What would a Finale mission look like?

[TheTennesseeFireman]

There's plenty of depth in the current system to keep you playing career mode for years between completing randomly generated contracts and simply building whatever your imagination comes up with. That said, other than filling out the science tree, there's no point at which you could call a single career "complete". If Squad wanted to offer a big, climactic mission to round off career mode, what would you want it to look like?

[Taki117]

First contact between Kerbals and the Federation!

[Sky_walker]

That said, other than filling out the science tree, there's no point at which you could call a single career "complete".

Why would you need another ending?

It's an open-ended campaign. It ends when you research everything, but you're free to keep on playing.

[Vaporo]

Why would you need another ending?

It's an open-ended campaign. It ends when you research everything, but you're free to keep on playing.

You can have an "end" to the game and still keep playing, though. I think there should really be some kind of storyline to career mode so you don't feel like you're just completing endless procedurally generated tasks, like a string of missions that tie together. Example:

Go to weird crater found on Mun.

-volcano found in center.

Drop probe into volcano

-probe burns up: new heat shielding needed

Test advanced heat shielding

-shielding tested at temperatures like those of the volcano

Send shielded probe into volcano

-probe returns with much data

Etc...

[r4pt0r]

Heres one: Return a class E asteroid from the bottom of a mohole, into pol orbit.

[UberFuber]

Heres one: Return a class E asteroid from the bottom of a mohole, into pol orbit.

I envision a mission like the following.

1. A Monolith spawns near at the distance of Eeloo orbit, with extreme inclination (something like 70~80 degree inclinations). Said Monolith would have a very unusually high mass(12,245,589 kg?)

2. The mission is to "grab" said Monolith and bring it back to Kerbin surface.

3. Monolith have a fairly high impact resistance (something like 200 m/s). If destroyed, a new Monolith will respawn.

4. Mission is completed successfully once Monolith is recovered.

The Monolith will be displayed like a statue at the space center, like a visible achievement of sort.

[kalor]

I think that a good "way to go, pat on the back!" type mission would be a worthwhile goal to strive for. Something logical, within the progression laid out, and different than anything we've seen prior.

My vote would be a mission to send a colony ship on an escape from Kerbol trajectory, with a sizable colony (including whatever supplies, crew, resources, etc are needed) on board. Mission completion upon exiting the star's SOI. Probably a VERY, VERY long time.

[dryer_lint]

Send 100,000 kerbals into interstellar space.

[cpast]

Kerbol's has no SOI limit, nor can the game support a craft not in the SOI of some body (orbits of craft are stored based on the orbital parameters and the body being orbited; it's *not* stored as "position" and "velocity", so everything has to be being affected by the gravity of one body), nor does it even make sense as a concept (SOI means "the area in which the dominant gravitational influence is this body"; for something to be outside a Kerbol SOI, something else would have to be the dominant gravitational influence, and there is no such something else).

[dryer_lint]

Kerbol's has no SOI limit, nor can the game support a craft not in the SOI of some body (orbits of craft are stored based on the orbital parameters and the body being orbited; it's *not* stored as "position" and "velocity", so everything has to be being affected by the gravity of one body), nor does it even make sense as a concept (SOI means "the area in which the dominant gravitational influence is this body"; for something to be outside a Kerbol SOI, something else would have to be the dominant gravitational influence, and there is no such something else).

If you go fast enough, it lists your situation as "escaping". You never actually escape, but maybe the contract could have an altitude specified?

[kalor]

If you go fast enough, it lists your situation as "escaping". You never actually escape, but maybe the contract could have an altitude specified?

That would work, for the purposes of this type of mission.

Overall though, I think that if there is an end-point type mission, it should be something spectacular, while also still fitting into the progression of the game. A sort of culmination of all the techniques, technologies, and skills a player has picked up along the way, with a small dose of logical progression tossed in.

[StrandedonEarth]

The final mission should be something like Zefram Kerchrane firing up his "Magic Carpet Ride"

[The Jedi Master]

Grand tour (every planet and moon in one go)?

[kalor]

I'd be game for that too, though I still feel strongly about the escape velocity - Maybe a combo event, "The great escape"... All bodies + escape velocity in one craft :>

[Seshins]

i too would like some sort of story line that you can complete - that just continues on indefintley. Like the career missions could nclude setting up small outposts, which you can then heavily expand on once the storyline is complete.

[Pulstar]

Ideally an endgame contract triggering a credit and perhaps even a score/stats screen should involve:

- lots of exploration with visits to multiple celestial bodies

- lots of freedom in how the player chooses to approach it

- varied kinds of challenge, requiring you to deal with different types of problems/obstacles

Personally I think it should be something along the lines of "find X things" where the things are scattered in different random places around the system and there's actually more of them than just X not to railroad the player too much and allows him choice in what obstacles he wants to tackle. Whether those things are supposed to be 2001: A Space Odyssey style Monoliths, evidence of Kerbal life originating from outside the Kerbal system or Unobtanium for a warp drive is irrelevant.

Overall what I mean by varied challenge is that it shouldn't be doable by just building airless body landers or just by rovers or just by manned missions.

[Tw1]

I'm not sure KSP really can have an endgame. The closest thing could be when you master most of the recognisable skills the game can give you, such as docking, rendezvous, SSTO lifting, gravity assists, precision landing, etc, and have basically visited most regions of all the bodies.

Then, it wouldn't really be an end point, just a point at which you are named 'best program director evar' or something.

Like in bubble tanks:

Then it wouldn't feel weird when you keep on playing, like some games do after their 'end of the game' points.

The ultimate contract would have to be something you're not likely to try on your own...

No fuel, glitch power grand tour perhaps?

Joking, they probably don't want to do that.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Tw1

[geb]

Send 100,000 kerbals into interstellar space.

Yes. For a long time I have thought that building a generation ship should be one of the goals of the program. I don't know what reward you might get for doing it, but it would be a fun challenge.

[rkman]

there's no point at which you could call a single career "complete"

KSP is never complete, it has that in common with Lego and NASA.

[bitbucket]

There is no "end" to it, but the only suitable "ultimate" mission is an interstellar one.

[kalor]

There is no "end" to it, but the only suitable "ultimate" mission is an interstellar one.

That's my thought. I mean, seriously.

What challenge do you put forth to someone who has visited all the bodies in the solar system (at least once), has multiple bases, no more science to complete, and maybe even has completed a grand tour?

The only answer that comes up in my mind is... see if they can do that in another star system