The No Place Like Home Challenge: Complete the Tech Tree without any interplanetary trips!

[problemecium]

A simple challenge! I looked around the forum and asked Google-sensei and incredibly, nobody seems to have codified this into a proper challenge. If someone does find the "original" thread, please notify me and excuse me for missing it (I bet it's on like page two and I'm blind...). Anyway:

The challenge is simple to describe and judge, perhaps less simple to execute: Complete the stock technology tree without undertaking any interplanetary voyages!

To submit an entry, simply share your save file (e.g. persistent.sfs or any quicksave SFS file). If it loads a full technology tree and has no records of interplanetary voyages (i.e. no experimental results or points for recovery of a vessel from any destination outside Kerbin's SOI), it wins and you get a cool badge.

Tiers:

1. 
   Lax version: Do not enter the SOI of any planet other than Kerbin. Feel free to visit any place on the surface of Kerbin, the Mun, and Minmus, any orbit of these, or any part of Kerbin's atmosphere as many times as you like, but not the surface, atmosphere, or space in the SOI of any of the other planets or their moons. Breaching into orbit of The Sun is permitted, though experience tells me this doesn't help as much as one might hope. Science from mobile labs is permitted. Any and all mods are permitted, but use of HyperEdit or a similar mod to set orbits, manually alter Science points, etc. is not permitted. Using debug cheats to set orbits or edit Science points or similar progress is not permitted. The technology tree can contain mod parts or additional nodes, but all of the stock nodes must be where they are by default. Science rewards must be at a maximum of 100%, starting Science must be at a maximum of zero, etc. The game mode must be either Science or Career.
2. 
   Standard version: All above rules, but "gameplay mods" are restricted: mods that alter the technology tree so as to provide additional Science parts or otherwise provide additional ways of gathering Science points are permitted to be present, but your save file must not contain results from any such parts or activities.
3. 
   Strict version: All above rules, but the game mode must be Career, difficulty settings must not be made easier than those in Normal difficulty mode, and no craft is permitted to leave, nor can Science data be obtained in any way, from outside of Kerbin's SOI. This includes asteroid and comet visits and use of the SENTINEL infrared telescope. Mods that alter the technology tree are permitted, but only on the condition that no part from any such mod is unlocked before the entire stock technology tree is unlocked (though not all of the stock parts need be purchased).
4. 
   Extra strict version: All above rules, but no gameplay mods are permitted (i.e. only visual mods, performance mods, input mods, and similar are allowed). Science from mobile labs is not permitted.
5. 
   Extra extra strict version: All above rules, but no DLC is permitted for use, i.e. no DLC parts may be used and no Science points from Breaking Ground surface features may be obtained, though having the DLC installed is allowed.

Please let me know if you find a cool exploit or other flaw in these rules. As I cannot commit to staying active in this thread and devoting time to judging submissions indefinitely, I encourage people to examine one another's save files for violations and courteously point them out. Honest attempts that fall short in some minor way still have a chance of qualifying, perhaps at a lower level or as honorable mentions, but egregious cheating is discouraged unless for the purpose of humor rather than as an official entry.

Lastly, to prove that this challenge isn't bonkers or an expression of sadism, here is my own entry, which satisfies the requirements of the Standard version and some, but not all, of the requirements for all stricter versions: save file

Edited July 3, 2020 by problemecium
We don't need no stinkin' badges... or do we?

[Superfluous J]

One thought/question. I often toss my transfer stage on the way to Mun/Minmus, causing it to get thrown from Kerbin's SOI. In the vast majority of my careers it's how I first achieve "you successfully left Kerbin's SOI". Would this sort of thing be permitted, or should I make sure these spent stages properly crash into Mun/Minmus/Kerbin?

Edited July 3, 2020 by Superfluous J

[problemecium]

This would qualify for the Lax or Standard version, but not the Strict version. My reasoning is that you'll get Science points from a World Firsts Achievement once the object leaves Kerbin's SOI.

If I'm mistaken and debris doesn't qualify for that or some such, please correct me.

[Superfluous J]

38 minutes ago, problemecium said:

If I'm mistaken and debris doesn't qualify for that or some such, please correct me.

Nope it totally counts. I'll endeavor to keep them reined in, if I indeed give this challenge a try. Amusingly it will come down to how much I'll have to get from Kerbin whether I bother or not. I'll happily hop all over Mun and Minmus but fly to the Desert? Pfft no way.

[problemecium]

Cheaty pro tip: if you have the extra launch sites from the DLC, you can just launch from the Dessert Launch Site or Airfield and then drive off the runway and back onto it.

[Rejected Spawn]

Seems like a fun challenge I probably cleared by coincidence some time ago, at least if Mun+Minmus are OK destinations, which I figure they are due to the wording. Used some DLC stuff and gonna have to see if I let some debris hit solar orbit at some point though... uuh, how do I see that again? Never bothered to dig around in the KSC more than I absolutely had to since I never had the blood pressure medicine needed to deal with the excessive load times, can't for the life of me find anything other than the science buildings archive of data... that one says zero data for solar stuff so does that count as a pass or do I need to look elsewhere? 

[problemecium]

It sounds like you passed, so by all means post your save file. I'll revise the language in the opening post so it's clear that the Mun and Minmus are indeed valid destinations.

[Rejected Spawn]

I think I did this pack and link thing right, only included the "persistent" files to unbloat the thing. Save me!

The science was done a while ago on that profile but it also has 115 kerbals, every single one rescued from orbit, also 65 million pocket money. The entire KSC was fully upgraded before day 2 started, science maxed before day 10 started, just now plucked the last one of these 115 kerbals from orbit and landed about 7 minutes before the start of day 15. More observant folks may have already noticed but yeah, I was going for a speedrun measured in Kerbin time instead of play time, feel like I did a pretty decent job actually. ^___^

[jimmymcgoochie]

What’s the verdict of the KEI mod that completes science around the KSC automatically instead of having to clamber on top of everything? Also admin strategies/the Strategia mod? I’m going to guess that the new 1.10 magnetometer qualifies for all the categories as it’s stock.

[sturmhauke]

I came close to doing this incidentally back before any DLCs came out, except I also did a solar rescue mission from a contract and sent a probe to Duna. But the vast majority of science was from visiting every single biome on Kerbin, Mun, and Minmus, with a bit of orbital science station grinding towards the end.

[problemecium]

- I'm not familiar with that mod. Expect an edit to this or the OP after I've looked it up. If it is only used as you've described, then it merely makes gathering Science less tedious without providing any new techniques for gathering it, so it would presumably be valid up to the Strict version but not the Extra (extra) strict versions.

- The magnetometer is indeed a stock part and valid for all levels of the challenge.

- Stock administrative strategies are valid up to the Strict version but not the Extra (extra) strict versions.

- I'll have to look up the Strategia mod too, but for now I'll say it is valid up to the Standard version but not any Strict versions.

[Krazy1]

I managed to do "standard" in my first career. I just kept doing whatever contracts they gave me. I did very little science on Kerbin. Allowing going out of Kerbin SOI was important because I did many tourist trips to "orbit the sun" without going to other planets. I just missed "strict" because of this. Link here: SFS file

Question for the strict rules - what about asteroids inside Kerbin SOI? 

[problemecium]

Asteroids inside Kerbin's SOI are forbidden for the strict versions because they originate outside of Kerbin's SOI (at least I've never seen an exception).

[zanie420]

Going for Extra Extra Strict. How should proof be submitted? Is an imgur album permissible @problemecium?

[problemecium]

An imgur album would work. I asked for save files in the OP because it's very easy to check them for whether there is any invalid Science data present, but if your album shows a plausible enough honest effort and you have some reason not to post your save it's okay with me. Most of the point of this thread is so we can have nice badges for our signatures, not because I want to be a rules lawyer, because I don't ^^;

[MrSystems]

This is an interesting challenge. I play nearly this way anyway, as I find it a pain to leave Kerbin's SOI without parts from late in the tech tree.

Using data from the Wiki, and ignoring any science gained from recovered ships, contracts, Achievements, anomalies, and KSC "mini-biomes", I calculate there are 21,937 science points to be earned doing stock experiments at Kerbin, Mun, and Minmus. 18,468 are needed to unlock the tech tree, Thus, completing this challenge efficiently is a matter of ignoring the most obnoxious 3,469 points.

1,161 points come from being landed or flying at Kerbin; we can discard all of them, leaving 2,308 points to work with. Landing at each Mun biome yields 552 points (ignoring the effects of leveled Scientists); so also one can skip visiting 4 Mun biomes (probably Poles, Polar Lowlands, Polar Crater, and Highland Craters). The remaining 100 points can be spent on not using the Infrared Telescope. The trickiest part of the challenge, I think, would be finding all the biomes without using SCANSat mapping parts, though they don't actually yield science unless you Analyze the scan when it's completed.

[zanie420]

10 hours ago, problemecium said:

An imgur album would work. I asked for save files in the OP because it's very easy to check them for whether there is any invalid Science data present, but if your album shows a plausible enough honest effort and you have some reason not to post your save it's okay with me. Most of the point of this thread is so we can have nice badges for our signatures, not because I want to be a rules lawyer, because I don't ^^;

So, would you like the save file incrementally as it changes, or just upon completion?

 

Now that I read @MrSystems post.... I seem to maybe recall possibly doing this as part of another challenge.... @Superfluous J, didn't we do this already? My memory is not the best, and perhaps I just need to review older posts

[Superfluous J]

3 hours ago, zanie420 said:

Now that I read @MrSystems post.... I seem to maybe recall possibly doing this as part of another challenge.... @Superfluous J, didn't we do this already? My memory is not the best, and perhaps I just need to review older posts

Yeah a lot of this work was done in my No Contact Career challenge. On the first page or two I believe.

On mobile and busy now or I'd do the legwork for it.

[problemecium]

Just a finished save file is fine. The file includes records of all Science results gathered so that players can view them in the R&D Archives, so it also includes all evidence needed to verify that Science was not gained outside Kerbin's SOI. I'm not sure it lets us check whether any labs returned data but all forum challenges require some level of honesty anyway xP