Science Mode expansion

[Juicy]

I'd like to see some more progression gameplay to Science Mode, but without the financial management of Career Mode.

Starting off, I'd love to see the addition of missions to Science Mode. Something like described here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/121752-science-progression-using-contracts

But, what I'd also like to see, is the different levels of buildings and skills of our Kerbals come into play in Science mode.

-Missions: add a minor amount of Science Points. (they already do in Career Mode, so why not in Science Mode?). These would be the most common missions on the list, the "fillers".

-Building levels: unlocked through missions as well. So you want more Kerbals on your roster? Then do missions to improve your Astronaut Complex. Missions with building upgrades would be less common than the "science point" missions.

-Science Progression unlocks, as described in the thread I linked above. Not as common as the science point rewards, but more common than building upgrades.

Types of missions can be made similar to the ones we already have. Maybe introduce a new mission type as well, which requires the player to perform a mission in a newly built ship with a pricetag under some predetermined amount, even if finances are not an issue, the parts value can still be used as a validation statistic for mission success.

[Kaos]

I also would like to have more progress in the science mode. And while I like the possibility to have missions in science mode, I would not like to have them as essential part in science mode. I'd rather like building upgrades in science mode to cost science points.

[Tw1]

I think there could be a much better way to set up the game than "career mode" vs "Science mode" vs "Sandbox mode", etc.

Rather than choosing a mode, when starting a new game, you could choose which parts are active. Each element could be toggled, so if you don't want tech tree, you can turn it off.

This way, you could have just contracts, just science and tech tree, sceince without tech tree....

It would need some limitations so you don't end up needing money, but have no way to earn it. If you turn of science collection, but do have contracts and tech tree, contracts would need a lot more science reward. This mechanism would let them add more features like time based budget, ground exploration, life support, etc, that not everyone wants, but could add a lot to the game for others.

Each possible combination could be given a name of its own if they really wanted.

[Juicy]

I also would like to have more progress in the science mode. And while I like the possibility to have missions in science mode, I would not like to have them as essential part in science mode. I'd rather like building upgrades in science mode to cost science points.

That's also a good idea. It might even be possible to have both: everything unlockable through science points, but on rare occasions some mission rewarding an unlock, which may or may not be already accessible through science points (depending how far you progressed). That could result in fun weirdness, like someone who just broke the first 2 tiers of the tech tree finding a mission that rewards Nuclear Propulsion, encouraging him to experiment and try to get that thing to work without all the parts he or she normally has available at that stage. It's what initially drew me to KSP: the potential to find unconventional solutions.

[Barking Sands]

This is almost starting to sound like a request for a mod to add these elements to a science mode game (which would be a topic for the "General Add-on Affairs" forum). Replacing funds with science points sounds pretty interesting; I'm guessing building and launching vehicles doesn't have any cost or only costs 1 science per 10,000ish funds. Any idea if the reputation system should be sustained or improved?

I don't know much about contract modding, but I don't think you can add a building upgrade to the rewards of a contract in a modded script; unless there's some way to include that feature to a rather more complicated plugin.

@TW1: I personally use edited career save files to do whatever I happen to feel like doing. Not exactly what you're looking for, but it's a little similar in that it's a way to produce a custom career mode.

If you're interested, I have a career save pack including an experimental (WIP) "Vulcan Funeral Affairs" career. Most of the facilities are destroyed at the start and there are zero funds and -1000 reputation. The idea is to save the space center through judicious use of contracts. It's pretty darned hard.