Requesting suggestions on how to start modding

[CastleKSide]

Hello all.

Iv been thinking about trying to start modding KSP for some time now and have not done so because of "I don't know where to start so I'm not going to" syndrome. Well I've decided to ask for info. I tend to have very grandiose ideas when entering a new hobby. What would be a good intro level project that would both be doable for someone with little experience but also actually contribute something useful to the community? I have a hobbyist understanding of Blender and 3d modeling,  a few classes of college level Java programing under my belt, and have done one or two basic Unity tutorials a number of years back.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

36 minutes ago, CastleKSide said:

What would be a good intro level project that would both be doable for someone with little experience but also actually contribute something useful to the community? I

Hi  you've completed the first step asking for help, there'll be a lot of that in the beginning.  As for your first project I strongly advise proving the concept before moving on to a 1000 hr project, make a cube , slap a texture on it,  run it through unity, give it a cfg ,make it appear in KSP. This is the basis of everything apart from coding in KSP,  exporting and importing,, you get the basics sorted  first.
Then on to  other stuff,  I 've always suggested the fuel tank ( textured cylinder) as part two , the pod (textured cone) as part 3 , then maybe a winglet or two . I know it doesnt sound very glamorous,  but just look around the forums, you'll find 100s of posts  " i'm making this awesome mod, it will have this that and those and be all this" in 99.9% of those cases you find one or two posts and then the idea and usually the poster vanishes , because  running before you can walk doesn't work out well.
I decided to make (at least) one of every part in KSP which I'd recommend as a way forward, as it  opens avenues into all kinds of weird and wonderful spinoffs

As for making what the community wants, erm stuff that for an idea, 99% of current long term modders ( not yer 1 version wonders) make stuff that they want to see in the game, and sometimes  it turns out that other people want it also and so it gets released.  It shouldn't matter to you what the community wants, yeah sure fine , when you're established  there's no harm in doing requests, but even then it should be things that you hadn't thought of rather than stuff that you're making to keep someone else happy

You aren't going to get paid for it,  likes and downloads don't pay the bills , it will be massively time consuming, it  can be hard and damn frustrating, and occasionally thanks to halfbottomed updates, tedious and damn right rage inducing . So make it all about you and what you want and you'll have a much easier time of it

Good luck should you take the dive