What are your gameplay restrictions?

[SunJumper]

By this, what restrictions do you impose on yourself (not necessarily with mods) for fun?

Here's the ones I've used:

• Incremental parts: First flight is one part, second is two, third is three, etc... That particular one I found to be too slow. Perhaps a Fibonacci progression would be more fun.
  
• 50 tons or less: Any launch must mass less than 50 tons. Any craft may not exceed 50 tons via docking. Could be X Tons or less or X parts or less
  
• All manned flights and no transmitting
  

[Bacterius]

At least 57 boosters and 15+ stages for anything beyond suborbital. Quadruple these figures for interplanetary missions.

[blackfire83]

I must orbit a body before landing there. And I must land an unmanned craft before landing Kerbals. It slows progression, and it makes sense.

[Guest]

Number one restriction for me: don't mix up the flame-spitting bits with the payload bits. The second is to keep the payload bits pointing more or less up during ascent. After that, all bets are off.

[Jon Tash]

Me,

- Never exceed 100 parts per craft launched. I like to make things simple and efficient (for me) and small. Never liked big crafts.

- Always launch first a probe before a manned craft like in real life.

[Seret]

After the unfortunate incident at last year's Xmas party, only authorised personnel may use the photocopier at KSC, and must remain fully clothed.

Seriously though, I don't have any flight rules but I am fussy about stations. I never put Kerbals on board space stations that are fuel depots. That stuff is nasty, and all those extra dockings are a risk. Also, any manned stations must have sufficient escape pods for everybody on board.

[annallia]

I don't revert.

I don't allow my kerbals to respawn should they die.

I use a rotating roster for my kerbals, meaning even if they have to bail out on a failed launch I go to the next one on the list.

I sometimes use another restriction in the instance of a death of a kerbal. I have my own system set up to determine what happens next. Possible outcomes include defunding a project (even if it is a half completed base/station) or limiting myself to probe missions for a time period.

Edit- I forgot, any flight outside of Kerbin SOI needs 1 hitchiker can for every 2 kerbals. +1 extra if 6 or more kerbals.

All stations must contain a habitat wing which consists of one hitchhiker per kerbal + 2 for visitors.

All stations must have fuel, reactors, or battery storage separated from not only eachother buy from crew quarters.

Final restriction is we leave no kerbal behind! Even if the mission is just to collect a surface sample where they turned into dust (and plant a memorial flag).

Edited November 26, 2013 by annallia

[Umlüx]

restrictions?

don't do things that make no fun. use mods, use mechjeb, or dont use them. whatever. i do what i want

[Karriz]

-Interplanetary manned missions must have a hitchhiker crew tank

-Do not use nuclear engines for manned landers or in-atmosphere

-Try to bring Kerbals back home alive

-Before launching a mission, make sure it has enough delta-v, TWR and all that stuff (obviously piloting mistakes may still screw things up)

That's about it.

[Garek]

- I use FAR, DR, and now also TAC Life Support and RT2, so I have to make additional considerations to make my plans work out.

- Keep Kerbals safe and happy:

-- launch them only on reentry-capable vessels with an appropriate LES

-- they always have a method of return to Kerbin (e.g. no one-way missions, stations have at least enaugh return capsules for the current crew)

-- if I don't have the info to plan out a return mission, I send probes first to get that info

-- for long-term missions I increase both number of Kerbals and space per Kerbal - would you like to be alone in a small capsule for longer then neccessary?

EDIT:

- Forgot because I never actually used them: I also won't use Nuclears inside an atmosphere (or let them burn up in one, impact the surface, ...)

[Scarecrow88]

No one gets left behind. If a mission suffers a problem all other missions get put on hold until the affected Keebals are back home or back on course.

[Scrogdog]

I don't revert.

I don't allow my kerbals to respawn should they die.

I use a rotating roster for my kerbals, meaning even if they have to bail out on a failed launch I go to the next one on the list.

Me too! In addition;

Only space planes and capsules with heat shields may enter most atmospheres. That is, no science juniors or fuel tanks with legs, etc, survive entry/re-entry. That also means no straight up and down sub-orbitals.

I also use a fairings mod so that my stuff isn't damaged during ascent.

There is no such thing as rescue missions. If a mission package runs out of fuel or whatever it is terminated and the pilot killed.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Scrogdog

[Geschosskopf]

Unless I'm in the early stages of career mode, I don't ever go anywhere just to plant a flag and go home. I make some justification for creating a large-scale mission with permanent bases and such.

[Stranded]

I have been sending out and testing a lot of simple probes lately and for some reason am compelled to not warp time. I would rather go about building and launching whatever else I come up with, and then check in on the probes. I have been doing hour long burns with ion engines real time. It just seems more like a simulator to me when you are real time.

[Whirligig Girl]

Try to have escape and safety system. No manned missions until probe missions, like realism. Rarely ever use Asparagus with over 4 boosters.

[FellipeC]

Don't use the ALT+F12. Try don't kill any Kerbal.

[Hannu]

My current universal rules are:

Do not use asparagus staging (it is ugly and too efficient (it is nice to make over 2000 t rockets)).

Do not use nuclear engines in Kerbin's atmosphere (for environmental reasons) or descent stages of landers (radioactivity contaminates surface samples).

Manned landers must have pod for crew (for some reasons very short visits on smallest atmosphereless bodies (Minmus, Gilly, Bop, Pol) can make exception, if there is mothership in low orbit).

Alive kerbals on surfaces or in incapacitated spacecrafts must be saved and returned, if it is tehchically possible. It means that I never make one way or suicide missions and I try always at least one rescue mission if sudden problems arise during some mission.

Do not use engine, fuel or structural mods.

But they are not eternal rules. I change them when I feel so. The most important rule is that game must be fun or it is wasted time.

[Bishop149]

Try not to kill Kerbals

No stranding them either, a return to Kerbin option must exist and if it doesn't must be designed as a rescue mission.

Haven't lost any during Career mode yet.

Edit: I guess I can add:

No mods that alter core game mechanics or add additional functional parts.

The only mods I use are either aesthetic, or information providing (Engineer Redux)

Edited November 26, 2013 by Bishop149

[Hodo]

No ALT-F12.

Must have FAR+DRE+RT2 installed.

Every craft must have a use no pointless craft. It doesn't mean I don't make fun craft, I enjoy the challenges section quite a bit. It inspires me to build different things.

[Death Engineering]

• Never use the command seat for anything other than rover/hopper; kerbals must always launch in a command pod.
  
• No part mods of any kind (not even KER)
  
• Lost kerbals stay lost
  
• No asparagus
  
• No debug
  

[Turvok]

My personal thing is no part mods and no mechjeb until I've done it without. Once I've gone to all the systems maybe I'll consider mechjeb then. I have nothing against people that do. I just feel I should be able to do it myself without first.

I must use my own crafts and designs. It's Ok to borrow ideas but the craft must be something of my own creation.

[rpayne88]

Every manned capsule must have at least two escape systems, prefreably three

No nuclear burns in atmo

No nuclear impact on Kerbin or any planet that has not been visited (to protect any life that may be there.) I use the Mun as my dumping ground for nukes.

FAR and DR

No Asparagus. The turbo pumps for these things would be too heavy IRL and make too much drag.

Every mission must have at least one redundant comms system

Every LV must have an RSD (provided by TAC)

Every manned mission must have 25% more supplies than will be needed (also provided by TAC)

All manned missions lasting more than 14 days must have a hitchhiker.

All manned missions lasting more than 30 days must have "artificial gravity." (i.e. four hitchhikers docked to a hubmax so it can, in theory, be used as a centrifuge.)

Drouges or braking rockets must be used to slow manned craft down before main deployment

For manned missions over 14 days, each kerbal must be provided with twice the space necessary for a mission less than 14 days.

All debris must impact a body or burn up in atmo.

No five year missions with a single kerbal in the capsule

No Kerbal left behind

Yeah, I have a lot of self imposed restrictions.

[Tw1]

No nuclear engines in Kerbin's lower atmosphere.

Seats aren't to be used for interplanetary flights.

Heat shields are nice to have in thick atmo.

Interplanetary missions must be long endeavours- none of this land, walk around for 10 min, wait for return window business.

If the game glitches, I get to fix the result.

Kerbals need space, and must be kept alive.

[RocketPilot573]

My current restrictions:

-May not revert fight or quickload if a Kerbal dies (NOTE: Only deaths off of Kerbin count for this, I still like to fool around at KSC)(Also, I have permanent death on)

-May not put Kerbals under excessive G-force, so no aerobraking directly at Laythe

-All ships must be my own design

-May not use the Kethane Mod

-Kerbals must have a Hitchhiker crew container available if they must wait in a craft for a long period of time(For example, Kerbals cant leave Duna until the return window opens, but that takes months)

[Col_Jessep]

no MechJeb

no more 900 parts ships unless it is really necessary (I learned that on my Eve mission!)

SSTOs and VOTLs should not have visible fuel lines/struts

keep the air intakes to under 48 per jet engine

I have hardcore save where I copied Jeb and renamed him to 'Jessep'. If he dies it's game over. He has to go on the longest and most dangerous missions first. (Jool unlocks Duna, Moho Eve...) No reloading due to pilot error. Now I'm waiting for Science Sr. to do a Grand Tour.