Tell me what I'll be rescuing/retrieving exactly

[THX1138]

I just got a contract to recover something from orbit around Minmus but the only information given is approximate dimensions in meters and the mass. Why can't it give me some indication whether I'm going to need a certain size of docking port or whether I have to use the claw? It's a lot of trouble to rendezvous with something just to find out what it is and then rendezvous again with the required equipment.

[tomf]

It's always a single part and unless it is a docking port you are going to want a claw for it. I just build a ship with a cargo bay big enough for the required dimensions with a claw inside and go out and grab the object.

[pandaman]

Yes, for 'completeness' and a sense of realism it would make sense, except for maybe a few rarer 'retrieve wreckage' type contracts, to have that kind of detail available when planning for such a mission.

[tater]

Having the game able to spawn entire craft files into the game for rescues could well have other uses... the single part rescues (instead of a craft) are not really any more immersive than a lone astronaut, frankly.

[SchwinnTropius]

10 minutes ago, tater said:

Having the game able to spawn entire craft files into the game for rescues could well have other uses... the single part rescues (instead of a craft) are not really any more immersive than a lone astronaut, frankly.

As long as it's not to resource intensive, it should not be too difficult to spawn just one command pod, one fuel tank, and one engine for a craft. Would make for some interesting combinations too; I can already see an Mk1 cockpit attached to a FL-T400 and a Terrier.

[tater]

Have rescues pull from a folder of craft files, and have the stock game only use X parts per craft, where X is perhaps no more than 10 parts. (a minimal lander is maybe 6 parts, for example).

[Snark]

5 hours ago, THX1138 said:

I just got a contract to recover something from orbit around Minmus but the only information given is approximate dimensions in meters and the mass. Why can't it give me some indication whether I'm going to need a certain size of docking port or whether I have to use the claw? It's a lot of trouble to rendezvous with something just to find out what it is and then rendezvous again with the required equipment.

^ Agreed.  Y'know what would really be nice?  A little window in the contract UI that shows a slowly rotating 3D image of the thing to be retrieved.

In a somewhat similar vein:  for rescue contracts, indicate what the profession is of the kerbal to be rescued.  If I'm desperately short of engineers or scientists, it's a bummer to go to the trouble of rescuing only to get yet another useless pilot.

I like contracts that tell me exactly what I'm up against, or exactly what I'm going to get if I succeed.  I don't like take-whatever-is-behind-door-number-two grab bags.

[Alshain]

I could not agree more. No space agency has ever launched a mission to retrieve a random unknown object in the history of mankind.  Even the moon rocks and regolith we brought back had a somewhat estimated mass.  The contracting company doesn't know what they launched?  I mean come on, research and planning.

[Stoney3K]

On 11-7-2016 at 3:49 PM, SchwinnTropius said:

As long as it's not to resource intensive, it should not be too difficult to spawn just one command pod, one fuel tank, and one engine for a craft. Would make for some interesting combinations too; I can already see an Mk1 cockpit attached to a FL-T400 and a Terrier.

Good luck getting that down to the ground in one piece.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

I disagree.

I rather enjoy identifying the piece before retrieving it, and even have several small "Identification Probes" parked at my space station for just such a purpose.

That said, it isn't terribly hard to take the given dimensions and match them up to which part they actually are by browsing the part list, as very few parts feature exactly the same dimensions.

[SchwinnTropius]

38 minutes ago, Stoney3K said:

Good luck getting that down to the ground in one piece.

Probably would require a spaceplane with a Klaw in a cargo bay, but I'd say its possible.

[Wjolcz]

Rescue contracts are pretty ridiculous. I never do them.

I'd rather design my own missions instead of being flooded with filler tasks like the rescue contracts.

[Magzimum]

For added realism, yes, give us all the data.

But in the meantime: For me, the data given before the mission is typically enough. If you Klaw (klɔː/, verb) some objects along its line of symmetry, you don't even have to put it in a cargo hold. The data is always sufficient to guess whether you're gonna get a 1.25 or 2.5m. To launch a successful mission I do not need to scout it first. Maybe I am lucky that I never had to retrieve a Big-S wing or XL landing gear, which I would certainly fail at with my approach.

On 11-7-2016 at 5:06 PM, Snark said:

In a somewhat similar vein:  for rescue contracts, indicate what the profession is of the kerbal to be rescued.  If I'm desperately short of engineers or scientists, it's a bummer to go to the trouble of rescuing only to get yet another useless pilot.

You cold-hearted b*******!!

To solve the same problem, I would rather have the game spawn a more balanced set of Kerbals to be rescued, so I don't have to value the pilots and scientists less than the engineers. I have 14 Kerbonauts in my current Krew, 9 of which are pilots. Not very useful.

[HalcyonSon]

 

On 7/12/2016 at 0:21 PM, Stoney3K said:

Good luck getting that down to the ground in one piece.

Not that hard really.  Just a Klaw, RCS, and a 1.25m heatshield with a pile of parachutes will bring back anything I've run into so far - including an orange tank or mainsail (as long as the tanks are empty).

1 hour ago, Magzimum said:

For added realism, yes, give us all the data.

But in the meantime: For me, the data given before the mission is typically enough. If you Klaw (klɔː/, verb) some objects along its line of symmetry, you don't even have to put it in a cargo hold. The data is always sufficient to guess whether you're gonna get a 1.25 or 2.5m. To launch a successful mission I do not need to scout it first. Maybe I am lucky that I never had to retrieve a Big-S wing or XL landing gear, which I would certainly fail at with my approach.

You cold-hearted b*******!!

To solve the same problem, I would rather have the game spawn a more balanced set of Kerbals to be rescued, so I don't have to value the pilots and scientists less than the engineers. I have 14 Kerbonauts in my current Krew, 9 of which are pilots. Not very useful.

Agreed.  I complete every rescue contract, but I don't have nearly enough scientists for the three stations I currently have or am working on.  My roster is almost entirely pilots and engineers.  My engineers finally have some work with KIS/KAS allowing them to do orbital assembly, but my pilots aren't useful enough to spend the extra weight on a control capsule compared to a probe pod.  Even my Astronaut Center recruits are all pilots and engineers.

Edited August 24, 2016 by HalcyonSon