Grei

All right, I grudgingly stand corrected. Still, the tech tree itself is not a tutorial even if it is meant to make it easier for new players to understand how the game works by introducing them to various parts in an incremental manner. Otherwise every game of Civilization would be a tutorial. Now, considering the first 3 or 4 tiers (about the time you get batteries and RCS, I would think) as the tutorial is fine by me...beyond that, why consider it a tutorial? The current advanced players probably won't care about the career mode--they'll be busy doing what they've always done in the sandbox. While future advanced players might decide that getting the most bang for the buck in research and cash will be the real 'endgame' of the game, not the building megastations and fleets of ships that turn the whole solar system into the backyard. *shrugs* I still stand by the whole we need to be patient instead of calling this the death of the game just because the first tech tree isn't what people were expecting.

I keep seeing this all through the forums yet not once have I seen a citation on where people are getting this. So who at Squad is saying that this tech tree is just a tutorial? The closest I've found is them saying that they expect experienced players to move through the tree fast, though experienced could be just about anyone who's spent any time in the sandbox in this context.

In all reality, being able to mod the tech tree or 'alienating the hardcore' is not the problem the devs have. It's threads like this where people whine about details that aren't even finished that cause the most problems with alienating players. Yes, Microsoft botched Flight--in part because of dumbing it down, in part because they were trying to milk more money out of it but that was not caused by the 'silent majority'. Instead the blame can be laid on the management decisions by people who didn't understand why Flight Simulator was so popular after over a decade. This kind of thing comes up more and more throughout the industry in the bigger publishers. Typically the 'vocal minority' are the few people who dislike one minor part of the game because it doesn't fit their preconceived notions or their existing playstyle. When devs listen to this, sometimes constructive often not, criticism the game ends up changing in ways that alienate even more players which can, and have, caused games to basically self destruct. As I recommend to friends about lots of different games in situations like this, be constructive in your criticism but be patient and play the game as it is, not as you think it should've been. More often than not, you end up either providing a positive influence or you end up actually liking the changes instead of being afraid of them.

I find it rather amusing and annoying that people think that because the tech tree is already modded, that the stock tech tree is broken. It's a work in progress and judging from the weekly updates I read prior to 0.22, they were tinkering with it almost daily to get what we're seeing now. I still have my mods from 0.21 installed (they don't seem to break anything during startup, so I'm being lazy about clearing them out) but they have no impact on career mode since the parts aren't 'unlocked' in career mode anywhere in the tree. Therefore, I'm still plugging through it as intended. Are there things that I would do differently if I made the tech tree? Sure--I'd probably move the wings and wheels to earlier in the tree to make more use out of them for all skill levels. Though, now that I know how science works better and how to gain it, I started career again fresh and I'm 4 launches in (with only one successful failure--otherwise I'd probably be 3 launches in) with several items in the 5th tier unlocked so I can do flight this time and get science for it. Thus, I can see why flight parts are where they are--experienced players can make use of them early in Kerbin's science, though for a new or inexperienced (or someone, like me, who got too used to MechJeb or the like) it seems impossibly difficult to unlock while it's useful. Which is another thing to keep in mind when discussing the tech tree. Everyone has different expectations of how things 'work' and everyone has different skill levels they're bringing into career mode. Some will be new players, while others will be people who got used to MechJeb or other very useful tools (and they are useful--if used as a tool, not a crutch), and still others are those who can slap a few engines and tanks together and manually fly the rocket to Duna and back with fuel left over. The main thing I think Squad will be looking at with the tech tree is finding the middle ground which will challenge new players (without scaring them off through being too difficult) while still providing interesting challenges to experienced players. Already, I think they've been doing a good job on the latter--there are a number of threads I've read about how having limited parts are making people try combinations they never had before. Just my 2 Kerbits.

I find that I'm able to (relatively) fly my rockets now just about as well as when I relied on MechJeb. The improvements to SAS and RCS have made a major difference in getting a rocket built with the basic parts into orbit...or even just bunny hopping over to the mountains. My only issue is that after months of using MechJeb, I'm having a harder time controlling the rocket off of the navball. Grei

Aside from having unlocked wings and flight without wheels (which makes it near impossible to make a reusable plane--still tinkering with options), it hasn't been too bad. I think a few things should be earlier/cheaper (batteries, wheels (or at least add skids), etc.) but it has stretched my building skills a bit. Haven't lost a Kerbal yet on a mission, even managed to get a probe (crash) landed on Mun that wasn't designed for that for a little extra science. Biggest headache is there should be a note in the part descriptions that indicate that the part has some science value. Nosecones are the biggest item that comes to mind as they were a part that were mainly used for cosmetics before this. Also some indicator (perhaps unlocked) that you can use to tell what biome you're over so you know whether to run an experiment or not. I can't recall how many attempts it took for me to get off the Shores near the Space Center and finally into the Highlands, even though the terrain had been rising up from the Shores for a good 5 km. All in all, this has been interesting though. Maybe once I learn every science part, I might be able to squeeze more science out of each launch and start over on a more smooth progression.