"Do X to unlock part Y" type of tree

[Wjolcz]

OK, so I hope you understand what I mean here.

What I would like to have in my career is the lack of science points. I want experiment-dependent unlocking of parts. Science points aren't that fun to play with.

Basically, the science team tells you to go Mach 1 in your rocket powered aircraft. They also say that you should take some experiments with you. Preferably the barometer and the thermometer. You fly away, go sound barrier, perform the experiments and go back with the results. Now your R&D is all happy and tells you to wait a few days. Need some time to analyse all that data. After a few days they come to you and demand on testing this new engine (Whiplash Jet Engine) they've come up with. You go out, test it without crashing and go back. Bam! Now it's in your parts list in the VAB/SPH. And all that thanks to performing those experiments, because all the valuable data helped the scientists to understand the physics and conditions of the supersonic flight.

tl;dr: certain experiments under certain conditions unlock you parts that somehow are tied to those conditions of flight AKA the (sorta) real life R&D.

[sardia]

I wouldn't mind some challenge missions that let you leapfrog ahead of the early tech tree. Like get to Moho with minimal upgrades or something hard.

[Superfluous J]

I worked on a Contract Configurator config a while ago that did away with science points and had you "scavenge" parts. When you scavenged a part, you unlocked it for use in the VAB/SPH. I abandoned it because in practice it just wasn't as fun as it was in idea, mostly due to repetition.

However the basic idea (contracts unlock parts instead of science) is sound and if you wanted to put the work into it (and had a better idea than I did) the tools are there.