spacenut1337

I was trying to make space planes a part of my career mode, but I'm having a hard time making one that can get any kind of payload to orbit. All the examples I see have rapiers or nukes which I don't have yet. Eventually I got a payload-less plane to orbit and back again, which was a nice victory, and then decided to try a NASA Shuttle-style ship, which turned out to be even harder!

I think locking the first gimbaling engine behind an upgrade and the addition of tier 0 fins introduces players to a key concept - drag can work in your favor to keep things pointed where you want them. What I find frustrating is the tendency for SAS oscillations to diverge instead of converge. The system just loves to overcorrect.

With physics time warp, a well-designed rover, and decent driving skills it's not too bad. But yeah, you gotta be in the mood to cruise around. I usually don't do more than one of these contracts per celestial body.

The way I see it, Career mode is the only thing giving relevance to rovers. The data gathering contracts are a perfect fit for them.