What are your house rules?

[eddiew]

1 - no deaths. I don't have the heart to let kerbals die...

2 - if a crash doesn't kill the crew, live with it and rescue them.

3 - no more than 2 repetitions of the same science experiment from the same body. E.g. collecting temperature from Mun's Midlands and NW crater means no further thermometers to be taken to Mun's surface.

[RizzoTheRat]

Leave no kerbal behind.  If someone gets stranded a rescue mission gets sent out.

Part clipping limited to structural bits, no hidden fuel tanks or wings.

Love my mods but no "overpowered" future technology stuff (eg higher isp engines).

Always play with Remote Tech

Never go anywhere before I have a contract for it.

Generally I try to limit doing anything I'm not being paid for, the use of RemoteTech and ScanSat mess this up a bit but I try and link them to contracts where possible (eg return science from somewhere funding a ScanSat launch), or piggyback them off other missions (which is how I usually deliver KomSats once I've got my Kerbin comms network set up).

Edited May 3, 2016 by RizzoTheRat

[DChurchill]

On 4/15/2016 at 10:55 PM, regex said:

Permadeath on every save.

Sadist.

1. Stock parts or well-balanced stock-alike parts. There are some beautiful parts packs out there, but I like the look of the stock stuff.

2. I don't use any of the life-support mods because it seems too tedious, but I will always add a hitchhiker for every 3 crew on an interplanetary mission or station.

3. I don't use part clipping at all, even for looks.

4. Ships and probes must have a purpose. No completing contracts for probes in specific orbits only requiring power and an antenna without a science on it. No ships without science after the very early game.

[Drelam]

My rules (play exclusively sandbox):

No part clipping.

Leave no kerbal stranded.

Long time misisons require at least 3 kerbals and a sufficient amount of living space.

Most of my kerbal ships don't leave orbit naked (=un armed (using BD laser turret)).

No spaceplanes being send to other planets. (it's just... wrong )

No science biome grind. I use all sorts of sci stuff to scan a planet and land, but i don't land on all biomes just for the sake of it.

No probes, i always send manned missions to explore things.

Quicksave is ok, since KSP tends to CtD sometimes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bigbootie]

No infinite fuel. If I can't make it to my destination then I either revert or go back to a previous save or just call it a loss and leave it lost in space.

No engine or fuel tank mods on rockets or planes. I recently added a base building mod that has some fuel and battery parts but only plan on using them for bases.

I allow myself to use KIS and KAS to facilitate the use of hoses and pipes for refueling at bases.

[Ozymandias_the_Goat]

My list of rules

1. There are no rules

2. Reread rule #1

[moogoob]

1. Have fun.

2. If I'm not having fun, play something else.

3. When that ceases to be fun, go back to KSP.

That's all! Otherwise, I clip parts, and I don't. I play using Mechjeb, and I sometimes fly manually. I play with permadeath, and sometimes I use "auto-hire Kerbals" on Sandbox. I fly whole interplanetary missions from design to return, and sometimes I Hyperedit my rovers right to Duna.

As long as the first rule is in play, it's all good to me.

[Xyphos]

1. Play sandbox, career is for chumps.
2. Try to keep it stock if possible, mod parts may be used if a stock version of it doesn't exist.
3. Try to avoid using fuel ducts and/or asparagus fuel routing, it seems just unrealistic, in the terms of energy/mass conservation laws.
4. Try to avoid clipping parts together, structural elements are OK to clip, but never put 8 fuel tanks in the same exact spot as another.
5. If if didn't work the first time, add more boosters.

[blorgon]

On 4/15/2016 at 8:23 PM, Servo said:

Spamming RTGs in sandbox mode is a no no. Everything else is fair game.

Did this once. Landed a mining rig on Minmus. Switched it on, and promptly felt like an a**hole

Edited May 5, 2016 by blorgon

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Permadeath on every save.

[Curveball Anders]

5 hours ago, Xyphos said:

1. Try to avoid using fuel ducts and/or asparagus fuel routing, it seems just unrealistic, in the terms of energy/mass conservation laws.

Unrealistic yes, but maybe not due to the conservation laws.

The problem with the fuel ducts is that they allow for pumping ridiculous amounts of fuel thru a wee bit of glorified garden hose.

[algeo]

I try not to biome-hop or use labs at all.

I never launch anything that won't bring me a profit in career mode. Sometimes I do have to set up an infrastructure that isn't initially profitable, but in the end it has to bring in some net gain.

I try to avoid using parts from heavier mods (like Interstellar) until I've unlocked all of its nodes. Sometimes I break this rule.

When playing RSS, anything I accomplish that doesn't seem feasible in reality is immediately aborted by crashing into the nearest planetary body.

[Superfluous J]

I didn't even realize I did this until just now.

I have no real problems clipping (though I won't abuse it TOO much) but I refuse to translate something so far so that it's not touching the rest of the ship anymore.

This bothers me so much, it's actually the reason I feel the NoOffsetLimits mod is so important. It keeps those radial decouplers where they belong.

[DChurchill]

2 hours ago, algeo said:

I never launch anything that won't bring me a profit in career mode. Sometimes I do have to set up an infrastructure that isn't initially profitable, but in the end it has to bring in some net gain.

I sort of use this rule, too, but I'll take a loss if it's going to give me a significant science gain. I'll do a surface temperature scan contract for 100K when it costs me 150K for the lifter if it's a biome I haven't done much science on.

[Cairol]

- no air hogging
- 120% re-entry heating
- no obvious parts clipping for functional parts
- rockets that wobble beyond sane amplitudes are strutted up or re-designed, even if that wet noodle can manage to orbit
- Rockets need to have the "Abort" button configured in a way, so the crew capsule/cockpit can act as an LES,
   being able to separate from the rest of the rocket withotu harm in every stage of the ascent and must be able to land safely
- no modded parts that are better than stock parts without appropriate drawbacks for balancing
- not relying on SAS for planes / space planes to keep it stable and flyable (must be designed properly, except for fun builds like micro flyers / micro hover seats)
- not relying on SAS for holding the atmospheric re-entry vehicle retrograde (CoM must be placed properly)
- Settings and mods that reduce grinding are ok, as long as it doesn't make the game boring. (I don't like career much. I like to engineer.)
- if the cockpit is intact after landing, it's a success, no matter the kind of deceleration that was used to come to a full stop
- if the outcome is uncertain, don't sent Jeb, Bob, Bill or Valentina. Send a probe or a "redshirt".
- no Kerbal gets left behind (Jeb counts on me with that. Poor guy had to wait months on the Mun once, because I misjudged the d/v needed for a return from his mission AND the rescue mission...)

[Sereneti]

avoid to kill Kerbals
(0 kerbal killed...)

No cheats (like infinite fuel... btw, i dont know how to enable it XD

try to make all missions without kerbals...

Think
Avoid part Clipping.

Struts and Fuel-pipes are allowed, because:
Strut: Kerbals are realy bad at Welding, i thake struts to make "welding-points"...
Fuel-Pipes: some engines use all tanks, some engines only the tank in the line, fuel pipes can compensate that...
 

[Riftmann]

Permadeath

Leave no Kerbal behind

Don't cheat if I can help it.  Infinite fuel, etc.

If playing sandbox, I roughly follow real history, unmanned flyby's first, manned flyby's missions before orbiting, manned orbiting missions before landing.  I use to even do unmanned tests, but I don't so much anymore.  And I send up things without parachutes like Space Station parts unmanned. I wish you could do that in career without mods. That's why I tend to crank science all the way up (way past 'easy') in career.

Always have an Abort control set up, if it goes haywire, it goes haywire.

Only use Revert to Launch when the game crashes.

Only use Revert to VAB when you forgot something really really stupid,

I tend to use as few mods as possible, and I only use stock parts generally.

Bring back any science for full points.

Always hire a female scientist and engineer as soon as possible for Val.  I wish the two would come with the stock game with orange space suits.

[Rabada]

I have a rule that I must do something at least once by hand to prove to myself that I can before I use MechJeb to automate a functions, like plotting a transfer to Munar orbit or landing a craft on the Mun.

The main reason that I do this is because I like designing "elegent" modular designs even when I know I could build a giant craft that could accomplish everything in a single launch.