How do I...even play?

[GatsbyK]

Back when I was test-driving the demo I had no problem building rockets. I even got to the Mun and back with the limitations. Now that I have the full version I'm having a hard time getting anything into space, let alone to another celestial body. The same problem I keep having is that I either run out of fuel or have too much weight. Are there any good general tips anyone can give me on rocket building so I'm not completely hopeless with KSP? Thank you.

[RoboRay]

I bet you're trying out all those new and bigger parts, and lots of them.

"Build smaller" is the #1 key to success in rocketry. Diminishing returns on added mass is a huge factor in rocketry, with every increase (even if you're just adding fuel and engines) making your craft less and less efficient. Doubling your mass makes the craft about four times harder to get into orbit, while every decrease in mass pays off big in making the design process easier.

"Moaaar boosters!" is a joke.

The first thing to do when improving a design's performance is to start stripping away every part you don't actually need. Only when there's nothing else you can remove do you start adding parts. And start removing parts from the top down. If you remove a ton from your payload, you can probably save a few tons on your upper stage, and many tons on your lower stages.

The most efficient and usually the most capable spacecraft design for a mission is the absolute smallest craft that can do the mission.

Edited May 9, 2013 by RoboRay

[EndlessWaves]

Yeah, bigger parts are less efficient parts for your lighter stages. They carry the same fuel as several small tanks but you're carrying the fuel tank structural (dry) weight for longer than if you jettisoned the small tanks one by one - and more weight means you go less distance.

Basically if you want fuel efficiency you go for the smallest tanks and decouple them as soon as possible (i.e. having all your engines draining from two at once is better than from four at once).

Plus lighter things are more robust than heavier things (more surface area per volume), which is a nice side effect of making a fuel efficient rocket.

[lobsterbark]

Thats because the old demo part where extremely op. Unless you are talking about the updated demo. Then I think you may be misusing the new parts in the full version that are not in the demo.

[Specialist290]

This applies more to planning the mission than building the rockets themselves, but I'll say it anyway: Don't try to run before you know how to walk. If you've got a specific goal in mind (for example, a large, complex space station), figure out the sorts of basic skills you'll need to accomplish it (adjusting orbits, putting two objects in matching orbits, docking, etc.) and practice those skills with smaller ships first until you're sure you've got them down pat.

Also, I'd advise learning the terms "mass ratio," "delta-v," and "thrust-to-weight ratio" and how to calculate them. Those three terms right there are the ABCs of rocketry. Even if you never take the time to work the equations for each and every single rocket, knowing how those factors interact and work together will give you a substantially better understanding of what you're doing.

You can find decent summaries of all the information you'll need at the Atomic Rockets website, and especially these four pages here. Most of the info works just as well for KSP as it does for real life.

One of these days, I will get smart and ask the site owner for a commission and a nice official-sounding title, like "Public Relations Manager" or "Chief of Word-of-Mouth Advertising" or something. That said, I've got a day job, so it doesn't really matter.

[Rune]

This applies more to planning the mission than building the rockets themselves, but I'll say it anyway: Don't try to run before you know how to walk. If you've got a specific goal in mind (for example, a large, complex space station), figure out the sorts of basic skills you'll need to accomplish it (adjusting orbits, putting two objects in matching orbits, docking, etc.) and practice those skills with smaller ships first until you're sure you've got them down pat.

Also, I'd advise learning the terms "mass ratio," "delta-v," and "thrust-to-weight ratio" and how to calculate them. Those three terms right there are the ABCs of rocketry. Even if you never take the time to work the equations for each and every single rocket, knowing how those factors interact and work together will give you a substantially better understanding of what you're doing.

You can find decent summaries of all the information you'll need at the Atomic Rockets website, and especially these four pages here. Most of the info works just as well for KSP as it does for real life.

One of these days, I will get smart and ask the site owner for a commission and a nice official-sounding title, like "Public Relations Manager" or "Chief of Word-of-Mouth Advertising" or something. That said, I've got a day job, so it doesn't really matter.

As I said in the rep comment:

That's a mighty useful post for a beggginer... and I'm not Nyrath

Rune. So there, +1 I guess.

[Xiphos]

Hi GatsbyK,

I have links to two videos I've made in my signature full of good tips and I don't skip over anything. Should help you on your way to building awesome ships with the full version in no time!

[Samuel Janato]

@Xiphos: Thank you for your Docking tutorial! it was the first to make me understand the whole docking and Rendevouz thing

[Samuel Janato]

@Xiphos: Tanks for your Docking Tutorial. It was the one and only to make me realize how "easy" the whole docking mechanic could be

[Xiphos]

@Xiphos: Tanks for your Docking Tutorial. It was the one and only to make me realize how "easy" the whole docking mechanic could be

That's excellent Sameuel! Congrats! I'm glad my video helped

[ZenithRising]

Lots of videos and tutorials out there, but probably the biggest single tip I would give OP based on what he wrote:

Thrust is overrated. Isp is (usually) king.

Now, you will need a certain amount of thrust to get off the ground, or to perform maneuvers in any sort of reasonable time. But, the higher thrust engines tend to have lower Isp (fuel efficiency), so you'll need more fuel for more thrust, which means you'll be adding more mass, which means you'll need more thrust . . . . You see the problem.

Add to that the fact that drag will hold you back while in atmosphere, getting exponentially worse as you approach terminal velocity, and past a certain point, more thrust will start to see seriously diminishing returns.

So. For very light payloads, it's easy to get up there with rather small engines. Hell, if you just stack three solid boosters on top of each other and stage them, they'll hit escape velocity in a jiffy. For medium-large payloads I do use a number of Mainsail boosters, but I've dropped those by the time I'm through the thicker part of the atmosphere, and transitioned to something with better Isp like Skippers or Aerospikes.

[capi3101]

First thing I'd do - take the ships you built in the demo and copy them over to your full version. I've got such a rocket - the Fireball 7 - and I still occasionally take it out for trips to the Mun.

Don't be overwhelmed by all the new parts - the ones you used in the demo are still in general the most useful. When I started playing the full game, about the only things I started using for a while from the full game were the larger landing legs and ladder, the radial chutes, and the FL-T200 tanks (put one in the center and three outboard, tie those together with fuel lines and you've got a shortened, widened stack with as much fuel as an FL-T800 - which makes Mun landing way easier). Work your way gradually towards the newer stuff.

TWR and delta-V; if you've got enough of both, you will be going into space.

I'll also point you in the direction of the wiki tutorials. Under rocket and probe design, I recommend the Basic Rocket design tutorial, the Intermediate Rocket Design tutorial, and the Asparagus Staging tutorial. The orbiting/de-orbiting tutorials can be skipped if you understood the tutorials in game. I highly recommend playing through the Historical Mission tutorials in order (Gemini 6A and 7 is a lot easier than it sounds) with the exception of the ISS tutorial (simply because it's still incomplete). The rest of them can be ignored, though there are some tips in the Planets and Moons section that are worth reading. The Parts list on the wiki is also extraordinarily useful if you like to plan designs out in advance.

[HeadHunter67]

Thrust is overrated. Isp is (usually) king.

Unless your TWR gets below 1, then you had better believe thrust is not overrated. ISp means little if you can't get escape velocity.

[stupid_chris]

Okay folks, the thread is pretty famn old, over three months now. Seems like the OP's question has been answered, best to close this now.