What is the most amount of science you can get?

[Njs41]

I would like to know the maximum amount of science possible (Excluding science gained through missions). In the coming 0.25 update I plan on doing a play-through with all of the settings set to hardest, and I want to know if it's even possible to max out the tech tree with only 10% of normal science gained (Assuming 10% is the lowest, seeing the bars lowered all the way in the recent youtube videos). The most I've been able to get is 50,000 science, and I think since it takes around 10,000 to max out the tech tree at least 100,000 would be required to max it out on the hardest possible settings.

[Aethon]

There is no set number. The biggest science provider in the game is 200 + years of asteroid surface samples.

[Superfluous J]

Actually the biggest science provider is declining all contracts but "test X landed/splashed on Kerbin" and continuing to do those over and over. I think you could max the tech tree in a few dedicated (albeit boring) hours of that.

[Claw]

I don't know. I find the "text XX in orbit around Kerbin" to be much more productive, yet also plentiful.

In either case, I think most people who ask "what's the max science" are usually wondering how much science is available from doing the experiments, and not necessarily encompassing all of the endless supply type science.

Personally I haven't calculated that number, but I know it's floating around somewhere...

~Claw

[Progressm]

My understanding is that the random contracts are random, so there is no max science per se...the amount of science you can get from pure location research (run science instrument x at location y, take sample etc.) is finite (albeit huge and undoubtedly more than required for tech tree), but even if you gathered all that you'd still get "205 science if you test Rockomax Bladiblah at altitude x" type contracts going forward.

[tomf]

I think that if you do every stock experiment, in every location and biome then you will get a total of 83226 science, although there may be a few more points available depending on whether it is possible to be over KSC when flying and in orbit. That also assumes that eve and Laythe have two biomes each, sea and land and I cant remember if that is true.

Edited October 7, 2014 by tomf
Factoring a couple of edge cases

[KerikBalm]

Before .23.5, there was a max.

Then we got asteroids... which you could in theory get unlimited amounts from (since asteroids are unlimited, constantly spawning), and you get even more so during biome changes - say you intercept outside of Kerbins orbit... in theory, it wouldn't be too hard to get a sample "in space high over the sun" "in space high/low over kerbin/mun/minmus", flying high above kerbin, flying at kerbin, and landed at kerbin...

Then contracts came out... making it... trivial.

[Geschosskopf]

I would like to know the maximum amount of science possible (Excluding science gained through missions). In the coming 0.25 update I plan on doing a play-through with all of the settings set to hardest, and I want to know if it's even possible to max out the tech tree with only 10% of normal science gained (Assuming 10% is the lowest, seeing the bars lowered all the way in the recent youtube videos). The most I've been able to get is 50,000 science, and I think since it takes around 10,000 to max out the tech tree at least 100,000 would be required to max it out on the hardest possible settings.

I take it you mean you only want free-range science captured with various instruments, not science given as contract rewards?

The amount of free-range science in stock does have an upper limit. There are only so many types of experiments and only so many places to do them. I've never reached it but I estimate it to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 50K points, like you do. You can increase this number by using mods like Custom Biomes (which add more places to get free-range science) and DMOrbital Science and Station Science, which add new experiments you can do. So if 50K science points won't do it for you, you might want to get some of these mods.

Another thing to keep in mind is the "entry costs" or whatever it's called on the individual parts. Right now, these do nothing; unlock a node, get all the parts on it. But it's obviously planned at some point to make you have to 1st unlock the node, then buy each part separately and individually. Who knows? This might even end up being one of the difficulty options in 0.25, although I'd wager it will come later. Still, if you want to do "hardest" difficulty, at some point this will mean that you'll need considerably more than 10k science to unlock the whole tree. But hopefully by then Squad will have put more biomes out there, and maybe given us some more ways to get it.