dvader

I think there is a "Completion Bonus" score as well of 2000 pts. At least there is in the purple Score tab. If that also multiplies, then the max is closer to 15000. Right now, I'm having issues just getting 1000 pts for Kerbin orbit. The objective auto completes too fast so my perfect planning is interrupted. For example, I have a perfect maneuver node with 200 dV burn. I burn to 195 turn off the engine to do the last bit slowly and wham... objective complete but without precision. EDIT: I am saving and checking the score in the save file. Comparing before and after EDIT AGAIN: Forgot to say that if the multiplier applies to the current score, then with the mission bonus, the max is 9700.

I'm right now trying to make sense of the Blue Mun mission (again). My best guesses so far are: First, some of the score nodes seem mislabeled in the summary. For example, you get 1000 pts for "Kerbin Ap/Pe 100km" in the summary but in the editor it is 1000 pts for "Kerbin orbit high precision" and 500 for just "Kerbin orbit". Second, I assume the "multiplier" nodes apply to the current score and not the total at end of mission. So, a multiplier of 2 doubles the points for all previous nodes but does not affect any points received afterwards. If that is not the case, either Gold can not be achieved or it is too easy. I intend to test this some time soon...

@MechBFP, I just got an exlanation in another thread from @zanie420. Quote: "When you edit the mission in the builder, go to the Mission Briefing (purple button in upper right), then click on the score tab. That will give you a better idea of HOW the mission is scored. Then on the Awards tab you will find the scores needed for Gold/Silver/Bronze." So, instead of starting the mission, click Edit and then look for the purple button.

Yes! This! The new color schemes make the rockets uniform by default but makes it MUCH harder to find the right parts. I spend a LOT more time scrolling through the parts list now trying to find the right black-and-white tank. The decouplers are even worse. A small tiny help is that once I find the tank, I can press the color button and the next time it will be orange (until I restart the game at least). Previously, tanks and decouplers of different sizes LOOKED different. I have seriously considered some hack like making the color of all 06 parts bright red, 12 green, 18 blue etc. I really don't care if the parts are prettier if they are harder to find. I enjoy building rockets more than painting them and I would much prefer to build it with ease first and then paint it nicely, if at all.

@zanie420 Thanks! I will check that out on my next gaming session.

I've been trying to get max score in the Apollo 15 mission by checking the requirements in the mission builder and making sure I hit each one. So far, the only thing I haven't managed is a perfect landing on Kerbin which should give me 500 pts more. But, despite of doing everything perfect except the Kerbin landing, I just get Bronze. What controls the level of the Bronze/Silver/Gold reward?

Are you within 2 km of the target point? It is up on the hill to the east. Check the map, there should be a marker. Right click and activate navigation and you should see it from the Rover as well.

I also thought or hoped it would integrate with the career mode in some way. I have wanted a Story Mode ever since I got tired of my first career game. There was just no reason to go to Eeloo, Dres, Jool etc. I have planned huge Jool missions more times than I have executed them (I seem to get tired of the career game around Jool). I hoped the mission builder would make it possible to create stories (linked contracts) that gave you a reason to visit planets or do crazy things. Like, "Go to the Mun and search for water. Oh, there's nothing, try Ike". Or, "Is there life on the bottom of Eves ocean? No but there's a a strange Monolith pointing to Eeloo. Let's go there." I have mixed feelings about the expansion the way it is. The missions that came with it really aren't much but with all the creative people around here it might turn into something great. I also want to support any and all further development of the game.

@zanie420 After so many confusing missions, I actually checked the mission parameters in the Builder before starting the Apollo 15 mission and have been trying to get max points. I'm close but can get 500 more by landing closer to the landing spot on Kerbin. Despite all this, I have just received Bronze. I have no idea how the Gold/Silver/Bronze thing is calculated. I think I will open a new post and ask if anyone knows.

@Snark About the tech tree. It's just a bit odd when a new tech supersedes an old one without actually replacing it. If it is better than the Reliant in every way (except size), why not just upgrade the Reliants stats when the tech is researched? If it is bigger but lighter than the Reliant because it's built from new space age materials, why can't they make a new much lighter Reliant of the same materials? It just doesn't make much sense from a gaming perspective or an "internal realism" perspective. As for the OKTO/HECS, I do think they should have made the electricity requirement much smaller for the OKTO than the HECS so it would still serve a purpose (not to mention that cube thing). Then it would still serve a niche purpose after the HECS is unlocked. It would be like running a rocket with an Arduino instead of a PC. Also, new similar but non-replacing parts clutters up the parts list (which got much worse with the new all white and black parts).

@Canopus Aha... So, I should just fill it with fuel tanks then. Or just use a fuel tank... Since I couldn't figure out what it was for, I just put it below the entire rocket with a decoupler. It got staged and burnt to a crisp at take off. I totally agree with the crazy mission parameters. It really annoys me when they force me to enter a certain orbit just to realize it was a waste of time and resources. The Blue Mun mission was worse since they explicitly told you to save fuel but then they want you to change to an equatorial orbit Kerbin for no reason at all. How can I plan for the dV requirements if I don't know what crazy things I'll be forced to do? I tried the Munar 1 mission twice and the second time checked the conditions in the Mission Builder. They don't want you to do it efficiently or elegantly, just fast. So, the second time I just built a huge rocket with 8000 dV so I could do any crazy inclination change immediately. I got 8800 points but it felt like cheating @Technical Ben I thought the same and clicked around but couldn't find any way to do it. My guess is that you can't. I guess it is just a much larger and much less practical alternative to the storage bays.

I just did the Munar 1 mission where they insist I should bring this huge SM-25 service module. It has a (poor) SAS module and tiny storage compartments. I thought I could put the MEM inside it just like the real Saturn V but there were these huge gray bars inside (and I have an aversion to clipping). So, it is huge and looks cool but what is the point of it?

Thanks for the reality check! I thought they seemed a bit too good compared to the old Terrier, Reliant et al. Especially the weight was very low for such powerful engines. Isn't the Skiff better than the Reliant in every single way? Lighter, stronger and better Isp? Thanks for making a much better argument than I ever could have.

I noticed there were coordinates in the Mission dialog before it greyed out. Figured it was KSC and landed close to it. Suppose I should try again and not splash but this randomized trial and error thing is really getting annoying. Also, it's really silly if splashed doesn't count since it was the preferred method in real life...

This is getting frustrating. I am trying the Blue Mun mission which is supposedly about fuel economy. But: 1) I am starting from the northern launch pad which is fine, but then I am required to plane change to an equatorial orbit to complete the objective. That's 1800 dV for nothing. It would almost be cheaper to go to the Mun and use a slingshot to do the plane change but it just seems kind of pointless to go to the Mun for a slingshot so we can... uh... go back to the Mun? 2) Anyway, I have changed to an equatorial orbit and am going to the Mun, but guess what? The desired orbit around the Mun is not around the equator but inclined. 3) Sure, I am supposed to do a measurement above the east crater and the inclination is enough to reach the east crater. But, not right now. I have to wait almost a full Mun revolution . And yeah, the orbit was at 13000m so, at most 50x time warp. I have to go to the Tracking Station and wait... Why do I have to do all these wasteful and illogical things? Also, I did everthing they said and still just got bronze. Do I have to go into the mission builder to understand the scoring system? EDIT: 4) The Resource Amount scoring is REALLY weird. It is not about efficiency but about how much Lq you can haul into Mun orbit. 1500 pts for Lq < 2000 1000 pts for Lq >= 1000 0 pts for Lq < 1000 Note that an Lq=1500 satisfies both conditions 1) and 2) above since 1500 > 1000 AND 1500 < 2000.

@Steven Mading I completely agree. I've been trying to play through the missions but it really requires a lot of debugging to understand what I'm supposed to do or not. They should have used a lot more beta testers and fixed things before release. I don't mind beta testing as long as I know that is what I'm doing. I'll even provide reproducible save files and screenshots if required. Now, it's just frustrating. @Jarin Note that the crash condition is for the Stayputnik with the Goo canister. If you (like me) staged away the Goo canister around Kerbin (like they said you should), then it doesn't count since you are crashing the wrong craft. @capran Here are a couple of hints. Also note that you must not stage away the stayputnik around Kerbin. Mostly because you will fail later but also because it has a nice battery. 1) Note that there are two command modules. The Stayputnik in front and a OKTO on the main craft. Both must be set to hibernate (or hibernate in warp at least). 2) You must go for a direct hit on Minmus (use maneuver nodes). If you miss Minmus and try to correct it by waiting for the next intersect, you will run out of E. 3) Turn off the reaction wheel in the OKTO. Only use RCS for steering. (Or limit use of SAS) 4) The engine generates electricity so you can recharge by burning. In my first attempt, I had to burn at max to get the Grav measurement back home. Still failed though since I had already staged away the Stayputnik with the Goo...

I didn't go past the next 2-3 techs when I did my paper planning. You need 20 science for the Reliant but I can only do Mun flybys with that so it may not be much help. Buying the barometer instead for 15 science isn't great either. You get about 4.92 total science from high/low atmo and space. With 0.36 science per kerbin biome, you need about 28 biomes to cover the purchase cost. Sure, if you actually visit 28 biomes you will get a lot more from EVAs, temp measurements etc so grinding biomes is an option. So, to me it seems like the next step is either a lot of grinding, something sneaky (like Kerbal on ladder to space for EVA reports) or something really clever and unexpected. I'm looking forward to the next part.

I'm trying the Meet Me in Zero G mission but don't know how to fulfill the conditions. I've docked, gone EVA, undocked, used RCS to get away from the exploding craft and the Mission entry "Undock NOW!" is still yellow (not completed green).I After a short while, both "Undock NOW" and "Land" goes gray. If I try to land anyway, I get a big FAIL with no explanation why (KSC is right there in the background): What am I doing wrong? Or, better yet, how can I figure out what I'm doing wrong? Is there any other important information I've overlooked? As far as I can tell, I have satisfied all the conditions in "Missions".

You know you're playing on hard difficulty when overheating Goo canisters is more of a concern than Jeb overheating. They are 800 bucks each! I will follow this with great interest. The interesting part comes next with the tech tree choices. No guts no glory!

This happened to me to. The "Missions" thing did not update. I tried to follow the instructions from the dialog which almost worked. First try, I didn't notice the marker on the Mun where I was supposed to crash. I just crashed in any place facing Kerbin which didn't count. When nothing happened I noticed the marker. Anyway, the "Missions" thing looked like this during the whole Mun mission and didn't update: The next time, I hope Squad beta tests with some real users before release. I would be happy to help out It is still the best game ever though

It is not just the naming though. I first tried switching names of the Goo probe and the main craft but that did not help. Also, the engine is just for show and it has no fuel so you can't stage and then send it down to the surface. I really don't see why it is a separate craft at all...

OK, so you should NOT stage away the Goo probe. Just the fairings to perform a goo experiment, then continue to Minmus with the probe attached... It would have helped if the instructions did not say "stage in Kerbins orbit to let it goo...".

I tried the Minmus mission but could not complete it. I crashed the craft into Minmus but nothing happened. It could be because the Goo probe I left around Kerbin is actually called Muna 1 and the craft I just crashed was (probably) called Muna 1 Probe. It could also be because the craft bounced at first. Some engine blew up and made it bounce but I managed to get 100 m/s using RCS and crashed it again, eventually destroying all pieces.

I just did the Minmus mission (failed but for a different reason). The orbit does not have to be equatorial. I just launched and went directly from the inclined orbit to minmus and got an encounter. I guess squad set it up that way to be possible. However, I had another problem. Not enough electricity to transmit the gravity reading. Had to do a full burn to charge the battery enough to transmit. Almost didnt have enough to crash the craft but still managed, but finally didn't complete the mission for some reason. It still says I have to crash Muna 1 but the only thing named Muna 1 is the goo probe I left hanging around Kerbin... So, I don't know...

I've encountered this bug twice already. The "Messages" say 1 or more but when you click it, there's nothing. Restarting helps. I have removed all mods.: