Waiting for Transfer Windows - am I playing KSP right?

[maddog59]

I know the answer is probably, "whatever I enjoy is the right way to play," but I wanted to see what other people are doing because I always wonder if I'm missing a trick or could be doing something more efficiently.

I built a ship for an Eve/Gilly mission, got it into orbit, then realized that I've got more than a year before the transfer window opens. I've been killing time dinking around in Kerbin/Mun/Minmus space, building stations and bases and such. I'm tempted to just hit the warp button to bring the planets into alignment, but I feel oddly reticent to 'waste' all of the 'time' between now and the xfer window. 

So my question is, what's the general thinking /opinions/philosophy on this? If you want to go to another planet, just get on with it: build the ship, get it off the ground, warp forward and do the mission? Or, like I've been doing, just play around doing missions/contracts in local space until the xfer window opens up 'naturally'? 

Or am I just overthinking this? 

[Curveball Anders]

When I start a new career save (which I do way to often) I use a list of transfer windows and add them to KAC so I know when it's time to start bothering with certain ships or missions.

I also abuse KAC in other ways like never warping more than 1-2 days. Instead I add an alarm and then go off and tinker with other stuff, like tourism, rescue or similar missions.

 

[Caerfinon]

There's lots of things to do while waiting for planets to align. 

[paul_c]

I just do one mission at a time (or, if I can combine missions, one launch for 2-3 missions) and if its time to go interplanetary, I'll just timewarp to the point in time.

[Spricigo]

16 minutes ago, maddog59 said:

I feel oddly reticent to 'waste' all of the 'time' between now and the xfer window. 

Opportunity cost. You'll be really 'wasting' time doing anything other than the best* option available. 

It could be different if we needed to stay in real time while waiting for planets to align. With KAC, I can setup an alarm, hit warp and go grab  some snacks. Snacks is a very good option.

*Since it is your game, whatever you consider best.

[HebaruSan]

59 minutes ago, maddog59 said:

play around doing missions/contracts in local space until the xfer window opens up 'naturally'? 

I used to do this. It resulted in me never actually doing those interplanetary missions.

59 minutes ago, maddog59 said:

more than a year before the transfer window opens

A year+ is a really long time to spend doing Mun shots.

Notably, the stock game mechanics don't penalize long term time warping (the exception being if you've accepted contracts that expire in the meantime). I eventually settled on 1 or 2 missions per body, warping as needed, which also helped with the problem of running out of tech tree nodes too quickly.

[Popestar]

44 minutes ago, paul_c said:

I just do one mission at a time (or, if I can combine missions, one launch for 2-3 missions) and if its time to go interplanetary, I'll just timewarp to the point in time.

Same here.  I am not good at time management in KSP yet, so I focus on one mission at a time.  If that means I gotta wait for the right transfer window, then I wait.

But, as the OP pointed out in his own post, the best answer is "Whatever you enjoy the most".  Your mileage may vary. 

[Superfluous J]

I used to do this. Then I broke the habit and now time warp whenever I feel like it.

I enjoy the game much more now.

[InfernoSD]

I find it very useful to be able to revert to a save from just before launch. Too many times I've been waiting in orbit only to realize I forgot some important part or misengineered some critical feature. Plus I like to be able to tweak my trajectory slightly as I fly. If I put any effort into other missions during wait times, I eventually regret it.

[king of nowhere]

i stopped playing career and i am now only focusing on individual challenge missions. after a while, there's no more satisfaction in all the tourism contracts and stuff

[Zhetaan]

17 hours ago, maddog59 said:

I built a ship for an Eve/Gilly mission, got it into orbit, then realized that I've got more than a year before the transfer window opens.

Because of the relative similarity of orbits of adjacent celestial bodies, it works out that they have the longest separation between transfer windows.  In other words, the easier it is to get to a destination, then the longer you'll be waiting to go in the case that you want to wait for the window.

17 hours ago, maddog59 said:

So my question is, what's the general thinking /opinions/philosophy on this?

You have a few options.  You can do missions in the meantime, but you should know that the in-system missions between Kerbin and the Mun or Minmus are orders of magnitude shorter than interplanetary missions.  You'll likely get bored before you get to the window.  Time warp is a stock game feature; using it isn't cheating in even the strictest interpretation of the idea.

Another choice is to do your warping first thing, and start your program a bit before the window.  That's a little like what @king of nowhere suggests, though I took it that the suggestion is also to get out of career and go to either sandbox or science mode.  That's also valid, but if you want to keep the feel of career, then you can warp first and finish your progression with a time offset to bring your start point more in alignment with your interplanetary goals.

Yet another choice is to redesign your rockets and your program.  You don't need to wait for a window to open if you have a rocket powerful enough to 'kick in the door', so to speak.  Windows are more efficient, but the game doesn't reward efficiency; it rewards contract completion (and a couple of other things like science experiments).

17 hours ago, maddog59 said:

Or am I just overthinking this? 

Yes.  Back up your save (or make a new one) and then hit the warp button already.  If you don't like it, then revert and play without warping.  In spite of the theme of the game, this part isn't rocket science; the only thing making it difficult is your reluctance to experiment with how you play.  So experiment!  Maybe you'll enjoy it more.  Maybe not, but then you'll know.  Why not just try it?