Biomes on Minmus and Kerbin are broken

[DeadMG]

And they have to be transmitted, so that's only a portion of the science.

You can just EVA and collect the data before ditching the transfer stage.

Also, if you read the OP, I explicitly stated that this is the setup I used. And it still yields more science than going to Duna/Ike. Each biome averages out at north of 200, even though most of them you don't use a goo/lab, and I didn't transmit crew reports (100% efficiency). You can get 2500 for the whole trip, compared to just 2000 for landing on both Duna and Ike, which is a far more complex and tech-requiring mission. You don't need more than 3 goos/mats for a Minmus mission to be ridiculously rewarding.

Edited June 5, 2014 by DeadMG

[Sirrobert]

You can just EVA and collect the data before ditching the transfer stage.

Also, if you read the OP, I explicitly stated that this is the setup I used. And it still yields more science than going to Duna/Ike. Each biome averages out at north of 200, even though most of them you don't use a goo/lab, and I didn't transmit crew reports (100% efficiency). You can get 2500 for the whole trip, compared to just 2000 for landing on both Duna and Ike, which is a far more complex and tech-requiring mission. You don't need more than 3 goos/mats for a Minmus mission to be ridiculously rewarding.

You also explicitly stated "Every biome on Minmus, including upper and lower orbit, one trip, low tech."

Which we have determined is not actually possible with this ship, if the goal is to get all the science.

Now tell me, are you ever in a position where you NEED 2500 science quick? Because I haven't. And I'm pritty sure noone in this game ever had.

If your goal is 'as much science as fast as possible' than sure, go to Minmus. If your goal is 'go to Duna' (which is what this game is about), than this amount of science is entirely irrelivant.

It's a GOOD thing that you aren't forced to go to Duna for the science, becuase it allows you to pick where you go, whenver you want, however you want. Instead of be forced to haul around all science equipment

[Eric S]

As for going to Duna and Ike, I doubt I could do it without fuel ducts. You can't get BACK from Duna and Ike on this tech level. Getting off Duna is way too expensive, by the time you've done it you've got nothing left.

You apparently missed the thread when career mode was announced where using just the tier 0 parts at least one person did a manned Duna return mission. Admittedly, this was without science parts, but it was also without decouplers.

But that's not the point, because going to Duna/Ike takes forever compared to Minmus, yields less science, and would require considerably more skill.

At this time, yes. If/when Ike gets biomes, things could change. I doubt Duna getting biomes would make a difference at this tech level as biome hopping in Duna's gravity well would be a pain. It could also change once reputation/budgets/contracts come into game. It may be the decision of "Do I go for easy science, or for the bigger reputation reward?"

I wouldn't mind seeing Minmus get a slight nerf on its science multiplier, but I also don't have problems with Minmus being an effective place for science. Some people don't go to other planets easily, and nerfing Minmus too far could force them into doing it before they're ready.