Tutorial Let's Play: How To Contract! in KSP 0.24

[Jimor]

How To Contract! is a (mostly) daily series that will run through the double gauntlet of Science and Contract Missions with the goal of completing the tech tree.

Are you having problems deciding which of all the myriad of contracts you should do? Do you keep running out of Funds before you can get to the fun stuff? Is your reputation plunging into the abyss because you keep failing contracts and killing Kerbals?

The tutorial part of this is that I will explain how to succeed in full Career Mode by running reasonable flights with simple rockets designed to focus on completing missions in such a way as to continually gain Science and Funds at a sustainable pace.

And because I like the "Kerbal Voice" style of speeding up footage and audio by 150%, but I realize that some people find that really annoying, I'm uploading each episode in both Normal and Speed modes so that the final choice is yours.

Episode 1. I get a bit of Pre-Science on the launch pad, then run through the starting 4 contracts with 2 basic flights. In the end, we've unlocked 6 of the early tech nodes, and we're ready to start taking on the procedurally generated contracts in the next episode.

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[Jimor]

Episode 2. I talk about how to pick and choose contracts based on difficulty and reward, build a couple of ships capable of accomplishing them, and then fly the missions.

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[Jimor]

Episode 3. Because continuing to develop in Career Mode takes meeting specific contract conditions, I build one ship for multiple tests in orbit, then fly the mission, and then demonstrate builds for 3 more specialized ships for particular mission specs.

[Jimor]

Episode 4. I make some mistakes, get other things wrong, but still manage to successfully fly 2 of the ships built last episode, then build the ship that will take us to Mun!

[Jimor]

Episode 5. This episode is all about flying to Mun, with little tricks and tips along the way to ensure a smooth mission. In the end, we come back with a LOT of tasty science points to spend!

[Jimor]

Episode 6. I take a little more time to explain how to select contracts, then we make some more orbital flights to fulfill the ones we picked.

This is the one I was recording when Jeb spontaneously exploded while walking along the ground on Kerbin. My guess is that it was because of a hidden discontinuity in the ground mesh? I dunno, it was just weird. You can see the full sequence at around the 36:00 minute marker of the normal voice version.

[Jimor]

Episode 7. I take on the Explore Minmus contract, but forget one very important element: accepting the contract before flying the mission! Still, it's successful for getting bunches of science and demonstrating how to get there.

[Jimor]

Episode 8. The contract says plant a flag on Mun, so that's what we do, as well as take one some other minor contracts before our next major exploration.

[Jimor]

Episode 9. I build the ship that will take us to Ike, basing it on the basic Mun lander, then start the voyage with an explanation of how to encounter another planet.

[Jimor]

Episode 10. We establish orbit around Ike, land and collect science to complete the contract, and then travel home to collect our rewards!