How much science is there to get?

[Streetwind]

I know, 0.23.5 adds an infinite supply of science through asteroids. But let's ignore asteroids for a moment and assume we're still on 0.23.

How many science points can you get in the game? To be clear, I'm not looking for a listing/spreadsheet of which planet allows what experiment at which altitude. I'm looking for a single number. How many science points can you collect, assuming you were being fairly thorough and complete in visiting every celestial body with every available experiment in tow? I think I remember that last I checked, the stock tech tree takes about 12,500 science to unlock, and you can get that much from just Kerbin and the Mun (and maybe just starting on Minmus). Obviously the other celestials lack biomes and aren't this rich, but there's quite a few of them and they have higher multipliers. So how much would we be looking at in total? 25k, 30k, 40k?

Knowing this number - or at least a reasonably accurate estimate, something within a margin of error of a thousand - could be quite useful when designing custom tech trees.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Streetwind

[*Aqua*]

I read there are about 70k points to collect. I don't know the exact number though.

[Streetwind]

Whale Isle Beef Hooked, that would be a lot!

Do you still remember where you read that?

[GoatRider]

I can believe that. I've done all of Mun and Minmus, and most of Kerbin, landed on Duna and Ike and did a fly-by of Moho. I think I have about 14k excess, so I can imagine if I were to do all the moons of Jool, Eve, and Eeloo and return, 70k would be about right.

[MarvinKitFox]

Ive managed to accumulate 46K left over, after maxxing the tech tree, and completely forgetting that Dres even exists.

[randomness5555]

Poor planet...not that it's exactly interesting...Squad, make this planet interesting!

[Streetwind]

Very nice, thanks for the reports! MarvinKitFox's experience supports a range of between 60K and 70K, that should be close enough for most intends and purposes. Knew I could rely on someone in the community to grind most of it just because they can

[xEvilReeperx]

My quick snippet says that, excluding the really obscure things like landing on top of landmarks (aside from runway, launchpad, KSC, and space center) and asteroids, there is about:

• 79,792.79 max science, stock only
  
• 399,182.8 max science, stock + custom biomes
  

// calculate total available science in stock ksp
float total = 0f;

foreach (var expid in ResearchAndDevelopment.GetExperimentIDs())
{
ScienceExperiment experiment = ResearchAndDevelopment.GetExperiment(expid);

foreach (var body in FlightGlobals.Bodies)
foreach (ExperimentSituations situation in Enum.GetValues(typeof(ExperimentSituations)))
{
if (experiment.IsAvailableWhile(situation, body))
{
float singleBiome = experiment.scienceCap * GetBodyScienceValueMultipler(situation, body);
int multiplier = 1;

if (experiment.BiomeIsRelevantWhile(situation))
if (body.BiomeMap != null)
{
if (body.name == "Kerbin")
{
multiplier = (body.BiomeMap.Attributes.Length + /* KSC, space center, runway, launchpad at the least */ 4);
}
else multiplier = body.BiomeMap.Attributes.Length;
}

if (situation == ExperimentSituations.SrfSplashed && body.ocean)
{
// there's a peculiar situation where it's possible to have
// both "splashed down" and "landed" in one biome/instance. Computing
// how many different ways this is possible is beyond the simple
// scope of this, but it's always possible at least once if the
// body has an ocean so we'll factor that in
if (experiment.IsAvailableWhile(ExperimentSituations.SrfLanded, body))
++multiplier;
}

total += singleBiome * multiplier;
}

}
}

Log.Write("There is at least {0} science available ingame", total);

// Disclaimer: Verified using "that looks about right" method

[DMagic]

The numbers I've heard have been around 60-70k, but that was before 0.23.5. Because asteroid samples can be collected in every situation, around every planet, and, I think, with biome support in some cases, this probably adds another 10-30k to the total amount of science.

[Streetwind]

Every new asteroid is all new science. And since they're procedurally generated, that means there's an infinite amount of them, adding an infinite amount of total science. That's why I specifically asked about sources other than asteroids

Ultimately, grinding asteroids for science -while theoretically infinite - is a very tedious thing to do. Returns per individual asteroid are not very big, even if you can consistently wrestle them into orbits that give you 3-4 reading opportunities (not easy). And each retrieval mission takes quite a bit of time and effort. Tuning science costs with the expectation of players grinding asteroids for science would be a rather bad approach, IMHO.

[Tokay Gris]

As far as I see, it is still possible to max out the techtree with only parts of Kerbin, the Mun and Minimus.

Specifically, without using any asteroids and leaving Kerbins SOI.

[GoatRider]

As far as I see, it is still possible to max out the techtree with only parts of Kerbin, the Mun and Minimus.

Specifically, without using any asteroids and leaving Kerbins SOI.

Yes, I did that, with about 4k to spare.

[ArmchairGravy]

As far as I see, it is still possible to max out the techtree with only parts of Kerbin, the Mun and Minimus.

Specifically, without using any asteroids and leaving Kerbins SOI.

Correct, and I think it's a good idea. To me it's a solution that allows the most people to have full access to the tree. If you want to go interplanetary for your science you can but are not required to do so.

[DMagic]

Every new asteroid is all new science. And since they're procedurally generated, that means there's an infinite amount of them, adding an infinite amount of total science. That's why I specifically asked about sources other than asteroids

I never realized that, it looks like it appends the asteroid id number to the end of the report title. I guess it makes some sense that each asteroid could give you different science, but from a game-play perspective that seems like a terrible idea.

For now it's true that most asteroids will only be easily accessible in Kerbin or solar orbit. But if they add it asteroids spawning further away they could easily be brought into orbit around other planets. A single asteroid taken on a tour of Jool's three large moons (both low and high space for each, and Jool) could net over 3k science, or one quarter of the total needed for the tech tree. And given enough time and patience with gravity assists that wouldn't be too difficult. I guess extra biomes would be just as much of a problem for regular experiments, so they'll need to do something about it eventually.

Edit: Or do asteroid samples just ignore the regular science value multipliers? A sample from in orbit around the sun gives me the same as one from in orbit around Kerbin.

Edited April 23, 2014 by DMagic

[Captain Sierra]

Only Kerbin, Minmus, and the Mun have biome support right now and Duna has been predicted by the community as the next body to get it. Because of biomes, it is entirely possible to max out the tech tree purely on those three planets alone, not even touching asteroids or going interplanetary. This means there has to be at least 14k of science just in ther kerbin system. With biomes, I would predict the total amount of science (excluding any newly added planets and asteroids) to go up to at least 200k or more.

[Dave Kerman Jr.]

On 4/23/2014 at 9:01 AM, MarvinKitFox said:

Ive managed to accumulate 46K left over, after maxxing the tech tree, and completely forgetting that Dres even exists.

but, Dres doesn't exist