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[vector824]

Engineer just gives you more info, where MechJeb has some other tools like (automatically) finetuning maneuver nodes and automatically executing those nodes

I love MechJeb. I learned how to do everything it does for me manually, it's a huge time saver. Automatically planning rendezvous, plane changes and Hohmann transfers is the best. Just used the automatic landing feature yesterday, I feel like a real missions director now.

Edit: Here are some of my recent shenanigans from the last week.





Old science station:



New science station:



The lifter than put it all up there:

 

[Grief.exe]

MechJeb was updated for 1.2 recently, played with it the last few days, works the same as ever.

Once I can get into my google drive I'll send the link.

Edit: Newest build for 1.2 is here: https://ksp.sarbian.com/jenkins/job/MechJeb2-Dev/

It wasn't as much that I didn't have the newest 1.2 build, it's the menu itself wasn't rendering in game.

 

[vector824]

It wasn't as much that I didn't have the newest 1.2 build, it's the menu itself wasn't rendering in game.

Ah. Well that complicates things. You get it to work?

 

[MadYarpen]

If anyone is still interested in performance on Linux - I got rid of Windows entirely on my laptop and I have only Mint 18 installed. I also managed to correctly install nvidia drivers and software for switching between intel and nvidia GPUs (my previous attempt ruined ubuntu).

After short test I'm happy to say that KSP runs very nicely, not worse than on windows. All I did was one launch to orbit though, so it wasn't a proper stress test but I don't expect any issues now.

 

[Snakethesniper]

stupid question, how cpu heavy is the game? Is an i5-2500 @3.30Ghz enough??

 

[Zaphod]

stupid question, how cpu heavy is the game? Is an i5-2500 @3.30Ghz enough??

Runs great on my 2600K, and even acceptably on my old Macbook Air's 2557M.

You should be fine.

Hyper complex giant spaceships may give it some issues.

 

[gutterboy44]

Oh wow, Squad fired Flying Tiger as console developers of KSP. Bitworks now taking over. Hopefully this means some more movement on console patches. They say a key focus will be performance optimization. I haven't touched the PS4 version in a while but I would def try more to get some trophies if they updated it.

 

[JP]

Oh wow, Squad fired Flying Tiger as console developers of KSP. Bitworks now taking over. Hopefully this means some more movement on console patches. They say a key focus will be performance optimization. I haven't touched the PS4 version in a while but I would def try more to get some trophies if they updated it.

Hopefully that's good news.

I haven't played it since launch as I was unable to select anything which made it completely unplayable. That may have already been fixed but I deleted the game a while ago.

 

[danowat]

Oh wow, Squad fired Flying Tiger as console developers of KSP. Bitworks now taking over. Hopefully this means some more movement on console patches. They say a key focus will be performance optimization. I haven't touched the PS4 version in a while but I would def try more to get some trophies if they updated it.

Not surprising, they made a complete balls up of the XBO version, what a mess.

Haven't played it in months, did they ever patch it?

 

[ElFly]

Oh wow, Squad fired Flying Tiger as console developers of KSP. Bitworks now taking over. Hopefully this means some more movement on console patches. They say a key focus will be performance optimization. I haven't touched the PS4 version in a while but I would def try more to get some trophies if they updated it.

oh that's great

a friend asked me about kerbal on his Xbox one and I had to tell him I couldn't recommend it

 

[DBT85]

Got all this installed again yesterday, put some of my standard mods on and thought that since It's now got a stable 64bit option I'll try one of the mods to make it look a bit better.

Game went from using 4GB of ram to using 30GB lol. Something not quite right in there me thinks.

My first go at getting into orbit in a loooong time, and Jeb is stuck 170m above the atmosphere. I launched as normal but thought I wasn't going to have enough fuel to get into orbit, so just cranked it to full anyway and sure enough... it did. 125kmx72km. I managed to decouple at Ap which brought my Pe down to 70,160m lol.

Looks like a rescue mission might be earlier than expected.

EDIt: managed to just about get under the atmosphere with a GOAP EVA. Something felt really weird when doing the EVA though, didn;t seem to want to orient properly to a level plane. Also why do my ship spin when I EVA. Madness.

 

[danthefan]

OK so a few months ago I landed on Duna with 4 Kerbal. My ship got pretty damaged and there was no way for them to get back into orbit. I kinda lost interest in the game and dropped it for ages.


But now... It's time for a rescue. Started a science farm around Minmus last night to unlock all the good shit and now just need to figure out a rescue. I'm thinking maybe just put one ship in orbit of Duna that will actually carry them home and then have smaller ones that will go down and pick them up.

Any tips for this?

 

[DBT85]

OK so a few months ago I landed on Duna with 4 Kerbal. My ship got pretty damaged and there was no way for them to get back into orbit. I kinda lost interest in the game and dropped it for ages.


But now... It's time for a rescue. Started a science farm around Minmus last night to unlock all the good shit and now just need to figure out a rescue. I'm thinking maybe just put one ship in orbit of Duna that will actually carry them home and then have smaller ones that will go down and pick them up.

Any tips for this?

Hmm, landing one ship that will ferry them all back will be easier and more efficient than trying to hit the right spot and then rendezvous a few times.

So I'd have the main ship in orbit with the fuel to get home, and a lander that can bring all 4 back at once.

Rescue missions is all I seem to be doing right now as I keep using too much fuel and so can rarely get back! I'm only going to Mun and Minmus!

 

[gutterboy44]

OK so a few months ago I landed on Duna with 4 Kerbal. My ship got pretty damaged and there was no way for them to get back into orbit. I kinda lost interest in the game and dropped it for ages.


But now... It's time for a rescue. Started a science farm around Minmus last night to unlock all the good shit and now just need to figure out a rescue. I'm thinking maybe just put one ship in orbit of Duna that will actually carry them home and then have smaller ones that will go down and pick them up.

Any tips for this?

I always prefer the orbiter and lander combo. You can make the lander is minimal as possible, just put a remote control core on it and attach four of the kerbal seats. You can also ditch it after docking to save weight on the return to kerbin. Don't forget heat shields!

 

[GankzyMcfly]

So i got a little adventurous on eva on minimus...before i knew what i had done i was 58 km away from my ship with .5 jetpack fuel left....only 20 km left in my walk back to my ship at 4x speed...worth it tho...banked over 200,000 and got so much science and the ship only cost 60,000 but eill like get back 10,000 in recovery.

 

[brianmcdoogle]

I decided to pick the game back up in over a year or so, and none of my ships work anymore That, or I'm so rusty that I can't fly them.

Anyway, I started from scratch and now I'm back to being able to get to Mun, Minmus, and Duna easily. Hell, I can go to Duna, land, get back into orbit, get back to Kerbin orbit, and then visit Mun and Minmus all on the same trip. I really like the ship I've designed.

Problem is every time I venture just a little bit more, I run out of fuel. Particularly, I'm running out trying to get into an orbit with another planet. For example, I was on my way to Eeloo, and when I got into an orbit I discovered that if I was going to get into an orbit, I was going to have to spend my entire delta-V supply on my orbiter, which is supposed to be able to get me into orbit, park, and then return back to Kerbin. It has something like 2000-2400 for the entire trip. Now, depending no how well I land with the lander, I could refuel after I dock again, but I kind of don't want to risk that.

Is that just too little fuel for this kind of trip? As I approach Eeloo, what do I need to be able to slow down, get in an orbit, and then return back to Kerbin? Or, are my bad piloting skills just showing and I should be able to make it on that amount?

 

[ThreePiMatt]

Always happy to see this thread bumped. Sadly, I've never been to Eeloo, but according to the delta-V map on the Wiki it's only about 1000 more m/s than Duna. Granted, I don't know if that takes into account the aerobraking and parachute savings you get from Duna's atmosphere. Plus, you could always gravity assist your way to Eeloo to save fuel.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Cheat_sheet

 

[brianmcdoogle]

Yeah, I think my test flight to Eeloo was just bad. But, I did make a few mods to my ship, and now...

Places I've conquered:

Mun? Check. Easy.
Minmus? Check. Easy, but I still sometimes bounce on landings.
Duna? Check. At this point it is easy, just time consuming. My lander has like 1000 deltaV left after landing and getting back into orbit.
Eeloo? Check, but stressful. Takes a real long time, I had to finesse the path several times en route, but I ended up returning to Kerbin with 500-1000 deltaV.

I think next time I go to Duna, I'll send a rover in advance and try to land near it so I can drive around on the planet. I need to figure out how to make rovers now! (I try to look up very little about the game and do most of this by trial and error).

I had forgotten just how easy re-entry and how overpowered heat shields are. I came home like a bullet from Eeloo at like 3700m/s and I was able to land easily with the heat shield being in fairly good condition. I also wonder how much harder these missions would be if I didn't learn how to dock. Leaving and orbiting craft while I land makes it so much easier and saves so much deltaV.

I just got back from a trip to Minmus and Duna. I went to Minmus first, wasted way too much fuel in the process, and went back into a Kerbin orbit of like 500km before finally heading out to Duna. I was low on fuel on the return, but I still had like 500 dV to spare. For Duna, my craft is now seriously over-designed. I need to do another trip to Eeloo to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

Now, I'm kind of curious where I should go. I hear Vall is a good spot, as is maybe Dres. I know enough to stay the hell away from Eve and Jool, but I think I'm starting to wind down in this game now outside of those really hard places. Where should I try to go next? Is Dres interesting? I'd like to take a shot at Moho, but I remember it being a pain last time I tried it a year ago, where I was able to land but did so haphazardly, and it was just a barren rock of a planet.

I also would like to start using mods to make the game look better, but I think it'd just make the game run terribly since I'm on a Mac (which doesn't perform as well as the PC version) and most mods seemed to be tuned for PCs anyways.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

As far as land and returns go, I've done

Mun
Minmus
Duna/Ike
Gilly
Bop

I've landed, but not returned from

Eve
Dres

Dres is pretty much a grey/brown ball and is a pain in the ass because the gravity is so tiny you have to burn like hell to slow down enough to get into orbit.

 

[gutterboy44]

I really need to just set aside the time to check off a landing on every planet and moon in KSP. I always get hung up trying it through career. I told myself I would do it on PS4 to get a platinum but it proved too buggy. Patiently awaiting that patch to give myself an excuse to play more KSP.

 

[brianmcdoogle]

It really is zen-like to just build rockets and toss them into space. I spent 2 hours today doing just that and the time flew.

I'm trying to do more stuff in this game, but I think I'm going to abandon doing long/hard missions from Kerbal and back. Instead, I think I should try building ships in space? Does that seem like a good idea? And, how do I go about doing that? Just with docking and remote guidance?

 

[r1chard]

I've also just picked the game up again - I heard one of the recent updates made it so you could strengthen joints or auto strut or something. Would be nice to not have a mess of struts ;-)

Anyhoo, after clearing out the old mods (poor old CKAN wasn't coping) and reinstalling almost all of them I'm back in and ... even after 800 hours it's still an amazing game :-D

 

[oxrock]

It really is zen-like to just build rockets and toss them into space. I spent 2 hours today doing just that and the time flew.

I'm trying to do more stuff in this game, but I think I'm going to abandon doing long/hard missions from Kerbal and back. Instead, I think I should try building ships in space? Does that seem like a good idea? And, how do I go about doing that? Just with docking and remote guidance?

Docking ports tend to get super wobbly when connecting parts of ships together(which is the only way I could think of the connect ship pieces in space). I suggest simply setting up orbital refueling stations to make longer trips easier.

 

[jotun?]

I had forgotten just how easy re-entry and how overpowered heat shields are. I came home like a bullet from Eeloo at like 3700m/s and I was able to land easily with the heat shield being in fairly good condition.

I kind of like where it's at right now. It's not hugely challenging, but you do still have to design around it

 

[Walshicus]

Docking ports tend to get super wobbly when connecting parts of ships together(which is the only way I could think of the connect ship pieces in space). I suggest simply setting up orbital refueling stations to make longer trips easier.

I just wish there was a docking port that auto-aligned after connection...

 

[Ted]

I'm back into this hard after re-watching Project B.E.A.S.T.

For some reason this time [after watching Mechanical Jeb do it's stuff a couple of times] orbital rendezvous and docking has clicked, at least partially. This has reduced my frustration with the game a hundred fold and suddenly opened up a whole variety of new stuff to do!

I spent a few hours at the weekend putting together a Kerbin/Mun/Minmus comms network to and have just now started to piece together a fuel station in Kerbin orbit, both to support further exploration later.

My junk's not neat but it is flying OK for now. I take a learning by doing approach so none of this might work but at the worst it's been fun getting it all together, launched and placed.

Comms network delivery vessel (2 x satellites per launch):

Relay satellite:

First part of fuel station:

Living and science quarters en-route to be docked:

Happy Kerbal dudes and dudettes:

I've not ever tried in orbit refueling yet so I'm not even sure if the parts are compatible but if not I'll enjoy sending the whole platform through the atmosphere and watching a good old space firework show!

 

[DBT85]

Unless something has changed (It's been a while) you just need to have docking ports to connect the ships together and you can then transfer fuel.

Doing your own rendezvous gets easier the more you do it. I found it easiest to learn by using a teeny tiny RCS controlled probe as it was very easy to get your adjustments made easily. Just launch and dock and burn up and rinse and repeat.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

Unless something has changed (It's been a while) you just need to have docking ports to connect the ships together and you can then transfer fuel.

Doing your own rendezvous gets easier the more you do it. I found it easiest to learn by using a teeny tiny RCS controlled probe as it was very easy to get your adjustments made easily. Just launch and dock and burn up and rinse and repeat.

If you're playing career you need to upgrade the R&D Center to level 2 to unlock fuel transferring.

 

[Ted]

Unless something has changed (It's been a while) you just need to have docking ports to connect the ships together and you can then transfer fuel.

Thanks DBT. My concern was because when I initially docked it I couldn't seem to transfer fuel through a couple of structural parts (Rockomax brand adaptor). I've adapted my design a little now and docking parts go straight onto the tanks themselves and this works.

Doing your own rendezvous gets easier the more you do it. I found it easiest to learn by using a teeny tiny RCS controlled probe as it was very easy to get your adjustments made easily. Just launch and dock and burn up and rinse and repeat.

That's a great idea!

I have to be honest now I've proved to myself I *can* do it, I've mainly let MJ do his stuff. Makes me feel less like the pilot and more like a member of ground control but I don't mind that.

If you're playing career you need to upgrade the R&D Center to level 2 to unlock fuel transferring.

I am in career mode but have luckily already done this R&D upgrade. I had honestly missed that this was part of the upgrade though so useful information nonetheless!

Thanks for the tips guys. Much appreciated.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

The nice thing about learning how to rendezvous/dock is that you can start doing more landings in a single mission. I like building an all RCS-lander that can drop down to multiple biomes for science and then pop back up and refuel if necessary.

 

[DBT85]

The nice thing about learning how to rendezvous/dock is that you can start doing more landings in a single mission. I like building an all RCS-lander that can drop down to multiple biomes for science and then pop back up and refuel if necessary.

Very useful indeed. Though it can mean you fill out huge chunks of the tech tree after one mission. lol.

 

[Ted]

I'm really digging career mode. It really pushes you to try and be a little efficient in both rocket design and launch frequency. I had to spend a couple of hours at the weekend ferrying tourists to and from the Mun and Minmus as I had basically run out of money to fund my vanity projects.

As a result my 200K Kerbin fuel station has been putting in work.

I've also realised putting non-retractable solar panels on stuff, even stuff that is never coming back to Kerbin, can lead to some tight fits:

I'm nearly done with the current bunch of paying punters and I am back up to nearly 3 million credits so I'm hoping this week I can go back to creating my Mun and Minmus orbital science stations and then hopefully begin to experiment with the various pieces of drillin' and fuel conversion parts.

I need to look into the grabbing unit as well as more and more contracts are coming up that involve rescuing a Kerbal and their craft/junk and I've never even attempted that without a docking port.

I've not seen any contracts as yet that involve going beyond Mun/Minmus/Kerbin but I assume these will come.

On a different note, Chatterer, that's a fun little mod. It adds a surprising amount of atmosphere!

 

[Crispy75]

I need to look into the grabbing unit as well as more and more contracts are coming up that involve rescuing a Kerbal and their craft/junk and I've never even attempted that without a docking port.

Protip: Just get within 2.5km and you can Switch Craft to the stranded kerbal, exit their craft and jetpack over to your rescue ship.

 

[Jintor]

i love chatterer

 

[vector824]

i love chatterer

After spending two hours today upgrading all my mods to 2.3 I'm throwing this in there too!

So many mods... 37 and counting.

Had to get this loaded back. Spent way too much time getting all the modules into orbit.

 

[Ted]

Protip: Just get within 2.5km and you can Switch Craft to the stranded kerbal, exit their craft and jetpack over to your rescue ship.

I'm OK getting the Kerbal but a couple of my recent contracts have been to pick up the Kerbal and their craft/debris.

I've never tried to pick up a craft that doesn't have a docking port but there is a part in the VAB called an "Advanced Grabbing Unit" that I presume allows you to grab a non-docking port equipped ship and essentially tow it.

Looking forward to trying it!

i love chatterer

*beep*

After spending two hours today upgrading all my mods to 2.3 I'm throwing this in there too!

So many mods... 37 and counting.

Had to get this loaded back. Spent way too much time getting all the modules into orbit.

37! I think my machine would balk at the prospect so I'm being pretty picky. So far I'm using MechJeb and Chatterer. Any chance of a brief run down of your favourite mods?

And, station is great! Mods required I presume.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

The grabby arm essentially works the same way as the docking port but you can latch on to any part of the target. And usually you'll have an option to target the "Center of Mass" of the object, so you can fly around with it and not wobble all over the place. But when you're doing rescue contracts, all you're going to be grabbing is the capsule portion which likely isn't going to be too heavy to affect your ship anyhow.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

edit - Ooopsies, double post.

 

[vector824]

37! I think my machine would balk at the prospect so I'm being pretty picky. So far I'm using MechJeb and Chatterer. Any chance of a brief run down of your favourite mods?

And, station is great! Mods required I presume.

Thanks! That ring alone was over 300 tons and I put it up all in one piece. Part mods are great, they don't tank your framerate like EVE or Scatterer do and MechJeb is a must. I'm loving Chatterer also!

Here's my short list in order. I'll edit with more later.

Module Manager
Kerbal Joint Reinforcement - No more rubber rockets ;-)
RCS Build Aid - Helps you balance your RCS ports for easy flying!
Docking Port Alignment Indicator - Makes docking MUCH easier.
KIS - Kerbal Inventory System Download Here
KAS - Kerbal Attachment System
Lithobrake Exploration Technologies
SpaceY Heavy-Lifter Parts Pack (BIG ROCKETS)
SpaceY Expanded (BIGGER ROCKETS)
Surface Mounted Stockalike Lights
Station Science
TAC Fuel Balancer
Tokamak Refurbished Parts
Stockalike Station Parts Expansion
Kerbal Planetary Base Systems
Tarsier Space Technology (Telescopes)
Planetshine - (Prettier spaceflight)
Buffalo - Rover Parts
Pathfinder - Space Camping

 

[Ted]

The grabby arm essentially works the same way as the docking port but you can latch on to any part of the target. And usually you'll have an option to target the "Center of Mass" of the object, so you can fly around with it and not wobble all over the place. But when you're doing rescue contracts, all you're going to be grabbing is the capsule portion which likely isn't going to be too heavy to affect your ship anyhow.

Hold on, wobbly rockets isn't a design feature? Shit!

Not had time to play so far this week but this sounds broadly how I expected it to work. I'm looking forward to giving it a go but not looking forward to the inevitable failure when I then try and capture an asteroid!

Thanks! That ring alone was over 300 tons and I put it up all in one piece. Part mods are great, they don't tank your framerate like EVE or Scatterer do and MechJeb is a must. I'm loving Chatterer also!

Here's my short list in order. I'll edit with more later.

*snip for quoting brevity*

Wow, thanks vector. That's really cool of you to compile them.

There is certainly a lot to look through in that list. On first glance though it looks like there is some really fabulous stuff in there which will really expand the game, KAS in particular sounds pretty massive in terms of how it changes/adds to gameplay.

Now I'm dreaming of space cranes!....

I'm going to also have to look at how they play with career mode though as that's my current go to so I have at least some prescribed "goals".

Thanks again vector, very much appreciated.

 

[MadYarpen]

Yeah that's a great list. I will download them, but can you turn of updates in steam for a single game? New ksp versions tend to break mods ...

 

[runningjoke]

Yeah that's a great list. I will download them, but can you turn of updates in steam for a single game? New ksp versions tend to break mods ...

You can make a copy of your KSP dir and run it out of there

 

[MadYarpen]

You can make a copy of your KSP dir and run it out of there

Really? That's cool, haha

 

[vector824]

Hold on, wobbly rockets isn't a design feature? Shit!

Not had time to play so far this week but this sounds broadly how I expected it to work. I'm looking forward to giving it a go but not looking forward to the inevitable failure when I then try and capture an asteroid!

Wow, thanks vector. That's really cool of you to compile them.

There is certainly a lot to look through in that list. On first glance though it looks like there is some really fabulous stuff in there which will really expand the game, KAS in particular sounds pretty massive in terms of how it changes/adds to gameplay.

Now I'm dreaming of space cranes!....

I'm going to also have to look at how they play with career mode though as that's my current go to so I have at least some prescribed "goals".

Thanks again vector, very much appreciated.

Yeah no problem! These improved the game the most for me. KAS and KIS gives you actual things to do on spacewalks and it can save your butt if you forget something.

If you want to make space cranes this will help tremendously:

Throttle Controlled Avionics

 

[Mr Swine]

Yes! After 4 years of trying I've managed to land a mobile processing lab on the mun! How does data work exactly? Is it limited like science that once you have done a crew report on Kerbin launch site (example), you can't do it again?

 

[vector824]

Yes! After 4 years of trying I've managed to land a mobile processing lab on the mun! How does data work exactly? Is it limited like science that once you have done a crew report on Kerbin launch site (example), you can't do it again?

It allows you to process the data from your experiments that you gather from science parts. So you go collect science, the attach/dock your craft to the lab and process the data.

From the Mobile Processing Lab Wiki:

An experimental result is processed into an amount of data based on its original science value and the physical location of the lab at the time the data is generated. There is a 10% bonus when the lab is on a surface, 25% bonus for processing experiments in the same SOI that they were taken, and a 90% penalty when on Kerbin's surface. These combine in a multiplicative fashion, such that:

Data = ScienceValue · (1 + SurfaceBonus) · (1 + ContextBonus) · homeworldMultiplier

Where:

ScienceValue = full original science value of that specific experiment (i.e. when recovering the first result, back on Kerbin).
SurfaceBonus = 0.1 when landed (or splashed down) on the surface of a body, otherwise = 0.
ContextBonus = 0.25 when lab is currently within the same SOI the experiment originates from, otherwise = 0.
homeworldMultiplier = 0.1 when landed (or splashed down) on Kerbin, otherwise = 1.

Example 1:

a SC-9001 Science Jr. Materials Study on the surface of the Mun, worth 100 science, processed on site. Data = 100·(1+0.1)·(1+0.25)·1 = 100·1.1·1.25 = 138 (rounded up). Or, for the same experiment processed in orbit of Mun, Data = 100·1·1.25·1 = 125.

Basically you wait to collect more data than you would just by immediately transmitting it from the science part itself.

 

[vacantseas]

So any tips for docking? I've got back into this game in a big way the past week.

I've decided to try and build a bit of a space station around Kerbin, and used some Scott Manley tutorials to build a little station/docker combo. I've used MechJeb to get the two within 50 KM of each other and now I'm trying to dock them together.

I know docking is one of the harder things to do in the game, but for the life of me I cannot get them remotely close to each other.

Any tips?

Also any tips for building a complex space station?

 

[vector824]

So any tips for docking? I've got back into this game in a big way the past week.

I've decided to try and build a bit of a space station around Kerbin, and used some Scott Manley tutorials to build a little station/docker combo. I've used MechJeb to get the two within 50 KM of each other and now I'm trying to dock them together.

I know docking is one of the harder things to do in the game, but for the life of me I cannot get them remotely close to each other.

Any tips?

Also any tips for building a complex space station?

Practice! You want to get your orbits on the same plane and as circular as possible. If your 1st craft is at 80,000 then launch your 2nd craft to 75-78,0000, match planes to 0.1 or less, then select Hohmann Transfer (if using MJ) to target and execute/wait for the maneuver node. When you get within 1km on the encounter you're in business. You want that encounter to be as close as possible and around 0-20m/s. Once you get close use RCS to match your target's speed.

These mods are a must for docking:
RCS Build Aid
Docking Port Alignment Indicator

When it comes to building a station you need to practice docking until you can do it in your sleep. Here's a forum to get some good ideas:
SPACE STATIONS! Post your pictures here

Edit: See my list above for all the juicy mods I love.

 

[Woorloog]

Okay, what the hell? My satellites spin if i don't enable SAS. By themselves. No engines, only Inline RCS blocks (i think they're from a mod, probably Ven's Part Overhaul) but those are not enabled. If i enable them, they use those to boost themselves even more.

They consist of Octo probe core, two RCS blocks, four static solar panels, two tracking ones, two battery units, four simple antennas and two relay antennas (all early game stuff). Nothing that should make them spin by themselves...

EDIT Found the reason... i had used trim and didn't reset it. (If someone doesn't know about trimming: Alt+direction for trimming, alt+x to reset it. Useful occasionally but never forget to reset it!)
Quite amusing though, and useful in a way...

 

[zer0das]

So any tips for docking? I've got back into this game in a big way the past week.

I've decided to try and build a bit of a space station around Kerbin, and used some Scott Manley tutorials to build a little station/docker combo. I've used MechJeb to get the two within 50 KM of each other and now I'm trying to dock them together.

I know docking is one of the harder things to do in the game, but for the life of me I cannot get them remotely close to each other.

Any tips?

Also any tips for building a complex space station?

1. Make sure your orbits are on the same plane first, to within a degree or so.
2. Line up the orbits so they're similar, but have your orbit a bit closer or further away than the orbit you are trying to "catch."
3. Wait for the two orbits to get reasonably close. 50 km should be enough. But it helps if you readjust and get the final intersection down to 3-5 km.
4. Now you have to match orbit speeds, so your velocity relative to your target is 0. I prefer having a wider orbit, so doing this you have to boost retrograde (the green symbol with the x). Brake or speed up until you're at the precise velocity as your target.
5. Approach your target half the distance to them boosting to target prograde (pink circle).
6. Now you have to adjust your orbit by boosting prograde again. By boosting target prograde (and doing the retrograde business), you're closing the gap between you and the target, but you're also altering your own orbit in different locations to do that, so boosting prograde gets you back to the orbit shape you had before you started, but now you're closer to your target.
7. Keep repeating this process until you're close enough to dock. I actually haven't docked because I don't have the parts for it. But steering Kerbals in EVAs is quite similar. Docking should be pretty simple once you figure out how to get your relative velocity equal to your target's. Use RCS controls (and review how to use those on the wiki). If you don't use RCS controls, I don't have a clue what to do.

The big mistake I kept making was I would adjust my velocity to equal the target's, but not realize that simaltaneously screws up the orbit elsewhere. So you catch your target and then it either speeds past you or you speed past it. Gotta keep adjusting the orbits while keeping relative velocities close to zero until the orbits match.

Also if you do this procedure starting from an orbit that is closer to Kerbin than your target, reverse every instance of prograde and retrograde (target prograde stays the same!).

Hopefully that helps and isn't too confusing.