Career mode

[krblman]

Career mode.

The third, newest gamemode in KSP.

What's its problem.

Like, what I'm asking is why it's so hard compared to science mode.

What's the point of it? Is it like Dres in gamemode form?

[Xavven]

There are several reasons career is harder than science mode. It adds limited funding and limited starting facilities as constraints. In science mode you have limited technology but can build as big as you need to and can retry as many times as needed. In career mode, you can fail the game if you fail too many time in a row and deplete your funds.

Career also forces you to complete contracts to replenish funding. Some of those contracts aren't worth the time and effort, or might even cost you more to complete than they actually pay out, so you have to know enough about the game to pick and choose the right contracts. Contracts also might require precision landings, specific orbits, etc. and many of those requirements (and the skills needed for them) aren't needed in science mode.

I find it to be more fun than science mode because of the added challenge. It has its shortcomings that have been discussed quite a bit over the years, though. My personal opinion is that it could be improved by having annual costs that increase as you upgrade facilities and have more flights in progress, and annual government funding that increases as your reputation increases, and reputation decreases if you haven't done anything in a while -- this would make time warping is more consequential.