How long did it take you to get the hang of this game?

[zillyhoo]

I've heard great things about KSP, so I downloaded the demo today. Coincidentally, it's currently on community choice so hopefully I can get some input from you guys.

The demo tutorial is difficult for me. I don't understand the concepts of apoapsis or anything.
I'm not here asking for definitions; I would like to know how long it took you to get used to the game, as well as what guides you used, if any.

I really want to get this game while it's on sale, but the tutorial is so confusing that it makes me think twice about buying it.

[frog7]

I moan about the docking BUT KSP is a Fantastic Game if you like space and building ships.

[Scarecr0w99]

i've been playing ksp since v.14 so i kinda learned along side with ksp as it grew.

ksp itself has indeed a steep learning curve. the best learning tutorials i can give you are scott manly's tutorial vids.

you can find them here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puC-YV_h9Us&list=PLYu7z3I8tdEmqpOkQZCl5SZB5t0vXuxE0&index=2

In the very next update will contain updated tutorials, the current tutorials are still from v0.17 and don't show you how the functions work that were added after v0.17.

[Vallen]

I think I had a pretty solid understanding of the basics ( achieving orbit, landing on the mun and safely returning to kerbin, ship design ie.. asparagus stock system, slingshotting to further planets and moons etc.. ) in about 20 hours playing and from watching Scott Manleys videos.

I still think the hardest thing in the game is docking though and am not used to it yet, but its still great fun :)

Most people who play vanilla will never reach the furthest away planets no matter how long you play for, it really is not a simple game despite how cute and fun the characters are.

[Trehek]

It didn't take me long to get the hang of the game, but I constantly set myself higher and new goals and it always takes some time to get the hang of reaching them. Things can be difficult but there's always progress if you keep trying out things and do a bit of thinking. And there's always us if you need to ask for advice.

[morph113]

I can't remember but I think it took me only a few hours to land on the Mun and return and I didn't even knew about Scott Manley or watch any other tutorials. I wasnn't good with physics back then but for me it was just learning by doing. Just try everything out, see how your spaceship behaves, see how your trajectory changes when you burn in different directions etc. Play around with the maneuver nodes. You will be flying to other planets in no time, just play around and see what happens and learn.

[Rickenbacker]

Depends. I got the basic concepts down in an hour or so, but after more than 1000 hours, I still haven't mastered planetary transfers and gravity assists.

[Ofan]

A week or two to get the basics dialled and stop making silly errors. Took a whole week of docking attempts before it clicked, now only bad design on my part hold me back

[Zombo]

Atleast 100 hours before I got reliable.

Learn how to make orbit effectively and efficiently. Thats half the battle.

[Byrnvif]

After 37 hours I just got to the mun. It have spent the time since trying to get my kerbal off the min, kinda broke the ships engine. It can be really frustrating, but the game teaches you by slapping you across the hand when you do something wrong, and having the nice nurse known as Scott Manley help you when you truly don't know what to do.

[Ofan]

I didn't even know who Manley was till I had done my first Duna lander mission and ♥♥♥♥♥♥ back. Wish I had. I don't think the game is hard to grasp at all, but I already had a reasonable understanding of orbital mechanics etc.

Orbit was tricky for the first day or two because I was going more real life and starting my gravity turns really early which require more Δv.

If a person has no pre-existing understanding of orbital fluff then I can imagine it being difficult at first.

For me the hardest part of the game has been capturing an asteroid once it is in the Kerbin system. It's easy in interstellar space, but they can hammer through the home system in a very short period of time and at hard to match speeds

[TIEChief]

Before KSP ever came out, I used a space-flight simulator called Orbiter which was a lot more unforgiving and realistic than KSP, so I was already familiar with the concepts at work in KSP. That being said, adapting that knowledge to flinging little green guys around in what amounts to a homemade rocket of gargantuan proportions took a while.
While I feel that I'm the unusual one for saying this, I feel that actually making rockets just right for a certain mission is hardest for me. Either it'll have too much weight to it or not enough Delta-V budget or well, you name it. People seem to get the hang of that much better than I do. But spaceflight itself can be pretty easy once you understand the mechanics of it all.

[El Rushbo]

I've landed on the Mun, Minmus, managed to get very good at docking. 259 hours in I am just now making an interplanetary attempt.

[Typo]

If you just had to learn the game by playing, it would take at least 10 hours or so to even get a vague idea of what's going on. Fortunately, the KSP community is BY FAR the most helpful of any game I've ever seen. I would reccomend searching around on the internet for guides. There are even some helpful ones here on Steam in the guides section of the community hub.

I've personally learned a lot just by hanging around KSP streams on Twitch. You pick up all sorts of tips and tricks by bring an active member of the community.

And I know you said you didnt ask for definitions, but I'll give some basic ones to you anyways. ;)

-Apoapsis: the highest point in your orbit
-Periapsis: the lowest point in your orbit
-Prograde: the direction you are currently moving (rocket-speak for "forwards")
-Retrograde: the direction oposite the way sou are currently moving (rocket-speak for "backwards")
-Delta-V: a measure of how much change in velocity your rocket is capable of (for example, if a rocket moving at 2000m/s with 500 delta-v burns all of its fuel while facing prograde, it will accelerate to 2500m/s)

[Ofan]

İlk olarak Typo tarafından gönderildi:

If you just had to learn the game by playing, it would take at least 10 hours or so to even get a vague idea of what's going on. Fortunately, the KSP community is BY FAR the most helpful of any game I've ever seen. I would reccomend searching around on the internet for guides. There are even some helpful ones here on Steam in the guides section of the community hub.

I've personally learned a lot just by hanging around KSP streams on Twitch. You pick up all sorts of tips and tricks by bring an active member of the community.

And I know you said you didnt ask for definitions, but I'll give some basic ones to you anyways. ;)

-Apoapsis: the highest point in your orbit
-Periapsis: the lowest point in your orbit
-Prograde: the direction you are currently moving (rocket-speak for "forwards")
-Retrograde: the direction oposite the way sou are currently moving (rocket-speak for "backwards")
-Delta-V: a measure of how much change in velocity your rocket is capable of (for example, if a rocket moving at 2000m/s with 500 delta-v burns all of its fuel while facing prograde, it will accelerate to 2500m/s)

I dunno, the in game tutorials seemed pretty clear to me on manoeuvre nodes, and I started just playing with no outside help and it all seemed pretty easy, the hardest thing was the trial and error learning about rocket design in my opinion, of course everyone will find it different some will be like ducks to water and others like a lead weight to a paper bag

[Shwing]

I have about 600 hours logged and there is still stuff I have yet to learn. It took me about 30-40 hours to orbit kerbin. Maybe 100 hours to land on the mun. About 200 hours to land ships on the moon in succession in close proximity to eachother. Maybe 300 hours to dock space station pieces in orbit. I still havent been to any other planets yet, but I have yet to try.

That's why I love this game though, there is always something new to be learned, couple that with the fact that it has unlimited replay value do to the gameplay being based around sandbox creatiom and it's one of my favorite games of all time. If I even think im starting to get bored I just put it down for a day or two and it feels fresh.