Can't get enough science points.

[jebodiah1976]

Greetings

I find myself after unlocking a few tiers with problems to unlock more science.

The experiments I got access to give me 0 or just pennies, and I've already been to my closest planets but I can't bring anything bigger than a flimsy probe because I don't have technology to get better rockets , so I'm stuck.

I've tried restarting with different choices but I alway seem to get stuck no matter my choices.

Do I get points for landing probes? Once landed a probe in a planet/moon how do I get science points for it? Am I limited just sending results home?

What planets / moons have biomes? How do I know what biomes I got left to explore/experiment? Would sending a lab to these locations help? (it's bulky and I don't have 3.25m size rockets yet).

Finally is there an addon maybe that could help me keep track of this and also telling me what do I have missing so I can plan my next missions?

I'd appreciate some tips how to get science points to unlock the whole tree.

[SyberSmoke]

Easiest points to get, Start with an EVA and samples from the launch pad, Dirt by the launchpad, the airstrip, beach, and ocean. Remember to off load your reports and samples into the command module and go back for more. No rocket necessary, just a Kerbal.

Later, it is still about the Kerbals. Probes are OK, but if you want points, you NEED a Kerbal for the EAV reports and samples. You can get allot of points by EVAing around a planet and collecting reports while over biomes. This works for Kerbin, The Mun, and Minmus. Samples are the same, they are worth allot of points and need to come from each different biome.

DO NOT transmit things, always try to land the craft, at least the pod back at Kerbin. You can EVA and collect results from experiments if you do not feel you can land with the modules intact. That way at least the data can land for near full value.

I hope this helps...at some point probes will be good...but for research...you need a Kerbal.

[rockbloodystar]

The KSP wiki has a comprehensive list of science locations and which instruments work where. Kerbin, Mun and Minmus all have biome maps on there page. I think you can unlock the whole tech tree by visiting the Kerbin and Munar biomes only. Remember that each biome supports fouir experiments of each type at two or three altitudes and there are Lnear" and "far" space locations too. If getting all the science points is the name of the game, builld a lander with 4x goo 4x jr s8 thermometer etc and keep sending it to the moon and bringing it back. It is not the most exciting way to play the game, but it does unlock the tree.

r.v8s4

[Madrias]

Have you tried building a spaceplane and cruising around Kerbin? There's a decent bit of science to find in the biomes if you've got enough equipment. Find somewhere you haven't been, land, EVA, grab the report while holding the ladder, store it, climb down to the ground, report, surface sample, climb back up, then board. Now you've gotten more science out of a biome.

Currently, Kerbin, the Mun, and Minmus have biomes.

Labs are only really good for purging your experiment cans so that they can be reused. For the effort to design and build a rocket/spaceplane to take the lab with you, and the extra two Kerbals that have to be deposited from the Crew tab because it's not a cockpit, I've found it to be more trouble than it tends to be worth. Build your design to be a one-shot wonder, fly, land, get your science, get back to Kerbin, and recover.

Crew reports and EVA reports and Surface Samples don't take up 'space' in your cockpit, so you can theoretically collect reports and samples in your cockpit. If you have to ditch a stage that has science gear on it, EVA, gather your science experiments, and put them in your cockpit. You'll get a fair amount of value, rather than losing out on it, or wasting precious time/electricity/science by transmitting it back.

If your design contains parts that you fear might break on landing, do the same. Better to not get 100% than to certainly get 0% for destroying it.

Probes are pretty fairly worthless. For the amount of time and effort, you might as well yank the probe core off and plunk on any of the manned cockpits/capsules, or do a daring space mission with a Kerbal in a command chair.

Speaking of command chairs, last I checked, a Kerbal sitting in one could benefit science by technically being "in EVA" and having access to an EVA report. On a rover with a seat mounted low enough, you can do a rolling Surface Sample, speeding up your science hunting. Combine that with having a Kerbal in a cockpit/capsule and you can get EVA and Crew reports simultaneously. So it can be advantageous, albeit risky, to hurl a Kerbal into space riding a chair while his best buddy flies in the cockpit. If you need a reason to do it, just think that Jeb bet the guy in the 'hot seat' wouldn't do it. Now you've got an instant daredevil.

[SRV Ron]

The capsule on the launch pad, 7 points, enough to unlock decoupler and goo capsules.

Suborbital flight with 2 Goo capsules, 50 points when you also do eva in space, reports, eva after landing and collecting surface sample on Kerbal. That unlocks all of tier 2.

At least a hundred points taking the sub orbital rocket to a Mun or Minmus flyby.

Fly to different biomes in all three places for more points. Then do landing and return with soil samples from Mun and Minmus for lots more points. Then send probes to the distant worlds. If you can return them to Kerbal with Goo canisters and the Science pod, they are worth a lot more points then just transmitting once. Manned mission with returns will net tons more.

[EtherDragon]

Greetings

I find myself after unlocking a few tiers with problems to unlock more science.

The experiments I got access to give me 0 or just pennies, and I've already been to my closest planets but I can't bring anything bigger than a flimsy probe because I don't have technology to get better rockets , so I'm stuck.

I've tried restarting with different choices but I alway seem to get stuck no matter my choices.

What tree-items you choose only make a difference on how you go about getting your Science! It does not impact how much Science! is out there to grab.

Do I get points for landing probes? Once landed a probe in a planet/moon how do I get science points for it? Am I limited just sending results home?

If the Probe is not able to return to Kerbin and be recovered, then yes - you are limited to sending the results home.

What planets / moons have biomes? How do I know what biomes I got left to explore/experiment? Would sending a lab to these locations help? (it's bulky and I don't have 3.25m size rockets yet).

Kerbin, Mun, and Minmus all have various biomes around their surfaces (craters, lake beds, etc...) but all planets have a "High Over" and "Near" biomes for different orbital heights.

Finally is there an addon maybe that could help me keep track of this and also telling me what do I have missing so I can plan my next missions?

In the R&D building there is the new Science Archives (added for 0.23) which gives you a run-down of places you've discovered and the science you've done at any given place. As you gain new instruments, you can go back to places you've been before, and try the new instrument.

I'd appreciate some tips how to get science points to unlock the whole tree.

Tips:

Repeat successful missions with new Science instruments, as you get them.

If you can transmit at 100%, do so - then repeat the experiment, but keep the data (assuming you can recover this particular mission on Kerbin).

For Kerbin, Mun, and Minmus, get into a low orbit and do lots of EVA reports - these can be transmitted back for full credit. Every time you fly over something that looks interesting, get a new EVA report, while above it, to see if it is a new Biome you haven't discovered yet.

Tune in to my

to get further inspiration if needed. You shouldn't have to replicate my missions exactly - I try to explain the fundamentals, rather than do step-by-step walk-throughs, so players can learn how to Science! in their own way.

[Tokay Gris]

IIRC, you can fill out the science tree with the science from Kerbin, Mun and Minimus.

[MazzMan]

I just build a space station with landers and moved it to mun. I landed 5 times. After that I returned to Kerbine, left the space station orbiting around Kerbine and fetched my experiments and got tonns of Sciense:

http://imgur.com/a/Ga7hb

Edited January 24, 2014 by MazzMan

[Taki117]

IIRC, you can fill out the science tree with the science from Kerbin, Mun and Minimus.

This is entirely possible. With multiple biomes on Kerbin, and the mun, and now Minmus (Minmus has 9 by the way) It is entirely possible to fill out the stock tech tree without ever leaving the Kerbin System (Though going other places is more fun)

[Superfluous J]

Concentrate on the bottom of the tree. Unlock the thermometer, gravioli detector, and seismometer. Also get the solar panels which are also on the bottom of the tree. Slap those on a small lander with a kerbal and lots of fuel (I used 3 of the tanks that are about as big as the Mk1 pod) and get it to Minmus with full tanks. Repeat this in every biome you can find:

1. Land
   
2. Take a crew report and all 3 science reports.
   
3. Transmit the crew report, keep the other 3.
   
4. Go EVA. Take an EVA report from the ladder (it counts as "flying over wherever...") and then right click your 3 experiments to take their data. Get back in the capsule.
   
5. Go EVA again. Drop to the ground, take an EVA report there and a surface sample. Get back in the capsule.
   
6. Transmit the EVA reports, and head off to a new biome.
   

Each biome will get you about 500 science. If you can land in 6 biomes (what I did) that will score you a cool 3,000 science points.

You can do similar on Mun but it takes a lot more fuel.

[Javster]

Try going to the Sun. You get some science.