Endoric

I played this game quite a bit and i watch it very closely. I am by no means good at it but i do have a lot of fun and i know the basics. I really want to get back into it and learn more. The problem i am faced with is the overwhelming number of add-ons and mods out there and i would love it if you guys could suggest a list of Mods/add-ons for me. I am most interested in Information displaying add-ons that give me specific data on my environment and my active vessel. I used to use Mechjeb a TON and really found it useful, is that still the mainstay for getting all that wonderful data i crave? What do you guys feel are absolutely necessary add-ons that enhance the game without changing it completely? I am not a fan of automatic things but I don't mind having them as i can just turn them off or not use them. Thank you much!

over the last few months of playing KSP i have also played Minecraft, Skyrim, Railroad tycoon, X Com APoc, Tropico 4, Faster Than Light and Universe sandbox. But over those months of switching games over and over again at a whim, KSP has been one i have consistently played. KSP rocks. (139 hours according to steam)

Ok so i am really getting the hang of this game and i am so loving it, thanks a lot to this forum and those wiser than I in the ways of "space-stuff" (see i dont even know what to call it, such a dumb dumb, but i digress) So here is my problem. I went to Mun, it went great until i landed without enough fuel to take off again.. ok no big deal i can send a rescue ship but the orbital vehicle had to leave the Mun's orbit, return to Kerbol pick up a better lander with a hitch hiker part, take it back to Mun after refueling at my space station (still cant believe i built that thing, lots of fuel and docking ports.... ok back to the problem i ran into.) SO.... i make it back to kerbol with just enough fuel... except... uh.. i am orbiting east to west instead of west to east and i need something like 4000 delta V to reverse (unless i am doing it wrong). needless to say my space station is going one way, my orbital vehicle is going the other and they zip past each other way to fast to do anything. Well how did i return with a reverse orbit? Was it as simple as approaching from the back instead of the front? Details are great, i can sort it out and look forward to learning something about more advanced orbital maneuvers. Here is a nifty picture of what i did going out and what i did returning. i can not recall if i entered the Mun from behind or infront... so the diagram may be wrong on how i entered Mun but it is correct in my orbital direction. all i know is I read that going in front of a planet compared to behind a planet is different in how it speeds u up or slows you down, please clarify that for me also. So much to figure out. thanks in advance, i dont want to make that mistake again.

i got it! show in VAB button! now that i answered my own question.... here is a new one: where do i find the "The Custom Window Editor " as mentioned here: http://wiki.mechjeb.com/index.php?title=Manual/Custom_Windows

i know i need a mechjeb pod installed for mechjeb to work. but earlier i was in the VAB and i had a screen with my vehicle information and now its not there. I have the mechjeb tab when i go to launch but what happened to that dang window during my construction?!

here are a few questions on this topic..... i heard TWR at launch is most efficent at 2.2. is that correct? what should my TWR be once in space? what should my TWR be at different altitudes? also on terminal velocity: should i not exceed the speed given in the list i found on the wiki at each given altitude mark? i also notice mechjeb differs slightly when using an auto accent. is mechjeb more efficent than a good pilot during accent? is mechjeb more efficent during the gravity turn? tanks!

scott manely is the man-ly!

ok getting the hang of it thanks to all the advice. i docked twice successfully. i get better as it goes. i have three ships docked, one of them has a docking port at the front and back since i have side mountd engines on it and i have two ships docked on it. i even went as far to load all but one of my kerbals onto the hitch hicker can and briefly start a deorbit path so i could launch the kerbal still in the capsule and send him back to Kerbal safely.. it worked, i even used the oportunity to decouple some spent engines and eir empty fuel tanks i had radially mounted and send those back into the planet as i hate space junk. was pretty cool how i could momentarally deorbit, release the pod and reorbit, thus allowing the pod to reenter and the 'space station' to remain in orbit. now i have to build a recovery craft as my kerbal is floating in the ocean off the west coast of the contintent that looks like africa where the space center is. you you guys should really give these places names....

2) Select the docking port of the ship you are flying, and go 'Control from here' and on the target ship, select its docking port and click 'Set as target' thats news to me... will try it. time to send up a third ship with enough liquid and RCS fuel for the other two and hope i dont have to send a forth.

i watched that video a dozen times. Its that very last part i just cant get right. I did bump my docking ports once but i think i came in too fast and they bounced off each other. Is ASAS being on the same as hitting 't' to turn on SAS? Will ships not dock unless that SAS is locked on? The one time i touched docking ports i cant recall if it was on or not. Problem is i just can not get that last fine tuning that connects the ships correct, i keep missing by a fraction mostly laterally. And i cant really get another screen shot as it is too late since both ships are out of RCS fuel... i am telling you i just cant steer the things.

No its not a problem with my docking ports its a problem with me. I have no idea how to close those last 30 meters! I am just a bit off and i have no idea how to line it up. Help please i just cant get the lateral motion correct. Is it my RCS placement? Its like trying to touch the tip of my nose with my finger but i keep missing my head!

so close. yes i am using RCS, but i havent used docking mode and maybe that will correct my lateral problems. my initial mistake was instead of buring retrograde i was burning away from my actual target instead. so now i am flying within 30 or so meters of my target but the docking ports keep getting out of alignment. usually laterally or sometimes i just goof up and tilt my ship off the nose to nose alignment i had. is docking mode the only way to get side to side, lateral motion? i cant seem to do it in regular flight mode using thrusters. thanks!

or rocket solid!

omg what a game. I consider myself a bright person but this game makes me feel dumb. So addicted and so glad i found a game that gets my grey matter working. So far i have learned a ton about rocket design orbital maneuvers and just the other day I was thinking, "so thats what delta V means" to myself while reading the wiki. I am working on docking right now and just cant seem to close that last 1000m gap correctly. Kerbal orbit, circularizing it, switching to a Munar orbit and getting back I managed to get the hang of. So much to learn. Looking forward to a bright future for this game.