How would you describe the way you play KSP?

[SkyRender]

Applied engineering. I figure out what it is I want to do, I design a craft for that within the limits of what I have available to me, then I pare it down 'til nothing more can be taken away without jeopardizing the mission goals. My Career mode files never seem to be lacking in funds. Or successful missions.

[0x7be]

More engineering than flying. I prefer to design ships and systems and then give them to MechJeb. He is doing it just fine

Playing career as it give good feeling of progression and accomplishment.

[BurningLegion]

Since I'm going through career mode blind, I tend to construct a "test" version of whatever it is I want to do that either has no kerbals on board or an aggressive abort system just in case. Especially when I have a contract I intend to complete with a drone ship - I usually attach an unknown piece of tech to it just to find out what it does. Such as O-10 puffs, or nine linked LV-1 Ants attached to Cubic Octagonal Struts. When I'm reasonably confident in how the technology works, I recover the ship and add that to the list of tools I use for my eternal pursuit of science.

This has been particularly helpful in discovering the mobile processing lab vacuums power, how to place RCS thrusters, and so forth.

[Terwin]

No Kerbal left behind.

As of yet, the *only* rescue mission I have not accepted was a 'and what is left of their ship landed on the Mun' as I have not gotten rovers to he Mun yet and I'm pretty happy with a landing that gets me close enough not to run out of jet-pack fuel before I get to the pod of the kerbal I am trying to rescue, so collecting a heavy piece of space junk that is landed is not something I am comfortable doing just yet.

Usually a rescue pays for the ship and I'll take tourists along for the ride to make a nice profit.

Made me much better a intercepts. (I should really add RCS to my 'Automated Claw retrieval' design though, would probably make it a lot easier)

[nadreck]

Hmm, ever since they put economics in I have been playing career mode in more or less hard mode (1.0 I reduced penalties to 100% from 200%) and I do try to keep my Kerbals alive, and yes I put an inordinate amount of caution around the orange suits so far haven't killed any of them in 1.0.x but have lost 8 other ones. Despite trying to keep the orange suits alive I also religiously try to have them be the first to each new experience level.

I take the contracts that suit me, I don't recruit Kerbals, I prioritize getting the science instruments before most other things on the tech tree so that I can get the rest of the tech tree fairly quickly. Hmm, I do tend to anthropomorphize my Kerbals and consider their points of view as I make decisions in the game. Oh and I do like the looks of life from a beach on Laythe with Jool hanging in the air above the water.

[katateochi]

Meticulous Extravagance - I want my craft packed with every feature they need (plus several they don't), but failure is NOT an option so I test, test and then test a bit more (occasionally I run a mission).

[Geschosskopf]

I think of something fairly complex and long-term to do at another planet. I design what I need to do that and send it out in flotillas instead of 1 big ship. Behind this, I roleplay it that all my Kerbals are pressganged into service to perform menial labor and be medical test subjects. Most of them are sent far away with no expectation of ever returning.

[ArchGaden]

I play career with many reverts... every single revert is due to failed launch profiles due to aerodynamic instability. I'm getting better at that now, but I still fail on some larger unwieldy things (most recently a 50 ton mining rig that couldn't fit inside fairings). Once the aero model is settled and I've developed a good feel for it all, I'll graduate to a no-reverts career. I use mechjeb, but I self impose a rule that every first-time maneuver has to be done without autopilot... so first launch and circularize, first rendezvous, first transfer to each body, first landing on each body, ect. That I still use MJ to gloss over routine launches, but still get to challenge myself with piloting maneuvers from time to time. I feel that is a happy compromise. Late career, I stage tons of interplanetary missions in high kerbin orbit with maneuvers planned in kerbal alarm clock. I don't like timewarping for years at a time... usually only 50 days at most. This creates a very active space program... lots of flights. There is always something leaving, arriving at a destination, or returning every 50 days or so.

[worir4]

For me it's a really mind blowing experience, for me and also literally for the kerbals if you take my meaning...

[Plume & Akakak]

Slow and contemplative. Watching sunsets, and kerbals gently rotating over themselves in space. (play some Brian Eno here)

Nostalgically. (play "Puff the Magic Dragon" here)

Also, obsessed with the camera angle. (play Gyorgy Ligeti here)

As if I was shooting an 80s space documentary scored by a Jean Michel Jarre ersatz.

All stock. Always keep it a simple, shareable experience. (play some Hans-Joachim Roedelius here)

And I like my KSP with romantic landings,

...and full of Kaspar David Friedrich views.

[ArmchairGravy]

If finesse doesn't work, brute force will.

[FleshJeb]

Generally realistically and stock parts, but using lots of "Applied Handwavium". I see KSP like Legos--The parts aren't literal representations, but abstractions assembled to give approximately the look and performance that I want.

Don't get me wrong, I love realism. For example: I used to use RemoteTech, and have fully designed, and partially built out a very robust comms network for the entire solar system. It was hell on my framerate, so now I just design craft and missions as if RemoteTech were in effect.

Unfortunately, some of the physics mechanics implemented in 1.x have dented the power of Applied Handwavium. For instance, the heat mechanics and airstream occlusion are poor copies of reality, and one can no longer say, "This surface-attach part is located here, but the engineers tucked it away out of the airstream". As someone in another thread pointed out, 1.x is in the Uncanny Valley of realism.

At the risk of getting edited (and feel free): KSP is now like being forced to use a blonde RealDoll when your imagination can give you anything you want.

Edited May 22, 2015 by FleshJeb

[sj176]

I try to play carefully, but usually I end up reverting or loading a quick save. Which sometimes only ruins the whole mission, as it prevents reverting to launch.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

Currently

Very slowly... while also absorbing TOS for the first time.

[SelectHalfling0]

I have been very lenient with my reverting, but in my new career I disabled reverts, and kept quicksaves in case of a Kraken attack.

I have never cared more about kerbal lives before.

[Levelord]

Mine is best described with pictures...

[LostOblivion]

I spend most of my time in the VAB or SPH perfecting designs. 1200 hours and haven't been outside the Kerbin system yet. :-P

[Mister Spock]

I play Moderate career with no reverts or reloads. Instead I use Kerbal Construction Time's awesome "simulation" feature, so I can sim parts of flights before I do them for "real". Once it's time for the real launch, I live with the consequences. It makes the "real" flights more tense and exciting when failure a real possibility.

[MLWostal]

Sandbox and for fun. Enough realism in life right now so I want to have fun!

Fun in a KSP explody kind of way

[funk]

40+ plugins... searching for updates including interesting new ones... play early career (hard, but with reverting - see why-->)for a special task/contract... conservative approach first, then trying to build a (space)plane, which is capable to do it... Arrgh!!! Some misbehaviour! ... rebuilding with other parts- same!... search for reported bugs in plugins... ahh! some new mods... playing... would be nice to have... cfg changes... press alt-f11 "dumb database to file"... fullfill the task in 15-30min ... looking at the clock - damn!

Most used shortcut: Alt+Tab

Edited May 23, 2015 by funk

[SpenSpaceCorp]

Overcoming both in game and self imposed challenges.

eg) fitting an entire Eve orbital and landing probe under a 1.25m heat shield (despite larger ones being available).