I love playing those old games that are half broken to this day that are riding a rocket ship from 2009, and even those laboratory games from 2008. I wish to recreate a rocket launch game, like the old ones from my childhood, and make it into a moon mission in a low poly Saturn V rocket with stages and all that awesome fun. I miss the old days.

Roblox I Don't Feel So Good Simulator

1. **EDITOR'S NOTE March 24 2020: this guide has been updated to reflect the changes to early progression in RP-1 v1.2+**
2. **EDITOR's NOTE April 18 2020: this guide has been almost superseded by norcalplanner's excellent early career tutorial. Please go read it before proceeding: https://github.com/KSP-RO/RP-0/wiki/First-Rocket-&-Early-Career-Tutorial**
3. I write this short guide to help the many new players (of whom I was recently one) who feel stumped by the early game. Unlike the rest of the game, there is really only one way to play RP-1 effectively before your first orbit. After that, the possibilities open up. This fact is rarely obvious to new players, and leads to the feeling of stuckness that nearly made me leave the game before kindly, more experienced players guided me onto the right route. Once you discover it, the early game becomes almost alarmingly simple.
4. The following is a guide to launching your first orbital rocket in 1954/55. Yes, that early. You'll beat Sputnik, and you'll beat it by a lot. Doing '54 is rather contingent on minmaxing your build designs and getting lucky with engine failures, but you can achieve '55 orbit reliably even with many failures and a relaxed approach to rocket design. The fundamental idea that makes this work is that rather than grinding many sounding payload contracts, you will focus solely on the few high-paying science contracts.
5. The contracts listed below are the ONLY contracts you need to do! Without failures, you'll only need 10 launches to get to orbit. Build the rockets as indicated to complete the contracts with as little slack time as possible. If your rockets are building faster than the tech you need to complete the next contract on the list, you've put too many points in the VAB.
6. Make sure you're spending your money. Since money sitting in the bank isn't doing anything for you, you should keep just barely enough to build another rocket if something goes wrong. Every free 20k funds should be spent on upgrade points for the first few years. When upgrading, remember you can pay to make rockets build faster but there's no way to speed up tech. Prioritize R&D! However, your first few points should be spent in VAB, as it's very important that you can build your downrange rocket before the end of the first year (or in the first few months of '52 if you're taking a more relaxed approach).
7. Unless indicated, all rockets are to be completely unguided. Yes, even the downrange one. Spin-stabilization is your friend!
8. Slightly unrelated, but I STRONGLY advise you to turn off simulation costs (in KRASH settings) and disable reverts (using the Alt-12 Difficulty menu). It makes engine failures that much more significant, but it also permits you to simulate endlessly, giving you a chance to develop recovery procedure that can mitigate the effect of what would otherwise be critical failures. At the least, I find it encourages a more thoughtful and relaxed zen approach to design and play--working out every kink in simulation--that I find much more fun than the perpetual stress and frustration of making stupid mistakes in non-sim launch that tempt you to revert.
9. Enough chit chat, the guide:
10. Use tooling and rushing liberally in the early game, they will accelerate your build times dramatically. You'll need it because you should be running with a relatively poorly upgraded VAB in favor of faster research.
11. If you're about to run out of money, accept and complete a sounding rocket contract. Shit happens, it's not the end of the world.
12. 1951: Speed era:
13. Launch 2) Karman line: Tim+WAC
14. Launch 3) Recovery: Tim+WAC+WAC (The extra stage is so you can boost a bio capsule and parachute up. You'll get a lot of science from this. If you don't put a bio capsule on, you can probably pull this off with your Karman line rocket.)
15. Launch 4) Downrange: RD101+XASR (Note the VERY VERY SLIGHT angle on the fins. Because you don't have a solid kick stage to get you up to fin-stabilization speed, you need to use fin-spin-stabilization to keep the rocket from pitching too far. Also: I haven't tried it, but you can also do RD100+WAC+WAC, possibly months earlier than an RD101+XASR rocket could.)
16. * You should have 4 points in VAB by the end of 1951. All the rest you can scrounge up ought to be in R&D.
17. * Try to start researching Supersonic Plane Development midway through the year, so you can start on X-1 shenanigans as soon as your downrange contract is completed.
18. 1952-1954: Grind era:
19. Launches 5-9) X-1 cockpit launches x5: RD101. (Put a pair of early film cameras below the cockpit and be tactical about which direction you aim the launch for max science. Helps if your launch center is near multiple biomes.) Don't forget to start training your pilots early!
20. ** EDITOR'S NOTE: This is no longer possible nor optimal. Rather, your next 4 launches will be the first two bio sounding rockets and the first two photography sounding rockets. Meanwhile, you will build rocketplanes & airlaunch them for easy, fast cash. You can fly as many planes as you want. Despite there being an error in earlier versions that makes it look (falsely) like there is a ~32-35k buy-in cost, airlaunch tech is free and always has been. ALl you have to do is unlock the tech node. Otherwise, all advice holds.**
21. * During this period, you are getting science and some money while waiting for Tank II and the Early Rocketry node to unlock. You might also need supersonic-rated fins.
22. * Shoot for 5 VAB and 15 R&D points before you accept the orbital contracts, you need to get the tech done to get to orbit.
23. * Try to accept the orbital contracts such that they'll expire just after you'll be able to launch your orbital rocket (make sure there's some margin in case you have engine failures and have to build another). The earlier you get the money, the faster you'll be able to spend it on upgrades that will speed everything else up, meaning more total time saved.
24. * When you accept your orbital contracts, use the money to put at least 5 more points into VAB, bringing you to 10 total. You'll need it to get your orbital rocket done quickly.
25. * Make sure you accept the science satellite contract--the advance is critical for funding your first orbit. Don't forget to start researching the cosmic radiation science node!
26. * Towards the end of your X-1 launches, make sure you slow down your spending on upgrades and save enough money to quickly build and roll out your orbital rocket without running out of money.
27. * Depending on what your orbital rocket will be, you might need to start building a 60t pad.
28. Late 1953/Early 54: Orbit time:
29. 10) Orbit: What your first orbital rocket should be and how many of the early orbit contracts to complete in your first launch is a matter of taste. Without going into details, I prefer using guided RD103 and S2.253 stages with an unguided XASR kick stage (all Tank II) to complete the first and polar orbit contracts at the same time. I hear that you can swap out the RD103 for a pair and/or trio of RD101s or -102s if you want to not pay the 50k funds to unlock the 103, but I haven't tried this yet. Point is, now the game is now fun again, so enjoy it and build something cool.
30. ** EDITOR'S NOTE: This is no longer the case, I prefer to get real '59 orbital rocketry engines, tank III, and some solids. The GCRC makes an excellent unguided kick stage & you can build a much more efficient rocket for First Scientific Satellite with a 'proper' rocket build, although it will take you longer to get to FO as you have to research substantially more technology. Worth it, IMO. **
31. Congrats, you beat Sputnik by years.
32. Some parting thoughts: After this, you'll probably use the same or similar rocket to complete your science satellite contract. Your next focus will be lunar contracts to generate enough money and science to put a Kerbal into orbit. If you're playing with ROKerbalism as I do, keeping track of which experiments you've completed and which you still need to work on is pretty essential to keeping a healthy inflow of science. The Archive in the Tech Center is very helpful for that.
33. The differences between a Kerbalism playthrough and one without are quite minimal before your first orbit. You should be pretty flush with science if you maximize use of film cameras during your '52 crewed suborbital jaunts.
34. ** EDITOR'S NOTE: now you just need to fly a Cessna around local biomes for quick early science & you'll get the rest of it through the bio and photo rocket contracts. **
35. After your first orbit, missions which are focused more on gathering science than completing contracts start to become necessary every once in a while, but if you're playing with Kerbalism you're a brave soul anyways so you'll figure it out.
36. Remember kids, just say NO to sounding payload contracts. Good luck!

1. **EDITOR'S NOTE March 24 2020: this guide has been updated to reflect the changes to early progression in RP-1 v1.2+**
2. **EDITOR's NOTE April 18 2020: this guide has been almost superseded by norcalplanner's excellent early career tutorial. Please go read it before proceeding: https://github.com/KSP-RO/RP-0/wiki/First-Rocket-&-Early-Career-Tutorial**
3. I write this short guide to help the many new players (of whom I was recently one) who feel stumped by the early game. Unlike the rest of the game, there is really only one way to play RP-1 effectively before your first orbit. After that, the possibilities open up. This fact is rarely obvious to new players, and leads to the feeling of stuckness that nearly made me leave the game before kindly, more experienced players guided me onto the right route. Once you discover it, the early game becomes almost alarmingly simple.
4. The following is a guide to launching your first orbital rocket in 1954/55. Yes, that early. You'll beat Sputnik, and you'll beat it by a lot. Doing '54 is rather contingent on minmaxing your build designs and getting lucky with engine failures, but you can achieve '55 orbit reliably even with many failures and a relaxed approach to rocket design. The fundamental idea that makes this work is that rather than grinding many sounding payload contracts, you will focus solely on the few high-paying science contracts.
5. The contracts listed below are the ONLY contracts you need to do! Without failures, you'll only need 10 launches to get to orbit. Build the rockets as indicated to complete the contracts with as little slack time as possible. If your rockets are building faster than the tech you need to complete the next contract on the list, you've put too many points in the VAB.
6. Make sure you're spending your money. Since money sitting in the bank isn't doing anything for you, you should keep just barely enough to build another rocket if something goes wrong. Every free 20k funds should be spent on upgrade points for the first few years. When upgrading, remember you can pay to make rockets build faster but there's no way to speed up tech. Prioritize R&D! However, your first few points should be spent in VAB, as it's very important that you can build your downrange rocket before the end of the first year (or in the first few months of '52 if you're taking a more relaxed approach).
7. Unless indicated, all rockets are to be completely unguided. Yes, even the downrange one. Spin-stabilization is your friend!
8. Slightly unrelated, but I STRONGLY advise you to turn off simulation costs (in KRASH settings) and disable reverts (using the Alt-12 Difficulty menu). It makes engine failures that much more significant, but it also permits you to simulate endlessly, giving you a chance to develop recovery procedure that can mitigate the effect of what would otherwise be critical failures. At the least, I find it encourages a more thoughtful and relaxed zen approach to design and play--working out every kink in simulation--that I find much more fun than the perpetual stress and frustration of making stupid mistakes in non-sim launch that tempt you to revert.
9. Enough chit chat, the guide:
10. Use tooling and rushing liberally in the early game, they will accelerate your build times dramatically. You'll need it because you should be running with a relatively poorly upgraded VAB in favor of faster research.
11. If you're about to run out of money, accept and complete a sounding rocket contract. Shit happens, it's not the end of the world.
12. 1951: Speed era:
13. Launch 2) Karman line: Tim+WAC
14. Launch 3) Recovery: Tim+WAC+WAC (The extra stage is so you can boost a bio capsule and parachute up. You'll get a lot of science from this. If you don't put a bio capsule on, you can probably pull this off with your Karman line rocket.)
15. Launch 4) Downrange: RD101+XASR (Note the VERY VERY SLIGHT angle on the fins. Because you don't have a solid kick stage to get you up to fin-stabilization speed, you need to use fin-spin-stabilization to keep the rocket from pitching too far. Also: I haven't tried it, but you can also do RD100+WAC+WAC, possibly months earlier than an RD101+XASR rocket could.)
16. * You should have 4 points in VAB by the end of 1951. All the rest you can scrounge up ought to be in R&D.
17. * Try to start researching Supersonic Plane Development midway through the year, so you can start on X-1 shenanigans as soon as your downrange contract is completed.
18. 1952-1954: Grind era:
19. Launches 5-9) X-1 cockpit launches x5: RD101. (Put a pair of early film cameras below the cockpit and be tactical about which direction you aim the launch for max science. Helps if your launch center is near multiple biomes.) Don't forget to start training your pilots early!
20. ** EDITOR'S NOTE: This is no longer possible nor optimal. Rather, your next 4 launches will be the first two bio sounding rockets and the first two photography sounding rockets. Meanwhile, you will build rocketplanes & airlaunch them for easy, fast cash. You can fly as many planes as you want. Despite there being an error in earlier versions that makes it look (falsely) like there is a ~32-35k buy-in cost, airlaunch tech is free and always has been. ALl you have to do is unlock the tech node. Otherwise, all advice holds.**
21. * During this period, you are getting science and some money while waiting for Tank II and the Early Rocketry node to unlock. You might also need supersonic-rated fins.
22. * Shoot for 5 VAB and 15 R&D points before you accept the orbital contracts, you need to get the tech done to get to orbit.
23. * Try to accept the orbital contracts such that they'll expire just after you'll be able to launch your orbital rocket (make sure there's some margin in case you have engine failures and have to build another). The earlier you get the money, the faster you'll be able to spend it on upgrades that will speed everything else up, meaning more total time saved.
24. * When you accept your orbital contracts, use the money to put at least 5 more points into VAB, bringing you to 10 total. You'll need it to get your orbital rocket done quickly.
25. * Make sure you accept the science satellite contract--the advance is critical for funding your first orbit. Don't forget to start researching the cosmic radiation science node!
26. * Towards the end of your X-1 launches, make sure you slow down your spending on upgrades and save enough money to quickly build and roll out your orbital rocket without running out of money.
27. * Depending on what your orbital rocket will be, you might need to start building a 60t pad.
28. Late 1953/Early 54: Orbit time:
29. 10) Orbit: What your first orbital rocket should be and how many of the early orbit contracts to complete in your first launch is a matter of taste. Without going into details, I prefer using guided RD103 and S2.253 stages with an unguided XASR kick stage (all Tank II) to complete the first and polar orbit contracts at the same time. I hear that you can swap out the RD103 for a pair and/or trio of RD101s or -102s if you want to not pay the 50k funds to unlock the 103, but I haven't tried this yet. Point is, now the game is now fun again, so enjoy it and build something cool.
30. ** EDITOR'S NOTE: This is no longer the case, I prefer to get real '59 orbital rocketry engines, tank III, and some solids. The GCRC makes an excellent unguided kick stage & you can build a much more efficient rocket for First Scientific Satellite with a 'proper' rocket build, although it will take you longer to get to FO as you have to research substantially more technology. Worth it, IMO. **
31. Congrats, you beat Sputnik by years.
32. Some parting thoughts: After this, you'll probably use the same or similar rocket to complete your science satellite contract. Your next focus will be lunar contracts to generate enough money and science to put a Kerbal into orbit. If you're playing with ROKerbalism as I do, keeping track of which experiments you've completed and which you still need to work on is pretty essential to keeping a healthy inflow of science. The Archive in the Tech Center is very helpful for that.
33. The differences between a Kerbalism playthrough and one without are quite minimal before your first orbit. You should be pretty flush with science if you maximize use of film cameras during your '52 crewed suborbital jaunts.
34. ** EDITOR'S NOTE: now you just need to fly a Cessna around local biomes for quick early science & you'll get the rest of it through the bio and photo rocket contracts. **
35. After your first orbit, missions which are focused more on gathering science than completing contracts start to become necessary every once in a while, but if you're playing with Kerbalism you're a brave soul anyways so you'll figure it out.
36. Remember kids, just say NO to sounding payload contracts. Good luck!

Remy Ma Feel So Good Lyrics