Manned (Kerbaled) flights in career mode...

[Sirrobert]

Ok, I totally get your point, and it's a valid one from a gameplay perspective. But I feel like there's a disconnect in that science doesn't produce parts - science produces the theory that means an engineer can go and design an idea for a part, which then gets tested, which gathers data to test against the theory. That's what I'd like to see be a bit more of a focus just early on, any way.

I feel like it's important that the first steps to rocketry are worth something to a player. I think that for both a good player (who gets some valuable science points just for launching a craft), and an absolute beginner (who gets a bit less science, but still some to put towards something on the tech tree), there's a bit of merit in it. I mean, you get points for recovering a capsule that has been to another body, without actually doing science, right? I'm just saying that maybe even if your ship doesn't leave Kerbin, the first time you launch some terrible contraption that blows up 15 seconds after you launch the SRB, you should get a small reward for it, because in real life, you'd learn from the failure.

Your first point should be fixed once we get money. Research will let you unlock the part, and than you'd have to buy it with money.

KSP just lets us skip the testing of the part in the windtunnel, cause that's pritty boring.

And I believe you do get science for your first butched up launch. Right at the bottom of your science gain list after you recover, it sais 'recovery of a vehicle from orbit around Kerbin', or sub orbital if you didn't get orbit but did leave the atmosphere, or just a flight if you stayd in the atmosphere.

As long as something survives to recover

[davieholgate]

Thanks for the replies. Some of your points do make a lot of sense.

I guess the fact that we are controlling Kerbals, who seem to have appeared magically on some planet, with nothing but a space center to their names, would kind of rule out the "realism" part.

However, like many, although I love the Kerbals, I do like trying to replicate real space programs as much as possible. After all, I am interested in human space exploration, not Kerbalian.

It's no big deal at all though, if you look at it from the perspective of a species that has not built a car, or a plane, or that even has a civilization, perhaps going manned first isn't so bad...

Either way I will continue to have endless fun, but just a thought of mine.

Nope, there is a sand temple like thing with a Kerbal statue