Best Way to Play Without Lag

[alanbr00]

I'm playing with the lastest ksp 1.0.4 and i having too much lag when i build a rocket larger then 500 parts. Any tips?

[HoloYolo]

Err, you can get a mod and weld it, or you can shrink it for less lag. The biggest craft I ever built was 611 parts. It was an O'Neill Cylinder.

[Vaporo]

500 Parts? That's a pretty good sized ship, and will have tons of physics lag on any system. Not really much you can do except deal with it or build smaller ships. Or overclock your CPU.

[juanml82]

Get a time machine. Fast Forward some ten years to the future. Buy a brand new computer, return to the present, hope that machine can run the current Windows 10 and run KSP there.

Maybe the unity 5 update will help, but with 500 parts, your best bet is to overclock whatever cpu you have and, even then, it's likely to lag, at least in the atmosphere.

[problemecium]

And here I was feebly hoping someone had either discovered an ingenious solution or had a hilarious joke to tell.

The above posters are right. 500 parts is a huge rocket and beyond what any normal computer running KSP should be able to handle smoothly. The update to Unity 5 is expected to help to a limited degree, but I would still expect to have trouble with hundreds of parts.

If you are desperate and have a budget, you could buy a computer with a high core clock speed. KSP currently does not capitalize on multithreading, so multiple cores will do you no good - what matters is the CPU clock, i.e. at how many GHz it runs. Few computers go higher than 4 GHz.

[X-SR71]

I feel part of the challenge of the game is not only make efficient ships, but ships with the lowest possible number of parts!

[Guest]

I'm playing with the lastest ksp 1.0.4 and i having too much lag when i build a rocket larger then 500 parts. Any tips?

Yeah, don't play.

[alanbr00]

I have a x8 3.5ghz, will over to 4.0ghz. But yeah i guess looking to this issue as a dificulty is not bad.

Thanks for those who helped.

And for the rest, try to do some help, the world needs, if you don't wanna help just die or get out of the way.

My regards to all.

[FancyMouse]

I can't read - I was seeing "plant without flag"

[Agost]

I have a x8 3.5ghz, will over to 4.0ghz. But yeah i guess looking to this issue as a dificulty is not bad.

Thanks for those who helped.

And for the rest, try to do some help, the world needs, if you don't wanna help just die or get out of the way.

My regards to all.

AMD FX are not good for KSP since it only uses 2 cores. A Haswell Pentium would actually be better for KSP, since single core performance in current AMD CPUs suck.

[T-Bouw]

I don't want to sound like Captain Obvious here, but have you tried lowering graphical settings?

GPU is impacted the most this way, but surely the CPU will be a little offloaded as well?

[LostOblivion]

If you don't mind not playing real time, you can turn down the max physics delta-time to 0.01 or less. The graphics won't lag at all, even with several hundred-part monstrosities, but the game will not be 100 % real time. To turn it up higher than what the in-game settings allow, edit the settings.cfg file in your game install.

[Mikki]

I feel part of the challenge of the game is not only make efficient ships, but ships with the lowest possible number of parts!

Agreed, me stops finally having fun beyond 400 Parts, and my PC is fast as hell.

It starts lagging at around 250 parts, depending on where it is, athmospheric flight adds lot of calculations.

Wait for x64 release...

[Violent Jeb]

For me, it's the smoke on the landing pad that really makes lag apparent with big ships. I have an i5 w 8gb ram and ONLY with version 1.0+ have I been able to notice a substantial lag leaving the pad.

We're talking 200+ parts. A segment that should take ~10s, takes more like 30. My solution has been to stay under those parts counts, i'm sure i could edit the smoke settings but i'm bound to run into more problems further down the line.

If there's a way to disable the launch smoke effects that'll be your #1 culprit i bet.

[LordFerret]

Turn off computer. Sit down and recline back, get comfy. Close eyes. Play - no lag, no wonkyness from time warp, and the Kraken only comes out when you order him to.

[Izny]

Turn off computer. Sit down and recline back, get comfy. Close eyes. Play - no lag, no wonkyness from time warp, and the Kraken only comes out when you order him to.

I play KSP every day like this when i go to sleep. I now know i'm not the only one who's weird like that

[alanbr00]

I don't want to sound like Captain Obvious here, but have you tried lowering graphical settings?

GPU is impacted the most this way, but surely the CPU will be a little offloaded as well?

Yes i have set the graphics to the min and get my 3.5 clock to 4.0

If you don't mind not playing real time, you can turn down the max physics delta-time to 0.01 or less. The graphics won't lag at all, even with several hundred-part monstrosities, but the game will not be 100 % real time. To turn it up higher than what the in-game settings allow, edit the settings.cfg file in your game install.

Helped a lot, did not screw my gameplay and increase a lot my FPS, thanks!

[Xyphos]

when i build a rocket larger then 500 parts. Any tips?

best tip: don't build a rocket with 500 parts.

seriously, IDK why anyone would need to breach 200 parts on a rocket.

you only need 1.2 TWR and ~2400 dV to reach orbit; your TWR increases as your rocket climbs out of Kerbin's atmosphere due to the lost fuel from burning it, so you'll have to learn how to decrease your throttle, which helps conserve fuel.

learning to pilot your rockets efficiently is a very vital key skill in this game that you're going to have to learn. you can't just burn with the Z key all the time.

another skill to use is gravity turning, I'll touch more on this later.

once in orbit, you can dock with a re-usable nuclear tug and burn chemical engines to escape kerbin's SOI (~1500 dV)

once you're orbiting the sun, TWR becomes almost meaningless so shut down your chemical engines and use the nuclear tug to setup your interplanetary rendezvous with your target.

once you've arrived at your target, switch back to chemical engines and set a stable orbit, undock from the nuclear tug and plan your landing.

if you're doing a return trip, you can use the same nuclear tug that you left in orbit, refuel if needed.

tips on nuclear tugs:

LV-N nukes are LF engines that don't need oxidizer, and only work best in a vacuum and have a high ISP making them ideal for longer burning times. however, they're pretty heavy engines so it's usually not a good idea to permanently keep them on your vessel.

the best use for these engines is in situations where TWR doesn't matter, such as interplanetary travel.

1 FT-800 tank (with oxidizer removed) will give you about 5 and a half minutes of burn time, you only need 1 LV-N per 100t of payload.

so for example, if you're hauling 220t of stuff to the Jool system, you only need 2 LV-N engines and a single Rockomax-32 tank without oxidizer.

tips on gravity turning:

you can't just burn straight up and expect to reach orbit. what goes up, eventually comes down. you'll have to use a gravity turn to initiate an orbit.

gravity turning varies as each vessel is built differently, but a general guideline is to use surface mode on the navball and a radial lock during pre-launch.

if your vessel has any boosters that it would shed, you might want to fight the radial tracking to lead the rocket away from the Launchpad.

when the vessel reaches 22kM, switch to orbit mode on the navball and use prograde tracking. your vessel *should* gravity turn by itself all the way into sub-orbit.

when you're at your AP, circulate, but it shouldn't be much of a burn since gravity turning did most of the work.

tips on docking:

your orbital AP should be about the same height as your docking target. it doesn't have to be exact, but the closer, the better.

when you circulate your orbit, make sure your PE is higher than 70kM but below the target's altitude. this will give you an egg-shaped orbit that isn't shaped like your docking target's orbit; this is the secret to an orbital rendezvous, one vessel will have a shorter orbit than the other, eventually they will pass each other. all you need to do is make sure you're close to the target then match your orbital speed. so what you need to do next is to time warp until the two vessels meet, switch the navball to target mode and burn chemical engines in the Retrograde direction until your navball reads between 1 or 2 m/s; this is your speed relative to your target.

set target lock and give a short burn towards your target, you shouldn't need to go faster than 20m/s because eventually you will have to slow down again, so time warp until you're really close. while you're in target lock, your prograde indicator should be aligned with your target (and your navball pointer) if not, you can use RCS to make the necessary course adjustments until it is aligned.

also, on a separate note, when setting your inclination to your target, know that your Ascending Node requires Anti-Normal burns. (and descending is the opposite.) - this is a memorization trick so you won't get confused.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Xyphos

[juanml82]

best tip: don't build a rocket with 500 parts.

seriously, IDK why anyone would need to breach 200 parts on a rocket.

Contract:

Explore Duna

Explore Ike

Extract 2700 ore from Ike and deliver it to Duna

Put a space station in Ike's orbit with a capacity for 11 kerbals and a science lab

Throw in a "base in Duna" if you wish

Try to do this through a single mothership and you'll easily breach 200 parts. On top, it will be great for bases and stations if the game didn't lag as you overbuild them. Besides, once a ship/base/station is outside the atmosphere/not in Gilly, if there is nothing firing up rockets in the vecinity, no physics calculation should take place - what is going to change from a frame to the other?

[problemecium]

I play KSP every day like this when i go to sleep. I now know i'm not the only one who's weird like that

I admit I have KSP dreams now and then too. In fact I had one today and didn't want to get up because I wanted to keep playing. Then I remembered that unlike most dreams, I can play KSP in real life xD

[Spartwo]

Err, you can get a mod and weld it, or you can shrink it for less lag. The biggest craft I ever built was 611 parts. It was an O'Neill Cylinder.

I'm building one of those currently. Just downloaded Ubio Zur and hangar extender to continue on and launch it. I want to make it wider now.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/107273-0-90-UbioZur-Welding-Ltd-Continued-2-1-1-%282015-01-14%29 Just in case you decide to go the welding route. It's a great mod and I hope a similar system to allow multiple similar parts to be merged into a single one will become part of the base game someday.

[Xyphos]

Contract:

Explore Duna

Explore Ike

Extract 2700 ore from Ike and deliver it to Duna

Put a space station in Ike's orbit with a capacity for 11 kerbals and a science lab

Throw in a "base in Duna" if you wish

Try to do this through a single mothership and you'll easily breach 200 parts. On top, it will be great for bases and stations if the game didn't lag as you overbuild them. Besides, once a ship/base/station is outside the atmosphere/not in Gilly, if there is nothing firing up rockets in the vecinity, no physics calculation should take place - what is going to change from a frame to the other?

what's the timeframe on the contract? does it REALLY have to be done in a single launch?

1. build a small 2-large ore tank refinery on Ike, include a command module for 1 engineer to increase efficiency.
   Refinery can be built as a rover to help explore.
   put docking ports on the two ore tanks so you can detach the tanks from the refinery rover, leaving that heavy mass on the surface and taking only the ore tanks back. use toggling of landing gear wheels to re-dock with your lander/orbiter, but note that landing gear has no motor drive, use rover wheels too.
   
2. build your rocket for the above payload, don't go all willy-nilly either, follow the KISS rule, it doesn't take much to get to orbit (or to leave kerbin's SOI)
   the rocket should include 1 Mk3 passenger module, 1 Mk3-100 Cargo Bay to hold the science lab and refinery rover, and a simple command module to make it a "station", add docking ports and build your Ike lander.
   
3. launch your station into orbit - leave it there for now.
   
4. launch your refinery into orbit, dock with the station.
   
5. launch your Ike lander into orbit, dock with the station.
   
6. build a nuclear tug if you don't have one already in kerbin's orbit
   
7. launch the nuclear and dock with the station
   
8. escape kerbin's SOI
   
9. nuke-drive to Ike
   
10. orbit Ike, undock the nuke tug, undock the lander, undock the refinery rover, leaving only the station and science lab.
    
11. dock the refinery rover to the lander.
    
12. land.
    
13. use the refinery rover to collect the ore
    
14. refuel your lander/orbiter
    
15. collect more ore if needed
    
16. leave ike and redock with the nuke tug
    
17. leave ike's SOI and nuke drive to duna
    
18. orbit duna, undock the nuke tug, land.
    
19. contract complete.
    

You really shouldn't try to do everything all at once, not only does adding more parts make it more difficult to launch the vessel, more parts induce more physics lag and create more "points of possible failure" in which the kraken finds very delicious.

instead of viewing the problem as a whole, break it down into smaller goals that work towards the ultimate goal, you'll find it much easier and more successful that way.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Xyphos

[Rus-Evo]

I find lag is worst at the launchpad when you have the most parts,and I just put up with it as I know most of the mission will be spent using a ship of a manageable size.

[maceemiller]

I find lag is worst at the launchpad when you have the most parts,and I just put up with it as I know most of the mission will be spent using a ship of a manageable size.

I have same upon launch. What I do is zoom out and change my FOV to the sky and just use the navball.....no lag at all. I then zoom in when cleared the EVE cloud layer.

[juanml82]

what's the timeframe on the contract? does it REALLY have to be done in a single launch?

1. build a small 2-large ore tank refinery on Ike, include a command module for 1 engineer to increase efficiency.
   Refinery can be built as a rover to help explore.
   put docking ports on the two ore tanks so you can detach the tanks from the refinery rover, leaving that heavy mass on the surface and taking only the ore tanks back. use toggling of landing gear wheels to re-dock with your lander/orbiter, but note that landing gear has no motor drive, use rover wheels too.
   
2. build your rocket for the above payload, don't go all willy-nilly either, follow the KISS rule, it doesn't take much to get to orbit (or to leave kerbin's SOI)
   the rocket should include 1 Mk3 passenger module, 1 Mk3-100 Cargo Bay to hold the science lab and refinery rover, and a simple command module to make it a "station", add docking ports and build your Ike lander.
   
3. launch your station into orbit - leave it there for now.
   
4. launch your refinery into orbit, dock with the station.
   
5. launch your Ike lander into orbit, dock with the station.
   
6. build a nuclear tug if you don't have one already in kerbin's orbit
   
7. launch the nuclear and dock with the station
   
8. escape kerbin's SOI
   
9. nuke-drive to Ike
   
10. orbit Ike, undock the nuke tug, undock the lander, undock the refinery rover, leaving only the station and science lab.
    
11. dock the refinery rover to the lander.
    
12. land.
    
13. use the refinery rover to collect the ore
    
14. refuel your lander/orbiter
    
15. collect more ore if needed
    
16. leave ike and redock with the nuke tug
    
17. leave ike's SOI and nuke drive to duna
    
18. orbit duna, undock the nuke tug, land.
    
19. contract complete.
    

You really shouldn't try to do everything all at once, not only does adding more parts make it more difficult to launch the vessel, more parts induce more physics lag and create more "points of possible failure" in which the kraken finds very delicious.

instead of viewing the problem as a whole, break it down into smaller goals that work towards the ultimate goal, you'll find it much easier and more successful that way.

No, it doesn't have to be completed in one ship, but that's not only cheaper (less boosters to take off from Kerbin) but also fun. In any case, in that particular case, the refinery I've included went to Duna, not Ike, and the ore will be transported in an overengineered rover. I also don't like orbit assembly too much. Since I find orbit disassembly instead, I've sent my Duna/Ike mission in a flotilla including this stuff

They don't reach 500 parts, but they are above 200 at launch, and why shouldn't they? It's a game, if I want complex designs, it's my issue.

And note that I'm using Space-Y large SRBs to save on part count instead of clustering kickbacks

- - - Updated - - -

http://i.imgur.com/E1klw52.png

I'm building one of those currently. Just downloaded Ubio Zur and hangar extender to continue on and launch it. I want to make it wider now.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/107273-0-90-UbioZur-Welding-Ltd-Continued-2-1-1-%282015-01-14%29 Just in case you decide to go the welding route. It's a great mod and I hope a similar system to allow multiple similar parts to be merged into a single one will become part of the base game someday.

Does it work with 1.0.4?