What’s hard for you in KSP?

[Dr. Kerbal]

What’s hard for you in KSP? I know mine is getting a Minmus encounter. It like the only planet/moon I can’t get too.

Edited May 28, 2021 by Dr. Kerbal
This has at least 3.3K veiws.

[Guest]

Eve return missions. There's not much room for error there. I've never built an Eve SSTO of any type, although I have built a couple of fully recoverable launch systems. I've never used them "for real" though, only by cheating them into place.

About Minmus...

Spoiler

To get an encounter on it, get into LKO, set Minmus as target, and find your An and Dn. Wait until Minmus is about halfway between the two. Then set a manoeuvre node from the one opposite the one it's going towards until your orbits nearly touch. Fine-tune. You'll get an encounter near the An/Dn every time.

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Guest

[Mikenike]

Mine is rover/ surface base designing. I hate how wheels can be sometimes, and there is no middle ground from the large ones to the regular rover sizes. All my surface bases have landing leg spring problems. Ever time I load one in, they are launched 10-15 meters up and then break on the way down. Its partly because of how the game saves part settings, partly because of how my craft are designed.

[Stone Blue]

For me, manuevering in space EVA. the kerbal backpac RCS controlls are soooooo un-intuitive, combined with the default camera orientation settings. I wish they had just used the same keys for craft RCS, or done something different w/camera orientation... vOv

Also, I cant spaceplane worth a damn.

[Dr. Kerbal]

10 minutes ago, Brikoleur said:

To get an encounter on it, get into LKO, set Minmus as target, and find your An and Dn. Wait until Minmus is about halfway between the two. Then set a manoeuvre node from the one opposite the one it's going towards until your orbits nearly touch. Fine-tune. You'll get an encounter near the An/Dn every time.

I know. It’s just, it really laggy. From going to escaping Kerbin SOI to getting to Minmus. I got there 4 time tophough! One I had to use interplanetary space so I enter Kerbin while getting a Minmus encounter.

[Vanamonde]

SSTOs. Most of my design attempts still fail. 

[Dafni]

2 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

SSTOs. Most of my design attempts still fail. 

Same here.

[VoidCosmos]

20 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

SSTOs. Most of my design attempts still fail. 

 

17 minutes ago, Dafni said:

Same here.

Same here! 

[HvP]

21 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

SSTOs. Most of my design attempts still fail. 

That's my kryptonite too.

Oh, I can get a spaceplane into LKO but I either have to strip out anything really useful first, or there's not enough delta-v left to get anywhere.

[Fierce Wolf]

Apparently creating anything with symmetrical robot parts, they tend to summon the Kraken very often

[Geonovast]

At this point, it's finding something to do.  I never cared for Career mode, and I've been having attention span problems, so usually now when I fire up KSP, I make some sort of launcher, put a couple things into orbit to make sure it works (and it usually does first time, since I know what I'm doing now), then quit.

I frequently wish I could just forget everything I know about the game, so I could go through the learning process again.

[Guest]

What's your difficulty with SSTOs, if I may ask? -- I remember having trouble with my very first ones, but once I had basic aerodynamics figured out it got a lot easier fast.

[Slam_Jones]

It's hard for me to start a new Career.  I don't like have such limited funds, or building pieces, or having to do very basic and low-level contracts to make money.

As such I usually give myself a bit of a funds/science boost for an "advanced" start, where I can go to orbit and build stations almost immediately.

I'm also not very good at creative ships.  All of mine look boring and functional, unlike the fantastic (yet still functional) creations I see often on the forum.

[Fraktal]

41 minutes ago, Slam_Jones said:

I'm also not very good at creative ships.  All of mine look boring and functional, unlike the fantastic (yet still functional) creations I see often on the forum.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Until you get mid-game launchers, functional is pretty much all you can do efficiently.

----

My most frequent and frustrating problem is getting un-aerodynamic payloads into orbit. KV pods in the early game, labs, hitchhiker storage modules and 2.5m fuel tanks afterwards. Putting it in a fairing pretty much never helps (and is not an option for KV pods anyway), regardless of whether it's fairing-ended or interstage-fairing.

I also constantly find myself struggling to build a 1.875m rocket with any kind of useful performance increase over a 1.25m rocket.

[Dr. Kerbal]

3 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

SSTOs. Most of my design attempts still fail. 

Me too! Mine always don’t fall (like crash in the water), blow up the SPH (due to the craft not flying properly), or just bring up in reentry (because I come in too steep).

[Miguelsgamingch]

Going To Duna

As Of Now I Tried To Put Rovers To Duna Twice And All of them failed beacause off..

well mostly maneuvering

[Bej Kerman]

6 hours ago, Dr. Kerbal said:

What’s hard for you in KSP? I know mine is getting a Minmus encounter. It like the only planet/moon I can’t get too.

I've been to the surface of Duna and the orbit of Jool, but I never have enough inspiration or motivation to build my rockets.

[AviosAdku]

Well for a start there's landing aircraft ... well, on a runway in one piece that is. I have done it don't get me wrong but lining up to a runway with KSP instrumentation (One thing I miss from Orbiter was the Horizontal Situation Indicator MFD, once you learned how to use the confusing looking thing it made runway approaches so much easier, even in space gliders) and then managing vertical speed while trying to get on the runway quickly is a high time pressure situation which is never my forte.

Though the most frustrating for me is coming up with visually interesting designs and/or implementing them. I typically design heavily for function, as in I basically put together a collection of parts which add up to the performance required and I understand there is a niche for that but even then, they are usually laid out in such a bland way and even my attempts at asymmetric design (thanks to RCS build Aid) don't even result in an appealing brand of frankensteinian, instead looking even more slapped together.

AviosAdku

[Vanamonde]

5 hours ago, Brikoleur said:

What's your difficulty with SSTOs, if I may ask? 

Not enough speed. Uncontrollably rolls to the left. Not enough fuel. Too much fuel. Unstable on ascent. Too much speed. Too heavy to get off runway. Insists on falling backwards during descent. 

You know. All the usual spaceplane stuff. 

[netbumbler]

Making things look cool. I can design just about anything I need to complete the most complex missions, but they never look "cool". Just sort of "meh".

[Daedalus3000]

This is unusual, but I often forget to use my solar panels and comms action group on probes before I time warp out of Kerbin’s SOI (and then lose power and all control). To this day I still have the partial probe control setting enabled because of this.

[Misguided Kerbal]

1 hour ago, Slam_Jones said:

It's hard for me to start a new Career.  I don't like have such limited funds, or building pieces, or having to do very basic and low-level contracts to make money.

That's part of why I play sandbox and give myself limitations as we go.

 

What's hard for me is doing stuff all by myself. I could, but I don't think I can, so I always try to search up some design reference. Then I realize the design references are wrong and realize that the tons of time scrapping designs in the VAB could have been avoided. 

 

[Clamp-o-Tron]

Flexible missions.

I over-plan everything, and really have to way to circumvent anything much more drastic than a Kerbalism CME or component failure. I pack redundancy after redundancy upon my ship to prevent anything unaccounted for from happening, which prevents me from stretching my mission plan, or, say, paying an excursion to Pol when the plan calls for just Bop and Laythe.

Sometime I should run an expedition somewhere on stock, with the only planning being a dV map, and just run it by the seat of my pants.

I envy those who can do that, while I basically handle every decision like I'm a living, breathing space program full of overly conservative engineers. I even have a flowchart for making decisions that could put the crew at risk, and an actual laminated notebook filled with detailed procedures for contingencies throughout the mission (Only the ascent portions shown here. A lot of the stuff is just written into the notebook, spacecraft-specific.)

Spoiler

 Triton Preflight and Ascent Contingency Procedures: 1.1(c)

Regimes:

Propellant Loading Operations. A1.

     PROP: n/a

     TRAJ: n/a

     BOOSTER: propellant or systems anomalies; loading and countdown hold.

     SPACECRAFT: loading and countdown stop, replenish cryogenics.

Crew Loading Operations. A1.

    PROP: n/a

     TRAJ: n/a

     BOOSTER: propellant or systems anomalies; loading and countdown stop.

     SPACECRAFT: loading and countdown stop.

Access Arm Retracted & LES arm. B1.

    PROP: off-nominal sensor readings in propulsion sections; countdown hold.

     TRAJ: n/a

     BOOSTER: propellant or system anomalies; countdown hold, or LES activation and CM descent as per 11.2.1(c) in especially severe situations.

     SPACECRAFT: countdown hold, or stop in especially severe situations.

Engine Start-Up & Verification. B2A1.

    PROP: NV, booster cutoff, access arm extend and crew egress as per P12.2.2.1(cs).

     TRAJ: n/a

     BOOSTER: propellant or system anomalies, booster cutoff, access arm extend and crew egress as per P12.2.2.1(cs).

     SPACECRAFT: booster cutoff, access arm extend and crew egress as per P12.2.2.1(cs).

Commit & Clamp Release. B2A2.

    PROP: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.2.1.2(c).

     TRAJ: trajectory deviation, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.2.1.2(c).

     BOOSTER: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.2.1.2(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

Pitch-Over. B3A.

    PROP: MCF; LES fire, booster smooth throttle-down, delayed range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.1(c).

     TRAJ: trajectory deviation; LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.1(c).

     BOOSTER: MCF; LES fire, booster smooth throttle-down, delayed range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.1(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

Max-Q. B3B.

    PROP: MCF; LES fire, booster smooth throttle-down, delayed range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.2(c).

     TRAJ: trajectory deviation; LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.2(c).

     BOOSTER: MCF; LES fire, booster smooth throttle-down, delayed range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.2(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

TB-24 Engines Throttle-Down to 65% @1 kM/S Orbital Velocity. B3C.

    PROP: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.3(c).

     TRAJ: trajectory deviation, LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.3(c)

     BOOSTER: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for descent as per 11.2.3.3(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

TB-24 Engines Throttle-Down to 45% @ 3 G. B3D.

    PROP: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.2.3.4(c).

     TRAJ: trajectory deviation, LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.2.3.4(c).

     BOOSTER: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.2.3.4(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

TB-24 Cutoff & Booster Separation. B4.

    PROP: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.2.4(c).

     TRAJ: trajectory deviation; LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.2.4(c).

     BOOSTER: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.2.4(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

2 kM/S Orbital Velocity. C1.

    PROP: MCF; LES fire, booster cutoff, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.3.1(c).

     TRAJ: trajectory deviation; LES fire, booster cutoff, range safety, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.3.1(c).

     BOOSTER: MCF;  LES fire, booster cutoff, orient capsule for reentry as per 10.3.1(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

Launch Escape System & Boost Protective Cover Jettison @3.2 kM/S Orbital Velocity. C2.

    PROP: separation failure; TC-31 cutoff, separate Triton CM from SM, orient for entry interface, and descent as per 10.3.2(c).

     TRAJ: trajectory deviation; TC-31 cutoff, separate Triton CM from SM, orient for entry interface, and descent as per 10.3.2(c).

     BOOSTER: MCF; TC-31 cutoff, separate Triton CM from SM, orient for entry interface, and descent as per 10.3.2(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

TC-31 Core Cutoff and Separation. C3.

    PROP: n/a

     TRAJ: Ground team assessment.

     BOOSTER: MCF; booster cutoff, separate Triton CSM from TM-22, 5 m/S RCS burn, capsule separation before entry interface, and descent as              per 10.3.3(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

TM-11 Ignition,Verification, & TM-11 RCS Active. D1.

    PROP: Negative IV; booster cutoff, separate Triton CSM from TM-11, 5 m/S RCS burn, capsule separation before entry interface, and descent                    as per 10.4.1(c).

     TRAJ: Ground team assessment.

     BOOSTER: MCF; booster cutoff, separate Triton CSM from TM-11, 5 m/S RCS burn, capsule separation before entry interface, and descent as                   per 10.4.1(c).

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

 TM-11 Trans-Munar Injection Stage Cutoff and Orbital Insertion Verification. D2.

    PROP: Ground team assessment.

     TRAJ: Negative OIV; seperate Triton CSM from TM-11, 5 m/S RCS burn, capsule separation before entry interface, and descent as per                                   10.4.2(c).

     BOOSTER: Ground team assessment.

     SPACECRAFT: Ground team assessment.

Contingency procedures for the Triton continue with 2.1(c).

Yes, that is actually what it looks like. All those other procedures I reference actually exist.

[Dr. Kerbal]

39 minutes ago, Clamp-o-Tron said:

I over-plan everything,

I’m the opposite! I just see how things go. And if the mission doesn’t make it I try to return my Kerbals or just leave them wherever they are.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

Not enough speed. Uncontrollably rolls to the left. Not enough fuel. Too much fuel. Unstable on ascent. Too much speed. Too heavy to get off runway. Insists on falling backwards during descent. 

You know. All the usual spaceplane stuff. 

Ah I get it I think. They do need a lot of tuning to work and if you don’t enjoy the process of adjusting little things for hours on end then yeah they’re probably no fun at all. I keep forgetting because adjusting little things for hours on end is the most enjoyable part of KSP for me...