Difference between revisions of "Agencies"

Latest revision as of 23:36, 15 October 2018

Agencies provide contracts in career mode which grants funds, science, and/or reputation if completed successfully. These are mostly manufacturers, with two exceptions: the internal Research and Development Department, and the Kerbin World-Firsts Record-Keeping Society.

Agency mentality

Different agencies have different sensibilities, which will manifest in the way they set up their contracts.

• Commercial: These agencies are more financially minded, and offer heftier monetary rewards. Though this also means harsher financial penalties in the case of failures.
• Competitive: Competes against other agencies.
• Conglomerate: These agencies give shorter deadlines and expiry dates then others, but offer large monetary rewards.
• Cooperative: Likely to work with other agencies.
• EasyGoing: These agencies are more forgiving with the Space Center, so reputation loss from contract failures won't be as much. Conversely, successful contracts won't be as rewarding reputation-wise.
• Ecomental: These agencies give bigger rewards the less resources you use to complete the contract. More usage of resources lower the rewards.
• Economic: These agencies give more cash but low reputation, so try to use as less parts as needed.
• Hasty: These agencies' contracts won't stay on the table as long, and have tighter deadlines. However, successful contracts under such circumstances will understandably grant a greater increase in reputation.
• Industrial: These agencies give bigger rewards for industrial behaviour.
• Kerbalminded: These agencies will set up conditions against losing Kerbals in their contracts.
• Moral: These agencies give less funding but larger reputaton gains.
• Patient: These agencies give you contracts with long deadlines but at the cost of lower reputation gains.
• Perfectionist: These agencies wants you to complete the contracts' requirements so close as possible.
• Pioneer: These agencies prefer tasks that haven't been done before.
• Record: These agencies prefer contracts that want you to break new records.
• Scientific: These agencies are more likely to offer science data gathering contracts.
• Startup: These agencies give shorter deadlines and expiry dates then others, but also low monetary rewards.
• Stern: These agencies take their contracts very seriously; successful cooperation with them is thus more prestigious and grants more reputation. On the other hand, failures will result in a inflated loss of reputation.

List of agencies

Logo	Name	Description
	C7 Aerospace Division	Why go up when you can crash equally well going sideways – that’s the old moto of the C7 Aerospace Division. Emerging from humble beginnings to the powerhouse they are now, C7 were always looking straight ahead towards the horizon. Recently though they have been building parts that can give them a much better view of that spot where the sky meets the ground. This has been met with some grumblings from the old boys in the company but even they can’t deny that there is adventure to be found in whatever direction you choose.
	Dinkelstein Kerman's Construction Emporium	Dinkelstein Kerman has become somewhat of a legend in the spacecraft industry, not least impressively because he vehemently claims to have been constructing and flying spaceships long before the first actual recorded instance of any such vehicle being assembled. This has led to some controversy and a lot of awkwardness between him and the Kerbin World-Firsts Record-Keeping Society. Be that as it may, Dinklestein's Emporium is still generally well regarded as a traditional, old-fashioned company, and their products are actually a lot less rusty than the company's owner.
	Experimental Engineering Group	The Experimental Engineering Group is a typical startup company: Low budgets and impossibly tight deadlines are part of a normal working day for them. Despite being such a young company however, Experimental Engineering has made a good start, quickly making a name for themselves in the industry, mainly thanks to their very educational and entertaining SC-9001 Science Jr. Experiment Kit. Despite valiant efforts from their representatives, however, they haven't quite been able to shake off the bad press that followed some leaked footage of an incident involving one of their units and a small critter that one of the scientists over at R&D used to keep as a pet. Some say the incident has made them extremely concerned with the safety of anything that approach their products. They've even rounded out the edges on their company logo.
	FLOOYD Dynamics Research Labs	FLOOYD Labs is a company focused on doing one thing, and doing it as well as is conceivably possible to do it: Displacing liquids from one place to another. Their flagship product, the FTX-2 Fuel Duct, is the final result of years of research and development and endless Kerbal-hours of effort to produce a device that will pump any amount of just about anything, no matter how cold, dense or volatile it is. The company enjoys a well-deserved reputation for such an important contribution to the industry, and most agree that these days, almost nobody remembers the embarrassment of their recall of the FTX-1 series, which had a small but highly problematic issue, that while it did pump fluids flawlessly, it pumped them in the wrong direction.
	Goliath National Products	Goliath National Products know what’s needed to keep them ahead of the competition – an eye for detail and a good nose for sniffing out what’s needed for our plucky engineers. Many of the great Vessels of our age carry one of Goliaths nose cones and they excel in moving air out of the way of the soft fleshy important bits of any Vessel i.e. our heroes heading off on another adventure.
	Integrated Integrals	What this small company lacks in experience and reputation, it makes up for in the sheer ambitiousness of their projects. Their first product was the very massive Mobile Processing Lab, which rumour has it was first developed as a mobile processing facility to secretly brew an experimental, possibly illegal fuel mixture, which was reportedly far more potent than the currently available propellants, and had a distinctive blue tint to it. Those rumours have never been proven however, and this mysterious blue propellant has yet to be seen by a reliable source. Despite their repeated attempts to be rid of these rumours, the company still suffers from a (probably undeserved) bad reputation. They try to offset this initial impression by offering much larger cash payoffs than other companies of similar size, which admittedly does very little to improve their current image.
	Ionic Symphonic Protonic Electronics	One of the leading names in spacecraft electronics, and not just because the name itself sounds so cool. Ionic Symphonic Protonic Electronics has a large catalogue of components, ranging from simple comms devices to seriously cutting edge gear. This has made their products quite popular among aerospace engineers, and also nurtured a profound enmity from the pragmatic folks at Probodobodyne.
	Jebediah Kerman's Junkyard and Spacecraft Parts Co	It is universally agreed that Jeb's Junkyard is one the best examples of the triumph of unwavering motivation in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The unassuming junkyard where it is said some of Kerbalkind's first steps towards the depths of space have been taken, has now become a much larger junkyard, as it had to expand its facilities to accommodate the ever greater demand for spacecraft components. Jeb's Junkyard has become one of Kerbin's most iconic names, becoming far more than just a beloved brand. It now stands proudly as a symbol of the unstoppable Kerbal drive towards attempting the impossible while grossly underestimating the gravity of the situation.
	Kerbal Motion LLC	Kerbal Motion LLC started in the wheel business with square wheels initially. They began adding sides until they settled on a more spherical configuration. Intensive testing confirmed their suspicions that round wheels really do make for a much smoother ride. Once they had overcome this hurdle the brains at Kerbal Motion LLC then began looking towards what else they could apply their considerable grey matter to. They settled on grabbers, primarily as this would mean they wouldn’t have to reach quite so far for their drinks.
	Kerbin World-Firsts Record-Keeping Society	An institution completely devoted to the tracking and curating all first instances of any event, the Kerbin World-Firsts Record-Keeping Society is a non-profit organization, for the purpose of rewarding the doing of anything that's never been done before, especially concerning feats of space exploration. Their work is more challenging than it would seem however, as the prestige associated with the first-ever accomplishment of any deed is also a valuable target for commercial companies, who wouldn't waste the opportunity to be the official sponsor of such an event. Taking on the Society's contracts will definitely send the message that you're not in it for the money, which is always a good message to send. It's also just about the only reward, since the cash prizes are mostly symbolic.
	Kerbodyne	Although Kerbodyne is a relatively new name in the aerospace industry, their K series engines and fuel tanks have earned them a quite a reputation in a short amount of time. So much so in fact, that Kerbodyne was nominated for the "Best Debut" Award, at last year's Spacecraft Developers Convention. Unfortunately, that prize went to another company, but Kerbodyne fans are known to demonstrate loudly and publicly, their appreciation for the company and its products.
	Kerlington Model Rockets and Paper Products Inc	Kerlington has a long history of introducing ground-breaking new technologies, many of which are now considered indispensable for rocketry and aerospace engineering. This has fostered a strong community of loyal Kerlington fans, as well as a similarly large group of disgruntled competitors.
	Maxo Construction Toys	The Maxo Construction Toys engineers always enjoyed building things – especially out of little plastic bricks. So when they put their heads together and got a bit of money in the bank they decided to do the same but with bits of lightweight metal. Maxo’s metallic constructions are renowned for their durability and build quality. In fact when sifting through the wreckage of yet another spectacular “landing”, their parts are almost always found intact.
	Moving Parts Experts Group	The Moving Parts Experts Group started off as a mostly non-commercial initiative to bring some of the brightest minds together to create truly innovative and ground-breaking technologies for spacecraft construction. As is the case with many such enterprises, their initial investment funds very soon ran out and they were forced to start developing stuff that they could sell, quickly. As a result, the Group acquired a reputation for being always in a hurry, and always strapped for cash. They still try their best to stay true to their original motivations as much as possible though, and will always be willing to support any ventures that push the currently established boundaries.
	O.M.B. Demolition Enterprises	For a company that made a reputation by creating as much destruction as possible, O.M.B. has found a remarkably suitable place for its highly volatile devices in the aerospace industry. Their precision Decouplers are second to none when the job calls for splitting spacecraft into multiple smaller ones. Some of their other demolition products however, despite being heavily advertised as far more powerful disassembly tools, weren't nearly as successful. O.M.B. is still unsure as to why those "clearly better" products weren't so well received.
	Periapsis Rocket Supplies Co	Periapsis Rocket Supplies are a notoriously private company – the small roster of components they do build does nothing but add to the mystique surrounding them. Many question why they don’t build more parts but Periapsis responds to this by stating “wait and see what we’ll do next!”. However, this has been the standard response for at least 3 generations so many have been waiting a little while for the answer.
	Probodobodyne Inc	Probodobodyne was at one point one of the leading (and few) names in the industry. Over the years though, the company has fallen behind the times somewhat, but they continue to maintain their philosophy that space exploration should be the privilege of the few who can overcome the challenges of conquering it, with minimal technological assistance. Their products reflect that pragmatic and arguably obsolete outlook, even in spite of the many newer companies that are coming up around them with alternatives that make space travel far more accessible than it was back in the "early days". Despite all this, the company has retained a small but loyal following of hardcore fans, who live by their vision of a very selective industry, populated only by the very best astronauts and engineers.
	Research & Development Department	The Space Program's own Research & Development Department. Headed by celebrity rocket scientist Wernher von Kerman, these guys are the brains of the whole operation. Driven by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, no piece of data is too small or too irrelevant, and increasing the accumulated knowledge of Kerbalkind is their main motivation. Our resident geniuses only ask to be given due academic credit for their contributions to science, and that all astronauts PLEASE refrain from entering the labs without cleaning their boots first.
	Reaction Systems Ltd	Reaction Systems is a small company, which enjoyed a reasonable amount of success with their one successful product, the Place-Anywhere Linear RCS Port. These days, nobody knows for certain what they're working on. Even though Reaction Systems is most definitely not the largest company out there, they try to make up for it by supporting all pioneering endeavours. Also, their eagerness to offer science-gathering contracts lends credit to speculation that they may be up to something.
	Rockomax Conglomerate	Indisputably the largest supplier of rocketry components out there, Rockomax products are widely regarded as the most accessible way to get into space. This has earned them a somewhat negative reputation among the more posh or avant-garde engineers, some even outright refusing to admit to having used Rockomax-Brand products. Be that as it may, Rockomax's gigantic presence in the industry cannot be gainsaid, and their products are actually pretty good value, even if they do lack that 'trendy' feel of the more up-scale rocketry brands. They are a massively large corporation, so don't expect them to cut you very special deals. They are already giving all their customers a bulk discount, plus their 'super-value' deals when using products from their partner brands. All this provided, of course, that you have your membership card with you when you go shopping at their warehouses.
	Rokea Inc	Rokea is mainly known for their 'vertical mobility enhancer' products, which they go to great lengths to ensure are not mistaken by simplistic 'ladders'. Some say they are failing miserably in that effort, even though every Rokea representative will very eagerly educate all who come within earshot about the differences between ladders and a vertical mobility enhancement device. Perhaps this communications strategy is part of the reason nobody cares.
	Sean's Cannery	Many question the reasoning behind Sean's Cannery's -known for their very excellent canned foods products- incursion into the aerospace engineering world. Despite the criticism, none can dispute that their flagship product, the Mk2 Lander Can, has proven itself many times over as a reliable and perhaps not surprisingly, one of the most air-tight crew carrying modules available today. Lander Can crews often praise the module for its ability to keep stowed snacks crisp and fresh, and complain of how on other pods they become mushy after just a few days into the mission.
	STEADLER Engineering Corps	STEADLER is not known for being a very kind or yielding company. Rather, militaristic, stern and uncompromising are much more fitting adjectives to describe them. Some say these are good qualities for a company responsible mainly for engineering control systems for rockets and hypersonic aircraft, while others suggest that the company is actually being run by a rogue Guidance Module that achieved sentience. All we really know is that their gate security is much too Temperamental to allow for any observation, and that their stun guns recharge very quickly.
	StrutCo	One of the largest manufacturers of structural components for any purpose, StrutCo is by all measures a very well-established company. The only thing they have never been able to get over is the fact that the legendary EAS-4 Strut Connector itself was actually invented by Kerlington Model Rockets.
	Vac-Co Advanced Suction Systems	Vac-Co is a relatively new name in the industry. With previous experience only as a manufacturer of housecleaning equipment and small appliances, their recent venture into aerospace engineering has been met with no small amount of skepticism. Nevertheless, they seem to know what they're doing, as their products have been quite innovative in the air intakes for spaceplanes sector.
	WinterOwl Aircraft Emporium	WinterOwl is by no means comparable to other large aircraft companies in terms of sheer number of products they offer. However, the company is one of the best-known names in the industry as it's one of the oldest companies in operation. This has earned them a reputation for being a friendly, reliable partner, which means they have good standings with many other companies. In the aerospace circles, it is considered very poor manners to be rude about WinterOwl or its products.
	Zaltonic Electronics	Zaltonics isn't exactly known as a strong leader in the electronic components industry, rather more as a somewhat utilitarian company that lacks a certain amount of ambition. These traits however, have made Zaltonic indispensable in their own way, as they are willing to take on the manufacturing of the less exciting devices, and they've become quite good at doing that in a quick and cost-effective way. Their products might not be all the rage, but when your fancy remote guidance unit runs out of juice, chances are you'll be using a Zaltonics battery to keep it powered.

Changes

1.5

• Gave all agencies descriptions and mentalities that were missing them.

1.2

• Made Kerbin World-Firsts Record-Keeping Society only record driven.

0.24

• Now provide contracts