Split up samples and transmission data for SCIENCE!

[Wayfare]

So it took our grand community all of two days to figure out and break the science system

Yes, I know it's alpha and no, I don't think KSP is dying. In fact I believe that in typical Squad fashion, the devs have worked out a really elegant solution to a pretty hairy design issue. Right now each biome has a pool of science points. Doing experiments in a biome drains that pool. Returning the experiments nets you 100% science. Transmitting them nets you X% and the remainder is returned to the pool. Elegant!

However, this leads to the situation where it is the most efficient (in terms of missions launched) to re-run an experiment in a biome and transmit it home ad nauseam until the pool runs dry.

I believe that one way to counter this situation and bring relevance back to manned missions would be to have two separate science pools per biome. One for transmitted data and one for returned samples. Let's move the smaller science equipment (barometer, seismometer, thermometer, graviolimometer) to earlier in the tech tree and reduce their rewards accordingly. But they can only tap into the data pool, not the sample pool.

The sample pool would become a hybrid. If you have materials in the biome (goo pod, materials bay, surface samples), they will initially draw science from the sample pool. If you choose to transmit them, they will draw X% science from the data pool and return the remainder to the sample pool. Only if you bring them back to Kerbin will they give you the full science reward from the sample pool. This way, once the data pool of a certain biome runs dry, transmitting data about goo, materials or surface samples from there will not yield any more science. You're going to have to bring stuff back in order to get the science out of the sample pool.

Now let's make surface bases and space stations relevant too! Let's assume for a moment that collected samples, materials and goo can be transferred between vessels, even Kerbals on EVA. And let's have a neat science lab part, about the size of a Hitchhiker module and maybe a bit heavier. You collect your samples, bring them to the science lab module (either by docking to it or having a Kerbal carry them over) and analyse them there. The lab would require a minimum of two crew to operate and would consume quite a bit of power. The result - your samples processed for the same science yield (drawn from the sample pool) as if you'd brought them to Kerbin. Building a Mun base just became a very reasonable alternative to ferrying the damn stuff back home all the time.

[JayCheetah]

Good post.

Thumbs up.

[brobel]

good idea and fix to the uselessness of bases and space-stations.

[BlazingAngel665]

Already Suggested:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/54027-The-Data-System-What-Works-What-doesn-t-and-How-to-Fix-It