Making money any way but grinding in career mode

[Ekkoria]

Hi everyone!

today I loaded up KSP 0.90 career mode for the first time (it's been a while since I played KSP). One of the first things I noticed was the upradeable space center buildings. I had my fun with the first few missions, establishing an orbit, etc. Once that was done I went to do one of those simple "rescue XXXXX Kerman from orbit around Kerbin" missions because it was the only one with a decent payout. It's worth mentioning at this point that I forgot that you can't use maneuver nodes without upgrading the tracking center. About a (very stressful) half hour later I managed to pull off the rendezvous and rescue without manuever nodes, which I don't recommend.

Anyways long story short how do I make any substantial amount of money without grinding the crap out of the boring and mundane "test this part at Kerbin" missions?? I want to get on with exploring the Solar system, not fly out to sea and test 37 different parts.

I saw a similar thread about this question earlier, but that particular person was much further along the career than I was, so I was wondering if there's any way to make a quick cash flow early in the game.

[Windspren]

Save file editing......

​I told you nothing........

[Ekkoria]

Honestly, I'm kind of feeling like doing that. I liked career when it was just about the tech tree and the science. I got especially frustrated upon discovering the 18t mass limit on the un-upgraded launch pad.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Ekkoria

[Kelderek]

First of all, the entire game is getting big changes next Monday, so now may not be the best time to start up a new career game. If you don't want to deal with funds and upgrading buildings, then maybe start up a science game instead, at least to tide you over until Monday's 1.0 update.

If you're intent on playing a new career this week then, I suggest you upgrade your launch pad first. This allows you to leave Kerbin a lot easier and start doing the "explore" contracts for Mun and Minmus which offer good payouts and will allow for better local contracts. The career games require a decent amount of planning and efficient use of each launch. If launches are done this way then you shouldn't need to grind boring contracts repetitively. Also, I would recommend against using an admin strategy that converts your reputation to funds or science, you need that reputation to obtain better contracts.

[Yakky]

New contracts come along from time to time. If you don't like what's on the menu, time-accelerate a few hours and check again. Generally the biggest payouts come from testing very large and heavy parts.

If you get a contract to test a very large Kerbodyne engine or booster in flight, you're in luck because they generally pay very well.

BTW for engines or boosters, you can use the test part itself to get yourself into the required flight regime and then just reposition it in the staging stack so it will get activated again at the appropriate time. I got a contract to test the Kerbodyne 1x2 booster in sub-orbital flight and built a rocket consisting of nothing more than the booster, a battery, and a probe core. Once it was in space, I re-staged it and activated it again. Presto... 500k funds!

[Alshain]

One other thing that people haven't mentioned is that contracts get more interesting with each new science unlock. For example, rover contracts won't show up till you get rover wheels, there will be sattelite contracts, base building contracts, flight survey contract (can be done with plane or rocket, but plane is usually easier when atmosphere is available). Furthermore, contracts for other bodies don't show up till you have visited them (except the one that asks you to visit them, which you only get once per body).

Some won't show up until certain conditions are met, others will stop showing up under certain conditions. For example, I think contracts to return science from the Mun will not be given if a Kerbal is on the Mun (though I think a remote probe won't hinder them at all).

If that's not enough, there are a lot of contract mods now.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Alshain

[THX1138]

Be sure to match up as many contracts as you can to do them all together. You don't have to launch a separate mission for each contract. Not sure whether that helps.

[Jarin]

Honestly, the upgrade costs are currently... kinda insane (gods, I hope that gets fixed next week). I highly recommend the No More Grind mod. If you're determined to run stock, though? Yeah... stack as many contracts into one mission as possible. Also, in stock, aerial survey missions can be quite lucrative once you get basic jet engines unlocked. Lacking FAR's nerfs (and rapid unplanned disassembly), it's easy to make supersonic upper-atmosphere-hoppers that can do the appropriate flybys in one run.

[Khazar]

I would say its important to upgrade the building where you manage contracts early on. Maybe even before launching pod or hangar. This way you can have more active contracts at same time. So if you have to reach certain altitude you can take parachute and decoupler for testing having some extra money.

This sometimes may require changes of your craft design and flight pattern but usually its worth it.

Also take crew report in flight above xxx alt contracts can be done from orbit so they can be mixed into your other missions.

[Oafman]

If that's not enough, there are a lot of contract mods now.

I'm with the OP to an extent, the stock money grind is not one I enjoy, because it soon becomes repetitive.

But Alshain makes a very good point. There are plenty of great mods adding contracts, and in some cases, these contracts pay a lot more than the standard stuff. For example, the Station Science mod offers contracts which pay 6-figure rewards, sometimes upwards of half a million funds. Granted, you have to move a bunch of heavy things into orbit, and perform long term experiments, but those logistical challenges are fun to deal with.

[Wanderfound]

Early or late, fundraising is all about stacking missions.

You don't just fly to orbit to rescue a Kerbal; you do a parts test on the way up, launch a satellite when you get there, fulfil a "science from space" contract, then bring your rescued Kerbal back down on that spot that has a contract for surface samples etc.

This is probably from farther along than you are, but as a demonstration, see http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Spaceplane%20economics/story

[Ekkoria]

First of all, the entire game is getting big changes next Monday, so now may not be the best time to start up a new career game. If you don't want to deal with funds and upgrading buildings, then maybe start up a science game instead, at least to tide you over until Monday's 1.0 update.

Thanks for the info, that's almost definitely what I'll do then, no point starting a new career just to have it all changed in a week.

Honestly, the upgrade costs are currently... kinda insane (gods, I hope that gets fixed next week). I highly recommend the No More Grind mod. If you're determined to run stock, though? Yeah... stack as many contracts into one mission as possible. Also, in stock, aerial survey missions can be quite lucrative once you get basic jet engines unlocked. Lacking FAR's nerfs (and rapid unplanned disassembly), it's easy to make supersonic upper-atmosphere-hoppers that can do the appropriate flybys in one run.

Thanks for the recommendation, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing I was searching for! hahahaha, me? determined to run stock? You wouldn't say that had you seen my gamedata folder.. I have at least 10 or 15 mods installed, including FAR. So that's going to be another one to add to the list.

I'm with the OP to an extent, the stock money grind is not one I enjoy, because it soon becomes repetitive.

But Alshain makes a very good point. There are plenty of great mods adding contracts, and in some cases, these contracts pay a lot more than the standard stuff. For example, the Station Science mod offers contracts which pay 6-figure rewards, sometimes upwards of half a million funds. Granted, you have to move a bunch of heavy things into orbit, and perform long term experiments, but those logistical challenges are fun to deal with.

Station science looks absolutely awesome. I've never had much of a reason to establish a space station and it's a challenge I'm definitely going to enjoy.

[Mattasmack]

The game is about to change next week, but I think much of the following will still hold afterwards. (This is all based on my playing stock; mods likely will change the picture as well.)

Khazar already said it, but I want to emphasize: your first building upgrade should be to mission control, so you can take on more contracts at once. It's a cheap upgrade, and it gives you much more scope to find combinations of contracts to fulfill with a single launch (which is more profitable, and makes the mission more interesting too). It also lets you take on the first few 'explore x' contracts and get their up-front payments, even before you're ready to start tackling them.

Select contracts carefully; they need to both be profitable (total funds payout should be several times the cost of the rocket you build to fulfill the contract) and worth your time as a player. For example, testing parts landed or splashed down on Kerbin is almost pure profit, but the contracts are so small that they usually fail the second measure: not worth your time. Very early on, I liked the 'science from space around Kerbin' contracts a lot -- they could be fulfilled with a very cheap rocket (a capsule and two stages of small SRBs) and a quick straight-up, straight-down flight was quick to fly. For me, the contracts for readings (or crew reports or whatever) from specific locations on Kerbin fail on both counts; but that type of contract on other bodies is often worthwhile. Interplanetary contracts and rescue contracts are time-consuming; the interplanetary ones can have payouts to match though.

Build your final stage / payload as small as possible; build your first stage as cheap as possible. Once you have access to decent probe cores, every rocket that can be made unmanned should be. My first stage is almost always SRBs, or for rockets too big to be lifted with 4-6 SRBs I add four or so to burn in parallel with the first stage.

Reusability isn't worth your time, in almost all circumstances. Build cheap rockets to fulfill contracts that pay decently, and the few percent that you could improve your profit margin through reusability just won't matter. (OTOH, if SSTO spaceplanes are your idea of fun, then go for it! But don't feel that you have to.)

You'll probably make your first missions beyond LKO before upgrading your facilities to the point of having patched conics or maneuver nodes. Remember that the Mun's SOI is larger and easier to hit, but landing on and returning from Minmus is cheaper in terms of delta-V. Minmus contracts usually pay slightly better. You can get to either moon, at least to high orbit around either, with tier-0 facilities.

Career mode, especially at higher difficulty levels, really pushes you to go out as far as possible and do as much as you can with limited parts, limited launch weight and part counts, limited assistants. It also pushes efficient rocket-building and -flying. (Or, you could say it heavily punishes inefficient rockets and inefficient flying.) That won't appeal to everyone; if you don't want to play on those terms you'll likely find other game modes more fun.

The worst part about KSP career mode is that it usually can't tell you when you've lost! If you find that, for whatever reason, you're stuck flying the same old missions over and over, and it's become tedious -- then you have lost. Technically you can keep playing and it's possible that you'll improve and eventually progress in the game, but if you're not enjoying it then what's the point? Better to just give up that save (or 'put it on hiatus' if that's easier to swallow) and start a new game at a lower difficulty level or in a different mode and get back to doing things that are fun.

[Jarin]

Thanks for the recommendation, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing I was searching for! hahahaha, me? determined to run stock? You wouldn't say that had you seen my gamedata folder.. I have at least 10 or 15 mods installed, including FAR. So that's going to be another one to add to the list.

In that case, contract packs! I make most of my early/midgame funding from satellite contracts, including those from RemoteTech and ScanSat. Work on building an ubercheap satellite delivery system and then just make the minor tweaks as contract conditions demand it. Get a basic sat with enough onboard Delta-V (my workhorse sat has a good 2000 dV for use after reaching orbit) and you can even fulfill multiple sat contracts with one unit. You only have to stay in the required orbit for a limited time to fulfill the conditions, and then you can move on to another. Granted, this IS a tad bit cheaty from an ingame perspective. Single launches of cheapsats still make a solid profit for me.

[Bev7787]

More money is earnt on 2 and 3 star missions near the bottom. Try doing those.