Kerbal Space Program

[Saturn0660]

So, I just bought this and wow, it's pretty hardcore. I can tell it's going to take quite awhile to get a handle on things, but I imagine it's quite rewarding finally doing something successfully.

Anyone got any tips on how to start with career mode?

I bought it last year for xmas.. Played for a couple of months.. Mostly gave up on it. I just couldn't get a handle on "orbital mechanics".. Plus every time i'd start to get somewhere I'd want to upgrade and that would wipe everything out.

Plus i'm just shitty at making spaceships.

 

[Reverend]

^It's worth having a look at some videos on youtube if you're struggling with the mechanics. I recommend this one by Kurtjmac for the cheerfully derpy approach.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFy-Zs2QFBM[/yt]

It's a little out of date now since the game has had a few very significant updates since like career mode. For the more advanced things, look up another youtuber by the name of Scott Manley.

 

[sojourner]

For anyone having trouble with the piloting and orbital mechanics part of the game, I always recommend getting the Mechjeb addon.

 

[Saturn0660]

Ya, I added MechJeb.. It seems like it works ""sometimes"".. I was doing pretty well. What pissed me off was i had to stuff in orbit. I was able to get to it… Ended up ramming it. I didn't quick save or anything like that.. Got really pissed.

 

[sojourner]

It's funny. I still use the mechjeb build from when ksp version .21.1 came out and seem to have less problems than the guys using the latest version. It works pretty darn well for me.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Does it still have the infamous wobbly rockets?

 

[sojourner]

Between tweaks to the core game and the new joint reinforcement addon, wobbly rockets are pretty much a thing of the past. I use maybe one tenth of the struts that I used to.

 

[Saturn0660]

So i downloaded the newest ver. and started a new game using the career mode. interesting to say the least. I did download Mechjeb.. Whatever was the newest and it's odd it's not like it used to be where you just pick how high you want your orbit to be and let it do it's thing. In face there nothing at all like that one there.

 

[sojourner]

So i downloaded the newest ver. and started a new game using the career mode. interesting to say the least. I did download Mechjeb.. Whatever was the newest and it's odd it's not like it used to be where you just pick how high you want your orbit to be and let it do it's thing. In face there nothing at all like that one there.

Yeah, there is. I am guessing you're playing career mode? In that case mechjeb functionality increases as you go down the tech tree.

Try sandbox mode to see everything it can do.

 

[Saturn0660]

So i downloaded the newest ver. and started a new game using the career mode. interesting to say the least. I did download Mechjeb.. Whatever was the newest and it's odd it's not like it used to be where you just pick how high you want your orbit to be and let it do it's thing. In face there nothing at all like that one there.

Yeah, there is. I am guessing you're playing career mode? In that case mechjeb functionality increases as you go down the tech tree.

Try sandbox mode to see everything it can do.

Yup I did. And it does fully work in SB mode. I just thought it would be fun to play in career mode.

 

[sojourner]

So i downloaded the newest ver. and started a new game using the career mode. interesting to say the least. I did download Mechjeb.. Whatever was the newest and it's odd it's not like it used to be where you just pick how high you want your orbit to be and let it do it's thing. In face there nothing at all like that one there.

Yeah, there is. I am guessing you're playing career mode? In that case mechjeb functionality increases as you go down the tech tree.

Try sandbox mode to see everything it can do.

Yup I did. And it does fully work in SB mode. I just thought it would be fun to play in career mode.

You can edit the part.cfg file for the ar202 case to make all the functionality available right off the bat in career mode.

 

[Owain Taggart]

So, here's a good article about the latest update and what's in store for the future:

http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/kerbal-space-program-update-23-hands-on-preview/

 

[sojourner]

I've seen a marked performance improvement in .23. Bigger rockets with less game lag.

 

[TheGodBen]

The game finally exits Early Access today. I haven't really played it in 2 years or so, I kind of lost interest when one of the updates broke save compatibility and I had to start again. I've been waiting for resource mining and reentry heat before getting back into it, and both of those are being added in 1.0 so I'm looking forward to playing again.

 

[Yoda]

Whenever this popped up when I loaded up Steam, I just ignored it, because... well.. the Kerbals look dumb, not to mention the early access thing, no thanks. But, I picked up the 1.0 release... and what can I say, it's pretty much the best thing ever.

Still working my way through basic rocket science in the career mode. I can get into orbit... sometimes, but mostly I'm launching myself too high and being really inefficient. But it's fun trying to figure out rocket science without googling how to do everything. It's incredibly satisfying when you finally get something to work. Before this week is out, I'm going to land a Kerbal on the Mun, and return him safely to Kerbin. Though if he doesn't make it back, he knew what he signed up for.

 

[SPCTRE]

 

[Owain Taggart]

I've been playing it quite a bit lately and between the new aerodynamics and the re-entry damage, and it's been quite a lot of fun in career mode. Like Yoda, I'm really enjoying figuring things out as I go along. In a way, it's sort of like a geeky high-tech puzzle game that happens to be a very good simulation.

 

[TheGodBen]

Sadly, they nerfed re-entry heat in a patch a few days after adding it. In my first day with 1.0, I lost Jeb when a capsule on a sub-orbital flight exploded because I didn't think I needed a heat-shield, but now it's possible to re-enter Kerbin's atmosphere at ludicrous speeds without a heat-shield and survive.

 

[Owain Taggart]

That's disappointing. I hadn't really noticed that, but then I don't think I'd gotten to the point where it really mattered before they made changes. Have you tried the Deadly Re-entry mod?

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/54954-0-90-Deadly-Reentry-v6-5-3-Beta-Mar-6-2015

 

[Yoda]

Yeah re-entry heat doesn't seem to be a big deal. I've had some fins break off but that's about it.

But, speaking of re-entry, I was trying to do the research mission for testing the Flea Booster in orbit. First of all, for some reason getting that thing into orbit was way too hard. I mean, I guess it's heavier than my normal payloads to this point, but sheesh. I tried to use the Stayputnik to lower the mass but for the life of me I couldn't make the rocket stable. Anyway, eventually sent it up with a manned capsule, which got the pilot ranked up to one star and gave me a bunch of options for orienting the ship in SRS. Sweet!

The problem was that while planning out my de-orbit with the Flea, which had to be fired at a certain altitude, I left my pilot in retorgrade mode which caused me to unwittingly drain all my electric power and lose all ability to orient my ship. Not good.

Eventually I went on EVA and figured out how to use the suit thrusters or whatever. Though not before losing sight of my ship. Figured out that you can target it to see, rendezvoused with it and began ramming it until it was on an orientation that I liked. That took a while. Fired the Flea at the appropriate time to attempt to deorbit, and to complete the mission. For some reason I didn't get credit for testing the rocket. Maybe I had drifted too high before I had actually engaged? I don't know, but that thought instantly got pushed away as the Flea sent me tumbling all over the place, provided no useful burn, and left me in orbit stranded.

So I figured, what the heck, if I were stuck in space like that, and knew no rescue was coming, what would I do? Of course I'd try to re-enter the atmosphere and go down like a shooting star. That's way classier than an orbiting corpse. My periapsis was only like 72k, and sure enough, a very minor amount of propellant was enough to point me at the ocean. Didn't burn up on re-entry, for good measure I burned the rest of my propellant vectoring up until I splashed down in the ocean at maybe 50m/s, apparently none worse for the wear. I guess those kerbals are a lot sturdier than I gave them credit for.

But sorry Jeb, you're going up on the same ill-designed hunk of garbage as last time, because you have a mission to complete.