I need more science.

[hubbazoot]

Hey All,

As much fun as flying to other celestial bodies has been, I don't really feel like there's a WHY to go there. There's nothing to gather, not a TON to explore, and nothing to return.

So, I was curious, does anyone have or know of a plugin that can give me more options to add more science to the game? The type of science I'm talking about is like sample gathering, analysis, etc.

[mustwinfull]

I know one which is ISA MapSat for mapping celestial bodies but I don't think there are many others.

There is already a reason to go there and it is simply because you can so you can claim you landed on it etc.

There doesn't need to be a WHY just like there isn't a WHY to our lifes.

Edited October 13, 2012 by mustwinfull

[Ciechosz]

There is Kethane Mod . You have to gather Kethane from other celestial bodies. Don't ask me much about it, i haven't ever used it.

[Richy teh space man]

As Cave Johnson would say, science isn't about why.. it's about why not!

[Nibb31]

There's also the goal of finding all the easter egg artifacts.

[SkyHook]

I agree with the OP. Being able to execute missions upon landing is crucial to the maintenance of purpose. For this reason, mods like Kethane, ISA MapSat, and the like are crucial at this stage. Once you land, you go "Ok now what?" I like the Idea of discovering planets, mining for resources, building a space program, and being rewarded for landing on certain bodies or conducting research. In the real world, it means survival for the human race, but in KSP, I just want to go farther!

[Richy teh space man]

i do think landing on them just to say yeah I've done it is a good reason, I do kind of agree that there should be something to do once you have landed, maybe something will be done for 0.18?

[Whatshtisthis]

I'm on my first interplanetary mission, and it's to get a space colony to orbit Duna.

Still no idea how to get to the other planets.

[Alephzorg]

2 plugins/mods I can think of.

That one allows you to record a lot of parameters about your flight.

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/8074-PLUGIN-PART-0-15-crxTelemetryMk2-Module-alpha-%28updated-2012-07-26%29?highlight=crxTelemetry

The VOID module gives you instant access to data such as gravity, pressure, temperature (when there is an atmosphere).

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/20373-0-17-VOID-Module-Vessel-Orbital-Information-Display?highlight=void

Edited October 13, 2012 by Alephzorg

[Tommygun]

I think for long term replayability science goals and new instrumentation will greatly be needed.

Some people will be happy to just blow rockets up and others just landing on worlds.

But at some point this will get old. Science goals which include exploration and base building will, I think, greatly extend the life of this game.

[Kulzar]

They will probably be included in the career mode at least... Well, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm having a blast with IsaMapsat. Makes satellites/probes actually worthwhile! Eventually, I plan to build an automated rover to explore Duna. For Science!

[Qumefox]

I have one word for people.. ALPHA...

Suggestions are fine at this development stage, but I think it's a little early to be actually complaining about lack of content. Probably should hold off on complaining about lack of feature until the status at least changes to beta, which will mean most of the content is done, and the dev focus turns primarily to bug hunting.

[szpw]

Here are a few things I do on my missions to make them more interesting.

-Write a log of the flight with detailed information on what is happening and what I do.

-Mine for Kethane or Zoxygene.

-Search for easter eggs

-Map the Object using ISA MapSat

-If I see something and I have leftover fuel, I sometimes fly to things I see if they are close.

[PakledHostage]

As Alephzorg and szpw mentioned already, there are a lot of good mods that can be used. And maybe you can even come up with something on your own, too. For example you could calculate the mass and radius of the celestial body that you're orbiting without using any mods.

[Werwolf]

Make it a goal to put a multi-ship colony on every planet, complete with a Kethane mining outpost. I am in the process of planning a Kethane outpost on the Mun right now, where my ships can stop and top off their fuel before making any trips to other planets. Then, make on on Minmus... etc etc. Get Erkle's Docking mod, create huge multiship spaceports in orbit around your favorite planets, complete with detachable rescue landers, transfer landers, etc.