Sherwise Kerman is a liar!

[Kerbart]

I'm not above spamming contracts, so Sherwise Kerman was the first to be on “flag duty†on Mun. Every hour or so he’d get an assignment, and was told to go outside, plant a flag (and name it “Contract Flag†with the name of the sponsor on the inscription). Around three dozen flag assignments were given to Sherwise, and Mission Kontrol decided that it was time to relieve Sherwise who spent a fairly long time in a Storage Container.

And so the replacement krew came in. Behold their surprise, when they found Sherwise’s landing craft... but not the forest of flagpoles they were expecting. They knocked on the door of the storage container. “Sherwise, where are the flags?â€Â

“Not now!†came the answer, “This episode of Krime Scene Investigation is alsmost over!†A little while later Sherwise exlained that he got quite hooked to watching TV shows, and that putting on a space suit was such a hassle... and after all, who would know if the flags were really planted or not. And what on Kerbin does Rockomax want to do with TEN flags on Mun? Seriously?

And with those words Sherwise climbed in his capsule, fired the engines and went back home, leaving a flabbergasted Midfred and Barzor behind.

Seriously. I had like 30 or more flags planted. The replacements come in, and the flags are gone... all of them.

[Norpo]

Plot twist: They actually wanted them (the flags) all on top of eachother, and use the infinite amount of flags in the capsule as a makeshift space elevator. When Rockomax found out that he just planted them randomly on the ground, they made the flags disappear with their minds

Them rockomax people are tricky. But i'll keep using their orange tanks for everything* none the less.

*Note, I might not use orange tanks for landers on Gilly.

(slightly off-topic, I wonder if you can plant flags on top of each other, I don't think you can, as it wouldn't count as touching the ground, and the option wouldn't appear, but still... Through glitches, you *can* get flags off the ground)

[Steambirds]

I hate to say it, but the thought of one dude on the mun all the time just placing flags willy nilly never occured to me. So I was launching a bunch of dudes just to place one flag and return to Kerbin all the time.

[WWEdeadman]

I hate to say it, but the thought of one dude on the mun all the time just placing flags willy nilly never occured to me. So I was launching a bunch of dudes just to place one flag and return to Kerbin all the time.

Really? I still have my "Temporary Mun Base" up there. (A lander that's out of fuel). And like 15 flags in front of it. Currently planning a mission to refuel and get the whole thing back. My flags never disappeared though.

[psyper]

I have a mun and minus base solely for flag planting and also sending science for the fineprint mod I believe. When planting a flag I do the same as OP and name it after the sponsor but go one step further and then edit the persistence file to change the flag to the sponsors flag - I see it as kinda advertising - they will fund your space project if you put a little advert banner on mun or duna and take a photo with your astronaut standing by it.

[samstarman5]

This is definitely an answer to that question, 'Are offworld bases necessary to Career Mode?' Yes. But definitely going with relief crews and supply runs does add to the fun.

I hate to say it, but the thought of one dude on the mun all the time just placing flags willy nilly never occured to me. So I was launching a bunch of dudes just to place one flag and return to Kerbin all the time.

Would imagine you can land on the Mun in your sleep by now.

Afterthought: As to why the flags did disappear, I wonder if flags are counted along with debris, and get deleted when the limit you set is reached?

Edited November 22, 2014 by samstarman5

[Zylark]

At my Mun Karbonite base, Bartrod Kerman goes out at irregular intervals, plants a flag by the stairs of the hab module, then gets a radio message from home that he just made between 60 and 70 thousand in sponsorship for the space program and then proceed to take down the flag again and re-enter the hab. About all he's done whilst there. 'Have an exciting career in space they said! See the solar system they said! Pfff, humbug!'

[RexKramer]

I have a Kerbal on every body in the game, except for Jool and Eve. Basically just for flag duty. Didn't send a feller to Eve, because I don't like sending Kerbals to places I can't get them back from. Even though I have no real intention of bringing my flag-planters home.

I'll be the first to admit this is really spamming funds. However, I never before was motivated to perform a manned landing on every body, so some good is coming from the venture. I even provided a rover to all the flag-planters, although not very useful on Gilly..

[magnemoe]

I have a Kerbal on every body in the game, except for Jool and Eve. Basically just for flag duty. Didn't send a feller to Eve, because I don't like sending Kerbals to places I can't get them back from. Even though I have no real intention of bringing my flag-planters home.

I'll be the first to admit this is really spamming funds. However, I never before was motivated to perform a manned landing on every body, so some good is coming from the venture. I even provided a rover to all the flag-planters, although not very useful on Gilly..

If you use TAC or other life support you has to supply the base too.

[Lunaran]

I have a lot of trouble with flags disappearing. It seems like it's gotten worse with later versions. I gave up on marking the east end of the runway after six tries.

[Aloriel]

If you use TAC or other life support you has to supply the base too.

That's what I was thinking... With TAC-LS, you need food, water, and oxygen. So, you would still need some sort of supply system, or to use MKS (RoverDude's Modular Kolonization System) where you can then produce all of those resources if you find a good landing spot.

Either way, it becomes more complex and interesting.

[dryer_lint]

I just plant the flag and take it down a second later.

[Brotoro]

This is the kinds of missions the contract system inspires?

[Lunaran]

This is the kinds of missions the contract system inspires?

The spirit of the contract is "fly a mission with Kerbals to this body, and plant a flag on it."

The letter of the contract is just "plant a flag on it," so that's what everyone does, because the game lets them. It's not exactly an exploit, but it's not exactly in the spirit of the thing either.

[Kruleworld]

I had like 30 or more flags planted.

really? after i plant the flag, i pull it down till the next contract....

...the contract says to plant a flag on the Mun, it doesn't say for how long.

[KerbMav]

This is the kinds of missions the contract system inspires?

This is the kind of missions available in stock KSP by .25 - .90 will have assimilated the FinePrint mod, so I suggest Squad gets rid of the infinitely repeating missions that get old quickly.

[Tw1]

The spirit of the contract is "fly a mission with Kerbals to this body, and plant a flag on it."

The letter of the contract is just "plant a flag on it," so that's what everyone does, because the game lets them. It's not exactly an exploit, but it's not exactly in the spirit of the thing either.

It does provide a use for bases though... I'd like to see a distance limit added. And something which checks to see if the flag is still there.

[prophet_01]

I do an extended mun mission with a station in orbit around the mun. It has a reusable lander, a lab, a fuel depo, life support supplies and a transport tug. I've send the lander to most biomes already and planted a flag each time, mostly to keep track of the biomes I visited. I was planing to place all those flags anyway, so I accept those contracts when I get them. It doesn't feel thaat cheaty. But tac-ls is still not that challenging in kerbins soi as you can easily pack in enough supplies for 200 days or more. It gets tricky around jool though, but I'm not there yet (in my current career)

edit: lots and lots of spelling mistakes, stupid phone

Edited November 24, 2014 by prophet_01

[LABHOUSE]

So I'm not the only one with craft disappearing except my bases disappear, and the return craft and kerbals.