Mods, Add on and plugins.... how to choose?

[Bersagliere81]

I am playing this game since december, and I am truly loving it. At first this game wasn't that interesting to me, then I discovered the "Add-on Releases" section and the game totally changed.

I started using ScanSat, Remote Tech, Deadly Reentry, those loving USI addons... and few other mods for resources and space station modules. Really really beautiful.

However...

It looked like there was always something "missing", something that I could add and integrate. So I decided to delete everything and restart choosing accurately which mod/plugin/addon/whatever to install. But meh.. what a choice!

First of all, I found my win 8.1 / 64bit install isn't -that- supported from the game and this is even more complicating things (I suppose)

Secondly... if it's up to me, I would download everything and go berserk. More stuff, more modules, more everything, more fun. But it doesn't look to be such a good idea. Even because Some mods apparently don't support others.

Recently I have "discovered" the realism overhaul thread which is offering many interesting things, but although I do want something more realistic, I am not sure it suites perfectly to me (I like the challenge of it, but I would love to discover things using ScanSat and have fun with station modules/colonisation, still trying to figure out if it is supported).

At the end, is there any guide, or package, or anything else that helps choosing the mods in that flooded section?

[Pecan]

First - the Windows 64-bit version of KSP/Unity itself is buggy, so you're always likely to have problems with it. That's why a lot of mod-makers don't support it and Squad themselves don't recommend it now either.

Second - choosing mods and the style in which you like to play is very much a personal choice, so while lots of people will make recommendations there's nothing that will be 'right' for everyone.

Third - CKAN will indicate compatibility problems

Fourth - the best overview of published mods is probably http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/55401-Community-Mods-and-Plugins-Library, stickied in the add-ons forum.

[Taki117]

If you like RSS, but don't want to do RO, I suggest getting the 1/10th config for it. Changes the KErbin system to our own, but keeps the mostly stock sizes. If you use FAR (highly recommended since 1.0 will change the aerodynamics) you will need about 5km/s to reach orbit. With FAR I also suggest Procedural Fairings (AGain, 1.0 just around the corner) to get used to using them for things. SCASAT and RemoteTech are good, You might also want to get Karbonite. Some other ones to consider are Realchutes and KSPI.

All mods linked for your convenience.

Also, because you're probably going to want to run the 32-bit version You definitely want ATM

[Red Iron Crown]

This question has been moved to General Add-On Affairs, the place for mod-related discussion.

[sarbian]

Recently I have "discovered" the realism overhaul thread which is offering many interesting things, but although I do want something more realistic, I am not sure it suites perfectly to me (I like the challenge of it, but I would love to discover things using ScanSat and have fun with station modules/colonisation, still trying to figure out if it is supported).

May I suggest the 64k mod then ? You get a larger scale system but not as much as with RSS. Stock part don't need to be re-sized and you can use most mod without a need to change their power.