The "Better Than Starting Manned" Career Challenge

[ThreeMartiniLaunch]

is up.

In which I satisfy "Spudnik" (3), Survivor I (1), and Biome Hunter II (2)

TML marches on...

Sorry for the delay in getting this up. I was on vacation revisiting the west coast.

I will not be updating this game to 0.24 an thus, no update to BTSM beyond 1.57. I hope that does not disqualify me.

TML

[Death Engineering]

is up.

In which I satisfy "Spudnik" (3), Survivor I (1), and Biome Hunter II (2)

TML marches on...

Sorry for the delay in getting this up. I was on vacation revisiting the west coast.

I will not be updating this game to 0.24 an thus, no update to BTSM beyond 1.57. I hope that does not disqualify me.

TML

Thanks for the update! Made a wee change to the rules for "latest version" to support that philosophy which actually makes more sense than what I had for that rule.

"BTSM version: You may complete the challenge using any version of BTSM. Entries are scored on the version you complete your entry, which is reflected on the leaderboard."

---

Wrapping up "Normal Mode" entry - "Happy New Year!"

This post concludes my "Normal Mode" entry for this challenge, wrapped up on New Years Eve (year 2 day 364). Its been a real roller-coaster of highs and lows, making more errors this play-round than my warm-up. Oh well! Still playing the "long game" with hopes to bring together a better entry for "Expert Mode".

The keen-eyed observer may notice that I'd previously claimed "Rockhunter II" and "Team Effort II". Turns out, the asteroid I captured was a "B" class and not a "C" class! At least that gives me something else to shoot for in the "Expert Mode" entry..

Modifiers Earned:

• I don't need a slide rule (3): No use of any "engineering" mods (Mechjeb, RCS helper, etc).
  
• Tier 1 - "Ahh, balance.. I get it now" (1)
  
• Tier 2 - "Bird's eye view" (2)
  
• Tier 3 - "Taking it slow" (3)
  
• Tier 4 - "Spudnik" (3)
  
• Survivor I (1): Unlock all Tier 4 nodes with no kerbal fatalities.. so far.
  
• Biome Hunter II (2): Score Tier 3 science on all Kerbin biomes
  
• Tier 5 - "This land is your land, this land is Badland" (4)
  
• Survivor II (2): Unlock all Tier 5 nodes with no kerbal fatalities.. so far.
  
• Goo hunter I (2): Retrieve Goo canisters from Mun's high and near space.
  
• Tier 6 - "One small step.." (6)
  
• Team Effort I (2): Perform a joint orbital docking in Kerbin orbit (any altitude). This means that two separate launches will put at least two kerbals in space where they will rendezvous and dock for a photo op. Craft must then deorbit separately. All kerbals must survive.
  
• Survivor III (3): Unlock all Tier 6 nodes with no kerbal fatalities.. so far.
  
• Tier 7 - "Minmus master" (6)
  
• Take a Breather I (2): On a single flight, score Atmospheric science on at least 4 biomes.
  
• Biome Hunter IV (4): Score crew report science over all Minmus biomes.
  
• Duna Dominance I - Prime (4): Launch a robotically controlled mission which scores Goo science from Duna's surface.
  
• I'm a Scientist! I (3): Score Science Jr. from Mun and Minmus
  
• Rockhound I (3): Score science for any asteroid.
  
• Duna Dominance II (4) (requires completion of either Duna Dominance I Prime or Backup): Develop a Duna lander that can sustain a kerbal on Duna for at least 45 days. While there, transmit all surface transmittable science, including Biometric. After at least 45 days on the surface, the kerbal can return to orbit in the same lander or aboard a different lander, delivered to the surface robotically. The kerbal must make it back to Kerbin safely.
  

Scoring: 2 years 364 days = 1094 days * ( 1 - (60 modifier points * .001)) = 1028 points

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[flipmcf]

Looks like time to take a break for First Contract! Just before I hit Tier 7.

Taking on this challenge with my first BTSM play through is very frustrating. I love it.

I'll be back.

[Death Engineering]

Looks like time to take a break for First Contract! Just before I hit Tier 7.

Taking on this challenge with my first BTSM play through is very frustrating. I love it.

I'll be back.

I enjoyed looking at contracts, but.. Looking forward to your BTSM challenge updates!

---

Minor update.. scored enough SCIENCE to unlock my first Tier 9 node.. any guesses to what I chose? <pause> Yep, you're right!

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edit:

Prior to purchasing a T9 node, earned (for Dres, Duna.. Eve, Gilly):

Tier 8 - "Map Master" (8) - Complete surface image scans from at least two planets/moons beyond Kerbin's orbit and any two inner planets/moons.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Death Engineering

[Death Engineering]

Update Year 4 Day 328

With two Tier 9 nodes unlocked, over 2000 science in the bank, and lots of science awaiting return-windows from crewed Dres and Laythe landing missions this play-through is getting close to the penultimate Tier 9 node.

This update includes an Eve landing mission with no intent to return the crew. However, to make the effort "worthwhile", the mission included a rover and landed near the beach. With all science instruments on the rover, the crew was able to get both land and water science! "Thank you for your sacrif.. effort!"

Steps towards the first permanent orbiting base also occur in this update. Laythe Station will serve as a resupply point for exploring the moons of Jool. The first module, a series of hubs and life support pods for visiting crew entered Laythe orbit. The two following modules, made possible by the second Tier 9 node purchase, add fuel and monopropellant processing.

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[Death Engineering]

Challenge submission update Year 6 Day 10

Five years into the challenge, we've got all but one Tier 9 node unlocked and 2083 science points in the bank. There is a habitation study around Kerbin underway and a similar mission in enroute to Duna. Laythe Station is nearly complete, with fuel and monopropellant processing modules added and a lander awaiting its crew which will get pockets of dirt from Pol, Bop and Vall. A purpose built Tylo lander may be sent out if the science points are still needed after exploring the "easier" planets.

Might be one other update before I finally complete unlocking the BTSM tech tree.. hopefully I'm not necro'ing my own thread too much. As someone else noted, however, the amount of time involved in completing this challenge is not trivial.. hopefully, the thread will keep itself alive without too much necromancy.

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[Death Engineering]

So I guess we're going to Eeloo...

It is currently Year 8, D 208 in my playthrough to complete the BTSM tech tree. In this update, finally starting to see some science points coming in! After about 10 launches without any science, its a relief to see the points coming in.. but at a trickle! Apparently, an Eeloo mission is unavoidable.. so that will be in the next update.

Debated on whether to post a challenge update, but decided to share the "mistakes were made" story: As it turns out, the craft that was sent out as the "taxi" to Pol, Bop and Vall was grossely insufficient in the ÃŽâ€v department. This required another craft and another crew (since life support on the station is timed fairly tight) to be sent out. The crew member on Laythe Station happily de-orbited his craft and grinned maniacally until Laythe's atmosphere cooked him. Rather hesitant to even look at how many Kerb's I've lost.. many many.. I'll include the dead-count on the final post.

Also had a problem with the Duna orbiting Hab Study design and wound up launching and sending another similar one out there. Basically, I figure I've lost about a year and a half while I send out replacement craft to Jool and Duna.

Lastly, made a mistake with the life support on the Kerbin habitation study (left the life support kegs "untapped".. or, disabled). After launching up a surface return craft to leave up for the crew to come back, when approaching the station, got the "Ran out of Life Support" and "Habitation Study Cancelled" messages.

After all the failures, botched missions and dead Kerbals, the space program was lucky enough to locate this Mun arch completely by accident. Never even been to this arch, so taking the late-game Mun direct-ascent lander up for the last two Mun biomes and seeing this was a nice find.

Basically, I've rather messed up this challenge attempt. However, at almost 9 years of game time, I'm not about to restart it now! Will try to wrap things up in the next post, which will probably be awhile as play time is cut for the next month or so. Thanks for tolerating my necromancy!

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Edited September 23, 2014 by Death Engineering
speeling

[flipmcf]

Well, I'm back playing this again. Didn't keep track of my modifiers, and I don't think I have an entry yet.

I'm at Tier 7 I think - Can't remember. I haven't unlocked any techs that cost 1800 yet, but unlocked all the 380's - can't remember what level that is.

No kerbals dead. No mods.

All Minmus biomes are sampled, and I've got 5 Moon samples - so I got room there.

A slew of probes have been launched to other planets, but none have arrived yet.

Day 37......

I love this mod. Vanilla is so boring and easy.

[flipmcf]

Correction - Tier 6 complete. Was wishful thinking.

[Death Engineering]

Correction - Tier 6 complete. Was wishful thinking.

Tier 6, day 37.. looking good. . Are you sticking to probes or pushing the crewed-flights more? Just wondering..

Thanks for the update!

[flipmcf]

Sticking to probes as much as I can, Manned flights when necessary (surface samples, EVA reports, etc)

I doubled-up with a gravity scanner to grab the last few Biomes left on the moon while starting my crew reports.

Update: Day 52. One Tier 7 unlocked and 2.2K sci in the bank for another Tier 7. I'm done landing on Mun and Minmus - just got back with the Sci Jr. from Minmus.

A slew of probes are still on their way. 15 days away from a Moho lander, 26 days from Eve (fuel probs?) 35 days from my first Duna probe - which will be followed by many more.

One of the 4 probes on it's way to Jool is taking a fast route, and will be there in 140 days - the others are on Hoffman orbits and will arrive in 260-ish days

Going to probably start the hab research now.

No dead Kerbs. No Mods.

A few tricks I've learned:

Wait for Minmus after you have the 2.5M heat shield, that way you can get everything but an image scan of Minmus in one mission, including 3 goo containers and the seismic probe for a landing. You just got to line up re-entry very far from Kerban before the probe runs out of battery.

The medium-range antenna placed near the top of a craft is awesome for up-righting to get it pointed to the sky for takeoff. Just 'extend antenna' and go full throttle when you get pointed at the sky. This was used to accomplish the 3-goo mission to Minmus. Who needs landing gears?

Getting surface samples from all the biomes on the Mun is very tedious. Set up a moon refuel base early and leave your lander in orbit for re-use. I also waited to surface sample the last biome until I could bring a Sci-Jr along. However, docking-juggling the Sci jr onto the lander and then back onto the command module was quite a chore.

Have a 'Transport' that can refuel in orbit and stay in space to shuttle between Moons and Kerban. No need for a heat shield - allows fuel transfer. I had a separate ship that docked with this transport to suck the science off of it, re-up propellent and life support, then re-enter Kerban. This way, I was able to get 6 biome samples from the mun in one, long, tedious, agonizing mission, where I had to send an extra orange tank to the moon for fuel. Jeb stayed in space for probably more than 10 days.

[Death Engineering]

Nice stats! And.. no dead 'kerbs... impressive. The KSC had to build another building to stack my pile of corpses.

Good tip on how to efficiently get Mun science.. I did a similar thing with disposable mini-stations and one reusable lander that stayed out at Mun's orbit.

Thanks for the update!

[KevinTMC]

Hello again, Death Engineering! Your "Duna Apollo Style" challenge furnished me with the second-best KSP experience I've ever had. (As with most players, I think, my first successful Munar landing--way back in the old 0.13.3 demo--will always hold the top spot.) I've done some looking at your Constellation challenge, but always had too little time and energy on my hands, and all the detail seemed pretty daunting.

This one here looks like it might just be a decent match for the particular sort of insanity I possess. I'm still shorter on time and energy than I would like...but if you've been working on this one for months yourself, that's paradoxically comforting, as I won't feel ridiculous if I take approximately forever. And what better way to delve into the alternate vision of career gameplay that is BTSM?

Also it would save me from a different sort of all-consuming insanity: sorting through the 100-odd mod threads I've subscribed to, and settling on a mere few dozen to plunk into my new 0.25 install while hoping that the combination doesn't cause my computer to explode in a big fiery ball visible from space.

But I digress. Anyhow, I'm not sure exactly where I should start with this one, or how, if I should decide to attempt it.

Should I dust off KSP 23.5, and plug in appropriately earlier versions of BTSM and Deadly Reentry? Or wait for further BTSM updates before starting? Or do something else?

I've never played with either of those mods before. Does this challenge presume that I've played around with either or both already?

The rules mention that visual-effect mods are permitted. (Are there particular ones that most people are using with BTSM with good results? I've hardly ever tried any such mods out, though I understand some of them are really nice.) I presume audio-effect ones are also fine? Oh, and how about BTSM's recommended addition of PreciseNode?

So you--and some others--are really doing without Kerbal Engineer and the like? You must be much better at eyeballing ÃŽâ€v than I am...either that, or this challenge is at least somewhat forgiving of those of us who are apt to go through three or five revisions of a craft before it even makes LKO on the intended stage (or at all).

Finally, are you sick of my asking questions yet?

[Death Engineering]

Hello again, Death Engineering! Your "Duna Apollo Style" challenge furnished me with the second-best KSP experience I've ever had. (As with most players, I think, my first successful Munar landing--way back in the old 0.13.3 demo--will always hold the top spot.) I've done some looking at your Constellation challenge, but always had too little time and energy on my hands, and all the detail seemed pretty daunting.

This one here looks like it might just be a decent match for the particular sort of insanity I possess. I'm still shorter on time and energy than I would like...but if you've been working on this one for months yourself, that's paradoxically comforting, as I won't feel ridiculous if I take approximately forever. And what better way to delve into the alternate vision of career gameplay that is BTSM?

Also it would save me from a different sort of all-consuming insanity: sorting through the 100-odd mod threads I've subscribed to, and settling on a mere few dozen to plunk into my new 0.25 install while hoping that the combination doesn't cause my computer to explode in a big fiery ball visible from space.

But I digress. Anyhow, I'm not sure exactly where I should start with this one, or how, if I should decide to attempt it.

Should I dust off KSP 23.5, and plug in appropriately earlier versions of BTSM and Deadly Reentry? Or wait for further BTSM updates before starting? Or do something else?

I've never played with either of those mods before. Does this challenge presume that I've played around with either or both already?

The rules mention that visual-effect mods are permitted. (Are there particular ones that most people are using with BTSM with good results? I've hardly ever tried any such mods out, though I understand some of them are really nice.) I presume audio-effect ones are also fine? Oh, and how about BTSM's recommended addition of PreciseNode?

So you--and some others--are really doing without Kerbal Engineer and the like? You must be much better at eyeballing ÃŽâ€v than I am...either that, or this challenge is at least somewhat forgiving of those of us who are apt to go through three or five revisions of a craft before it even makes LKO on the intended stage (or at all).

Finally, are you sick of my asking questions yet?

Hello KevinTMC.. those are great questions! And glad you had fun with "Duna Apollo Style".

I'm a little torn on this point myself. On one side, I know that .235 KSP, with appropriate versions of BTSM/DRE, is perfectly playable and stable and all challenges are do-able right up to the end. As you've seen, I'm heavily committed to such a playthrough now. However.. about a month ago on the BTSM thread, someone reported that the Science Lab was not transmitting science like it should. This was fixed, but not in a BTSM compatible with .235 KSP. Since my current game is relying heavily on a laboriously assembled Laythe station with its Science Lab, I've yet to make a decision on how to proceed: send some uncrewed science vessels to retrieve the surface samples, goo and science labs back to Kerbin or just start over in .25.

Using .25 has so much going for it with the roll-enabled engine gimbals and improved nav ball and all the improvements to BTSM's balance suggests that starting with 0.25 would make sense. However, the addition of finance/contracts is going add considerable game-time in order to get to tier 8/9 (largely because doing parallel missions is going to be a lot harder without the funds to pay for them). Plus, BTSM is so robust now with payload and missions to explore bodies, a challenge like this with mission goals and targets becomes somewhat redundant - rendering the challenge largely just about getting to tier 8/9.

That said, since BTSM has not been "checked out" beyond I think T7 (currently), with some tweaks into T8, it could be some time before the whole tech tree is balanced and there could easily be save-breaking changes during that time, suggesting that the balanced and playable .235 version might be the better choice.

In order to help make both of our decisions, I'll load up my game tonight with just the final T9 node left to unlock and see if the mission from Pol is able to transmit science from Laythe or if the materials will need to be flown back to Kerbin (which is not in the plan...). I'll also re-play from T1 to see if any of the early challenge goals are still playable. Pretty certain they are, but I didn't pay close enough attention while playing around with .25.

From a philosophical point, the less experience (to a point...) you have in KSP, you'd likely be better off when playing BTSM/DRE. Things like how science collection and retrieval work and getting the 'hang' of re-entry when the effects are more than just sparkly gee-whiz moments are best learned gradually and deviate enough from stock KSP that not having to break too many old habits could be in your favor. Basically, by the time you've completed the crewed Kerbin landings on Mun and Minmus, you should be up to speed on the differences.

Any mod that doesn't break KSP balancing is fine. Personally, I use Visual Enhancements, Texture Replacer and Kerbal Alarm Clock. The engineering mods just make it too easy for me. That said, I am not against reverting to VAB as many times as it takes.

I hope that helps.. and I'll be back in about 12 hours with my findings on the Science Lab and .25 challenge goals.

Besides.. someone with your experience may also find "'Das Dunaprojekt' or Duna von Braun Style" to be a fun little diversion.

Welcome to the challenge!

Edited October 14, 2014 by Death Engineering

[Death Engineering]

I was able to complete at least up to Tier 6 of the challenge bonus-goals in BTSM with 0.25 KSP:

Tier 1 - "Ahh, balance.. I get it now" (1)

Tier 2 - "Bird's eye view" (2)

Tier 3 - "Taking it slow" (3)

Tier 4 - "Spudnik" (3)

Tier 5 - "This land is your land, this land is Badland" (4)

Tier 6 - "One small step.." (6)

Actually, I was even able to get a taste of low space science on Tier 2! My Tier 6 "One small step.." mission was over-engineered and weighed in at just over 180t.

I didn't have enough time to finish flying my Pol mission back to the Laythe station to try out the Science Lab. Should be able to get there during tonight's mission time.

BTW... FlowerChild has stated that 'Science' mode is balanced and playable if you're not interested in finance/contracts.

[KevinTMC]

Decisions, decisions.

(remainder of original thinking-out-loud post snipped; update follows)

Okay, I think I've got it sorted. I'll go for the full career experience, because I've discovered I won't have to choose difficulty settings like in stock 0.25 career mode (and thereby torture myself, both in overthinking the choices, and in putting up with the kamakaze decisions that I'm liable to make), and because FlowerChild says "if you aren't intending to go beyond tech 8 (at least before I do), it's probably the better experience", and because it will become the only option anyway once the highest tech levels are balanced.

I'm also going to sacrifice the two points that "Purist" offers over "I don't need a slide rule", because I'd rather include the mods FlowerChild took the trouble to recommend (so long as they're both permissible for this challenge)...and also, after glancing at other entries in this thread I'm pretty sure I don't want to do without Kerbal Alarm Clock.

I'm going to do without any big visual mods for now though, as I have no idea what I'd choose even if I weren't afraid of courting memory problems and other crash/bug situations.

Here's the proposed mod lineup then, so long as all are acceptable:

Better Than Starting Manned + Deadly Reentry (of course)

PreciseNode (as recommended by FlowerChild)

Chatterer (as recommended by FlowerChild; audio effects only)

Kerbal Alarm Clock (used for OP submission)

Alternate Resource Panel

RCS Sounds (audio and visual effects only)

Rover Wheel Sounds (audio effects only)

To my eyes, all are no-brainers except for Alternate Resource Panel and PreciseNode. Would these both be permissible? The former stretches the "basically, only visual effect mods are permitted in-flight" principle a bit, but I've seen it highly recommended in several places in the BTSM thread (at least once with FlowerChild's encouragement). The latter may do a bit more than stretch the principle, but I'm proposing to include it because it is a recommended part of the BTSM experience. And I'd consider both to be much more akin to Kerbal Alarm Clock than to, say, MechJeb in their effect on gameplay.

(If they both are okay, then I presume I would still get credit for not using any "engineering" mods, since neither one does anything in the VAB.)

Whew. That's a lot of learning about BTSM (while trying to avoid gameplay spoilers as much as possible) and mod-browsing and decision-making under my belt now. Tomorrow night it will be time to fire it all up and get started.

Edited October 17, 2014 by KevinTMC
Update on plans

[flipmcf]

Update:

At 0.25 now

Day 73.

Kerbs are off to Duna in a really flimsy craft. It will be nice to get them home if possible.

Moho Low Orbit and High Orbit complete - was not impressed with the science output.

Captured an Asteroid - Very impressed with science output (1000!)

Looks like the days are accelerating now that Kerbal and the Moons are complete.

No Dead Kerbs yet - but Duna may take the life of Jeb and some other red-suited Kerbal who'se name escapes me.

[KevinTMC]

I'm off and running: completed Tiers 1-3, achieving all goals, on four missions. BTSM is indeed a different game...and a lot of fun, breathing new life into career mode.

There's still time to tell me not to use PreciseNode and/or Alternate Resource Panel--as mentioned in my edited post upthread--if they're not suitable for this challenge (or not suitable for the "I don't need a slide rule" bonus), as they haven't done anything for me yet.

I could use a clarification about the Spudnik goal. Since the GRAVMAX is the only science item unlocked in Tier 3, "all Tier 3 orbital science" is just a gravity scan, yes? (And it doesn't matter if one or both biomes were already done when I completed "Biome Hunter I", does it?)

Hearing about the first few tiers probably isn't all that exciting to BTSM veterans, but it was certainly intriguing for me when playing it, so I'll file a progress report soon.

[Death Engineering]

Update:

At 0.25 now

Day 73.

Kerbs are off to Duna in a really flimsy craft. It will be nice to get them home if possible.

Moho Low Orbit and High Orbit complete - was not impressed with the science output.

Captured an Asteroid - Very impressed with science output (1000!)

Looks like the days are accelerating now that Kerbal and the Moons are complete.

No Dead Kerbs yet - but Duna may take the life of Jeb and some other red-suited Kerbal who'se name escapes me.

Hope your kerbs make it out to Duna and back. BTW.. what does a really flimsy Duna craft look like? So far, my Duna missions have involved two separate flights out to LDO. I suspect you built a single monolithic mission to get there and back..?

I'm off and running: completed Tiers 1-3, achieving all goals, on four missions. BTSM is indeed a different game...and a lot of fun, breathing new life into career mode.

There's still time to tell me not to use PreciseNode and/or Alternate Resource Panel--as mentioned in my edited post upthread--if they're not suitable for this challenge (or not suitable for the "I don't need a slide rule" bonus), as they haven't done anything for me yet.

I could use a clarification about the Spudnik goal. Since the GRAVMAX is the only science item unlocked in Tier 3, "all Tier 3 orbital science" is just a gravity scan, yes? (And it doesn't matter if one or both biomes were already done when I completed "Biome Hunter I", does it?)

Hearing about the first few tiers probably isn't all that exciting to BTSM veterans, but it was certainly intriguing for me when playing it, so I'll file a progress report soon.

Oh yeah, those mods are all fine. AFAIK, PreciseNode doesn't allow you to do anything that can't be done manually with hours and hours of fiddling with nodes.

Thanks both for your updates and participation... it's a long, long run to the end of T9.

edit:

Docking Kerbin-departure stage in LKO.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Death Engineering
BLC

[KevinTMC]

Thanks both for your updates and participation... it's a long, long run to the end of T9.

Happy to be aboard. I don't know whether I'll complete this challenge before or after KSP 1.0 is released , but at least I'm underway and having fun so far.

I've flown four missions and got through the first three tiers, picking up all modifier points:

Tier 1 - "Ahh, balance.. I get it now" (1)

Tier 2 - "Bird's eye view" (2)

Tier 3 - "Taking it slow" (3)

- Biome Hunter I (1)

The trickiest mission by far was the third (and second at Tier 2), Bandicoot 2. The mass limits started biting for the first time, and balance was a bear. I found myself with a battery and a barometer on opposite sides of the rocket, and it's hard to line that sort of thing up precisely--the symmetry settings won't help of course if you're placing different parts, and these two in particular are just a bit different in size and shape. I placed them as best I could, then kept shifting the thermometer around on top of the probe core until the tipping sideways in flight was minimized. I got it in the end; but if I weren't allowing myself to revert to the VAB in this career, I surely would have run out of money long before finding the right balance.

Here's the annotated slideshow for the first three tiers:

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(It may not be reasonable or sanity-preserving to document every completed mission in the later tiers; but I like recording things, and for now at least it's more enjoyable than it is burdensome.)

And now I'm thinking about how I'm going to tackle Spudnik. (A lot of thinking goes on when you're playing BTSM. I like that.)

[KevinTMC]

I'm working on the Spudnik goal, and may have made a little bitty huge mistake that's going to render it impossible.

The two nodes I chose to unlock were Science Tech and General Construction. It's been a struggle to slap enough delta-v on my Dingo 2 rocket to get it into orbit, but that seems the solvable part of the problem...the likely-insolvable part is that without Flight Control, I can't keep the rocket pointed prograde for its circularization burn. There may be a way out, but it might be considered cheaty.

One of the part test contracts I've had on hand since the start of the Dingo program is for the RCS Fuel Tank. Maybe if I complete enough other contracts, one will turn up for the RCS Thruster Block as well. I've already slapped some fins on my Bandicoot 2 and used it to run suborbital tests on the Modular Girder Adapter and Illuminator Mk1, which bled small amounts of money; next up is a suborbital test for the LV-T15, which will require dusting off the Coelacanth 1 and be more expensive. Will I get lucky and get the test I want before running out of funds?

Or, even if I do, would it not be a valid attempt at Spudnik, because I'd be using parts from Flight Control while having two other nodes unlocked? (The rules, having been written before contracts were put in, do not seem to cover this question.)

[FlowerChild]

Or, even if I do, would it not be a valid attempt at Spudnik, because I'd be using parts from Flight Control while having two other nodes unlocked? (The rules, having been written before contracts were put in, do not seem to cover this question.)

If I may chime in on the above, I've edited the part test contracts so you won't get access to parts that give you additional abilities before actually unlocking them. So while yes, you get testing contracts for RCS tanks at that stage of the tree, you won't get any for RCS Thrusters no matter how long you wait

[Death Engineering]

Happy to be aboard. I don't know whether I'll complete this challenge before or after KSP 1.0 is released , but at least I'm underway and having fun so far.

I've flown four missions and got through the first three tiers, picking up all modifier points:

Tier 1 - "Ahh, balance.. I get it now" (1)

Tier 2 - "Bird's eye view" (2)

Tier 3 - "Taking it slow" (3)

- Biome Hunter I (1)

The trickiest mission by far was the third (and second at Tier 2), Bandicoot 2. The mass limits started biting for the first time, and balance was a bear. I found myself with a battery and a barometer on opposite sides of the rocket, and it's hard to line that sort of thing up precisely--the symmetry settings won't help of course if you're placing different parts, and these two in particular are just a bit different in size and shape. I placed them as best I could, then kept shifting the thermometer around on top of the probe core until the tipping sideways in flight was minimized. I got it in the end; but if I weren't allowing myself to revert to the VAB in this career, I surely would have run out of money long before finding the right balance.

Here's the annotated slideshow for the first three tiers:

http://imgur.com/a/0w1j0

(It may not be reasonable or sanity-preserving to document every completed mission in the later tiers; but I like recording things, and for now at least it's more enjoyable than it is burdensome.)

And now I'm thinking about how I'm going to tackle Spudnik. (A lot of thinking goes on when you're playing BTSM. I like that.)

Yeah, the choice of tiers really decides what missions you can launch next. Gotcha.

I'm working on the Spudnik goal, and may have made a little bitty huge mistake that's going to render it impossible.

The two nodes I chose to unlock were Science Tech and General Construction. It's been a struggle to slap enough delta-v on my Dingo 2 rocket to get it into orbit, but that seems the solvable part of the problem...the likely-insolvable part is that without Flight Control, I can't keep the rocket pointed prograde for its circularization burn. There may be a way out, but it might be considered cheaty.

One of the part test contracts I've had on hand since the start of the Dingo program is for the RCS Fuel Tank. Maybe if I complete enough other contracts, one will turn up for the RCS Thruster Block as well. I've already slapped some fins on my Bandicoot 2 and used it to run suborbital tests on the Modular Girder Adapter and Illuminator Mk1, which bled small amounts of money; next up is a suborbital test for the LV-T15, which will require dusting off the Coelacanth 1 and be more expensive. Will I get lucky and get the test I want before running out of funds?

Or, even if I do, would it not be a valid attempt at Spudnik, because I'd be using parts from Flight Control while having two other nodes unlocked? (The rules, having been written before contracts were put in, do not seem to cover this question.)

Yah, hmmm.. I flew a few missions with those two tiers unlocked and was able to get some good results but only by using cheaty methods to freeze rotation and apply measured thrust. You could probably get into orbit with those two tiers, but you'd have to set up the orbital trajectory some time below 14km when the fins run out of air.

[KevinTMC]

So while yes, you get testing contracts for RCS tanks at that stage of the tree, you won't get any for RCS Thrusters no matter how long you wait

Rats...foiled! That's what I get for playing a well-designed career mode.

Thanks much for the heads-up. I'm going to go watch some baseball and meditate on just how long I'm going to keep banging my head against the wall trying to get my RCS-less Dingo 3 into orbit before giving up on the Spudnik points and moving on.

(For those of you keeping score at home...the former Dingo 2 was renumbered when its mission was postponed in favor of the Dingo 2K, a kerballed craft that got Bill beyond 30,000m and home again to clear another contract. I must say, those creaky capsule sound effects were a nice touch when he got up there...Bill wasn't the only one who started to look a bit worried.)

[KevinTMC]

The eventful Dingo program has now run its course; time for a report.

I completed Tier 3 on Day 1, 28m elapsed, with 38,293 funds and 71 science. That was enough science to unlock one Tier 4 node, and I began with Science Tech because I always make acquiring new instruments a priority. After lifting my first kerbal into the air, I then unlocked General Construction, so I could build a small monster to put into orbit.

The posts immediately upthread show how those decisions worked out for me, at least at first. (I still do think my technology choices would have been good ones, if I hadn't been playing this particular challenge. It was easy enough to earn enough science to unlock Flight Control...I just couldn't do it if I still wanted the Spudnik points.) Spudnik was looking impossible...I started churning contracts hoping that would bail me out...I ran out of performable contracts, and was kindly informed that my mad plan would never pan out anyhow...and then I returned to the task of trying to hurl an RCS-less Dingo into something resembling orbit.

The end result can be seen in the next installment of my annotated slideshow:

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Tier 4 is now complete, on Day 1, 2h 23m elapsed. All modifier points were claimed:

Tier 4 - "Spudnik" (3)

- Survivor I (1)

- Biome Hunter II (2)

99,820 funds and 129 science are in the bank.

I'm going to evaluate the options in more detail this time before unlocking my first node in Tier 5. If I choose poorly, I'll be facing a science bottleneck, since I've already gathered all the science that can be gathered without a) returning kerbals or goo safely from space, leaving Kerbin's SOI, or c) unlocking new instruments.

Edited October 27, 2014 by KevinTMC