Is it ok that i use Mechjeb 2's autopilot?

[sushi64]

So i use the Mechjeb 2 autopilot for practically everything, and i feel like i should actually be doing the stuff without help. Can someone just clear my mind of this?

[Geonovast]

How you play the game is how you play the game.  It's neither right nor wrong.

[DunaManiac]

8 minutes ago, sushi64 said:

So i use the Mechjeb 2 autopilot for practically everything, and i feel like i should actually be doing the stuff without help. Can someone just clear my mind of this?

there's nothing wrong with it, I was like you at one point at 1.0, but by the time 1.1 rolled around, I was able to do everything myself, so in a way they prepare you. 

 

[Gargamel]

I still use Mechjeb.   Mainly it was due to my old potato's crappy frame rate, but now it's for automation.   Immediately upon building the new computer, I went and did both a Mun and Minmus Apollo style landings, and returns, all manually, no mods.   Just to prove to myself I still could.    Then I went and got mechjeb, cause I know I can, so why should I?

Play how ever you want to.

Watch how MJ does each manuever, so that when it breaks down, and it will on the rare occasion, you know what's going on and can take over. 

[N_Danger]

 I started out using Mech Jeb for everything. It was great to be able to focus on the build rockets, go places and do things part of the game. I did it because my reflexes are bad and I couldn't fly for anything. 

In the end I, by watching how Mech Jeb did things, learned how to match orbits, rendezvous and dock without it.(it would use a ton of fuel or RCS propellant to get things done)

Now I only need an autopilot to fly up to orbit and have switched to Gravity Turn for a smaller RAM foot print. And the game has added lots of QOL improvements that I had used Mech Jeb for.

 But play your game the way you want and don't listen to the haters.

[Superfluous J]

Yes. MechJeb's autopilot was specifically written to tempt you into being a bad person.

More seriously of course not, from our perspective. However, if you feel that way about your own play then there is really only one course of action.

[sushi64]

44 minutes ago, DunaManiac said:

there's nothing wrong with it, I was like you at one point at 1.0, but by the time 1.1 rolled around, I was able to do everything myself, so in a way they prepare you. 

 

Thanks. Ill do mechjeb for the stuff i know how to do (kerbin orbit), and when i dont know something ill look at how mechjeb does it (like docking) and follow it.

[Clamp-o-Tron]

Yes, of course. If the tedium and sometimes difficulty of flying manually prevent you from having fun, by all means use MechJeb. Anyway, it's not like there's a console at IRL mission control with someone pressing D...D...W...D..D... OH CRAP OH CRAP BACKSPACE BACKSPACE BACKSPACE.

I use MechJeb, partly because it's easy, partly because it's less boring, partly because I can go get a snack during rendevous and docking, partly because it's well integrated into tbe tech tree so you research it like any other technology, and partly because it's buggy enough you have to keep an eye on it like an IRL flight manager monitering guidance.

[AlamoVampire]

@sushi64 Ive been playing KSP since 0.21. I have been using mechjeb since 0.21. I firmly believe it to be a core must have. First as a teaching tool, then, for automation. I personally will not play after an update until mechjeb is updated to that version. Tl:dr yup 100% ok to use. 
 

054506172020

Edited June 17, 2020 by AlamoVampire

[Hannu2]

44 minutes ago, AlamoVampire said:

@sushi64 Ive been playing KSP since 0.21. I have been using mechjeb since 0.21. I firmly believe it to be a core must have. First as a teaching tool, then, for automation. I personally will not play after an update until mechjeb is updated to that version. Tl:dr yup 100% ok to use. 
 

I agree. Mechjeb functionality and porkchop plotting (which works also with inclined coast orbits) should be part of KSP. At least I do not see any fun or educational value to be forced to make calculations separately ans then execute tedious operations by hand using eyeball measurements instead of exact data. With Mechjeb I can manage more interesting missions in my limited freetime instead of use my time for tedious manual maneuvers.

[goldenpsp]

16 hours ago, sushi64 said:

So i use the Mechjeb 2 autopilot for practically everything, and i feel like i should actually be doing the stuff without help. Can someone just clear my mind of this?

Do what you want.  It's a single player game.  If using MJ functions make it more fun then who cares?  But if you need external validation I give you permission 

[coop2168]

Well if you want, you. If you are rather new or you dont know how to get to another planet,moon and etc. use mechjeb so it makes sense.

[pandaman]

Ultimately, just play how you want - your game, your 'rules'.  There is no right or wrong.

I don't use MJ personally, but i fully understand why many others want to.

[Gargamel]

I mean, if NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Roscosmos, ESA, Blue Origin, Rocket Labs, etc etc, use it, why shouldn't you? 

[HansonKerman]

“MechJeb is cheating” is said a lot. It sometimes feels like it.

Imo, do what you do. MechJeb makes it easier. Plus I have a potato battery with a screen to play KSP so MechJeb saves my life and time

[FahmiRBLX]

I used to play with MechJeb and yes, the "MJ is cheating" doctrine stuck with me recently. But I still have that mod installed.

For me, it's good for flying rockets, not planes. I recently did a lot of flying instead of going to space, and MechJeb's primary problem is that it's too aggressive in the Aircraft Autopilot. I mean, let's say your target altitude is 5km ASL. When it reaches it, it just pushed down real hard and then it went into a Phugoid Oscillation. Extremely bad for flimsy planes like mine here.

[Cavscout74]

It's your game, play however you enjoy it.  MJ is good for handling routine stuff, especially after you've done it dozens of times.  I feel like it wastes a LOT of monoprop during docking, so I rarely use it for that any more - if the exact rotation angle matters, I'll use it to set my rotation and set up the initial approach, then turn it off & finish by hand.  The landing guidance has also bitten me enough that I let it do the initial maneuvers to line up with the target, then take over.

31 minutes ago, FahmiRBLXian said:

For me, it's good for flying rockets, not planes. I recently did a lot of flying instead of going to space, and MechJeb's primary problem is that it's too aggressive in the Aircraft Autopilot. I mean, let's say your target altitude is 5km ASL. When it reaches it, it just pushed down real hard and then it went into a Phugoid Oscillation. Extremely bad for flimsy planes like mine here

I've learned it does a lot better with planes if the controls aren't too strong - ie jet fighters have that problem more than a bigger design that has less control authority (especially pitch).  Even my small jets it can handle "ok" if I pull up the part window for the elevators/canards and turn the control authority down, then I'll slide it back up once I've gotten close enough to turn off A/P and hand fly it.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Cavscout74

[Xavven]

But is MechJeb cheating?

Just kidding, don't answer that.

Honestly, if you want a reason not to use it, then I'd say that MJ is a crutch if you don't have the skills to complete the maneuvers yourself, and it could prevent you from learning those skills as you rely on MJ to do everything for you. But it's not like KSP is full of life skills you need to have. It's a video game. Play it how you want.

[Guest]

The only criterion is, are you having fun?

I would suggest, though, that you try to learn to play the game manually – at least for a bit. That'll tell you if you enjoy the process of learning it, and the process of doing that stuff manually. If not, go right back to MJ and don't worry about it. If you do, you can still use MJ to automate the stuff you don't feel like doing manually.

For me one of the biggest kicks in KSP is to learn all that stuff.

[jimmymcgoochie]

I use it for almost everything- I haven’t done a manual transfer mode, docking or surface landing in a long time- but the plane autopilots keep either making violent pitch inputs at much 3 followed by RUD, or face plant on landing. It’s so much easier letting MJ do the boring stuff like a 2 hour long manoeuvre burn or docking six probes to their transfer booster at once, while I do something else and let it run in the background. It’s also great for precision landings when you want to drop stuff like base components in the same place.

It’s not perfect though: docking mode does some weird stuff when more than one vessel is docking to the same target at once and I’ve seen it frantically blast all the RCS backwards when the docking port magnets kick in pretty much every time I use it; transfer nodes usually aim straight at the centre of the target and need to be adjusted; and the rendezvous planner has an infuriating habit of trying to do 10+ kmps burns to intercept. Use it as a tool, as much as you like, but don’t become totally reliant on it as when it messes up you need to be able to take control and fix it.
(And for the record, I used to do everything manually. Real space programs use computers to do most of their stuff, so why should Kerbals be any different?)

[kerbiloid]

It's normal...

For a human...

Edited June 22, 2020 by kerbiloid

[magnemoe]

On 6/17/2020 at 12:54 AM, sushi64 said:

So i use the Mechjeb 2 autopilot for practically everything, and i feel like i should actually be doing the stuff without help. Can someone just clear my mind of this?

Its nothing wrong with using mechjeb however I recomend learning how to fly yourself as mechjeb has some issues. 

First issue is Launch autopilot, this tend to work pretty well but if you have an low TWR upper stage it can mess up especially if you launched pretty steep as launch autopilot only start circulation after you leave the atmosphere who can be to short time before you reenter atmosphere. One tricks for low TWR stages is to raise the nose a bit above the horizon and push Ap ahead of you, real rockets do this so they often don't even to circulation burns. 

Second is accurate landings on Minmus with landing autopilot, here I would mechjeb tend to miss by hundreds of meter, solution is to turn off landing autopilot then your surface speed is around 10 m/s but keep it showing distance from target, then do an manual burn to get close enough, you can then use mechjeb to land everywhere. 

Docking, using mechjeb to dock tend to take longer and use more RCS than doing it manually, 
---
And yes I use it for pretty much everything, launch by mechjeb, then I adjust circulation burn so I get 1-2 km from target, let mechjeb do the burn, then do an adjustment burn, and match speed burn. 

 

 

[etmoonshade]

On 6/16/2020 at 5:54 PM, sushi64 said:

So i use the Mechjeb 2 autopilot for practically everything, and i feel like i should actually be doing the stuff without help. Can someone just clear my mind of this?

In addition to all of the above, keep this in mind - learning the general concepts behind what MechJeb is doing will help you when MechJeb inevitably decides to do The Wrong Thing(TM). Whether it's dropping you in the wrong spot with landing guidance because it doesn't understand the atmosphere (or the aerodynamics of your craft,) transferring you into the Mun when you're trying to go to Duna, or launching your rocket with an unrecoverable nose-down attitude after 30 seconds, knowing what it's trying to do will help you fix the issues.

I've never thought it was cheating (and I've been playing since 0.7... I don't even know when MJ came out,) but I think it can be a crutch that keeps you from learning the concepts if you're not observant. It's not that it can't be played like that, but being observant lets you play better.

[Minmus Taster]

I use the spinny thing in kerbal engineer as a camera

[SpaceFace545]

I only really use mechjeb for ascents, landings, docking, rendevous, transfer maneuvers, SAS, autopilot. 

 

I just tell myself it's okay to use it because, real rockets have guidance systems.