Minimum number of flights to open tech tree 100%

[E. F. Kranz]

I started a new game a few days ago, with the intent of opening the tech tree with the fewest number of flights possible.

I was able to accomplish this in 10 flights.

Here's a hastily-produced .gif showing each design on the launch pad.

How many flights does it take you?

[SkyRender]

I've done it in 3 before, and a number of people have managed it in two.

[Xetalim]

Millions...

Sadly.

[E. F. Kranz]

I've done it in 3 before, and a number of people have managed it in two.

Wait, whuhhh? Two flights? The hell?

[User Unrelated]

Wait, whuhhh? Two flights? The hell?

I mean... someone was able to build a craft that could RETURN FROM THE SURFACE OF EVE using only the demo parts, so...

Edited November 22, 2013 by User Unrelated

[Rakshasa]

Is this with or without the issue that allows you to retransmit results from a single flight in the same biome multiple times?

[The Destroyer]

It all depends. Usually it takes several...

Let's see...

Suborbital

Orbit

Minmus landing+return

Interplanetary sample

Mun landing+return

Gilly landing+return

Eve landing

Moho flyby

Jool and moons flyby

Duna/Ike landing+return 2 missons

That's all for me. 11!

[Odo]

How many flights does it take you?

There was a forum thread awhile back where someone did it in 1 flight. it was a huge rocket that went to 4 planets and back.

[Eric S]

Personally, I've done it in four and could easily do it in three if I lined up all of my ambitious missions into one career mode save, though I find myself taking a few more now that I've stopped spamming transmitted science.

[SkyRender]

The secret to fast unlocks is to get access to science parts ASAP and then to spam the hell out of the Mun's many biomes. This trick will not work next version, of course, since the Science Jr. and Mystery Goo are going to be one-shots without a science lab attached to process their contents.

[Rainbow-Dashie]

I bet Scott Manley could do it in half a flight...

I'm on flight 20 or something and i still have a bit to go... mostly due to the fact i have never landed on a planet before... but i did finally land a probe on Eve, and a rover is about to land on Duna so im making progress!

[KBMODIGITY]

There was a forum thread awhile back where someone did it in 1 flight. it was a huge rocket that went to 4 planets and back.

How did they have enough electricity to transmit all that data back with just the most simple of parts? Also with no decoupler how would they land on kerbin again safely with all those rockets attached?

[Rainbow-Dashie]

How did they have enough electricity to transmit all that data back with just the most simple of parts? Also with no decoupler how would they land on kerbin again safely with all those rockets attached?

Adding more of the capsules will add electricity to the ship, and you can remove rockets and boosters by placing an engine or booster directly above them and just burning them away

[katateochi]

In my main career mode I did it in 4 missions. My other aim was to do it in the shortest possible time from the kerbals point of view, under 30 kerbal days.

[Ekku Zakku]

Of course it's very possible to do in 2, I've yet to do my second mission in my 2-launch unlock save, but it'd be quite easy.

There was a forum thread awhile back where someone did it in 1 flight. it was a huge rocket that went to 4 planets and back.

I doubt this so much you wouldn't believe... the most recent record for tier-0 science was about 5500, and I'd say a tier-0 tech tree unlock would be in the odds of about a trillion to one. It also certainly wouldn't be done before .23 is out, which is going to change science as it is.

[numerobis]

How did they have enough electricity to transmit all that data back with just the most simple of parts? Also with no decoupler how would they land on kerbin again safely with all those rockets attached?

Not much transmission going on; you just fill the capsules up with EVA reports.

There is a decoupler, but it's heavy and tricky to use: a part that overheats just goes poof. So you can stick, for example, an SRB below another SRB and have them both run at the same time. The lower SRB eventually explodes -- voila, you've decoupled it. If it had things radially attached, they are separated too.

How much total science is required to unlock everything?

[gtmattz]

In the vanilla game... Not enough flights imho... So I went and installed remote tech, life support, and deadly reentry to make things a little more difficult, and interstellar to make the tree bigger.

[Kasuha]

What's the minimum is pretty clear now: two.

Personally I was not trying to break any records and concentrated mostly on having fun. So I spent quite a few flights uncovering first three or four levels of the tree. There was a suborbital flight, a Minmus mission, a Mun mission, then I experimented a bit with planes without wheels (two flights). After that I built my first interplanetary ship with a probe, sent it to Duna, Minmus&Mun, and Eve - and that's where I ran out of locked tech tree nodes.

I returned to sandbox since then.

[Vector]

There was a forum thread awhile back where someone did it in 1 flight. it was a huge rocket that went to 4 planets and back.

False unless you find this supposed thread.

Maybe possible with exploits in a buggy 0.22 pre-release, but not in the current version.

[SunJumper]

AFAIK, the minimum is two, the first being a grand tour (by Allmhuran), the second being a simple probe tour of Jool with all the sensors.

[kinnison]

What about in kerbal time? I have been getting around 300-400 science a flight with just landing on the mun and then Kerbin and I am only on day 12 Kerbal time. The missions to Minmus take a LONG time. but i usually can get a Mun mission done in 12 hours game time.

[KerbMav]

Actually I am not in a hurry - I already played with full parts for a few months and now like the step by step (uh, baby) playing. Additionally making it more difficult with things like Remote Tech 2 and not going for manned missions right away, it makes for a nice slow approach with a feel of realism. I also did not try to reach and milk every biome on Kerbin, just picking them up as I return my crafts.

[Kasuha]

What about in kerbal time? I have been getting around 300-400 science a flight with just landing on the mun and then Kerbin and I am only on day 12 Kerbal time. The missions to Minmus take a LONG time. but i usually can get a Mun mission done in 12 hours game time.

Fastest possible in Kerbal time is running Kerbin and Mun biomes dry. You can be done before a ship to Minmus would return. But you need a lot of small ships for that and run them in parallel.

[magnemoe]

Fastest possible in Kerbal time is running Kerbin and Mun biomes dry. You can be done before a ship to Minmus would return. But you need a lot of small ships for that and run them in parallel.

Yes, benefit with an early Minmus mission is that its easy to land on and give high return. I was able to get rover wheels before my first Mun landing, second Mun landing had better wheels all the science equipment and the option to dock and refuel from transfer stage, finished the tree.

[SunJumper]

I'm curious about how one would go about a full tree unlock while minimising costs...