Mister Spock

Thanks for your reply. Maybe I'll try moving the RCS thrusters to the CoM of this little ship, then. So does anyone ever use linear thrusters? Again, I think they'd be great for X and Y translation, but I'm not sure how I'd set them up for Z translation. Maybe three arranged radially, pointing down and up out of a ring around the middle of the vessel? I'm half-tempted to try.

OK, so I succeeded in getting a close rendez-vous, following the advice in this thread. It was quite easy once I burned the right direction, lol. My ship is now hovering 50m away from the target. My trouble now is that my RCS placement seems to be suboptimal. I translate fine along the Z axis (forward and backwards, if you will). But X and Y translation also rotate the ship, regardless of whether I have pitch/yaw/roll enabled. I've used 4 omnidirectional RCS thrusters, no doubt placed too low on the ship's abdomen. I think I was trying to keep the rocket's center of mass low, but I forgot about positioning the RCS at the orbiter's center of mass. Here's a picture: But I'm wondering if it's not just their placement. When I hit the translate-Z keys, the fore or aft thruster fires alone (one on each thruster block), as expected. But when I hit X or Y translation keys, multiple thrusters on each block fire. Is that how it's supposed to work? Should I be using linear thrusters instead? My issue with linear thrusters has always been: where do you put the Z-translation (fore and aft) thrusters? One would conflict with my engine; the other with my nose's docking port. Finally, I'm not sure I prefer docking mode to normal flight mode. In KSP1, I think I used the JKL keys. What's the advantage of docking mode? I'm also using the Docking Alignment mod for KSP2, but I don't know if it's any better for me than the navball.

Thanks for your reply. I think my main issue was remembering what to do once I was about 800m away -- and it turns out I was burning in the wrong direction. I was able to match inclination and (mostly) match orbits up to that point, though I struggled to see the tiny icons and numbers on the orbit screen, as I detailed above. (I really am enjoying KSP2, but many of its fonts are too small for my aging eyes.) Anyway, I'll try again this evening and report back. Yes, I used to dock all the time in KSP1 (manually, not with any autopilot), but it's been two years since I played, and I'd forgotten what to do once I was within, say, 1 km of the target. And I certainly wasn't a docking shaolin; I docked a lot because I enjoyed making space stations, but I recall a number of spectacular collisions. I remember what I need to do to use RCS for the final docking maneuver, but I'm guessing it won't be pretty! For that matter, it took me a few launches in KSP2 to perform a proper gravity turn, even though I knew perfectly well what I had to do, and I'm still rusty. I did manage to land safely on the Mun on my first try, mirabile dictu. Ah, I see. That's very helpful. As it happens, both my test craft have monopropellant tanks on board, because I anticipate much wasteful use of RCS as I thrust in the wrong direction, overshoot my target, etc., lol. But I will try your advice anyway, because I need to become more efficient managing my RCS fuel. And everything else in life, really.

OP here. Thanks for all those helpful replies. I appreciate that you all took the time to respond. OK, as a first step, I'll enter target mode and burn retrograde with respect to the target. That's what I was doing wrong -- I was burning prograde with respect to the target. As I mentioned, I haven't docked in KSP1 for a while -- I last played KSP1 a couple years ago. So I'm out of practice, and I'm not blaming either game, and it's mostly user error, lol. I watched videos to get me up to speed, but they contradicted each other and left me confused. Some follow-up comments and questions. 1. Should I be trying to match the target orbit PE and AP? Or is just one of those two enough? 2. If I need to match both, is there an easy way to see the target's PE and AP? My dim recollection is I used to use a mod to help me see that info without switching to the target craft -- maybe KER? For now, in KSP2, either I switch craft to check, or I try to find the AP/PE numbers that don't match my current craft's orbit displays in the lower-left. Those methods work, but they're a bit cumbersome. As I explain below, I have a lot of trouble reading orbit lines and icons. 3. Is there a mod that increases the size and readability of AP/PE AN/DN A1/B1 icons and, especially, the numbers associated with them? They're so tiny. 4. Likewise, is there a mod that changes color or readability of orbit lines? When setting up a maneuver node to change inclination, for example, I have to understand three orbit lines: my current orbit; my target orbit; and the planned post-maneuver orbit. I may have a touch of colorblindness that makes it hard for me to tell which is which. I'm using the Maneuver Node mod, which helps, but it doesn't make orbit lines more readable. 5. @Bej Kerman My comment about "retrograde to speed up" was not a typo, heh. I was trying to "catch up" to the target (or "slow down" to meet it) by staying in Kerbin-orbit mode and speeding up or slowing down by burning retrograde or prograde, respectively. The theory being that burning prograde produces a larger, slower orbit that slow one down, whereas burning retrograde shrinks the orbit, making one's ship go faster. I used to do my initial rough "catch up to target" maneuvers this way in KSP1 -- if I was behind the target I was chasing, I'd burn retrograde (relative to Kerbin) to get lower altitude, to speed my craft, then circularize and match the target's orbit once I was closer. I recognize this was probably inefficient, lol. I'm now trying to use maneuver nodes to match the orbits. 6. @steveman0 Thanks for that step-by-step summary. Hmm, I'll think about disabling pitch/roll/yaw on my RCS thrusters. I assume you do this only after you enter Docking mode by hitting delete. (Presumably SAS needs pitch/roll/yaw for its stablization maneuvers.) I would disable them using the parts manager, I assume. Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to reply. I'll give it another go later today!

I used to dock all the time in KSP1, but it's been a while, and I'm struggling here in KSP2. I've matched inclination (after some struggle), and my PE and AP are close to (though not identical to) my target's. I get within 800m of my target, relative speed about 28 m/s. But this is where I get stuck. How do I close the gap? If I point at the target and burn, the relative speed between us increases. I try burning prograde to slow down (if I'm ahead) or retrograde to speed up (if I'm behind), but neither helps. I've watched several videos, and none of them explains precisely which way to burn in this situation, or how to set up my navball. Can anyone advise me? I did find this video helpful, but he makes it look so easy. He seems to point his ship at the target and use RCS to close the gap and decrease relative speed to zero, but I can't duplicate his feat. Also, the UI has changed since that video was made. And maybe not for the better! I often have trouble distinguishing my craft's orbit lines from the target craft's orbit lines -- they're close to the same color. I couldn't figure out whether I was working with an ascending node or a descending one. Likewise, I sometimes have trouble distinguishing between a maneuver node's hypothetical course and my actual course. Can anyone point me to a remedial rendez-vous course? Once I'm close enough to use RCS to dock, I've got Docking Alignment D. installed, and I'm hopeful I'll be able to handle that. It's the getting to 100m range, 0 m/s relative speed, that's tripping me up. Thanks in advance.

This helpful mod seems to have fixed the disappearing-orbital-line issue that has plagued me so often. By any chance does the mod have a way to deal with lights that won't stay on? Right now the workaround is to revert to launch, but I often forget to do that. Thanks for your work on this mod!

Glad I could help! And thank you for your work on CKAN. It's wonderful, and it's effortless to use. I shouldn't have waited so long to try it! Thanks again.

Thanks for your reply. I think things are good now, but I'm not entirely sure. I've used CKAN to install several mods, and they work great in KSP. What a wonderful utility! But yes, there were some troubling messages during installation, and I still get a worrisome popup every time I run CKAN. I answered "yes" to this question, and then Windows asked me: "ckan.exe wants to make changes to your computer. Yes or no?" The first time I ran CKAN, I said "yes," and then a popup window -- it looked like a DOS Box -- admonished me that I really shouldn't give privileges to CKAN, that it's dangerous to do so. Then CKAN started loading its registry in its own window, but I panicked and closed it. Just now I tried again. I ran the ckan.exe, again said "yes" to the URL question, but this time said "No" when asked whether I wanted to allow ckan.exe to make changes to my computer. This time CKAN went ahead and started its registry thing without admonishing me about behaving recklessly. I installed some mods, and they work great. But now every time I run CKAN, I say "no" when asked if I want it to make changes to my computer. Then I see a DOS Box that says this: Shoudl I be saying "yes" about changes to my computer? Either way, is this anything to worry about?

Hmm, I didn't mean the Windows blue warning screen that says it "protected your PC" and then lets you run the file anyway. Rather, after that, CKAN itself asked whether I wanted to give it certain rights so it could find URLs -- then after I did so, it admonished me that I'd given it too much power. Maybe it was joking?

Thanks for your replies. So after I download the ckan.exe and double-click it, should I agree to its request to give it admin authority?

I played KSP1 with many mods for hundreds of hours, and I always installed mods manually. This time I thought I'd try CKAN, so I downloaded it from its Github, double-clicked CKAN, and then got asked a question about admin authority for URLs. I said yes, and then a popup box informed me I was giving CKAN too much authority. I was prompted to dismiss this by pressing any key, and so I did, but now I was nervous. Then CKAN (or something?) started loading text into a window, and I closed that and quit. I can't find CKAN installed on my PC. Is CKAN safe? Why did I get that warning message about giving it too much authority? Did I do something wrong? After this unnerving start, I'm inclined to return to my usual practice of installing mods manually, which was rarely ever a problem -- though updating them is admittedly annoying.

I like the game, but the UI is sometimes hard to read. Specific issues: 1. The navball's altimeter and speed readouts block the compass headings at either side. I can't figure out which way is East when I launch. Can these readouts please be moved? 2. In map view, as others have noted, fonts are too small and hard to read. I have to squint to see what the AP and PE height are. 3. As others said, we really need a more precise alternative to the gizmo arrows. A text editor for maneuver nodes, say.

I played KSP1 for a thousand hours or more, and I just bought KSP2. I'm enjoying it, but I'm surprised how much trouble I'm having with the gravity turn. My main problem is I can't see the "East" indicator on the navball, which is normally what I point at when starting my gravity turn. The compass headings are all obscured by other UI elements, like the velocity and altitude readouts. Is there a way to move those readouts or otherwise adjust the navball so I can see all four compass directions? As a workaround, I've just been clicking on the prograde vector shortly after launch, and that does get me to orbit, but not optimally. I think I had the same issue in the training session. I got to orbit, but it was all a bit chaotic. What's more, the time to orbit seems much faster in this game -- or maybe I just don't remember how fast it was in KSP1. I've also had some uncertainty about whether I'm using solid rocket boosters right. The training mission suggested firing both the main engine and the boosters at the same time, then ditching the boosters when empty by activating (staging) their radial decouplers. I've had better luck just using the boosters as a first stage, decoupling them, then firing the next stage (stacked) engine. But this has been chaotic too. Also, a lot of UI elements are kinda tiny for my aging eyes. I've tried fussing with the UI scaling option, but it doesn't seem to change much. Finally, is there a way to speed up camera rotation while in space? It seems to take a lot of mouse-movement to change the view just 45 degrees, say. Thanks in advance!

Buying it right now! The good feedback about "For Science," plus the 20% Steam sale, closed the deal for me.

That sounds good! If that snag is the biggest issue, then docking must be in good shape. So is docking (and synchronizing orbits) feasible without mods?

How is docking in KSP2? Does the game have adequate tools to allow you to match the orbit of another object, and then to dock? In KSP 1, I've always enjoyed manual piloting and especially docking. Nothing against MechJeb; I just like docking myself. Similarly, I saw that someone made a nice space station, which is one of my favorite things to do in KSP 1. I just like docking with stations and building them up. Is all that feasible in KSP2? I'll probably buy the game during the current 20% off sale on Steam. KSP1 is one of my favorite games of all time, so I've been planning to get KSP2, but I've been waiting for it to mature a bit. It sounds like maybe now is a good time.

Very cool! Way to go, Captain. In KSP terms, how do they get the booster to land right on the launch spot? What direction did the booster fly?

@jimmymcgoochieThanks for the advice -- you were absolutely right! My version of Kopernicus was out of date. I'd downloaded it bundled with OPM, I think, but apparently the bundled version was an old one. I updated, and now I see the outer planets. Rocking on! So much creative stuff in this thread. My favorite thread on the forums!

Returning player, continuing my un-Kerballed start with tiny probes and the Career Evolution contract pack, which focuses on un-Kerballed flight at the start. I just finished my first flyby of the Mun with another mini probe -- just an Octo, an Oscar tank, a cute little Ant engine, an antenna, a battery, solar panels, and a thermometer, lol. Total cost with SRB and a second stage of tiny Spider engines: around 6-7000 funds. I haven't unlocked more science gizmos yet. The next contract will call for "impact" with the Mun, apparently. Then more flybys -- Minmus, Duna, Eve, maybe other planets. I do have a contract for a Kerballed jet flight, but I'm in no hurry to do it, as I'm loving this unmanned story line. The only thing that worries me is that I've installed the Outer Planets Mod but don't see them on my patched conics. I have Tracking Station 2; maybe that's not high enough to see the outer planets?

Thanks. I've now marked your answer as well -- I found the engine advice helpful too.

OK, success! I did a contract to get this little rocket into a polar orbit and nailed it on the first try. Really it was a combination of things, and a combination of answers from this thread. First it was aerodynamics, lol. And fuel management. And yes, I had my hotkeys mixed up, so I was hitting "trim" instead of "precision" controls. Plus I was inadvertently toggling SAS on and off frantically because I was confused about that hotkey, too! Plus the new gravity turn is a bit different from back in the day. So I've marked a half-dozen posts as the "answer," as you were all right, lol. I'm having a bit more trouble with the mission to recover the probe, but I think I can figure it out. Thanks for all the help!

OMG, this may explain my woes. I've been stabbing at alt-WASD thinking I was making small movements, when in fact I was setting trim, lol! That means I may have told my craft to "pitch up" constantly, heh. What's more, I accidentally hit Caps Lock all the time, when I'm trying to hit Shift to increase throttle, or Tab to do something else. I will try rebinding the Precision Control toggle to something I'm less likely to hit by accident. I had no idea precision control was now a toggle. Which is a welcome thing, I might add. I hate using the alt key for anything. For hotkeys, I've been consulting an outdated wiki post (on my phone, so I don't have to alt-tab out). Sounds like I need to find a different hotkey website! I'll try flying again tonight and report back. I look forward to marking this thread as "answered" soon, I swear!

Another idea I hadn't thought of! Thanks, @paul_c!

Wow, I hadn't though of that at all! That would be really fun to try. I have unlocked a mini heat shield, I think. I suppose I'd need one of those too, even if rocket braking. I don't know how heavy they are. Anyway, great idea! I will play around with it in KSP later today.

Thanks for your replies. I'll check whether I have SAS on. Yes, @king of nowhere, it's possible the craft is in hibernation mode in that last screenshot. I was toggling hibernation on and off to see how it works. I've never used it before. By "drifting," I mean the navball wanders around even with the engines off, in space. It doesn't want to stay still. Again, I may have inadvertently disabled SAS. I wonder if my "slight adjustment" keys are working. On Windows, by default that's alt plus the direction key (WASD), I think. My alt key can be a little unreliable, so maybe I should bind these keys to something else. In previous iterations of KSP I had no problem orienting probes, burning in various directions, etc -- I had dozens of satellites. So I'm starting to wonder if there's just something wonky with my keyboard. I'm about to try a new contract, to orbit and return to earth, so this time I'll add a battery and a parachute. Alas, I do not yet have that nice circular battery. I'm stuck with the big clunky boxy thing. Maybe I can put it on top of the Octo and cover it all with a nose cone. I tried mounting 2 or 3 radially on the rocket, but the batteries dramatically increased mass. For a tiny little probe like this, every bit of payload matters! Even adding one battery and one parachute may require a change in the rocket. I do see there are other tiny engines with more thrust, so I'll play around with those. Thanks again for all your help. Once I figure out how to operate my probes correctly, which I hope is soon, I'll mark this thread "answered." Not quite there yet, though! I appreciate all of your input a lot.