TNM

it really depends on how you play. if you go on what you know about real-rockets, only build like that, you won't get through as quickly. you won't land on every body with ridiculous large rockets doing crazy stuff. if you want to land with multistage vehicles and docking, you won't get those parts till later. that stops you from getting alot of sience early. but yea, if you WANT to, you can go nuts and just build absurd rockets and do it all in a few missions. this requires you to know the tech tree and what to unlock, though. EDIT: didn't vote because it just nees "difficulty modes".

well, i'm still going through the tech-tree, i'm not rushing. i'm trying to do it in a realistic manner, but i noticed that at some point you NEED sience to get the right parts for you next mission. For example i want to do the Moon mission only once i can do it apollo-style, meaning 2 vehicles. Well, look where the docking port is, look where the 3 men capsule is. Getting all the relevant sience to unlock that stuff only by staying IN Kerbin-System needs you to dry out the biomes. So yea, i experienced the grind, too. I use action groups of course, but there is a time-grind. I'm doing it for the first time, so i can live with it. I don't know how it will be after the next updates when i'm doing it the 2nd, 3rd time. All i need to fix it, at the time, is an action group command for "transmission". Thats it.

But...but...my Kerbals keep coming back....i think they are Zombies...

i experienced it for the first time today. i undersized the "torque" by trying to optimize a small probe and i thought the integrated torque would be enough...nope. even in space, only having a slight asymetry in the probe (0.02 mass on one side difference), it couldnt hold the heading when activating the engine (less then 2t probe). well, i will just oversize torque on my crafts in the future, should do the trick.

Today, while playtesting .22 a bit more in career mode, trying to only build "realistic" rockets, i noticed that, if you skip the sience-techs in the tree for other unlocks on the same level, there comes a point where you seem to run into a wall. You exausted most of the sience around Kerbin and don't have the parts to go to the moon (without streching realism). You don't have the better/additional sience module and cannot get more sience in the existing spheres. So, this question popped into my mind: Would you want it to be possible to fail career mode somehow ingame? or Sould it be a given that you always can complete career mode no matter how/what you unlock?

If you combine that with a limited time Kerbals should/could stay in space (call it endurance) a nice dynamic would ensue around space station gameplay.

The reason in 0.20 was to just...build one to see if i can. You have to learn docking anyways, so it grows automatically. The problem over time is that you don't need one as no features exist to warrant a station where you suffer through fps-limited gameplay. So, as this is the 2nd "fresh start" for me in KSP, there is no real reason for a space station as features are missing to make them interesting. I know how docking works so no structure will grow from that. RL space stations exist as "testbeds". You gain knowlede in 2 main areas: building in space (maintenance beeing a large part of it), living in space (split into medicine and support systems = consumables). Both these reasons are not yet relevant in KSP, we don't have to maintain structures and we don't have to support our Kerbonauts. Building consists of docking, no EVA building yet. We don't have to learn it so we skip it and just build rockets to go somewhere based only on fuel (more often then not starting from Kerbin, pure madness ). A small part of RL STs is supporting experimental sience in form of experiments brought from support vessels, thats what most ppl think sience is (i would dispute that, but ok). I would like to see this part introduced for KSP. As of .22 a sience system is in place so why not doing longterm sience on space stations, probes and planetary bases.

I build a fairly large space station in .20, i miss a reason to do it again in career mode aside from roleplaying purposes or fueldepot. I really would like to see longterm sience, like kerbal-medicine and material exposure.

I played .20 and always tried to make "realistic" rockets, meaning i tried to take aerodynamics into account even though the engine wouldnt care. Career mode changed my builds by mostly limiting them. For example, my first rockets have to rest on their engines before launch as no support struts are availabe. Then, no RCS which of course forms the basis of every spaceship, even the earliest ones. But ok, you can overcome these limitations quickly as science is gathered fast. If this changes in future updates then i would recommend reshuffling parts.

Just saying hi....because..you know, the 5 post thingy. Yea, what bots made of our internet

As a fairly new player (bought it after .20 was released on steam) only achieving a apollo-moon mission and a space station i took the opportunity for a fresh start (i waited for .22 and skipped .21). I think its a good way to challenge new players. It's not for veterans as they know how to build rockets and don't have to experiment to get anywhere, they just know already. I don't like some of the "parts" you get or better, don't get. Also, its sometimes not clear how to get the sience. Let me name a few things i run into: - no structure to hold the rocket in the start position...why? You start with the rocket resting on its engine. - counterintuitive experiment containers. you have to open the goo-container in space and observe, but if you close it again to make it safe for reentry you reset the container...yea, it took me a few times to get that. you have to return it in the open position (no heat gets in during reentry). - batteries come late, new players don't understand that you can use multiple engine stages to generate energy. That stops you from doing science, can be misleading, and you lose control of your vessel if you timewarp (no warning or anything). - it gets too easy too fast. basically, the first 2-5 missions are challenging if you don't have previous KSP knowledge, after that you are done in an instant. To master sience you just need antenna, solar panel, battery, struts and decouplers. After that you can build what you want (or your computer can handle), even just 1 large vessel and finish the tree. - no longterm sience. No probes i have to leave in space for a time to get the sience, no space station sience (leaving kerbals in space). no surface samples that have to gather sience over time...you get the point. I have to say i like the direction, but at this stage i will switch to sandbox+mods soon and "roleplay" sience. Sadly, in sandbox there is no working sience to gather points, even just for cosmetic purposes.