I Did It! (First Orbital Docking) The Sense of Accomplishment!

[Elway358]

Let me start by saying I have been playing video games since an old Sears and Roebuck b/w telegames pong unit. I have thousands of trophies/achievements from doing some really difficult things in many different types of games, but nothing I've done in a game in almost 40 years can even come close to the sense of accomplishment this game gives me! I started playing with it a week or so ago and had been able to do some orbital stuff and land on both of Kerbins moons but for me, the thought of trying to dock two ships in orbit was terrifying!

After purchasing the newest version of the game today and watching some youtube vids from Scott Manley(to whom I have to give huge credit for my small success thus far in this game), I knew it was time to face that demon! I launched my little space station into a fairly circular Kerbin orbit without any drama. Then came time to launch my little Mun lander and go for that hook-up. I got into space and started planning my intercept orbit...that's when that "fairly circular orbit" looked like something the Easter Bunny dropped off! After the initial shock of my not so round orbit, I decided to soldier on. I worked on getting my descending node down to 0.0 and then turned my attention to trying to setup a close encounter,

I clicked, turned, rotated, and pulled on those maneuver node handles like a grey-haired granny on a nickel slot machine for god knows how long! Then just as I was ready to send that ship into a fiery descent to anywhere...I squealed like a teenage Bieber fan at the site of 0.4km encounter! woohoo! That's when it hit me...that was the easy part  . After warping forward and getting into sight of my mark, I started inching forward and keeping my navball marks where they needed to be and ship lined up. 100m...heart beating like crazy...50m and I can hardly keep from mashing the heck out of keys from nervousness...20m...keepin' them navball markers lined up like soldiers and inching forward like a snail...10m, my prograde marker vanishes! :0 :0 :0 panic ensues as I try to eyeball her in for that last few meters watching the nose sway back and forth in front of me and frantically tapping RCS thrusters. Then....click! YEEESSS!!! I screamed so loud my neighbors probably called the cops! I just stared for nearly half an hour at that beautiful monstrosity floating in orbit like a ballerina  

I know most of you have probably done a simple docking maneuver hundreds of times and I probably will end up doing quite a few myself but man, that first one.... Extremely glad I found this game and community and I think I'm gonna be hooked for a log time to come! Thanks for reading my over excited rambling and for all of yall who helped so far!

TL;DR  This game rocks!

A few screenshots just cause I'm so proud of myself

 

Edited January 27, 2016 by Elway358
typos

[chicobaptista]

Very nice! Congratulations dude! I remember my first rendezvous and docking, and it was by far the most difficult challenge that any game had ever given me. Be proud of your accomplishments and welcome to the wondrous world of KSP! 

[Jakalth]

The feeling of achievement you get when your first two craft dock for the first time in space is priceless!  Never forget that feeling.

 

I know the first docking I did was with two craft that had no RCS(my mistake there) so you at least did it right from the get go.  Nicely done.

[Elway358]

Thanks guys! can't wait to take it to the Mun in a bit and do some science stuff and things  

[Just Jim]

I've got nearly 1000 hours under my belt, and I still remember my first docking.  I think it's one of the real high points of the game.

Congrats... you've just entered a whole new dimension of KSP.   

[Starhawk]

Thank you for sharing.  One of the wonderful things about this game is the unbelievable sense of accomplishment it can give you.

As one black and white pong player to another - congratulations!

Happy landings!

[Sanic]

My first docking was a service mission to my first space station. But I was too proud to destroy it so the probe stayed docked for eternity  

[MatttheCzar]

You start to get an intuitive feel for rendevous and docking after a while.  Practice makes perfect!

[lodger]

On 27.1.2016 at 1:47 AM, Elway358 said:

A few screenshots just cause I'm so proud of myself

And you have all the right to be proud of yourself, new born Kerbonaut! Congratulations!

 

1 minute ago, MatttheCzar said:

You start to get an intuitive feel for rendevous and docking after a while.  Practice makes perfect!

That's so true. I'm playing this game for over a year now and still do most of my docking and in-orbit assmbly of larger craft manually. Well, in my science career savegame that is...

 

[kookoo_gr]

that's how my first docking went except the screaming part. Now onward to monstrous orbital constructions

[Wallygator]

Well done! And congratulations!!!!

I recall my first docking. 

I was on a conference call for hours while working from home - when better to have KSP running!

The conference call was 3 hours (IT Incident, blah blah blah lucky to only last 3 hours...) my docking manoeuvre took nearly as long. In the end I was in a slight cold sweat after I finally attained a hard dock along with the expected exclamations (Thank goodness for mute), and failed to respond to a few final questions over the phone line - had to admit that I was slightly distracted by another "activity".  Ha!

Good Times. Good times.

[Lacker]

That moment when "what if I..." turns in to "holy crap this is going to work!": Neat. Congrats

[maceemiller]

Congratulations pilot  I totally get the whole heart beating like crazy feeling. After over a year of playing KSP I still think docking is the best part. A majestic experience. 

And I too just sat and stared at my screen on my first docking