How do you restrict yourself?

[Whirligig Girl]

What non-game restrictions do you put on yourself in career mode and sandbox mode?

All

Deorbit spent stages (once inline probes are found in career mode).

Logical progression, don't speed through.

Use life support mod.

Use FAR

Uses DR.

Realistic designs, rarely uses Asparagus.

Career

Try to progress tech tree through what I need first.

Kerbals stay dead, no reverts.

Probes before Kerbals once I get probes, Moon mission only when Apollo is possible.

No Cheating.

Sandbox

Probes before Kerbals SOMETIMES.

Small probe sizes.

Messing around stuff (lotso boosters, catapults, etc.)

[Thomas988]

Here is how I restrict myself:

All

Delete all debris.

Probes on unimportant missions.

Always have a way to return to kerbin on missions.

Career

Always think about what to upgrade next.

No Cheating.

Sandbox

Use time wisely (no random time-warping)

Depending on save, act seriously.

[regex]

I never use mods.

[John FX]

I always return kerbals home. I keep all my debris, every bit. I try to make ships that look like they actually could do the job.

[Sof]

No manned missions without return journeys, life support mods etc, build realistic looking rockets (FAR compatible basically)

[Captain Sierra]

I never use mods.

PreciseNode - Interplanetary Maneuver Node Assistant (or: Yet Another Maneuver Node Editor).

ScienceDefs - Reduced value ScienceDef.cfg files for added tech tree difficulty

Mmhmm.

All

• Deorbit debris
  
• Various restrictions regarding nuclear engines
  
• use heat shields (not firm' date=' purely for visuals when it suits me)
  [*']No stranding kerbals
  
• Launch rescue missions if above is violated and is possible to do so
  
• I don't use quicksave often (mainly due to me forgetting rather than a restriction) and only use it for things like aerobrake and landing 'simulations'
  
• No debug cheats (except for part clipping and whack-a-kerbal)
  
• Always have a return plan
  
• Launch missions with a purpose (different per game type, see below)
  

Career

• Progress in a reasonable manner (no Mun landings on starting node)
  
• Plan ahead; prioritize areas that can get you farther
  
• Use the appropriate antenna (no whips at Jool; aided by AntennaRange mod being installed)
  
• be cost efficient (no building overkill ships; preparation for money)
  
• Don't repeat anything (it gives diminishing returns anyways so why waste the effort?)
  
• Use a multi-stage mission over multiple missions (usually cheaper, not necessarily easier)
  
• Avoid asparagus if I can (been using serial and parallel/onion a lot lately; this one is new and specific to .23 as asparagus got boring and felt too easy)
  

Sandbox

• Be serious (for most saves)
  
• Avoid extranious time warping
  
• When a phase angle comes, TAKE IT!
  
• plan missions with a purpose, often kethane related
  
• Use kethane debug, don't waste time with scanning sats and generating the maps
  
• Goal: Conquer the Joolian system (beating me since .20.2)
  

That about covers it. I may edit with more but I think that's everything. It's not so much restrictions as it is my playstyle (I'm highly logical and analytical) so many of these come naturally.

[Mr. Rogue Ace]

What non-game restrictions do you put on yourself in career mode and sandbox mode?

Career

Kerbals stay dead, no reverts.

HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I can't keep them dead, I killed jeb by accident and he came back in career!

[Captain Sierra]

HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I can't keep them dead, I killed jeb by accident and he came back in career!

You can enable permadeath with a little persistent edit. Otherwise the naturally respawn after a while (because you can't kill Jebidiah!)

[goldenpeach]

I enabled permadeath and I try to design my ships to avoid letting too much debris in space(so far, all of my major missions(to the mun, to Duna, to my space station) produce no debris at all.

I also forbid myself from stranding kerbal and do a rescue mission if it happen.

[Hotblack Desiato]

You can enable permadeath with a little persistent edit. Otherwise the naturally respawn after a while (because you can't kill Jebidiah!)

in my opinion, jebediah is a title, and kerbals get elected to be the next jebediah, if the last jebediah died.

currently, my restrictions in career is:

TAC-Lifesupport

don't leave kerbals stranded

bring kerbals back before they run out of snacks (so far, jeb died of running out of supplies, but with his last bit of oxygen, he set a maneuver to bring the ship back to kerbins surface. was quite hard to do.

don't probecore-only spaceships, every space mission has to work with kerbals (except for missions to planets without chance of return, like jool). spaceships can have probecores, for example space stations or rovers, which should be able to operate automatically.

[Extemporary]

I only tend to use self-restrictions in career mode. That's where my serious missions happen. Sandbox is for just what the name implies, playing around like in a sandbox. I test things there. See how many parachutes it takes to land on Duna, that sort of thing. Even in career though, I only have a few restrictions:

-Every manned mission will make a return trip. No-one gets left behind.

-Kerbals that are killed stay dead. I usually go into the save file and turn off respawning. I do make use of the revert function, but only if I determined before the flight began that it was to be considered a "simulation" and not to actually try for the real mission's objective. This is pretty much entirely for planes, when I'll try a few "simulated" circuits, zoom-climbs, and general envelope-pushing to get an idea of the aircraft's capabilities before I do actual missions. Most rockets don't get to revert.

-Kerbals have consistent roles. If Mac Kerman was a scientist on the first Duna landing, he doesn't get shunted off to be a truck driver at the backwater Minmus base, nor does he become a high-performance spaceplane pilot. He stays a scientist.

-Keep launch vehicles based around previous designs. Don't build a launcher around the payload. My current main career has used the same basic rocket design since Day 2, with modifications as new tech becomes available.

-No asparagus feeding any engine larger than 1m. I imagine the flow rates are too high on any 2m engine for the fuel lines.

-Not really a restriction, but all flights are recorded with name, objective, crew, and outcome.

I don't regulate debris that much. My only real restriction on that is not to leave it in LKO. I don't get overly concerned if it ends up orbiting way out above synchronous, or in solar orbit or something.

Also, is this thread really that different from this one?

[Captain Sierra]

People seem to be taking this one more seriously with larger, more comprehensive answers. Based on topic, they should be merged but the way they're being handled means they almost should stay separate. The age-old dilema.

[Zaryulenko]

ALL

Realistic designs, Some exceptions for the DOS-9-7NV (Model 7: 3 Asparagus stages. Model 9: 1 Asparagus stage)

Abort system on most of designs (We cant lose kerbals!)

DONT KILL KERBALS! (Mostly)

Make a debris belt ! (I want that as challenge)

Career

Be fair

Dont leave behind our kerbals!

Save D/v to return home (After a little mistake i decided to enforce this)

Sandbox

Revert can only be used during testings or mistakes during building

Jeb Bill and Bob Will NOT be the first ones to fly

[rpayne88]

I always use DR, FAR, and TACLS.

No nuclear burns in the atmosphere. Any nuclear engines that return to Kerbin must survive landing

Planes must have nav lights, beacons, and strobes (aviation light pack)

Deorbit spent stages/ debris

All craft need communications equipment (RT)

Manned spacecraft have abort systems. All craft have RSDs.

Rescue must be capable OR contingency equipment must be easily and quickly accessible

1000 extra dv minimum

Kerbals always return home

All landing craft have landing gear. No landing on the engine.

Mech Jeb for information purposes only.

No reverts except for bugs

Kerbals sit in ejection seats (vanguard)

Artificial gravity and twice the crew space for long duration missions

All manned craft have docking ports

Manned pods reentering Kerbin need impact tolerances of at least 20.

All craft have radiators (KSPI)

Minimize crew radiator exposure (KSPI)

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

I NEVER make a ship that is overcomplicated, and never use nuclear anything on kerbaled flights

[SargeRho]

All crew flights need to have a LES, specially untested designs.

There always has to be a free docking port on a craft.

On interplanetary missions, the habitation hardware goes first, kerbals come later.

LES stays attatched as long as there is a mainsail or SRB left on the craft.

All flights have solar pannels and antennas.

All planes have droge chutes to regain control after stalling.

[Caelib]

I have persistent debris turned off -- as soon as we have some real, in-game metrics for stage-based TWR and Delta-V ... then I'll turn it on. I get the "trial and error" aspect of the game, but trying to do realistic missions based on guesswork is futile. I am a purist -- stock-only.

[Guest]

With a soft cotton rope and.... oh. You meant-- never mind.

[somnambulist]

• 
  
• Always play with Deadly Reentry, Ferram Aerospace, TAC LifeSupport, and RemoteTech. I don't have signal delay enabled on RT.
  
• Modified tech tree so manned flight isn't immediately available.
  
• Unmanned missions precede manned missions.
  
• Landing sites need to first be mapped from orbit with Scansat.
  
• Physical science samples are returned to Kerbin for study. Goo and materials can be processed on-site with a lab.
  
• Deadly accidents are not acceptable. Mission profiles are designed to minimize risk and accident mitigation systems (LES, ejection seats, etc.) are used on every manned launch.
  
• No Kerbal Left Behind. Everyone comes home.
  
• Bases and stations in the Kerbin system get their crews rotated every three months.
  
• Deep space missions return to Kerbin at the next transfer window.
  
• Length of mission is enforced by life support supplies.
  
• Debris stays in orbit until deorbited or deleted by the game. Every effort is made to keep the space below 1000km clean.
  
• Major orbital infrastructure has a 1/10 chance of defect or failure requiring a service mission. This can be as simple as freeing a stuck antenna or as complex as using KAS to replace "failed" components.
  

[AmpsterMan]

I've used several artificial limits ranging from Hard mode to not hard mode.

The most artificial limit I've used is only one fuel tank per engine. Try it. It will make getting to orbit a nightmare. Otherwise, the usual no Fuel Crossfeed, no Pancakes to Space, no jet engines on rockets, etc.

[Madrias]

All debris must be designed to be easily deorbited once I have the technology to easily deorbit it.

Ships must be constructed early on for debris removal.

No Kerbal may travel alone on missions outside of Kerbin's SOI. Ships must be designed to carry at least two Kerbals, though it is not required to carry them in the same cockpit.

Probes should be sent before Kerbals when logically possible.

Please do try to keep the little green guys alive. They're expensive to clone and replace.

All vehicles should be equipped with a failsafe sequence such that in the event of a critical failure during ascent, all pieces of the vehicle should be able to make it back to ground and land safely.

Use of IVA view is encouraged. Using mods to give parts with better IVA views, thereby, is highly encouraged.

Rockets are for cargo, planes are for Kerbals.

Kerbals must return home. They may travel for long distances, but they must always have a way home. (No setting up bases and returning the rocket home, stranding every Kerbal there.)

Rescues must not kill those being rescued.

Minmus, due to a poor track record of safe landings for me, is only allowed to be landed on with wirelessly controlled vehicles.

Probe landers can be controlled from Kerbin directly, but a rover requires at least a satellite or command ship in orbit.

No nuclear burns in atmo, and nuclear engines must not be destroyed on landing. A lot of my planes eject the engines with a parachute just to avoid this.

[LethalDose]

Primarily, no asparagus staging. I also do everything I can to recover kerbals.

[Flixxbeatz]

-Not leaving a kerbal in the open (someone who have just landed from a mission, standing by for some testing, staying in a space station, etc) while doing a mission that is guaranteed to take more than 6 months in-game time to complete (always considered before timewarp)

-Probes first before manning it up. Also doing a mission using a probe core first to see if there will be no problems on the way (a full test mission), followed by the manned version.

-Launch refueling spacecrafts first before the main one during a mission. Refueling crafts and Crew Transport Vehicles should stay between 70km-80km, all other spacecrafts should stay at 160+km (per recommendations).

-Manned spacecrafts bound for other planet/moon should be launched unmanned first if possible, then crew later after the necessary preparations are completed.

-Minimize the use of Mainsails and Skippers - clusters should be used most of the time if possible.

[JumpsterG]

I think I said as much in another thread, but my set of rules changes with each save.

Currently I have a save prepared for the Apocalypse challenge in which I have remoteTech installed and plan to maintain strict rules regarding frequency of launches and requirements of Kerbal colonies among other details.

Really it keeps the game fresh to force yourself to play in different ways. I'm still working up the nerve to try FAR and Deadly Reentry.

[The Destroyer]

No limits here....