What are your quirky habits in KSP?

[RocketSimplicity]

Getting my manoeuver nodes as perfect as possible, even though knowing I have tons of extra fuel and I'm probably going to overshoot the burn anyway.

[Retro Starship]

Making a ship in the VAB and spending a bit of time with it and also rearranging the staging as appropriate. Adding something new and forgetting to check the staging again, couple more parts and finally jumping to the lunch pad quickly for a launch.

Seeing that I messed up the sequence or a parachute in the wrong place and changing it there. Finally ready for the launch, seeing it fly and all of a sudden a rocket fires off at the wrong time... darn. Hit the escape key and get back to the VAB.

Oh noooo!! Its all the same and the work I did on the launch pad was useless. Now what did I do before, what was changed?

That to me is my quirky habit that I do all the time.

 

Soon I hope one of our mod developers will make something to save our settings at the launch pad.

[ussoldier2002]

I think my habit is to not want to revert no matter what (unless it is a computer glitch or something). If it something I screwed up I roll with it. If I lose lose my crewmen I will plant a flag in their honor near the flag pole. I do have one exception to that rule right now. I am trying to build a shuttle and I am running tests because that is a real pain so I am pretending that I am running computer sims. I have launched this thing probably 50 times and still can't get to orbit.

[Immashift]

On 1/26/2020 at 6:13 PM, 5thHorseman said:

I never ever leave debris in a stable orbit. If for some reason I MUST do it (say a collision that leaves debris or I realize I won't have enough fuel to finish the misison/get home without dropping something NOW as opposed to when it's on a collision course with an SOI or world) then my #1 priority from that point on is deorbiting that debris.

This goes so far that I won't rescue Kerbals until I have a KLAW, lest I am forced to leave their pod in orbit.

Ditto. I know I can just hide debris in orbit from being seen. I just...  hate it. Like, I think if aliens ever visited, they'd take a look at Earth's SOI, and go "that's a lot of excrements... these people are messy". So personally I deorbit EVERYTHING. I'm not above reverting saves if one single decoupler or KAS tool or something goes flying into orbit. 

However usable stuff I leave in orbit constantly. I have a habit of overbuilding launchers, then sticking a docking port on them. I have a tug with a huge tank on it in orbit that will dock, transfer fuel, then deorbit the debris.

 

I also have issues with having superfluous parts. Like, I'd rather use one tank that includes both monoprop and LFO as a service module, than two separate tanks. This isn't a performance thing, as I just upgraded to a Ryzen 7 and an RTX 2070 Super. It's just my convergence preference. Duct-taping 50 science parts onto a command pod or a service bay just irks me. I do what I call "science modules". I take a service bay, fill it with science crap, then a docking port on each end. My probes or landers will dock with one of these modules and then useit, then eventually deorbit or reuse it. This also lets me upgrade old landers as I get better science parts. Compartmentalization is something I do a lot - I use docking ports on my favorite landers so I can change out their engines, main fuel tanks, pods, etc. as I get upgrades. Also lets me do cheap launches as I'm only launching say, two new engines for my lander to equip it for Tylo, rather than a whole new lander.

[Dirkidirk]

15 minutes ago, Immashift said:

Ditto. I know I can just hide debris in orbit from being seen. I just...  hate it. Like, I think if aliens ever visited, they'd take a look at Earth's SOI, and go "that's a lot of excrements... these people are messy". So personally I deorbit EVERYTHING. I'm not above reverting saves if one single decoupler or KAS tool or something goes flying into orbit. 

However usable stuff I leave in orbit constantly. I have a habit of overbuilding launchers, then sticking a docking port on them. I have a tug with a huge tank on it in orbit that will dock, transfer fuel, then deorbit the debris.

 

I also have issues with having superfluous parts. Like, I'd rather use one tank that includes both monoprop and LFO as a service module, than two separate tanks. This isn't a performance thing, as I just upgraded to a Ryzen 7 and an RTX 2070 Super. It's just my convergence preference. Duct-taping 50 science parts onto a command pod or a service bay just irks me. I do what I call "science modules". I take a service bay, fill it with science crap, then a docking port on each end. My probes or landers will dock with one of these modules and then useit, then eventually deorbit or reuse it. This also lets me upgrade old landers as I get better science parts. Compartmentalization is something I do a lot - I use docking ports on my favorite landers so I can change out their engines, main fuel tanks, pods, etc. as I get upgrades. Also lets me do cheap launches as I'm only launching say, two new engines for my lander to equip it for Tylo, rather than a whole new lander.

 

On 1/26/2020 at 6:13 PM, 5thHorseman said:

I never ever leave debris in a stable orbit. If for some reason I MUST do it (say a collision that leaves debris or I realize I won't have enough fuel to finish the misison/get home without dropping something NOW as opposed to when it's on a collision course with an SOI or world) then my #1 priority from that point on is deorbiting that debris.

This goes so far that I won't rescue Kerbals until I have a KLAW, lest I am forced to leave their pod in orbit.

you know you can just delete debris.

On 1/30/2020 at 11:23 AM, purpleivan said:

So I guess this would send you into spasms.

cease

[Immashift]

Just now, Dirkidirk said:

 

you know you can just delete debris.

Psssh. Get out of here with your HERESY  

[Superfluous J]

5 minutes ago, Dirkidirk said:

you know you can just delete debris.

Yeah and I can teleport into orbit but where's the fun in that?

[Immashift]

Just now, 5thHorseman said:

Yeah and I can teleport into orbit but where's the fun in that?

After my 70th launch to fuel my fuel stop space station, after being completely convinced that my launcher will get that tank into orbit 100% of the time, I can tell you, it's more fun to simply port the mess into orbit rather than go through another launch, and intercept, and docking.

[moguy16]

On 1/27/2020 at 8:51 AM, dave1904 said:

When I build relay networks or get into orbit my ap and pe are not more than 10m apart and for networks the orbital period difference is not more than 0.002 seconds. I also always am within 0.0 km separation when approaching a vessel I am docking. 

I hate the fact that when you Dock in orbit your orbital period glitches out a tiny bit and the ap and pe change by about 100m. Far better that it used to be but it drives me insane. 

The funny thing is that I am super accurate about many things but do not care a bit about saving delta v. Being accurate about orbits makes docking so easy. I guess that is why. 

And "knowing" you, you probably spend 50% of the time fixing compatibility issues and bugs within mods you use. 

I usually have a separation n of anywhere from 20-78km and a speed of anywhere from 170-700ms maybe i am doing something wrong here 

[RizzoTheRat]

1 hour ago, moguy16 said:

I usually have a separation n of anywhere from 20-78km and a speed of anywhere from 170-700ms maybe i am doing something wrong here 

For rendezvous with a craft you want to dock with?  It's well worth trying to improve your technique there, with a bit of practice it's easy to get it under 5km and it makes the whole thing a lot quicker and more fuel efficient.

[Aelipse]

1) Before launching a rocket, I always turn the vehicle 90° in the VAB so that when I'm slanting the rocket onto orbit during the ascent, I am not yawing to the right but instead pitching down.

2) Any part that can be put inside a cargo bay I always put into a cargo bay a never ever attach it to the surface of the vehicle - especially in a space plane build. That sleek aerodynamic structure is everything!

3) When I'm deorbiting and going for a landing with a space plane, I do all I can to avoid using engines during the descent, even if I have plenty of fuel left. Just gliding all the way to the runway. <3

4) I never reload a quicksave. When the mission goes horribly wrong, even due to a bug, I just roll with it and pretend it was a mechanical failure of some systems. Jeb will be missed (and those hundreds of other kerbals).

5) No clipping parts!

[moguy16]

1 hour ago, RizzoTheRat said:

For rendezvous with a craft you want to dock with?  It's well worth trying to improve your technique there, with a bit of practice it's easy to get it under 5km and it makes the whole thing a lot quicker and more fuel efficient.

i know i used to do it well but took the lazy lowne method too far, so i reread the tutorials and am getting more normal, ok normalish encounters in my more recent craft

[Retro Starship]

On 1/30/2020 at 5:27 PM, Retro Starship said:

Soon I hope one of our mod developers will make something to save our settings at the launch pad.

Yea, I knew this was coming with what we all do at the launch pad, but just wanted to make it clear to you all from my post above. Here is the best mod of all!  At least for flying new rockets...

 

 

[DoubleAACE]

I avoid using RCS thrusters on almost any vehicle that doesn't have to dock (and sometimes I forget to put it on those that do, I have more than my fair share of docking experience without RCS). I also avoid RTGs.

[Warmachine]

I want my missions to be perfect. In my latest save, this means I want to accomplish as much as humanly possible in one trip, so I end up with extremely elaborate plans to send a space station towing a rover, lander, ISRU to service the lander, and life support for a multi-month surface mission to send the rover (with all of the science) to every biome, transmit one copy of the science to every lab in the SOI, and keep a copy to bring home.

I've entered the "late game" in that my modded game has entered the speculative part of the tech tree, and I only just landed on Minmus yesterday.

This also leads to me having entire multi hour sessions where I'm just staring at the ship in the VAB and trying to think of features I'm missing and tweaking, alt-tabbing to check delta-V maps, then repeating the loop. I'm just glad I like building space stations/bases. Any missions to other planets (let alone OPM) are going to be nightmares.

[IncongruousGoat]

I more or less never use ISRU. It takes all the fun out of mega-mission planning, reducing a complicated and interesting optimization problem to "find the biggest hop in this mission and build a ship that can do that".

[Immashift]

Asparagus everything. Spend forever designing a good launcher that _just_ gets its payload into orbit with maximal efficiency? Nahhhhh. Design payload, slap a jumbo 64 and a mainsail under it, slap 4 jumbo 64s to the sides of that, feed them into each other and the main one, stick skippers on those, stick some fins on it so it doesn't cartwheel, and strut everything. DONE. I have a subassembly called "I Hate Making Launchers" and it's literally all that plus a probe core, SAS and an RTG. I make my stuff on Minmus with EL now. My KSC budget monthly is $2 million. A few jumbo 64 launchers don't even make a dent. All I send up now is Kerbals, life support, and wonky stuff that's hard to fit on an EL base launchpad.

This one I didn't even care enough to add fins, and is hauling a 40t payload to orbit. The last stage is transfer. The launcher still has 4400ms which is gloriously overkill.

When you wanna get something to orbit, and KSC doesn't care how it's done, so long as it's up there by the end of the day.

Edited February 10, 2020 by Immashift

[AviosAdku]

A bit like @scottadges and @razark, I have a bit of a proclivity toward keeping records of everything (including screenshot documentation of all flights). My thinking is so that I can keep track of the history of the save (and remember what number in a program I am up to) but I agree that the paperwork can take on a bit of a life of its own and wind up restrictive. With a system like this, it was hard for me to just take out a craft and fly for fun and I won't even start on the formalised programs with their budgets and Roleplay factions tracking I did in my last career game. This time I'm just keeping a list of Kerbinauts (with a note or two on their significant accomplishments) and making a note as to the official program's flight numbers … so far. Seeing that flight record spreadsheet really awakens that side of me that once wound up producing a project log that included edits to the grammar of a note about the backstory of a project.

Aside from that, I also find myself spending way too much time agonising over what kind of designation system to use for my craft files (either proper names or an alphanumeric code).

AviosAdku

[scottadges]

On 2/10/2020 at 10:10 AM, Warmachine said:

multi hour sessions where I'm just staring at the ship in the VAB and trying to think of features I'm missing

Wow, that is literally my KSP experience. Easily HALF of my 1800 hours on Steam is from sitting in the VAB/SPH and building, tweaking, pulling apart, re-building, re-tweaking everything I could every possibly tweak, and then it's like "Sheesh, now I gotta go fly this mission" and I'm exhausted with the game. LOL

 

12 minutes ago, AviosAdku said:

screenshot documentation of all flights

I've also been pretty strict about screenshots for every little thing. Then I realized that I hardly ever went back and did anything with them. But it IS a really useful habit when you're wanting to post something to 'What did you do today in KSP' and you have dozens of screenshots.

Edited February 28, 2020 by scottadges

[Regor]

On 1/30/2020 at 3:46 AM, razark said:

Spreadsheet?  I used to, for the reasons you mention.  But then it became annoying to update.

So...

  Hide contents

... I got a little crazy with PHP and MySQL.

All running on a Raspberry Pi.  Screenshots are a slightly older version than the current one, and there's a few more pages of details.

Kerbal Space Program: The Paperwork Simulator.

 

 

No, the bar is three feet to the right of my desk.

Not saying it looks bad or anything (no offense pls), but I can spice up the CSS if you want?

[papuchalk]

My quirky habit is always trying to merge more career contracts into one flight, one mission, one  multipurpose ship.

Usually i fulfill 3-4 contracts - manned landings, probes, relays, satellites, ionization scans etc. 

Bring to space everything i can with one ship!

 

[Dirkidirk]

On 2/4/2020 at 7:38 AM, Aelipse said:

4) I never reload a quicksave. When the mission goes horribly wrong, even due to a bug, I just roll with it and pretend it was a mechanical failure of some systems. Jeb will be missed (and those hundreds of other kerbals).

If I played like that, I would still be trying to get to duna, I would have never built my space station, and there would be more debris on the various moons and planets then stars in the night sky, and I would be too lazy to delete all of them.

Edited February 28, 2020 by Dirkidirk
This reply shouldn't exist

[razark]

4 hours ago, mabdi36 said:

Not saying it looks bad or anything (no offense pls), but I can spice up the CSS if you want?

I made it to work, not to look good.

One of these days, I should probably look into learning something about CSS, though.

[scottadges]

On 1/30/2020 at 12:33 PM, adsii1970 said:

I do this too. Makes life easier. 

That's funny, I do this as well. I've had the same piece of paper sitting on a corner of my for the past three years!

1. Main Engine Toggle (or SSTO Engine Mode Switch)

2. Lights

3. Solar Panels

4. Docking Ports / Landing Legs

5. Radiators

6. Electronics (Antennas, Science Equipment)

7. Decorative (Wings, Flaps, Non-essential Equipment)

8. Mechanical (Ladders, Cargo Bays)

9. RCS (Toggling on/off, so I don't accidentally hit a button or knock myself off-orbit)

0. Emergency Items (or anything craft-specific to prevent catastrophe)

Edited February 28, 2020 by scottadges

[XLjedi]

On 1/26/2020 at 9:32 PM, Kerbal007 said:

Yep this one I agree with too, it ruins the immersion, next to that would be clipping fuel tanks without draining a lil fuel at lest (I really should practice what I preach haha)

@Geonovast

Ah yes, agreed...  but the lack of decent landing gear options does force me  (reluctantly) a times to have to clip some of the retractable gear more than I would otherwise want to.