Campaign/Career mode seems very dull to me

[Caelib]

Career Mode and Sandbox can peacefully co-exist.

[Eric S]

I'm not saying Squad should cancel career mode at all, I'm just saying I'd prefer going out there and exploring things for myself rather than having specific tasks assigned (which, I know, is a choice). I was just asking if there were other people sharing a somewhat similar opinion ^^

I think you're thinking career mode is something it isn't, but I could be wrong. Career mode isn't like a campaign where you have to do A, then B, then C. There will be parts that can't be used and missions that can't be accepted until certain milestones are reached, and there will be rewards for doing certain missions, but other than that, it's basically sandbox with a budget and possibly a few other concerns. Yes, there will be things that are easier to do in sandbox mode because you don't have to worry about the budget, but that's about the extent of it.

[Tang Titan]

I like the idea but I think they aren't taking it far enough. If i were a developer I would had features like material collection. Meaning if you go to the Mun and land maybe have a feature were you could approach the rocks and take a "sample" to bring back to Kerbin. Have the space stations you build actually serve a purpose like unlocking new materials or technologies. But here is the best idea of all..... studying those monoliths to unlock "alien technologies" or "alien navigational maps" that take you on a journey through space to find the "source." Like in space oddyssey the very idea they were based on. The potential this game has is staggering and these ideas aren't all that extreme at its core all I'm suggesting is basic object manipulation, adding some lines of story script and a some new models. The physics of the game doesn't have to change and you don't have to add any new planets or a new "race." Traveling outside the system to search for the "source" can be K.S.P. 2 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/images/smilies/k_cheesy.gif

[thunderstar]

well i don't see whats your problem, the sandbox mode would still be there after they implement campaing so it will still pretty much the same for you

[HeadHunter67]

I'm not sure how anyone can have a strong opinion on a feature that doesn't even exist yet, but the nice thing is, you only have to play in Career mode if you choose to.

Complaining about one's choice to participate in something they claim not to like, in spite of it not existing yet, seems absurd and ridiculous.

[grawl]

I, as well, think carreer mode will not be restrictive.

You will start with a bunch of low-tech parts and a small budget. Achieving missions that you plan on your own (sattelite in keosynchronous orbit, rover on Duna, etc... ) will earn you achievements - obvious isn't it? - points and a budget increase. These points will unlock new parts, and the budget increas will allow you to use these more expensive parts.

I think, at least in its first expression, the carreer mode will be a progressive sandbox. You won't be able to start a colony on Laythe on the first mission.

That is IF you play carreer mode. If you play sandbox mode, nothing stops you from doing it.

However, it is only how I envisioned it.

One cool thing would be a scripted carreer mode, working like the scenarios module (briefing and other objects than the ones you launched in orbit). It would alow players to develop third party campaigns !

Cheers!

[dudester28]

I know someone started a petition at petitionspot a long time ago trying to gain traction to stop SQUAD from implementing a career mode. It might be worth looking into.

Why would anyone want to do that? If people really don't like career mode, all they have to do is ignore it.

[AmpsterMan]

Sorry OP but I don't share your sentiments. I think of it kind of like playing Minecraft in survival vs creative. I like survival so much more because of the challenge of having to gather the materials and make my constructions in such a way that I have to use scaffolding, etc.

[Xeldrak]

I think I'm with the majority on this one - having some restrictions can make a game much more fun. Do you think StarCraft would be more fun when all Unit would cost nothing? Or any FPS if you have unlimited ammo and all the guns you want? Or...well, whatever games you like to play, with all the restrictions removed.

Restrictions are an integral part of any game and can really enhance the experience.

[Trux]

You knew what you were getting when you bought the game.

[allmhuran]

It probably depends on how long you've been playing for and what you've accomplished.

If you still have lots of ideas about what you want to do in the sandbox, career mode probably isn't going to be your thing for a while. But eventually you've been everywhere with all ships great and small, you've built replicas of your favourite sci-fi stuff, you have bases scattered around, you've explored the mods, you've basically done everything there is to do in the sandbox. At this point your universe cannot really evolve. Nothing new opens up as a result of your exploration, no greater challenges unfold.

It is at this point that you'll wish there was something driving you through the game. The idea of starting with minimal resources and parts and unlocking pieces as you go is, I would imagine, just the start of what career mode will bring. Tie this in with vanilla resources and you now have real objectives. It would be great if squad could find a way to make the game evolve as you progress. I'm not sure exactly what that would entail, perhaps it would require some amount of autonomy on the part of kerbals you've left on other worlds. In any case, I'm really looking forward to career mode, resources, trophys, achievements, pretty much anything that will put a challenge in front of me.

[El wonso]

We have been playing no challenging sandbox for years...

Can't wait for the career mode.

[AntonioAJC]

I think most of the people made their point. The sandbox mode isn't going anywhere. They're just going to implement career mode with new AWESOME features that are going to put CHALLENGE into the game. If you don't like limitations, then you can just go and play sandbox all you want.

Thread should just end here.

[Beeman]

I like deep, complex progression systems in games and I'm going to love having restrictions 'cause it'll force me to flex my miniscule imagination and creativity. Even moreso if we get some reasonably complex life support and things that require maintenance or repairs after a while.

Basically, the more things we need to do or plan around, the better.

Of course, I do still enjoy sandbox mode...and a lot of people surely prefer playing it and there's even a lot of people that'll probably never touch career mode. But for me, career mode is where it's at...I'm trying not to play too much KSP before career mode is implemented(mostly) just so I can still have all those firsts while knowing that I did it with game-defined restrictions like budget and tech level. To me and to many others...that feeling of achievement can only be found in career mode...nothing we do in sandbox will ever have quite the gravity of doing things in career mode.

[SkyRender]

Given recent developments, I think Career mode is going to focus more on "perform science experiments and unlock new technology" than on "incrementally mimic the human race into space step-by-step and be penalized for not doing it exactly the same way" (as seen in certain current user-made mission packs). In short, almost a sandbox mode of its own with slightly more limiting conditions early on. As stated by others, if you don't like it, don't play it.

[DChurchill]

A petition? Really? Unbelievable.

Also, SkyRender is right, from what I've read and seen. Anyone who thinks career mode is going to be some guided, restrictive, step-by-step process is going to be disappointed.

[Rage097]

Woah, a petition?

That's a bit extreme, no?

[LameLefty]

Personally, I'm looking forward to the challenge of the more constrained system. The sandbox game is awesome and I will always play it but, as MaxMaps (?) mentioned in Friday's SquadCast, one of the goals of Career Mode is to lower the "barrier of entry" for new players so they are not totally overwhelmed with options as they begin to learn what to do and how to do it. Much like a good novel, you can start small-scale (Local farm boy in village ... ) and expand the scale as you go (... is in fact the foundling orphan of the last king. Or whatever; there are infinite variations). Here it will be the same thing. I guess someone, ostensibly Wherner von Kerman, will introduce you to his rocket lab and a handful of parts, tell you we need to orbit this experiment, or at least loft it to the upper atmosphere, for reasons ("To do SCIENCE!") or some such. You try, and as a new player, blow stuff up, but earn Science points for the effort. Repeat a few times if necessary, get enough Science and bingo - a bigger engine, or more efficient one, gets unlocked. Now maybe we have to orbit more or different experiments, or maybe toss one to the North Pole, etc. In a few years' game time you're sending a Kerbalized Mariner to Eve or Duna with Jeb and Bob and Bill seeing who has the Right Stuff back at the Astronaut Center ... I think it has GREAT role-play potential.

[regex]

A petition? Really? Unbelievable.

Not really. People get attached to a certain style of play and don't want to see it damaged, regardless of whether evidence suggest their playstyle will be preserved.

[SkyRender]

Not really. People get attached to a certain style of play and don't want to see it damaged, regardless of whether evidence suggest their playstyle will be preserved.

I tend to refer to these sorts as "toxic fans". Their passion for what the game is now is high, but their vision for what it should be is not in line with what the developers have in mind. The toxicity comes into play when they feel that their version of what the game should be like is the only way the game should be, and that the developers should stop focusing on making things more accessible. What they're really complaining about is that it's not being made more like their vision for the game. It's a very selfish sort of mentality, and incredibly short-sighted too. I've encountered cases of this where people suffering from such toxicity outright rejected all methods to acquire what they were after (mods, self-imposed challenges, etc.) on the grounds of "it should be in the game by default". That's more or less what happened with resources back around 0.19, and likely the main cause of the long delay between 0.18 and 0.19.

Find a way to be happy with what you've been given. Supplement it as you feel is necessary. But do not expect everyone else to play by your rules. That is all.

[zarniw00p]

one of the goals of Career Mode is to lower the "barrier of entry" for new players so they are not totally overwhelmed with options as they begin to learn what to do and how to do it.

I think that's the main reason why squad decided to implement career mode now. It somehow reminds me of the scenario and training missions they added in 0.17, which were made for similar reasons. I don't know if those did help newcomers to learn KSP, but for experienced players they were pretty worthless.

We also should remember that currently we don't really know anything substantial about how exactly career mode will be implemented, other than that it constrains the parts you will be able to use. It seems that many people have different concepts in mind when they talk about how they'll like career mode and I'm afraid that a lot will be disappointed when it finally doesn't reach their high expectations.

Besides...limiting resources for your space program doesn't seem very kerbal to me.

[Javster]

Why would you even get worked up about career mode? IT'S NOT COMPULSARY!!

[DChurchill]

Not really. People get attached to a certain style of play and don't want to see it damaged, regardless of whether evidence suggest their playstyle will be preserved.

Yeah, sorry. I forgot where I was for a minute.

[LiquidKameleon]

Without sandbox we wouldn't be having so much Scott Manley's epic experiments and Danny2462's craziness, but for me, the career mode should be what it's all about.

As the game's title says - I want to manage my own space program. Even playing freely I could experience the thrill of building stuff that works, but I want to start out with early and inefficient rockets and be able to barely launch sattelites and make my way to the tech that could allow me to make round trip ships and such.

[Superfluous J]

I tend to refer to these sorts as "toxic fans".

This is partially the developers' fault, as they released the game far from finished. People get used to the game the way it is, and forget they're playing around in an alpha version that is only a tiny portion of what the developers actually want the game to be. The same thing happened to Minecraft. People kept saying that things the developers added didn't seem "Minecrafty" because they didn't fit into THEIR vision of Minecraft. Well guess what? You paid $20 for the game. These people are devoting a large chunk of their lives to it. They have more say than you.