Mods- How to...

[danielviana05]

Can somebody teach me how to install mods and make it work. I watched a video on youtube today, and I noticed a difference between my ksp and the youtuber's.

 

I tried to install the mods, but I didn't work. (It was only aesthetics mods)

 

Can someone send me your "gamedata" folder, so I can replace mine....

[Geonovast]

3 hours ago, danielviana05 said:

Can someone send me your "gamedata" folder, so I can replace mine....

Actually, no.  Not only are there legal issues with redistributing Squad's and the mod's material, but you could never be certain the versions match the rest of your install, and that it hasn't been tampered with.  Plus, for some, there could be bandwidth concerns.

But don't fret!

While installing mods is very easy, it's also not too difficult to mess it up.  One option around that is to use CKAN, which is a mod manager.  It runs as a separate program, and will install and delete mods and (I believe, anyway) their dependencies as needed.

For most mods, the procedure is very simple.  You download the mod's release, typically as a zip file.  Put that where you wish, in your downloads, desktop, documents, doesn't matter.

Next, unzip that downloaded file.  Usually it defaults to the same location the zip file is in.  Again, this doesn't matter at the moment.

Now, I've seen a few trends when it comes to the unzipped files.  You will likely end up with one of the three:

• A folder named "Gamedata": Directly inside this folder will be all the contents that you need to copy to your Gamedata folder, to put alongside the Squad folder.
• A folder with the name of the mod, or similar: Inside this folder will be another folder called Gamedata.  Copy what's inside that Gamedata folder into your Gamedata folder, alongside the Squad folder.
• A folder with the name of the mod, or similar: Inside this folder is the contents that you need to copy to your Gamedata folder, alongside the Squad folder.

A large majority of mods will require some kind of dependency, usually ModuleManager.  If it does, they're frequently included, so you don't need to do anything extra.  They're not always included, though, so make sure you read the mod's thread to see if there's anything else you need to download and install at the same time.
 

Once everything's copied to your Gamedata folder, fire up the game.  If you're still having issues, us know specifically which mod, and we'll get you exact directions for the mod.  I think once you get one installed, you should be able to handle any other one, as the process is almost always the same.  I can also get you screenshots of the procedure if you need.

 

Oh, and welcome to the forums, @danielviana05!

Edited September 19, 2018 by Geonovast

[Vanamonde]

Welcome to our forum, danielviana05.

Your question has been moved to the modding support subforum, where someone will be along to help you shortly. 

[Gargamel]

20 hours ago, Geonovast said:

One option around that is to use CKAN,

If you are having trouble installing mods, CKAN is the best choice for you until you get comfortable with the file structure of the mods.  Not only will it install the correct mod version (usually), but it will install any other mods that the original mod requires to run.      It makes it vastly easier to add and remove mods than by hand.   For the first four + years of playing KSP, I always did my mods manually, but I finally installed CKAN and I'm much happier for it.   Although, you will encounter the occasional mod which does not support Ckan, then you have to do it manually. 

Excellent answer Geo.