Kerbal Space Program Goes Career in Latest Update

[Fanghawk]

Kerbal Space Program Goes Career in Latest Update

Kerbal Space Program has finally outfitted your Kerbals with an R&D department, unlockable ship parts, and experiments across the stars.

Some gamers wonder why anyone would buy an unfinished early access game, but Kerbal Space Program players aren't part of that camp. Despite containing little more than a sandbox mode for spacecraft launches, the Kerbal Space Program alpha found a dedicated fanbase that eagerly tests ship combinations while awaiting additional patches. Now, with the latest 0.22 update, Kerbals have several features to tinker with inside KSP's Career Mode. Specifically, players can complete mission objectives, conduct scientific experiments, and construct new ship parts for your increasingly complex vessels.

Unlike Sandbox Mode, Kerbal Space Program's Career Mode introduces new players to the game by cutting down on the number of available ship parts. Instead, your Space Center's Research & Development Facility must unlock them using an in-game tech tree, which you progress along by completing scientific experiments. Properly completed experiments will need to be conducted multiple times across the solar system, with different potential results occurring in each location. Assuming that you're the kind of player who frequently crashes your spaceship between missions, that's okay too; The game now has the ability to save ship subassemblies, sparing the hassle of rebuilding entire components from scratch.

Even though Kerbal Space Program's Career Mode is still under development, 0.22 stands out as one of the game's largest updates in terms of content. The full changelog is posted below to help you decide whether you'd like to dive back in, or try your hand at spaceship design for the first time.

* Career Mode:
- Career Mode is now open! Although still very much under development, you can now start new Career saves.
- Sandbox mode, of course, is also available from the start.

* Research and Development:
- Added the Research & Development Facility to the Space Center.
- R&D allows players to unlock parts (and later other stuff) by researching nodes on the Tech Tree (In Career Mode).

* Science:
- Researching requires Science, which must be earned by performing experiments during your missions.
- You can now collect surface samples while on EVA, and process them to do Science.
- Science experiments return results, which are different for each situation in which the experiment is performed.
- Experiments can (as all proper experiments must) be repeated over many different situations across the whole Solar System.
- Added a new dialog to show the results of experiments when reviewing the collected data.
- Added a new dialog to show a breakdown of all scientific progress made after recovering a mission.

* Parts:
- Added new scientific parts, like the Materials Bay and the Mystery Goo™ Canister. Also added experiments to many existing parts.
- The old science sensors now have a purpose. They all have their own experiments which enable them to log scientific data.
- The antennas are now functional, and can be used to transmit science data back to Kerbin, if recovering the physical experiments is not an option.
- Antennas consume massive amounts of power when transmitting. Make sure you have fresh batteries in.
- Added a new deployable antenna, which is an intermediate model compared to the two original ones.
- Completely remodelled the Communotron 88-88 Comms Dish. The new mesh uses the same placement rules so it won't break ships that have it.
- Nose Cones now actually help with improving stability during atmospheric flight.
- Revised a lot of part values and descriptions, in preparation for them actually meaning something in the near future.
- Overhauled the landing legs and gears, they now have proper shock-absorbing suspensions.

* Editor:
- Added a system to allow saving and loading of Sub-Assemblies.
- Subassemblies are subsets of spacecraft, which can later be attached to other designs and re-used.

* Space Center:
- The KSC Facilities have all been revised, and feature new ground meshes and many other graphical improvements.
- Greatly improved the Island Airfield.
- Added lighting FX to several facilities. The Runway (among many other things) is now properly lit at night.
- Added a new backdrop and soundtrack for the Astronaut Complex Facility.
- Added a new music track for the R&D Facility.

* Flight:
- It is now possible to recover a flight after landing/splashdown on Kerbin without going through the Tracking Station. Look above the Altimeter.
- The SAS system was again largely overhauled, based on all the feedback we've gotten from everyone. It's now stabler than ever.

* Solar System:
- Celestial Bodies now support Biome Maps, which are used to create different conditions for experiments.
- Biomes are currently implemented on Kerbin and on the Mun, more will be added on later updates.

* Launcher:
- We've got a new launcher application for KSP, featuring a news bulletin, patcher management, and also allows you to tweak settings from outside the game.

Source: <a href=http://steamcommunity.com/games/220200/announcements/detail/1569794711402104158>Steam, via <a href=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-10-17-kerbal-space-program-launches-career-mode-with-its-latest-update>Eurogamer

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[DonTsetsi]

Woohoo! It's been a long time coming...

 

[octafish]

This news just made my day, and potentially ruined my weekend. I've got to refine my Mun landings, so that my Kerbals have a chance of returning.

 

[DonTsetsi]

This news just made my day, and potentially ruined my weekend. I've got to refine my Mun landings, so that my Kerbals have a chance of returning.

Try it with a lightweight separate lander. Docking is fiddly, but you won't have to worry about running out of fuel.

 

[DonTsetsi]

And I just tried it... NO separatrons at the beginning! And no radial parachutes. Good thing I hit the ocean and the pod survived.

 

[Aeshi]

Haven't played KSP in ages, might just have to pick it back up.

 

[thiosk]

this game is so cool.
a framework for accomplishing missions will help me. Sandbox is fun, but I'm a victim of mission drift-- I conceptually favor massive multifunction starships... but this isnt really the point of the game nor are the mechanics good for it.

Having a reason to go to dres might actually get me there!

 

[vallorn]

This news just made my day, and potentially ruined my weekend. I've got to refine my Mun landings, so that my Kerbals have a chance of returning.

Learn to lithobrake
I spent several hours last night practicing with the Tier 1 rockets. mucking about with what HOCgaming on youtube calls "explosive decoupling" (Use boosters to blow up the stage under them to 'decouple' it) I finally managed to get one into orbit and land him... okay I won't say safely because the engine he was attached to was consumed in a fireball BUT he survived! And in the end that's what matters XD.

Also If you want to get lot's of science quickly. Bulk Mystery Goo canisters and don't reset any of them as you climb and get the experiments into orbit, water, flying, upper atmosphere, very upper atmosphere and, of course, reentry... then just recover all the data! SCIENCE!

 

[rofltehcat]

I built a simple rocket, forgot the decouplers (because there weren't any) and put a solid and liquid fuel booster directly above each other.
It blew up just a few hundred meters up, the pod was shot even higher and then survived because the peak of the arc was just the speed and height needed for my parachute... it gave me enough science for the first tech and now everything is kind of well. I now have more parts but everything is still so chaotic and stuff goes wrong when it shouldn't. But I guess that is to be expected

 

[Dogstile]

this game is so cool.
a framework for accomplishing missions will help me. Sandbox is fun, but I'm a victim of mission drift-- I conceptually favor massive multifunction starships... but this isnt really the point of the game nor are the mechanics good for it.

Having a reason to go to dres might actually get me there!

Pah, aim for the stars man, I managed to get an expedition out to eve with this fucking monstrosity. I'm fairly sure its all stock too.

Edit: Yes, there are about 9 or 10 kerbals onboard, two landers and three tugs. The entire thing is designed to come down in orbit too. It won't land the entire ship but if you detach the sides the crew modules will make it.

[http://s278.photobucket.com/user/dogstilez/media/ConquestTravel_zpsae87e527.png.html]

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

-snip-

Good gods that is one ugly mother, I guess the joys of being unhindered by aerodynamics certainly produce some unique spaceships huh?

Kerbal always puts me in a 'Dwarf Fortress' state of mind, much to the horror of of Bill and Bob Kerman, I hope the Career Mode focuses me towards more wholesome goals instead of plans like 'LTMFITS' aka 'Launch Those Mother F#$#ers Into The Sun'

Captcha: you are happy (yes I am Captcha, I'm thinking of seeing someone about that)

 

[Laughing Man]

One of my early projects

A super carrier complete with docking for 6 single man fighter craft. Also capable of Kerbel VTOL I built the original using only stock parts but had to resort to mods to reduce the part count and thus the lag caused by having high part count vehicles.

Getting it in to orbit was fun and required one hell of an amount of rocket power.

 

[porous_shield]

I played only shortly but I did manage to get something in Mun's orbit and then I ran out of both power and fuel.