Why won't my Kerbal pilot the ship?

[Kipsley]

New to this, but have played about 20 hours. Have done the tutorials and are playing the game in sandbox mode as I just want to try different things. Kind of like "What does this button do?".

Anyhow, I have built the ship described in the tutorial about getting to orbit, so I know it's capable. I swapped out the Engineer for a Pilot of good skills, and yet that little button that would let the pilot fly the ship remains unavailable even after lift off and I have to try to pilot the thing into orbit manually. I do have the "Flight Assist" button available but that just makes the rocket go straight up.

How can I get my pilot to pilot the rocket into orbit?

I bet this pretty basic stuff, but it's frustrating me.

[GluttonyReaper]

Welcome to the forums!

Which button are you talking about? If you're talking about unmodded KSP1, there's no way to get your kerbals to automatically pilot craft - you unlock the ability to have them point the craft in various useful directions (see here) but they won't be able to fly anything into orbit for you. The basic "Flight Assist" SAS option causes your craft to try and (loosely) hold whichever you're pointing in, as the name suggests it's more to assist you when you're flying things yourself.

There are user-made mods available that add the ability for your craft to fly themselves, but if you're new to the game you probably don't want to dig too deep into all that just yet  

[Gargamel]

Seeing as this is most likely about KSP1, it’s been moved to Gameplay Questions.  

[adsii1970]

9 hours ago, Kipsley said:

How can I get my pilot to pilot the rocket into orbit?

Hahaha, when I first started playing the game, I wondered that very thing myself (back in 0.18) until it dawned on me—I am the pilot!

9 hours ago, Kipsley said:

I bet this pretty basic stuff, but it's frustrating me.

No, you're fine. You will learn other things in this game that will frustrate and infuriate you even more. Such as rendezvous and docking with other craft, plotting interplanetary transfers, and, oh, let's not forget, making sure you have not forgotten anything while designing your craft (this, by far, will get ya. Try a Duna mission, and forget solar panels or a ladder. ) Don't let it get to you too much.

9 hours ago, Kipsley said:

How can I get my pilot to pilot the rocket into orbit?

Instead of "Trust the Force, Luke!" we have a saying here: "Watch the Scott Manley tutorial videos on YouTube!" They are a little dated, as most were done before KSP1 reached 1.0, but the basics are correct.

[Scarecrow71]

On 7/10/2024 at 10:09 PM, Kipsley said:

Kind of like "What does this button do?".

Never a more Kerbal statement hath been uttered.  I love it!

Anyhow, as has been mentioned, you are the pilot!  You get to control which way the rocket pitches, how fast it goes, and where it goes.  The different "careers" of the Kerbals in the game allow for some different functionality, but none of them allow for an auto-pilot of sorts to just fly the thing into orbit.  The basic functionality of a pilot is to allow for full control of the rocket regardless of whether or not you have antenna and/or connectivity back to the KSC.  This is especially important on really long interplanetary flights (like, if you are circling Jool, for instance).  An engineer, on the other hand, can fly the rocket, but he does not have access to the SAS functions like a pilot does.  Rather, the engineer can do EVA construction and add/remove parts from craft in orbit (or even landed!).

So as stated, you are the pilot.  When you are flying a rocket, it's up to you to do the gravity turn and pitch the right way and all to get into orbit.  The ship is capable of getting there; now you just have to guide it.  A simple how-to:

1. Fly straight up until your speed reaches ~100 m/s.  You can see this right on the top of the NavBall.
2. At 100 m/s, starting pitching east (using WASD) until you are at ~80ish degrees.  The key you use will depend upon the orientation of the command module; you can see the red line marking NORTH on the NavBall, and you want to pitch right of that.  Hint:  I always orient my craft so that the red line is pointing straight down on NavBall, so when I pitch I need only use S.  But it's up to however comfortable you feel!
3. At this point, you will be watching altitude.  When your overall altitude is ~4500 meters, pitch more to the east until you are at about 60ish degrees.
4. Keep an eye on your thrust-to-weight ratio (TWR); you want this to stay in the neighborhood of 1.5.  You can find this by clicking on the current stage that is firing; the little box should expand and show you the TWR.
5. Keep an eye on your Ap altitude, which you can find in the lower left corner.  You want this to be increasing, but not too fast (this goes along with keeping on eye on your TWR).
6. When you reach an altitude - true altitude, not Ap - of ~20km, pitch over east to 45 degrees.
7. Now, the upper atmosphere ends at 70km, so anything over this is in orbit.  What you want is to shoot for nothing less than 75km as your Ap altitude - Ap being the highest point of your altitude - determines how easy or hard it is to circularize your orbit.  The closer your Ap is to the 70km threshold, the harder it is going to be to get your Pe - the lowest part of your altitude/orbit - above 70km.  I generally shoot for an Ap of 100km, but when you are starting out, I think 75 is a good place to practice at.
8. At some point while you are still in the upper atmosphere, you will need to start leveling off your trajectory.  You want to slowly pitch over until you are at ~15ish degrees.  Flatter is better, but this is going to all be dependent upon how fast you are moving (pay attention to TWR, and keep it under 1.5!).
9. By now you should have an Ap greater than 70km.  Flatten completely to 0 degrees (again, ish), and wait until you are 10-15 seconds away from Ap.  Then fire the engines full thrust and circularize that orbit!

Step 9 is really the hardest (in my opinion) part of all of this.  When you fire to circularize depends on a lot of things, not the least of which is what your Ap is.  It also depends on how heavy your ship is, the maximum TWR you can achieve, and whether or not you have the fuel to do so.  Remember that it takes ~3600 m/s of dV to get into orbit...and that doesn't include any fuel you might need to go elsewhere (like the Mun) or to get back home.

On 7/10/2024 at 10:09 PM, Kipsley said:

I bet this pretty basic stuff, but it's frustrating me.

Actually, there is nothing basic about orbital mechanics.  This is, technically speaking, a pretty complicated thing to grasp.  Thankfully, KSP is here to help us all understand what is going on and how to do it.  But trust me when I say that it will all be worth it.  You'll be on your way to Mun, Minmus, Duna, and beyond soon enough.

And frustrating?  Fret not, kerbonaut!  Everyone on this forum - EVERYONE - went through this.  We all had these questions, and we all had the same learning curve.  Eventually it will be second nature.  As soon as you get one technique down, you'll have to learn something new.  Or you'll learn that you keep forgetting something simple - for me, it's ladders and chutes - and you will pull your hair out.  That's why we have save and load.  And reverting flights. 

Someone above did mention mods.  I would avoid them like the plague until you learn how to get to orbit.  Once you are comfortable with doing that manually, then I suggest you look into mods.  However, I highly recommend going through the Caveman challenge (linked below).  The things you will learn trying to unlock the tech tree without upgrades will be invaluable to your KSP careers.

The KSP Caveman Challenge 1.11.x - 1.12.x - KSP1 Challenges & Mission ideas - Kerbal Space Program Forums

Edited July 18 by Scarecrow71

[Fizzlebop Smith]

I discovered this game a few years before I actually got to play. I actually watched most of the Manley Career Tutorial before I ever played the game. 

By the time I actually got a taste of the game (I THOUGHT) I was going to be a kerbal ace. I had plans.. never having design a single vessel in KSP yet was going to take to atmospheric flight like a 'leaf on the wind' ... I would be as a hummingbird when approaching rendezvous..

Pfffffffft. Yea right. I have watched some of the same tutorial countless time to master a single maneuver. 

Stopping multiple directions of movement relative to the target with nav ball cursor took me a long time.

This game IS a Learning Process. Most drawn to it love the accomplishment that is felt after a particularly sketchy / daring escapade.

Welcome to the forums.