Most important lesson you've learned in KSP?

[Tassyr]

So I'm curious- what's the most important thing you've learned in KSP- relevant to shipbuilding, piloting, anything?

Me: If you think you have enough fuel, add a little more. Lithobraking sucks.

[SofusRud]

Struts detach when you decouple. In the beginning i assumed that they didn't and had all my struts mounted on radial decouplers

[Brotoro]

A *little* extra fuel is good. A comfortable safety margin. But TOO MUCH added fuel will cause your performance to suck.

[ANWRocketMan]

I always have too much fuel. Until I need it!

[Torham234]

Double check Staging prior to launch.

[Brotoro]

Double check Staging prior to launch.

Oh, well, yeah. But I STILL haven't learned that lesson.

[Cdodders]

Always remember to add solar panels. And make sure fuel tanks are connected properly. And remember to add parachutes of some description. Thats a biggie.

[Cdodders]

And you can never have too many struts

[relin]

There's nothing wrong with testing one more time; reverting a launch is a godsend.

[Tassyr]

Oh, well, yeah. But I STILL haven't learned that lesson.

Same. I recently sent six SRB's into near orbit because I had the decouplers in place of the gantries. Oops.

[lockpicker]

Careful with time compression. I've missed many manuever nodes while time compressing.

[stringyquark]

If at first you don't succeed, get Jeb out of the rocket.

Space is big, like really really big.

Orbital mechanics are not very forgiving.

More fuel doesn't always mean more delta v.

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

Even if the mission requires 3000m/s of DeltaV, BRING 8000!

[kookoo_gr]

Landing legs can help you recover your ship at some planets/situations if it is tipped over

Don't block the door of the capsule

Always bring enough electricity (RTG's) for your rovers so that it can climb that steep hill that is always in front of you

When parachute landing never physical warp near the fully deployment altitude of the parachute

When paradroping a ship the connections between the components will brake above 100-120m/s, landing legs will brake above 10m/s. Make sure you have enough parachutes

Always have a solar panel facing the sun, 2x 6x 8x symmetry is your friend

Edited October 26, 2013 by kookoo_gr

[superm18]

Going the east around the planet's and moon's. Saves a lot of Delta-v.

[Pinbacker]

Quick Save more!

One day I'll learn that lesson anyway, And probes always need more batteries than you first allow for.

[Pulstar]

Going fast sideways is more important than simply going up.

Docking is hard and the concept borderline insane, which makes the fact that you can do it both in real life and in KSP even more amazing.

[Filippe999]

if you think you can add more fuel, then you don't have enough fuel.

[Whackjob]

Anything worth doing, is worth overdoing.

[Wallace]

Some people are so evil they will put a cute defenceless Kerbal into a blender for fuel. We all know a normal person would only be that cruel to Sims or the customers in Theme Park.

[Superfluous J]

Always hit F5 first.

I sometimes do it when I'm not even playing. Just in case.

[Merinsan]

Stupid Kerbals tend not to scream in horror.

Turn off reaction wheels when driving a rover.

Enough struts can get anything into orbit.

Burning at the wrong time is the easiest way to run out of fuel.

[WafflesToo]

I've learned to laugh as things go wrong.

I've learned that the more fuel you bring the more fuel you need

RCS systems are heavy; never bring one unless you actually need one

Clamp-o-tron jr's can't couple to clamp-o-tron sr's

And the big one...

A Kethane mining operation that consumes the entire kethane deposite you were going to exploit just to make enough fuel to deliver the equipment on site probably needs to be rethought.

Good night everyone

[Herbert McCheese-Wang]

Add an extra docking port just incase you need a rescue mission.

[liweih]

Hit F5 before any big decision.