Do flags detract from the experience

[sreinmann]

Flags mostly get in my way now that I have satellites that tell me where biomes are. In map mode I'm forever turning them off so that I can see/select my space/air craft as they cruise 'round a body. I also see that flags are counted "flights" in the save game loading screen. My question therefore becomes, aside from the sense of accomplishment they provide ... Do flags hinder performance of the game? Do you wipe them out once you've finished with the mun/minmus/kerbin/anomaly visits?

Also, maybe this belongs on a separate post but, is there a way to hide them or rather prevent you from seeing them through a body in map mode?

Edited August 28, 2014 by sreinmann

[Alshain]

I use flags to tell me where I've been, but I do remove most them after they have served their purpose. I probably wouldn't remove them if the map would default to flags being turned off like it does with debris. A far as I know there is no way to make the ship icons be blocked by celestial bodies.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Alshain

[capi3101]

Flags do have their uses...they make reasonably good ground markers, though I find that they have an annoying tendency to disappear/explode on Kerbin in and around KSC. Otherwise I'd use them to build an ILS for the runway; I generally have to use probes reclassed as bases for that purpose. Probably their best use is, like Alshain said, to tell you where you've been so you don't try to collect science from the same spot again. And for making moola - can't forget that.

[Epthelyn]

is there a way to hide them or rather prevent you from seeing them through a body in map mode?

Yes, it's one of the tabs at the top of screen (in the tracking station the bar is there all the time, in in-flight map view you have to mouse over the top of the screen to make it appear) and so can be disabled in the same way that debris and any other craft types can. Turning them off also hides them in the tracking station view. That hides them completely though.

As for performance, I doubt it. All flights, even on-rails stuff if it builds up enough, contribute to loss of performance slightly but flags are objects on the surface of a planet, not in orbit where all the orbital characteristics have to be considered.

If you take 100 Kerbals to the Mun and place 100 flags then that might slow your computer down when you're within 2.5km of them, but why would you do that?

[Daffs]

I use flags to mark the KSC at the start of the game, different biomes and the altitude (very handy as a reference for landing in the same region next time).

[Holo]

I rename my flags to debris in the tracking station. It means that they don't count as flights or clutter the map, but they're still there to visit if I feel like it.

[Jarin]

I just wish that the tracking center would remember your settings, so if I toggle flags off, they'd STAY that way.

[M4ck]

I just wish that the tracking center would remember your settings, so if I toggle flags off, they'd STAY that way.

THIS. This really has to be done.

[Sirrobert]

I rename my flags to debris in the tracking station. It means that they don't count as flights or clutter the map, but they're still there to visit if I feel like it.

That's brilliant. I'm stealing that idea

[Razz]

the more flights you have the more potential lag you have in the game - that includes debris. unless there's a reason to have a flag I always delete mine. I clean up the debris asap too.