Getting lost with the Navball

[Gloom Demon]

Is there a way of understanding where right and left is on the Navball?

For example - if I change the camera angle before start, pressing right might

result in the rocket going left and vice versa. This is very confusing.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Gloom Demon

[_stilgar_]

Select different camera mode - "locked" is the best when you want your ship to be positioned exactly as it is on navball.

[ForScience6686]

Right and left are dependent on your orientation. Like said above, use v to cycle camera mode to locked.

[pincushionman]

This is because both the controls and the navball are ship-centric, not camera-centric. There is no way to make the controls follow the camera.

Except for EVA kerbals. Those bastards follow the camera by default.

I find I always need to make a feature on my ships to designate the "up" direction at a glance. Especially with docking.

[Warzouz]

It's usually easier to focus on the navball than on the view. Yaw right will always make you go right on the navball but lay look differently on the screen.

Another way to understand where you are is to activate SAS and set it to prograde or normal, then rotate you ship to put it where you want.

[LostOblivion]

You don't want to steer your craft by looking at it. You want to be looking at the navball. If you still demand to steer by looking at the craft, you need to recognise the shape of the craft before leaving the VAB so you instinctively know its orientation.

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

twist around the view of the ship until the horizon on the planet matches the navball.

Then up/down left right make sense.

[Alshain]

Yeah, you have to train your brain to fly by instrument, not by sight. That's true for airline pilots too, the ground is an optical illusion and you simply can't trust your eyes. Occasionally when landing you may use some visual cues such as lights or your shadow but overall watch the navball, not the craft.

HOWEVER, when landing on a surface, especially on an atmosphere-less body, find the hatch on your command pod, it will be at the back (S key) on everything except the Mk1-2 which is still mostly at the back but slightly off to the side. You can do this by either turning the camera or the ship. This assumes your point of control is from that command pod of course. With probes, you don't have the same fortune, most of them don't have a indicator of where the back is on the model. I usually use this trick so I can use my reaction wheel after touchdown to ensure all the legs are firmly on the ground. If the craft were backward from the keys I might tip it over instead.

If you use a 3-leg lander you can design your lander in the VAB to give you a visual cue to the orientation of the craft, even with a probe.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Alshain

[Vanamonde]

The main screen is for making pretty pictures. Do not try to navigate by it, for the reasons you are discovering.