Missing Explore Minmus Contract

[arkie87]

I cant seem to get an Explore Minmus contract. It seems to skip it and go right into Duna after Mun... anyone else notice this?

I do get contracts to plant flag on minmus and collect science from minmus and put base on minmus, but no "explore minmus" contract

[michaelhester07]

I only got a flyby for Minmus. Guess it got Pluto'd (isn't important enough). I had jeb sittin in orbit of it waiting for that contract to appear.

[Randazzo]

I didn't get an explore contract for the mun or minmus. I got fly-by missions followed by science data from space/surface and plant flag contracts. I just assumed this was the new system, but then I got an explore contract for Ike.

[Alshain]

Yeah, I didn't get Minmus either. I used Alt-F12 to add it, but I couldn't get it to show up on it's own.

[Renegrade]

Yep, still waiting for Explore Minmus here myself. It's holding back my space program (I should really just ignore it, to be honest but...)

It is offering me Pol contracts though for some reason.

[DaPatman]

I don't think this is a new problem - I waited ages for it to show up in 0.90, until I got fed up and used the debug menu to add it.

[Corovaneer]

Never noticed that in 0.90, but yeah, in 1.0 Minmus is missing from contracts. I already get Duna suggestions, but no Minmus.

[MarkusF]

Yep, still waiting for Explore Minmus here myself. It's holding back my space program (I should really just ignore it, to be honest but...)

It is offering me Pol contracts though for some reason.

The Pol contracts are a known issue, for some reason there is a section in the savegame sometimes, telling you would have done a science experiment on pol.

Create a backup of your savegame, open your savegame (persistent.sfs) and search for "Pol". It's under "Scenario"->"Progress" and remove the "Pol" section. If you want you can also remove the current "Pol" contracts, in case you have one which cannot be denied.

After that, the progress contracts ("FlyBy", "Orbit", etc.) should appear.

The structure you're looking for looks like this:

Scenario

.Progress

..FirstLaunch

..FirstCrewToSurvive

.. (etc.)

..Kerbin

...Flyby

...Orbit

... (etc.)

..Mun

...Flyby

...Orbit

... (etc.)

..Pol (delete this section)

... (etc.)

[falloutaddict]

How do you add it with debug menu? I went into it and went to add explore contract but couldnt get it to show up.

[NicoH]

The Pol contracts are a known issue, for some reason there is a section in the savegame sometimes, telling you would have done a science experiment on pol.

Wasn't that in issue with experiments from "flagpole"?

[Temeter]

I somehow 'lost' my ability to get an explore mun contract, too. Had the option, but then it vanished and didn't come back.

[stevehead]

This has been a problem since contracts were implemented. Would be solvable if Squad let us dictate the direction of our space program instead of randomly generated contracts dictating the direction (of course I could go on for a while about how poorly career mode is implemented).

[Kerano]

I also never got the explore minmus contract. I was quite annoyed that it didn't come up, as the reward is significant and visiting minmus without it literally sets you back in your space program since it never appears again.

Personally I feel the 'explore' contracts should work like the 'world first' contracts. You should be rewarded by default the very first time you orbit/land on a new body. Most crucially you should not be PUNISHED by losing the benefit of a one-off contract forever just because you visit a body before the game tells you to explore it.

[Kilmeister]

How do you add a Mun contract? Normally I do a mun flyby right after orbit Kerbin because it usually comes up right afterwards. This time I'm just getting spammed with space tourism contracts. I've declined probably 100+ of them, got tired of waiting for a mun contract and just accepted and completed a whole bunch of random ones using debug, but still no mun contract.

[richfiles]

Yeah, I'd love instructions on how to manually add the Minmus contract either via console or by editing my persistent file. I bumped Minmus's SOI doing a "Test this dumb wheel on a Kerbin Escape Trajectory... cause reasons..." I guess the reasons were some good rewards for a simple parts test, only that straight up appears to have locked me out of the Minmus contract.

So far, I have 2 Eve, 3 Duna, and 3 Ike... No Minmus popped up using the console... So... At this point, I'm not sure if I need to edit the save file now. Dunno?

[Arsonide]

The Explore contracts target planets that you have not reached somewhat randomly. They can skip planets. They have always been this way.

If you want a more linear progression, do the little bite sized World First contracts. They have the same rewards (1/4 the rewards, but 1/4 the amount of objectives) as Explore contracts, and you can chain them together with a single vessel, so theoretically, you could drag them out longer than the four objectives an Explore would net you. They also follow a strict progression based on your personal progression, and never skip planets unless you did yourself. (Obviously the Pol bug is an exception here, one that's been fixed.) They never ask you to do something that you have already done, they always ask you to do things that are very close in difficulty to things you have already done - things they perceive you to be ready for, and they are pretty decent reward wise.

Another benefit of them, is that there are literally hundreds of them: 14 per body, 17 bodies, so including the early game ones, it's a bit over 238, and they support modded planets. So if you progress without having one, and "skip" it by unlocking progress, it's less of an issue than with the Explore contracts.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Arsonide

[Mulbin]

I have only been given worlds firsts for Mun - no explore contract for anywhere yet. Also noticed there seems to be hidden code that prevents a seemingly randow section of worlds firsts being completed by unmanned ships.

[peter1981]

I accepted and completed a 'Mun flyby contract' in the save file the fly-by has a reached Pol entry -- it is the only entry for pol other than pole in the save file.

[Drunken Hobo]

I also have this problem. Seems a bit of a silly oversight, as it is a massive part of the early game science & funds bonus. Without it you're stuck in a grind for science & funds and it could really put off new players who don't want know any better. I don't see why every astronomical object shouldn't automatically have it's own "explore" contract.

I don't really like using the debug menu in career mode, but I'm not away to restart my save just to see if I can get the Minmus contract. No part of this game should be luck based, so it's a bit disappointing to see contracts missing.

[Aragosnat]

I also have this problem. Seems a bit of a silly oversight, as it is a massive part of the early game science & funds bonus. Without it you're stuck in a grind for science & funds and it could really put off new players who don't want know any better. I don't see why every astronomical object shouldn't automatically have it's own "explore" contract.

I don't really like using the debug menu in career mode, but I'm not away to restart my save just to see if I can get the Minmus contract. No part of this game should be luck based, so it's a bit disappointing to see contracts missing.

It is reputation based. Not luck. Raised my reputation to 989 and now I got the Orbit Minus Contract to pop up. Just like the Fly-By Minmus oneThat I took a while back. Both had 6 days before they expired. Explore Ike poped up then too.

Edit:

[Kerano]

If it's reputation based then the balancing is out of whack. I did a dozen or so missions on Kerbin, landed on and returned from the Mun, ferried several tourists around Kerbin and to the Mun, rescued a Kerbal from Kerbin and another from the Mun, and apparently still didn't have enough reputation for the "Explore Minmus" contract to appear. This despite no contract failures at any point.

I've noticed in general that reputation gains are way lower than in version 0.90, where I didn't have too many issues with getting the big "explore X" contracts appear. Squad may not have properly adjusted the contract triggering system to compensate for the reduced reputation gains early in the game.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Kerano

[Aragosnat]

If it's reputation based then the balancing is out of whack. I did a dozen or so missions on Kerbin, landed on and returned from the Mun, ferried several tourists around Kerbin and to the Mun, rescued a Kerbal from Kerbin and another from the Mun, and apparently still didn't have enough reputation for the "Explore Minmus" contract to appear. This despite no contract failures at any point.

I've noticed in general that reputation gains are way lower than in version 0.90, where I didn't have too many issues with getting the big "explore X" contracts appear. Squad may not have properly adjusted the contract triggering system to compensate for the reduced reputation gains early in the game.

Yeah. It certainly is. Think We need a rep of 800+ to see the such contracts I know 981 rep sees Ike and such.. Or the two I got that where from the Worlds First are it. By the time any contract for Minmus pops up. We should be seeing such Explore missions.

[Arsonide]

The appearance of various types of contracts is not based on your reputation. Any type of contract that you qualify for can appear with zero or even negative reputation.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Arsonide

[richfiles]

Well, I succeeded in getting my Explore Minmus contract by using BOTH the debug menu AND persistent.sfs file editing.

I found that my particular save would not generate a contract for Explore Minmus, but it would generate multiple Explore Duna, Ike, Eve, etc... So what I did was accept a DUPLICATE Explore contract. Exit your game and back up your persistent.sfs file (Kerbal Space Program/saves/**yoursavenamehere**/persistent.sfs), and then open it in a text editor.

Search for the text "ExploreBody" and you'll find the area of the file where your contracts are located. Each explore contract has 5 instances of "body = x", where x is the id of the celestial body. If you use the debug console to generate a DUPLICATE Explore X contract (like say, a second Explore Duna contract), then you will see TWO contract entries with the SAME "body = x" number. The code below is an EXAMPLE from my save file (the other data might be specific to your save, so only change the bold portions, and use your data from your own save file to modify).

CONTRACT {

guid = 765265be-dbea-4cf3-bdb9-84f28a17245f

type = ExploreBody

prestige = 2

seed = 1923908387

state = Active

agent = Ionic Symphonic Protonic Electronics

deadlineType = None

expiryType = None

values = 0,0,281250,562500,281250,0,20,8,0,127241.951144121,0,0

body = 3

PARAM

{

name = EnterOrbit

id = Orbit

state = Incomplete

values = 56250,0,0,3,0

body = 3

}

PARAM

{

name = CollectScience

id = ScienceSpace

state = Incomplete

values = 56250,0,6,2,0

body = 3

location = Space

}

PARAM

{

name = LandOnBody

id = Land

state = Incomplete

values = 112500,0,0,3,0

body = 3

}

PARAM

{

name = CollectScience

id = ScienceSurface

state = Incomplete

values = 56250,0,6,2,0

body = 3

location = Surface

}

}

So change the number of "body = x" of ONE of your duplicate "Explore X" contracts from whatever number it is to "3", and that will change it to a Minmus contract. Quite frankly, I don't even care about the other parameters. Maybe someone who got the Explore Minmus contract can fill us in on the correct payout values (prestige, funds, science, rep, etc).

All I know, is generating a duplicate Explore contract with the debug console, and then finding the duplicate in the persistence file and changing the 5 instances of the the body id number to 3 did the trick.

Also, I did not let not getting the contract hold me back... In my game I have actually landed on Minmus and collected science. Editing the contract in this manner DOES NOT mark those events as complete. You'll need to perform those tasks again for the contract to register the events.

Edited May 11, 2015 by richfiles
Additional detail

[Kerano]

The appearance of various types of contracts is not based on your reputation. Any type of contract that you qualify for can appear with zero or even negative reputation.

Hmm, perhaps it was bad luck then.

I think you should change the one-time "Explore X" contracts to be treated like the "World First" contracts - i.e. automatic credit the first time you orbit/land on a new body. Otherwise you're punished by never being able to gain the benefit of the one-off "Explore X" contract just because you visited a body before the game told you to explore it. It's the same problem that the altitude contracts used to have - a penalty for being ambitious.

All one-off contracts should be automatically awarded, IMHO.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Kerano