How does KSP decide what order to offer Explore Body contracts?

[Jetski]

Hi guys, I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I'm curious how KSP decides which planets should be offered next for Explore contract.  How does it know the Mun should be offered before Jool, for example?  I'm asking because I'm working on a playthrough of Gameslinx planet pack, and the order is off, wondering if there's a way to edit this.  Any of you modding geniuses know the trick to this?

[Hodari]

No idea on how to make it work in mods, but for stock, it's some combination of reputation vs. the difficulty of the missions and needing certain prerequisites before a contract can be offered.  Those prerequisites will be things like needing to orbit Kerbin before it will offer a Mun mission, leaving Kerbin's SOI might be required before a mission to another planet, or even needing certain parts unlocked before it will offer various types of contracts.

[Jetski]

9 hours ago, Hodari said:

No idea on how to make it work in mods, but for stock, it's some combination of reputation vs. the difficulty of the missions and needing certain prerequisites before a contract can be offered.  Those prerequisites will be things like needing to orbit Kerbin before it will offer a Mun mission, leaving Kerbin's SOI might be required before a mission to another planet, or even needing certain parts unlocked before it will offer various types of contracts.

I'm wondering if it's maybe hard coded into the bodies themselves.  For example, am I getting an impossible contract because the body is a modified Minmus perhaps, and the game thinks Minmus should be an early contract, not realizing that the modified body is beyond Jool?  Or is it perhaps the order that the planets are listed in a config file somewhere?

Maybe @Red Iron Crown or another wise voice could point me in the right direction?

 

Upon investigation of the mod folders, it looks like Olu'um is based on Jool, but is in a separate folder than the other planets in the pack.  I've gotten a few contracts for orbital stations and the like for other planets, but still mystified why that contract is listed first. 

Edited May 29, 2017 by Jetski

[Streetwind]

One thing to keep in mind is that the game offers only one Exploration contract at a time. So it's possible that the game determines that there's a 95% chance you'll get an explore contract for a planet right next door that you want to visit real soon, and a 5% chance to get one for a planet that is much further out than that. Then the random number generator rolls a 98 and you get stuck with something you don't think makes sense, and you won't get a different one until you refuse or complete that one.

[Jetski]

Sadly, we've recreated this contract issue again.  Even with the config file in a different place, it's still happening.  Maybe there's a difficulty multiplier we can set?

[Fulgora]

As far as I understand it the game only offers contracts for bodies that have been visited (craft in SOI). That approach should work for planet packs as well because the name of the body is actually the identifier used by the game. Unless there are multiple bodies with the same name things should be fine.

A few hypothesis based on that below:

a) If you have started the game on stock or a different planet pack and been to a planet that has been moved by your new planet pack (outer planets moves eeloo for example) you should stll get contracts for that planet by this logic... (which might be irritating)

b) Also hyperediting crafts around new bodies might potentially mess up your career progress.

[Jetski]

Good thoughts all, but I can eliminate both as this is a fresh KSP zip, fresh mod zip, fresh Kopernicus install, new career from scratch.  As soon as the first 4 hard coded contracts are complete, an Explore Olu'um pops up, instead of a Mun/Minmus style local moon.  Gameslinx has recreated it on his machine as well in career mode.  The issue is the Explore contract (the one you can only get if you haven't already visited a body) is popping up for the wrong planet.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Jetski

[Gameslinx]

47 minutes ago, Jetski said:

Good thoughts all, but I can eliminate both as this is a fresh KSP zip, fresh mod zip, fresh Kopernicus install, new career from scratch.  As soon as the first 4 hard coded contracts are complete, an Explore Olu'um pops up, instead of a Mun/Minmus style local moon.  Gameslinx has recreated it on his machine as well in career mode.  The issue is the Explore contract (the one you can only get if you haven't already visited a body) is popping up for the wrong planet.

I don't think it's popping up on the wrong planet (Olu'um instead of, say, Olei), I think it's just offering that contract too early.

Still been experimenting through the day, no breakthrough

[Jetski]

After much building and warping and mining, I managed a big mission to Olu'um, and as soon as that Explore contract is complete, it goes for a very sensible Explore Nightmare (local moon and good early target) contract.  I've already visited most of the other local moons, so logical and good for career progression.  Just that one contract out of order...

[cubinator]

For me it's always been: I get a slew of contracts to go to a body immediately after I return from said body on my own to repeat the exact thing I just finished doing.

[Jetski]

1 hour ago, cubinator said:

For me it's always been: I get a slew of contracts to go to a body immediately after I return from said body on my own to repeat the exact thing I just finished doing.

Certainly true.  I don't expect that to change with the updates until they rewrite the contract system.  That said, most of my career is directed by those nice Explore contracts, that pop up before you have gone anywhere near them.  That's what I'm trying to track down.  In stock I never get an Explore Eeloo before a Explore Minmus, looking to replicate that behavior in a planet pack.

 

[Superfluous J]

27 minutes ago, Jetski said:

Certainly true.  I don't expect that to change with the updates until they rewrite the contract system.  That said, most of my career is directed by those nice Explore contracts, that pop up before you have gone anywhere near them.  That's what I'm trying to track down.  In stock I never get an Explore Eeloo before a Explore Minmus, looking to replicate that behavior in a planet pack.

 

Have you looked into Strategia? It allows you as the player to decide what world you want to concentrate on, and gives you contracts for that world. It sadly doesn't do moons except those in the starting SOI (Mun and MInmus for the Kerbin system) but it's better than nothing.