Tech talk

[HansonKerman]

there are a lot of choices in the tech tree the more you go, and it can be overwhelming. I wanted to see what you guys thought! Me personally, I go for either the cheapest, or I think ahead and go for the science.

Edited April 2, 2020 by HansonKerman

[RoninFrog]

..."all of the above" option?

Edited April 2, 2020 by RoninFrog

[Dirkidirk]

MOAR

[Rocket Witch]

It actually doesn't matter because you can fill the vanilla tech tree from Kerbin SOI alone. At least if you play with 100% science returns.

So assuming like 30% science returns to actually force your space program out there: common sense would hold that you want to unlock more science parts to get more science, but unlocking bigger rocket parts could actually be more useful to get more mileage out of your existing experiments. To this end, getting both the 2.5m and 0.6m stack sizes is imperative, as delta-V can be increased greatly with a high differential between the masses of the first and final stages.

 

[Incarnation of Chaos]

I'm always playing with the near future suite, so I'm gunning for the first reactor almost always. Then I get 3.5 m parts, IRSU and the rest of the science stuff.

[jimmymcgoochie]

I prefer unlocking all the science kit first, because that way I can do one single mission and gather all the data from each biome instead of repeatedly going back each time I unlock something else. Spending hours flying around Kerbin in a plane just to get a seismic reading from the Badlands, after doing the same yesterday to get pressure and temperature readings, is tedious and boring and sloooooooow.

Besides which, the rather nifty Kerbal Environmental Institute mod makes gathering all the data from KSC itself a one-click task and saves having to clamber on top of each and every building to get results from it (fun fact: most buildings in the KSC are their own little microbiome and give science in addition to just driving through the areas e.g. the fuel tanks beside the VAB, the individual buildings in R&D and even the water tower on the launch pad), so an individual science unlock can get you a lot of extra science without too much effort. Now if only there was a way to pay for someone to go out to the Badlands for you and get the readings...

Although having said that, I also try to unlock batteries and solar panels pretty quickly too and lob probes at the Mun or Minmus for some quick gains and the bonuses for reaching/orbiting/landing (crashing). But mostly MOAR SCIENCE!

Edited April 5, 2020 by jimmymcgoochie

[Space Nerd]

I go for more engines, but I try to unlock RTG before going to jool.

[TheFlyingKerman]

It is feasible to send one way inter-planetary probes with just 1.25m boosters and 0.625m final stage. So moar science parts, with the added bonus that you unlock many useful electronic parts (probe cores, antennas, etc.) along the way.