Proper Derelicts

[quasarrgames]

Just imagine pulling up to a rescue mission, your dinky ship having navigated through the vast blackness of space, to find the twsted hulk of a once grand space station/interplanetary stage/lander/spaceplane. You have to be careful to maneuver around the broken solar panels and pieces of debris before finally finding the stranded kerbalnaut(s) and heading home.

Wouldn't that be so much more awesome than just finding a random command pod?

[Reolos]

/agree. I basically imagine all Kerbonauts that I rescue are from a rival organization, even though one doesn't exist ingame. Twisted debris from their orbital attempts would be way more gratifying them the Mk 1 pods and inline cockpits we get currently.

[tater]

In general, the "hulks" should be better, and the missions more varied. Goethe claw, and all of a sudden you have to bring the entire wreckage back to Kerbin? Why, exactly? Better to have a full ship, but out of fuel, and you must dock, and refuel. Or a ship with no power and broken solar panels---send an engineer to repair. There are many options that are better than most all the current contracts (which almost universally stink).

[Layereddiagram]

Or maybe just a mk1 command pod with a hammer SRB attached to it. Although I do like your idea better.

Although if they were too big or had too many expensive parts, then people might exploit them for lots of cash.

Edited July 18, 2015 by Layereddiagram

[Wjolcz]

I fully agree. Some complexed stations/vessels would make the rescue missions far more interesting. Though not overbuilt. >80 parts would be more than enough.

[tater]

The part count can be very low. A CM/SM combo is about 13 parts. You can make a lander for that many, easily. They could cap the parts at 15-20 and have interesting crafts.

[klgraham1013]

It'd be great to actually feel like there's another organization involved who needs your help. As of now, it feels like the Kerbals are just randomly spawning, which is, of course, exactly what's happening.

Getting reports on how the other company is doing could also motivate players to push that much further into space. Being informed of a satellite launch, only to look in your tracking station and see a satellite from the other company orbiting Kerbin.

[samstarman5]

It'd be great to actually feel like there's another organization involved who needs your help. As of now, it feels like the Kerbals are just randomly spawning, which is, of course, exactly what's happening.

Getting reports on how the other company is doing could also motivate players to push that much further into space. Being informed of a satellite launch, only to look in your tracking station and see a satellite from the other company orbiting Kerbin.

That is a pretty sweet idea, although it does put extra burden on your system to just spontaneously put more junk out there. If Unity 5 turns out to be the really fantastic and awesome engine that the hype is making it out to be, then maybe something like that can occur without worrying that an autonomous craft appearing in your game will just cause more lag.

I wouldn't mind myself if there was more to derelicts than just a command module, especially since they won't appear until you do take on the contract. But care should be taken, as rescue contracts are already cash cows. Bringing back an entire CM and SM arrangement, maybe missing a leg or engine, would give you an extra boost in funds. Although the contract payout can be adjusted with that in mind, that can be a bit unfair to players who haven't unlocked docking ports or the AGU, yet.

[klgraham1013]

That is a pretty sweet idea, although it does put extra burden on your system to just spontaneously put more junk out there. If Unity 5 turns out to be the really fantastic and awesome engine that the hype is making it out to be, then maybe something like that can occur without worrying that an autonomous craft appearing in your game will just cause more lag.

I wouldn't mind myself if there was more to derelicts than just a command module, especially since they won't appear until you do take on the contract. But care should be taken, as rescue contracts are already cash cows. Bringing back an entire CM and SM arrangement, maybe missing a leg or engine, would give you an extra boost in funds. Although the contract payout can be adjusted with that in mind, that can be a bit unfair to players who haven't unlocked docking ports or the AGU, yet.

I believe adding additional orbits in KSP isn't actually much of a performance hog, but I could be wrong.

I know I've had somewhat insane amounts of flights in my game and it was still playable.

Edited July 20, 2015 by klgraham1013