Campaigns or Career for a newbie

[dfscott]

I've recently returned to the game after almost a 2 year hiatus and see that a lot has changed! One of the reasons I originally stopped playing is because I got bored of the sandbox mode -- I like a challenge list or progression to drive me forward. After some initial searching, it looks like there are two different ways to do this, the Campaign or the Career mode, with Career being the newest. Does Career make the Campaign obsolete or are these just two different ways of doing things?

Also, I was considering using some of the mods such as RSS and DR, but trying to do some of the early campaigns with those mods (and being a rookie as well) proved to be very difficult, so I uninstalled them and went back to stock, only adding mods that added new equipment.

So, will I run into the same problem with career mode and mods? I think I saw that FAR helps to make RSS a bit easier, but I wasn't sure if that was the case or not.

Sorry for the rambling questions, but just trying to find a good starting point that won't have me getting stuck/frustrated down the road.

Edited November 21, 2014 by dfscott

[Alshain]

Not sure what Campaign mode is. There are 2 modes of play though (other than sandbox), Career and Science.

Career has contracts you can take to earn money, parts cost money (when you go to launch), researching parts science and money as an initial buy in. In Science mode, once you finish the tech tree the game is basically Sandbox.

Science mode, you only collect science for researching new parts, but after that everything is free. The reason science mode exists is so people could still play the way they had been in past versions (since science was implemented long before currency) but Career mode is a "complete picture" sort of thing and contains both Science AND Currency. Yes, you could say that Career obsoletes Science mode.

You can complete* a career in stock pretty easily, I suggest doing that before exploring mods so you get a feel for it (even FAR which I would never play without now).

*By complete, I mean finish off the entire tech tree, the game never actually ends and in Career mode you still have to keep earning money.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Alshain

[Pecan]

The advantages of Career/science modes are i) that they initially only provide a very few parts, so there isn't any confusion about which engine, etc. to use, ii) you have to get science points to unlock new parts and, in career mode, fulfill contracts for money to pay for everything. This makes it easier for new players to choose how to construct ships and gives anyone a reason to progress.

The disadvantages of Career/science modes are i) starting with manned flights, ii) having to care about science points and, in career mode, money. This makes it harder for anyone who just wants to do space-missions in a logical order.

For the tutorial in my signature I use sandbox mode to create a logical mission sequence starting with unmanned orbital satellites - but then that's aimed at demonstrating vehicle and mission designs. not at "winning" KSP.

Ultimately it has to depend on what your preferred gameplay style is and what you find rewarding.

[dfscott]

Not sure what Campaign mode is.

Sorry, I was talking about this campaign mode.

[Alshain]

Sorry, I was talking about this campaign mode.

Those basically just self imposed challenges, it's not a game mode.

[dfscott]

Those basically just self imposed challenges, it's not a game mode.

True, but they're kind of fun.

Thanks, all for the info -- I think this helps me make my decision.