What kind of contracts do you want to see in KSP 0.90

[Xavven]

• Rescue missions should include a plausible but under-engineered craft that has crashed on a surface or ran out of fuel in orbit.
  
• Leaving a satellite and a probe around each body to instantly complete an infinite number of generic "transmit science" contracts should be axed. We should have single-use, contract-specific science parts for recovery or transmit, and some of them should require that we leave them landed or in orbit for a certain number of years.
  
• Repeat flag planting missions are easily exploited by leaving a Kerbal stranded on the surface to spend eternity planting new flags in exactly the same spot. To fix this, flag planting missions should be offered once per biome, possibly resetting every 10 Kerbal years each to keep the end-game going.
  
• Satellite repair missions. Spawn a game-generated satellite that forgot to open its solar panels, or needs a monopropellant refuel, or needs its reaction wheel repaired, or needs its goo or science jr. to be reset with a mobile science lab, or needs to be boosted to a higher orbit because of orbital decay. Despawn the satellite when the player timewarps after mission success.
  
• As others have suggested, debris de-orbiting missions.
  
• Contacts to launch something into the Sun or Jool (unmanned, of course.)
  
• As others have suggested, capture an asteroid into LKO. Seriously, this one should have been obvious.
  
• While we're on the subject, how about diverting a doomsday Class E asteroid on a collision course?
  
• Launch a satellite to Jool by X date to witness a comet impact event.
  
• Rendezvous with comets?
  

[Wanderfound]

<snip lotsa good suggestions>

I'd agree with all of this.

[WhiteWeasel]

EDIT: Misread title. [REDACTED]

Edited November 6, 2014 by WhiteWeasel

[Slam_Jones]

Love the "Space Tourism" idea.

Take X Kerbal to space for Y period of time and return them safely.

Take X Kerbal to existing Station/Base Y for Z period of time and return them safely.

Take X numbers of Kerbals to space etc. etc.

Etc.

[Francois424]

+1 about driving rovers between waypoints... that's definitely something I am quite good at (and I have the patience to do it)

[SunJumper]

Flyby body X and collect science from an altitude below Y

Retrieve a rover from the surface of X and bring it to KSC

Launch a payload of X into the sun/out of the solar system

Attach solar panels to space station X

Send X number of kerbals to body Y

[DMagic]

Only if there is a way for you to know in-game where the heck this biome is, as opposed to having to look it up on the internet and try to make sense of the 2D map

Which is exactly why I got rid of the specific-biome-science contracts from Orbital Science. Trying to figure out which biome you're in without SCANsat or ScienceAlert while in orbit is terrible; spamming the collect science button is not how it should be done. Trying to plan your orbit to fly over some specific, probably tiny biome is even worse.

[Luis]

Although adding more interesting contracts is definitely a good thing. I really hope they also remove the stupid contracts currently in the game. Testing jet engines on the Mun, for example. Or flying at nonsensical combinations of speed and altitude. And I really really hope they get rid of the randomly generated briefing text. That really breaks immersion for me. Either replace it with better boiler plate text for each mission type, or just get rid of it altogether.

[Spheniscine]

Testing jet engines on the Mun, for example.

I just treat these as "get payload X to location Y", nothing more (and not care why they'd want to do things like test a jet engine on the Mun; "it doesn't freaking work" is a valid, if expensive, test result after all), and usually use an unmanned probe to do it so I don't have to worry about returning or surviving the tests themselves. (another hint is you can empty SRBs or thrust-limit your LF engines to 0 so they don't actually fire when you activate the stage).

flying at nonsensical combinations of speed and altitude.

Now that one I understand; they don't pay enough either, and often don't even cover the cost of the part itself. Suborbital tests pay much better and are much easier as all you have to do is strap a probe and enough SRBs to the thing to get to your altitude window.

As for one thing I'd like to see... expanded rescue contracts. Keep the current (LKO circular near-equatorial) ones as a stepping stone for newer players and re-title it "Rescue Dandock Kerman from low Kerbin orbit", but add more complex ones, probably using a similar orbit generator that FinePrint uses for satellites, so you have to rescue from higher/inclined/retrograde/whatever orbits, or from other bodies. (Perhaps detect if you've completed an LKO rescue in your save. If you have completed an LKO rescue, these new "hard" ones have a chance to generate. If you have completed a "hard" rescue in your save, phase out the LKO ones, and only "hard" ones will generate.) And perhaps also throw in the occasional rescue from a suborbital/collision path with Kerbin (only Kerbin though; I'm only a little evil >), to give a little time and guilt pressure. (Just ignore/decline one of those, I dare you)

Edited November 6, 2014 by Spheniscine

[tater]

Not just removing dumb contracts, but removing any repetitive contracts. Any "plant flag" contracts should instead require a new biome, for example. Static tested an SRB? You'll never see that contract again.

[bdito]

I'd like to see better space station building contracts. Refueling an empty ship and returning it home could be cool too.

[worir4]

How about a fire works display contract?

[nholzric]

I'd love to see "place satellite with ___ abilities/parts in ___ orbit" contracts, and "rescuing" defunct satellites would be neat too, but I wouldn't want these to involve stock satellites.. Right now Kerbals spawn and asteroids spawn and both of those are okay and there are a few stock vehicles just as example - but I don't want stock satellites appearing in my game. Could you make a contract to launch a satellite that the user designs and then later - detecting that that satellite still exists in the proper orbit - make a contract to "fix" (revisit for some in-game reason) the satellite?

[bdito]

I'd love to see "place satellite with ___ abilities/parts in ___ orbit" contracts, and "rescuing" defunct satellites would be neat too, but I wouldn't want these to involve stock satellites.. Right now Kerbals spawn and asteroids spawn and both of those are okay and there are a few stock vehicles just as example - but I don't want stock satellites appearing in my game. Could you make a contract to launch a satellite that the user designs and then later - detecting that that satellite still exists in the proper orbit - make a contract to "fix" (revisit for some in-game reason) the satellite?

The satellites would only generate after you've accepted the mission. So you wouldn't have satellites appearing in game unnecessarily.

In the Mission Controller mod, there's at least one mission (so far, I haven't done them all) where you have to send up a vessel you've created, it gets specified as the target vessel, and then you have to dock with it in a later mission.

Edited November 6, 2014 by bdito

[tater]

I think all rescue missions should in fact be non-player craft. Stranded kerbals included along with their ship... Another mechanism needs to be added other than the player taking complete control via ][, or at least remove the rcs fuel (or 99% of it) from the astronaut so that the player needs to actually fly to them.

in general, there should be a sense that there is a competing space program.

[Holo]

- Send useless Kerbal VIP X to location Y

EDIT: Thanks Squad!

Edited June 17, 2015 by Holo

[LABHOUSE]

Send ___ to orbit/surface ____ for exactly/atleast ___ days.

Go without catastrophic failure for ___ amount of time.

Set a speed record of ___ on ____.

Send ___ amount of resource to ___.

Send ___ mass to ___'s orbit/surface.

[Tortoise]

Rescue _ in polar orbit

Send up a satellite at _ altitude

etc

[tater]

Refuel a competing program's ship trapped in orbit someplace.

Salvage a competing program's ship in orbit someplace (and possibly rescue the crew (some might be empty)).

Rescue a crew from a crashed lander (competing program).

All the above with tight time limits. Like launch within 2 days, complete within XX days (appropriately longer if they are past Kermin SOI).

[Khorso]

You know, it would be neat to have generated craft in orbit to rescue- stuff like the Kerbal X and such. There are stock craft files already, would it be difficult to use those for craft generation? It would also provide a unique opportunity to salvage craft that may have technology on them that you haven't unlocked in your career yet- giving you an incentive to land them and refuel them. I'm thinking more of planes there... though ready-made ships in orbit that just need fuel would be handy too!

-Khorso

[bakanando]

I'd like to see more rescue stranded kerbals from somewhere. As it is, all spawn in LKO and after three or four it gets somewhat boring. I always modify my rocket for every launch, but it's getting old.

Different orbits, inclinations and excentricities and SOI would give it a little more variation.

Of course, only spawn in planets you have visited and -in case of a non-kerbin SOI- wherever you have an orbital station just in case you have a life-support mod they won't die before you can even get out of kerbin's SOI. Furthermore, the further the planet is the higher the rep requirements should be for the contract to even appear.

[PwnedDuck]

Non-randomly generated ones. I'd really love it if Sqaud for each body out and out typed out the descriptions of a series of sequential, unique, narrative contracts, maybe with some unique asscosiated experiments or something.

[Thesla]

I would like, altough i have zero hope, to see space tourism contracts, like "put this specific kerbal on the mun and return to kerbin safely"

[John FX]

I would like, altough i have zero hope, to see space tourism contracts, like "put this specific kerbal on the mun and return to kerbin safely"

Those are already in Mission Controller Extended (orbital civilian missions anyway)

I would just like a mechanism introduced where, if I have just turned down `plant a flag on Mun` from one agency, I don`t get `Plant a flag on Mun` as the next mission from literally EVERY OTHER AGENCY.

There may as well just be one agency if this is the case. They show no individuality out of the box.

Non-randomly generated ones. I'd really love it if Sqaud for each body out and out typed out the descriptions of a series of sequential, unique, narrative contracts, maybe with some unique asscosiated experiments or something.

I`d like a whole series of historical contracts, from the first unmanned flights ending up with the ISS. They would cover the Mars lander missions, Jool probes, Apollo,even voyager (although that would be a much more involved later tier mission as you would have to fly by Duna and Jool ending up leaving the system) finally building a complex station in LKO.

I also would like some historical Kerbal flights much like the ones you describe.

Edited November 12, 2014 by John FX

[Wanderfound]

Those are already in Mission Controller Extended (orbital civilian missions anyway)

I would just like a mechanism introduced where, if I have just turned down `plant a flag on Mun` from one agency, I don`t get `Plant a flag on Mun` as the next mission from literally EVERY OTHER AGENCY.

There may as well just be one agency if this is the case. They show no individuality out of the box.

That is a big deal. In all of the time I've been playing career mode, not once have I paid the slightest attention to which company was offering the contract. If the companies have no in-game effect, they may as well not exist.