1.4.1 Contract order

[purpleivan]

I'm in the early stages of my "new version means new tech tree playthrough" career game and I'm finding that the order in which contracts become available is a bit strange.

Previously there was a fairly logical progression to these, but now the order seems random at times.

For example, I've just been offered (and accepted) a contract to build an outpost on Duna supporting 8 kerbals with 6000 units of fuel. Nothing strange in that, except that this was the first contract offered beyond Mun and Minmus and I'd not even seen an outpost contract for those two bodies yet. Oh yeah, not sent anything, even unmanned beyond Kerbin system SOI in this game either.

Another, less extreme example was the contract to dock two craft around Mun, that appeared before docking or even rendezvous contracts around Kerbin were available.

Is this a known behaviour of 1.4 ?

[Zeiss Ikon]

I upgraded my existing career when I switched to 1.4/1.4.1/MH, so I can't say if this is new behavior, but as you said, it seemed the contracts came in a sensible order in 1.3.0 (the first version in which I played a career).  I haven't seen any out-of-sequence contracts since upgrading, but I've only accepted one batch of contracts (standard fare, tourists to LKO and Mun landing, a rescue, and the first landing on Minmus) since my upgrade.

[pandaman]

Hmmm..  Necessity is the mother of invention. It could be argued that Kennedy issued a 'contract' to land on the moon before NASA actually knew how to, or if they actually could, do it.  So maybe its not as wacky as it appears.

[purpleivan]

The difference compared with previous versions isn't spoiling my game experience, I just think the order the contracts are arriving in is a little odd.

I guess I go manned before unmanned (to Duna at least)

[_stilgar_]

Have you sent anything to solar orbit? If you escape Kerbin SOI, the game assumes that you are ready to go to Duna, even if you haven't even landed on any of the moons yet. 

[purpleivan]

3 hours ago, _stilgar_ said:

Have you sent anything to solar orbit? If you escape Kerbin SOI, the game assumes that you are ready to go to Duna, even if you haven't even landed on any of the moons yet. 

I have, but only after the "Duna outpost" contract popped up.

It's not that any Duna contract has appeared at this stage in my career that suprised me, but that one for a bigger than normal starting point outpost (8 kerbal capcity plus fuel) appeared before the usual "return science from" and "explore" type contracts for that planet.

Same pattern with the Mun docking contract appearing before the usual "rendevouz in Kerbin orbit" and "dock in Kerbin orbit" ones.