How Important is Kerbal Safety to You?

[Steambirds]

I generally try to keep my kerbals alive as much as possible, but in career their safety is incredibly important, it can cost a lot of money to get a new pilot up to the previous' level of training.

[theonegalen]

I do my best to treat the kerbals like real astronauts in the 60s - a little go fever, a little bit of safety. Not like NASA today - super safety-conscious above all else.

[razark]

I do what I can to keep them safe. There's abort systems and contingency plans.

But the bottom line is that spaceflight is an inherently dangerous business. Sometimes, something is going to go wrong. And sometimes, a Kerbal is going to get into a situation he isn't going to walk away from. They knew the risks when they signed on, and if they let me know, they are free to resign at any time.

(Of course, if something goes wrong with the game and not the fundamental design or piloting of a vehicle, there's revert.)

[Lindy]

Oh the blood on my hands... I've killed Bill, Jeb, & Bob more times than can be recalled... Remember the Harold Lloyd movie Safety Last?.. I think you're smellin' what I'm sellin'.

[Mitchz95]

I tend to take my Career games very seriously, and treat each mission as if it were real within the Kerbal universe. So a Kerbal death is not desirable for me.

Sandbox mode, not that's a different story...

[Jason Patterson]

It's not exactly the right sentiment for me, but I chose #1. I actually get mad when a mission fails so badly that a kerbal dies. That said, I won't quicksave/reload to save one unless it dies in one of those mysterious POOF events that happen from time to time. You know, EVA --> Gently land --> 2 Steps --> POOF! DEAD! I definitely never leave kerbals abandoned off of Kerbin. If it's not a permanent outpost I've built, everybody makes it home every time.

[GoSlash27]

I do everything I can to keep my Kerbals alive. Not because I "care", but because that's how I play the game.

[PTNLemay]

Before 0.90 I did my best to protect them solely for RP reasons, but now with kerbal levels there's real reason to keep 'em safe. I went as far as to hold back my manned Duna mission until I could make the crew habitat comfortable enough (big enough) for the long duration trip.

[Deltervees]

I generally add an abort system, but if some dingus snuck aboard a new station module it isn't the end of the world. Because they get a hands- on experience with riding a chair from orbit.

[huell3]

I see I'm not the only person that has problems with space planes suddenly becoming death traps.

5 brave Kerbals gave their life in my career save in the quest of researching the takeoff and flight characteristics of rapier free space planes. Landing is still in development, but spontaneous, rapid disassembly isn't deadly anymore.

On the bright side of it, my crewed rockets are fairly safe, despite excessive use of solid boosters. Plus, my Kerbals get free snacks, thanks to the glorious snacks life support mod.

[SmartS=true]

I don't purposely kill Kerbals, and go somewhat out of my way to protect them, but I don't really care about them.

[worir4]

Where's the option for 'I kill them on purpose for fun.'?

[Stubby]

I do whatever it takes to keep my Kerbals safe. Most of my rockets and space planes have abort systems, and I never send Kerbals on one way missions. If I send Kerbals out, I intend to bring them back.

[SpaceLaunchSystem]

I treat my Kerbals just like NASA treats Human astronauts - SAFTEY ABOVE ALL ELSE!!! All my rockets have abort systems and redundancy. If I send Kerbs to another world, I will always bring them back. I use probes to test new designs and send them as precursors to manned missions.

[cantab]

Depends on the save. In a testing stuff or "messing about" save where quickloads and reverts are the norm, I don't care if I blow them up. I'll either revert or I'll wait for them to turn up back at KSC.

In my "serious" saves on the other hand, with permadeath on and reverts strongly discouraged, any mission failure* is a heavy blow, whether or not the Kerbals survive. I'll be stunned for a moment, unable to do anything but look on at the aftermath of the catastrophe.

And yes, I will set an abort action group on Kerballed ships, except if I forget. Doesn't always use dedicated motors - on an all-liquid launcher shutting down the lower engines and flying clear on the upper stage works well enough. I'll also try and make obviously risky launches, such as sending up unwieldy payloads, unmanned.

[Bill Phil]

Where's the option for 'I kill them on purpose for fun.'?

I think that option is called "Danny".

[GigaG]

I voted #1. I don't like to sacrifice Kerbals or strand them on Eve. I will put them into spaceplanes that'll probably crash, but that is what "Revert to Launch" is for (right?) I never purposely put them in a deadly situation without any way of recourse (revert.)

I don't like it when a Kerbal dies, so I picked option 1. Not quite "heartbroken" when they die, but still disappointed.

[zarakon]

Sandbox? I'll put together a rescue mission if it seems like a fun challenge, but otherwise it doesn't bother me if they're stuck on some godforsaken moon for eternity.

In Career mode I take a lot more precautions and don't ever send them to certain doom. I have some that are on stations or bases with no immediate way to get home, but they aren't on anything near-impossible like the surface of Eve or Tylo.

In my mostly-complete 0.90 career, only one Kerbal has died. Unfortunately it was Jeb, due to a dumb staging order mistake.

[Xacktar]

Safety?

Wassat?

[Grand Lander]

I've built many escape systems for each capsule/module to ensure my kerbals don't die. I try keep it realistic.

[Madrias]

I... I suppose I'm somewhere between option one and two. I picked two because it makes more sense to how I play. Sure, I have Reverts disabled, Crews Don't Respawn, and take efforts to avoid killing them, but if a handful die while testing ejectable cockpits, ejection EVA seats, grabbing science mid-reentry, and in landing mishaps, well, the world keeps turning.

So far in my Career save, I've given Jeb, Bill, and Bob a permanent resort as Tower Commanders of the Island Runway to get them out of the spotlight (and because I'm thoroughly convinced that they do respawn, even when you say not to), but I've managed to total 6 Kerbals between testing setups.

As for Sandbox, I've probably killed about a dozen, but I play more sandbox than Career, and I've got access to things like radial chutes.

[LABHOUSE]

I make sure every interplanetary craft has enough delta V in the ions to come back from anywhere, and I quicksave very often. I send kerbals on One way missions often, that way it is safer (I still have an emergency ion return ship on minmus).

[merendel]

Mostly 1 although I'm not that heartbroken unless its an orangesuit.

I normally dont do elaborate escape/abort systems. Frankly if something goes bad on launch it either happens so low to the ground that there is no time to fire off an escape system or your high enough up that cutting throttle and stageing all the explody bits off will do the trick. Things generally dont go badly wrong between clearing 100m and the first major stageing event which is where a LES would actualy help. The worst in that situation would be uneven fuel ussage causeing an imbalance and that normaly happens far enough along for "stage it all" to be a viable plan.

That said experimental launchers normaly get sent up unnamed the first time out the gate with ballast as a payload. No point risking a kerbal to find out I made a stageing mistake on the design or that symmetry turned off for this one part in the editor. Lander designs get run through their paces in orbit and may get a trial run on mun/minmus where rescue is an option if something breaks and the kerbal bails out and survives. And when in doubt send a newly hired intern on the really dangerous missions. the space agency has a really nice fruit basket picked out to send to the family should the worst happen. Sorry Mrs. Kerman, Your son may just be takeing an extended holiday on Eve. We lost contact but were sure he's fine and will send a rescue craft along eventualy.

[match]

I decided to give Hard Mode a try... no reverting; no quick-saves. This has changed my approach quite a bit. I don't try to kill them off. It just... happens.

I make sure they are buckled in nice and tight when they launch, whatever they do after that is on them! I'm pretty sure Jeb was going for some snacks on that Mun landing fiasco. The "no-chute" thing, though... I guess that one was on me. Ooops

[OhioBob]

I try to take good care of my Kerbals. I don't go overboard with safety precautions, but all my missions are planned with the safe return of the crew as a primary objective. Heartbroken is too strong of a word, but I certainly don't like to see them perish. I lost a couple in my first few days playing the game, but since then I have an excellent safety record.