Suggestion/Questions: Zond / 7K L1 hardware

[stratochief66]

Last time I played with the Soviet hardware, there was little to no incentive to make use of the full range of Soviet Sovuz hardware, but that was many many updates ago.

I see things have definitely changed on that front, but there are still some strange things going on with this hardware.

Earlier, I had assumed the Zond and 7K L1 hardware would be reduced to just one piece, as they are pretty much the same hardware in my understanding.

Because this create a triangle of Programs, this is a bit confusing. There is the 7K-L1 Earth Orbit program (E) , the Zond 5 Circumlunar program (UL for Unmanned, Lunar) and 7K-L1 Lunar Flyby program (ML for Manned, Lunar)

The order in which I open these Programs in game has some unexpected consequences. If I open the UL program first, that program starts at 47.4% (likely this specific value because of my high Vostok and Voskhod research?) , the E & ML programs see big boosts of starting research from 28.5% to 63%. When opened in this order, the price of openning the E and ML programs remains their defaults of $11,000 and $20,000.

If I open the ML program first, I am charged 20k, the UL program starting percentage remains at 47.4% and the E program cost drops to zero. In reverse, if the E program is opened first the percentages again stay the same but the cost of opening the ML program drops to zero.

To solve the price issue, I would suggest changing the price of either manned program to the price of the other, as they both involve the same hardware (rockets excluded, which are managed separately anyway)

Overall, I find this program triangle a bit confusing, and I am strongly incentivized to open the Zond 5 program first, for the research boost. Are these facts intentional, or unintended? If intentional, could you help me understand?

[stratochief66]

Oh, wow. And I just noticed that because the Zond 5 is a bit heavier than the manned flyby will be (shouldn't 2 men + supplies be heavier than turtles?) I cannot launch the Zond 5 using the man rated Proton??