Science: Ignorance->Uncertainty->Knowledge about the Kerbol System

[Kerbocracy]

Hi all,

Forgive me if this has already been said; I scanned the titles here and didn't see it.

IMHO, I think that science in Kerbal should have a role in advancing our knowledge about the Kerbol system. More than just unlocking parts and providing humorous blurbs of text, the results of science experiments and measurements on other worlds should provide functional knowledge about those worlds. It would be neat to start the career in a state of ignorance about the Kerbol system and then acquire knowledge about 'what's out there' through missions and experiments. In essence, this would be real 'exploration'.

I have to admit that when I started the game, I was a little disappointed to be able to pan around, zoomed out, in the map view, and focus on and examine the planets and their moons. I could see their basic appearance, get a sense of whether they had an atmosphere, and make decisions about which ones I wanted to land on. This was all by just paning around. On this basis, I discovered a terrestrial moon that became a priority for a manned visit. I feel that this access to knowledge about the Kerbol system was too free. We should have to earn it through science and missions. Perhaps this could be a 'Hard Mode' or 'Kerbel Prize mode'.

I can imagine a starting situation where we have basic astronomical knowledge: we know the orbits of the major bodies in the solar system. But we don't know much about them except perhaps, the class (e.g. planet vs. gas giant). We then do missions to discover the moons and the particulars of the individual planets. Importantly, to see them, and to learn about them, you must go there. Information that I can envision being hidden initially and revealed through missions might include:

a) atmosphere profile: whether or not there is an atmosphere, and it must be profiled by a descent probe. There would be a corresponding density graph to look at and use to plan future entries, fly-bys, gravity assists, aerobraking maneuvers.

existence of moons; while perhaps a bit unrealistic because they can be found through astronomy, I would like to discover moons by visiting the main bodies. Along those lines:

c) precise orbits of smaller objects. It would be neat if we didn't know the orbits exactly, and had to guess a bit and correct on the fly. The gravity meter might be used to determine the exact mass of the main body, and the moon, thus refining the player's understanding/model of their orbits. To take this further, the orbits could be defined as bands (e.g. confidence intervals) - a band that we know the body will pass through; The width of that band gets thinner as you know more about it. That way there would have to be some careful guessing/calculating to make safe orbits; this would be especially interesting if you don't know atmosphere composition. Uncertainty would be cool!!! Remember that it doesn't have be uncertainty in the underlying model, but rather just uncertainty portrayed to the player.

d) restricted vision: focusing on, and zooming in and out of planetary bodies allows you to inspect their surface. I think surface inspection should have to be done by hand. Either have probes that orbit the bodies allowing you to inspect them in real time, or even better: take photographs that you can review. Imagine you are orbiting focused on a satellite, and you spot a feature of interest, you roll and photograph it and it tags the position and gives you a still shot that you can review. You can then make decisions about where to send a lander. I don't like being able to examine the surface at leisure in god's-eye-view and pick a landing spot. Similarly, when landed, I don't like being able to zoom out to half the planet's width and inspect the surface features in that zoomed out way. To look over that next ridge, I should have to go there (or fly over it).

e) physical characteristics of the bodies; material composition, magnetism, volcanism, etc. (I know this might be geeking too hard).

Please suggest any other knowledge that you think could be initially hidden and then revealed through science!

I could imagine a Kerbolpedia that would be filled in as you accumulate knowledge in Career! (remember the UFOpedia..

P.S. this game is special: I spent ~100 hours playing it in the first two weeks that I had it. That must be a personal record...

[UbioZur]

I know some people have said that squad do plan on hiding some info for the career mode (however I do not find official source on it, so don't take my words for it).

This has been suggested a lot of time, Yours is well detailed. And I particularly agree with the atmosphere / gravity profile to be updated once we bring the equipment there.