Leatherneck

You are missing my point. There is no guidance. It does no better than sandbox, because are you put it, "it lets you figure what it does, and then introduces more advanced parts." The game does not tell you squat. All you get is a pile of parts, with a carrot of more parts, but no direction of how to get there. The game does not even TELL you how to GET science in the first place. It is all assumed. Tell me, how did you launch a plane if you didn't even have a landing gear for it to start on? You don't even get the rocket holders! Even model rockets have them! Look at the tree, do you see what you are saying? Again, you are missing the point. There is nothing in career pushing someone forward, which the tree does little to help. You have to crawl before you can walk, and walk before you run. The techs aren't milestones, the science is not related, so the progression is not teaching anything! Your example is a poor analogy. You don't have to finish the tree to do everything, and that kinda defeats the purpose don't you think? People are landing on Mun before they have landers, so why research them? I did it without landers or rcs, or any fancy crap. I'm no Scott Manley, but I can accomplish that, but the game didn't help me do that by giving a few pieces at a time. You act as if they give you a pinewood derby car, and magically you can build a Bugatti at the end because they gave you pieces a little at a time. Just because I give you a few bits of a car at a time, does not mean you are going to build a Bugatti Veyron any better than if I gave you all the parts at once. Especially, if I give you parts for the brakes when the only thing you figured out "on your own" was how the damn windows rolled up. Again, poor analogy on your part. If a concept is not being taught efficiently, then you need to look at the curriculum. 3 Math Teachers can teach the same subject 3 different ways, if one's students are always asking about basic concepts, that doesn't mean the system as a whole is flawed, it is the presentation that isn't covering all the bases. You are assuming that people know what the parts are, what they do, how they interact, when the game tells you very little, and does not do anything to give you direction. Look at actual space programs, there's a logical flow. For an oversimplified look it went Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Shuttle, Rovers, future. Went from getting a man into orbit, to getting a man on the moon, to doing studies in orbit, to reusable space craft, to sending unmanned missions, and the future of sending man to Mars, etc. KSP could easily go from getting a Kerbal into orbit, then to Mun, figuring out space stations, and then getting to the far flung reaches. Throw in probes and such along the path and voila. You can look at the career mode with rose tinted glasses all you want, but it needs work, and there is no getting around it. Considering it is the first iteration of it that we have seen, we all know it needs to be tweaked and refined, so I do not know why you are rushing to the defense of something that isn't even finished yet. If you want more new players to enjoy the game, you gotta make it so that they can understand the concepts better. There are some great science moments in KSP, namely the crew reports when doing a flyby of Mun and Minmus, they comment where a good place to land is. THAT is what needs to happen more often. Imagine if that revelation led to the parts for landing, instead of something generic, or wholly unrelated? Doing x reveals to the player how to achieve y, without even really taking the player out of the game. Even the first Apollo Mission didn't straight land on the Moon, they observed, etc. Then they actually did it.

Yeah, I laughed at this one too.

lol wut?! I do wonder why they can't transmit EVA Reports.

I disagree. There is no logical progression in the tree AT ALL, especially for a new player. Parts descriptions are funny, but do nothing to help a player unfamiliar with its function. You can skip branches of the tree, and still progress. (There's tech that says it needs 2 preceeding techs, but really don't as you can unlock the one without the previous 2.) The branches don't follow a logical progression. Landing struts, and the lander cans aren't even in the same branch! Bigger rockets don't mean squat when you can stage 8,000 smaller ones. Redundant techs that are no better than the previous techs. For example, there's a parachute that needs 160-300 Science to unlock, that has identical stats to the starter parachute. You can land on Mun without ever unlocking landing parts... Add in the grind, and you've shown a new player NOTHING. Look at the forums, the questions being asked from those starting out in career mode are either still how do I build x, or how to get more science. Therefore, the tech tree is not teaching anything. So, what ends up happening? Zerg science, unlock a ton of parts, build stuff to zerg more science, rinse and repeat. I liked careers limitations in the beginning because it made me think outside the box. However, there is not really any reason to finish the tree about halfway through. Why? The parts don't naturally progress, so you really just end up grinding science to unlock everything anyway. Which, when that happens, a new player will just start over in Sandbox, start using mods, or just quit. TL;DR Tree is broken (therefore science is also broken) & doesn't do squat for new players.

Made a manned landing of Minmus today. Tomorrow gonna work on getting a rover onto Mun for some more Science. Then use that Science to unlock some parts for a space station, which will be a new project for me.

I'm in the no mods category, at least for the time being. I have nothing against mods, as some of them look amazing and will certainly extend the life of this game indefinitely for me, but until I feel that stock is not getting me to come back to play by itself, no reason to change anything. Although, I might add the cosmetic/ambiance ones like Chatterer since it doesn't do anything to parts/physics etc. If/when I do go with Mods, I'll probably look at Kethane, the Fairings, aerospace something (the one that accurately does drag), and perhaps the robotics.

My 6th Mun Mission was one the poles (North in this case), and I have to say it was a bit tricky getting a flat spot. I actually managed to inadvertently find a decent plateau to get my lander on, so got to do some great Science on a EVA. Planted a flag on it just so I could aim for that landing spot on future missions.

Going to have to say having just completed 6 Mun Missions on career, 3 of which were simultaneous on different biomes (about 8 hours in launch windows to allow time to maneuver each craft). The huge amounts of Science gained now has me designing stuff for Minmus Missions, as well as my first Orbital Space Station.

Banned for Communist propaganda.

118 if you count playtime only... ..add in time researching, etc and it's probably closer to 150-ish I'd think.

This info is also on the Wiki FYI. However, might as well also point out the folder is the same for Steam.

Banned for not having cake.

I second checking out this thread.

Same here, the only think I'm allowing was the adding/changing flags and Kerbal names (Jeb, Bob, & Bill stayed, and are the only orange suits though). Although I really want to mess around with that Kethane Mod after career perhaps. To the OP, thanks!

Personally, I enjoy the added challenge to keep them alive, so I too take my Kerbal's safety into consideration. For example, just about an hour ago, I sent a rescue ship piloted by a probe core to Mün to save Jebediah. I spent too much fuel landing his ship that otherwise should have had just enough fuel for a return trip, so I sent a second that saved him. Jeb is now in the lounge playing pool and telling his favorite, "This one time, Mission Control..." stories. Next trip, Minmus. Bob is packing a deck of cards just in case.

Driving around Kerbin on his Rocket Science Rover.

Yeah, I did before I posted that. I'm not one to get emotional, but Starstuff did bring a tear. If it weren't for playing stock only, I'd love to get some of the parts from those videos.

Yeah, I'd go for having a cycle, as right now it automatically puts Jeb as the pilot. This can get annoying if you set a pilot and change something before launch, it will re-default to Jeb. I love the guy, but he needs a break.

I agree. Kind of odd to get better aerodynamic parts unlocked when you haven't even flown a plane yet. This. What's the point of a bigger radio, when it doesn't work... better? I'd gladly take a "stored experiment limit" if it meant that my 75 Science from a lab experiment was kept in a Command Pod, instead of transmitting it back. You know, like the amount of space you have for space rocks, etc. Then, you don't kill weight for labs on return/re-entry requirements. This would make having something like the Space Shuttle (with a working bay) be worth unlocking the parts for. Right now, a lot of the Science grind feels like cheating because I can get huge labs back without losing pieces on re-entry.

Off Topic, but thanks for linking such an epic video!

I had to laugh at the "No" Option. On topic though, I'd like to see Resources sooner, rather than later and here is why: 1) More stuff to research. Taking pictures during an EVA of a rock from space is one thing, standing on it another, but figure out what that rock can do? That opens up avenues for money, research, engineering, fuel, etc. 2) Exploration. I love that there is more to do, and I am thoroughly enjoying Career, but I would love to prospect for new resources. 3) Mission stuff. Great, I found this great resource! Now, how to I transport it to the base? Build it here? What if the terrain sucks? Transport it? How far? How much? WHY?! 4) Economy building block. Use the resource to fund projects? To build stuff? One relates to the other, but I think Economy would have to come after figuring out the whole resource thing. 5) Flavor. Sandbox is great, if you have the imagination to try things, and to challenge yourself. However, think of all the fun disasters to create/prevent with more things to do! There'd obviously be things to go with resources (aka more parts), as I doubt they'd have Kerbals mine stuff barehanded. So, isn't that what some people want anyway? Save for the desire for some more Aeronautical Engineering parts, and cargobays/fairings, all in all, I love the game as it is, I but look forward to every addition, especially since I self-imposed a stock only challenge.