val while there. I sent the Layethe lander as a separate launch. Modular designs has been a huge game-changer for me, and I highly recommend it.

[vinsent10]

1.when falling as a kerbal just fall head-first.darn helmets can survive anything

[RW-1]

ALWAYS get your wife's permission to play, begging forgiveness when a 5 min design session turns into a Jool intercept and exploration lasting 7 hours is not the time ....

[Red Iron Crown]

ALWAYS get your wife's permission to play, begging forgiveness when a 5 min design session turns into a Jool intercept and exploration lasting 7 hours is not the time ....

There is no such thing as a five minute design session. And my wife is a "KSP widow" too.