Hi, I have a newbie question

[JackBush]

I'm about to get KSP and I'm wondering which you'd recommend I start in: sandbox, science, or career. Which makes it easiest to learn the basics  which look pretty complicated to me.

[wrcsubers]

I would start with some of the built in tutorials, they are very helpful at explaining the basics and will get your rocket pointed in the right direction.

Also, someone I found very helpful was Scott Manley, he has a series dedicated to beginners...

Hope that helps and welcome to KSP!

[Ald]

From my experience I would suggest Career/Science first. Why? Mostly because you're not overwhelmed with all available parts at once. You get to know them, do few missions, get more science, advance in tech tree, get new parts and repeat the whole process. Once you're familiar with the basics, or just curious of some things - go sandbox. Also sandbox is mostly for making your own goals, while career/science is most about contracts (well career more, because funding is essential). I guess Science would be the easiest mode for getting the hang of things (no problems with funding).

[JackBush]

Thanks to both of you; good advice. Good to hear there are some built-in tutorials. And i'll definitely start out with science.

[Mikki]

Hello there!

As assumed above a sience start can help a lot to learn about the game physics without the (sometimes quiet difficult) career limitations. You will know by yourself when you are prepared to start a careergame, me did it like this.

Starting a career with stockparts only is very funny when you know some basic "tricks", like combining mission objectives to save some funds.

[Dman979]

I can't add anything to this discussion which hasn't already been said, except for:

Welcome aboard!

[Scarecrow88]

There are advantages to starting first in either career or sandbox.

Career is slightly more structured in that you only have access to limited parts, with other parts being unlocked as you progress. However, this can be frustrating as it will limit the designs you are able to create and, until you acquire some experience to help you, building a craft capable of completing some of the contracts can almost seem impossible.

Sandbox on the other hand gives you access to all the parts straight away, which means you can build anything you want. The downside here is that all those parts can be daunting, and without knowing which is the best part to use in any given situation your creations may not be the most efficient as a result.

[Noname117]

If you have a time machine you could go back to the really early versions of the game, when there were less parts and less functionality, and learn the game mechanics by having them introduced to you as SQUAD updates the game.

[AlanP]

I would recommend starting with Career for a little bit to get the feel of it. Then use sandbox to try out some complex designs. Try them all and find out what works for you. It's all about how you want to play.

Career has money, reputation, hiring or rescuing kerbals, unlocking building and a whole lot more.

Sandbox has everything unlock already.

there's even difficultly settings.

Try it all because space is big, I mean really really big.

[YargJay9991]

Welcome to the forums

All I can say is Google and YouTube! There are plenty of tutorials out there, so really watch and learn.

Starting with career is a good idea. A little tip from my experience... learn the controls. Find out what every single button does and how to use it. Importantly, learn how to use the four build gizmos in the SPH and VAB in the top left hand corner next to the parts tab. These will help a lot! Learning to build in KSP is essential, start out by learning the basics, then as you become more familiar with the controls, EXPERIMENT! This is so important, it allows you to expand your knowledge of what works and what doesn't.

And often things don't work, get used to that. Just try and fix them!

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Your gonna love KSP,

YargJay9991