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Has anyone else not bothered with career mode?


J2750

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I'm considering giving up. It feels like such a grind with uninspired contracts. IDK how long it'll be until more fun ones come around but so far it's just "gather data from space around kerbin" or "test this part (which I don't even have)"

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I think many long time players are not that interested in career mode, I know it doesn't do much for me. Before career mode was implemented, we all had to set our own goals and objectives. Now that some objectives are given to us, they feel a bit hollow and not overly interesting. For me, career mode just makes me do a bunch of missions I'm not all that interested in to get the science and funds to do the ones I am interested in; I just roleplay that I've flown those missions and do the interesting mission in sandbox. My play time is finite so I'd rather spend it on the missions I want to do.

That said, career mode is great for those who want a little more structure to the game, or aren't experienced enough yet to set their own goals.

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I'm considering giving up. It feels like such a grind with uninspired contracts. IDK how long it'll be until more fun ones come around but so far it's just "gather data from space around kerbin" or "test this part (which I don't even have)"

The part test contracts let you borrow that part, though that is a bit exploitative.

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The .90 hard difficulty was close to perfect IMHO, even with some of the short comings. Almost everything I did was on the first half of the research tree, and the rewards for science and roots were just enough to keep going and build a reserve for some "fun" missions like constructing high orbit refuel station.

Right now I don't think it's really enjoyable and the cost for new hires does not make any sense. I would say stay in sandbox at the moment.

Edit: Sandbox gets boring, yes you can do whatever you want... But there is no reason and it's far too easy with unlimited funds and all parts available.

Edited by Pax Kerbana
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Im one of those guys that started playing this game when sandbox was the ONLY mode.

And i will say ive given career multiple tries, its gotten ALOT better now then before, but i still think the whole limitation on what you wanna make isnt my thing. That, and the fact that i mostly enjoy building whackjob designs, sci-fi inspired craft, capital ships, tanks, fighting battles, ect, none of which has any place whatsoever in career mode. Basically what i enjoy out of the game is kinda counter to career anyways. That and i really dont enjoy the so called classical rocket styled craft, i like SSTOs for my primary way to go orbital, and the only time i even think about touching a rocket is when im launching a capital ship atop said rocket (although most of them are Hedited anyways, there is absolutely nothing wrong with orbital contruction when i actually placed this massive station like thing that looks liek a capital ship factory in LKO legit).

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I've played career off and on since it was introduced, and I've only played it through to completion of the tech tree once, back when it was a pure science mode. The tech tree was pretty illogical back then (and still is now) and really needs some work. There's also a bit of a grind in the early game to get enough science for the parts you need.

The new contracts, funds and reputation mechanics are pretty broken at this point IMHO. They don't really add anything to the game except an additional grind to get enough funds to upgrade the buildings and hire kerbals, rocket launches are dirt cheap by comparison.

Overall, stock career is pretty unbalanced and grindy in my opinion. There's a few moments of brilliance in the early-mid game when you manage to pull off your first few Mun missions with limited parts, but before that point the game is too limiting so you have to grind to get the parts you need to advance and once you get to the Mun/Minmus you can easily get all the science you need to unlock the entire tree, so it ends up being basically sandbox mode anyways.

There's been a few mods to rebalance career (SETI is my favorite) but none of them have been updated for 1.0 yet.

I would recommend at least trying out a regular career at least once just to form your own impressions, but for maximum enjoyment I would recommend doing what worir4 said in his post (use the debug menu to give yourself funds and science so you don't have to grind). Then you can enjoy the exploration contracts at your leisure and have some sense of mission progression as you complete the contracts.

Edited by Lord Aurelius
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Nope, I'm your evil twin. I always play career mode. I love it. I mean, I played Sandbox all the way until career was introduced, I have hundreds of hours in sandbox. I KNOW I can build and launch anything. Hell, if you install mechjeb you don't even have to do anything, you can just click 'GO TO SPACE' and get a bagel. In career I have to manage my science, contracts and funding, and keep an eye on reputation if I want to make sure my program stays profitable. For example, there are contracts that will NOT pay for the cost of the rocket, but if you could do them in process of another mission the costs might be worth it. Can I make it to the Mun with just 30 pieces or do I need to try an upgrade my VAB?

Sandbox I think is really appropriate for new players, even though a lot of people look at it differently. Career mode is where you go to up the challenge of your game, it gives you all sorts of opportunities to try to do something that would be a snap in Sandbox with everything unlocked and unlimited resources. Not to mention death of Kerbals and blowing up buildings is a consideration you HAVE to make.

Nah, I don't look down on Sandbox or it's players but for me it's just dull.

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I like the career in 1.x and don't play sandbox. Previously career was a thing to try but not really much. The one thing i have allways like about it though, is the way it restricts parts and forces me to create craft witin limits. It's probably not perfectly balanced or intuitive but so far i have enjoyed the lower tiers without any grinding.

On hard, managing basic suborbital and athmospheric flight opens up contracts and raises funds/science to unlock orbital flight and upgrade the launchpad to support heavier rockets at which point rewards increase with satellites, rescues and Munar flybys. It's sucky if you don't like dealing with aeroplanes or sats or using low tech parts, or having a budget or other restrictions.

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I'm doing both. :) In my career save I just got my first lander probe to the Mun, completing the "explore" contract. Minmus is next! Playing career leads to interesting designs - I didn't have access to fairings yet, so I bolted a nosecone to the top of the lander probe using an upside-down decoupler. :) It's not fancy but it works!

In my sandbox save I already have a dozen aircraft designs and a small space station brewing. In sandbox, you can do whatever, with whatever story (or lack thereof) your mind comes up with.

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Career mode is a chance to build a progressive story for your Kerbals. Anything is possible with quicksave, but having to manage the risk of each mission and deal with the consequences of failure leads to creative solutions. It just depends how much frustration you are willing to put yourself through to have a rewarding feeling of completion.

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I find sandbox totally boring. I also tend to get a bit bored whenever I finish off the tech tree and complete all my immediate goals. Then, I start a new career. Luckily, this usually matches up in time with a new release :)

For all the tech tree's (obvious) problems, playing with it is better for me than the not playing at all I'd do without it.

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I'm a career player mostly. I found something out with the update to 1.0. Be Aggressive with your contracts. Upgrade both the Mission Control and VAB as soon as you can, then stack missions.

Recent FUN mission stack:

1. Take a tourist to the Mun (land)

2. Rescue Kerbal from Mun Orbit

3. Take/Transmit Science from Mun

4. Test LV-909 orbiting Kerbin

Taking 3 capsules and 2 kerbals to the Mun and coming back with 3 kerbals, that's just great!

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Sandbox for me is boring. Career is only thing i ever play. I gues i need that grind and feeling of acomplishment when i do something. Altough i use debug menu to regenerate offered contracts when they get buggy and offer me 8x rescue mission :)

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I really like (and occasionally hate) career. Mostly because it forces me to get things done with limited ressources (duh), parts i would normally rarely use, and methods that mean leaving my confort zone. Right now i am playing on "hard", something i normally wouldnt do because i really dont like the "everything hardmode" poser people that seem to play everything with humble-bragging on reddit in mind. My opinion of course. But because of this i had to do quite a lot of things i normally wouldnt have to do ... at first managing a mun- and minmus-flybys with extremely low fuelmargins and without any manoevernodes whatsoever for example. Didnt done this for a long time, because i am lazy :) Right now i am really struggling to hit the right spot in things like max-launchmass (because of padlimits) while trying to build a suitable spacestation. In Sandbox i would simply build "everything goes" launchsystems, but the buildingupgrades are really really expensive.

Yes, sandbox is fun, but getting things done with minimal funds and equipment is a little bit more on the nasa way of spacetravel for me :)

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I want to play the career but it is just so bad...

I've played long enough with the sandbox i'm getting bored with it. Besides, i'd like for mechanics like Science to have a purpose, something they don't in the sandbox mode.

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Science mode is the sweet spot for a new release for me. Doesn't have all those tedious missions but does mean I have to work through the tech tree and use the primitive parts.

It does kinda make me wonder how many people are actually getting that much out of career mode for all the effort that went into it.

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