What has 0.22 done for YOU?

[Wayfare]

For me, it has breathed a whole new life into one of my favorite destinations - the Mun. I've been there an awful lot of times in the year-and-a-half I've been playing this game, but never with quite the sense of purpose that 0.22 has given it. Fifteen biomes to explore. Fifteen! Using the awesome Mun biome map some smart fellow extracted from the game, and cross-referencing that with the topographical map from kerbalmaps.com, I've embarked on a systematic Mun program to visit them all:

Sites 1, 2 and 3 are "A-type" single landings, performing whatever experiments the tech tree lets me (pro tip: bee-line for more experiments). Sites four through eight are "B-type" landings with double sets of all experiments and a short suborbital hop to an adjacent biome. Sites 9 and 10 are "C-type" polar landings, using single science packages on a high delta-v craft to explore those rugged areas. I've just completed mission 4, the first proper B-type mission (the craft was tested on mission 3, making a hop inside the Northern Basin). Here's a shot of each craft for reference:

The C-type will be a cross between the two, using the A-type's single science pack with the B-type's ridonkulous fuel supply. Note that, as experiments can't be transferred between craft yet, these landers are also return craft.

0.22 and SCIENCE! have given me grounds to visit parts of the Mun I've never seen before, to plan my Mun missions beyond "that might be a cool place to land" and to sit down and do some thinking before sending a can down wherever it seems convenient. So, what has 0.22 done for you?

Edited October 27, 2013 by Wayfare

[Tex]

Well, personally, .22 has taught me to be extremely conservative as to my rocket designs. With the very limited parts list of Career mode at the early stages, I've come up with some interesting new ideas about efficiency and plain old design sense that I'm not sure that I would've had before.

[I_Killed_Jeb]

Definitely like you OP, I've been exploring the Mun way more extensively. I've also been using the Mk-1 mercury-style pod way more than I used to. OP, that's a really nice lander btw

[SkyRender]

It's given me new reason to be horribly clever about how I design and launch missions to the Mun's surface.

12 of those 14 flags were planted on a single mission, by exploiting the joys of docking and fuel transfer. Naturally there was much !SCIENCE! gained in the process: enough to unlock the remaining tech tree plus about 1600 science to spare.

[FITorion]

Return missions. I never did them in sand box. My mission was always to go and make a base... Now in career mode there is actually reason to return.

[TUFOM]

Landed & returned Ike, Gilly & Moho. Didn't see point for me before science.

[Shiva]

Played the career mode without any mods. Very satisfying. Relearned how to fly without MechJeb.

[Sirrobert]

I send more ships out to everywhere in the week I played career than I have in the months before that.

And more to the Mun..... And more to Minmus...

[Xarian]

Research: has made me like the game less. I really dislike having to send up a whole bunch of landers/flybys/etc just to collect enough Science to get the parts I wanted (aerospace). Not to mention that you barely get any Science from aerospace operations. Science feels much more like a chore rather than any sort of progression.

Other 0.22 changes: make great use of subassemblies.

[Landge]

It was really challenging early on with a few suborbital hops around Kerbin to examine the different biomes. Then repeat on Mun and Minmus I had maybe a 3rd of the tech unlocked.

I decided to start exploring the other planets starting with Moho. The first only had enough fuel for a close encounter but still netted a bundle of XP. With the same ship design I was able land safely on Eve and Duna. After a few modifications (moar tanks) on the second attempt I landed on Moho.

After designing a new rover and lander combo to attempt a manned Duna landing, an unexpected transfer window to Dres was available. In true Kerbal fashion, I went for it. It was the first time I ever visited Dres. Once they return to Kerbin that pretty much unlocked the rest of the tech tree for me.

Now I'm just about finished with sending one ship equipped with 5 science landers to land on every moon of Jool. I know there's no need to since there's no more science to unlock. but just to see how much XP I'll gain. So far I've landed on Tylo (A 1st for me ), Vall, and Laythe. The delivery vehicle was sent into Jool's atmosphere to study the gas giant. The last 2 landers are on an intercept with Pol and Bop.

I think there's still some balancing to do with the tech tree. Maybe once a budget is implemented and moar parts and additions to the branches. There's still resource mapping and mining to look forward to. :thumbsup:

[regex]

For me, it has removed the need for MechJeb as a flight assistant because the SAS is now working properly. Transition times are awesome and I love the little touches. Tech tree is meh...

[MrSnappyTurtles]

I cant really run KSP now

[astropapi1]

"Hey look buddy, I'm an engineer. That means I solve problems". I also spend more time than I should in the VAB and then let Mechjeb fly my -awesome- designs while I sit back and enjoy the view. Of course, having played since 0.17, I know how to fly my rockets, it's just that I want to see them do what I wanted them to. Just like a musician watching his son play his first concert... Well, kids don't explode, but you get the idea.

Now, I haven't updated most of my mods, including mechjeb, so playing career mode was like learning to play again. Can't wait for money.

Edited October 28, 2013 by astropapi1

[annallia]

.22 has breathed new life into the game for me.

I had gone from a fanatical player to a running it every now and then just to goof off and slam my kerbals into the KSC at 1000mps every now and then.

With the new career mode however I find myself once again terribly entangled and addicted to the game as I can no longer just go with what I already know as most of the parts I need for my known designs are locked.

Though that didn't stop me from building a behemoth ship to go to Jool (I always liked going there, not sure why). However by the time the launch window opened up I had run enough missions to the mun, minimus, eve (orbit only) and duna to get the science needed to unlock parts to greatly scale down my jool ship.

That said by far my most favorite thing is I have purpose to go to more than one location on planets. Before the only reason I ever had to go somewhere other than where I set down was for Kethane, however I never quite got hooked on that mod so often abandoned it leaving me with ok I am here now what type feeling when visiting planets.

[3mon]

For me, i abandoned my super-cluttered sandbox save, and started anew modless learning to do things differently due to the lacks of parts and mods in the beggining. I think i gained some efficiency on my missions due to this

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

Two words, Jool and mun.

SO MUCH SCIENCE!

[Spatzimaus]

0.22 forced me to finally start my campaign over again. I'd been playing 0.19 up until now, because I didn't want to remake my designs, convert saves, or figure out which mods needed updating. But I just couldn't resist career mode, even if I finished the tech tree within the first couple days. I'll probably stick with this version until they implement the new resource system, for similar reasons.

And yes, this has made me really enjoy the newly redesigned Mun. In 0.19, it was so flat and boring that it was really easy to land on; I'd regularly fly spaceplanes over there and land them on their tails (well, landing legs placed around the tails), but the new terrain has so many sloped areas that it takes a lot more work, especially if you try for the poles. It's also a lot more fun to drive rovers there now...

More importantly, the new Biome system in general adds a whole new sort of appeal to missions. At present it only affects Kerbin and Mun, but if the other planets and moons get a similar overhaul, it'll make things a lot more entertaining. (Sure, some of the moons might only have a couple biomes; Minmus is probably just "lakes" and "highlands". It's still an improvement.) So 0.22 interests me simply by the implications of what'll happen down the road.

[El_Kikko]

Actually focus on doing things and going places. Instead of you know, just adding moar boosters. And i find i'm making much more ethical decisions when it comes to sending a Kerbal vs sending a probe.

[Oderus]

Not sure if it happened in .22 or previous versions but I got a huge performance boost going to .22. Full res, everything cranked up and even with a massive ship, I easily get 20+ FPS on launch and well over 60FPS in space. The visual beauty has also increased so I find there are many more 'screenshot' moments.

Of course career mode is awesome. I just wish the possibilities were documented so I know what to perform and when. Example, when to use the thermostat? barometer? Goo container? Material Bay? I've figured out from watching other videos but I'd like to see something similar to Steam's achievement list so I know what to do and what I've already done. Currently I don't know if I got points for visiting Jool or any other body. I also like not using MechJeb as much (used it almost all the time before career mode) as it forces me to learn how to do the more challenging things like interplanetary travel. I've always been able to land on Mun/Minmas manually but interplanetary travel is very difficult.

Been playing since .13 .. love this game so much.

[Kabloosh]

The developers were spot on adding the campaign mode with a tech tree. It actually gives much purpose to the game and really has breathed it life. I can't wait until they put in the cost of parts and earning money as well as tweaking the tech tree and adding stuff. Right now the tech tree feels a bit short and even with me being the terrible player that I am is still blasting through unlocking stuff.

I do have to admit since this update I've finally been able to land things on Eve and Duna which I never even attempted even with MechJeb. Now I can do all that without MechJeb.

[TNM]

Subassemblies. Yep, it was the first thing that came to mind in 0.20 as i'm used to build modular stuff, now its build in...perfect.

And yea, the Mun is fun. I have 6 Landers on it right now, i will get one to every biome, and then build a base. I hope the next update adds biomes to other planets so i can do the same stuff there too.

In 0.20 i never landed in difficult terrain, now there is a reason to, and boy was i lucky 2-3 times when landing on slopes

[boomerdog2000]

.22 has encouraged me to go to new and interesting locations to unlock science. I had my first Gilly landing and return, with planned returns for my current Vall, Pol and Bop missions.

[Moar Boosters]

It's made landing legs useless for large landers.

That's about it.

[JebIsMyHero]

0.22 has basically made me want to wait until career mode is implemented further before starting a new hardcore savegame.

[JacobGreyson]

Heat-based decoupling. How I got to Minmus at Tier 0, after all.