Starting Fresh 1.1; Career advice?

[Norok]

It's HERE!!!

I started playing KSP over a year ago and have been through 3 fresh start Careers.  With the release of 1.1 I want to start again with all the new bells and whistles.  However, I want to embark on as unique an experience as possible with mods.

With the exception of MechJeb and Engineer Redux I have not done much with part or career mods.  I am looking for some ideas to what would give me a completely new gameplay.

In the past I have maxed out the tech tree just after landing and returning from Duna and TBH that's where the gameplay tapers off for me; when I feel a lack of "progress" towards some research goal.  I have my eye on KSP Interstellar but would like some feedback before jumping in; does it enhance the game? should I max out the stock career before adding it?

I'd like to hear ideas from people before I embark on yet another awesome journey into space!

 

[Mare Veris]

Wouldn't 1.1 alone be that new gameplay?

(at least for a while)

[Nich]

Remote tech was interesting, interstellar or RSS will be my next

[Chakat Firepaw]

Don't forget to consider the possibility of applying rules to your play, such as:

No farming the KSC for science.

Low-altitude/surface science on Kerbin is contracts-only.

All flights must be to help fulfil a contract, (i.e. no flights just for the science).  An exception may be made for using a rover to plant flags off each end of the runway.

If using RemoteTech, unmanned flights must be controlled using the flight computer.

All manned flights must include a pilot.

[Norok]

17 minutes ago, Chakat Firepaw said:

Don't forget to consider the possibility of applying rules to your play, such as:

No farming the KSC for science.

Low-altitude/surface science on Kerbin is contracts-only.

All flights must be to help fulfil a contract, (i.e. no flights just for the science).  An exception may be made for using a rover to plant flags off each end of the runway.

If using RemoteTech, unmanned flights must be controlled using the flight computer.

All manned flights must include a pilot.

Alright, no KSC science.  That will just delay my start though.

At this point I play on hardest difficulty... minus hardcore perma-death mode  so that I'm trying to do multi-contract missions to make them cost effective.  I could forego research labs but I think having purposeful stations add character to my Space Program.

I haven't used RemoteTech and for flavor I add a pilot to every mission.

 

[Hodari]

I'm thinking about playing with RemoteTech or AntenaRange since something like that was originally supposed to be in 1.1 anyway.  That and possibly one of the mods that changes the tech tree to be a bit more realistic and use unmanned probes or aircraft first before manned missions seem like a good way to change things up a bit.

[Nich]

I believe that mod is better then manned.  No idea if it is still maintained.

[Blaarkies]

Setup some life support rules(no mod needed), just like "guidelines":
- For journeys longer than Mun transit, you need extra crew capacity on the ship
- For Minmus you need at least one empty seat on the craft
- For Duna/Eve you need at least one Hitchhiker habitat for every kerbal
- For Jool you need about 4 times as much?

And some rules about not being allowed to use lander cans as primary transport(due to poor radiation shielding?)

If you can force yourself to abide by those, your ships will have enough components to look good...but if by "hardest" difficulty you mean 10%fund/sci/rep income, well good luck you

P.S. Does anyone know how to remove contract science rewards only? As in, how to complete contracts, get the rep/funds rewards, but get zero science for the contract(i only want science from experiments)

P.P.S. Got it! Contract Reward Modifier -by DMagic

Edited April 20, 2016 by Blaarkies
PS

[Wanderfound]

You can alter the game by modding it (I'd go for RSS over Interstellar, but it's all down to how well the mods are working in 1.1), you can alter the game by self-imposed restrictions, or you can alter the game by just altering your ambitions.

You've maxed the tech tree, but have you established mining/research colonies all over? You've been to Duna, but have you flown a 20 seater SSTO tourist spaceplane on a Jool-5 tour? Have you sent a probe into Kerbol? Have you put the tiniest probe possible on the biggest rocket possible and flung it out of the system as an interstellar probe?

Etc.

[Snark]

Note:  mod recommendations follow, I've made zero effort to determine whether the mods I mention are updated for 1.1 yet, but they're sufficiently popular and "live" that I assume they'll be updated reasonably soon if they aren't already:

• Extraplanetary Launchpads.  At the earliest possible opportunity (as soon as your tech gets far enough), set up a base on Minmus or the Mun, then run your entire space program from there.  Set yourself a rule that the only craft allowed to launch from Kerbin are crew transports, and those are required to return back to Kerbin after delivering the crew.
• Outer Planets Mod.  Expands the solar system very nicely; it's far and away the best, most professional planet pack I've seen.  Combines nicely with Extraplanetary Launchpads if you want to, for example, run a long-term deep space exploration mission where you just launch a single mothership to explore the entire system, and it builds the craft it needs along the way (including its own replacement).
• If you get totally jaded with the stock solar system, New Horizons.  It completely rejiggers the entire solar system and adds a lot of new planets and moons with some very interesting physical parameters.  (Kerbin ends up as a moon of a gas giant, for example.)  It's like a whole new game.

[Starhawk]

12 hours ago, Nich said:

I believe that mod is better then manned.  No idea if it is still maintained.

It's called Better Than Starting Manned and it sounds like the author plans to update it, but is waiting for the bugfix patches to drop first.

Happy landings!

[Violent Jeb]

I really like KCT, it adds elements of time management and makes the program seem more authentic. You have to be attentive to departure nodes and balance your time more effectively. That and contract configurator (i think thats the one), so i can dial in contracts that help financially motivate my missions.

I'm also a big fan of Final Frontier, giving kerbals unique badges for missions/achievements and tracking their stats. It really personalizes your relationship with your crew, and sets up a character narrative in my mind (while the senior crew takes interplanetary challenges and new hires train on the mun).

[Jacke]

3 hours ago, Starhawk said:

It's called Better Than Starting Manned and it sounds like the author plans to update it, but is waiting for the bugfix patches to drop first.

Better Than Starting Manned is an excellent full conversion mod that has a vastly improved career with challenging gameplay.  As @Starhawk indicates, @FlowerChild needs stock KSP 1.1 to get to a degree of stability before he can update and balance the mod, else he will be doing a lot of work over and over again with each Squad KSP hotfix and point release.

Like when KSP 1.0 went through 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 1.0.5, in short order, each time fiddling with aero and thermal among other changes.  Each time requiring a *lot* of changes and testing by FC.  So he stopped with BTSM 10.02 for KSP 1.0.4 to keep what little enthusiasm and sanity he had left to wait for KSP 1.1, especially with the big transition to Unity 5.

I'd advice patiently following the BTSM thread and not even expecting a test version for a month or more.  But when it comes, it'll be worth it!

[jwenting]

In my current career I'm using Antennarange and USI Life Support. Added Community Techtree and, Scansat, and DMagic as well.

And have a policy to not go into any SOI manned that I've not first visited with probes.

[Wemb]

On 19/04/2016 at 10:31 PM, Norok said:

It's HERE!!!

 

I'd like to hear ideas from people before I embark on yet another awesome journey into space!

 

Well, I've found remotech isn't playing nicely with 1.1 yet (at least, not for me).  SOme of the others mods suggested are pretty hardcore.  Personally, since the only real challenge in career mode are the contracts and unlocking the tech tree, I'd suggest some contract mods and something with re-does the tech-tree, maybe starting with unmanned rocketry. And gives you 'ladders' before Munar capable spaceflight :-)

Wemb

[ghpstage]

A variant I like to play is to see how far I can go in stock, while only taking milestone type contracts, with launches purely to grab additional science being allowed but frowned upon.

Edited April 22, 2016 by ghpstage

[wumpus]

Game tapers off after Duna...

Sounds like the problem is more KSP than your playstyle.  My suggestions:

Plan a game where you have to reach Duna [with kerbals and return] without NERVs.  This means once you unlock NERVs you have a reason to go to Jul.

Go to Eve (and return), after Jul.  Obviously a much bigger issue than Duna.

After that, I'm not sure how to help you.  My plan is that once stock KSP has no real goals to switch to Realism Overhaul and try to do things with rockets based on real parts to get the delta-v you need on Earth.  The most important suggestion I can give you is "don't grind".  Skip every boring contract there is and stick to milestones.  Try to avoid "science spam" as well.  If this means cranking down the difficulty slider, then so be it.  Grinding isn't "hard".  Grinding just drives you away from KSP.

[Champ]

On 19/04/2016 at 11:31 PM, Norok said:

In the past I have maxed out the tech tree just after landing and returning from Duna and TBH that's where the gameplay tapers off for me; when I feel a lack of "progress" towards some research goal.  

I resolved this problem with the R&D mod : you will always need more science. Now you have a reason to go to Jool (other than the beauty of Laythe).

I personnally forbid myself to use the R&D functionnality before i unlocked all the tech tree.

[mrclucks]

I like using the Scan Sat mod.  It provides some extra science and can point out where anomlys are, as well as an RP of scanning planets and it's moons before sending up any manned missions to evaluate the bodies before sending 'our people'.  That combined with remote tech would seem like a good mix of challenge and reward, as well as altering your play style to account for the build and play style needed for remote tech

[GluttonyReaper]

There's also this mod: Kerbalism

It does ... well, more or less everything. LS, simple communications, radiation, and so many other things, all integrated to work really well with each other. It's still a relatively new mod, and such isn't fully integrated with other mods yet (e.g. mod command pods don't provide entertainment unless you tell them to), but it looks really fun, and adds a nice extra layer (layers?) of difficulty to the game.