Ideas for expanding procedural contracts

[Kerano]

I originally made this post a couple of weeks before the release of 0.24, but it was hidden away inside another thread so I figured I'd start a separate thread for it here. The difference in format compared to the actual contracts is due to the fact that this was written before I'd seen the update.

Without further ado, here are my suggestions for expanding procedural contracts (particularly in the endgame):

1. "Bigwig Kerman, the head of [contractor], urgently needs to get from [location] to [location] on Kerbin, but his regular pilot has fallen ill with kerpendicitis. Fly out to pick him up, and take him to his required destination."

2. "The [spacecraft] orbiting [planet/moon] has suffered a technical fault which has rendered it unable to [generate electrical power/ignite its boosters]. Fixing the fault will require a replacement part to be transported from Kerbin. Send a crew to dock with the station and install the replacement part."

3. "The CEO of [contractor] wishes to inspect the [spacecraft] facility on [planet/moon]. Pick him up from [location] and transport him safely to the facility."

4. "Recent probing has uncovered a valuable source of [unobtainium] on [planet/moon] near [location]. Establish a manned base of operations in this area, including at minimum the following [parts]."

5. "Two of the retiring executives at [contractor] wish to start a rally championship on [planet/moon] near [location]. Design two different man-powered rovers and land them safely together at the location."

6. "Sensors have detected seismic activity on [planet/moon] near [location]. Send a crew to investigate and return samples."

7. "The manager of [contractor] requires [number] tonnes of fuel to be added to the [spacecraft] orbiting [planet/moon] for nefarious purposes. Transport and dock the specified amount of extra fuel to the space station."

8. "The [spacecraft] probe orbiting [planet/moon] has malfunctioned and requires a manual reset. Send a Kerbal to rendezvous with the probe and EVA to fix the problem by making contact with [part]."

9. "The megalomaniacal director of [contractor] requires a tower [number] meters high to be built near [location] on [planet/moon]. Design and land an appropriate tower at the given location. The central pod must be at least [number] meters above ground level when the tower comes to rest."

10. "A shipment of supplies needs to be transported from the [spacecraft 1] on [planet/moon 1] to the [spacecraft 2] on [planet/moon 2]. [Contractor] requires your services to oversee the operation."

11. "The president of [contractor] is on holiday and wishes to take an aerial tour of Laythe. Pick her up from the [spacecraft] orbiting Laythe, descend into Laythe's atmosphere, land, and return to the [spacecraft] in orbit to complete this mission."

12. "An experiment on the [spacecraft] orbiting [planet/moon] has gone horribly wrong, generating extremely hazardous waste. [Contractor] is convinced that the only way to save Kerbalkind from impending doom is to eject the barely contained waste into the sun. Design a craft with a detachable [container] capable of docking with the [spacecraft] to collect the waste, then undock and achieve an orbit intersecting Kerbol. Choose to eject the [container] on this collision course, or allow the entire craft to be incinerated by the star."

13. "Dubya Kerman, the president of [contractor], wishes to set a new record for the longest golfing drive. Pick him up from [location], transport him to the surface of Minmus to take his shot, and return him to Kerbin."

14. "The head honcho at [contractor] is planning a spectacular fireworks display as an engagement surprise for her partner. Design a craft capable of staging at least [number] impressive aerial explosions while the central pod remains intact. Trigger the explosive stages in the air above [location], and land the central pod safely."

15. "The bosses at [contractor] have decided to reward their employees with a company outing to [planet/moon]. Design a craft capable of transporting [number] Kerbals to the destination, and returning them safely to Kerbin."

16. "Important figureheads from [contractors] have arranged to hold a secret meeting on the dark side of the Mun. Pick them up from [locations] and transport them to their destination."

17. "The chief officer at [contractor], an avid golfer with notoriously bad aim, wants for once in his life to score the ultimate hole in one. Pick him up from [location] and take him to the north pole of Moho."

18. "A daredevil manager at [contractor] is determined to ride an asteroid down through Kerbin's atmosphere for his next stunt. Design a craft to take the thrill seeker to an asteroid, nudge it into a path intersecting Kerbin, and ride the asteroid down to an altitude of [number] km. Detach the craft from the asteroid below this altitude, and land safely."

19. "An executive at [contractor] wants to take her family on a skiing holiday. Design a craft which can take [number] Kerbals to a snowy peak above an altitude of [number] km on Kerbin, and land them safely on the mountain."

20. "Someone has eaten all the snacks aboard the [spacecraft] orbiting [planet/moon], making the resident Kerbonauts grumpy. Send a craft from Kerbin to dock with the station and resupply it with delicious treats."

Feel free to add to the list.

Note 1:

[spacecraft] = replaced by the name of one of your active ships

[location] = coordinate, biome, or flag/checkpoint (see note 2)

Note 2:

Instead of giving coordinates/biomes for these missions, rebranded flags - perhaps labelled "checkpoints" - might work well as mission location indicators.

Note 3:

No spacecraft would need to be added to the game, it'd just use the ones you had in place already. I'm assuming that in the endgame you'll probably have at least one spacecraft in orbit around most planets/moons, and one landed spacecraft on most as well. Thus these missions would trigger using your existing spacecraft - only in the locations where the conditions were met. If you didn't have any spacecraft in locations which met the preconditions for a particular contract, you wouldn't be assigned that contract.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Kerano

[LethalDose]

A lot of these are pretty interesting, and pleasantly more complex than the contracts are now, and would be a good addition to the final game. Hopefully, modders will get a handle on modding contracts quickly and we'll see some of these in the game sooner rather than later.

I would especially like to see asteroid contracts that require you to move asteroids of a certain size into orbits with given AP/PE/Inclination parameters.

yes. a "bigger picture" chain of contracts would introduce plot into the game. I think this is a great idea.

I think the "Explore [Celestial Body]" missions do a good job of this already. Though it could be expanded substantially if they added mechanics that made bases matter, like [sUGGESTED FEATURE REDACTED], [sUGGESTED FEATURE REDACTED], and [sUGGESTED FEATURE REDACTED].

Edited July 22, 2014 by vexx32