Random thought I had today and wanted to share. That is all.
I don't have any great purpose in posting this, but it's an idea I've been mulling over and feel like I need to share it with someone. Possibly others have had these thoughts before. This isn't super-specific to RSS, but I think it would fit in particularly nicely.
Summary:
By combining concepts from career hard mode, procedural parts, RPL, and realism overhaul etc., one can reproduce a realistic tech progression that accurately mimics the actual progression of the real world, without the kinds of artificial science advancement in the base game. This experience can be made rich via procedural parts that both free and constrain the player.
The main key is that tech progression, which is applied science, should not come from gathering basic science from space, but from the experience of building and operating craft and spending money on research. Money for research and for flying comes from accomplishing mission objectives, and mission objectives and funding levels come from continuing to collect basic science. Basic science exists only as a mission objective and as something which stokes further prestige and funding.
Full outline:
In a new career, the player begins with no parts available whatsoever. They have only a start-up grant to develop a nascent rocketry program and achieve early contract goals.
To gain access to some initial parts, they have to do some engineering with their start-up money. This is where the procedural parts come in. They open up a procedural engine, fuel tank, capsule, etc., and play with settings constrained by some reasonable physics to design a part that has certain dimensions and performance, a budget for its R&D, and a cost for construction. Once happy with a design the player names the part and orders it to be researched, and it becomes a part available for purchase.
Thus each part is created procedurally, but cannot be freely customized for each and every craft like in the sandbox procedural pats mods. This reflects reality where we design some engines at great expense, and then have to use exact replicas over and over. A new rocket is therefore cheaper if it can re-use parts already developed, and players need to be strategic in selecting what new parts to develop.
As flight experience with a given part is gained, engineering points are awarded to core technologies related to it. For example, flying a particular engine would award engineering points to its fuel mixture, its fuel cycle
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