How to stabalize your ship in early career mode?

[NOVEMBER]

Basically, every time I try to launch a big ship, I just veer off. I only have the tiny SaS module. What do?

[Spacebory]

On my Career mode I didn't use SAS modules they don't do any thing as far as I know...just use RCS (They're much more useful) :)

[Geredis]

RCS, SAS, and most importantly, fins to stabilize your ship. Especialyl with early vehicles, fins are almost mandatory to keep from losing total control of your vessel.

[ZombieHunter]

I finally stabilized my craft by using 6 fins at the bottom. 2 and 4 are not enough. With 6 fins and a pilot it seems to be stable enough to gain more science to get some better parts.

[greggydooki]

With the atmospher settings they have now, its very very hard to fly a rocket when your an experienced gamer. Nomatter if your sas is good or anything. Your ship gets tossed around like crazy at low altitudes since the change. Not fun anymore. Cant imagine that a newcommer to the game has a chance in *&^% to figure it out before he gives up on Kerbal. Bah humbug.

Everything works good in space, but low altitude is almost impossible to tell what is throwing you around.

[ZombieHunter]

It is very tough indeed. Once you do reach some height open all the science stuff, get the crew reports, etc. Anything you can do to glean some science from your craft and then make re-entry.

Re-entry should be about 7 to 10 degrees inclination.

[Shacklestein]

Originally posted by greggydooki:

Cant imagine that a newcommer to the game has a chance in *&^% to figure it out before he gives up on Kerbal.

I've had no stability trouble to speak of at all. From what I'm reading of people's complaints, coming in blank on 1.0 might even be an advantage, since there is nothing to unlearn.

The thing that took me ages to figure out was how to get science from anything other than contracts and crew reports. So my career mode has yet to unlock anything costing more than 20 science. Meanwhile I've been building fanciful designs in order to test various equipment under the exact right speed and altitude conditions. My latest project – yet unfinished when I finally sussed the whole experiments thing – was to figure out a way to carry the #2 solid booster (Thumper?) into an 80k orbit for testing. That's a rather heavy payload with just the starter gear to work with.

[SporkofDeath]

Originally posted by Shacklestein:

Originally posted by greggydooki:

Cant imagine that a newcommer to the game has a chance in *&^% to figure it out before he gives up on Kerbal.

I've had no stability trouble to speak of at all. From what I'm reading of people's complaints, coming in blank on 1.0 might even be an advantage, since there is nothing to unlearn.

The thing that took me ages to figure out was how to get science from anything other than contracts and crew reports. So my career mode has yet to unlock anything costing more than 20 science. Meanwhile I've been building fanciful designs in order to test various equipment under the exact right speed and altitude conditions. My latest project – yet unfinished when I finally sussed the whole experiments thing – was to figure out a way to carry the #2 solid booster (Thumper?) into an 80k orbit for testing. That's a rather heavy payload with just the starter gear to work with.

They actually increased drag by a third from 1.0 to 1.0.2 so all the stuff you made for the first couple days the game was out are broken now.

[Señor Kerman]

Fins, but others have noted it now too. Fins.

[RealFakeGamerGirl]

It's hard to say without pictures of what a "big rocket" is to you. I don't even use SAS modules anymore, and I don't generally launch rockets small enough for the stock VAB and launch pad. To me that's "big but not huge." But maybe "big" for you is a 200+ part, 6-stage monstrosity, trying to send a mothership to Jool without having to do any docking. I just don't know from here.

All I can say is that the Pilot AI is awesome, and since I don't use SAS, unmanned rockets are kind of a pain for me, but everything gets into space once a design is finalized.

Are you sure you aren't just having fuel weight transfer issues in your bottom stage, though? That can "feel" like losing control, as you slowly tip over, but that's because your upper stage is too heavy, and is getting heavier and heavier as you burn away what's under it.

If it's straight for a thousand meters, slow tipping, then eventually rapid spinning end-over-end, it's weight, not aerodynamics.

[Pungee]

Originally posted by SporkofDeath:

They actually increased drag by a third from 1.0 to 1.0.2 so all the stuff you made for the first couple days the game was out are broken now.

So that's why all of my rockets are suddenly useless deathtraps that begin to end-over-end or explode. Everything I'd built since 1.0 is now entirely unplayable and I was wondering if I'd just gone crazy.

[Bodkins(UK)]

Fins and or an engines that can gimble.

Remember if you have no fins and no rocket gimble the only thing steering your ships course is the SAS - and a small SAS won't help much on a heavy rocket. If anything you'll just find it wanting to turn over and point down.

[greggydooki]

Originally posted by McGarnagle:

It's hard to say without pictures of what a "big rocket" is to you. I don't even use SAS modules anymore, and I don't generally launch rockets small enough for the stock VAB and launch pad. To me that's "big but not huge." But maybe "big" for you is a 200+ part, 6-stage monstrosity, trying to send a mothership to Jool without having to do any docking. I just don't know from here.

All I can say is that the Pilot AI is awesome, and since I don't use SAS, unmanned rockets are kind of a pain for me, but everything gets into space once a design is finalized.

Are you sure you aren't just having fuel weight transfer issues in your bottom stage, though? That can "feel" like losing control, as you slowly tip over, but that's because your upper stage is too heavy, and is getting heavier and heavier as you burn away what's under it.

If it's straight for a thousand meters, slow tipping, then eventually rapid spinning end-over-end, it's weight, not aerodynamics.

They changed the dynamics in 1.0.2 and its a hugh change that makes your ship tip over unstoppable if you try to make a gravity turn at 10 km. If you havent noticed maybe all people havent got this update 1.0.2 or somethings broke somewhere. Its not people that are new to the game having problems its all the old timers too. Where you been at. sheesh.

|nd adding fins and bull that just makes other problems with the flight for me, dont like them.

From what I learned from readinf here the drag has been set from a 1 multiplier to 8 and you can change thatt back to a 1 in the debug menu. press alt F12 to get to menu. But who knows what else is changed in there.

[duanevp]

Yeah, you need to change your idea of a working launch profile. You can't just go straight up toe 10,000m, tip 45 degrees and expect the game physics to let you get away with it anymore.

Go ahead and turn on SAS. At the very least it won't HURT. USE FINS. They gave you fins in the 1.02 update for this very reason. Your earliest liquid-fuel rockets will have center-of-mass issues as they burn fuel and want to tip over. The fins provide some drag at the back end and HELP keep it on course - but you still have to be more careful about your launch profile. After liftoff you do want to start your prograde marker moving off top-dead-center, but not by much. 5 degrees, maybe. The width of the marker itself so the edge of the marker is at the top-dead-center point. Then follow the prograde marker, edging it just a little bit as you go. Not until you're out of the thicker atmo and its effects and have used up even more fuel will it be less "tippy". Maybe 15,000m, not 10,000m. Maybe even 20,000 before you're pitching over to any serious degree. Even then you'll have to PRACTICE to see what you can do - and when - with any new rocket design, but if you're tipping out of control then you've pitched too far, too soon, and you'll need to try it again.

As the old song says, "Straighten up and fly right". In KSP you can take that literally.

[Trehek]

Originally posted by diamondgungames:

On my Career mode I didn't use SAS modules they don't do any thing as far as I know...just use RCS (They're much more useful) :)

SAS does nothing? You've got to be joking! Properly placed SAS does a lot and unlike wings, works in vacuum, and unlike RCS uses a light and easily renewable resource.

The thing is, RCS and wings work best for attitude control when placed far from the center of mass while SAS works best when placed near it or on it. Unfortunately command pods are usually at the top, so their SAS doesn't work optimally. SAS modules are also often placed at the top of a stage which is often bad placement.

[RealFakeGamerGirl]

I don't know what to tell you. I just loaded up my last "career mode" rocket from two days ago and went to the Mun, WITH 1.0.2.842 (I checked), and my 10km gravity turn was stiff and sluggish, if anything. I definitely didn't lose control at any point.

Anyway, I wasn't trying to call you a noob, but the game has not pulled a bait-and-switch on you. SOME designs might not work, but it's not impossible to play or figure out.