What I Love About KSP (1 and 2)

[Scarecrow71]

Most games I play I can master after some time.  I know what plays to run in Madden, or when to shoot vs. pass in NHL.  I know when to mount attacks on other Civilizations, or what products to sell in City of Gangsters.  All of that takes time, but eventually, I have mastered those games.  Or, well, I've gotten good enough at them that there really isn't anything left to learn.

Not so with Kerbal Space Program.  Every day I come across something new, either here in the forums, or on Reddit, or on Facebook, that reminds me how little I actually know.  Today I came across a video that @JoeSchmuckatelli made regarding gravity turns to get into LKO.  Now, I'll preface this by saying that the gravity turns I use are the ones I got instructions for during the Caveman challenge (get to 75 m/s straight up, turn to 70ish degrees, wait until you hit 4000 meters then turn to 60ish degrees, then at 10000 meters starting turning to 45 degrees, etc.).  Which isn't a bad method to use...even if it isn't the most efficient.  But the video I watched today?  Genius.  Absolute first class.  I know I don't know everything about this game, but this once again reminded me of how much I don't know.  And that is what I love about this game - there is always something to learn.  A link to the post:

Again, thanks to Joe for sharing this; I am going to start putting this knowledge to use right away!

[Guest]

Oh hey, that's basically the same profile I've been flying for years in KSP1, RO, and now KSP2. You generally have to adjust based on the aerodynamics and TWR (especially with a low TWR upper stage you'll want to "loft" it higher), but yeah, same thing. With higher TWRs you can start on the pad inclined about five degrees and just follow prograde all the way up.

But yes, there's always something new to learn.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

23 minutes ago, Scarecrow71 said:

Again, thanks to Joe for sharing this; I am going to start putting this knowledge to use right away!

Let's give credit where due: this is @Streetwind's rocket and flight profile.  His critique of my previous video with an over-built rocket that I 'muscled' into orbit led up to this.

Also - creative failure precedes success!

Fundamentally, we have a fantastic and mutually supporting community - it's one of the reasons I've stuck around for so long!