What strategy do you take in a career game?

[James M]

On 2/19/2020 at 11:54 AM, XLjedi said:

This is my draft idea for a "Pro-Stock" Challenge:

Well I may end up doing this. All I do is play stock anyway.

[XLjedi]

3 hours ago, James M said:

Well I may end up doing this. All I do is play stock anyway.

Cool!  I posted the challenge a few days ago...  the link is in my signature below

[VoidSquid]

Looks to me, there are some different understandings here about "reusable" and "expendable". For my part, when going to other CBs, most of the time I do send one reusable exploration lander-vessel, usually for three Kerbals, with all science experiments, with ISRU, that can land and return to orbit. This vessel always stays with the CB, that's my "resusable" part.

My Kerbals can come and go back to Kerbin using my taxi shuttles, that's the expendable part. And I never found any incentive to recover burned out stages, those are expendable too.

[James M]

I always go for a returnable core with expendable boosters. I don't typically PLAN to reuse stuff I've left in space unless it's a station. It just kind of happens sometimes when I see an opportunity. 

Edited February 28, 2020 by James M

[GregA]

Probe goes and gets high above and low above the next celestial body out.  Follow up ship has room for tourists.  Never a shortage of money.  Also I farm science, and don't feel a bit bad about it.

[Brynderion]

I started off using mostly throwaway craft, but nowadays I mostly try to make some form a reusable craft. To be fair though, I'm always restarting Career with differing levels of Funds and Science.

I usually get frustrated that I can't research what I want when I have a really great idea for a ship in a normal-level Science Career, so I ramp it up to between 250% and 500%, then get frustrated that everything is so easy at this setting. I swing wildly between wanting little challenge for gathering science/advancing the tech tree to wanting budget and science constraints that force me to really come up with something I haven't thought of before.

[RedWolfKerbal]

Airplanes! I don't think I can get anywhere near as much money per mission without a good airplane. And then I land it everytime at the Lauch site, really wish we had a bigger runway lol.

 

Speaking of reusable, is there a way to get money back from booster if you decouple them? Can I place a chute on them and then it deploy automatically or something??

[RoninFrog]

I never EVER reuse anything unless it is a rover, has all the equipment for mining, runs on xenon, or has a MPL.  I have never fulfilled a contract with a plane; I always use a rocket.

Edited March 16, 2020 by RoninFrog

[DJWyre]

Rule 1: Probe before Kerbals.
Though obviously not for the first few missions until I unlock cores.
This covers first flyby, orbit and landing. Obviously this makes going to certain bodies a multi-window operation.

Rule 2: Follow the main missions.
Eg. No Mun orbit until flyby mission is complete. No going to Minmus until Mun is finished.

Rule 3: No science from Minmus unless mission requires.
You can easily complete the tree in the Kerbin system, which is boring if only because I like the idea of progression by going places *cough*KSP2*cough*.

Rule 4: Bring Them Home:
No Kerbal rescue mission is ever rejected.

As for reusability; I usually find that by the time I can make decent reusable first stages I am developing ISRU systems on Mun and Minmus. And at that point I have numerous 'Hopper' craft that ferry things in-system. Kerbals on Kerbin that need to go somewhere are sent up on super-cheap 1.25m capsules to awaiting vessels.

Edited March 16, 2020 by DJWyre

[XLjedi]

6 minutes ago, DJWyre said:

Rule 1: Probe before Kerbals.
Though obviously not for the first few missions until I unlock cores.
This covers first flyby, orbit and landing. Obviously this makes going to certain bodies a multi-window operation.

Rule 2: Follow the main missions.
Eg. No Mun orbit until flyby mission is complete. No going to Minmus until Mun is finished.

Rule 3: No science from Minmus unless mission requires.
You can easily complete the tree in the Kerbin system, which is boring if only because I like the idea of progression by going places *cough*KSP2*cough*.

Rule 4: Bring Them Home:
No Kerbal rescue mission is ever rejected.

As for reusability; I usually find that by the time I can make decent reusable first stages I am developing ISRU systems on Mun and Minmus. And at that point I have numerous 'Hopper' craft that ferry things in-system. Kerbals on Kerbin that need to go somewhere are sent up on super-cheap 1.25m capsules to awaiting vessels.

I always go Minmus first...  easier to build landers that can return and not kill anyone in early career.

What is the cost per launch of your reusable "super-cheap 1.25m capsule"?  I'd like to compare it to my spaceplane.

[DJWyre]

2 minutes ago, XLjedi said:

I always go Minmus first...  easier to build landers that can return and not kill anyone in early career.

Because Minmus is too easy personally. Landing on it is simply not challenging enough. A probe landing on Mun without hold-retro and without the science to unlock the second relay is properly tense.

What is the cost per launch of your reusable "super-cheap 1.25m capsule"?  I'd like to compare it to my spaceplane.

I honestly can't remember.

Also...

I suck at spaceplaces! The cost/aggro makes them frankly a bore personally when it comes to careers.

[Unturned_Fighter]

Somewhat fast-paced realism.

Yes, I've played RP-0 and enjoy it very much.

[Leopard]

tend to start single use, same design over and over, usually not that optimised either. gradually goes to 'single use/multi-purpose" e.g. a probe going somewhere with a few small satellites riding piggy back.

find I value time too much to bother much with re-usability