Career mode structure

[Algiark]

I've read it somewhere that Kerbal Space Program is a persistent world game, like Simcity and other similar games. I'm not here to talk about what persistent world means, but the games referenced gives me an idea of how career mode can be structured.

Kerbal Space Program, in my opinion, is a construction and management simulation at its core. Other games of similar nature (which are not quite Simcity but screw it, I'm using them as examples) include Tropico, Zoo Tycoon, Theme Park, Age of Empires etc., and in them, most new missions in campaign/story mode basically goes like this:

-You start off in a mostly empty world, devoid of any sign of the previous world you played in.

-Most of the tech/building/perks are locked, even if you've unlocked them in a previous scenario.

-Similar to above, you start with very little resources, no matter how much you amass previously.

-You're free to build however you want, use any strategy you like, but there's a specific requirement (and sometimes restriction) for finishing that mission.

KSP's career mode could work like that; you start off every mission in a clean solar system, lowest tech, no science nor reputation/prestige, very little money, and you basically build your space program from the ground up every time. Every mission is basically a chapter of the overall story; from the humble beginning of Kerbal Space Program, to its growth, the turmoil, the rise, whatever, and culminating in the final chapters requiring your full knowledge and skill of rocket science to finish. Of course, re-earning science to unlock things you have previously unlocked may sound ridiculous, but so does amassing 500 citizen/visitors to unlock a large toilet or something every time, and it worked just fine for those kind of games. It won't be 'career' per se (maybe another mode?), and it may have to remove or limit some add-on functionality to work, but I think it fits very good with the game.

Any thoughts?

Edited November 23, 2013 by Algiark

[regex]

Any thoughts?

I prefer the Dwarf Fortress or Minecraft model, where you don't have any specific "missions" or developer-set goals (but instead make your own), but overall I think the devs are going for a structure of some sort along with a progression for each new save. KSP has a persistent world in the sense that every new save is a persistent world, but the overall game can have multiple saves.

[Algiark]

These 'story missions' can also be just a collection of really long tutorials or scenarios, serving as a way to educate new players into becoming the ultimate rocket scientist. Another way to look at it, if KSP has tutorial/scenario, career, and sandbox, in another game it would be called campaign/story, sandbox, and sandbox+god mode, respectively.