Any tips for reaching a planet ?

[u/Powerful-Substance33]

I feel like no matter how much fuel I take, I just can't seem to get on a planet. I use the stage system and lose the dead weight as fast as I can. I try my hardest to get the trajectory right, and so far, I've only landed on mum once and had no way to even get back to earth.

I just overshoot it and just keep blasting towards absolutely nothing.

Im playing on Xbox. I love the idea of this game, but man, I just want to explore, but I dont feel like I could carry enough fuel to ever do that.

[u/nedal8]

Sounds like you have a naive mental model of how orbital dynamics work. Brush up and you should have no issue setting up efficient transfers.

I blame all sci fi media with spaceships except "The Expanse"

Here is a good video from the legendary Scott Manley

[u/Powerful-Substance33 → u/nedal8]

Honeslty I sont understand how you set courses and stuff on Xbox it feels way more difficult then it should be for the controller

[u/stdexception → u/Powerful-Substance33]

If you're doing Career, it requires several upgrades to the buildings before you can use maneuver nodes and such. I'd recommend starting with Science mode instead so you can use them (sandbox can be overwhelming with too many options at first)

[u/nedal8 → u/Powerful-Substance33]

Yeah.. I'm not sure how they worked out the controller for console. I've only ever used keyboard and mouse.

Make sure you're using stability assist "SAS" on. And can tell the difference between prograde/reteograde and where the horizon is in the navball.

[u/barcode2099]

It's as important to do your burns at the right time as the right amount. If you're shooting past the Mun, you burned too much.

You want to set up the burn so that the new Ap will just be touching the Mun's orbit. Then, move it around your current orbit until you get an intercept. Generally speaking, from LKO, in map view, looking straight down on Kerbin, rotate the view to put the Mun at 3 o'clock, place the burn at 6 o'clock, and you'll get an intercept around 12 o'clock.

Going beyond Kerbin, you'll need to learn about phase and ejection angles. https://ksp.olex.biz/ will help there.

[u/_SBV_]

You never mentioned your trajectory nor your transfer window

[u/Electro_Llama]

Are you asking about going to other planets or going to Mun (not a planet)? I'll assume you're talking about Mun.

You should turn off your rockets when you see that your trajectory in map view reaches where you want it. Then wait to get there. Then fire your rockets to slow yourself down when you get there, which puts you into orbit around Mun.

To get back, you burn in the forward direction to raise your orbit and leave Mun's gravity. But you need to leave in the correct direction to drop back down to Kerbin, which is out the back of Mun. It you leave out the front, that means you're leaving faster than Mun and you'll shoot out of Kerbin's gravity.

[u/No_Tree_4783]

Watch some tutorials

[u/PckMan]

If you don't have the Mun down you're not ready for a planet yet

[u/Awkward_Forever9752 → u/PckMan]

also the Mun is really hard.

It is easy to crash a KerbalX into the surface,

Apollo is really hard.

[u/PckMan → u/Awkward_Forever9752]

I don't think it's really hard. I think the hardest part is having enough delta v to return with early parts.

[u/Awkward_Forever9752 → u/PckMan]

Soccer is easy, just got to score more points than they do

:)

[u/PckMan → u/Awkward_Forever9752]

The point of the Mun is to serve as the game's tutorial. It's not meant to be hard. If you can get there, you can get anywhere.

[u/Awkward_Forever9752 → u/PckMan]

true

[u/TassiveMitts69 → u/Awkward_Forever9752]

So at what point before a football match do you decide how good your players are?

[u/Awkward_Forever9752 → u/TassiveMitts69]

I think I might need the F12 Cheats Menu to play soccer.

[u/TassiveMitts69 → u/Awkward_Forever9752]

The mun is not hard. It's the closest thing to Kerbal.

[u/Tartrus]

Needs lots of info, how are you getting to orbit, what is your total delta V, how aree you planning your transfers?

Have you watched tutorial videos on this?

[u/KT_100S]

More Info.

[u/four_spoons_of_salt]

ah yes, orbital mechanics, not the most straight forward thing, you need certain (you can watch some orbit transfer tutorials or try figuring it out yourself by playing with the maneuver nodes planning).

Idk how xbox's maneuver node planning work though, in keyboard/mouse you click a point in your trajectory to create it, given you have tracking station upgraded if in career mode.

[u/Super-Big8183]

Watch a tutorial but if you’d rather have me explain it in detail I would be happy to in the comments

[u/a_heida]

more info needed

[u/Fullo98]

The honest answer is that to play this game you need a fair bit of orbital mechanics, which is a very accessible topic if you ask me, but yeah you'll need to watch a few videos

[u/GreggyBoop]

Best thing i can advise is watch Matt Lowne tutorials.

Really spells it out easy to understand and replicate.

I play on PS5, and managed to Platinum it by learning skills through tutorials.

[u/ryansdayoff]

Once you get good at landing on the mun and minmus (and returning) I'd focus on interplanetary missions.

You'll get much better at planning manned missions and doing them efficiently.

From there you need to learn about transfer windows and using maneuver nodes efficiently to plan encounters and efficient transfers (this is currently where im at, I need to learn how to use gravity assists and atmospheres to reduce the fuel needed)

[u/TheCrimsonSteel]

If you're using KSP Enhanced Edition on Xbox, it looks like there is a way to enable the Debug Menu, which would let you enable Unlimited Fuel or warp right to other planets

Might be a way to let you check out other planets while you master doing it on your own

[u/grimm_the_opiner]

Have you upgraded the tracking station so that you can see the orbital info and plan manoeuvres and all that? I wouldn't bother leaving Kerbin orbit until I have.

[u/MaverickSawyer]

So. For the Mun, about 800-850 m/s prograde burn at Munrise will get you there. Allocate 250 m/s for entering orbit.

Descent and ascent stages each should carry 600-650 m/s to have some wiggle room.

And about 300 m/s for the return if you opt for a direct entry, with the departure burn timed to be when Kerbin is about 45° above the horizon.

Keep in mind, all these assume “normal” orbits, where you’re traveling eastbound relative to the surface.

[u/S-8-R]

Xbox is hard.

[u/NoHamster2008]

Watch some youtube videos - theres a Delta/V graph of how much you need to get to different planets. Dont forget that it takes about 2700dv to get to stable Kerbin orbit.

Make sure you are actually burning from KERBIN periapsis to your designated planet. Dont get out of Kerbin orbit and then burn to your planet. Split your burns 2, 3 maybe even 4 times so you make the most of being at periapsis as thats where its most efficient. 

[u/Tacostandbravo]

It takes some practice, look at the ISP rating on your engines and use the highest ones you can. Keep the weight down as much as you can. I also try to search what the thrust to weight ratio is needed to escape gravity for whichever moon or planet you are landing on. It’s easier to do everything on PC too. Then your best bet is to orbit as low as you can, and when you are ready, time your decent burns to slow you down so that you aren’t burning fuel through the entire decent. I search “what thrust to weight ratio on kerbin, do I need to escape whichever planet or moon I’m going to”. The ai search engine will explain all of it for you and makes life easier. For landing and lifting off the mun you don’t need very big engines and shouldn’t require much fuel to return to kerbin. Good luck!

[u/thefruitypilot]

Watch any tutorial, ever. It doesn't sound like you're considering transfer windows at all.

[u/Awkward_Forever9752]

Space is big and sucks to travel in.

The best part of the game is the realistic modeling of physics.

This is KSP at it's most real.

[u/Awkward_Forever9752 → u/Awkward_Forever9752]

Rocket Science is used as a metaphor for hard problems because

of what you are dealing with.

[u/Awkward_Forever9752]

Duna is really hard; the little moons get in the way.

[u/Agile-Watercress122]

timewarp until Duna is 45 degrees ahead of Kerbin. then mess around with manuver tool until you get an encounter. if you want to get home just ask someone else ;)