Making long distance journeys more challenging

[Algiark]

Seems pretty weird to me that after you're able to go to the moon, you can go straight to other planets simply by building bigger rockets and go for it. You might need to research bigger and more efficient engines, but that's that. There's no accounting of the cosmic rays, meteoroid impacts, or the effects of prolonged zero-g on kerbals. And this isn't even about life support like food, water. Of course, all the command pods could be said to already have the technology to counter those problems, but that sounds like hand waving to me.

I know that going to other planets is hard to begin with, so maybe if it should be more difficult, it should be reserved for something like the 'hard mode' of KSP. Do you think long journeys could be or should be more difficult and complex, or is it better to stay as it is?

[Monkeh]

there's a little more to it than just 'building bigger rockets' but i get what you mean.

Problems with the realism mode is where do you stop? First off food and water, then oxygen, then radiation shielding, then micrometeorite shower shields, then solar flare shielding, then exercise bays to reduce muscle wasting and bone de-calcification, then psych reports to assess mental health, then 'fun bays' for recreational...ermm...recreation, toilets...the list goes on and on.

So you want all that programmed, balanced and made fun?

Ermm, not gonna happen I'm afraid.

[Neil1993]

I agree.

However, if you do want more realism, you could add TAC life support ( http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/tac-life-support/ ).

Also, it would be interesting if there were a random failures mechanic that would require your Kerbals to perform EVAs to make repairs.