Strange mission progression. Possibly a bug?

[Solar71]

Hey guys.

Im playing career.

I keep getting missions to build orbital bases around the Mun, and minmus.

But ive never ever been given a mission to build a base in kerbil orbit.

It's as if the game just skipped that level of progression. It asked me to do a few other missions first. Then BAM! Make a Mun orbital base then BAM! Make a minmus orbital base. Uhhh what happened to kerbin?

why did it feel like 0.9 had far better mission progression? Is this a simple bug?

only mod I have is kerbal engineer redux for the in flight information. That's it.

I dont even have the science progression to build big enough rockets to put a station in minmus orbit yet.

Any suggestions? Thanks

[cybersol]

The kerbin orbital base missions should be random draws right about the time you get the ones for mun and minmus. Have you tried declining a lot to see if you can draw out the kerbin version?

[Solar71]

Thanks for the reply.

No I haven't tried declining any missions. I always click accept.

I didn't know that the kerbin orbital missions would start at the same time as Mun and minmus.

That seems very strange considering kerbin orbit is much easier to get to compared to the Mun or minmus.

I wonder why why it's setup that way. Doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks.

[cybersol]

There is no penalty to declining before you accept, and its good in this kind of situation where you know you want the kerbin version.

[Streetwind]

Contracts don't come in any specific order. They are procedurally generated by the game, based on what it believes you are capable of.

To get station building contracts, you need to unlock certain parts in the tech tree. Once those parts are available, the game starts generating station building contracts, because it knows you are now capable of actually fulfilling them. Without those parts, you will not see a single one.

For each such contract, the game selects a location it thinks you are capable of reaching. In other words: if you entered the Mun's SoI at least once, the game considers you capable of sending things to the Mun, and also to Minmus, which can be reached by the exact same ship. Because of the position of the required parts in the tech tree, you are more or less guaranteed to already have visited the Mun (at minimum) by the time you unlock station contracts.

For the most part, the game will randomize a destination out of those it thinks you are capable of reaching; however, that randomization is weighted depending on your reputation. If your reputation is fairly high, then that means the contracts will be weighted towards the more challenging, better paying end. It may even decide to give you a contract for a location you have not visited yet but which is considered a "next logical step" destination (such as a contract for Duna when you can comfortably handle both Mun and Minmus). Similarly, if you have a low reputation because your space program is in trouble, it will generate contracts for you that may not pay as well but are easy to fulfill, so you can pull yourself together.

Therefore, even though Kerbin orbit is a viable choice for the contract generator, you're more likely to see Mun and Minmus (or even Duna) pop up if you are doing well, because the game seeks to challenge you.