Kerbal Investments/Science Rework

[tychochallenge]

Since we now have contracts and funds, it has been said that a 'mysterious' Administration facility will be added in .25. Now I haven't got a bloody clue as to what it actually is but it might be the following:

In .24, kerbal companies can give you contracts and you can complete them for funds and a little science. Well, since they are companies, you could have the possibility of investing funds and/or science in those companies who will in turn take a certain amount of time to research a new part/parts for example: Invest x funds or y science every kerbal week for 4 weeks and we will research/build next generation solar panels, etc. This way, the science system can be reworked so that an eva report over the munar poles does not directly influence the researching of atomic rocket engines. Rather, science can be split off into several branches separate from each other. For example: Surface sample science, eva science, barometer science, etc. This way, a surface sample from Duna can aid in the researching of wheels with better traction, or a temperature scan from Kerbin's high atmosphere can help in researching heat shields, or perhaps upgrading certain parts' heat resistance etc. Going back to investing, the economy can rise or crash on a (mostly) periodic basis which can affect how long, how costly, or let alone able to research the part/parts. In addition, the funding/investing can be influenced by how well your space program is going, For ex: When your shuttle exploded during liftoff and several kerbals were killed, the companies will become more reluctant to research parts and will often demand more funds/science. Soooo, if you guys have any other ideas, fell free to post!:roll eyes:

Note: i was going to put investments and science rework into 2 different threads but there already have been a lot on science rework and (none) on investments, they do sorta intertwine so they are all included in here.

Also: (not a suggestion) in situ resource mining will go well with what i just stated since its an easy way to earn funds but its squad's choice to implement them and investments are still fine without

[M3tal_Warrior]

Well, I already did post something (not similar, but I guess it's a shot in your general direction): Research - a more realistic approach

Although I like your idea of certain science reports being of more value to different kinds of research (one does not need the Goo information from Minmus to research a bigger booster which won't even see orbit), I too see a quite complicated science system (and trust me, I'm all in for complicated, realistic stuff) which will most certainly be too much for most players, not even talking about newbies. And I fear even simplifying this with contracts for the most useful information snippets won't help there (or will be too abstract for most players - some are even complaining about the proposal of adding a nuclear fallout reputation penalty for a crashed LV-N on Kerbin).

Edited August 7, 2014 by M3tal_Warrior

[tychochallenge]

  M3tal_Warrior said:

Well, I already did post something (not similar, but I guess it's a shot in your general direction): Research - a more realistic approach

Although I like your idea of certain science reports being of more value to different kinds of research (one does not need the Goo information from Minmus to research a bigger booster which won't even see orbit), I too see a quite complicated science system (and trust me, I'm all in for complicated, realistic stuff) which will most certainly be too much for most players, not even talking about newbies. And I fear even simplifying this with contracts for the most useful information snippets won't help there (or will be too abstract for most players - some are even complaining about the proposal of adding a nuclear fallout reputation penalty for a crashed LV-N on Kerbin).

well, yea i agree it may be pretty complicated, but some tutorials can be made about 'how to manage your space program' and such. But again, career mode is supposed to be complicated and the devs seem to be going in that direction with more career stuff in the next few updates. If its too complicated for some people, theres always sandbox and 'science only' career

[M3tal_Warrior]

  tychochallenge said:

well, yea i agree it may be pretty complicated, but some tutorials can be made about 'how to manage your space program' and such.

It's hard to tell with tutorials - either you do everything in tutorials, which will soon be a whole game of its own, or you do just the basics and leave out the complicated stuff. TBH the last tutorial I played was with Black & White 2, because you couldn't skip that bloody thing.

On second thought I see quite some similarities between our two suggestions, although I'd prefer own research teams (all big space agencies do research on their own) and kill the time-related payment (reason: time warp forcing & progress hindering). But requiring additional data (just a bit) to research certain types of parts would really make that interesting and I guess fit quite good in my system.

As for the financial management, I wouldn't like to see Kerbin economy based on ones space program. It doesn't make sense and is too much economy stuff over the core game feature: Building and launching rockets/planes and exploring other worlds. But if you want to base your funds on your reputation, there's another thread: A try on Perodic Budget

Leave comments, share thoughts - good contributions and ideas are always appreciated (by most, I guess - there's the conservative party too, but you can't sit in everybody's car).