Difference between revisions of "Tutorial:Playing Tips for Novices"
Simons Mith (talk | contribs) (Created page with "Work in Progress ''Which game mode should a novice choose?'' ''Sandbox mode'' gives you unlimited funds and access to all available KSP parts. KSP has a ''lot'' of parts, wh...") |
Simons Mith (talk | contribs) (Some basic draft tips added. I anticipate adding about a dozen in the end. More to follow later.) |
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| − | ''Which game mode should a novice choose?'' | + | '''Which game mode should a novice choose?''' |
| − | ''Sandbox mode'' gives you unlimited funds and access to all available KSP parts. KSP has a ''lot'' of parts, which may make play in this mode more confusing. If you enjoy just making crazy rockets or other machines, sandbox mode is an excellent choice, but if you find the number of parts overwhelming, consider science mode instead. | + | * ''Sandbox mode'' gives you unlimited funds and access to all available KSP parts. KSP has a ''lot'' of parts, which may make play in this mode more confusing. If you enjoy just making crazy rockets or other machines, sandbox mode is an excellent choice, but if you find the number of parts overwhelming, consider science mode instead. |
| − | ''Science mode'' gives you unlimited funds, but parts can only be unlocked with research. If you want to learn about rocketry, the parts are unlocked in roughly the order they'll be useful. This helps provide a structured way to learn how the game works, and the rockets you can make will tend to be more realistic. The limited number of parts makes the game simpler to understand, and you can add more parts as you progress, so some users may find science mode to be the better choice. | + | * ''Science mode'' gives you unlimited funds, but parts can only be unlocked with research. If you want to learn about rocketry, the parts are unlocked in roughly the order they'll be useful. This helps provide a structured way to learn how the game works, and the rockets you can make will tend to be more realistic. The limited number of parts makes the game simpler to understand, and you can add more parts as you progress, so some users may find science mode to be the better choice. |
| − | ''Career mode'' unlocks all aspects of the game, and in this mode it's possible to run out of money and be unable to do anything. If you choose career mode to begin with, you're strongly advised to choose an easier difficulty setting, because if you try and fail the same mission several times in a row, or if an expensive rocket is destroyed, you may find you can no longer continue. | + | * ''Career mode'' unlocks all aspects of the game, and in this mode it's possible to run out of money and be unable to do anything. If you choose career mode to begin with, you're strongly advised to choose an easier difficulty setting, because if you try and fail the same mission several times in a row, or if an expensive rocket is destroyed, you may find you can no longer continue. |
| − | ''X, not space, is the better panic key'' | + | '''X, not space, is the better panic key''' |
| − | It's very easy to press the space bar at the wrong time, and then have to watch while your valuable spaceship begins tearing itself apart. When you make this particular mistake, you may be able to mitigate the damage by pressing ''X''. This cuts the thrust to all engines. Then when you press space to stage the rest of the craft, the engines in subsequent stages won't matters worse by lighting off | + | It's very easy to press the space bar at the wrong time, and then have to watch while your valuable spaceship begins tearing itself apart. When you make this particular mistake, you may be able to mitigate the damage by pressing ''X''. This cuts the thrust to all engines. Then when you press space to stage the rest of the craft, the engines in subsequent stages won't make matters worse by lighting off. |
| − | |||
| + | This trick does not work for solid-fuel boosters because they cannot be shut down. This is a common practical reason why solid fuel rockets are usually used for just the first stage of a craft. When landing on worlds without atmosphere, cutting all thrust may not help much, but it's probably still better than having all your engines firing at once. | ||
| − | ''In career mode, don't | + | |
| + | '''In career mode, don't try to perform more than two 'Test in flight' contracts on the same launch''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | New contracts appear for about 48 hours before disappearing. Once accepted, you usually have at least a year to fulfil them. So by all means accept every last contract that's offered. But do not try to perform too many tests on a single flight, especially the 'Test in flight' contracts. This is because you get one try to fulfil it as your rocket launches, and perhaps a second chance when you land. Some tests may only have a 'window' of a few seconds during which they can be completed, and some may require you to build a special mission with the right flight profile to satisfy the criteria at all. You will often have to watch very carefully to activate the part when all the test criteria are satisfied, and the more items you are trying to test at once the harder this is. You can make matters slightly easier by giving each test component its own stage, and arranging those stages in ascending order of height and speed. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | '''In career mode, 'Test while landed' are the easiest contracts''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | Other contracts 'In orbit' or 'On escape' are also a bit easier to fulfil because the criteria are more open-ended; if you miss the required altitude on one orbit, you can try again on the next, and the next, and so on. Some 'Test in flight' contracts may be easier to fulfil using an aircraft rather than a rocket. 'Test while landed' are the easiest of all; you can build a custom test-bed and test the part without leaving the runway or the launch pad, which means you gain 100% salvage value for the parts used. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | '''Use the 'Add Manoeuvre' tool to fine-tune orbital adjustments''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | If you are quick, you even use this tool shortly after launch to choose an orbit with the right height values. On a typical launch you have a window of a few tens of seconds between about 50 and 80km which allows you to drag the orbit nodes to the shape of your desired orbit. You then know how much thrust you will need and what direction to apply it in. | ||
| + | |||
| + | When in orbit, the same tool should be used constantly to plan the burns you want to make rather than guessing them. You can also check extreme burns to see how much fuel would be needed to perform them. | ||
Revision as of 17:33, 19 October 2014
Work in Progress
Which game mode should a novice choose?
- Sandbox mode gives you unlimited funds and access to all available KSP parts. KSP has a lot of parts, which may make play in this mode more confusing. If you enjoy just making crazy rockets or other machines, sandbox mode is an excellent choice, but if you find the number of parts overwhelming, consider science mode instead.
- Science mode gives you unlimited funds, but parts can only be unlocked with research. If you want to learn about rocketry, the parts are unlocked in roughly the order they'll be useful. This helps provide a structured way to learn how the game works, and the rockets you can make will tend to be more realistic. The limited number of parts makes the game simpler to understand, and you can add more parts as you progress, so some users may find science mode to be the better choice.
- Career mode unlocks all aspects of the game, and in this mode it's possible to run out of money and be unable to do anything. If you choose career mode to begin with, you're strongly advised to choose an easier difficulty setting, because if you try and fail the same mission several times in a row, or if an expensive rocket is destroyed, you may find you can no longer continue.
X, not space, is the better panic key
It's very easy to press the space bar at the wrong time, and then have to watch while your valuable spaceship begins tearing itself apart. When you make this particular mistake, you may be able to mitigate the damage by pressing X. This cuts the thrust to all engines. Then when you press space to stage the rest of the craft, the engines in subsequent stages won't make matters worse by lighting off.
This trick does not work for solid-fuel boosters because they cannot be shut down. This is a common practical reason why solid fuel rockets are usually used for just the first stage of a craft. When landing on worlds without atmosphere, cutting all thrust may not help much, but it's probably still better than having all your engines firing at once.
In career mode, don't try to perform more than two 'Test in flight' contracts on the same launch
New contracts appear for about 48 hours before disappearing. Once accepted, you usually have at least a year to fulfil them. So by all means accept every last contract that's offered. But do not try to perform too many tests on a single flight, especially the 'Test in flight' contracts. This is because you get one try to fulfil it as your rocket launches, and perhaps a second chance when you land. Some tests may only have a 'window' of a few seconds during which they can be completed, and some may require you to build a special mission with the right flight profile to satisfy the criteria at all. You will often have to watch very carefully to activate the part when all the test criteria are satisfied, and the more items you are trying to test at once the harder this is. You can make matters slightly easier by giving each test component its own stage, and arranging those stages in ascending order of height and speed.
In career mode, 'Test while landed' are the easiest contracts
Other contracts 'In orbit' or 'On escape' are also a bit easier to fulfil because the criteria are more open-ended; if you miss the required altitude on one orbit, you can try again on the next, and the next, and so on. Some 'Test in flight' contracts may be easier to fulfil using an aircraft rather than a rocket. 'Test while landed' are the easiest of all; you can build a custom test-bed and test the part without leaving the runway or the launch pad, which means you gain 100% salvage value for the parts used.
Use the 'Add Manoeuvre' tool to fine-tune orbital adjustments
If you are quick, you even use this tool shortly after launch to choose an orbit with the right height values. On a typical launch you have a window of a few tens of seconds between about 50 and 80km which allows you to drag the orbit nodes to the shape of your desired orbit. You then know how much thrust you will need and what direction to apply it in.
When in orbit, the same tool should be used constantly to plan the burns you want to make rather than guessing them. You can also check extreme burns to see how much fuel would be needed to perform them.
