Poyekhali!

[Pit_2]

Howdy!  Been playing Kerbal since around late 2016 so I'm not the best at it, but I like to have fun regardless.  Mostly I like building stock approximations of real spacecraft and illustrate my ideas for future spacecraft.  Still can't dock to save my life though!

[James Kerman]

Greetings and welcome to the forum, @Pit_2.

I spent a year playing before I learned to dock (mostly due to a psychological barrier I built up around it) but I decided, one day, I'm going to learn how.  Two days later I actually managed it and now docking is a necessary and routine part of my space program.

[Pit_2]

I guess I can say that I can *sort of* dock, for Apollo-style missions where it's fairly easy to translate forward, turn around, then translate into the docking port on my lunar module.  But multi-launch docking projects are just so hard to me.

[Geonovast]

IMO, docking is the hardest part of the game.  It's daunting.  It's difficult.  At some point it will be downright stupid, because orbital mechanics go against all of our instincts.

Then you'll get it.  Then it'll be second nature, and soon you'll be wondering why it was ever a problem.

On 3/3/2018 at 6:26 PM, Pit_2 said:

but I like to have fun regardless

^ All that really matters.  I still do a lot of things "wrong" because doing them "right" would be too tedious and take the fun out of the game.

[Kerbal101]

Hi there, @Pit_2 !

1. on passive vehicle, click dock port, select "control from here", set SAS to antinormal. wait until align completes.
2. on active vehicle, click dock port, select "control from here", set SAS to normal. wait until align completes.
  1+2 already aligns the ports
3. still on active vehicle, click on passive vehicle port and select "set target".
4. hit R and use only I/J/K/L to position yourself and H/N to get closer. You don't need to touch WASD.

P.S.
poehali!

[Pit_2]

Thank you so much for the hint, @Kerbal101! I guess most of my problem lies in the rendezvous, as I can never get close enough in a coplanar orbit.

[Kerbal101]

@Pit_2 But you get within 2km range when its T minus 30 seconds? That suffices!
1. make sure target is marked in [M]ap mode (not specific docking port yet).
2. switch speed indicator to "target" mode by clicking on it (above navball). Thats very important, because speed indicator will be relative to your target now.
3. burn retrograde (not prograde!) until speed indicator reads 0-10m/s.
4. burn towards target  (not anti-target!) until speed indicator reads 10-40m/s.

Keep doing 3-4 until you are within 50 meters.  Use (3) also if you move too fast towards the target.
Watch your PEriapsis, try not to "scratch" the atmosphere.*

the (3) removes speed differences between you and your target, so you travel at same global speed.
the (4) adds speed towards your target. Have more m/s whilst you are far away, have less m/s while you get closer.
I recommend to keep practicing until you can park next to your target without leaving [M]ap mode or IVA cabin.   

The catching, meeting and docking become extremely joyful once you understand and practice every part. So much, that you may learn it by heart.
 

Spoiler

* if you are falling into atmosphere:
1. set SAS to radial out (into the sky/space) and burn until you are close to AP (you stop climbing and start falling slowly).
2. set SAS to prograde and burn until your AP busts out of atmosphere (with some reserve) on the opposite side of the orbit.