Chibbity

Thanks for the advice, good to know things only get easier from here on out. I think I'll stick to vanilla like you recommended as I'd have trouble being proud of my accomplishments otherwise. The research tree can look really daunting to a new player especially at the rate you earn science in the early game. I haven't even upgraded my R&D department yet but I was still kind of taken aback to realize the next row of unlocks was more than 100 research apiece. On a slightly related note, can anyone comment on whether its worth it to focus on unlocks that can produce more science over regular parts? Or is that getting too meta-game? What about upgrading to be able to take soil samples? Is it enough extra science points to warrant the cash? Just as a small update, I've started a new campaign game on normal and I'm using the unpaid research strategy to sacrifice rep for more science, I'm getting things done a lot cheaper and more efficiently than before as well as being a lot pickier about which contracts I accept, thanks again to whom ever mentioned that you can cancel contracts w/o accepting them first! Thanks again everyone...Mun, here I come!

Thanks for all the responses guys! It seems to me that I should be more picky about which contracts I take and perhaps I should consider dialing up the science/cash rewards in the difficulty selector. I've always kind of been a "vanilla" mode purist who hates changing any sliders but perhaps I should make an exception in order to avoid the "grind" and keep moving ahead in the game. Sounds like the contracts get more interesting/doable towards the mid game as well. So far I've achieved Orbit and all that but haven't gone to the Mun so I'd say I'm still in the early game. Really looking forward to unlocking more parts and designing more complex ships, anyone have an opinion on double science rewards? I saw one fellow suggest it but I don't want to unlock everything too fast either. I guess what I'm asking is do most of you use normal 100% science rewards? If so, was it a grind? Thanks again for the responses/help, I really appreciate it! I should'ave known a game like this would have a knowledgeable and helpful community!

Agreed, I find the compensation often isn't enough to warrant the cost of the ship/the time it takes...and that's assuming you don't muck something up and have to reload from the launchpad. I'd love to see an increase in the rewards for missions in general.

Hey all! Started playing Kerbal a month or so ago and although I'm rather enjoying it and having a good time and all, the Career mode was one of the things I've been waiting for since I'm not much for sandbox style "do whatever you want" I like a lot of things about it but... None of the missions in the Career mode seem worth doing. Take 2 Kerbals on a sub orbital flight for less than 20k reward? Subtracting the cost of the actual ship that's not a lot of profit. Even a cheap ship that can break 70,000 is going to cost more than 10k prolly. Test basic jet engine in flight? Sure sounds easy enough...oh wait it has to be above 13,000 ft at over 400 m/s. I couldn't even achieve 400 m/s in a flat dive at full power from 13,000 feet with 3 of the basic "weasely" engines. So what am I supposed to do? Attach them to a rocket and just turn them on for a sec? That doesn't sound like very much fun. Observe some random point in flight below 17k? Sounds easy enough...or it would be if it wasn't half way around the world so it takes 20 mins of 4x speed watching my plane fly in a straight line. Is it just me or are they hardly ever worth doing? Especially in the early game. Am I missing something? They don't seem fun or especially profitable. Thanks in advance for any light you could shine on the matter.