Gameplay wise..

[vinsent10]

career doesn't really appeal to me.The contracts all feel to spammy. I know you can get new contracts by just deleting another one but I don't like like having to do specific things to level up,yet I don't want it to be easy.So I've thought about it.wouldn't it be cool if there was a gamemode where you got chash depending on how hard of a task you did? No need for any contracts to get money.See it as a "government sponsored" gamemode.Where you will get money for doing what you think is fun/important rather than doing the same types of contracts over and over,you'll get cash along your missions and you still need to keep track of your cash so your rockets don't get to expensive.

would this kind of gamemode be fun? or is there a mod for this that I haven't heard of?

[bigred]

Most of the one star contracts pay way too little to even bother with.

[Tw1]

would this kind of gamemode be fun? or is there a mod for this that I haven't heard of?

Combine this with a much better science system,Maybe like this, some detailed exploration mechanic, and everything from sandbox, and I'd probably enjoy it a lot more than career.

career mode can be fun, but overall, still a little disappointing

[cantab]

Interesting idea. It should technically be possible, since the game tracks where your spacecraft go and have been as part of the science system.

The hard part is how you work the game balance. There'd be no advances, like there is with the contract system, and I think the player would be left very un-directed. You won't have a way of knowing before you do a mission whether or not you'll be given more than it cost as a reward - and if you do get this information up front then really it's just the same as the contract system again, except you get all the contracts at once and don't have to specify you're accepting them.

[Tw1]

Interesting idea. It should technically be possible, since the game tracks where your spacecraft go and have been as part of the science system.

The hard part is how you work the game balance. There'd be no advances, like there is with the contract system, and I think the player would be left very un-directed. You won't have a way of knowing before you do a mission whether or not you'll be given more than it cost as a reward - and if you do get this information up front then really it's just the same as the contract system again, except you get all the contracts at once and don't have to specify you're accepting them.

Advances could come as you push the boundaries. Get to Duna, get a raise. Etc. It would need quite a different approach to budget, per time, or per vessel. From past discussion, a set budget per time worked out best IIRC.

Undirected could be good. When you're being lead by a game, the imagination takes a backseat. Give the right inspiration and opportunities, and imagination is triggered. I think KSP could learn a bit from Extrasolar in terms of how the game motivates players to do stuff. It's not quite the same, but the way they work the emotions is more subtle than "there are points you should be earning."

Edited December 19, 2014 by Tw1

[Dwight_js]

What about the ability to propose contracts, have companies bid on them, and choose the highest bidder? You could enter the vital mission components in a form with drop-down lists that let you define where you want to go, and what you want to achieve when you get there. So it would look something like 'Duna' 'landing' 'manned' 'deploy rover' 'return science' etc.

[vinsent10]

What about the ability to propose contracts, have companies bid on them, and choose the highest bidder? You could enter the vital mission components in a form with drop-down lists that let you define where you want to go, and what you want to achieve when you get there. So it would look something like 'Duna' 'landing' 'manned' 'deploy rover' 'return science' etc.

Kinda like a contract filter where you choose between different factors,like part testing contracts,science contracts ect to get the contract you want.Doesn't sound like a bad idea.That would problably make it feel more like you decide what to do next instead of having to decline a thousand contracts before getting the ones you want.

Depending on you mood you could choose what kind of contracts you're looking for.I like it

[frisch]

I don't want to be mean, but I HATE CONTRACTS.

In real life I'm a research scientist / experimentalist. One of the great joys of Kerbal for me was that I could just build stuff and try it. I pretty quickly exhausted the base game, but first add-ons, then realism OH, made the problems really interesting. Getting to the Moon, let alone Mars (and back) with full realism is tough - without any cost or technology limits.

Now - playing the game feels like work. Funding agencies that want random irrational stuff (test a rocomax booster in orbit.....why???). Trying to pay to upgrade facilities while keeping a science program going. Science mining - once you can get to the moon, do a zillion repetitive flights to get samples from all the biomes. (feels like the X-ray crystallography program at work).

Kerbal now is accurately duplicating what it feels like to be a scientist / engineer - which is mostly drudgery.

Yes I can run in sandbox mode - but then all rockets are just the right number of asparagus stages to get the delta-v needed.

Sorry, rant...off. Its been a bad day at work .

[korvanos]

I think the contracts are a good idea, but they need a LOT of work and aren't really balanced well. There should be more straight forward early contracts that lead the player in good directions. Right now the majority of contracts are irritating busy work and feel random and nonsensical.

[match]

I've used the contracts for testing parts to simply get a hold of a part before I can afford it.

"What's that... test the small landing bay on an escape trajectory from Mun? Sure, no problem, just not yet."

Upgrading the contracts to get seven instead of two may be a viable option early on instead of simply knocking out two tests at a time. I don't actually do the testing, but I do use the parts for other missions.

[timsfitz]

I think there should be an annual budget like NASA, and extra money for doing contracts, like launching satellites. If the player just fast forwards time to get money without accomplishing anything, then the reputation starts to go down. You have to earn those tax dollars you know. Big accomplishments would result in an increase of funding. Repeated failures would result in funding cuts.