Unlock features through science and infrastructure

[MiniMatt]

Rather than science being merely a currency for unlocking parts (and in 0.25 an exchange rate into cash/reputation), I suggest science and space infrastructure could also unlock features.

For three reasons. First, and of least importance, realism - on Earth science tells us more about the Universe, how to predict it's workings and how to get out there; on Kerbin science merely concerns itself with the parts we can use to get there.

Second, and more important reason is that it ramps the feature set up for new players in addition to the part catalogue. This avoids too daunting an initial experience, whilst gradually introducing players to advanced tools for even greater adventure.

Third, it gives a reason for space infrastructure. At present, if you send a probe to gather Duna orbit science and return it to Kerbin, there's absolutely no reason to ever send another mission to put a satellite around Duna.

A case in point would be delta-v calculations. Squad have said (rightly in my view) that they prefer the trial and error approach that not having a delta-v calculator encourages. Failure should always be fun, and in KSP, failure is often more fun than success.

However, whilst trial and error will get you into orbit, will see you land on the Mun, and will see your second rescue mission save your intrepid first pioneer, I'd argue it's largely impossible to design, say, a multi part Jool tour, or a grand tour, or an Eve return craft without a delta-v calculator. Either you sit down for minutes/hours with a notepad and Tsiolkovsky's rocket equation, you download a mod, you repeatedly massively under or over estimate craft design, or you simply don't go.

• What if the process of say, landing on the Mun, or getting a couple of satellites in orbit gave your little green scientists the experience and knowledge required to better calculate & predict rocket behaviour such that they can now calculate delta-v of a craft as it's designed? Feature unlocked! Basic delta-v calculator appears in design buildings.
  
• Landing a probe equipped with a graviton sensor and/or atmospheric sensor on a planet/moon could give the built in delta-v calculator the knowledge of approximate delta-v & thrust to take off/land from that given body. "It looks like you're designing a Dres lander - we've landed a probe there! We now know it'll take approximately X delta-v to take off/land". This allows for the initial visit to still retain some of that trial and error approach, but gives appropriate tools for subsequent more ambitious visits.
  
• Maintaining a satellite or two around a given body (perhaps one equipped with particular science gear, eg graviton sensor) could allow top Kerbin minds to better predict orbital paths. Feature unlocked! Approximate launch window costs are now displayed in the tracking centre for that body. Finally a reason to maintain satellites rather than as a mere one-shot science grind! Again, the first couple of visits you didn't know much about launch windows, you used trial and error, which was fun - but now you're able to better predict optimum launch windows for your future missions.
  

I'm a big fan of trial and error. It's fun.

But it's effectively impossible to visit some of the more exotic locales or undertake ambitious tours without knowing what the current planetary alignment will do to your launch window costs, roughly how much it'll take to get there, land, take off & get back, and what the individual stages of your current craft is capable of. We currently gather all this knowledge either from external sources or we download a mod or two (or we painstakingly work it all out with a notepad, I'm discounting that as, for the majority, not fun).

Lighter, simpler, missions which can be trial & error'd open up that knowledge for more ambitious future missions, keeping knowledge in the game rather than alt-tabbed, and introducing it at the appropriate time. It also gives purpose to maintaining permanent space infrastructure.