Space program or space mission : KSP playstyle

[Warzouz]

I play KSP for a bit more than a year now. Since the beginning, I felt the game is meant to be played as a space program, not a space mission simulator. So it's logical to have multiple missions at the same time.

Not forcing myself, I find that an approaching window triggers the desire to go to that place, as soon as you start to go interplanetary. Further more, if you use play with space stations, you usually have to refuel them, collect science or manage crew rotations, so you need to use every transfer window. For example, When I played the beta as science game mode (easier for newbees), after visiting Duna, I wanted to go to Eve. But the window was in more than a year away. I noticed that the Jool window was in 20 days, so I dropped the Eve mission and build a big mission to Jool (a 13 flights space station assembled around Laythe to explore the whole Jool system). I played 2 full weeks on that mission (design + exploration). As there was an Eeloo window few days later, I sent a exploration vehicle there too. As the voyage was long, I had a chance to go to Duna again. And finally, as 1.0 was approaching, I never find the time to get there

It feels the game is meant that way, but offer very few tools to do so. There is no KAC-like feature, and experience, science system and many contracts are very "Kerbin centered". The Tracking Station is also missing some kind of grouping objects by "mission" (BTW is there a mod for that ?)

BTW, recently I did a test mission to Jool in a creative game, I found the game much easier and quicker to handle as there was nothing else to bother than the mission. KAC was only comfort an not a necessity.

 

So my question is how do you play KSP ? Despite its name, do you feel the game is designed to be played that way ? What features on that matter do you think the game lacks ?

 

[Hannu2]

I play multiple missions when I came to interplanetary phase. However, I try to keep amount sane. When I firt got KAC I had tens of missions and game begun to feel like work on conveyor belt. Execute maneuver, plan next, set alarm and repeat with next craft.

Now OPM mod have increased number of missions but they are typically send and forget -missions. It takes so many years between maneuvers. Actually I have sent a probe to Neidon in all versions since Neidon came in OPM but I have always changed to next version and started a new game before probes have arrived. I do not even use Hohmann like orbits but it takes near 10 years to get fast flyby with 4000-5000 m/s ejection.

[Evanitis]

Voted other: I play however I feel at the moment. I definately had careers when I just launched new missions instead of long timewarps for interplanetary transfers.

I think the game is designed so we can play it any way we find fun. And if can't do that in stock, the -will- be a mod for kinda' anything we can think of.

 

[eddiew]

I used to do multiple missions at once. Then I realised that three weeks of real time were passing and the probe I launched for Duna still hadn't arrived.

Next career will be one mission at a time, no matter how much in-game time it takes. Only way to free myself from dithering around building things in LKO...

When it comes to the outer planets (especially with OPM) I might have a rule to make at least one launch per 5 years, just so's I'm not tempted to spend a solid half hour at max timewarp

[Curveball Anders]

I have several different saves, and play one suited for I what feel for (or in some cases have time for) each time.

Most of them (including sandbox, science and career saves) have multiple missions running with a mix of satellites, stations, bases and long range missions.

Then I have one sandbox save, aptly named 'simulation', that I use to test stuff before using them in any of the 'serious' (for Kerbal value of 'serious') saves.

(The latter one is also used on fri- and saturday evenings if 'liquid snacks' has been consumed ...)

 

Edited January 7, 2016 by Curveball Anders
Gramer

[klgraham1013]

I play multiple missions.  I also have a self-imposed periodic budget, so my launches are spread over time and not hours apart.

[Randazzo]

I'll run multiple missions if there are multiple missions to choose from that suit me.

I won't necessarily accept new "boring" stuff if I have a ship en route to another planet, but if I can get something for the same SOI, I'll definitely take it.

[Mister Dilsby]

I play multiple missions also since i went interplanetary, but I do NOT launch for every window.

Before I did the comic I could switch between them all and pay attention to everything and do all the missions at the same time. Now I sometimes... forget about missions which I started that do not appear in the comic. From now on I think I will set KAC on every crewed ship just so I don't do that again, it's embarrassing  

[Francois424]

Depends on the type of game I have started, but since (finally) installing Kerbal Alarm Clock, I tend to take the multiple mission approach.
That transfer window planner that comes with it almost feels like cheating since I was totally eyeballing those since 0.23... Who knew my designs had that much Delta-V afterall?

A year-trip to Moho suddenly allows me to fly Mün/Minmus missions, and manage a slow Ion probe to do a Jool-5 Flyby.
Not that time is limited in KSP, but I hate it when the clock goes into the negatives (will this be fixed in 1.1 ?  minor, but annoying).

 

1 hour ago, Kuzzter said:

From now on I think I will set KAC on every crewed ship just so I don't do that again, it's embarrassing  

Yeah that's why I finally installed it.

[Choctofliatrio2.0]

Generally I play one mission at a time, but sometimes, I'll do a few at the same time. For example, I sent up my new career's first Minmus probe the other day, and let it fly while I took care of contracts back at Kerbin.

[SR]

I do one mission at a time, but I often have ships sitting around doing nothing. Like bases or space stations

[jonrd463]

I usually do one mission at a time, but they're usually a group of smaller missions leading to an ultimate goal. Right now, my large goal is to send a crew to Duna for a year, but it has consisted of missions to establish a RemoteTech network between Duna and Kerbin, send a DAV + ISRU facility, and most recently, a supply crate. It's taken over a week IRL, but I'm liking the slow and disciplined approach.

[obi_juan]

At this moment I have 7 maneuver nodes for the next 243 Kerbin's days in the Kerbal Alarm Clock.

A complete operated (8 kerbals) Outpost on Minmus. [Make the interplanetary ships]

A complete operated (8 kerbals) Outpost on Gilly. [make the rocket parts for Eve interplanetary ship]

A interplanetary ship (8 kerbals) in the orbit of Eve, making the Eve Outpost with the materials from Gilly.

A interplanetary ship (16 kerbals) in its way to Eeloo.

In the orbit of Kerbin an interplanetary ship is waiting the engines (to be build at Minmus Outpost) and the crew to go to another planet ¿Duna? ¿Dres? .  

I play with a Life Support so I need to make an autonomous interplanetary ships and Outposts, and make a maintenance EVA of it with an engineer every 200 days.

  

 

Edited January 25, 2016 by obi_juan
To include an album of of my ships

[GoSlash27]

I play single missions when first operating in the Kerbin system and unlocking the tech. This is both because mission durations are short and I want to get all of my roster trained up as quickly as possible.

 Once I'm ready to go interplanetary, I start running multiple parallel missions. No sense in wasting all of that transit time.

Best,

-Slashy

[regex]

53 minutes ago, GoSlash27 said:

I play single missions when first operating in the Kerbin system and unlocking the tech. This is both because mission durations are short and I want to get all of my roster trained up as quickly as possible.

 Once I'm ready to go interplanetary, I start running multiple parallel missions. No sense in wasting all of that transit time.

This.  I do the same in stock/vanilla and RO/RP-0.

[cantab]

Multiple. But I learnt my lesson a few versions ago about overdoing it, when some missions took real-world *months* between launch and completion. Now from time to time I'll decide, right, I'm going to fly out missions X and Y, *then* I'll start mission Z. Remember, virtually every transfer window comes round every Kerbin year or so.

[alacrity]

I play a multi mission plan... as the launch windows for different events I have to switch back and forth between vessels. Currently sending an unmanned station to begin workings in the jool system, a comm relay is going to orbit past Duna, and a science probe to Eeloo. In the interim I have a mining rig on Minus feeding a station at Mun and an ISS station for feeding kerbals in my mission meat grinder.

 

Alacrity

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

I try to go as quickly as possible from John Glen to interplanetary society. Right now i have:

8 guys on the Mun (Munbases Alpha and Beta)

2 guys orbiting the mun, (a rescue, and her rescuer)

3 guys on Minmus Base Alpha 

4 guys orbiting Minmus (on Skylab 1 - incl the guy from Minmus Lander III who just docked there)

4 guys orbiting Kerbin (3 on Skylab II , one on the Orbital Sanitation Department station - it was unmanned, but rescued Kerbal is camping out there)

My first Duna landers and orbiters (DunaBot One) is in LKO waiting for their departure window.

I'm almost totally out of Kerbals, I had to hire a pilot, just for the Spaceplane project. (with all those guys up there, I really need a space shuttle!)

/Day 206 (k-time)

//never met a contract I didn't like!

/// The game IS called Kerbal Space *Program*

Edited January 26, 2016 by Brainlord Mesomorph

[Wenoc]

After I got comfortable with the Mun and Minmus, I started interplanetary travel. First with simultaneous probe launches to Duna and Eve.

After those arrived and transmitted their science, I started a manned mission to Ike and some better probes with more science instruments to Eve, Jool and Moho, now with nuclear engines in the hopes that they will have the dV to explore the moons as well. In an effort to save funds Jebediah completely disbanded the testing phase and with these saved kerbbucks he is sending massive overkill rockets to every corner of the Kerbol system, confident that they will work just as planned.

While waiting for the transfer windows, I'm building a mining colony on Minmus.

Doing of all of this simultaneously seems to be almost impossible without Kerbal Alarm Clock, so a huge round of applause to TriggerAu for this most excellent mod. 

Edited January 26, 2016 by Wenoc
added some fun

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

14 minutes ago, Wenoc said:

Doing of all of this simultaneously seems to be almost impossible without Kerbal Alarm Clock, so a huge round of applause to TriggerAu for this most excellent mod. 

KAC is a MUST.

(I tell ppl I play a stock game, because I don't count KAC.)

[Nightshift83]

1 hour ago, Brainlord Mesomorph said:

KAC is a MUST.

(I tell ppl I play a stock game, because I don't count KAC.)

Have to get KAC too asap, plus a big bulletin board with color coded lines and stuff. Maybe even in KSC in the mission planner building so that you could drag and drop blocks around a virtuall calender or something alike (60's style)..

[Warzouz]

I think @Snark suggested that the Tracking station would have an alterate "ship" display where nodes would appear. That way, we would be able to handle several missions at the same time.

This is a smart and simple idea which would be a nice user-friendly KAC equivalent.

Snark's suggestion here