Homebrew Career mode, or How Do You Play KSP?

[Waxing_Kibbous]

Because there is no one way to play KSP, I started thinking about doing a science mode game but wasn't sure what to actually do in it- what kind of goals did I want to achieve? Today I came up with my Space Program goals-

To find every easter egg in game, and take a picture next to it with 3 Kerbals- a pilot, a scientist, and an engineer, with flag, next to it. Basically it's like going sightseeing, My Summer Space Vacation. I have yet to find a single easter egg so this will be a good new challenge for me. The other goal to round out in case a body lacks easter eggs is to land on every body, again with a trio. *SSSHH don't tell me about easter eggs!** Also a bonus to build a colony with a view next to any goodies I find to be cool.

Mods to add to the fun, and why I'll use them:
No orange suits- USI life support
antennarange- probe cores only for satellites and small wheel rovers.
DERP - No F5, no revert launch, no zombie Kerbals
Plus various other utility mods, KIS, KAS, MKS Lite, Karbonite, Alcubierre Warp Drive, KER, ScanSat etc.

This should be quite the fun time- I imagine there are a lot of other cool agendas out there, what is yours?

[JeramyM]

That is an awesome idea, I might have to steal it.

How are you gonna find the anomalies? ScanSat or similar? Edited November 25, 2015 by JeramyM
Stupid Autocorrect

[GarrisonChisholm]

[quote name='Waxing_Kibbous'] *SSSHH don't tell me about easter eggs!** ?[/QUOTE]

But, ...if no one tells you about the Easter Eggs, how will you know when you've found "all" of them? :? :)

Also, to me that would seem to be a mighty lofty goal, fraught with an imposing amount of work.

I am still on my first play-through (1.02 un-modded), and my objective is only to get at least "some" science from every body, and to exercise all of the skills required in the game. When I do my modded 1.1 game (sometime next year), I will set new objectives, but likely similar.

[maceemiller]

Im doing the same sorta thing but like this....ive been to and returned home from the Mun after visiting all the anomalies there is to visit. I went to Duna after sending a scanner into orbit to see if I could visit the anomalies there in one visit which I completed (cant say if there's 1 or 100 :) )

I have many more scanning/visiting missions to go in my KSP with a few already done which I wont mention as I'd like others to follow this style of looking.....no point in ruining all the fun!

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[quote name='GarrisonChisholm']But, ...if no one tells you about the Easter Eggs, how will you know when you've found "all" of them? :? :)

Also, to me that would seem to be a mighty lofty goal, fraught with an imposing amount of work.

I am still on my first play-through (1.02 un-modded), and my objective is only to get at least "some" science from every body, and to exercise all of the skills required in the game. When I do my modded 1.1 game (sometime next year), I will set new objectives, but likely similar.[/QUOTE]

Send scanners ahead of you to look... Edited November 25, 2015 by maceemiller

[A35K]

Interesting type of play. What I usually do is a 'Sandbox Career', which basically means I use sandbox mode, but I start with very simple and small things and then progress to larger and more complex missions. I also add mods that add futuristic technology as I go along, simulating technological advancement. The goal I work towards is colonise the entire solar system, by which I mean have at least 1 sustainable base on each planet.

[Just Jim]

That was how I was playing my last career. I found almost all of the Easter eggs, and have some really great group pics like you describe. But I'm not sure if I should share them, I don't want to ruin it for you. I can also point you in the right direction of most, but not unless you ask.

Enjoy the egg hunt!!!

[Overland]

Out of interest how many easter eggs would be on kerbin? Not specifics..numbers would be nice

[LordFerret]

[quote name='Waxing_Kibbous']Because there is no one way to play KSP, I started thinking about doing a science mode game but wasn't sure what to actually do in it- what kind of goals did I want to achieve? Today I came up with my Space Program goals-

To find every easter egg in game, and take a picture next to it with 3 Kerbals- a pilot, a scientist, and an engineer, with flag, next to it. Basically it's like going sightseeing, My Summer Space Vacation. I have yet to find a single easter egg so this will be a good new challenge for me. The other goal to round out in case a body lacks easter eggs is to land on every body, again with a trio. *SSSHH don't tell me about easter eggs!** Also a bonus to build a colony with a view next to any goodies I find to be cool.

Mods to add to the fun, and why I'll use them:
No orange suits- USI life support
antennarange- probe cores only for satellites and small wheel rovers.
DERP - No F5, no revert launch, no zombie Kerbals
Plus various other utility mods, KIS, KAS, MKS Lite, Karbonite, Alcubierre Warp Drive, KER, ScanSat etc.

This should be quite the fun time- I imagine there are a lot of other cool agendas out there, what is yours?[/QUOTE]

I play a Science game and that's pretty much [I]exactly[/I] what I've done. Thanks to game updates, this last time around (v1.0) has been my 3rd time doing so. Aside from gathering science from all Kerbin biomes, finding all the anomalies was fun (and a task). Half of the anomalies I visited via jet, and the rest by dropping a capsule from orbit, except for one right by KSC which was accomplished via rover. Then I started venturing off-world... SCANsat probes first, then manned.

Mods I use: FreeEVA, HullCameraVDS (a must!), KAC, SCANsat, StockBugFix (thanks Claw!), and x-Science. I do not use Quicksave, although I will revert a launch or two especially when I realize at the last second I've forgotten something (like chutes & ladders ... say, that's a game, isn't it? lol).

[kotomikun]

Right now I'm doing career with debug-menu-induced infinite funds, because I didn't want to waste time on assigned goals in a sandbox game, or have to save up to buy a launchpad that can accommodate a rocket larger than a bicycle. So basically just Science mode with experience. Once I switch to 1.0.5 I might try out the new contract system.

Got an absurd number of mods installed, mostly number-crunching utilities like Engineer and Trajectories. KIS/KAS, Planetary Base Systems, and Near Future (all of it) are the only major parts packs; the latter will be very important for reaching the Outer Planets mod-planets and the even more distant "Trans-Keptunian" ones. Also USI Life Support, because it's way too easy to send Kerbals on long missions in the stock game (why even bother with unmanned probes?). TAC looked overly complex and "Snacks" has no real penalty for starving your Kerbals. No non-stock science devices other than SCANsat, I feel like that would make it too easy to rack up science (I've already unlocked almost everything and I haven't even been to Dres or Jool yet...).

I don't restrict myself much on quickloading, because that just makes things too stressful, and the game bugs out or crashes often enough that I have to reload every hour or two anyway. But I try to continue a floundering mission and/or send a rescue mission as long as things haven't gone totally catastrophic. One kerbal tried to land in a dark area of the Mun with no lights (because I forgot to add them again) and tipped over; she was pulverized on takeoff, but the lander somehow survived, so I sent it back to the mothership to save the science and cut the mission short. No perma-fatalities other than that, but had to do a couple of rescue missions because I forgot parachutes or didn't have enough fuel...

[problemecium]

I play Career on pretty much all normal:
- no auto-hire
- Science, Funds, and Rep rewards at 100%
- 0 starting funds
- missing crew respawn (but I take painstaking efforts to not kill anyone anyway, so it hardly makes a difference)
- no rep penalty for declining contracts (I hacked my persistence file for this)
I use KAC to run multiple missions at once and do my best not to timewarp too much at a time, and I use HyperEdit as an anti-Kraken measure (e.g. return a Mun base to KSC if it bugs out and starts blowing itself up for no reason).
Other mods I generally keep around are the Docking Port Alignment Indicator and the SQUAD official mods (Asteroid Day and Kerbin Cup).

[samstarman5]

I approach my space program the American way, with deficit budgeting. I set funds rewards to higher, about 200%, but give that a bit of balance with no respawn and a 200-300% reputation penalty if things go fubar. It allows me to have the rocket I want and get the KSC upgrades sooner, while also needing to keep a bit of caution. Experienced kerbals become a true investment, and one expired contract or lost kerbal can make lucrative contracts disappear. Then I would be stuck with hauling and testing parts for a while. Those "real" scientists and engineers can really deflate my tires, if you know what I mean.

"In this year we will go to the Mun, not because it is easy, but because it is there!"
"That's fine, Jeb. But...can you do us a favor and take this jet engine up and go a certain speed with it? That'll be great. And we will need you to do it on Sunday."

[KerbMav]

A half a ton of mods, mostly UI stuff, very few parts - most changes to gameplay come from:
USI Life Support - tweaked a bit harder, especially making it deadly and orange suits loose their special immortality perk
RemoteTech or AntennaRange - one of them has to be on board (for now :wink:)
FAR and DRE - these come and go since stock has something similar
Ship Manifest - it is only fun so often to EVA to all science gizmos
KER, KAS, EditorExtensions and lots of beautification and quality of life mods/fixes.

Disabling Quicksave is a bit to masochistic in my opinion, as bugs from KSP and mods can lead to tears. I also allow myself launch simulations/reverts and quickloads when dealing with unexpected/unknown mod behaviour.

Starting credits do not do much compared to the advance payments and record payouts, so I do not even look at them.
[s]
Something worth remembering: every difficulty setting can be personalized - switching it to the custom setting automatically -, but the upgrade costs of the facilities are determined by the difficulty setting you last selected before fine tuning it to your liking.
So customizing an easy setting differs from customizing a hard setting - as long as this has not changed since the last time I paid attention to this.[/s] Edited November 26, 2015 by KerbMav

[Champ]

[quote name='KerbMav']
Something worth remembering: every difficulty setting can be personalized - switching it to the custom setting automatically -, but the upgrade costs of the facilities are determined by the difficulty setting you last selected before fine tuning it to your liking.
So customizing an easy setting differs from customizing a hard setting - as long as this has not changed since the last time I paid attention to this.[/QUOTE]

I think you are wrong : upgrade costs of the facilities are determined by the fund penalty setting.

[Mastikator]

I set my funds rewards from contracts to 20% and penalties to 30%, mostly to inflate the price of the parts by 500%. The point is to make it harder to actually turn a profit. Only about 80% of the contracts are actually profitable (but they might still be worth doing for science/infrastructure). Also running KAS/KIS, KER, EPL, Alarm.

[Kyrt Malthorn]

One of my first career mode games (on normal) I brought back a whopper of science from Minmus. It made me feel I had missed a huge chunk of potential gameplay because bringing back thousands of science unlocked dozens of tech nodes at once. From then on I've never played with more than 60% science returns, and that's being lenient.

For funds, I usually increase contract rewards because I don't much care for grinding. (I'll do it for a true hard mode game but not if I'm chillin'.) On the other hand, I bump fund penalties to 150% - that way failing a mission I said I'd do sucks more. And facility upgrades actually feel like a big deal.

Same with rep, I up the penalty a bit. But I leave the rep rewards at normal.

Other than that? Permanent death and purchasing parts (after tech unlock) I turn those on, and leave quicksave/quickload on unless I'm doing a hard game. I like playing with life support when I experiment with it, but I haven't done a series career mode with it yet. Adore KIS/KAS and a number of other small mods but for now I'm playing stock and KER+beautification mods only. Started with 1.0.5's release, I just want to experience the core game properly before I bring mods into my current games. :)

[KerbMav]

[quote name='Champ']I think you are wrong : upgrade costs of the facilities are determined by the fund penalty setting.[/QUOTE]

Huh - must be something I picked up and memorized anyway ...

[Just Jim]

[quote name='Champ']I think you are wrong : upgrade costs of the facilities are determined by the fund penalty setting.[/QUOTE]

Yes, they are. The higher the penalty percent, the higher the upgrade cost

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[quote name='Overland']Out of interest how many easter eggs would be on kerbin? Not specifics..numbers would be nice[/QUOTE]

Seven on Kerbin that I know of, not counting the old island airfield.

[Waxing_Kibbous]

Interesting thoughts here- this is definitely a game where making it harder can actually makes it more fun, IMO one of the great aspects of KSP is how challenging it is.

[QUOTE]USI Life Support - tweaked a bit harder, especially making it deadly and orange suits loose their special immortality perk[/QUOTE]

How do you do this, is it basically cfg hacking? Is there a guide anywhere, I've read this can be done but haven't found specifics.

[KerbMav]

[quote name='Waxing_Kibbous']How do you do this, is it basically cfg hacking? Is there a guide anywhere, I've read this can be done but haven't found specifics.[/QUOTE]

Yes, using ModuleManager and adding this cfg in my personal tweak folder under gamedata.
I reduce the SupplyTime (time for survival without supplies on craft in seconds) and add supplies to the crew pods.
The second bit was definitely not all my doing, but sadly I cannot remember who pointed the commands out to me to give credit where it is due.

[CODE]@LIFE_SUPPORT_SETTINGS
{
@SupplyTime = 21600
@CausesDeath = True
@ECAmount = 0.01
@OrangeImmunity = False
@HomeworldAltitude = 50000
}

// Rate of consumption is 1.08 Supplies per Kerbal per Day

// Adds 5 days worth of Supplies (per kerbal seat) to Command Modules
// Ignores parts that already have Supplies values declared
@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleCommand],!RESOURCE[Supplies],#CrewCapacity[>0]]
{
RESOURCE
{
name= Supplies
maxAmount = 4
@maxAmount *= #$/CrewCapacity$
amount = #$maxAmount$
}

RESOURCE
{
name= Mulch
maxAmount = 4
amount = 0
}
}

// Adds 10 days worth of Supplies (per kerbal seat) to non-Command Modules
// Ignores parts that already have Supplies values declared
@PART[*]:HAS[!MODULE[ModuleCommand],!RESOURCE[Supplies],#CrewCapacity[>0]]
{
RESOURCE
{
name= Supplies
maxAmount = 8
@maxAmount *= #$/CrewCapacity$
amount = #$maxAmount$
}

RESOURCE
{
name= Mulch
maxAmount = 8
amount = 0
}
}[/CODE] Edited November 26, 2015 by KerbMav

[LordFerret]

[quote name='Just Jim']...
Seven on Kerbin that I know of, not counting the old island airfield.[/QUOTE]

Are anomalies Easter-eggs? I think they're different things ... maybe someone should clarify that for me/us. For example, the smiley face in the ocean would be an Easter-egg, as would the toilet. The old island airfield, old base, UFO, etc, are anomalies (and indicated as such in SCANsat, where 'Easter-eggs' are not).

???