Balancing career mode and sandbox. How are you going to do it?

[Motokid600]

My problem here is... I love mods. I have a lot of them. So when this career mode hits squad said that full mod incorporation won't be available for the first release. ( more or less ). And even when it is. The last thing I feel like doing is sorting through 500 parts and placing them in what tier I think they should be in. Having to manually balance out career mode with the use of mod parts doesn't really bode with me.

So.. this brings me to the topic at hand. ( mods or no mods ) Do I focus my time and effort on a stock career? Or do I continue on with my sandbox role play career? I can't really see myself swapping back and forth. I suppose it would come down to how career mode hooks me. ( if it hooks me ) Wether or not I find doing science funner then building vast, complicated missions.

So this is my conundrum. How are you planning on dealing with being torn between playing sandbox and career?

[regex]

squad said that full mod incorporation won't be available for the first release.

[citation needed]

So this is my conundrum. How are you planning on dealing with being torn between playing sandbox and career?

I'm going to see if I can jack up the science points needed to advance the tech tree because ~:three flights:~ just isn't a challenge. If I can't, I'll play sandbox because career still won't have anything worth playing.

[fatfluffycat]

Modders will balance there mods.....

[DChurchill]

Not actually giving it much thought. I'll start a career mode game and go from there.

[Guest]

While I understand that it is not finished, to me the early implementation of career mode is just sandbox mode restricted for three or four launches, then it's just sandbox with some science parts. Unless they plan on changing it before .22 it's probably not more than 30 minutes of new content. While it was only mentioned briefly I am looking forward to further scene loading and part count optimizations. Without the ability to use more parts this game will not grow in complexity.

Edited October 14, 2013 by Guest

[AlternNocturn]

While I understand that the game is not released, to me the early implementation of career mode is just sandbox mode restricted for three or four launches, then it's just sandbox with some science parts. Unless they plan on changing it before .22 it's probably not more than 30 minutes of new content. While it was only mentioned briefly I am looking forward to further scene loading and part count optimizations. Without the ability to use more parts this game will not grow in complexity.

You really expected more from 0.22, didn't you? That's pretty silly. Most of us knew from the start that Career Mode wasn't going to be a one-update thing. If it was we'd be getting 0.22 in the middle of 2014.

We still have to look forward to economy, missions, mining, not to mention the entire solar system worth of things you can now do. Please just think before you post.

Edited October 14, 2013 by AlternNocturn

[sickboy]

oh and about the three to four launches thing, when i watched the marathon, i seem to have heard one of them mention that the prices would likely be way higher in the release of .22, making it harder to get up the tree, don't quote me on that but i think it would make sense to have smaller requirements in experimentals so they can test how it works

[Guest]

You really expected more from 0.22, didn't you? That's pretty silly. Most of us knew from the start that Career Mode wasn't going to be a one-update thing. If it was we'd be getting 0.22 in the middle of 2014.

We still have to look forward to economy, missions, mining, not to mention the entire solar system worth of things you can now do. Please just think before you post.

I wasn't expecting anything. I gave my view on the new game-play content and what I am looking forward to which is .22's smoother game-play. Career mode will be flushed out an added onto over time being incomplete atm. .22 is a great update for me but not for the same reason as many others

I do think before I post, you on the other hand do not read before you post

Try to understand the views of others before you start unnecessary conflicts.

[Motokid600]

[citation needed]

Pretty much this entire thread.

But a few quotes from Maxmaps.

By default, career mode does not allow any of the current mods. However, to make your mod usable in career mode all you need to do is assign it to one of the 45 existing tech nodes, or the remaining 'hidden' nodes that we made specifically for some of the most popular and/or useful mods.

Edit: You can choose between any and all tech nodes to assign the parts of your mod to. We put the balancing very much on the modder's side of the deal. It would be awesome to see them try and find the most fitting node balancewise for each and every part, but it's not like we're also expecting really, really powerful and efficient parts to be tossed into tech level 1 because reasons.

We are currently not supporting a system to modify tech nodes. We are adding the invisible node system as a suggestion of where certain modes may fit in our progression. We do not disencourage experimentation though, and mod makers are free to try and make their own.

'In the future we may allow for proper mod support, but being as this is a new system, we'd like to keep a certain level of control to have solid, accurate data on how it's working out.

So more or less there just probing the waters to see how modders react for the first release. But as far as .22 stands now.. I may just do some probing myself. Thinking ill just play around with the features until I get bored. Only time will tell.. I only wish we had more of it.. im not ready for .22 lol.

[Kowbell]

I imagine that a) When the update releases, we'll all be too giddy to actually care because we finally got and update - and no less, update .22, and Modders will pretty soon categorize their parts themselves because they all love us and have big hearts, and it will all balance out.

Plus, I'm sure I'll love my old saves as much as my new saves, and will gladly switch between sandbox and career modes depending on what I want to play.

[SkyRender]

I start a new file (at least one new file) every version anyway, so this doesn't change much of anything for me.

[boomerdog2000]

On the topic of the 3-4 flights thing. That was Scott Manley saying "I think I can do it in 3". This is before the changes Harv was talking about to keep it from being maxed too quickly, before it has even been released, and before the implementation of economy. In the real version of career mode I highly doubt it will be possible to max the tech-tree in 3-4 flights, or even 10 for that matter.

[Superfluous J]

I will start a new save in career mode and play it. As the mods I use integrate with the tech tree (and I expect they will fairly quickly) I'll add them. Before then I'll do without. For info mods that use a part (like MechJeb for instance), I'll either live without or edit it manually to toss it in tier 0, depending on if I feel I want it before the modder adds it to a tech node.

I see no need to "balance" anything. If I want career mode, I'll do that. If I want to make a crazy lifter just to see what will happen, I'll do it in sandbox.

[Mystic]

I suspect I'll be playing career mode almost exclusively after the release of .22, because: I don't actually have any mods yet; I absolutely love the idea of doing science; and I'm still trying to learn all of the components and their usage, and perhaps getting them in a piecemeal fashion in career mode, as opposed to all at once in the sandbox, will facilitate that process for me.

I will be in no hurry to rush through the tech tree, either. On a game like this, I like to take my time, try one new thing at a time, and enjoy the journey. Otherwise, what's the point? So I hope the tech tree doesn't go by so fast as to inundate me with new components before I have figured out the old ones.

[regex]

Pretty much this entire thread.

Which doesn't say anything about mods not being fully supported, but does say that an easy way of adding new nodes isn't there yet, which are two different things. Also probably doesn't mean anything to you that I've posted in that thread...

[Superfluous J]

I will be in no hurry to rush through the tech tree, either. On a game like this, I like to take my time, try one new thing at a time, and enjoy the journey. Otherwise, what's the point? So I hope the tech tree doesn't go by so fast as to inundate me with new components before I have figured out the old ones.

I know how you feel

I'm considering a self imposed "one tech tree purchase per major mission" to draw it out a bit. Dunno. We'll see how the (semi)final product turns out when they release 0.22 to the masses.

[Kowbell]

I suspect I'll be playing career mode almost exclusively after the release of .22, because: I don't actually have any mods yet; I absolutely love the idea of doing science; and I'm still trying to learn all of the components and their usage, and perhaps getting them in a piecemeal fashion in career mode, as opposed to all at once in the sandbox, will facilitate that process for me.

I will be in no hurry to rush through the tech tree, either. On a game like this, I like to take my time, try one new thing at a time, and enjoy the journey. Otherwise, what's the point? So I hope the tech tree doesn't go by so fast as to inundate me with new components before I have figured out the old ones.

I don't actually have any mods yet

You poor, simple kerbal...

[spikeyhat09]

If you aren't going to play career mode, why bother updating?

If you are going to play career mode, what would you need mods for anyway? they would just lessen the challenge, as career mode is supposed to be - a challenge

[regex]

career mode is supposed to be - a challenge

LMFAO, good one!

[adinfinitum]

I will honestly just keep playing sandbox like I am now, my favorite part about this game is building things. Going through the tech tree progression to get to the parts I want just seems like it would get a bit tedious.

Maybe if I hit a point where I get bored building things then I'll fire up the career mode. I've been playing for over a year now, and I still haven't ventured out of the Kerbin system, and I've only been to Minmus a few times. I think that career mode could give me that little push to go out and explore the other planets, that way I can do all the science!

I did hear that the science experiments will not have any effects or results in sandbox mode though, which is a little disappointing.

[Chrisd857]

If you aren't going to play career mode, why bother updating?

Because:

*rumored 30% decrease in memory usage

*reworked runway slope and lights

*R&D building to drive and fly around

*New island runway (you can stand within the tower!)

*Reworked medium landing legs

*...reasons