What are your gameplay restrictions?

[Epthelyn]

My only 'restriction' is that EVERY craft (other than probes, except in career mode where it's literally everything) must have parachutes to allow landing on Kerbin with minimal damage.

I've lost count of how many missions I've planned as one way but ended up in a situation whereby if I had a parachute or two on a rocket I could return to Kerbin and head directly towards it without an orbit, but those parachutes haven't existed.

In career mode, I made a one-way probe to the Mun which would've actually been able to return all of the science back by recovery rather than transmission if I had just put a parachute on it.

[42undead2]

Number 1, and the only one:

FAILURE IS ALWAYS AN OPTION

Other than that, none.

[thescientist]

- 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, ...)

Cheers! I know what you mean!

[kahlzun]

Any mods I use need to be balanced for the stock game.

All launches need to be done from ground, sitting on the engine bells.

RCS should not be used for anything except docking.

Designs should be made universal: able to land/whatever on any given planet.

Avoid orbital debris where possible.

[Ralathon]

I'm terrible at self imposed challenges. So I restrict my play using mods.

The following mods I have make the game harder:

Real Solar System (By far the biggest difficulty adder)

RemoteTech2

Deadly Reentry

FAR

TAC life support

The following mods give me more options:

KAS

Kethane

Extraplanetary Launchpads

KW-Rocketry 3.5m parts

RLA Stockalike

Modular Fuel tanks

KSP interstellar

SCANsat

The following mods look pretty:

Universe Replacer

Clouds and City lights

The only self imposed restriction in this is to avoid safe scumming. No revert flight either. If kerbals die, they die.

Playing this with the stock career mode has been a great challenge. I am currently about a quarter into the tech tree but I'm struggling to build a probe with enough dV to land on the mun. So I'm getting science starved until I figure something out.

[longhornchris]

I've got crew manifest installed so I can move kerbals between modules, but as such I have a 'no transfers through fuel tanks' rule. Really, it means either docking ports on habitable modules or having closed structure, like empty fuselages, adapters, or couplers between docking ports, and no mini-docking ports (too small). Basically I have to be able to see a path for the Kerbal to move around.

Also, for planes no air through fuel tanks. Empty fuselage is fine, but no fuel tanks because there isn't room for ducts.

I've got FAR installed, so fairings are a must once available - procedural fairings are nice here.

Finally, I try to consider Kerbal comfort for interplanetary missions. Spam in a can is fine for Mun or Minimus but for anything longer I like to give them some personal space.

[Zerois]

No Part-Clipping, reloading etc.

[Max Grant]

Well, I don't use any mods, partly because I play on a laptop, and I've observed that any programming mod (parts seem to be OK) tends to cause a noticeable performance lag. Also, because I haven't used them in so long, I don't really need them anymore. I've gotten to where I can pretty much point my ship at the planet and get there. I use maneuver nodes to help, but I often delete the node towards the end of the burn, and I use conic patch mode 0, so I zoom in on the target and fine-tune my approach from there. And I can dock first time, every time, without wobble or backing up and re-starting. I've just done it so many freaking times.

I like to play with part mods but the stock parts are really very good now, and I find if I download 500 parts I then have an embarrassment of riches and can't decide what to do. I've hovered my mouse over all the spaceport goodies and I just end up going "naahhh!" and going back to stock.

So, reading the other limitations I'm seeing here, I don't really impose many of those kinds of rules on myself, other than what the game physics demands, but I will say that I treat reverting and quicksaving as my "simulator" so that I can plan moves ahead with a computer (which is literally the truth), and the only other rule I have is that I do not get a Kerbal killed, or stranded, and if I screw up the design of the mission (for example, under-powered landers that can't return to orbit) I will stop all other endeavors until I've rescued them.

I've had a lot of people ask me, querulously, why no MJ, and I do not intend any disparagement towards it or people who use it, it's just that I like to get my hands dirty and do not feel like I'm "doing it" unless I'm really doing every bit of it. I studied the martial arts for six years, and got a lot of scars and broken bones doing so, and I guess I'm the kind of guy who gets interested in something and I like to eat the whole watermelon. I used to stay after class and get my ass whupped on by an instructor half my age (no pads either!), on purpose, because I wanted to do the real deal. It's just how I am.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

In the beginning there was only KSP... and the small child inside me.

Back then I gave myself no restrictions and with the Kethane-Mod installed, I made it to every celestial Bodies Surface except for Tylo and Eve.

But that seemed to be too easy, to get there, fuel up and get home. So I deinstalled it.

Nowadays, I only use Kerbal Alarm Clock (cause I am pretty bad at Phase-angles), Kerbal Engineer (for a close look at the numbers), Chatterer (for the ambients) and procedural fairings (for the looks )

My restrictions are:

- No Partclipping

- No Cheating

- No Kerbal left behind

- Bad performing Kerbals will be exciled on the Mun's South Pole... No kidding.

[Threadsinger]

I've just gotten started in KSP (loving it!!), and I'm no rocket surgeon so I've opted to keep it simple and fun in career mode. The few "rules" I've made to guide my gaming experience are not to intentionally launch any manned one-way or suicide missions (at this point to the Mun or Minmus), and to rescue any Kerbals if I can't return to the homeworld on the first go. No cheating as well, although at my current level of experience, I could see me using a specific cheat

CSB time: My first time actually reaching the Mun (as I was learning how orbits work), I couldn't resist attempting to land on it with the tall booster/capsule craft I had left. It had plenty of fuel somehow (there was no delta-v or math involved at this point, still aren't), so I managed to brake enough to gently land it on its side on a mountain... without landing gear or any design considerations. I still ecstatic I had made it to the Mun and my little craft and Kerbal survived! I then discovered I couldn't take off without explodiating all over the munscape, so that's where I decided I needed to built a rescue craft and learn how to get it there. This game has such wonderful little moments, especially if you craft your own "restrictions" along the way!

This thread has a bunch of great ideas to increase the challenge (assuming I'll ever need to), as well as cool mod ideas to search for. Thanks all!

/still need to figure out this whole delta-v/T2W ratio stuff

//in memory of all those kerbals who dared to reach space, but died in fire and frustration, or possibly a warp core breach

[BubbaWilkins]

No blatent part clipping. (minimal edges and stuff are okay, nested parts are not)

No Kerbal left behind.

No Air Hogging.

[Streetwind]

Not allowed to clean up any debris that is not within Kerbin's atmosphere.

In other words, if it's not landed on Kerbin's surface, or passes Kerbin at under 69km periapsis, it stays where it is, forever. I currently have 43 space debris parts tracked by mission control, 4 of which are on the Mun surface and the rest of which are in various orbits within the Kerbin SoI. And it keeps getting more...

[Captain Sierra]

Me?

I try to avoid nesting engines and clipping intakes. I have a hard rule of 4 intakes per jet engine (or RAPIER) max. I part clip moderately as necessary, though this is less so not courtesy of the 6S tubes. I try to make my crafts semi-realistic. No kerbal left behind. I always save kerbals if I can get to them. Now, if they end up stranded on Eve, that's entirely different. A biggie, I've been avoiding asparagus, opting for onion or for Delta V style 2 booster URM built rockets. I won't fire NERVAs in atmosphere or close to the surface. No irradiating the landing zone. I also don't dump them in atmosphere.

I also test missions extensively so the only chance of failure is pilot error. Also, I have a bad habit of not quicksaving as much as I should so that is an inadvertent restriction.

EDIT: I also try to use LES on my orbiter service craft and other routine LKO stuff. I used to use fairings but I removed KW to clean my mod load. I rarely launch a mission just to plant a flag. There is a bigger picture. I never use command seats on anything more than rovers, hoppers, and emergency ascent vehicles. Lastly, another biggie. I don't use anything procedural (as cool as I think they are) in the spirit of 'keeping it kerbal'.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Captain Sierra

[katateochi]

- No aerobraking unless the craft has some kind of shield/fairing covering and no fire-ball de-orbits (unless its debris), I try to have shallow deorbits and do atmo skips to reduce speed first. I don't play with FAR so really its just aesthetic and role-play.

- No debris left in any orbit, designs have to have well timed separations, or if they really must drop something in orbit it should have enough fuel (+control systems) to be de-orbited. Debris on land is fine.

- All crewed rockets fitted with tried and tested escape systems, all planes fitted with ejecting cockpits. (I actually really enjoy building and testing escape/eject systems).

- No stacking of air intakes.

- Payloads should be (kinda) realistic, by which I mean should look ok and fit inside fairings that are in proportion to the rocket.

- I reserve the right to break rules if and when I choose in the name of insanity, science and fun.

[Superfluous J]

Not allowed to clean up any debris that is not within Kerbin's atmosphere.

In other words, if it's not landed on Kerbin's surface, or passes Kerbin at under 69km periapsis, it stays where it is, forever. I currently have 43 space debris parts tracked by mission control, 4 of which are on the Mun surface and the rest of which are in various orbits within the Kerbin SoI. And it keeps getting more...

I have a similar rule: If it's in an atmosphere OR landed on a surface, I can delete it. That is a good mix of reality and active flight counts. The only purpose of debris is flight hazards (and really that's not all that big a deal) and if it's laying in some forgotten Mun crater, NASA would forget about it so I do too. The problem is, the game doesn't forget about it and eventually all that debris would bog down the game.

[TheDarkStar]

1. No MechJeb.

2. All achievements must be done without mods first if possible.

3. As long as it's on Kerbin, killing Kerbals is fine. Otherwise, an attempt will be made to save them.

[SkyHook]

I play with Hardmode mods so there's all of those restrictions plus:

1. All payloads must fit within a payload/cargo bay.

2. Craft design must fit within reasonable expectations of physics and aerodynamics.

3. No taxation without representation. Aint nobody got no time for that.

4. Keep all kerbals alive!

These make for a challenging and rewarding play experience that stays fresh!

[turbo917k]

The 1st rule of KSP, is that you do not talk about KSP.

The 2nd rule of KSP, is to have fun.

But for real...

- MechJeb/autopilot is a no, but Kerbal Engineer is a yes. [For me flying and landing is part to of the game so I like doing those things. Calculating dV by hand is tedious and takes away from the "fun, see rule 2" (especially once you've done it by hand).]

- Rockets should look good, fins, noes cones, etc.

- Kerbals are like Marines, they die (but it makes people sad so don't do it on purpose).

- Probes go before Kerbals

T

[theend3r]

1. Never send a lone kerbal out of Kerbin SOI, they go insane

2. All manned missions must be 100% safe (have about 1.5x dv needed, contingency plans)

I use Mechjeb because most of my missions are quite large scale and require insane amouts of dv which in turn requires lots of fuel + nuclear = very long burns (sometimes over 10 mins) and no physical warp.

[FlamedSteak]

I've started using mods to keep the game fresh, but I refuse to use mechjeb.

Any interplanetary needs an environment pod, either waiting on the surface or in transit.

No kerbal left behind.

Bring everyone home before an update drops ( providing there is some pre warning )

[MaverickSawyer]

No use of the Debug toolbar (infinifuel, hacked gravity, or part clipping), no kerbal left behind. Everything else is fair game.

[Silverchain]

No mods which make the game easier (most of them) or harder (most of the rest).

No permanent one-way missions for Kerbals.

When I crash something it stays crashed, except if it sprays lag-inducing debris all over the runway / launchpad area during takeoff.

No airhogging, minimal clipping. I like the aesthetics of some craft which exploit clipping, but I won't do it.

I usually try to make craft look presentable by rounding off flat tank ends, not leaving exposed wing ends and that sort of thing.

I reserve the right to do what I like if it's sufficiently funny.

[Sisyphus]

hmm, so far i've been fairly simple.

No cheats - only save in stable orbit/on ground.

1 Kerbin day between launches (6 hours)

All Kerbals get a 24 hour rest between flights.

only infomational mods allowed.

No Kerbal left behind.

[Comrade Jenkens]

Every Kerbal must have access to a hitchhiker if going interplanetary is pretty much my only one.

[FlamedSteak]

Debug toolbar is probably a given for most. I refuse to even look it up, I'm frightened that if I know how to use it the temptation will be too great when I find myself in a pinch.