I'm short of cash in .90, help?

[Torrack]

Hi all,

While completing contracts isn't much of a problem I am having some problems generating "large" amounts of funds for purchasing those building upgrades. Does anybody have some advice they can give me about how I can generate larger profits on my missions? Or any other ways? I am already performing my contracts with ships built to the old "only what is NEEDED" minimum part counts. I also have been playing around with adjusting the amount of solid/liquid fuel (and oxidizer) in my tanks when I think I can complete a contract with less.

It just seems to take forever to generate those thousands and thousands of Kerbits required to purchase the upgrades.

Any help would be great, thanks everybody!

*******************

UPDATE

*******************

Thank you very much for all of the quick and really helpful advice! What a great community we have here, wow. Thanks again, all; I'm off to put some probes into orbit (hopefully with enough Delta-V leftover for some orbital inclination burns) and try to knock out multiple contracts per mission. Awesome tips!

Edited January 9, 2015 by Torrack
Answered thread

[technion]

The contracts increase in payout exponentially. You're not supposed to start out trying to pay for large upgrades. You are supposed to be forced to explore the Kerbin system with minimal rockets and options.

By the time you find yourself with contracts for Duna, hang tight until you can get 3-4. My first launch out there hauled a small satellite for a "put a satellite in orbit" mission, completed a "explore Duna" mission, and also a temperature scan mission. That paid a fortune and things got pretty easy afterwards.

[Wanderfound]

How to generate large sums of cash cheaply and quickly...

See: http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Beta/Kerbodyne%20Showroom/Satshot/story

And: http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Spaceplane%20economics/story

The TLDR version is to combine high value contracts into high efficiency missions.

A spaceplane flight to Minmus that costs a few thousand in fuel can deploy a couple of satellites which each do a couple of contracts, and do science from... contracts from Kerbin and Minmus orbit as well as Minmus surface. Then there's the flag planting and surface sample contracts, and a big payout for making your spaceplane fulfil orbital and/or planetary station contracts. Maybe even chuck in a part test, rescue a Kerbal or deploy an interplanetary probe along the way.

If you're in too much of a hurry to fly, a single large SRB can put up several ultralight satellites, each of which has the ÃŽâ€V to reach any Kerbin, Mun or Minmus orbit. That should only cost ~√15,000 to launch, less or more depending on how many sats you use. Remember that one satellite can fill many contracts, so long as they're all accepted before it's built.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Wanderfound

[MarvinKitFox]

Early on: the temperature + crew report missions on Kerbin.

Build a flier, do 3-4 contract missions (3-5 data points each).

As you are returning the whole plane, your expense in <<2000 per trip.

Income varies, about 45000 per contract, thus up to 200000 per plane trip.

A bit later on: Satellite missions.

You can use *one* decent high-delta-v satellite to fulfill 4+ satellite missions in a row. Just be sure the missions are accepted before you actually launch.

Cost: ~30000

Profit: ~50000 per mission.

You gain a LOT by combining missions like this.

Last night, I launched my first (potentially) manned Mun lander.

visit mission command, pick up 3 satellite contracts, 1 for explore the Mun, 1 for rescue stranded kerbal.

>Launch with probe core + empty pod.

>Do 3 satellite missions around Kerbin.

>Rescue Edmund Kerbal from orbit.

visit mission command, pick up 1 "science from kerbin space" contract.

>do science,

>go to mun, enter polar orbit

visit mission command, pick up 2 temp on MUn, one crew report on Mun missions

>as I orbit over the high observes, do them. Then one full Mun rotation later, drop orbit to 8300m, and repeat for all low observes. complete 1, complete other except 2 ground temps

visit mission command, pick up 1 temp over Mun mission

>repeat, complete temp observes.

visit mission command, [pick up "science over mun"

>radio back spare temp measurement.

visit mission command, nothing pertinent available

>land at the alpha site for ground reading mission. Do EVA

revisit mission control. get Plant Flag mission.

>climb back out, grumble about bureaucracy, plant a flag, and climb back in

>fly to beta site (2km away)

visit mission control. get "science from Kerbin orbit"

>Launch, return.

>do crew report in space, radio it back.

>forget (too lazy, too late at night) to do the remaining observes from orbit.

>Land.

For a total expenditure of about 65000, I got *well* over a million funds, and some 1600 science, from one launch.

Note, these prices/costs are as per "hard" mode. No idea what they would be on normal.

Edited January 9, 2015 by MarvinKitFox

[P.Lumumba]

This worked for me on hard.

Once you have ion engine unlocked & seismic scan unlocked :

Send an ion powered probe to Minimus with a thermometer & seismic accelerometer.

Accept a bunch (as many as possible, check often if you don't like declining offers) of temp scan, seismic scan, science data & satellite missions.

You can easily get 20 contracts (about √200.000 each) out of a probe that shouldn't cost you more than √40.000.

Miminus Outpost contracts also pay good money for an easy job, and if you're lucky you can combine with other contracts. (orbital station, science, tests)

√100.000 / launch, √350.000 and more in return.

I got my R&D money like this, (√6.000.000) but it is a grind.

[StrandedonEarth]

If you get the Science Funding mod then you can also get kash for all science transmitted or returned to KSC, completely separate from contracts

[Bacterius]

Also, Gilly. Suck that moon dry with all the contracts you can get, they are going to be incredibly cheap in terms of delta-v cost. Once you're there with a small ship, a lander and a probe or two, each contract is maybe 40 m/s dv tops, and they pay out pretty well both in cash and especially science (which you can trade for cash using the admin building).

[tater]

I haven't used any exploits like having 1 satellite/station fulfill more than one contract except "science from orbit." I combined parts contracts into other missions to get parts I had not unlocked yet. I did a couple of ridiculous suborbital flights with goofy contraptions to lift huge booster clusters, etc, for hundreds of thousands. I unlocked most everything and upgraded most everything before day 90, with millions left over.

Once I had craft in orbit, I'll take any "science from orbit around" contracts since those are a free 30 to 60k.

[ROXunreal]

I'm in a similar situation having just started career a week ago. Plus I use RemoteTech so satellites are not really a practical option early on.

I find the best solution to be the following examples:

1. Grind "Science in space around Kerbin" missions. Yes they only pay out about 15,000 but are easily doable with a pod, goo unit on its tip and one radial parachute on the side, decoupler and S1 SRB (or if you haven't unlocked it, a BACC/RT-10 booster combination). The radial chute attached to only one side will make you drift somewhat upon takeoff, but you can counteract that with pod torque enough to get a +70,000m trajectory. There is no need for two of them.

2. Decline all the silly unprofitable part testing contracts because sooner or later a VERY profitable one WILL show up in their place. It may or may not be challenging. Testing a KR-1x2 in Kerbin orbit got my by far the most money up to now, over 450,000, but was a rather hard feat to pull off. Sometimes you also get contracts to test the tiny engines like the LV-1R, 24-11 or 48-7 for something like 50,000 roots which is very profitable given how easy they are to get in orbit.

3. This isn't a moneymaker but makes life easier: combine your contracts with part test "Landed on Kerbin" contracts that give out nice science amounts, you practically get up to 25-ish science for free.

Edit: note that payout numbers are subject to game difficulty, mine is at 40% money-wise I think.

Edited January 9, 2015 by ROXunreal

[radonek]

For me, biggest cash cows early on were testing those big-ass NASA engines on escape trajectory and space stations on sun orbit (but be careful not to pick ones involving asteroid until you have fully upgraded tracking station). Combining a few satellite misions into one can also net nice bonus. Hauling staions to Mun or Minmus is better paid, but also take more time so i generaly avoid it.

There is also a trick around "must be new" prerequisite: if you dock your brand new ship to older station, you get "old" station. But if you that dock station to your ship (that is, "new" hardware is passive during docking) resulting ship is considered brand new. I'm not sure this is precise though, triggered it only few times unintentionally.