Making money besides contracts

[J534]

Does anyone know if there's a way to make money besides doing contracts? The contract system seems really grindy. Are there any mods that allow you to mine ores or other resources and sell them on the market? Thanks!

[James Kerman]

1 hour ago, J534 said:

Does anyone know if there's a way to make money besides doing contracts

You can make money through mining but it's still grindy.  Launch an ISRU vessel with empty tanks and mine your way to profit.  Recover the vessel, no need for a market.

If you are short of funds you can accept a mission you don't intend to attempt for the advance and fail it when you are in a financially better situation however there will be a hit to your reputation.

Edited December 4, 2017 by James Kerman
More information

[StahnAileron]

As far as I know, if you have a 100% re-useable design, you can mine ore and then recover the craft for 100% cost + worth of ore (or fuel if you convert the ore). This is for pure stock.

The same can be done if you use mods that add other mineable resources. The best bet might be Karbonite+. The Karborundrum(sp?) resource is worth quite a lot, though there's only 2 or 3 sources of it with the normal settings for that mod. (Low solar orbit, Eve, and Eeloo, if I recall...) Not sure about the mining rate for it since I have yet to really leave Kerbin's SoI.

Otherwise, I usually crank up the fund (and science) rewards in a career game if I care more about just having contracts to give me goals to aim for. Career-mode gameplay is a half-assed after-thought.

[swjr-swis]

2 hours ago, J534 said:

Are there any mods that allow you to mine ores or other resources and sell them on the market?

Well, rumour has it there's a couple of mods that come together in one of the back corners of 'The Lounge' and buy up all the ore that miners bring to them, no questions asked. You need a secret handshake and then whisper the code phrase 'Guess Who Will Reply Next'.

But be careful, most other mods will frown very sternly at you if you even mention ore trading...

 

[helaeon]

MKS has some colony rewards that give you funds, reputation, and science for having a base staffed appropriately.
Pathfinder allows you to sell science from labs rather than transmit it for science.

You can also use Extraplanetary Launchpads to build ships off world then bring them home to Kerbin for profit.

ETA: Pathfinder and MKS both introduce new resources which can be mined and sold, and products you can create from mineable materials to sell.

Edited December 4, 2017 by helaeon

[theJesuit]

3 hours ago, helaeon said:

You can also use Extraplanetary Launchpads to build ships off world then bring them home to Kerbin for profit.

You know... I've never considered this.  Off to the drawing board!

Peace.

[AG5BPilot]

There's three mods I use that can help with funding, Extraplanetary Launchpads, Strategia and Stage Recovery.

Yes, you can use Extraplanetary Launchpads as a business to build off world and then recover, but it's just as useful simply for building spaceships without having to pay anything for them.  (Although see below; if you're making a profit on launches this isn't an advantage.)

Stage Recovery lets you recover most of the cost of your boosters, or more stages if you're creative enough.  It can significantly reduce costs.

Strategia is a very interesting replacement for the administration building and gives you a whole new set of strategies to choose from.  If this is your priority, you can choose strategies that are very profitable.  One strategy will reduce launch costs by up to 75% -- and another rewards you for getting large payloads to orbit.  It's possible to make a profit on each launch, especially when combined with Stage Recovery.

Edited December 5, 2017 by AG5BPilot

[SupperRobin6394]

What's the value of ore upon recovery per unit anyway, considering I landed 10/10 at the KSC?

Edited December 5, 2017 by SupperRobin6394

[fourfa]

 

[J534]

2 hours ago, fourfa said:

 

Cool!

[Shammyofwar]

Try https://spacedock.info/mod/3586/Galactic Trading

[RunaDacino]

I recommend State Funding and Strategia.

State Funding is passive income from bases and stations.

Strategia gives you "Programs" that give you 400% milestone gains for that body until you fulfil the program.

 

Also contract packs like the tourism ones. Tourism Plus or Expanded has an option to increase payout, and then you get paid a million for a mun flyby with 8 tourists in 7 days. Do it with KCT and it is still challenging to pull off.