Clear progression or discovery of the unknown?

[nats]

I have just started a game and I have two options - spaceplane and probe research. Now one of those, or possibly both, will unlock Mercury. But at the moment there is no way of knowing which one I NEED to do to unlock it (because I cant remember from the last time I played). So there is no easily determined path through the gameplay. Is this WAD?

I suppose its like it was for the real life NASA who didnt know where they were heading until they tested things and discovered new technologies. Is this what this lack of direction is meant to be conveying - a sense of discovery?

I must admit there are too many modern games that tend to hold your hand through the whole game making everything obvious as to what you have to do and when. Its could be nice that there is a game like this where you dont really know where you are heading when you start, and the game gradually opens up as you travel through it. Was this the gaemplay in the original BARIS game?

I know though that there will be criticism after release from kids who arent used to this sort of gameplay, complaining that they dont know what to do next and want everything spelled out for them! But sometimes computer games should make you think and problem solve for yourself. But maybe some subtle clues pointing the direction might be in order? - maybe an advisor for people who want help? Many people who play this game will be very knowledgable of the route through NASA's history. But there are bound to be lots of other people playing this game who dont have a clue about Mercury, or X15s or even Apollo. They might need some guidance possibly?

[Sabratha]

I have just started a game and I have two options - spaceplane and probe research. Now one of those, or possibly both, will unlock Mercury. But at the moment there is no way of knowing which one I NEED to do to unlock it (because I cant remember from the last time I played). So there is no easily determined path through the gameplay. Is this WAD?

I suppose its like it was for the real life NASA who didnt know where they were heading until they tested things and discovered new technologies. Is this what this lack of direction is meant to be conveying - a sense of discovery?

I must admit there are too many modern games that tend to hold your hand through the whole game making everything obvious as to what you have to do and when. Its could be nice that there is a game like this where you dont really know where you are heading when you start, and the game gradually opens up as you travel through it. Was this the gaemplay in the original BARIS game?

I know though that there will be criticism after release from kids who arent used to this sort of gameplay, complaining that they dont know what to do next and want everything spelled out for them! But sometimes computer games should make you think and problem solve for yourself. But maybe some subtle clues pointing the direction might be in order? - maybe an advisor for people who want help? Many people who play this game will be very knowledgable of the route through NASA's history. But there are bound to be lots of other people playing this game who dont have a clue about Mercury, or X15s or even Apollo. They might need some guidance possibly?

Well, from what I know more info will be available through the museum building taht's gonna be implemented.
I also heard that the current rigid (you have to complete X before you can unlock Y) program structure will be loosened a bit, so you will be able for exmaple to go from Mercury to Apollo without doing gemini missions, at the cost of reliability penalties etc.

[Nacho84]

Apologies for the late reply to this message. Indeed, we're modifying the spreadsheet in order to make the progression a little bit less rigid in the manned programs. At the moment, it's X-15 -> Mercury -> Gemini and Apollo, which doesn't provide too much freedom. We're changing the restrictions so that, for example, you'll be able to skip X-15, Mercury and Gemini and go straight to Apollo. The penalization will be quite high, but it will still be possible. We'll still leave some dependencies, but there are not going to be that many (e.g., you won't be able to open Mercury, Gemini or Apollo until you deploy a satellite in Earth orbit first).

Cheers,