Why are rockets so hard to control with WASD?

[flitzkinburg]

I have tried hooking up my logitech X30 Extreme 3d pro and my Xbox 1 controller, but the controls dont bind. I can rarely ever get a rocket out of spin with WASD please help. also this exact problem is stopping me from progressing in early career mode so SAS isn't an option.

[Sirius]

Sorry to be that guy, but I have to tell you your rockets shouldn't flip and spin in the first place.

No matter if you use controller or not, you will rarely be able to get them stable again, not to mention that even if you do manage it, you have wasted (probably mission critical) amounts of fuel.

Needs better rockets.

Now I'm not saying it wouldn't be a bit easier with a controller, but again it shouldn't spin to begin with. If you need to recover from spins a lot, you are clearly doing something wrong in building the rockets.

But still, even with a good controller, rockets spin out so fast that you simply can't really balance it out manually since the directions hop violently all over the place.

My point is, if you can't do it with K+M, you won't have much more effect with a controller because that's not even the issue.

[flitzkinburg]

Originally posted by |x|SiriuS|x|:

Sorry to be that guy, but I have to tell you your rockets shouldn't flip and spin in the first place.

No matter if you use controller or not, you will rarely be able to get them stable again, not to mention that even if you do manage it, you have wasted (probably mission critical) amounts of fuel.

Needs better rockets.

Now I'm not saying it wouldn't be a bit easier with a controller, but again it shouldn't spin to begin with. If you need to recover from spins a lot, you are clearly doing something wrong in building the rockets.

But still, even with a good controller, rockets spin out so fast that you simply can't really balance it out manually since the directions hop violently all over the place.

My point is, if you can't do it with K+M, you won't have much more effect with a controller because that's not even the issue.

ts true my rockets arent the best but only recently have a started to play ksp. the frustrating part is that even in sandbox mode I cant get rockets out of a spin in orbit even with RCS

[Artemis]

Rockets are easy to control with WASD. You just have to get used on how to build them well.

[Artemis]

You are probably making them top heavy and overpowered. Follow some tutorials - you will be surprised!

[Washell]

Originally posted by Artemis:

You are probably making them top heavy and overpowered. Follow some tutorials - you will be surprised!

They should be top heavy...

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by Washell:

Originally posted by Artemis:

You are probably making them top heavy and overpowered. Follow some tutorials - you will be surprised!

They should be top heavy...

This^

A proper rocket looks like an arrow, weight at the tip, sturdy shaft, fins at the rear.

[Zorlond]

Weighted at the tip, but not fatter at the tip. You want more drag to be happening at the tail end of the craft no matter what happens at the front, and a fat tip means a lot more surface area for atmosphere to hit (remember square-cube law). And if you're going supersonic (as most rockets do), then *everything* causes drag.

Also, to consider, WASD is a bit of a nuisance to control simply because it's binary input. It's either ".................." or "FULL POWER DAMN YOU!!!" with nothing inbetween.

[Crunchi Monki]

q and e?

[maestro]

On the topic of Xbox controllers anyone had good luck with them in KSP? I almost picked up a knock off one at Walmart the other day but decided not to because I'm not convinced it will help yet.

[Rhedd]

Two things... First, it's hard to control anything with a keyboard because every control is an all-or-nothing input. You can't steer just a little left, you can only go HARD left, and then HARD right to compensate, and the HARD left again. It's just like trying to play a car racing game with a keyboard; hard.

Second thing is that if a rocket goes into a spin (end over end) within the atmosphere, it's basically dead. Doesn't matter what controller you're using, recovering from that is practically impossible. It doesn't matter how your rocket is built, if it's flipping it's doomed. Rockets aren't airplanes (unless you've built a spaceplane, then maybe you can recover. )

Anyway, don't blame your controller or piloting skills for not being able to fix a flipping rocket. Nothing can at that point. The time to fix that problem was before you launch it.

PS: The #1 reason for a rocket flipping uncontrollably when you're new to KSP is that you're going TOO FAST. Put a big engine on a rocket and watch it leave the launchpad like an arrow shot out of a bow and it's extremely likely to flip, because when you get into the higher atmosphere you'll be going so fast the air is like hitting a brick wall. Watch real rockets launch. They lift off very slowly. Get your own rockets to do that and I suspect your problem will disappear.

I'd tell you to aim for a launch TWR of about 1.2-1.25, but you can't use that information without mods.

[Rhedd]

Originally posted by Maestro4202:

On the topic of Xbox controllers anyone had good luck with them in KSP? I almost picked up a knock off one at Walmart the other day but decided not to because I'm not convinced it will help yet.

I use an xbox controller to pilot rovers and aircraft, and it works great. Especially necessary for aircraft.

I don't feel it's absolutely needed for rockets, though. They shouldn't really require that sort of long-term, subtle control.

[RustyNails]

Caps Lock can provide a a softer all or nothing control mode. That is that that the adjustments will not be as strong.

[Rhedd]

Originally posted by RustyNails:

Caps Lock can provide a a softer all or nothing control mode. That is that that the adjustments will not be as strong.

Very true, and that's extremely useful for docking alignment, etc.

It also reduces the overall control authority to a fraction of maximum, though, so it will actually be WORSE for trying to fix the OP's problem recovering from a spin, so be aware.

[Washell]

Originally posted by Rhedd:

Two things... First, it's hard to control anything with a keyboard because every control is an all-or-nothing input. You can't steer just a little left, you can only go HARD left, and then HARD right to compensate, and the HARD left again. It's just like trying to play a car racing game with a keyboard; hard..

Virtually all (car) games, and I'm fairly sure that includes ksp, don't work like that and haven't for decades. They slowly move from centre to full, allowing you to hold it at a certain position by tapping the key faster or slower.

Easy enough to check in ksp, it shows the result of the input bottom left.

[Dionysus 🐭]

Originally posted by |x|SiriuS|x|:

Sorry to be that guy, but I have to tell you your rockets shouldn't flip and spin in the first place.

No matter if you use controller or not, you will rarely be able to get them stable again, not to mention that even if you do manage it, you have wasted (probably mission critical) amounts of fuel.

Needs better rockets.

Now I'm not saying it wouldn't be a bit easier with a controller, but again it shouldn't spin to begin with. If you need to recover from spins a lot, you are clearly doing something wrong in building the rockets.

But still, even with a good controller, rockets spin out so fast that you simply can't really balance it out manually since the directions hop violently all over the place.

My point is, if you can't do it with K+M, you won't have much more effect with a controller because that's not even the issue.

This. You need to put some fins on your rocket and enable SAS.