New and unsure.

[Phesired]

Soo, I am new to KSP that's why I put quite a few questions up on here, I need advice... So is Career mode the best way to go about the game because it's step by step with the parts, or is it Sandbox? Should I watch videos for help or will that spoil it for me?

[sal_vager]

Career is very new and unfinished, but it's been geared towards new players so yeah it's a good place to start, as you have fewer parts to begin with and are less overwhelmed

[UbioZur]

As Salvager said, at the moment career mode is still very new.

I still think it is good, because it will allow you to only learn a few parts and been able to experiment with them and learn how to use them. while sandbox, you will have lot of parts and you may be overwhelmed by all the choice.

About the video, it all depend, The learning curve can be quite high and painful but very rewarding at the same time. Watching tutorial video will help you ease that pain, but reduce the reward (you still get some).

I would suggest to try without, and when you really can't you have a look at a video, but then again, it all depend on you.

[700NitroXpress]

Really, the game is hard to get into by just jumping right in, so I personally watched some tutorials on how to do basic things and learn all of the major components of the game before I did things on my own. Career mode is a challenge even for advanced players, but it does have the structure of learning the parts in a useful order for beginners. So really it's your call, but I would go with tutorial videos first to get the basics down and learn how to build good rockets and planes so that way you're not wasting time and effort with all the trial and error.

I have in-depth tutorials for both new and advanced users on my youtube channel. There are also good videos by Scott Manley that I think everyone would also recommend.

Here's Episode 1:

It covers UI and controls as well as the VAB and SPH

Episode 2:

Covers SPH and shows you how to build one that works from scratch.

Episode 3:

Covers the VAB, rocket building, orbiting and maneuvers.

Here is a useful link to the KSP controls: http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Key_Bindings

If you choose to go the video rout, check out the ones I posted and also check out Scott Manley.

[Kasuha]

I think the best way to start is to:

- try all training missions

- open sandbox, load stock ships and try flying with them

- watch some YouTube videos about how things are done

After that, you can try to open one Career game and one Sandbox game and try which will suit you better.

[Oddible]

Start with career mode, that's what it was designed for. You get some basic parts and get to see how things work before slapping together a huge monstrosity in sandbox. I'd recommend career to start over sandbox. The rule in KSP is... keep is simple. Design the simplest smallest rocket to get you where you need to go (at least until you get the hang of things and you want to start launching pumpkins into space).

As far as career mode goes, make sure to do all your science on the launchpad before you even launch too! You get a lot of science just doing an EVA from there!

I'd also recommend the Scott Manley vids, he has an elegance and simplicity of design and can show you how far you can get with that.

[Tank Buddy]

There really isn't much to spoil if you just stick to tutorials. If you avoid any easter egg expeditions you should not have too much spoiled.

[Sirrobert]

If you need tuturials, I suggest looking for vids from Scott Manley (just google 'Scott Manley KSP'). He's pritty much the best you can get.

Other than that... Load up career mode, bolt tougether your first rocket, launch it, bring it back safely (don't forget the parachute), do your science (at all points in between start and finish) and unlock more parts when you are ready.

Combine with tuturials where you need them, and you'll be flinging kerbals out into the solar system in no time (and bringing them back)

[SRV Ron]

Start out simple. Build a sub orbital and learn how to fly it. If in career mode, before you have obtained decouplers and the LV-909, build this to get some science points, launch suborbital have Jeb do an EVA but hang on at the edge of space, land in the ocean and recover him and his rocket. Note, you will have to rearrange the staging so the parachute doesn't deploy when you launch.

Once you get the needed parts, build two or three stage and do an orbital insertion. Be mindful of power usages. This design will not only reach orbit, with careful maneuvering planning, it can go to Mun and return.

From there on and with more parts to work with, go exploring.

[Oddible]

And don't bother transmitting your science at first - it consumes all your electricity and will leave you dead. Just put parachutes on it and recover. Even your first Mun orbit, just get home and recover it - that will get you to electricity and you can then use solar panels and transmit.

[SRV Ron]

And don't bother transmitting your science at first - it consumes all your electricity and will leave you dead. Just put parachutes on it and recover. Even your first Mun orbit, just get home and recover it - that will get you to electricity and you can then use solar panels and transmit.

Orbiter Jeb did just that. Note the power left when I was orbiting Mun and when I did the reentry.

[martinws]

If you choose the career mode, just be aware that it doesn't go from easy to hard but the other way around. That the number of parts is overwhelming to new players is mostly because they are not organized / documented well enough in the VAB.

[Franklin]

You'll watch lots and lots and lots of YouTube videos, covering everything from your first Duna landing, to orbital rendezvous.

But first things first, getting off the launchpad: http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:Basic_Rocket_Design#Quick_guide_to_your_first_orbit

[toomuchbrew]

Soo, I am new to KSP that's why I put quite a few questions up on here, I need advice... So is Career mode the best way to go about the game because it's step by step with the parts, or is it Sandbox? Should I watch videos for help or will that spoil it for me?

Check out my little guide on how I did it.

Here

[DonLorenzo]

Allow me to plug this series here. In it I fly basic missions from the beginning of career mode. I use a plugin that actually tracks money and mission goals, but you don't have to do that ofcourse and could just focus on the science points or something else. The rockets so far are fairly basic and shouldn't be too hard to understand.

Good luck and if you have any more specific questions, don't hesitate to ask them. Perhaps I'll answer them with a video!

Cheers

[Bobhendly]

Just remember, If your rocket does not lithobrake into kerbin.. You are probably doing something right.

[Sirrobert]

Just remember, If your rocket does not lithobrake into kerbin.. You are probably doing something right.

As long as the commandpod survives, it's a succesfull landing

[DonLorenzo]

Any landing you can walk away from!

Although nowadays I want the science bits to survive as well. In fact it might be fun if they were more fragile. Or they could be more heat sensitive perhaps? So in the case of an unreasonable reentry your craft doesnt burn up but the science does get ruined.. now that sounds like fun maybe.. uh oh, rambling again!

[DonLorenzo]

If you choose the career mode, just be aware that it doesn't go from easy to hard but the other way around. That the number of parts is overwhelming to new players is mostly because they are not organized / documented well enough in the VAB.

It does.. and it doesn't. While constructing a rocket with X capability does get easier as you progress through the mode, it also offers the game up in bite size chunks. The starter parts are sufficient to make basic rockets with that can accomplish basic things, and not much else. IMO that's ideal to start the game off with.

[Lheim]

Videos can help enormously; I wasn't shy in watching instructional stuff when I first started playing. Believe me, it's hard enough wrapping your head around orbital mechanics in general.. trying to work out from scratch how to rendezvous and dock (for instance) is a whole other added layer of madness. Before I studied a video on docking, I tried for like an hour and a half solid.. a few hints got me down to 15 minutes for my first complete dock. Still felt a huge accomplishment.

[Franklin]

The best advice I can give is try everything on your own first. Everything. Don't open up a video or a tutorial or a guide until you're stumped. Going into the game with a head full of theories and rocket designs, before you've even launched out to a planet yourself, takes certain exploratory and experimental elements from your game.

As it is, even in career mode you're not bound by budget or by a limited staff, so crashing a few [hundred] rockets isn't going to harm your advancement into the game, so don't think you need to do everything perfect (or even well...) right out of the gate.

With that, my first, "Holy ****, I love this game," moment was putting a lander on Minmus without having a single clue how to get something to safely land on anything else. The game's a lot more fun when you leave more up to chance.