I am full of grief and coffee

[Spatzimaus]

Heh. I do think I will forgo the mods. Color me crazy, but I'm a purist. I don't think making flying those cans automatically enhances the experience for me any.

Don't get the two things confused. Mods, in general, improve the game; many of the new features in the last few patches (and in the next few, for that matter) were in mods before becoming official; wheels, 2.5m docking ports, mining for resources, mapping planets... all of these were in mods long before arriving in official patches. Other mods just remove some of the problems that the core game suffers from, like larger fuel tanks that allow you to build space stations with fewer total parts (and therefore less lag), or solar panels with more useful shapes. And there are some that just add to aesthetics. It's fine to want to play the basic game, but don't get the knee-jerk reaction some players have to mods; the only good objection I've seen to most of those mods is the compatibility issue (other people not being able to use your designs, having some issues when the game updates).

There are only a handful of mods that actually create the "easy mode" you want to avoid. MechJeb is the most notable, due to its autopilot features, but there are also a few part mods that provide parts purely superior to the stock ones. As long as you avoid those, you'll still have all of the challenge of the core game; in some ways, you'll actually have MORE of a challenge, because you'll now be able to do things that the core game simply can't do, like landing on Jool or flying a jet plane on Eve.

[Merinsan]

It is truly incredible how much time you can spend sending a single ship to Jool. I've gotten by on 3-4hrs of sleep due to things like that on several occasions.

[technicalfool]

Heh. I do think I will forgo the mods. Color me crazy, but I'm a purist. I don't think making flying those cans automatically enhances the experience for me any. I like the difficulty of it all, and really look forward to manual docking. Challenge strengthens me. Strife is the bondo that holds what is left of my brain together in a modestly recognizeable fashion. The hello kitty sticker is merely accentuation.

I have not yet, on the demo, landed on the Mun. I have gone past it. I have one Kerbonian on an outbound trajectory that I think will land him in the L4 lagrangian point. I will recover him or shoot him down at some point. I don't yet have the hang of changing orbital paths, rendevous, et cetera. But I'll get there.

Heh, unfortunately there are no lagrange points (yet), as the game's physics is based on patched conics rather than a full N body simulation. You leave one sphere of influence and transfer to the next. Why is it "conics"? Well,

goes into that a little bit, meandering as it does through parabolas, cardioids, hyperbolas and drawing patterns with dots in a strangely watchable fashion.

Mechjeb itself is just a flight computer. It won't compensate for a badly designed rocket, and I don't think there are any actual spacecraft that don't have their own real-life variant of Mechjeb's Smart A.S.S orientation system. That and the "vehicle information" tab is vital if you want to know how much delta V your stages have and whether you have enough thrust to weight to go anywhere. Of course, the Flight Engineer mod gives you that data without the flight computer, if you'd rather do that.

(And no, I don't like Game Breaker mods either)

[Echostatic]

I'd definitely encourage playing mod-free for a while, but don't be afraid to look around in the spaceport. There are some great mods like one that adds "quantum struts", which I love simply because they allow you to dock and undock while keeping your vessel/station rigid. (Currently, docking ports alone cause a lot of wobble.) I also like infernal robotics, because they add hinges. Hinges open up soooo many possibilities. So yeah, at least give some mods a look eventually, whether you use 'em or not.

Edit: And flight engineer! That mod is SO handy for figuring out how much delta V your ship will have, as well as the thrust/weight ratio for different stages. Critical information that would be a pain to have to do by hand.

[roosterr]

I dont play KSP to use or improve upon my hand-eye coordination. So I like Mechjeb for fine tuning the launch trajectory (just like NASA, ESA, SpaceX, etc). All Apollo era rockets had inertial guidance used in the same way. Also having the various information windows open during operations are much like having mission control readouts and I don't consider either cheating, instead its more like reality.

And being able to switch from prograde, retrograde, normal, etc... with the click of a mouse instead of having to use your fine motor skills saves you time and energy that can be directed at more important things.

So try Mechjeb. There are so many bells and whistles that if you dont know what you are doing, Mechjeb is of no use (until you learn more rocket science).

LATE NOTE: I too prefer going modless for while and knowing how to do things manually before I go to Mechjeb.

[NeoMorph]

Welcome to the Dooomboat....

I will now sing the doom song!

[katateochi]

*snip* If I'd only been around a few months earlier, I could've been there, at the launch pad, with the rest of you, as this strange machine was fueling up. Instead, I have to cling meekly from the outside. Peering in through a tiny window. Wondering if you guys have coffee in there. *snip*

We have plenty of coffee, lots of high explosives, most of us suffer from extreme sleep deprivation and when we do sleep we dream of orbital maneuvers. It's a fantastic (highly unstable) mix. Welcome!! don't 'cling meekly from the outside' (especially with that writing style), come on in!

Welcome! You have a way with words. I dont consider KSP a game. I dont know what to call it; a sim, a sandbox, a cerebral out of body experience. Oh well, it is the best entertainment that $23 will buy you hands down. Enyoy!

roosterr I totally agree, I resent calling it a game, its so much MOAR.

[Whackjob]

Don't get the two things confused. Mods, in general, improve the game; many of the new features in the last few patches (and in the next few, for that matter) were in mods before becoming official; wheels, 2.5m docking ports, mining for resources, mapping planets... all of these were in mods long before arriving in official patches.

Whoa, whoa, WHOA THERE! Are you tellin' me, that when I get the complete version here, that I can make rocket powered mining cars? That much extra is possible already?

PLEASE tell me I can push the Mun into its Roche radius with Kerbin!

[Voidryder]

11. Don't get pulled into the "to MechJeb or not to MechJeb" debate. It is a long dark tunnel that has no light because there will always be players who do and players who don't. And shockingly neither are right except for themselves. Just play the game anyway that you enjoy. Me, I wear a WWI leather flying helmet, white silk scarf and RAF goggles. My girlfriend left me a month ago. Now hand me that thermos of coffee will ya?

Edited June 19, 2013 by Voidryder
Typo: need more coffee

[Sir Nahme]

Whoa, whoa, WHOA THERE! Are you tellin' me, that when I get the complete version here, that I can make rocket powered mining cars? That much extra is possible already?

PLEASE tell me I can push the Mun into its Roche radius with Kerbin!

1: Yes, with mods now and in later patches you will be able to with stock parts (just no telling when for sure, but it's coming)

2: no, the primary orbitals can't be moved as they are on rails rather than actually under the influence (of gravity)

[katateochi]

11. Don't get pulled into the "to MechJeb or not to MechJeb" debate. It is a long dark tunnel that has no light because there will always be players who do and players who don't. And shockingly neither are right except for themselves. Just play the game anyway you that you enjoy. Me, I wear a WWI leather flying helmet, white silk scarf and RAF goggles. My girlfriend left me a month ago. Now hand me that thermos of coffee will ya?

LMAO! Voidryder, ye speak truths!

Whoa, whoa, WHOA THERE! Are you tellin' me, that when I get the complete version here, that I can make rocket powered mining cars? That much extra is possible already?

PLEASE tell me I can push the Mun into its Roche radius with Kerbin!

! tbh in KSP if you can imagine something then 9 times out of 10 you can make it happen (given enough coffee and time spent not sleeping). I once made a

and more recently a

.

1: Yes, with mods now and in later patches you will be able to with stock parts (just no telling when for sure, but it's coming)

2: no, the primary orbitals can't be moved as they are on rails rather than actually under the influence (of gravity)

I've not tried it, but I think the hyper-edit mod would allow you to change the orbits of planets. Not in any kind of fun way involving rockets, just click click and its done, but still if you want to move Mun I think you can.

[Sir Nahme]

hmm I hadn't considered hyperedit, never tried that one myself

[Nao]

LMAO! Voidryder, ye speak truths!

[snip]

I've not tried it, but I think the hyper-edit mod would allow you to change the orbits of planets. Not in any kind of fun way involving rockets, just click click and its done, but still if you want to move Mun I think you can.

Yup, all coffee to the Voidryder!

Hyperedit is great and lets you understand how stuff works and learn the game much more quickly. But at the same time sucks the life from the game. As a former over-abuser of the thing i strongly advise against it! (up until a point that you have been everywhere and now looking for trouble like putting 2000part deathstar in orbit or setting Mun for a collision course with Kerbin)

[Whackjob]

Ugh. Lots flying. Lots crashing. Lots 'sploding. Mun not achieved. Too much too soon. Need sleep. Coffee. Coffee and sleep.

I think... I think me not brane so gud nemore. I might have the dumb.

/Time to reset and reload with coffee and sleep

//Time for trying again when tomorrowsday get

[birrhan]

Ugh. Lots flying. Lots crashing. Lots 'sploding. Mun not achieved. Too much too soon. Need sleep. Coffee. Coffee and sleep.

I think... I think me not brane so gud nemore. I might have the dumb.

/Time to reset and reload with coffee and sleep

//Time for trying again when tomorrowsday get

You're speaking kerbal now, so that's a good start.

I had a lot of help from video tutorials on YouTube. Also a LOT of help on the forums. Best of luck--the successes make each failure worth it.

[Voidryder]

*snip* ...the successes make each failure worth it.

Yes, yes the whole success thing. But the failures they are more than merely worth it...*sigh*...they are spectacular!

[Scoundrel]

Feeling rather whistful at the moment...

Dreams. Yearning. Seeking.

Reaching. Grasping. Clawing. Crap!

Needed moar boosters.

[Spyritdragon]

Another tip: if you don't like your kerbonauts dying, assign the decoupler on your command pod to an action group, possibly along with a few of the small Sepratron SRB's. If your rocket suddenly breaks up or points nose-down shortly after launch, quickly hit your action group to eject your command pod safely, then deploy your parachute once you're clear of the rest of your craft. That way your Kerbonaut will live to add moar struts :-).

[tntristan12]

Welcome to the tribe, Whackjob. I hope you will find this community to be both intellectually stimulating, and endlessly entertaining. We're proud to make you one of us!

[KSP orbiter]

As others have said, welcome aboard.

And don't forget to Dream Big. When Kerbals dream, they build that dream. When they launch that dream, it will blow up. And when it blows up, another dream is fulfilled.

[KSK]

Whoa, whoa, WHOA THERE! Are you tellin' me, that when I get the complete version here, that I can make rocket powered mining cars? That much extra is possible already?

Shhhhh - nobody tell him about the command chairs!

Welcome aboard Whackjob - may your coffee never get cold!

[Johno]

And remember:

Aerobraking?

THAT'S NOT KERBAL!

Lithobraking.

NOW THAT'S KERBAL!

[Thiel]

Welcome to the rabbit hole, we've got biscuits

[Whackjob]

Minor update: Still in demo, but picking up the full tomorrow. And as far as progress goes...

"We have done everything reasonable to get to the Mun. And we have failed."

"Perhaps we should try the unreasonable."

[joppiesaus]

Then yesterday I run afoul of a certain JREF thread. Specifically, this one: JREF

Nice url. [url =It's one thing to be wrong. It's something altogether different when you're wrong because you know you did something stupid.]JREF