A bit about R&D (Preferably from Experimental players)

[cantorobriar]

For all you experimental players, I just wanted to ask for a more in-depth explanation to Research & Development. I just wanted everything to be restated and more elaborate than what I've been seeing. I understand that there is science modules and that there is the tech trees and that they unlock new parts and the subassemblies, but what do they actually MEAN? How do they WORK? Thanks (in advance) for answering.

Edited October 11, 2013 by cantorobriar
Grammar mistakes. I feel like fixing things like that.

[DMagic]

I imagine the experimental players are under some kind of NDA that prevents them from discussing unreleased content so I wouldn't get your hopes up for an answer from them. Your best bet is to watch KSP-TV tonight for the Squadcast: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/37055-KSP-TV-Programming-Schedule?p=469342#post469342

[cantorobriar]

Ok, thanks.

[rhoark]

What I can piece together is:

There are different parts you can add that produce science points. The first available one is a crewed capsule. The existing temperature, pressure, and gravity sensors will also produce science points. There will also be new science parts. Different parts have different requirements as far as altitude, biomes etc. Doing the same experiment in the same kind of place as you've done before will have diminishing returns.

Once your vessel has produced the science points, you have to cash them in by either landing on Kerbin, or transmitting with an antenna. Different antennas have different ranges, and there will be some new ones in .22. There's a penalty of some percentage when transmitting instead of landing.

Once you've cashed in some science points, you can spend them at the R&D center to open whatever node of the tech tree you like, not dependent on the kind of experiments you've been doing.

[Lheim]

I watched a bit of the preview podcast.

You get science points through crew reports or eva reports or science modules you can pop onto your ship, which can be done via right-click context menus or staging.

Every different type of location you access will provide different results for these experiments. Repeating the same experiment in the same location will have diminishing returns.

You can just transmit data back to Kerbin, which may take a hefty penalty in how valuable it is, depending, versus actually returning the experiment back home. Transmitting takes a significant amount of power.

Once you have your research points, you can unlock new selections of parts in the R&D building, in a tree of options. This will only apply to career mode; you'll start off career mode with a really limited selection of parts and develop from there. But in sandbox mode all will be available from the start.

Subassemblies don't have to be unlocked; they're just a new feature in the vehicle editor. What it means is that you can create things like satellites or lifters or rovers, save them seperately, then bring them in as whole chunks to just plug together. So you might create a new lander and then just plug it on top of a standard lifter you've already designed before. Just an ease of use feature.

Edited October 12, 2013 by Lheim