What are the most important things you've learned about playing KSP to pass on?

[crackerbal]

On 27/01/2014 at 5:16 PM, Kasuha said:

1. You have most fun if you play the game at your own pace.

2. You save yourself a lot of trouble if you learn to play without mods.

3. spending more time on doing things for the better results ( building, flyiing, manoeuvering, dockin, landing rdv )

4. never learnd how to use mechjeb ... sry, tried gravity turn to simply my life, finaly delate it after 3 days, but i definively adopted kerbal enginer the deltaV and orbital stats are realy usefull

5. Where there's a will, there's a way : MOAR POWER !

[Lojik]

After returning to the game from a 3 year hiatus I have a few words of advice to other returning and new players:

1.       Start slow, Start in Career or Science mode and learn about each item as you unlock them

2.       Re-watch all the Scott Manley videos on the game, go back to the basics, relearn orbital manoeuvres, learn docking, landing etc

3.       Watch the new videos (much shorter) about the new stuff since you last played

4.       Do not go nuts with mods, start small, basics like KER, Docking Indicator, Alarm Clock and any GFX mods you might like, some really basic additions like KIS and KAS will also be ok

Edited November 4, 2016 by Lojik

[DD_bwest]

learn how science is obtained and the biome system.  

before any mission, plan exactly where your gonna be going during it, and map out all the potential biomes that you will pass through.  go thru your science archives and mark off all the ones you already have from those biomes.  all the ones missing you should  plan to grab.  write them out in order and make a check list.

if you plan methodically, you can significantly reduce the amount of launches to move up the techtree, as every mission will bring back enough to unlock a bunch of new nodes

[Palaceviking]

I gave up my mechjeb addiction when 1.2 came out and i was waiting for the update, still not re-installed mechjeb and I'm having a helluva lot more fun as a result, now I know that I'm using on average 80% of the delta v that mechjeb used to do manoeuvres I'm most definitely never going back, the satisfaction from getting sometimes bizarre intercepts and rendezvous is immense. 

Non the less a massive thank you to the maker of mechjeb, it was good while it lasted

Edited November 10, 2016 by Palaceviking

[stelarfox]

Well, most of you will say i am crazy but i like even the math of it.

It took me quite a while, but eventually i learned all about it, I even read some physics out of it, after all, the equations are NOT that hard. i mean its true the acceleration is not constant, but, how much your mass decreases is, so, the function is NOT that hard and once you know it its easy.

specially if you can use excell to help you as i did. now I can make a node transfer to the second with 2 stages in the middle if needed.

and all that, without using any mod, except the conics one (and truly i only use it because sometimes its impossible to place nodes if not).

even so must say that being able to easily change the position placing numbers instead of using the mouse sometimes its important, specially to change the navball that sometimes go crazy when you try to move it with the mouse.

that and the fact you actually place the nodes on PE, AP, DN and AN is the best. but besides that capability, y truly enjoy setting the nodes myself and doing all the math when needed.

I try to get all the missions that, i am capable at the moment and I also do all in paralell, so trying to know when a mission needs to arrive and all that , i truly use an excell to keep track and know which goes next.

in fact i made missions myself to "clean up" my space, i have several debrits with fuel around moon (because i go to rescue and with the heavy tail i was unable to grab them) so, i created a catcher (just a big rocket with 6 mini rockets with 2 hooks 1 in each point and very little fuel (after all they get back to the big ship all the time) so they just reach get the debris, use the engine on them to move the debris to the main, they are detached of their fuel then discarded.

in fact by rotating it as really hi speed (being at low orbit about 10k), at minmus i managed to crash the debris and gain some velocity out of it.

basically i rotated my ship (the long way that has more momentum), when it was really fast and timing the point that the hook was moving "backwards" relative to orbit, just freed the hook, that caused the debris (now empty) to go at about 50 m/s relative to my ship. and a few minutes later crash (getting rid of it).

in fact if anyone wants the excell sheet, i can pass it so you can use it yourself. or check how its done.

[Clipperride]

Never, ever, set set an action group to jettison the heat shield (one day you will hit the wrong key and blow àn otherwise promising mission)! 

[DDay2021]

1) Smaller craft are better, until they're not, and then you have to go BIG.

2) Learn the NavBall, what it means and how to think in 3 dimensions.

3) Think about center of mass, center of thrust and how to place engines and RCS thrusters for the best effect.

4) Kerbal Engineer is invaluable in calculating dV and presents all the necessary information.

5) At least once, Land on the Mun using only your engine and the NavBall, no Mechjeb, KER or other mods, just you, the craft and the Mun.  You'll thank yourself afterwards.

[ZachIsCheese]

1) Kerbal Engineer Redux and the Enhanced Navball. So useful! KER gives you all the figures you could ever want and Enhanced Navball does what it says on the tin.

2) Learn orbital mechanics. Seems dull, but it makes life SO easy. Yes you have to resort to the dreaded maths but it is a good thing to know. And also a good thing to say "Oh yeah I know how to calculate orbital mechanics".

3) Never assume you are correct. If you assume, it will go wrong. Trust me.

4) Never let a friend touch your universe unless they too are experienced with KSP. Otherwise say bye bye to your bases, ships and kerbals.

5) Increase the Conic setting thing in the settings menu. It allows you to predict so far ahead!

[Clipperride]

On 18/11/2016 at 2:31 PM, ZachIsCheese said:

3) Never assume you are correct. If you assume, it will go wrong. Trust me.

Very true!  Especially if you are repeating similar contracts.  Passengers don't like passing out on a high G flight, when they only wanted an orbital sight seeing tour

[ZachIsCheese]

On 21/11/2016 at 8:41 AM, Clipperride said:

Very true!  Especially if you are repeating similar contracts.  Passengers don't like passing out on a high G flight, when they only wanted an orbital sight seeing tour

Aww come on! That is the best bit!

[Sublight]

1.  Build as light as I can.  Refuel in orbit.  I don't use Nuke engines anymore, I use big fuel engines.  Just use them to get to orbit and refuel them in orbit.  Plenty of thrust, and they have gimble.

2.  Asparagus

3.  2 - PB-NUK Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator / 4 Fixed solar panels / 2 circular batteries on every ship.  Then add Gigantor panels.

4. Never waste a opportunity for a docking port.

5. Rovers are cool, but are hard to control and flip to much.  Not worth my time.
         ---  Unless im making a model town, and it is just for show.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Sublight

[Blaarkies]

On 12/11/2016 at 7:02 PM, Sublight said:

1.  Build as light as I can.  Refuel in orbit.  I don't use Nuke engines anymore, I use big fuel engines.  Just use them to get to orbit and refuel them in orbit.  Plenty of thrust, and they have gimble.

2.  Asparagus

3.  2 - PB-NUK Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator / 4 Fixed solar panels / 2 circular batteries on every ship.  Then add Gigantor panels.

4. Never waste a opportunity for a docking port.

5. Rovers are cool, but are hard to control and flip to much.  Not worth my time.
         ---  Unless im making a model town, and it is just for show.

Nukes have more than double the efficiency of any LFO engine out there. Just create space tugs with them(like the tug boat that pull ships into harbors), leave the nukes in space then only send half as much fuel to orbit each time. No need to worry about attaching engines to your ship for the interplanetary journey, the nuke tugs are already in orbit.

Due to new aerodynamics, Asparagus isn't half as good as it used to be. A large sized stack rocket with payload sections is much less hassle and almost as efficient.

Add a single RTG to your ship, but then just add more batteries. Better on money an weight.

Very true, especially randomly place Junior Docking ports(you never know when you need to upgrade the comm dish of a space station, or forgot a contract-critical part for a departing ship). The Claw is all purpose docking, it works everywhere on everything and is lighter than docking port(IIRC)...but it does feel cheaty.

bon-voyage-0111-make-your-wheels-rolling, mod that make rovers do the roving themselves(while you do other launches and stuff). Don't bother with rovers if the drive is more than 50km, the gains are not worth the amount of time it take holding down the forward key(unless using this mod)

[DoctorDavinci]

What can go wrong will go wrong - Murphy's Law

If you keep this in mind then your that much closer to keeping your Kerbals alive

[tab]

It's not necessary to go in orbit for reach mun. Just wait untill the mun is approximately 90 degrees to the right of KSC and burn to the zenith directly from the launchpad untill encounter. Easy, fast and cheap. It's simply a suborbital trajectory, just very high. 

Probably it works with minmus too, i didn't try it yet, but only when minmus in in line with ascending/descending node.

Edited December 17, 2016 by tab

[maceemiller]

I've learnt that when you start it's hard.....very hard to just do what you want, ie. Build a rocket, land on the moon and build a Base. .....on your first design! The one piece of advice I could give anyone about KSP is in this 3 part formula :

1...try. If your rocket fails and crashes within 10 seconds then welcome to the "we've all been there club"

2...research. This forum has been and still is the best wealth of information about KSP. Youtube is also a great place to learn.

3...goto 1. Now armed with a little more knowledge simply try again. After 2 years of playing I still use this formula as there still is so much yet to do In KSP!

What I'm saying is never give up if things don't seem to work for you when you first set out in this stunningly addictive game....practice makes perfect and failure in KSP is as normal as breathing the air around you

[Death Engineering]

1. Use "Locked"' view to drive behind your craft while docking to get better perspective while closing in on the target. This is especially good when needing to achieve a specific angle to the docked target. 
2. The scroll wheel on your mouse can be used to fine tune maneuver nodes. Hover the pointer over node adjustment handles and scroll.. slow speeds on the wheel are very fine adjustments.
3. Docking does get easier, with practice.
4. Create a library of KSP versions as they are released in case you want to look at an earlier one.
5. Map the throttle up/down to <RightShift> and <RightCtrl> and unbind from the left keys. This puts throttle controls on the right side of the keyboard freeing up left hand for attitude control. Also allows using <LeftShift><Tab> in map view to change focus to the previous target.
6. You can almost always find a way to gravity assist entering Jool orbit by making a mid course adjustment and pulling around beside Tylo, Laythe, Vall.
7. Debris slows down your game as it accumulates (at least it used to). Set it to '0' unless you're trying to be 'realistic'.
8. Asteroids can be aero-braked into orbit and work as a heat shield for the piloting vessel.
9. The Launch Window Planner is very useful, especially when planning missions with life-support mods installed.
10. Getting to Minmus without a plane change can be done by burning at one of either Ascending Node or Descending Node (often makes for a longer flight).

[Tyko]

On 1/13/2017 at 6:49 AM, Death Engineering said:

1. The Launch Window Planner is very useful, especially when planning missions with life-support mods installed.

This...I've just completed a crewed mission to another planet and Launch Window Planner along with KAC made it possible for me to plan the departure, time away and return portions of the mission with great accuracy including planning for life support.

[nunnner]

Things I learner in my first time through the career, currently working through the 2nd.

1. Science! Get it through crew reports, EVA reports, and using your science instruments. Unlocking science instruments early makes going through the tech tree faster.

2. Storing science! You can take your experiments and store them in the capsule, giving you room to do more science on a single mission.

3. I used excel to calculate Thrust to Weight ratios and dVs for each stage I had. This was a good way to learn. Now I'm using Kerbal Engineer in my second pass through.

4. Learn how to gravity turn.

5. Don't do observation missions. Seemed like a waste of time mostly.

[PayadorPerseguido]

That i totally don't feel like i'm wasting my time when i'm trying to figure out the amount of dV to reach Jool. Best game ever, i even plan on making a tattoo out of it

[EmoJack]

On my first mission to Gilly I ran out of fuel (320m/s left on an elliptical orbit around Eve just within the SOI) - that is when i learned how much fuel you can save when using the atmosphere of a planet for a Handbrake turn... by using RCS to lower my PE to 87km i was able to lower the AP without the use of an engine and was able to land on Gilly with still 50m/s left.

As it was my first ever mission outside of Kerbin area (only MInmus and Mun before), this was just mindblowing!

[Benjamin Kerman]

Learn the equations for calculating dV, if nothing else. Also get a good quality dV map that you can use to see how much fuel you need. Rely on past experience to make your new designs. 

[Cubfan]

If the quicksave is your best friend (and it is), then the strut connector is your 2nd best friend. Once I learned to use them, rocket flipping became a thing of the past. And a docking port on every vessel. Jr and Sr if you can. Complete as many contracts as possible with a single vessel, especially if you can use existing equipment. Bang for your buck is the key. I really love mining ore contracts. They pay big and I can use my existing infrastructure to complete them. Doesn't cost a dime. Aside from that? Never give up. I've had dozens of missions that seemed completely un-salvageable. I kept trying and ended up with rescues worthy of an Apollo 13-style movie. I'm sure you guys have done the same. There's always a way.

[Epox75]

These are not the most important things I have learned, but with 626 answers to this thread i'll try to give some advice hoping it hasn't been written already. 

1) If you plan to launch a solar powered spacecraft in polar orbit, launch at sunrise or sunset. You will enter orbit along the terminator and the Sun will not be covered by the body you are orbiting. 

2) If you enter orbit on an atmospheric planet you can stop your engines as soon as you enter orbit and once you reach the apoapsis, you can lower a bit the periapsis in order to reach only the upper part of the atmosphere and use it for aerobraking (see Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). This way you will lower your apoapsis without using fuel. 

3) If you are approaching a planet with a moon big enough (Duna, Jool or Kerbin if you are coming back), you may want to flyby this moon with a retrograde inclination (as close as possible to 180 degrees towards the equator). The moon will "steal" some speed from you and lower your orbital speed.. it may even put you into orbit if the gravity of the moon is strong enough and if you flyby it at the right time. 

 

[Soda Popinski]

Set an Alarm Clock when playing.  I don't mean Kerbal Alarm Clock, I mean an actual Alarm Clock, like on your watch or smart phone.  Otherwise, you'll spend way too much time on the game and not get enough sleep.

[Nuclear_Pixel]

... demand more from a developer before they claim it's '1.0'