Goodbye MechJeb! (A farewell rant.)

[AmpsterMan]

Well congratulations on you OP. Happy to see you are having fun with this great game.

[Commander Zoom]

I learned to fly before MechJeb existed, or orbital maps, or maneuver nodes. Does this make me better than the OP?

(Of course, now that these tools exist, I use them. They make the game more convenient and fun.)

[msyblade]

I learned to fly before MechJeb existed, or orbital maps, or maneuver nodes. Does this make me better than the OP?

(Of course, now that these tools exist, I use them. They make the game more convenient and fun.)

I GOTTA know, did you learn to improvise all the way to Duna like that? No planned maneuvers? That totally intrigues me to the point of wanting to try.

[NeMeSiS]

I'm not sure how you "abuse" MechJeb. Are there rules for using it that I've missed?

No rules, but when you get less enjoyment out of the game with mechjeb than without, you are better off not using it.

I havent actually installed it yet since .21, but since i am rebuilding my space station and sending up similar cargo for 50 times gets pretty boring i will probably download it again, just to stop the tediousness.

[tipsyMJT]

Once you learn to do something right you don't even really want to use Mechjeb. It's a waste. It wastes fuel and RCS . You watch it do it's procedures and you just think to yourself. "Oh Mechjeb you're just such a waste." That's not to rip on Mechjeb users, jist ince you can do the procedures it really isn't very helpful anymore.

[leax256]

Well, inevitably the cookie jar was open, and i couldn't help myself. (read that analogy here, I think.)

You did, your welcome.

I used to use mechjeb like you, then .21 sas came out.

[annallia]

Once you learn to do something right you don't even really want to use Mechjeb. It's a waste. It wastes fuel and RCS . You watch it do it's procedures and you just think to yourself. "Oh Mechjeb you're just such a waste." That's not to rip on Mechjeb users, jist ince you can do the procedures it really isn't very helpful anymore.

I've never noticed it wasting fuel, RCS yes but fuel? Generally it picks the most fuel efficient route.

[automcdonough]

My $0.02

I think MJ is a great tool, and an excellent set of training wheels. It very much helps to see how things are done a few times before trying it yourself.

It's also great for things that you know how to do but are just too lazy/bored to be bothered to do yourself. Such as sit there tweaking a navpoint.

I also am of the opinion that nearly everything MJ can do, we currently have on-board computers which will also do that task. No magic/cheating there.

Building ships by the numbers is very helpful. These numbers (and then some) are of course calculated out many times by NASA engineers IRL, why not have them here?

As time goes on and KSP gets more developed, the need for mods like MJ should diminish to nothing. The in-game training and displayed information should improve somewhat.

The best part is if you DO want to just wing it, you only have 1 part to delete!

[tipsyMJT]

I've never noticed it wasting fuel, RCS yes but fuel? Generally it picks the most fuel efficient route.

Well I had a rocket that did so many flights I knew it like the back of my hand. I could reach a certain orbit every single time then I decided ti use Mechjeb once and it couldn't make the orbit with as little fuel as I used.

[7rex]

Just like Automcdonough said, MJ is a great tool for learning. In the early days I found docking impossible but after using MJ for a while I could see how it was doing things and now I can do them myself.

I mainly use MJ now for the info readouts and the mundane stuff that I can't be bothered with.

[esinohio]

Ok my two cents ... Personally I loved Mechjeb for what it was to *me* , A great training tool. It was easier for me to mimic things like docking procedures by following along with Mechjeb. Getting that whole rendezvous down pat was difficult for me but with ol' Mechjeb and that wonderful rendezvous planner (You know that one that breaks it down to its individual phases, not the auto rendezvous) I was able to slowly master it. Sure I could have gone the trial and error route or dive much deeper into the math to calculate Hoffman transfers but... hey, I'm lazy. For me it also doesn't seem to match results from protractor or a few of the websites that have planetary transfer calculators. If I follow the calculators advice then I tend to come out better on the DeltaV management than Mechjeb. Still... being lazy sometimes I'll hit that autopilot button and go make coffee while my computer dances like a little monkey.

As for auto docking? Well, I'm more of a cowboy docker, charge in and hope things don't go boom! ( I should start recording all my dockings to capture some epic explosions ) Besides, Mechjeb can't really line things up like I can!

[MaGicBush]

I have never used MJ and I am pretty new to the game as well(a little over 10 hours played), I have been able to land on the mun and orbit so far. Glad your training wheels are off, I didn't need them .

[Brotoro]

I'm not sure how you "abuse" MechJeb. Are there rules for using it that I've missed?

"MechJeb...show us on the stuffed autopilot doll where he abused you..."

[Wiracho]

i think all of us sucked in the begining...i saw scott manley using it, and i used it too...it was soo easy, and when mechjeb 2 apear, i just watch how my pc play the game, meanwhile i was eating a sandwich...i coundnt dock, but mechjeb made my dreams of a spacestations come true...1 day, i forgot to put mechjeb in my apollo style rocket, so after 3 months of using mechjeb, i was playing manually again, and in that mission i learn how to dock, and without RCS because i forgot that too hehehe....i learn how to dock watching mechjeb doing it...now, i dont use it..but mechjeb teach me a lot(docking, gravity turn, landing)........sorry for my english

[Maklin]

I like designing ships not as keen on flying them so I love mechjeb. That said I do then to use it to help me fly them rather than putting all my trust into it getting it right

I have to agree with most of your post, but go a little further than you. I am a designer by nature. I want to see if they can get to various moons/planets but I also have NO interest in flying the rockets. I've tried flying manually and (I have achieved orbit, gotten to Mun after enough tries I lost count) and to be honest, hated every second of it! If I were forced to fly manual only, I wouldn't touch the game again.

Discovering Mechjeb made the 'testing' part of game tolerable for me and is the ONLY reason I bought the game. I am going to commit heresy in the eyes of the KSP purists here, but frankly, I wish there was an even more automated automatic pilot than MJ for design testing. Would make for easier design testing since it would fly the same rocket the same way multiple times without the variables induced by a human pilot.

[IvanTehFennec]

I used MechJeb to learn how to do pretty much everything in KSP, and once I learned to do it on my own, MechJeb became just something that was in the way constantly. Around 0.16, I dumped it. Good on you OP for finally making the leap to [redacted]. You have much to learn.

Edited July 30, 2013 by IvanTehFennec

[Ping_Timeout]

The chemo has arrived! Hail the new SAS!

[Commander Zoom]

I GOTTA know, did you learn to improvise all the way to Duna like that? No planned maneuvers? That totally intrigues me to the point of wanting to try.

Not to Duna, no; I've only just gotten there this last update, and not in my live save. (Long story. Lots of waiting for features to become stock (like docking) and other things taking up my time.) But I've flown dozens of Mun missions by the simple rule of "when the Mun rises over Kerbin, start burning and don't stop until the map shows an encounter." That was the only option between .12 (November 2011) and .18 (December 2012).

I could probably make a Duna transfer that way too too - get the angles from Protractor or one of the websites, estimate them on my screen, start burning when it looks about right, and watch the map for an encounter; fine-tune with RCS (moving the periapsis up or down) in flight. Come to think of it, I think I may have done exactly that once, with a probe, in a test save. Maybe a year ago?

Edited July 30, 2013 by Commander Zoom