Hi Folks, I purchased KSP through Steam several days ago during the 3 year anniversary event. I played through the tutorials and have enjoyed the experience thus far. I've took some time to watch some videos on tips and how-to's as well. Yesterday, with the introduction of version .23 I started career mode. I wanted to share some observations of someone new to the game/sim. The initial challenge is opening up the tech tree. One observation right off the bat is why am I not starting with aircraft? I see this wonderful runway, I know I can get science from different areas of Kerbin. It would seem that flying there would be more realistic than trying sub-orbital manned rocket shots to get there and experiment. Heck, at least give me wheels (landing gear) and I'll try a horizontal rocket plane. 2. Why must I perform numerous manned missions before I can do unmanned probe launches? I would expect probes launches to come first and then man missions. I'd rather risk a machine than a Kerbal for new ventures. 3. Okay, now I finally got probes, but no batteries (except for the built in 10 minutes) Why don't batteries come first? 4. So I try a sub-orbital and orbital shot with a probe. How do I do science with them? (like I can with Kerbals). I now have dead probe in orbit This could be entirely my lack of knowledge on probe science collection. 5. I'm only 3 levels deep into the tech tree (two out of 4 branches) and more often than not I'm starting to get very little "new" science from my flights. Not sure I'm missing a big part, but advise is welcome. 6. Basic EVA - why aren't my Kerbals tethered to the command module (think Ed White in Gemini 4). The first time I did EVA in orbit, Jebediah did a cya later, tumbled off and did his own re-entry. Outside of quickly pressing F to grab onto the module, am I missing something here? I really love the game! I hope my comments/questions make sense.