was it a bad idea?

[jake9039]

for some reason, whenever I start the game, I am instantly drawn to the space-plane hangar. for some reason, I fell I started trying to build space-planes too early. was it a bad Idea to get too involved into spaceplanes before even getting good at landing on the moon, or even building a reliable launcher?

whatever the case, I could use some help. starting with launchers 101, and hopefully getting a station, and finally possibly landing on the moon, minmus, and duna.

Edited March 11, 2015 by jake9039

[Tweety]

Is it a bad idea.....are you having fun? If yes then it's not a bad idea, if no then get back to the VAB. Hell I spend about 90% of my time in the SPH making stuff that will never get used, cause it's no good at what I want it to do and then I spend the other 10% of my time slapped together a rocket in the fraction of the time that can do the job....then I never use it anyway. I still love playing KSP even though I'm playing Groundhog Day essentially

Me loves those kerbals!

Tweety

P.S 400+ hours and only been to the mun, minmus and duna

[jake9039]

I for some reason don't see the building exactly as fun, (because it always clicks through, and all sorts of other annoying things) but I just find that the spaceplane hanger seems better because that is where all the new, cool, and interesting parts are.

p.s. played thousands of hours. still best I got is a satalite in orbit to duna.

then I deleted the save.

[GoSlash27]

In terms of career mode, it's a mistake to get into spaceplanes if you don't have the technology. A basic jet plane for exploration, OTOH, is an excellent idea.

It is in your best interest to learn the ins and outs of spaceplane construction once you have the tech to pull it off. It helps tremendously later on in the game.

Best,

-Slashy

[donfouts]

in career / science mode it is a bad idea: yeah you don't have the tech yet, but you also don't have much to do except orbit.

in sandbox I guess you could build a space station but I would consider that a lot harder than landing on a mun/planet

landings, returns, finding science, etc are a lot of fun - and it is a foundation for all space travel.

[capi3101]

for some reason, whenever I start the game, I am instantly drawn to the space-plane hangar. for some reason, I fell I started trying to build space-planes too early. was it a bad Idea to get too involved into spaceplanes before even getting good at landing on the moon, or even building a reliable launcher?

whatever the case, I could use some help. starting with launchers 101, and hopefully getting a station, and finally possibly landing on the moon, minmus, and duna.

I suppose the answer to your question is more a function of just what exactly you want to do than anything else. My own self, I started with the VAB and then moved to spaceplanes once I felt I had rockets down. I also preferred to play around in the sandbox before heading on to career mode, but then again I've been around since 0.18 (when career mode didn't exist).

Now, if what's happening is you've tried building stuff to launch through trial and error and haven't had success, and you want success, you'll have to learn how to do the math. The math isn't hard - really, it isn't. I'll go through a general design process later; right now I have to get somewhere. Some other folks might help you out in the meantime.

[Pecan]

...I just find that the spaceplane hanger seems better because that is where all the new, cool, and interesting parts are..

Exactly the same parts are available in both buildings ;-0

For your original request ("starting with launchers 101 ... a station ... landing) see "Exploring the System" in my signature.

[cantab]

was it a bad Idea to get too involved into spaceplanes before even getting good at landing on the moon, or even building a reliable launcher?

No, but...

The "but" is that just as you wouldn't your first rocket to make orbit or even space, so you shouldn't expect your first planes to do that either. I recommend being reasonably good at atmospheric aircraft before worrying about the space bit.

In science or career mode planes can be a bit tricky. But you can make a rocket plane or a rocket-launched glider as soon as you unlock winglets; launch vertically and land with chutes. The range may be short but such a craft can be useful for completing visual survey contracts.

[QuantumInc]

The only real reason to avoid the space plane hangar is in career mode where the related parts are simply unavailable at first. A lesser reason is that getting a space plane into orbit is far trickier than getting a vertical launch rocket to orbit. Of course a space plane that can't reach orbit is simply an air plane, which are plenty fun and useful in the game.

A lot of people decide that they greatly prefer using space planes to get things into orbit. The drawback is that building and flying one is more complicated, and more expensive, but the advantage (in career) is that if you can land it safely it is vastly cheaper.

There are different skills to develop in this game. Like any good "sand box" game you can go in any direction, there is a wide range of things to do, and often different skills you as a player will have to develop in order to do them. There isn't a specific order that you have to learn these things. If you want to master the art of building airplanes first, then that is simply your choice.

[jake9039]

ok. it's just all the experts say (not a quote) that the sph is evil, and to stay away from it until you master the vab.

[eddiew]

Spaceplanes are never a bad thing!

However... there's not a lot early in that research branch to help, so you can find yourself trying to do Munshots on lower rocket tech than you want. Once you've unlocked solar panels, separators, reaction wheels, and LV-909s from other branches, you can pretty much spend your science wherever you like, and if that's aerodynamics then that's fine. It takes a little more science to get to useful spaceplanes than to decent sized rockets, but Mun landings are entirely possible on 1.25m parts if you build with an eye to minimalism; you'll just have to send quite a few to bash out as much science as you can

Edited March 11, 2015 by eddiew

[UnusualAttitude]

With all due respect to them, ignore the experts and get designing your spaceplanes if that is what you feel is fun. The only thing you need is the basic jet engine and some wings: aerial surveillance contracts will then provide you with plenty of cash and science to unlock the turbojet, and meanwhile allow you to perfect your airframe design and practice take offs and landings. Personally, I've never designed or launched a large rocket in KSP. All my "firsts" (Mun, Minmus) were with small landers launched by spaceplane. It's just what I like to do. Like anything in KSP, the learning curve is steep, but there is plenty of good help to be found on these forums. Just ask

[Mister Dilsby]

ok. it's just all the experts say (not a quote) that the sph is evil, and to stay away from it until you master the vab.

I think you can do exactly the same thing in either location as of 0.90, it's just that the symmetry in VAB defaults to radial and the orientation of the pointy end defaults to 'space'. What you may really be asking is "should I try to build around mirror symmetry and learn to balance a ship for horizontal flight before I've mastered radial symmetry techniques and axially distributed centers of mass and thrust?"

If the above sentence didn't make any sense to you, then yeah maybe you should build in VAB for a while until you understand how to balance a rocket for flight. Does it wobble at any point in its arc? Whether or not it does matters less than whether you know WHY it does. Once you understand how to balance mass and thrust and can think about adding lift to the equation, the SPH is your new playground.

I'm primarily an SSTO driver myself, so I love the SPH. Whenever I start a new save I am getting science as quick as I can to unlock the aerodynamic parts I need to bring kickass vehicles to the runway.