EtherDragon

Hi all, Based on the number of threads on how to start with career mode, what to do, and how to get science, I thought I would throw together a tutorial for career mode. This tutorial covers your first two missions - how to build ships for them, launch them, gather science, return safely, and spend your points. Good luck!

Episode 7 is a go! Jeb and Bob try and rescue Bill from interplanetary space... Thanks for watching!

As everyone said, it makes this game easier to play and learn, while still being able to apply real-world physics. If you want a space-flight game with real world size and complexity, go check out Orbiter Space Flight Simulator which is free and has tons of free plug-ins - including the Apollo ships, modeled accurately right down to the computer system.

It is possible to achieve a circular orbit, just very very difficult, and there is no benefit to doing so. In fact, you use a fair bit of propellant trying to tweak your orbit to get there. (An orbit who's Periapsis and Apoapsis are at the same distance is just a circle...)

As of this posting? Three. The original Three, actually. You see, one got stranded trying to get home from his fly-by of Eve, and ran out of propellant in interplanetary space. Two others were sent in a bigger craft to rescue him, but they ran out of gas too... Now I need to get more Science so I can afford the parts I need to build a proper rescue vehicle...

Free recording software is nearly impossible to find. For all the videos I do, (go check out my KSP YouTube Channel)I use the following tools: FRAPS - for video and live mic capture during game-play. (Not Free, but quite affordable - at $37 you get life-time updates.) Music Maker Jam - to compose non-commercial musical scores for my videos. (FREE! Additional audio packs run $2-$4 each). FL Studio 11 - for more advance audio processing, like mixing soundtracks, sound effects, and narration. (NOT Free, rather expensive, actually... The most basic edition is $99, but you do get lifetime free updates.) Paint.Net - And for any still frames I want to show, like slides, titles, etc... (FREE!) Lastly, I use Microsoft Movie Maker to stitch everything together. (FREE with your OS). Anyway, for video capture, for me it's all FRAPS - get it and you will be able to use it for any game you want.

Toadicus has it right, but here is some additional context: The amount of delta-V required to get 1kg of mass into orbit is the same as what it takes to get 1000kg into orbit. The amount of dV required to reach orbit doesn't really change based on mass. In fact, if you look at the Rocket Equation: Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_equation You can see that this equation doesn't rely on how much mass your ship has, but the ratio of it's full to empty mass. What you are trying to solve is how much Propellant is required to get a 1kg mass into orbit - so, in your case you want to solve the Rocket Equation for M0, given a known dV, M1, and Isp.

To calculate dV, use the Rocket Equation: source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_equation Replace Ve with 9.81*Isp. M0 is your full starting mass M1 is your empty mass (all propellant expended)

One tiny correction, when you say "Gravity losses are a function of time, to the lower your TWR the lower your gravity losses will be." I think you meant "Gravity losses are a function of time, to the lower your TWR the higher your gravity losses will be." You have a good simplified explanation, Maccollo. Like I say in my Ascent Profiles video, "Achieving orbit is the balance between two competing goals: Reaching orbit quickly to save propellant with respect to gravity, and avoiding high atmospheric speeds to save propellant with respect to drag."

Hi Jarin, You make an astute observation that a rocket with very little TtW ratio is going to use more fuel getting into orbit - and it's effective Delta-V (dV) is going to be low. However, dV isn't calculated taking into account things like atmospheric drag and gravity. It's just the pure outcome of a single equation called the "Rocket Equation." Source: Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsiolkovsky_rocket_equation This equation calculates the total dV (given ideal conditions) that the rocket is theoretically capable of. Basically, to know the (ideal) dV of the rocket you have to take into account several factors: The Isp (in the equation it's Ve) is where the rocket engine comes into play. The other bits are the ratio of empty mass to full mass. Notice, that the equation doesn't take any other factors into consideration. It's more accurate to say that the Rocket Equation can predict your rocket's dV in a vacuum. Heh, now I need to make a Korbital Mechanics lab on the Rocket Equation. =p

Let's Play Episode Six is up! Time for Bill to try an interplanetary mission...

I tried to get to Eve and back in Career Mode...

How about video proof, from career mode? Munar Touch-down is at 21:23. Kerbin re-entry begins at 28:50. In my Career Mode Let's Play Episode 5, I land on Minmus and return as well. ( )

You center of lift is too far behind your center of mass. What is occurring on the runway is this: As your plane picks up speed, it tries to lift off the ground, but the back wheels try to lift first, putting all the stability onto the single front wheel resulting in a crash.

"Engine First" designs are certainly possible, unfortunately, they mostly rely on disabling the Gimbal on the rocket engines that are in front of the center of mass. Try using an in-line SAS near the top of your stack, that should give you enough control authority to overcome the lack of gimbal on your lifting engines.

Time warp gets me a lot, I'll be trucking along at x5 time-warp and not know it because it isn't much different than normal time at those places - then be like "WTH Why can't I pitch, or turn on my engines, or anything!"

Hi Chamandepastel, There are a few reasons this could be the case: If your rocket has low power (not much thrust) then that could be one reason - it may just not have enough thrust to affect your orbit enough. Best to use a Maneuver (at the Apoapsis) to plan the burn, then see how long the burn will take. If you find, after starting up the rocket, that the burn will take more than about 2 minutes, your rocket engine is too weak (or you have too much extra mass). Whenever you are at a node (periapsis or apoapsis) any thrust you apply only effects the opposite node. In other words, if you thrust at the periapsis, it will never raise your periapsis - only the apoapsis will be changed. And vice-versa: thrusting at the apoapsis only changes your periapsis. The further you are from either node, the smaller (and weirder) the change. There is a point, even at the apoapsis, that it will "flip" and become the periapsis. Check out this video to see if it gives you any hints: Here's another good one, although the topic covers many different things. Skip to 12:25 to watch the Launching bit...

Part of the charm of KSP, especially career mode, is that it requires you to figure certain things out on your own. However, you aren't given any hints along the way - only a nice explosion at the end if you did things wrong. If I were in charge of the world, I would make the following additions to Career Mode. 1. The first career mode mission needs to be a simple walk-through of making a rocket, launching it, doing a bit of science, and recovering it. The first launch should go through step by step, key press by key press, how to make your first rocket. Then walk you through launching. While in-flight, walk you through doing some science (gathering a crew report, in this case). Deploying the parachutes and then recovering the craft after it lands. And lastly, spending your science points. Have an option to skip the tutorial, of course. 2. As soon as any rocket comes to a stop in such a way that it's recoverable - that "Recover" button on top should automatically slide out and be displayed. That will give a strong hint that you can recover the craft - even if most of it blew up (which is always the case... on your first launch). 3. I think that learning how to make orbit is a fundamental skill which should be learned in the game. Sure you can watch tutorials, but it's not the same as getting it done yourself. That said, the game gives you few clues to help (and the ones that are there are in disconnected training missions). Whenever a career mode game has not yet made stable orbit (Periapsis above 70,000m) the game should watch your ascent profile and offer hints on how to do better when you recover the craft. It could say helpful things like, "It seems like you didn't go high enough, try waiting longer before pitching over." or "It seems you didn't have enough lateral velocity, try pitching over a little earlier." or even "Your flight path was good, but this rocket ran out of propellant before reaching orbit. Try changing your design in the Vehicle Assembly Bay."

Episode 5! Jeb tries to one-up Bill by trying for Minmus!

Please, please, please do what you can to make this happen. =) I think Kerbal Space Program is such a great opportunity for education. (Shameless Plug - Check out a video I made that is actually meant to help explain what a Rocket goes through when it's making it's ascent. , contact me about using this video in your class-room if you wish...)

That's my favorite thing about this game; along the way you end up learning a lot about real life orbital mechanics.

Episode 4! Never leave a Kerbal behind...

I wondered the same thing - a table of useful Aerocapture periapsis would be very useful! In your case, I say Quick Save - and experiment...

Free community promotion, from others in the community who have cool stuff to share? WHERE DO I SIGN UP?! =) Hey, I just started a new channel with let's plays, tutorials / labs, and the science behind Kerbal Space Program! As of this posting I have three Let's Plays, and one Tutorial posted. Add this channel to your topic, please: https://www.youtube.com/user/korbitalmechanics

The most important thing I learned is this: Assign a Job (or jobs) to each stage. If the stage is not able to complete it's assigned jobs - go back and rework the stage. Don't let later stages cover for the failures of early stages; it will just lead to you running out of propellant for your mission.