Career Mode first mission questions

[lyndonguitar]

I just started playing KSP today and the last version I played was .20

anyway I downloaded a ton of mods(including mission controller) and so I started my first career mode. It seemed odd that my first mission would be sending kerbals to space already with capsules. Shouldn't unmanned flight be the first in the tech tree and the manned capsules to be researched later?? I wanted to switch them so badly (command pod mk1 with small guidance and command pod mk2 with normal guidance)

anyway to do this?

Edited December 29, 2013 by lyndonguitar

[Scotius]

Look for mods that add custom tech trees. I'm pretty sure i've seen at least one mod allowing for unmanned flights at the very start.

[lyndonguitar]

Look for mods that add custom tech trees. I'm pretty sure i've seen at least one mod allowing for unmanned flights at the very start.

But I've added like a ton of mods(supports tech tree though) from what i've seen the custom tech trees only re organizes how each categories are unlocked, Is that still okay? In my understand that is ok, not sure

I am also using KSP Interstellar.

edit: I cant seem to find one

Edited December 29, 2013 by lyndonguitar

[WafflesToo]

I just started playing KSP today and the last version I played was .20

anyway I downloaded a ton of mods(including mission controller) and so I started my first career mode. It seemed odd that my first mission would be sending kerbals to space already with capsules. Shouldn't unmanned flight be the first in the tech tree and the manned capsules to be researched later?? I wanted to switch them so badly (command pod mk1 with small guidance and command pod mk2 with normal guidance)

Because they're Kerbals? These guys invented rockets before they invented the wheel

...literally, I mean look at the tech tree

[jwenting]

best thing to do when you start fresh is to do without mods, get a feel for the game again...

BUT you can't add mods later in career mode and expect all the earlier parts of them to get unlocked instantly (unless that was changed in 0.23).

[lyndonguitar]

best thing to do when you start fresh is to do without mods, get a feel for the game again...

BUT you can't add mods later in career mode and expect all the earlier parts of them to get unlocked instantly (unless that was changed in 0.23).

that was totally unrelated to what I was asking

[regex]

anyway to do this?

Edit the part configs and swap their tech nodes.

[lyndonguitar]

Edit the part configs and swap their tech nodes.

I thought of that too, I guess that'll do, I just have to ignore that the unmanned tech is manned, large probes are large capsule

thanks

edit: hmm how do i do unmanned science? lol

Edited December 29, 2013 by lyndonguitar

[SRV Ron]

Kerbal tech started with manned flight before unmanned probes were available. The Career Mode tech tree just continues that path of Kerbal History.

Currently, only certain mode such as Nova Punch, have parts tailored for the tech tree. While a probe is available, it will be pretty useless due to lack of batteries, solar panels, and the fact that live Kerbals are needed to collect and report back data for science points needed to unlock more tech.

[technion]

It makes more sense than you realise.

Gathering science means EVA reports, crew reports and surface samples - things you can't do on a probe. Once you unlock a temperature probe, you'll notice it doesn't actually generate a significant amount of science, particularly if you plan on transmitting that data instead of recovering it. The later science parts do more, but you can unlock the probe you want by then.

The .22 story of "send a probe everywhere and gather science from every part of the system" just doesn't work now that they've ended transmit spam.

[lyndonguitar]

It makes more sense than you realise.

Gathering science means EVA reports, crew reports and surface samples - things you can't do on a probe. Once you unlock a temperature probe, you'll notice it doesn't actually generate a significant amount of science, particularly if you plan on transmitting that data instead of recovering it. The later science parts do more, but you can unlock the probe you want by then.

The .22 story of "send a probe everywhere and gather science from every part of the system" just doesn't work now that they've ended transmit spam.

yeah, that's why I think it's very odd, that kerbal invented manned flight before unmanned. I was looking to try and role play an earth based space organization on a game with deadly reentry, life support, far, etc, and was hoping to test rockets and crafts for safety reason way before putting kerbals in it.

well, I guess I'll just play with it, imagination always helps

[technion]

role play an earth based space organization on a game

We need a mod that lets you send chimps up a few orbits with that and you'll unlock probes.

[BlackBicycle]

Dear OP (Original Poster),

Have you tried to work your way through Career Mode without the mods? I guarantee it will be way more thrilling and will present this game to you in a way it is supposed to be played.

Granted, you can mod it to have uber-efficient engines, autopilots that will get you where you want to be (supposing those uber-powered rockets can get you there)...

but that would be kinda like this:

Give it a thought.

[SRV Ron]

The remote can provided by NovaPunch mod in Career is useless without batteries and an additional reaction wheel. Otherwise, you get a nice alternate selection of engines that will greatly speed up exploration without having to build overly complex rockets.

But, really. Stick with stock for the first effort at career. make your first two flight with just the capsule on the pad and the runway. Do an EVA, collect a soil sample, and file a report. That will unlock enough tech to build a decent orbiter to explore the biomes of Kerbal, Mun and Minmus, and unlock a bunch of tech points upon return and recovery.

This stock career mode ship will orbit Mun or Minmus and return with lots of valuable crew reports from EVAs.

[NoPanShabuShabu]

Take this ship, it's tech level 0, not the greatest, but call it a gift from me. You surely can get to orbit with >1800 fuel and three Kerbals, you could get over 3000 science points easy just by visiting all of the biomes on Minmus without even transmitting. After that, to role play the world you want, and not the world presented by the tech tree, then use sandbox.

[SRV Ron]

Would be a lot easier to just hack the save file and give yourself 3,000 Science points. Actually, once cost gets added to Career, Wackjob sized ships will be impossible to construct.

[Superfluous J]

edit: hmm how do i do unmanned science? lol

I know you don't want to hear this, based on your reply to jwenting, but you really should try the basic game a bit before you start installing mods. If you don't even know how to perform science experiments you are going to have endless troubles when you can't figure out if a problem you're having is a problem with the game, with a mod, with an interaction between mods, or with your not understanding something that is unclear due to the lack of documentation.

[Beowolf]

Would be a lot easier to just hack the save file and give yourself 3,000 Science points. Actually, once cost gets added to Career, Wackjob sized ships will be impossible to construct.

And that will be wonderful. I hope Squad also fixes the ridiculous exploit of using exploding SRBs as decouplers. Wackjob-style designs are works of art, but don't belong in Career mode IMO.