Specialist290

I was thinking more along the lines of unlocking different "modpacks" that are only applied in the VAB and are tailored toward boosting one area of performance over another (such as one increasing ISP while cutting thrust, and another that works vice-versa), but that could work as well. Also, I'm stealing aspects of this idea to help refine my own

I'll grant that that's true; it would take a lot of work. That said, in a sense KSP's development process could work in our favor in this regard; Squad could implement the idea with a few basic placeholders to "demo" the feature among the general fanbase, then continue to elaborate on it and add more "fluff" as the game updates. As Minarkhaios mentions, they could also potentially turn to crowdsourcing, as long as there's someone at the other end reviewing submissions for general quality. For the record, I wouldn't mind contributing a little bit of writing myself. This sounds vaguely familiar. I might have read one of your posts before and gotten a bit of "unconscious inspiration," at it were. I definitely like the idea of transmitting data not actually consuming the sample, in contrast to how it works under the present system. I'm all in favor of there being only one experiment per container, but it makes sense that the experimental package itself wouldn't simply disappear after you've transmitted the data and would still be available for further study if you managed to get it home or to a lab that could effectively process and analyze it. In light of both your comments and thereaverofdarkness's (which he later further elaborated on here), I'd propose a sort of three-tier system that combines aspects of everything we've mentioned so far, at least specifically for the physical sample-based experiments: 1. Basic collection and analysis, which can be transmitted for a small part of the experiment's value but doesn't consume the experiment itself. 2. Intermediate-tier processing, as you've described above, which can be done either by returning the sample to KSC or by analyzing it in a "basic" Mobile Science Laboratory. 3. Advanced Processing and Analysis, which can be done in an "upgraded" MSL and uses the system I've described in my OP, or a variation of it. (The reason it wouldn't be available at KSC could be justified in-character as the experimental data being more valuable if processed in situ, and out-of-character in terms of game balance by not allowing players to just cross-reference everything they've already returned to Kerbin for essentially "free science.") As far as "upgrading" the Lab, I'm thinking specifically of having a non-part-based "upgrade kit" that can be added to a command pod, flown over to the Lab's location from KSC, and "installed" by having a kerbal carry it from the pod into the Lab, much like described here. From that point on, that particular Lab module could be used to conduct more advanced experiments as already described. It would also give a good in-character, in-game reason for rotating crews between the Lab and Kerbin without passively penalizing the player in the manner that a mandatory life support system might.

I was meaning to reply to this in my own thread (where your OP was), but since you've gone ahead and posted this, I'll say it here instead: I really like this idea, particularly the idea of unlocking new functions for old parts as you advance instead of just unlocking new parts with every tech node. I've had a similar idea bouncing around in my head (though more related to unlocking "modification packs" for existing engines and such), and yours seem to fit nicely in with that general theme.

Dropping this in Suggestions and Development Discussions, since it seems to be one of the latter

I'm tempted to say "windmills."

On that note, I have noticed that the game seems to be having more trouble registering when the mouse is hovering over the Crew Hatch than it did in previous versions. That might be part of the problem.

Welcome to the forums! Hope you find the game as enjoyable as most of us do. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and also don't forget to swing by the Drawing Board (handily linked in my signature) for some of the community's better tutorials and other player resources.

Glad to see you're still alive and kicking Also, the Orion Drive is indeed ludicrous OP-fun As for scrapping your save: Ultimately, I'm going to say "Do what you think you'd enjoy the most." If you think starting over from scratch with a new game plan is going to be more fun than continuing your current project, then do so.

You might be interested in a suggestion I made just recently that touches on much the same idea.

It's still relevant to the topic at hand, so it's alright in this case. What I'm more concerned about right now, personally, is that y'all kept on bumping it rather than sending a Post Report our way when you noticed it.

Precisely. By cross-referencing different reports for correlations, kerbal scientists could see if there are any factors that interact in new and fascinating ways.

Most useful information here. I'm sure this will come in handy for people

So it seems as though some people are wondering whether the new Science Lab is really worth as much trouble as it takes to deploy. I'll admit that I'm not 100 percent enthusiastic about the way it's currently set up myself now that I've had a bit more time to play with it, and I would like to see something being done with it that makes it truly unique and useful and not just a "booster" for probes. Thus, I'm proposing the following: Keep the ability to reset "used" experiment modules. This is incredibly handy. Rework the experiments processing into a full-fledged new feature rather than a transmission cap boost. To elaborate on that second point, I'm basically envisioning the Lab as a module where kerbonaut scientists can run more advanced and more rigorous in situ experiments on materials than they could with the scant equipment available in a non-specialty pod, and can cross-reference the data they get with data from other experiments as well. Thus, I'm going to propose making this change to the science processing system: Instead of "boosting" a single report, my idea has you processing two reports together into a single, advanced report. To go into a little more detail: Rather than being "enhanced," the two reports are consumed to create an all-new "advanced" report with a value independent of its sources. In other words, you can use it to "recycle" reports that you've already exhausted through conventional means and bring in some fresh science. All advanced reports transmit for 100% value. This allows the Science Lab to more effectively serve as a "science hub" without any need to constantly return vehicles to Kerbin. Each particular report combination only works once. This will help cut down on the "science spam" while at the same time encouraging players to explore more of the solar system. Bonuses are awarded for combining two similar reports, but you'll be penalized if they're too similar. Again, this is to encourage players to explore and experiment with different combinations. I'll admit that I don't have a good idea on how to implement this exactly myself. Hope others find this constructive as well. I'll look forward to seeing other people's feedback on this idea, including ways I can streamline it without losing the essence of making the Science Lab much more useful than it currently is.

You have to left-click on the crew hatch in the main window view.

Very well thought out. I've been giving a little thought to optimizing my own science output in Career Mode and come to some of the same conclusions as you have, but I didn't take the extra time to gather them all under one umbrella for review like you have. Kudos

The latter. It only displays reports for experiments you've already done, and only shows biomes that you've visited and returned data from already. Just ran a few tests on this myself to be certain of my answers. From what I've gathered: Current Data Value: Appears to be a multiplier. Every experiment has a constant data size measured in "Mits," which is multiplied by that experiment's Data Value to determine how much actual Science you get from recovering that experiment. The Current Data Value represents the multiplier that will be applied the next time that particular experiment is run. Value Bar: Kinda sorta both; the "filled in" portion represents the amount you've already gathered relative to the total amount of scientific value you could get from that experiment. Science: The total amount of Science points you've gathered from all runs of that experiment to date. Hope this helps

One minor change they did make was adding small Monopropellant reserves to most capsules. This might have changed their mass enough to alter the CoM of any craft they're attached to. Since we now have the tweakables system in place, you could empty all your pods and cockpits of monoprop and see if flying an "empty" capsule makes a difference.

Please don't bump older topics without a good reason to. This mod has been out of development long enough that there's really no reason to continue asking after it, and as such, I'm going to close the topic. In the event the original developer returns and wants to update it, he or she can request this thread be reopened.

Welcome to the forums, and glad to hear you've been enjoying yourself Keep us posted as to how progress on that SSTO goes.

I do believe that oceanic exploration is on the What Not To Suggest list, as it's been frequently brought up in the past.

To put it a slightly different way: The bar as a whole represents the total amount of value you can get out of that experiment. The lighter color represents what you'll get from this one run, and the darker color represents how much total value will be left over in the "science pool" for that particular experiment in that particular situation.

I believe that, at the very least, the Goo Canister and the Materials Bay are not resettable without access to the new science lab module. I think thermometers, barometers, etc. can be reset by default for multiple uses, but I don't recall exactly. I'll have to spend a little more time with the game myself to confirm.

I'm going to second the suggestion to try it again after uninstalling your mods. Not all of them have been verified to work with 0.23 properly, so it's entirely possible that changes in the way the stock game's code works could be causing unintended interactions.

I believe we can safely say that this thread has served its purpose, now that 0.23 is finally out.

I believe it was mentioned on the KerbalKon stream before, but the RAPIER is deliberately supposed to be slightly underpowered compared to other engines to compensate for its ability to switch modes of operation. It's a "jack of all trades, master of none" type engine for specialty use.