Where do I go to get started?

[Chazsi]

I'm new and apparently an idiot.

I did all the training (tutorials) with no problem.

When I start "career" mode... I - am - lost

Don't understand stages. don't understand what to build.... I lump some stuff together provided at the start and can launch and fall to earth. NOT real exciting.

In the training missions the parachute is a separate stage. In career there's always a solid or liquid fuel remaining attached when parachute deploys.

I just don't get it at all. I come here for tips and it seems everyone "gets it" so there's really no beginner tips I can find. i wouldn't even know what to search for in the forums....

Can anyone help?

[Specialist290]

Welcome to the forums!

One of the places you might want to check out is my Drawing Board, a list of tutorials and other resources I maintain. In particular, I would highly recommend checking out allmhuran's

and EtherDragon's walkthrough for your first two Career Mode missions. You may also want to read through the wiki's tutorial on Basic Rocket Design as well.

Hope this helps!

[Vanamonde]

That *is* career mode, Chazsi. Your first ships can't do much, so you do what you can with them and use the science points they generate to "invent" more useful parts.

I made some example ships, though, to show what can be done with the first few part sets. If you would like examples you can download, or even just look at for ideas, check out this thread.

[Skorpychan]

At first, you don't have the decouplers available to make the rocket anything other than a capsule atop a bomb. Welcome to Jeb's Death Ride.

For future reference, you can drag and drop items around in stages.

And poke at the action groups command. For your own sanity.

[kahlzun]

Play around in the sandbox as well to get what parts you will eventually have.

[Nao]

Play around in the sandbox as well to get what parts you will eventually have.

Seconded, the career mode is currently in very early development, it just adds more confusion to the game.

Go with sandbox and experiment until it works, or you can try recreate ships you see on the youtube.

You can move items in stages as well as stages themselves. Modifying stage tree is also possible in flight!

[Sirrobert]

Mouse over the stage menu, you can drag the different thingys up and down different stages. Click the + to make a new stage

[SRV Ron]

Try building something simple like this.

Note that you must set staging up as shown or the first launch will be a failure. Launch straight up and observe what happens. Don't forget to deploy the parachute when your rocket gets down to about 5,000 meters to the surface. launch the next one and do an orbital turn using the Navball, say about a 20 degree change with just the D key. Do the next launch but instead of using the D key to Turn, use the S key. Play with combos of the WSAD and QE keys to see how they affect your ship during and after powered flight. Play with designs that use one fuel can, two, three, five, six, and note the performance difference. Play with throttle settings on the simpler designs. Try using a SRB on one design. Note how it behaves compared to a liquid fueled engine. Keep a written logbook of the results. You can hit the F3 key for a mission report. Do take advantage of Jeb to do science reports and take samples where he lands back on Kerbal.

Now, go spend some of the science and unlock some more parts. Play with decouplers and building stages. Example, take the rocket above, put a decoupler between the capsule and first fuel can. Then place a decoupler under the LV-30 engine and attach a SRB under it. Note how that combination affect performance compared to a single stage. Note, how placing a decoupler under the capsule can make landing easier. You can also use symmintery and attach boosters to the side for increased lifting power and see how they perform at this time. Note why this might not work as well as it should with the design below.

Now, go and experiment with various combos of engines and stages. Find out what works, what doesn't and what blows up.

[SRV Ron]

Sandbox can be more confusing to the new player in a program with no instructions and a simple tutorial. Career Mode introduces the player to simple parts unlocking more as experience is gained in building things to see how they work. Either way, it is the Kerbal School of Hard Knocks. Learning what works and what doesn't.

The one thing missing in the tier zero is that the new player has to learn how the staging icons work in the VAB so that the parachute doesn't get deployed at launch. One has to click on the + under stage 0 during the mouse over and drag the engine icon into its location.

[Chazsi]

Thanks for all the tips. That should get me started!!

[aeTIos]

Protip: mess around. Put your SRB's upside down, if you want (or dare...). Build a big rocket out of only SRBs. Do stuff, go places. Don't forget to have fun

[SSSPutnik]

Reading the main FAQ through is also very worthwhile, especially key bindings.

Been playing two weeks now and already done a Mun landing.

(Yes, yes, the kerbalnauts DID get stuck in lunar orbit on return due to an engineer using incorrect weight figures and not supplying enough fuel, but the news services do say the government IS going to mount a rescue mission, soonish.)

Edited November 11, 2013 by SSSPutnik
Humour

[Spyritdragon]

The first node is indeed very difficult because you don't have decouplers. Experienced players decided to have some fun with this and blow the bottom stages up with exhaust from the upper stages, but this is a carefully managed process which i don't advise to beginners. Rather, if you want to play carreer mode, just put a command pod on the launchpad. Take a crew report, then hover over your Kerbals portrait in the bottom-right and go 'EVA', or step out of your craft. Step on the floor and take a surface sample and an EVA report. Step back into your pod (use the F key to board), then recover it using the big green button that will appear above your altimeter when you hover there. You should now have enough science to unlock decouplers.

But, for your easiest start, i very highly advise you use sandbox mode instead. Try restricting yourself to the 'small diameter' parts. The game has three main radial sizes - tiny, which is usually used only for probes, small, which are mostly the FL-T series tanks and the LV series engines, and large, usually branded 'Rockomax'. I advise you to start off with small diameter parts (http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Radial_size): these are easy to handle, its easy to get enough power to get into orbit, and have little tendency to wobble eachother apart.

Also, if you want, downloading the demo will very nicely show you what parts are good to use for your first spacecraft.

And one last tip: When launching your craft, fly up till you hit 10km, then fly East :-).