Achievements

A list of feats the game watches for while you fly. Each one pays credits and discovery the first time you do it, and that is where most of a new pilot's money comes from.

What they are

An achievement is one thing worth doing, written down in advance with a price on it. Going supersonic is one. Getting a periapsis clear of the atmosphere is one. So is launching with landing struts aboard, taking a reading in Mars' air, and coming to rest on ground steeper than 10° without tipping over. There are 147 of them in all.

They are not a side activity. Early on they are your income: your first launch from Earth pays 200 credits and 5 discovery. Every node on the tech tree is bought with discovery, and achievements are what pay it, so the tree opens at the speed you fly new things.

They are judged as you fly

Nothing has to be claimed, submitted or handed in. The game watches the flight itself: every step it checks your altitude, speed, G, the ship's parts, where you are and what you just fired against the whole list, and anything that matches unlocks on the spot. A banner slides in over whatever screen you are on, naming the feat and the reward, and your credits and discovery move at once.

Because it is the live flight that is judged, an achievement is earned in the moment and never afterwards. There is no way to go back and count a feat you have already flown.

They pay once

Each achievement pays exactly once, for the whole life of your account. Reaching 10 km again pays nothing the second time. This is why the rewards get very large further out: the whole payment for landing on Mars has to arrive in one go, and it does, at 8,000 credits and 150 discovery.

Rewards are paid in credits, in discovery, or in both. A feat that proves a machine works tends to pay credits; a feat that teaches you something tends to pay discovery. A few pay discovery alone.

Where the list is

From the hangar, tap the credits chip at the top of the screen or the ⚙ button in the bottom bar, then Achievements. The sheet lists what you have earned at the top with a green tick and the reward it paid, then everything still to do, muted. The line under the title counts them: "2 / 147 unlocked".

Every achievement you can see before earning it is listed, with its reward, in the Achievements reference.

Some are hidden

Not every achievement is on the sheet. The still-hidden ones are counted into a single row at the bottom that says how many there are and nothing more. You find out what one was by earning it, at which point it turns into an ordinary row like the rest, with its title, what you did and what it paid.

Feats that open a tech node

Two tech nodes will not sell to you until you hold a particular achievement, however much money you have. The Lunar Pad node wants One Small Step, which is landing on the Moon; the Mars Pad node wants Dust on the Legs, which is landing on Mars. Both node cards name the feat they are waiting for. See The tech tree.

Offline, and in sandbox

A feat done while the game has no connection still unlocks and still shows on the sheet. Its reward waits, marked "reward pending", and is paid the moment the game reaches your account again. Nothing is lost by flying offline.