Am I the only one who ignores the math,

[syfyguy64]

And just burns towards apoapsis until I hit something?

[Dusty926]

Join the club, we've got jackets.

[Superfluous J]

I'm totally 100% with your subject line, but no, I don't do what's in the body of your post

I eyeball the map view while playing with the throttle and aim on the navball, until I get something that resembles an orbit in a way that somewhat resembles fuel efficiency

[syfyguy64]

I'm totally 100% with your subject line, but no, I don't do what's in the body of your post

I eyeball the map view while playing with the throttle and aim on the navball, until I get something that resembles an orbit in a way that somewhat resembles fuel efficiency

Well, that's sorta what I meant.

[Awaras]

How do you 'burn towards apoapsis'? Do you mean prograde?

[FITorion]

I do everything by instinct and what I've learned by doing thus far. I don't use any mods to see thrust to weight ratios. I just build what looks right and go.

[Frankiebolo]

Good luck to all you guys, since this a sandbox game I'm not going to criticize the way you entertain yourselves. Just keep in mind that Maths is not abstruse numbers that requires time and attention, but is an interpretation of reality that permits us to predict real behaviours. Mathematics for a space engineer is like imagination for a kid.

But sometimes I find myself happy at the idea to simply burn something until it gets somewhere, it reminds me the north korean space exploration approach.

[lammatt]

you dont have to literally DO the math

all you need is an educated guesstimation; knowing at least something about right what's what.

[Lachned]

Yes I work by guestimation. My crafts are usually way overpowered and my duna rocket was probably powerfull enough to get to Jool.

I plan on getting more into the math part of things once the career mode comes. Right now in sandbox you just don't have to look into cost effiancy of your crafts...

[SleepingDragon]

That's the beauty of this game, you can do it both ways and succeed.

[Epic DaVinci]

I'm the same, I understand Delta-V but dont know how accurate these DV Maps are, what if my ascent wasnt 100% efficiant? those numbers will all be wrong.

So, All of my craft are built just based on what i think will be sufficiant, sometimes they are way underpowered, or too complex or heavy. But i enjoy the guess work.

Edited July 16, 2013 by Epic DaVinci

[Devo]

I look at the Mun and fly toward it. I might correct my course 5,899 times along the way, but I get there eventually.

[Merinsan]

The only math I do is to work out the halfway point of the burn time when I set a maneuver node.

The rest of the stuff is like, yep that rocket looks big enough to get where I want to go.

I don't always succeed, but I always have fun trying.

Edit: After reading the posts I feel I should qualify this a little. I do have a good understanding of orbital mechanics, so I'm not randomly burning hoping to get to where I want. The only think I don't know is how much delta-v I have, and my thrust to weight ratios. I once tried to land a lander on tylo with a TWR less than 1 - it didn't go so well - but I then built something with better engines and went back and (kind of) succeeded (little bit of a rough landing).

Edited July 16, 2013 by Merinsan

[SRV Ron]

Sometimes it is surprising how far the smaller better designed two stage rockets can go such as being sent to Mun or Minmus and actually having enough fuel to be placed in close orbit. It comes down to how well you flew them into orbit that determines how much fuel is left. Some have entered escape velocity using Mun for a boost.

[Flixxbeatz]

Not alone, you are.

[Firenexus13]

That's the beauty of this game, you can do it both ways and succeed.

That is true...

And no, i just fly and make desperate maneuvers attempting to get somewhere

[thrashing mad]

When it comes to amount of fuel, engines, etc. I'm relying on intuition and experience. But when it comes to interplanetary transfers, I use this:http://ksp.olex.biz/

[johnnyhandsome]

What's this "math" you speak of?

[CatastrophicFailure]

I HATE math. So I let MechJeb do it

[Kimberly]

I have Kerbal Engineer. It tells me thrust-to-weight ratio and delta-V, so when designing my rockets I just say "Eh, that looks like it's good enough". When in orbit, I used maneuver nodes..."Eh, that looks like it's a nice approach."

[SargeRho]

The only "math" I do is: "Did it get to orbit?" "Yes? Good." "No? Add more engines."

[F1refly]

I just burn Prograde and keep orbiting till I hit something. I did that with my eve mission, had a orbit with one side exactly on the line of Eve's orbit and the other side a little inwards. The resulting slowdown allowed me to enter Eve's orbit after about 2 years in Space

[Brabbit1987]

To me it really isn't about the math. You can learn it and apply it, but the only thing it really does is takes you longer, and ... well ... really that is it.

The math is already done for you in this game for the most part if you know how to properly use the nodes. Also if you know even a little about orbital mechanics it's fairly easy to estimate these things even with out using the nodes.

I am also pretty sure by the time this game is complete, you will not need to do any form of math at all. Most if not all of it will be done already for you and presented in some type of informational window.

[asmi]

This thread is just LOL. People bragging about their own ignorance...

[Epic DaVinci]

Oh, im sorry if we ignorant people dont obey all the strict rules of the game and play it the way you do, which is, of course, the CORRECT way.