Math is for scientists!

[Leberschnitzel]

Hi!

I read a lot of sciency stuff on the forums here regarding kerbals. How much delta vatever and how big rockets have to be and how long to to do this and where to do that...

I never did any calculations at all. I also don't use any mods (except KAS pipes and struts which are nice but nearly never used it to do something besides a refill test)

And I have gotten probes to the mun, minimus, eve and duna and did a lot of docking on my station.

And returned savely from minimus and the mun, but looking at how easylie I landed on duna, I think I can possibly also return from there with a small orbitting tank station.

Anyway... I didn't find those things very hard. Most things worked in the first try, some failed because of small design flaws on my vessels.

My Question now is: Can I keep going on like that? Or will I hit a point, where just playing around won't work anymore?

I can see that getting home from eve can be a huge challenge. and getting to the outer planets too. But with a small gravity swing even the outer planets should be reachable by just eating your way through the different orbits of other planets.

Thanks for your opinion

Edited October 17, 2013 by Leberschnitzel

[AlexanderB]

Just keep doing what you're doing.

Though if you get into bigger, multi-planet missions, you'd notice it'd be really annoying to have to send a load of refueling missions, which you wouldn't have to if you packed enough delta-v in the original design.

Easy fix: get Kerbal Engineering Redux, and the delta-v chart, and have a quick look every now and then to see how you're getting along with delta-v for your mission. The way you play already gives you a good feeling for how much fuel you'd need to bring, adding a little science might improve that. Might.

[capi3101]

Nothing says you have to do the math if you don't want to. Doing it does increase your chances of success, IMHO, and that will probably be increasingly true as you go further out into the Kerbol system.

[Jason Patterson]

You definitely don't have to do the math. The best places for using ideas like delta-v and TWR are in making minimalist designs or in attempting very difficult maneuvers (Eeloo, Moho, Tylo, or Eve return missions, for instance.) You can always strap on more rockets and go for it, but you will eventually run into issues with part counts and the like on very large vehicles. If you're not interested in doing those things then you're already in good shape.

[lammatt]

confuscius: the best people know everything when they are born, the ones know by learning are second, the worse are those who learn when they are facing difficulties, and the worst are those who dont learn regardless (i am chinese, and i translated it myself, i dont know how it is translated formally)

my point is, learning something is always good, isnt it?

however, you shall enjoy the game the way you like.

but you shouldnt shut yourself out from any chance you have for learning something new and appreciating how amazing mother nature is

[Specialist290]

Believe it or not, I'm actually taking a mostly math-free and mod-free approach to my current Career Mode save in 0.22. I've been having great fun "winging it" and just seeing what I'm capable of doing without any of the guides and plugins I usually rely on to give me information, and it's proven to be an interesting challenge. In an odd sort of way, it's even a little invigorating; I think it's because I'm not as worried about the hang-ups I usually get myself into when trying to design something to be "just right." I'd recommend everyone try it at least once.

[Leberschnitzel]

Thanks for your opinions. I'll keep it up like that until I don't have fun anymore then

[Specialist290]

No problem. If you ever change your mind, I'm sure we'll still be willing to answer any questions you might have