Measure Temp Fluctuation Missions - Keeps adding new point. (Doing this till I run out of fuel???)

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

I'm trying to complete a 'measure the temp on the surface of minimus' mission - except that every time I land and measure the temp - it adds a new location.  Is the game going to do this until this ship runs out of fuel?  or is there an end in sight?

Going on my fifth hop - on a flight I hoped to complete a simple 'measure temp' then go meet up with another ship, gather science and go home... but it looks like the game is going to keep this up indefinitely...

[FullMetalMachinist]

I'm unfamiliar with any contracts that ask you to measure anything (temperature, seismic activity, etc.) without giving you a list of the locations that you have to go to. Usually it gives a general location like "Area C-L4" and then lists "Area C-L4 Alpha", "C-L4 Beta", etc, etc. If you open the contracts window while in control of a vessel or look at the contract in Mission Control it should list all the locations that you're supposed to go to. 
Hope this helps, and if not, a screen shot of the contract parameters (with all the little "+" lines open) from Mission Control could help to track the issue down. Also, if you have any contract mods that could be a question for that mod's thread.

Edited January 9, 2016 by FullMetalMachinist
Added comment about contract mods

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

This one gave me one point.  Flew to it, measured, then it popped up with another point - saying "this wasn't the source of the fluctuation."  Kept it up for 5 or 6 hops.

 

End result - contract complete - and so were my hopes of bringing back a kerbil and science from Minimus on this flight.

 

Now I have a bunch of fuel-less ships clustered on Minimus' pole - waiting for yet another mission to bring everyone home...

[FullMetalMachinist]

Well that contract type is news to me, guess you learn something every day. Bummer about your stranded Kerbals, though.

[Evanitis]

Yup, a new 1.0.5 contract does that.. surprize measurement 4-5 times. I felt lucky running into it while having fun in in Kerbin's backyard - it would have been infuriating on an interplanetary trip.

As I recon, the keyword to look for and avoid is 'fluctuation'.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Funny thing is - I got another one when I flew a probe out to pick up Jeb.  Paid for the trip - and made it back (with him) with an ounce to spare.  1778 science from the trip.  (Jeb picked up all the science from 5 vehicles)

Edited January 9, 2016 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[Plusck]

I've had a few of these contracts.

The thing that should have struck me as suspicious the first time around was the huge amount of cash they were offering just to go to one location that was so close to where I had a landed Kerbal on Minmus. First rule of contracts in KSP: read carefully and check for the catch.

So I was forewarned when I had the same on interplantary missions. I was wondering if the purpose was to lead me to one of the game's easter eggs, but if it did I missed them : D

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

I guess one benefit is that on the second set - it got me to a new biome - so much of the science equipment I had on the ship got a second use - that said, most of the hops were all within the same biome (and thanks to the ground scanner - I knew I'd switched biomes).

 

I will say this - the missions have made me question why anyone would make / use a wheeled lander in this game.  I started the second set with a wheeled lander - the first point popped up only a klick away from a wheeled lander on Minimus.  The problem?  I can only get the lander up to 6 m/s without losing control - and it eats so much battery power it takes 3 'hops' (drive till battery is dead, stop, FF time till battery full, repeat) to drive to the first point...  So glad I had a hop-&-pop lander to complete the mission.

[Snark]

24 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I will say this - the missions have made me question why anyone would make / use a wheeled lander in this game.  I started the second set with a wheeled lander - the first point popped up only a klick away from a wheeled lander on Minimus.  The problem?  I can only get the lander up to 6 m/s without losing control - and it eats so much battery power it takes 3 'hops' (drive till battery is dead, stop, FF time till battery full, repeat) to drive to the first point...  So glad I had a hop-&-pop lander to complete the mission.

Agreed that rovers can be problematic-- mainly, it just takes forever to travel significant distances, and the wheels are too prone to breakage-- but they're not quite as bad as that.  I use rovers on Minmus all the time, and routinely drive 'em at over 20 m/s with no problem, and never run out of electricity (granted, I'm not driving around at night).

It's also not an either/or thing. An appropriate rover design can gracefully incorporate some rocket power & fuel tankage so it can do short flying hops to cover longer distances, avoid particularly difficult terrain, or soften landings after an ill-considered or unintentional flying leap while driving.

Rover design and piloting is an entirely different skillset than rocket design & piloting.  I can believe that you have problems with them (we all have problems, with every aspect of the game!)-- but like any other aspect of the game, it gets better with practice and experience.  If you have any interest in rovers, it's worth working on your design & operation skills.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Snark

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Well - to be fair, my first (and only) rover was a fairly low-tech affair; just had wheels, basic power generation and a control seat, with some science on board.  I now have a LOT more tech available... and agree that if I do any future Roving... I will have some ability to hop it.  And a LOT more power generation.