Asmayus

This is a fantastic idea. It really hits the nail on the head. Bravo!

I've played ksp on and off since 0.17. Until career was added, the point of the game was getting to far away places by any means that took your fancy. Which was massively entertaining. I think the problem with the science and career modes is that they're focused on restricting the player in the name of creating gameplay. It isn't fun (for me!) to play missions until I can get those part count and tonnage limits lifted. That feels like grinding to get to the point where I can have fun. I'm going to reminisce a little here, but there's a point, so bear with me: I remember building awful (and entertaining) rockets in the old demo. And then, after a little while, I got the game. Boom. 0.17. New planets, new parts, new things to do. And then 0.18 hit. That was brilliant. Same thing all over again. And then the next update, and the next... That was fun. That was a tech tree all on it's own. Remember when the mainsail was added? How easy (and rapid) orbit was with it compared to the tri-coupler behemoths we (I?) used to have to build? Remember when docking arrived on the scene? How suddenly, space ships went from things with very definite lifespans to something we could fly endlessly? Even rescue? Remember when NASA teamed up with Squad to give us the monstrously powerful SLS parts and freaking asteroids to play with? How about electricity? How about lights? Suddenly, we could lithobrake in the dark. That was cool. You see? This is what a tech tree should provide. Instead, we've got something that makes us stop looking towards space, and makes us start looking for mission waypoints and objectives in order to get to the fun stuff. In my opinion, it's missed the point completely. The demo was fun. 0.17, 0.18, 0.19, etc... they were all fun. Progressing from one update to the next and playing with the new parts was fun. And then career gets added, and suddenly we have to deal with arbitrary restrictions for the first time, and equally arbitrary contracts to over come the restrictions. That isn't fun. That's fencing off portions of the game to create a... whats the phrase? Treadmill? Grind? Power progression? Whatever it's called, the end result feels hollow. So, um, in conclusion, I'm not playing career mode And I'll add that if anyone likes career and is appalled by what I've written - that's ok. KSP is, thankfully, a big enough town to accommodate both of us

In the series the idea is that they are peaceful explorers that have to stand their ground against the evil Hanlon Corperation. A bit like Star Trek is about exploring the universe and bettering humanity and how things sooner or later involve guns and big sticks. I completely agree. I think it's the fact that the story is let off the rails. The outcome is undecided, and that you've got Macey going up against serious firepower. He pushed himself, and it paid off in spades. And it ties in well with the story. I always thought the whole sequence with Shelbus and the Isprit was very well done, and the way that the whole 'traitor' arc developed was excellent. It was never cheesy, or melodramatic, or pushed on the audiance; just something he mentioned and spoke about occasionally. And then it blows up all at once. It worked so well. Of course, the ultimate storytelling trick is that Macey went and vanished for a year and now we've all got nostalgia

hehe. I'm glad we finally found out what happened to Shelbus. Am I the only one who rewatched the series?

It's been a while since I've been here (obviously I'm back for 1.0) but one of the better campaign logs back in 0.18 was this one: http://www.mindspring.com/~sportrocketry/ksp/magicboulder.html That particular log is called "bothering the magic bolder"

You've hit the crux of the issue for me; yes, more places to explore sound very enticing, but I've never bothered to go to most of the planets. I know that I certainly have the know how, and the skills to do so but once I get there there's nothing to do. I've done Eve, Mun, Minmus, and Laythe. Each was challenging in it's own way but once you get there the gameplay just evaporates. And I don't think science and biomes are really the answer, either. Sure, I can go the this crater on the mun, and that crater on the mun, and click a few buttons and come home but that isn't fun. It's the same issue that plagues rovers; I've built my fair share, and flown them out to places, but I got bored astonishingly quickly. KSP is all about the journey. And once it's over, you are left with nothing to do. That was the real appeal of resources for many people. It would give you a reason to stay on a planet and build refineries or drilling rigs. In contrast, science encourages you to leave quickly so you get your points sooner. This was especially noticeable when I was gathering science on kerbin for my 0.24 game - I'd land in a biome, press buttons for science(!), and hit recover. Took about a minute from touchdown. I can't help but feel that a game about exploration should make you want to stay in an area. This community is pretty awesome but I'll just clarify something: look at my join date. I love this game, and have been haunting the forums for a very long time. This certainly isn't intended to come across as a whine, and I don't have any answers/suggestions to deal with what I raised above. I'm kind of hoping someone from squad is reading, and that this inspires a little discussion. And if you are: Thank you for KSP. It isn't said often enough

Well, I forgot parachutes on my manned mun land-and-return mission. And then I sent out a rescue ship, managed to land it within a few km of the first ship, and then realized I'd forgotten to add parachutes to the rescue ship as well.

I didn't even think of that! I'd actually experimented with a processing lab to land on the mun but had decided against it after I discovered how terrible the science returns were. I'm still in the bottom third of the tech tree so rovers and return trips are way beyond what I can engineer without melting my cpu. I built a space station before, just for show... but now? oh, this is awesome. Thank you for sharing

I don't think it's possible unless you deliberately do it or crash a rescue mission. The time limits are too forgiving. Which is fine; the underlying mechanics are sound, and will be refined in later updates, I'm sure. ...Although I'd love a hotfix

It's probably just as well that you did - I was just watching the_lobster's ksptv stream and he drove into the ocean but didn't get the splashdown condition because he hadn't taken off. Which, to be fair to the game, is the correct definition of a splashdown

Prices. I had utterly forsaken SRB's until I saw the cost difference between them and the liquid fuel parts. It's prompted a serious redesign of my ships, many of which are far more efficient now. It's also made science gathering a bit more interesting, since now you need to gather as much science as possible as cheaply as possible. I've developed Science Pods I'm using to gather all the science in a biome at once; they're a very kerbal clump of capsules, science instruments, engines, and struts. It's fun

You could base it on the number of contracts completed or partially completed. Suppose you take a rescue mission, for example. Get the kerbal aboard a vessel: next payment increased by 130%. Get the kerbal home safe: next payment increased further, by 260%. So this means the best way to increase profits is to do contracts. If you stack payment calculations each time (e.g., $100 x 130 % = $130, and then $130 * 260% = $338), you reinforce the interest the player has in completing missions, since it is always more profitable to do a mission now than to time accelerate, which will drop income back down. One of the pitfalls I can see is that each month you must do a large number of contracts to maintain your income, which will become a chore. I suggest the following plan: Kerbal aboard vessel: Next payment increased by 130%, and half that* the following month. kerbal home safe: next payment increased further, by 260%, and half* that the following month. Minimum modifier should always be 100% (i.e = 0) So now month 1 income is $338, and month 2 income is: $100 x 65% = 100 (minimum modifier), $100 x 130% = $130, before the player does anything. * or some other percentage; this will come down to game balance. The only other real problems I can see with this system is you can run out of funds before the next payment - but it also means we can use time acceleration to our advantage without it being "cheaty". Long term missions might be a little tricky, since your income will drop back down to whatever basic is, but Squad have actually said that they imagined the player doing one long mission and doing a few smaller ones concurrently, so maybe it'll work.

Hello! I've noticed that when you look at an unlocked node on the tech tree, each part has an "entry purchase" parameter. For the S1 SRB, under Heavy Rocketry, this is \|8000. When I unlocked the node, I didn't loose any funds, and when I went to use the part is only cost \|1800. It feels like it's a feature that wasn't turned on or something. Has there been any word from the devs about this?

Huh. Well that's not a big deal. Can we get this moved to suggestions?

So instead of having to milk the system to get the best results, you click once, leave the experiment run, get all the science, and carry on? Yes! Yes please! I mean, we're spending the time clicking anyway, aren't we? It also fixes having to carry a bunch of redundant science tools to get all the science from a location, and situations where you get a pointless amount of science from doing something after you've removed the bulk of it. I hate having to use a goo container for <0.5 science (not that I ever do) when I can take it elsewhere for a dramatically bigger payoff. Part of me likes that you can't get all the information at once from a location. Maybe we need more (big) science tools. That would lead into multiple trips as well.

Say I take 4 contracts which will pay x amount in total, if I hit all objectives. When I build my spaceship, I know what I've spent on it, but I don't see any way to check what you stand to make from a mission without jumping into the command center and adding it up yourself. Am I missing something?

I'm currently struggling to activate a small SRB between 9000 and 13300m, while going at least 330m/s. Then, I want to make orbit, do science for another contract, activate a large SRB, and then fire up an lv909. I'm low in the tech tree and I need to go fast and carry a big payload. It's certainly a challenge.

Just installed and working. Delighted. Cheers folks!

YES! Updating now! wooooohoooo!

Never mind the contracts: I'm going to build a hype train in 0.24. been a pleasure folks!

I just refrshed the squad own store page and got "500 - internal server error"

water confirmed for 0.24!

Yeah, the number of votes is incorrect as well. 95 + 18 + 17 = 105. Somehow. Interestingly, before I voted the same sum (94+18+17) equaled 104. Edit: Haha, woops! I can't wait to go for contracts. I build everything in sandbox mode first though - I consider this product testing, and not real "gameplay".

Daring. I'm also planning on turning off the save function. Some of my best memories are from playing the early versions of this game which didn't have a save function. The tension and the payoff were both awesome

Haha, you make a very valid point