[RO/RP-1 Contract Pack] Historical Contract Overhaul

[nepphhh]

Repo & installation instructions: https://github.com/nepphhh/HistoricalContractOverhaul

I'm working on a total revamp of RP-1 contracts and progression.

Includes full Kerbalism and KerbalismContracts integration, new art, and a very well-tested early game experience that much improves on the base RP-1 experience. All contracts are grounded in historical missions but written very flexibly so you can complete them however you want. However, this level of groundedness guides the player through an alt-history progression far more than RP-1 does with its zany caveman orbital contraptions and mega-bumper sounding rockets.

I've got overhauled satellite contracts too; they'll be up soon. Right now this is only through First Orbit.

Pretty soon I'll also let you research two techs simultaneously and give you more granular pad upgrades than what RP-1 currently offers.

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by nepphhh

[nepphhh]

Been a long time testing, but I finally realized why the downrange contracts weren't working as intended. Turns out you can't get parameter level rewards from within a VesselParameterGroup.

Well, that's fixed. I think this final structure is less confusing as well (even though it's a lot hairier under the scenes!)

And here's the way it tells you that you've completed a partial or stretch target. The partial rewards don't reset after a flight that didn't quite make the target, so you can't abuse those rewards by grinding with intentional sub-capable rockets.

 

The numbers for this contract series are based on the capabilities of historical rockets, ad determined in log base 10 throw-masses [log_10 kg m].

The V-2 and its Soviet clone, the R-1, could respectively throw 1,000 kg 320 km and 815 kg 270 kg, giving them respective throw-masses of 3.2 million kg m and 2.2 million kg m. That gives us log throw-masses of 8.3 and 8.5. The first contract series asks for you to throw 800 kg 300 km, for a log throw-mass (LTM) of 8.4

The second series requires 1,000 kg thrown 700 km (LTM 9.2), right between the Soviet G-1 (LTM 8.8) and R-2 (LTM 8.9).

The third series requires 2,000 kg thrown 700 km (LTM 9.1), comparable to the US Redstone (LTM 9.1) and the designed-but-unbuilt Soviet R-3A (LTM 9.2).

The fourth (and, for now, final) series, reqiures 1,000 kg thrown 2,400 km, very similar to the US Jupiter, Thor, and Minuteman (although we ignore that one since it's from the early sixties, not the late 50s) and like the unbuilt Soviet G-2. All have an LTM of 9.7.

Further contracts (all the way through UR-500/Proton-sized ICBMS!) have been designed in the same way but I'm not sure they have a place in a normal RP-1 career. We'll see if they make it in.

 

Next: early satellite contracts! (And maybe more work on science sounding rockets...)

 

[nepphhh]

Here is a partial roadmap:

Edited March 20, 2020 by nepphhh

[nepphhh]

Working on a new type of contract: the launch campaign. These will have high advances and long deadlines but steep penalties if you fail to deliver on the required missions! Don't procrastinate!

[nepphhh]

New Thermosphere Research contracts:

New Bio contracts (mass spec contracts are very similar)

Revised roadmap:

[Norcalplanner]

What's the significance of the different borders around missions?