Please help me mod my KSP universe to my liking.

[Mapoko]

Hello,

Can you please help me decide on what mods should I pick to be able to achieve making the universe I like to play into for my KSP ?

I have browsed pretty much all the mods from the list posted in the library and I have few that caught my eye.

But before that I can not decide on mod for life support. On some video I saw one that you have to supply water, food and oxygen and you have water filtering, farms and oxygen recycling systems.

I am not sure that I am ready for that level of realism, so choosing this kind of mod is with the lowest priority for now, but nevertheless I would like if you point me to the right one.

RemoteTech caught my eye, but this may make the inclination from vanilla way too steep, not to mention all my satellites will go down. Same goes for the mapping and Deadly reentry.

Here is what I am planning to use :

1. Adding some life in the universe :

1.1 Kerbal Attachment System (KAS) 0.4.10 - Hope this will be implemented into vanilla as it adds huge potential for everything.

1.2 Kerbal Inventory System (KIS) 1.0.0 - Hope I can manage get rid of the "old containers" and use only the proper ones, as I did read they will replace the KAS ones with those on it's next version.

1.3 - Universal Storage 1.0.90.2 (For KSP 0.90) 19th January 2015 - This should help with the FPS and also pack neat. Also has hangars for my equipment.

1.4 Kerbal Mechanics: Part Failures and Repairs v0.6.3 OR Dang It! - Leaning toward the first one, but need your opinion on which one may be better. I think having the option to EVA and repair works nice, do not think Dang it has it ?

2. Building Modules and Parts : - Well, basically I am looking for the most stock alike parts, but one thing is what I am really looking for - A cargo bay with doors.

From my last vanilla attempt ( http://s28.postimg.org/cu3ht1v6j/image.png ) you can see all those mini vessels attached and all those docking ports made, so they can dock back after mission.

Mostly I want different size cargo bays, so I can dock my vessels into and then neatly close them. And ofcourse for various other applications.

I do not really like those inflatable stuff and unfoldable launch pads.

2.1 - Fuel Tanks Plus 0.7.1 (2015-03-25) so I can reduce part count and fps drop

2.2 - Modular Rocket Systems v1.5.1 (2015-02-10) - Stock-alike Parts Pack - Is this the one with quad ION and quad Nuke engines ? (for part count reduction and fps reasons) or maybe those are the ones I am looking for ? [0.90] Atomic Age - Nuclear Rockets

2.3 - Zero-Point Inline Fairings v0.9.1 (2014-12-22) - This one wraps my rocket to aerodynamic shape, but once it is decoupled it is gone, right ? Or maybe this one is better ? [0.90] Procedural Fairings 3.11 - manual shape controls

2.4 - Hangar v2.3.0.1 - Is this what I am looking for ? or maybe it is this Cargo Transportation Solutions (WIP) ? and maybe this one if it can be made 0.9.x compatible [0.24] Spaceplane Plus 1.3 (I mean the dock parts, I know the others are implemented in 0.9 ?)

2.5 - [0.25] 6S Service Compartment Tubes - "Design smooth!" - I guess not, but does this one have 0.9.x compatible version, because it looks neat.

3. Some goodies to make my life easier :

3.1 Navball docking alignment indicator v6 - to help me align those double docking maneuvers I plan. (Is it even possible to dock 2 ports at once with the game engine ?) But anyway, unless you say otherwise or suggest better one I may use it.

3.2 RCS Build Aid v0.6.1 - engine gimbals - No more spinning around and feeling hopeless with RCS

3.3 - [0.25] [x] Science! v4.0 (2014-10-24) - now with blizzy's toolbar support - Is this working on 0.9.x ?

-

4.0 - Active Texture Management - Save RAM! - Will this help me or crash my game to oblivion because of the mods ?

Thank you in advance for confirming those mods will work in unison with eachother or suggest replacements / better alternatives.

Also, is there a mod that I can make a small vessel or construct/module for example, save it and when I want to attach it to something I do not have to recreate it from scratch ?

P.S. : Now, while waiting for feedback I will go and rescue the last kerbal I have stranded (On Minmus, so it should be cake) and land my stations' crew, so if I go for the life support mod they will not die right away.

Speaking of that the more I look into it the more I think I may be ready to actually use the mod with the food, water and oxygen, so please point me to the right one.

P.P.S. : Sorry if this is the wrong sub-forum.

[Red Iron Crown]

It is the wrong subforum, but I'll move it for you.

[hab136]

For life support, I use TAC Life Support. It's been around a while and is very stable. Snacks! is a simplified competitor (one resource, no death) that I've heard good things about.

Deadly re-entry isn't that bad - just don't do silly things like go straight down. Engines make good heat shields as long as you're not coming in interplanetary.

AntennaRange is a halfway step between stock and RemoteTech.

I use Procedural Fairings and am very happy with it. Zero-Point Fairings is newer and I haven't tried it.

I've had problems with [x]Science before. I do like ScienceAlert.

KIS is brand new so is bound to be a bit bumpy.

Active Texture Management is basically required unless you're playing on Linux.

>Also, is there a mod that I can make a small vessel or construct/module for example, save it and when I want to attach it to something I do not have to recreate it from scratch ?

That's built-in to the game since 0.22, it's called subassemblies.

[Mapoko]

Thank you ! I will get TAC Life Support after I evacuate my crew and see what happens.

I feel so ashamed. I checked "root" option, but never figured out what is it for. So many things to explore.

Any tips on the fail/repair mod ?

Also the most important question for me is which hangars will be most versatile ?

Also presumably I load (almost) all those mods + TAC LS then use ATM to compress the things will it work smoothly or I should ATM first, so it will not compress the mod parts and mess them up?

[Harry Rhodan]

2. Building Modules and Parts : - Well, basically I am looking for the most stock alike parts, but one thing is what I am really looking for - A cargo bay with doors.

From my last vanilla attempt ( http://s28.postimg.org/cu3ht1v6j/image.png ) you can see all those mini vessels attached and all those docking ports made, so they can dock back after mission.

Mostly I want different size cargo bays, so I can dock my vessels into and then neatly close them. And ofcourse for various other applications.

I do not really like those inflatable stuff and unfoldable launch pads.

I don't know why you need that many small crafts if you plan to reattach them anyways. You could simply use one or two and refuel them after eacht trip they take.

2.1 - Fuel Tanks Plus 0.7.1 (2015-03-25) so I can reduce part count and fps drop

Depends on if you like stacking parts with a predefined amount of fuel but I would recommend Procedural Parts - one tank in all sizes.

2.2 - Modular Rocket Systems v1.5.1 (2015-02-10) - Stock-alike Parts Pack - Is this the one with quad ION and quad Nuke engines ? (for part count reduction and fps reasons) or maybe those are the ones I am looking for ? [0.90] Atomic Age - Nuclear Rockets

The first one is perfectly balanced against the stock LV-N. The second one is a lot heavier but also packs more punch and with the additional config to only use liquid fuel is decidedly stronger than the LV-N (which also benefits from the config).

2.3 - Zero-Point Inline Fairings v0.9.1 (2014-12-22) - This one wraps my rocket to aerodynamic shape, but once it is decoupled it is gone, right ? Or maybe this one is better ? [0.90] Procedural Fairings 3.11 - manual shape controls

The same as in 2.1: predefined shapes vs. procedural one. I took the latter one and never looked back.

2.4 - Hangar v2.3.0.1 - Is this what I am looking for ? or maybe it is this Cargo Transportation Solutions (WIP) ? and maybe this one if it can be made 0.9.x compatible [0.24] Spaceplane Plus 1.3 (I mean the dock parts, I know the others are implemented in 0.9 ?)

Never used them. The only benefit I see is to dock something inline and not having to worry to much about symmetry. The second option looks real neat, but if you're going to carry eight inline cargo bays that'll probably be just a lot of dead weight and your ship will be too long and unwieldy.

The Mk2 docking port is also stock.

3.1 Navball docking alignment indicator v6 - to help me align those double docking maneuvers I plan. (Is it even possible to dock 2 ports at once with the game engine ?) But anyway, unless you say otherwise or suggest better one I may use it.

Docking Port Alignment Indicator has some more information but that is probably a matter of taste.

4.0 Active Texture Management - Save RAM! - Will this help me or crash my game to oblivion because of the mods ?

It'll take longer to load the first time the more part mods you have.

Also, is there a mod that I can make a small vessel or construct/module for example, save it and when I want to attach it to something I do not have to recreate it from scratch ?

As already mentioned: subassemblies. They're now hidden in the advenced options. You have to click the black arrow in the top left hand corner of the VAB.

P.S. : Now, while waiting for feedback I will go and rescue the last kerbal I have stranded (On Minmus, so it should be cake) and land my stations' crew, so if I go for the life support mod they will not die right away.

Speaking of that the more I look into it the more I think I may be ready to actually use the mod with the food, water and oxygen, so please point me to the right one.

I don't use life support. But there was a comparison and discussion a few weeks ago.

Looking at the size of the craft you're trying to build you should maybe also look at Kerbal Joint Reinforcement. That stiffens the joints and reduces wobble and might make cargo bays redundant.

[Mapoko]

-snip-

Thank you very much !

The most reassuring thing was that when I use ATM after applying the mods it will not explode.

I will stick with predefined shapes for now and take baby steps. Probably when I have enough confidence I will switch to procedural. Looking back at my first landing vessels and rovers on Mun and Minmus I am like : "What was I thinking", so I may have the same moment one day when I try procedurals, but for now, as back in the past I will take baby steps.

And about the picture - there are so many things that are wrong there, that I do not want to comment. I just did put it as example. I will not have 8 crafts in the future for example. I may or may not use it as core for my future project.

About the nukes - I guess there will not be a problem to load both and just chose which version goes on what craft.

So now all I need feedback for, unless somebody wants to add on Parts part is Life support (I will read the discussion) and Failure & Repair mod.

I actually found that I have 1 more kerbal stranded at Duna, so I will have some time to wait for feedback.

EDIT : Forgot to ask : Are those parts integrated into the tech tree, so I can research them or I need additional mod for that ?

Edited March 28, 2015 by Mapoko