soldieroffilth

That is true, but as it stands right now in KSP that is not even the case as most of the science left in those 4th and 5th tries is single digits anyways and most people will ignore them, by making the science a slowly generated resources which can ge gathered in the background, a player can put multiple probes up collecting the same data, not only double checking and triple checking what the other probes are reading but also speeding up the flow of science.

I disagree on the grinding, all you have to do to avoid that is to allow the probe to generate science even if it is not being actively flown. This allows the player to put up more probes in the same area doing different jobs at the same time, or the same time of probe somewhere else. This means multiple sources of slowly generating science at all times. Inexperienced players can design small single job probes in large quantities and players like Mr. Scott Manly will find themselves designing larger more sophisticated probes with multiple antennas to transmit data. As far as energy is concerned, its really quite simple, science modules need energy to collect data, antennas need power to transmit. The batteries can be there to allow the conitinued transmission of science and to allow for control when a power source is not available. This works out especially well early in the game and in terms of part cost because the player is asking themselves, especially when the budget is finally implemented, "Do I build a probe that has a set battery life for really cheap, or do I spend a little extra money on the solar panels" In terms of cost, the batteries are the way to go, but do not guarnetee that you will have the battery life to collect all the science you want. In terms of life span, an RTG or solar array is what you want, but the low power output means slower rates of science unless you stack them to provide more power.

With the recent science updates made over the past few months there seems to be a wealth mods coming up that have new science modules and some that even revert the science back to the old science spamming technique that was available when career mode first came out. From my observation the problem is not the that the science could be spammed, if there is data available a science module should be able to get 100% of that data on the first go, after all that is what they are intended to do. The thermometer gets temperature readings and fairly accurate ones at that, but what about infrared readings, or radiation readings as well. The purpose of sending the probes out is to collect the data they are designed to collect. However the hangup with probes in real life, is a loss of data during transmission that may require multiple transmissions of that data in order to get it. So my question is would it be more challenging of a gameplay experience to make science time sensitive instead of "fly here, click module, transmit, done". Here is what I mean, lets say you have a probe that is scheduled to do a fly-by of mun, given a low speed of data transmission, high speed and descending rate of velocity, you know that of 200 total science you are going to collect, your probe is only going to be able to transmit so much of the avaliable data over a given amount of time, and none once it is on the dark side of the Mun. So your thermometer collects all 32 points of science that it can collect from around the Mun and begins the slow process of transmitting that science back home. However, your radiation detector is picking up fluctations in the levels of radiation and is there for going to take time to collect the data before it can begin the slow process of transmitting the data back home. Of course, data tramission speeds are dependent both upon antenna size and power available. What this could create is a slow but steady stream of science rather than just large lumpsums of science. Any thoughts?

Singularity Solutions The Minipod The minipod is designed to accomplish a few different tasks, one is to provide an offload point for rovers whos design may be intended to retrieve the same data types from multiple Biomes. The second is to provide a lightweight transportation unit for those samples allowing for transfer from surface to orbit, and the third is to provide a rigorous unit for transportation of data and samples from low Kerbin orbit to the surface of Kerbin while still maintaining user customization.

Yes I thought about breaking down the post into separate topics but then I decided I did not want to create 8 different posts, and subsequently "bog" down the forum with a bunch of stuff when other people are going to be doing the same thing. As for 3) 4) and 5) yes I know there are mods for those, but the mods do not work in career mode, and this entire thread was geared towards career mode.

And while I know there are more people, with way more hours in KSP than I, I have noticed a few things in career mode and in the game in general I think could use a bit improve, but hey, who am I but oh I'll tell you guys anyways. 1) an improved instrument panel with MFDs, or something like MFDs, that would make flying from only the cockpit possible. 2) I found myself completely skipping some of the modules in the science building, such as rover parts, as there just is no real purpose for sending a rover to a planet when I can just pilot a static probe to a planet, land it, and then I have my research points. I imagine this may change in the future but it was just a thought. 3) I would like to see a spare parts box radial attachment. basically a box that allows you to store a set number of item in it like struts, fuel lines, solar panels, batteries, antennas, real small items that then require an EVA to have them attached to a craft. This would allow for some awesome orbital construction and get people out doing EVAs for reasons other than just mess around and get EVA reports. 4) Do the modules have to be based off of current space technology? Can we be allowed to research more efficient types of propulsion, I mean if people are going to implement their own warp drive mods then why not a have a native rocket engine that is the pinnacle of rocketry research. An engine that, for one reason or another, can only be used in a vacuum. Again, just a thought. 5) Additional radial engines and maybe a another fuel tank twice the size of the orange tank? Maybe? Not sure about those, just a thought. 6) Make the Stowaway-10 module double as a research module allowing for its own chain of research hierarchy that can generate science points over time and requires the module to be in orbit and have at the least two Kerbals in it. Utilize the ground samples from other planets, other than Kerbin, to fuel the research requiring more ground samples and from different planets. 7) Implement the Smart A.S.S. from MechJeb to make general maneuvering a bit easier, some of the burns are really long burns and it would be really convenient to have at the least prograde and retrograde hold buttons for orbital maneuvering purposes. 8) Unlabeled objects, like asteroids, that require a probe to detect them and then landed on them so they can be tracked. Those are just a few ideas, I know the development direction for KSP is not up to me, thats why I am developing my own game , but they are some observations I wanted to share and see what everyone else thinks.