Career mode missions worthless?

[Chibbity]

Hey all! Started playing Kerbal a month or so ago and although I'm rather enjoying it and having a good time and all, the Career mode was one of the things I've been waiting for since I'm not much for sandbox style "do whatever you want" I like a lot of things about it but...

None of the missions in the Career mode seem worth doing.

Take 2 Kerbals on a sub orbital flight for less than 20k reward? Subtracting the cost of the actual ship that's not a lot of profit. Even a cheap ship that can break 70,000 is going to cost more than 10k prolly.

Test basic jet engine in flight? Sure sounds easy enough...oh wait it has to be above 13,000 ft at over 400 m/s. I couldn't even achieve 400 m/s in a flat dive at full power from 13,000 feet with 3 of the basic "weasely" engines. So what am I supposed to do? Attach them to a rocket and just turn them on for a sec? That doesn't sound like very much fun.

Observe some random point in flight below 17k? Sounds easy enough...or it would be if it wasn't half way around the world so it takes 20 mins of 4x speed watching my plane fly in a straight line.

Is it just me or are they hardly ever worth doing? Especially in the early game. Am I missing something? They don't seem fun or especially profitable. Thanks in advance for any light you could shine on the matter.

[Aragosnat]

Take and do multiple contracts at once. I have 23 k rocket that can get 2 tourists into orbit and back and I know when to re-enter into Kerban so that my craft with the tourists lands close enough to get 90-98% back giving me 6 k back about from return parts.

Also test x at y altitude at z speeds does not mean you need to do it with a certain craft. The plane example you made can be done on a rocket. Just place said part on your nose lauch craft. Perfect example of doing it with a tourist contract like you also mentioned.

Also throw in text x part at launch helps reduce the cost even more if you can get them to pop up.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Aragosnat

[mikegarrison]

Tourist contracts a best viewed as ride-alongs. Add some space for tourists and take them with you while you do other missions, for some almost-free money and reputation. The same for "gather science from" and "plant flag on" missions.

Part contracts are usually a waste of time, unless you can do them right on the launch pad.

The ones that really pay off are the rescue contracts (free kerbals + money!), the "explore" contracts, and the "put a station in orbit" or "put a base on the surface" contracts. If you were already going to do that anyway, why not get some big money? Any ship counts as a station or a base as long as it meets the contract requirements.

And if you just want money, do some satellite contracts. Unmanned probes are cheap, and those contracts pay a lot of profit (especially if you fill several of them with the same satellite).

[Motokid600]

That is the TIP of the iceberg that is the ridiculous contract system KSP has.

"Test SRB on a suborbital flight on Minmus"

... Yea that's totally worth the time it takes to design that.

While not quite a duplicate. This thread is relevant.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/128066-Contracts-at-their-finest-%29

Edited July 13, 2015 by Motokid600

[regex]

I use Contract Configurator to block all the stupid part testing, satellite, and survey contracts (and more, actually), and instead concentrate on things that make me money while I do what I want. I also jack up the number of generated contracts to 30 which gives me much more choice in the matter.

[kzauner]

That is the TIP of the iceberg that is the ridiculous contract system KSP has.

"Test SRB on a suborbital flight on Minmus"

... Yea that's totally worth the time it takes to design that.

Well, like IRL. I think you have no idea, what 'possible customers' sometimes want you as company to do. Economically its usually wise to let them find another supplier. Therefore Squad ingeniously implemented the option to decline a contract.

[mrclucks]

I try to get my mission control to third tier asap so I can accept all non ridiculous contracts as soon as I can. Keep denying the stupid ones like test SRB in orbit till you get the satellite contracts, test part at launchsite, and tourists. Once I can either no longer accept anymore contracts or no good ones pop up I'll go to my VAB and see all the ones I can do in one shot.

There's been multiple occasions where I launched a rocket carrying a bazillion tourists so I can go to the mun and minmus (and cross off flyby, orbit and suborbital) with almost no funds left. Sure if I failed then I would had to start a new game, but the payout can get you from 500k to a few million, and that's before I've even recovered my craft. It's also a great training mission for any new Kerbal.

.On that note, does anyone know if tourists give you more money if you level them up more? Would be totally sweet if they double their initial payout once they get to level five

[Motokid600]

Well, like IRL. I think you have no idea, what 'possible customers' sometimes want you as company to do. Economically its usually wise to let them find another supplier. Therefore Squad ingeniously implemented the option to decline a contract.

Only for another, even more ridiculous contract to follow. No there's no justifying KSPs contracts. There isn't. There completely daft and that's all there is to it. Either way.... I can't get into this in this thread its being discussed in that other one I linked. There are ideas there that blow away the random system we have now.

[regex]

Only for another, even more ridiculous contract to follow. No there's no justifying KSPs contracts. There isn't. There completely daft and that's all there is to it. Either way.... I can't get into this in this thread its being discussed in that other one I linked. There are ideas there that blow away the random system we have now.

This is pretty much truth right here.

[basic.syntax]

I agree with others that doing as many contracts as possible with a single craft, is the way to go. Once you're getting contracts to fly-by Mun and Minimus, grouping those with tourists heading in the same direction, really helps pay the bills. It also helps to not hire Kerbals: grow your staff with Rescue contracts.

[Wintersdark]

Any recommended mods to improve the contract system? I don't mind the ludicrous contract requests as that's a thing in real life - I work in manufacturing, you'd never believe the absurd things customers ask us for.

However, I would certainly love more interesting types of contracts, or an overhaul that makes the system work better.

[Geschosskopf]

Is it just me or are they hardly ever worth doing? Especially in the early game. Am I missing something? They don't seem fun or especially profitable. Thanks in advance for any light you could shine on the matter.

Most contracts these days aren't very profitable when taken as stand-alone things. However, you have 2 things you can do about that. First of course is to take contracts for stuff you're going to be doing anyway, such as to plant a flag on Mun or wharever. The other is to combine multiple contracts that require the same general parameters (like 1-star rescues from LKO) into 1 mission. The 1st contract in the group you might break more or less even on, but doing several others while you're in the neighborhood doesn't increase the cost of the rocket that much, so by doing 3 or 4 such contracts per trip, you can make a fair amount of money. Otherwise, the only contracts that tend to pay well by themselves are for satellites, stations, and surface bases. And the satellites can be stacked as well so, by building a slightly bigger probe, you can use the same probe for several such missions because each only requires the probe to be there for 10 seconds.

Tourists don't pay much money but they do pay rep, which is useful to get more lucractive contracts later. Rescues pay both rep and money so it's a good idea to do a few of these.

However, 1.x stripped most of science out of contracts, which IMHO is bad. If you want to make science via contracts, get DMagic Orbital Science, which creates lucrative science contracts in terms of both cash and science. Plus, you get a bunch of new experiment parts so your normal trips to Mun/Minmus can collect way more science per trip.

You can also play with the difficulty sliders at the start of a game. I personally think the game begins once the tech tree is done so I like to increase the science rewards to 200% to reduce grindy, repetitive, and expensive Mun trips.

[mikegarrison]

Here's the mission I just flew:

I took a contract to rescue a kerbal in Kerbin orbit, and another to rescue a kerbal in Minmus orbit. I had a contract to gather science from the Minmus surface. And I picked up a contact for two tourists (one to kerbin sub-orbit and one to kerbin orbit).

I had six places available on my ship, and I only took one kerbonaut. I also took the two tourists. Then I launched into the Minmus plane and flew there. I rescued the sap in orbit. I landed, got some science, planted some flags, etc. Left Minmus and changed orbital planes while I was way out there, where it is cheaper. Then I dropped into low Kerbin orbit and rescued the other sap. Finally I landed. I got two rescues (one from Minmus, which pays pretty well), picked up two new kerbals for free, got free money from the tourists (who only paid for low Kerbin space - if they had actually had Minmus contracts I would have done even better), got the free money from that Minmus surface science contract, and cleared out a Minmus biome for science points.

(I also had an orbital collision making my last rescue! Fortunately it only destroyed part of a stage I was just about to jettison anyway.)

When I landed I had more money than when I started, more science, more reputation, and more kerbals in the astronaut pool.

Edited July 13, 2015 by mikegarrison

[uglyduckling81]

I run contract packs, Remote tech contracts etc. I've only done one tourist mission so far but I incorporated it in with a Kerbal rescue mission from LKO. 4 Capsules on top of each other, 1 Pilot, 2 passengers, 1 spare for the rescue. All with an SSTO rocket which cost very little. I made shed loads of cash from that mission. I think I've only had one other tourist mission offered which I have yet to accept for a Mun and Minmus flyby.

I guess it's a bit random which missions you get.

[GoSlash27]

Caveat Emptor, but I have found that satellite, survey, and rescue contracts are almost always highly-lucrative in early career. They don't cost much to accomplish (although you do have to know what you're doing) and they pay well.

Part testing... you have to take a close look at the parameters before you accept it and it usually doesn't pay much, but it's easy to do.

The other stuff (especially tourist contracts) I don't bother with unless I happen to be already going that way.

Early career is almost 100% all about science. You will be cash-flush if you do it right even without taking any contracts.

The important part is knowing enough about KSP to spot a losing contract and declining it.

Best,

-Slashy

Edited July 14, 2015 by GoSlash27

[Kerbart]

As the others mention, it's mostly a (fun) game of combining contracts and missions in a profitable way.

Currently I'm running an operation where I have a station around Mun (paid for by a contract of course) manned by a rescued Kerbal (they pay you to expand your workforce!) who will go on "science" missions (EVA report, surface sample) that are paid by flag plants. Once returned to the Mun station, the science samples await pick-up by rescue missions that, after picking up a Kerbal from Mun orbit, visit the Mun station for refueling (yes, my launches are so cheap that there's usually not enough fuel for a return). Pick up science, go home. Every launch pays for itself and usually brings home good amounts of science.

[mikegarrison]

You will be cash-flush if you do it right even without taking any contracts.

How? Contracts are the only source of funding. (You do get some free money with those hidden record contracts.) I don't think selling your science is really self-sustaining, although you could turn a science rover at KSP into some nice profit.

[Reddeyfish]

How? Contracts are the only source of funding. (You do get some free money with those hidden record contracts.) I don't think selling your science is really self-sustaining, although you could turn a science rover at KSP into some nice profit.

For early career, the hidden record contracts are enough. Once you reach mid-game, then you'll want to start taking rescue contracts, plant flag contracts, and so on.

[AbacusWizard]

Most of my early-mid-game money (as soon as I get docking ports, really) comes from Mun/Minmus survey contracts. I put a base in orbit around each (with crew quarters, a lab, and plenty of fuel) and send down small landers to the surface and back over and over. I get big bucks from the contracts at no extra cost because I don't need to launch anything (the infrastructure's already there; once in a while I need to send up more fuel but that's it), I have fun exploring, my kerbalnauts get experience (with crew rotation courtesy of small orbital transport skiffs that never need to land), and my tech tree gets plenty of science. Good times. The infrastructure also makes it easy to complete rescue missions and tourist contracts whenever there's an extra seat on the spacebus.

[Joonatan1998]

For me the time between first orbit and Minmus landing (easier to go there first?) was the hardest time to get money.

Before that the automatic contracts give easy money, after that there are many profitable contracts.

"transmit science from" contracts are basically free money, rescue contracts give free kerbals, station contracts pay really well. (just be careful to not take the ones that require massive fuel storage on the station...)

If you need money sell some reputation, the only effects are that you get missions that pay less, but are also easier.

[tater]

If you had a BUDGET (you are KSC, after all), then contracts would be fun additional cash. Contracts are the only mechanism for funding, however. As a result, you have to take at least some, and they are stupid if you bother thinking about them for 5 seconds. If you build a base under contract, you should not use it yourself, for example. When SpaceX launches a satellite, they don't own the satellite, once it is where it is supposed to be, they wash their hands of it.

If you have to think about them as anything other than what they are at face value, company X paying you to launch something, then the system needs work.

[Joonatan1998]

If you had a BUDGET (you are KSC, after all), then contracts would be fun additional cash. Contracts are the only mechanism for funding, however. As a result, you have to take at least some, and they are stupid if you bother thinking about them for 5 seconds. If you build a base under contract, you should not use it yourself, for example. When SpaceX launches a satellite, they don't own the satellite, once it is where it is supposed to be, they wash their hands of it.

If you have to think about them as anything other than what they are at face value, company X paying you to launch something, then the system needs work.

If you had an budget there would have to be some "negative" time based mechanic to avoid money just becoming infinite.

[GoSlash27]

How? Contracts are the only source of funding. (You do get some free money with those hidden record contracts.) I don't think selling your science is really self-sustaining, although you could turn a science rover at KSP into some nice profit.

mikegarrison,

The Kerbal world record contracts will auto-complete as you achieve them. If you can get an early orbit and safely recover it, you will wind up making so much money that you don't really have to accept any contracts for a long time.

Observe how 5thHorseman handles it in the Caveman Challenge:

Well over half a million credits buys a lot of launches in the early career.

Best,

-Slashy

[mikegarrison]

mikegarrison,

The Kerbal world record contracts will auto-complete as you achieve them.

Yes, if you notice, I mentioned those. But they are contracts, even though they are automatic and mostly hidden. If you go look at your list of completed contracts, you find them there.

Besides, they don't even get you enough money to build out KSP. Really they only give you enough money to bootstrap your program until you can get to orbit and maybe do Mun/Minmus flybys. You have to start taking other contracts really quickly.

[mrclucks]

You can also play with the difficulty sliders at the start of a game. I personally think the game begins once the tech tree is done so I like to increase the science rewards to 200% to reduce grindy, repetitive, and expensive Mun trips.

I recently started a career giving myself 500k at start, a thousand or so science, and increased rewards by 10% and decreasing penalties by 10%. The science and money boost is to skip most of the "can't quite get to orbit yet" stage without just completely dominating the tech tree(let's face it, after doing a career many times, there's no fun grinding just to get into space), and the penalty reduction and rewards boost is to make it less frustrating and more freeplay-ish without taking away the challenge. All other elements are at 100% to simulate a normal career