New User Out Of Box Experience: The most important thing that was missing

[Dunbaratu]

As a new player, I didn't know what RCS and SAS were, so I didn't know that those were the features I needed to activate to keep my ship from spinning out of control.

I actively searched for that information. When I googled for things like "how to keep my ship from spinning out of control", all of the results were long threads about ship construction details, ways to build more stable ships. None of the threads started off with "did you press T?".

So there should be something out there that makes that more clear for new users.

That's because that advice is CORRECT. If you absolutely need SAS to make your launch work, then you DO have an unstable vehicle. Performing a launch without the aid of SAS is easy if the craft is not wobbly and has symmetry. Using WASD to keep the nose pointed where you want is easy - and in fact it causes LESS wobble and lets you launch rickety designs that SAS would shake apart.

I don't use SAS because it's needed. I use it because I want to take a break and take my hands off the keyboard. If you use it because it's impossible to launch without it then something IS wrong.

[BubbaWilkins]

No point in activating either of those system by default unless you were smart enough to equip those components in the first place. At which point, I would intuitively want to know how to activate them by looking up the key bindings.

[Nobody]

A pre-flight checklist popup for new players might be a good option for new players but I don't think turning RCS and SAS on by default is a good idea.

As to suggesting new players do the tutorial missions get real. Who would do tutorials? It isn't like this is rocket science... Oh wait, yes it is.

[tfabris]

If you absolutely need SAS to make your launch work, then you DO have an unstable vehicle.

This was with the stock built-in spaceships.

[tfabris]

A pre-flight checklist popup for new players might be a good option for new players but I don't think turning RCS and SAS on by default is a good idea.

I understand that turning it on by default would be a bad idea. But having it be made clearer in the documentation (the wiki) would have solved my problem. The preflight checklist you suggested is also a good idea.

Edited September 24, 2013 by tfabris

[Poryy]

Just play the tutorial. Without the learning curve, this game wouldn't be fun.

[KSP orbiter]

I think this is a good point. The preflight checklist especially is a good idea, and it wouldn't stop people from ignoring it or turning it off.

Generally speaking, the new-user experience in KSP is not all it could be. The documentation and tutorials haven't really kept pace with other aspects of the game, and feedback like this is valuable because it shows some of the gaps that remain to be filled. The game is still in alpha, so it's not too much of a problem at this stage, but there's certainly ample scope for improvement when the time comes.

[vzq]

I very rarely play any tutorials in any game. Yet i never have any problems like not knowing about SAS. That is because i do something else. First thing in every game i set new keybinds and pay attention to what actions i'm binding and i'm always on top of small details like this.

[Dunbaratu]

This was with the stock built-in spaceships.

A lot of the stock ships in fact ARE really bad. Now THAT is a thing that should be addressed to help the newbie experience.

[jwenting]

face -> palm

Maybe put a big bold top-level entry called "play the tutorial" to the wiki?

Seriously, you ignore the tutorial provided by the game and then you complain when the information contained in it isn't given to you?

And people wonder why some game devs make it impossible to start the game proper until the tutorials have been completed

[tfabris]

First thing in every game i set new keybinds and pay attention to what actions i'm binding and i'm always on top of small details like this.

Even if I'd gone through the key binds, all I would have known is that T toggles SAS, but not known what SAS was, or why it was important.

[tfabris]

A lot of the stock ships in fact ARE really bad. Now THAT is a thing that should be addressed to help the newbie experience.

The stock ships handle fine if you press T, which gives rise to the idea that the designers perhaps intended for it to be turned on most of the time.