How much math and science is needed to know how to play this game?

[Toshogu]

It takes 0 math and science to play the game.

IF you want to actually get somewhere and do things, well that takes alittle effort on your part.

[Seshins]

trial and error FTW - ive got orbiters, probes on most bodies a few landers and rovers and i havent really looked at the stats once, if i ran out of fuel, add more fuel etc etc..

[lammatt]

you need not much maths / physics background to play this game

some basic understanding of the Newtonian mechanics will be sufficient (high school level is good enough)

ie... something about circular motion and kepler's law is more than enough

this is from chemistry teacher and my math training ended in highschool and i only did take a few physics course in the university...)

[Rigges]

From the beginning in this game I set out on a mission not to use any calculations to have fun (just as a matter of principle since I play games for fun, not to think!). I am from a computer science background and my good friend is from a Engineering background and both of us have had quite a bit of success using a trail and error approach and not crunching any numbers.

To bring that a little further, I've started creating tutorials specifically based on understanding basic ideas and trail and error (tutorials are usually quite fast as well so you get as much information as you need as fast as you need it, or if you need to slow down a bit, there is a pause button!). I just completed the first one yesterday and you can check it out here:

[Tokay Gris]

Hm.. let me formulate it another way:

You don't NEED maths. You don't NEED to understand the concepts.

But during the play, you pick up what you need. Long term missions to other planets work better, if you plan ahead and do some basic calculations. Not really complicated.

But you can get by without.

After a little eperimenting, you will WANT to know.... And that is usually the best way to actually learn something, don't you think?

[acra]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned yet: There is a demo!

It's quite far behind in the development process, having few parts and only one planet and one moon, but mucking around on the demo showed me the 'game' behind the simulation was easily worth my money!

If that doesn't convince you, watch the multitude of videos, look at the modding options, and give it a good think.

Maths/physics is handy in some respects, as is a basic interest in space, but to be honest the vast majority you will either ignore, learn by playing or learn from the community if you are interested.

This game can be pretty much as simple or as complex as you want it to be - especially with all the modifications out there that can do everything from assisting in calculations to doing the worst bit for you!

https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/demo.php - KSP demo. Play it, decide!

[Fyzzi]

I think Tokay Gris got exactly the point... it's not necessary to have the "know how" but I'm totally SURE you're gonna want to know more and more as you continue playing... I started playing about a year ago and didn't know very much about how do things in space work (I thought that orbit is just about the altitude, not velocity )... then I started to learn more and more, 'cause I just wanted to know how these things work (when I saw, what amazing things can come out of that)... nowadays, I guess I'm pretty much into that knowledge and finally know pretty much about astronomy and astrophysics... (watched various university lessons, documents, read some science articles and so on)

so... once you're in, I guess it goes only deeper

[Amoun]

Hey Zerro, welcome to the game!

From my personal experience, you need to know 0. (no pun intended lol)

All the game requires is just a little bit of logic and game mechanics which you will figure out yourself or through tutorials.

I watched a few tutorials which would kinda of explain parts and basic orbiting. I gained almost nothing from tutorials because it was too new to me but when I started the game, things looked at least SOMEwhat familiar and it went from there. When I got the basics kind of understood (and my basics I mean: step 1) get something out of the atmosphere. step 2) ok now lets see about making an orbit, step 3) ok lets actually make an orbit an not an egg-shaped ride of doom., etc) then you will get curious and want to go to the Mun, then crash into it....then land, and you just keep going.

I can say I somewhat understand the game a little but nowhere near as advanced when it comes to usage of dV and calculations etc. I know what they are, but I do not apply them fully. You can make the game as complicated as you want. My usual solution was just to add more boosters...if that wasnt enough, more boosters.

Then you would get familiar with engines, see what works where and what works best etc. Best way to learn this game, imo, is to experiment. Dont worry about scrapping designs. We all do it..................I do it a lot.....lol

[capi3101]

...you can always re-purpose the designs you scrap later. Make them better, stronger, faster. Why, just last night I took my first crappy Duna rocket and tweaked it into a successful Munar rover delivery system.

[asmi]

You can almost surely get away with trial-and-error approach while you're inside Kerbin-Mun-Minmus region, but going interplanetary will almost surely become a very frustrating string of "run-out-of-fuel-in-the-middle-of-nowhere", so learning some basics would definetly help.

You most surely will need to understand at least the very basics of orbital methanics if you'll want to do renderzvous/dockings because it's very counterintuitive and will get you nothing but frustration and ragequits - how on Earth could you figure out that in order to get closer to the target, you need to burn away from it, not towards it? But these things are really very simple to grasp as KSP doesn't simulate whole bunch of advanced concepts/effects that you'd have to deal with in real life.

[josea74]

To play this game you just need to know about numbers and the navball and you need to know how to balance weight and such and how to make things aerodynamic so not much math but alot of science.

[arq]

You want a rough intuition for understanding of TWR and delta-V for design, but that's about it. Things like phase angles and the Oberth effect that help to make more advanced interplanetary stuff more efficient, but aren't strictly necessary. A precise computation of any of these is never necessary (except maybe for phase angles), just a brief intuition for what they mean. Anything that does require computation, like phase angles or delta-V, has mods that will take care of that for you (Engineer Redux, Protractor, Mechjeb, etc).

[cmoody]

As a Chem. E. major, some of the physics stuff blows my mind but most of everything else is simple (at least to me). It boils down to a few things:

-Have more thrust than mass

-If you want to go faster, burn prograde

-If you want to slow down, burn retrograde

-Use maneuver nodes and follow the blue thingy

-Don't crash into anything to quickly, or you will blow up and die

[tomwillp]

You don't need to be a scientist. or even understand half of the maths involved.

I have two words... TRIAL & ERROR

it got me through

[blizzy78]

-Don't crash into anything to quickly, or you will blow up and die

Or for that matter, try to crash into things, preferably with high speeds - if blowing up and dying is your thing.

[Itchylol]

Very little at all. I just put on whatever engines look right and I got to the Mun and other planets without any math at all.