Hardcore mode

[Crusher8000]

So with this new update comes also the option to turn off the "Return to VAB" and the other rewinding features in the debug menu. I tried to play without it and it really adds a new perspective to the game. The first few flights were easy enough but when I build a larger ship there turned out to be a design flaw in it and started pointing towards kerbin while still the boosters were still on. An escape plan is more a necessity and mistakes are a horrible tragic. I lost Jeb and Bill because the boosters I had to test were so powerful they just destroyed the entire ship. I ran out of funds and had to take missions just to be able to build rockets.

I love it.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Crusher8000

[mr_yogurt]

I lost Jeb, Bill, and Bob trying to build a spaceplane. And also two other kerbals.

[EtherDragon]

IRL flight testing of untested air-craft used to be the single most dangerous job.

I'm starting my Hardcore Let's Play Carreer Mode today (as soon as I'm caught up with messages) for my YouTube channel.

[Roastduck]

IRL flight testing of untested air-craft used to be the single most dangerous job.

I'm starting my Hardcore Let's Play Carreer Mode today (as soon as I'm caught up with messages) for my YouTube channel.

Once a few more mods are updated, I think I'll start a hardcore realism let's play, with FAR, Deadly Reentry, TACLS, Remotetech, all the realism stuff

[nhnifong]

I've been trying to play the game will the cost of all the parts set 6x higher, and no reverts or quicksaves. I think it's a good balance but I seriously need some tools for managing my budget and risks. Copying data from the game into a spreadsheet manually is a bit tiresome. 6x requires satisfying at least 3 contracts per vessel and recovering large portions of the vessel. Also you cannot fail, even once.

[RocketBlam]

Thanks for this post, I didn't know those options existed. I've been abusing the "Revert" options I think, so I'm going to start over without them.

[Aphox]

Thanks for this post, I didn't know those options existed. I've been abusing the "Revert" options I think, so I'm going to start over without them.

What this guy said. I haven't actually played since 0.21, but this news has me about to load up the game right now.

[bsalis]

I have done the same. No Revert with Permadeath on. Quickload/save is still on, but only plan to use that for game glitches.

So far one casualty - Jeb.

Without revert I have had some interesting emergency powered landings (on the engine bell). They were from forgetting something in the VAB (eg. staging or missing parts).

[LordFjord]

Happened to me just today, when Jeb, sitting in his brand new science packed SSTO on Minmus was racing from biome to biome. One second of getting distracted by a beautiful sunrise with Kerbin in sight was enough to roll the plane a bit, where a wing stroke the ground and got ripped off.

No big deal, thought Jeb, this thing is still mostly functional, so he initiated his burn towards home. After reentry on Kerbin, the plane was incredibly unstable and I had to watch Jeb smash into the ground close to KSC.

RIP Jeb

[morph113]

Once some must have mods are updated which are still missing, I will start a new hardcore career too. But I don't want to lose Jeb, Bill or Bob so I guess the inferiour white suit kerbals have to test the rockets before the 3 orange suit master kerbals are clear to go ahead and fly the tested rocket Still not sure yet how I will do this with with the Final Frontier mod. I don't wan't any white suit test kerbal to achieve the first kerbal on mun ribbon.

Edited July 20, 2014 by morph113

[Moar Boosters]

I'm also really enjoying hardcore mode. So far no casualties, but I did manage to blow all my money developing a new heavy lifter rocket, using the soviet technique of "keep flying them until they stop exploding".

I've had a very near miss when a big tall rocket fell over on the launch pad, but fortunately Jebs capsule was one of the few pieces that was still intact after the explosions finished.

[Moss]

Only two casualties so far. So far I've sunk all my money into a $900K Duna rocket. I'm going to have to be careful.

[Arran]

I loving Hardcore, No Saving, No Revert Flights, Permadeath, FFAR and DE.

First few days it all went fine, the first couple of contracts where pretty easy and hardly noticed the "hardcore" now i am reaching day 15 in this hardcore savegame, and i starting to feel the difference, in my "normal" save, i'm allready notice thefund difference of 1.7million funding on the same day, compared to in Hardcore i just barely scratched 200k at the same point in the carreer few flights went horrible wrong, mostly on rentry's that destroyed the rockets due design flaws, wrong angles and such and thus also killed a few brave Kerbal vict.... Kerbalnauts severly hitting my Rep, and funds now as well.

Its hard, and i LOVE it.. now i really start to feel i have to plan carefully my design, put them through a rigorous test and make good use of probecores to keep flights as long as possible unmannded till the Rocket gets its AFK label (Approved For Kerbals).

Now the game is finnally catering all kinds of players, from newbies to vets.. and makes the game now really enjoyable

[RocketBlam]

I've only had one major catastrophe, in which sadly Jeb was killed. It was shortly after liftoff, and for reasons I have never figured out, the ship turned over and started heading toward the ground. My response was to try to stage until I could get Jeb's capsule detached under a chute. The problem was, the first stage was SRBs, which couldn't be turned off, so when I staged their separation, they crashed into the upper stages and destroyed the entire rocket.

[Dombi]

I was really happy to find out that Squad implemented the iron-man mode. That is something I was looking for a long time, and now with most of bugs and rocket wobbliness gone it makes a lot of sense.

I'm having mostly the same experience as everyone else. Initial contracts fairly easy. Then I rushed to probe cores and have managed to keep all my kerbals alive. Unfortunately on the plant a flag on the mun contract I made a miscalculation and ran out of fuel while trying to land on the mun. Was able to jetpack my way to the ground, save Dodsen Kerman and plant the damn flag. Unfortunately he is now stranded and I've never done a Mun rescue mission so far.

That's it. Loving it!

[Wanderfound]

I lost Jeb, Bill, and Bob trying to build a spaceplane. And also two other kerbals.

Jeb died on his third flight; he was trying to save a failed booster with a combination of thrust and parachutes when the chutes detached. Bill died when his pod had an aerodynamic failure on reentry from his first Mun landing that left him in the part without the parachutes.

Bob is still with us for now...

All of my rockets now come with escape systems: engine shutdown, capsule decoupling and parachute activation all linked to the Abort button. I may start adding Sepratrons to the capsules, too. And boosters get tested with probes when possible.

Edited July 21, 2014 by Wanderfound

[John FX]

I`d like some in game way of reducing cash payout and making the tech tree much harder later on (with the last nodes needing about 2-3000 each maybe?)

I`m liking the balancing changes so far though, I actually chose to use a poodle a few missions ago...

[Rezolution]

I didn't realize until I read this post that hardcore mode was possible. Thanks for the insight! I'm starting a new career mode as we speak with these new settings.