Can anyone else not play without KER?

[swjr-swis]

Trial and error is such an underrated play style these days...

[Columbia]

8 hours ago, weissel said:

You should try to get off your addiction to KER.  You use it as a crutch instead of a tool; you have crippled your legs by using it.  That is not good for you.

I don't know about that, it's up to the player whether he wants to be aided by tools or not.

I can go about as far as Jool (but not back) without KER, overbuilding rockets usually ends me up with more Delta-V than I need and makes it easier.

[Xavven]

I have a spreadsheet with the rocket equation solved in several forms to show me:

• dV in a stage
• Fuel needed to acheive target dV
• dV remaining on a stage that has used up some of its fuel during a mission
• TWR in atmo and in vacuum

 

There's no need to enter in values for every part that you have - just specify the total weight of your payload.

KER is more convenient, but depending on how you've set up your spreadsheet, it isn't time consuming or tedious (to me at least) to calculate it by hand, so I can stay 100% stock, just the way I like it.

[Gojira1000]

Are we doing another "if you don't use the mods (or lack of mods) I do you're playing it wrong" thread?

We really don't need any more of those.

[eddiew]

11 minutes ago, JoeNapalm said:

But it's like all the fancy gauges and displays in my car -- I LIKE that they're there, but only like four ever really matter.

I get a lot of use out of these as well. The constant display of AP and time to AP is utterly invaluable during launch, since it prevents having to jump to and from the map screen. Especially if I'm trying to rendezvous, that's pretty much vital!

Plus that altitude above terrain reading. I am no fan of landing without radar altimetry  

[RizzoTheRat]

30 minutes ago, swjr-swis said:

Trial and error is such an underrated play style these days...

The amount of errors I make I'd be on trial for genocide

[SchwinnTropius]

Downloaded KER last night because I got tired of doing dV by hand, and spreadsheets are slightly beyond my abilities and patience. I find all the tools useful, but only use a few in flight. So far it's my only mod as I like the stock game as it is.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

I played for quite awhile before I got into modding the game and made it as far as the Mun without KER.

Once I started using it, I gained a better understanding of the things I had begun to have a hunch about on my own, it also keeps me from over designing my rockets which is a bad habit of mine.

That said, I'm sure I could play without it now that I understand the mechanics of the game better, however without KER to "open the hood and show me the engine" so-to-speak I doubt I would have that clear grasp of what does and doesn't work. It's a fantastic learning tool and I don't think it gets enough credit in that respect. I don't have any plans to stop using it and it's always the first mod I update. Should be stock in my opinion.

[FyunchClick]

18 hours ago, Dizzle said:

 I mean, I can get into orbit, but everything is going to be way overbuilt.

Indeed. Before KER I just brute forced everything, overdesigned like crazy, and still ran out of fuel before running out of maneuver node more often than not. With it, at least I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to get where I want to go and have the TWR to take off again, so if it does end in disaster it's either my piloting or forgetting to bring something trivial like a solar panel or an ore tank to go with that ISRU.

[nosirrbro]

Yes, I hate overbuilding crafts and want to make my rockets as efficient as kerbally possible down to the wire. Its much more fun and more of a challenge that way (even though I dont play career, but nevertheless)

[Corona688]

13 hours ago, Gojira1000 said:

Are we doing another "if you don't use the mods (or lack of mods) I do you're playing it wrong" thread?

We really don't need any more of those.

Methinks this thread might be in the wrong forum.  Mod discussion would make sense.

[AlamoVampire]

I use the superior information mod: Mechjeb. Why? It can fly. KER cant. So, I can play without KER

[Stone Blue]

I've installed KER MANY times, but never really used it... Found it a bit too complicated to understand in the editors... Also, i sometimes use MJ, but ALWAYS use VOID... So I dont even use the dV displays of MJ...

[cubinator]

I've got my graphing calculator handy and I know the rocket equation, so I can manage pretty much anything without KER. It just takes a little longer. It's handy to see the live dV readout during burns, but I can calculate it before and after for the same knowledge.

[cantab]

12 hours ago, AlamoVampire said:

I use the superior information mod: Mechjeb. Why? It can fly.

Badly

[dziki0022]

I just don't use sutch things. This game is about you r ability to flay what you build not to give program like mechjeb to fly it. Even if my rocket is not best way build and my trajectory is rubbish and I use more fuel than is possible at least i'm proud than I can fly with crap i build. Any succes mission is my personal succes as an rocket bulider and pilot

[Waxing_Kibbous]

I will occasionally start a stock game, but eventually end up putting KER in or go back to my KER already in progress game. It's the simple things, like seeing the Ap height while flying your rocket without the constant map switching and the surface altitude that make it a must have, even more than dV readouts.

 

Edit: my test- The OP is OP

Edited June 23, 2016 by Waxing_Kibbous

[regex]

Quote

Can anyone else not play without KER?

Yeah, it's pretty easy once you know what you're doing.  One of my first big missions in the game was to Eeloo back in 0.20, did that without mods.

While I can easily play without delta-V information, because it's pretty easy to calculate manually, especially now, I don't like the loss of information on the main flight screen.  Tabbing back and forth between the map and flight during a launch, for instance, is irritating.  I should at least have AP/PE and times to on the main screen, plus a way to see altitude above terrain.  That way I can look at the beautiful craft I've made while playing instead of watching the map all the time.

[AbacusWizard]

Personally I find it much more fun to do the calculations myself, though that may be related to the fact that I'm a physics teacher.

For me, some of the most satisfying moments in KSP have been situations when I'm far from home and low on fuel and (USI Life Support) food, but instead of panicking I run some calculations to figure out exactly how much ∆v I have and exactly how long my brave kerbalnauts can survive, and then mess around with maneuver planning until I've found a trajectory that just barely fits in my ∆v budget and gets everybody home alive. (Or, if that turns out to be impossible, I know in advance and can send out a resupply probe full of fuel and food to meet them halfway.)

As John F. Kermedy once said, "We choose to calculate ∆v and TWR without mods not because it is easy, but because it is hard."

[Hannu2]

I use always MechJeb. Certainly I could play without it (or other mods) and I have made manned voyages on every celestial body by calculating dvs by pencil and paper and calculator (in some ancient versions before I found MJ). However, it was fun only couple of first times when I learned something and then it became boring source of errors and I wondered why such an obvious thing was not included in spaceflight simulator. I have same feelings about routine maneuvers so now I do not even think playing without MJ except when I start a new career and have to research MJ functions.

[AlamoVampire]

7 hours ago, cantab said:

Badly

<sniffles> but at least it has the courage to try waaaaaaaaaaaahhh <sobs> 

but for real tho, it beats baby sitting long burns and does its thing to mitigate tedium.

[Dispatcher]

Why even play KSP?  With access to the right formulas, one may simulate a spaceflight, all on paper.  No need to have that pesky computer and game.  But then again, it would be more convenient to use a computer to calculate the formulas and use internet access to determine the mass of a metal.  The question would be, "is it more fun to play KSP?"  I think most people would agree that playing the game would be more fun.

Why use mods such as KER?  While not necessary for those who prefer pencil, paper or a spreadsheet, its more convenient for me to use KER.  If it were up to me, it would be part of the stock game.  But since it isn't up to me, nobody needs to feel threatened by KER's existence.  Use it if you want.

[Kerbinchaser]

I have never tried KER. I always use MechJeb.

[magnemoe]

On 22.6.2016 at 4:59 PM, RizzoTheRat said:

The amount of errors I make I'd be on trial for genocide

This, trial and error works for simpler missions or if you overbuild a lot. Try to do an manned Moho landing without dV. 

[Jovus]

My next RSS game will be without KER or Mechjeb.

Instead I'll be using KRPC.