How do contracts work?

[HappyAngryCatfish]

Hi, so I was wondering right now I'm basically getting a lot of lame contracts how do you get better ones? Does that depend on your reputation or something?

Thanks

[Wemb]

Hi, so I was wondering right now I'm basically getting a lot of lame contracts how do you get better ones? Does that depend on your reputation or something?

Thanks

Define 'lame'? It mostly, AFAIK, depends on what contracts you've already done (some are one-time only) and where you are on the tech tree.

Wemb

[Weywot8]

Reputation and tech capability - you have to finish the "lame" ones to collect more rep.

[tater]

Don't hold your breath waiting for contracts that aren't lame.

[HappyAngryCatfish]

I'll define lame. This is the second time I posted this topic but the good mobile version of this site disagreed and made me switch to the desktop version. Which resulted in me logging out and losing the topic. Right now I feel like I'm a bus service because in getting TONS of tourists missions. And quite a few Kerbin surveys.

[Wemb]

I'll define lame. This is the second time I posted this topic but the good mobile version of this site disagreed and made me switch to the desktop version. Which resulted in me logging out and losing the topic. Right now I feel like I'm a bus service because in getting TONS of tourists missions. And quite a few Kerbin surveys.

Yup, the tourists ones are dull - but with that I just concentrated on building the most economical joy-ride vehicle I could, while I racked up the missions to pay for my science programme. It was a bit grindy, agreed.

The surface survey ones are too boring for words.

Wemb

[capi3101]

Some of the surface survey ones are flat out dangerous...had one where I was supposed to do a spot above 17,000, a spot below 16,000 and a spot on the surface. No problem, right? The spot on the surface was in the middle of the damn ocean...no matter how many times I tried, I couldn't ditch intact. Wound up cancelling that mission...

Which I suppose brings up a point: those missions where you get some funding prior to finishing the contract? You shouldn't hesitate to cancel them when you get to the more challenging bits if and only if A) you don't feel like doing them and you'll still make a profit on the contract even if you cancel it. You might lose some rep, but rep's pretty easy to earn. Something to consider the first time one of your tourists decides they want to go sun-diving.

I wouldn't knock tourist missions too much - they're good money, especially if you can start reducing costs by using reusable craft (read: build ferry craft, and start using spaceplanes to bring up fuel/more tourists). Tourism missions have largely funded the full KSP upgrades in my own space program.

Survey missions...yeah, those are dull as hell. Good way to pass a quiet Sunday afternoon, though.

[HappyAngryCatfish]

Are the surface surveys basically made for planes? Because plane flying seems to basically flat out suck for me.

[capi3101]

Are the surface surveys basically made for planes? Because plane flying seems to basically flat out suck for me.

The ones on Kerbin pretty much are; though in theory you could build a rocket to do the job, getting it to the point where you need it at the speed at which it needs to be going is much trickier in a rocket than in a plane. And hitting more than one waypoint at a time also adds to the difficulty.

Planes aren't atrociously difficult to get used to once you know what you're doing, and if you get to the point where you can use them well they can save you thousands and bump up your profit margins significantly. Had one in 0.90 that was able to take up a Mun lander and bring it back - that Mun mission cost a whopping √3000, the price of fuel...looked like total crap but it did the job.

[Kryxal]

I tend to combine the tourist missions with either station or mining contracts these days (or both). If you're going anyway, why not take passengers with you?

[Edax]

Just wait until you get the extract 1000 ore from Eve and deliver it to Gilly; it's the ultimate contract/challenge of the game.