Stock player looking for mod suggestions

[jkool702]

Hi all. So far I've been playing KSP completely vanilla. While I certainly havent done everything there is to do, I feel I've gotten a good idea of what stock can give me (Built a minimus refinery, several trips to EVE and Duna, One trip to Jool and its moons). I've learned to play the game completely without aid (no mechjeb help, minor help from guides), so I think I'm ready to start with some mods. I've looked into some mods and put together a (long) list of potential mods I thought would be cool / useful. Having some suggestions on which are good, which arent, which are out of date, and which I've forgotten would be great! Thanks in advance.

Utility

CKAN (Mod manager)

Mechjeb

Editor Extensions

Kerbal Engineer Redux

Contract window +

Docking alignment indicator

TAC Fuel Transfer

Stock Fuel Switch

Precise Node (included with Mechjeb)

Trajectories

RCS Build Aid

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Active Texture management (if needed)

Toolbar (for organizing mods)

HyperEdit (for testing craft)

Other

KAS / KIS

Chatterer

Quantum Struts (needed with KAS?) Kerbal Joint Reinforcement

FAR (needed with new aero model?)

Planet Shine / Hot rockets / Better atmospheres

KSP Interstellar

Near Future Tech

SCANsat

Infernal Robotics

Science Station

TAC Life Support

Edited June 26, 2015 by jkool702
Updated List

[Mitchz95]

Looks like a pretty solid list. I'd also recommend Texture Replacer and Environmental/Visual Enhancements as a great way to pretty up the game.

Trajectories wasn't really working for me last time I tried it; it failed to correctly calculate a Duna aerocapture. But that was a month or two ago, so it may have been fixed.

[imaspacestation]

No need for precise node if you will get MechJeb, it is included.

I would also recommend trying the game with all the mods minus any visual mods first, see how it works. Then add visual mods one by one, because you risk very quickly running out of max ram and crashing.

[carlorizzante]

Pilot AssistantPilot AssistantYou might have a little too much.

MechJeb does all it does Kerbal Engineer Redux, plus autopiloting. So I would choose one or the other.

Chatterer sincerely annoyed me soon after. So I finally removed 'cos I value silence over nonsense, repetitive noise.

KSP Interstellar seems to be outdated, and Near Future Tech is better done and balanced. So again, one or another.

Editor Extension didn't work well on my side. But you might be luckier.

To your list I would add Contract Packs for better enjoying some of the mods you have selected, plus KW Rocketry, Procedural Fairings, and perhaps B9 for space planes.

//

Anyway, here my personal list of mods.

ActiveTextureManagement Basic-Release

Contract Configurator

Distant Object

Docking Port Alignment Indicator

Fusebox

Heat Control

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Kerbal Engineer

Kerbal Flight Data

KSC Building Shortcuts

KW Rocketry

Portrait Stats

Precise Node

Procedural Fairings

RCS Build Aid

Remote Tech

SCAN sat

Science Alert

Station Science

Temperature Gauge Killer

Toolbar

Waypoint Manager

x science

//

Edit: Pilot Assistant may be handy as well.

Edited June 26, 2015 by carlorizzante

[capi3101]

I'm not entirely sure if it'd be redundant to install both Mechjeb and KER. My understanding is that they give you pretty much the same information. Mechjeb if you want the autopilots, KER if you don't. I use KER my own self but I've always said I'd install Mechjeb if I ever successfully takeoff to orbit from the surface of Eve...

Pretty solid list otherwise, provided you've got a box that can handle all that at once. As far as FAR is concerned, there are sufficient differences between it and stock aero to make it worth your while (I use FAR myself but I've played around in 1.0.x aero). FAR is still far and away more realistic. The stability analyses alone make it a nice mod to have, especially if you've got plans to become a serious spaceplane jockey. Others I might recommend if that's the case are Kerbal Flight Data, NavUtilities and Dynamic Deflections. StageRecovery and Procedural Fairings are also a couple of nice ones to have - the latter especially.

[A_name]

TL;DR: Get CKAN and take it slowly

You know how they say for a new player it's better to start with career mode instead of sandbox because you can easily be overwhelmed by the amount of parts, so having them unlock gradually helps new players discover the parts and what to do with each, etc. I would say the same applies for mods. I recommend you start with a set of essential mods, and then once you've learned how to use them and what they do, start transitioning to other things. Also, it really sucks to install a bunch of mods, only to have your game bug out and then having to guess which mod is doing it, or having to uninstall and reinstall them one by one. Better to add them gradually. Especially for mods like Kerbal Attachment System, Infernal robotics, or the large parts packs. These should in my opinion by installed 1 by 1, getting to know each before moving on.

My list of actually essential mods:

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Kerbal Engineer

Mech Jeb

... That's it. Play around with only these and when you've seen what they're capable of, then move to a next set of mods, and so forth. I would go for:

Kerbal Joint Reinforcement

Hyperedit

Crowd Sourced Science (if you do career)

Distant Object Enhancement

Docking Port Alignment Indicator / Navball Docking Alignment Indicator

Nav Hud (mostly useful for flying planes)

Haystack

Trajectories

RCS Build Aid

After that, I'd go for KAS or IR. After that I guess it's a matter of personal taste.

Then you have the visual mods, such as EVE and Astronomer's packs. These fall into a different category. Basically, if you have a powerful PC that can handle them, there's no reason to not have them. I don't because it seriously lags me up.

Oh and I almost forgot, do yourself a favor and get all mods through CKAN, thiss will make your life much, much easier.

Finally, my critique of your list:

Utility

CKAN (Mod manager) - Essential

Mechjeb - Essential

Editor Extensions - No idea what this does

Kerbal Engineer Redux - Essential

Contract window + - I don't find the need for this, matter of taste and only relevant for career

Docking alignment indicator - I have the Navball one

TAC Fuel Transfer - Not necessary, can do with stock tools IMHO

Stock Fuel Switch - Haven't seen this one

Precise Node - Unnecessary, Mechjeb has this

Trajectories - Very useful

RCS Build Aid - Very Useful

Kerbal Alarm Clock - Essential

Active Texture management (if needed) - "If needed"

Toolbar (for organizing mods) - I avoid it. I also have the Quick Hide mod that allows you to collapse the stock app bar so it's not in your way, and I prefer to have my mods here

HyperEdit (for testing craft) - Very useful

Other

KAS / KIS - Take them one at a time, opens up a whole new dimension to the game

Chatterer - Nice to have

Quantum Struts (needed with KAS?) - Use Kerbal Joint Reinforcement and say goodbye to struts forever

FAR (needed with new aero model?) - I prefer stock

Planet Shine / Hot rockets / Better atmospheres - All very cool, they lag me up so I don't use them

KSP Interstellar - It also adds a whole new dimension to the game. Take this one slowly.

Near Future Tech - Same as above, but to a lesser degree

SCANsat - Same as above

Infernal Robotics - Same as with KAS / KIS

Science Station - Same as with NFT / SCANsat

TAC Life Support - Same

[jkool702]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I was somewhat planning on taking it slow and installing mods in stages, and I think i have a pretty good idea of which to go for first.

I guess a followup question is whether I could realistically have most (all?) of these mods at the same time? I have a pretty decent computer but not top top of the line:

win7 64 bit

i7-3610qm

gtx 660m

16gb ram

My performance isso far is pretty much fine on max settings except for with 400+ part ships where it starts to lag. My main concern is the ram limit...on stock with no mods the game has can sometimes take over 3 gigs of ram, which seems high, but admittedly I have a tendency to launch (unnecessarily) large ships with (too) many parts.

[capi3101]

KAS / KIS - Take them one at a time, opens up a whole new dimension to the game

Do bear in mind that in order for KAS to function, you have to have KIS installed first. Myself, I'd take them both together.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I was somewhat planning on taking it slow and installing mods in stages, and I think i have a pretty good idea of which to go for first.

I guess a followup question is whether I could realistically have most (all?) of these mods at the same time? I have a pretty decent computer but not top top of the line:

win7 64 bit

i7-3610qm

gtx 660m

16gb ram

My performance isso far is pretty much fine on max settings except for with 400+ part ships where it starts to lag. My main concern is the ram limit...on stock with no mods the game has can sometimes take over 3 gigs of ram, which seems high, but admittedly I have a tendency to launch (unnecessarily) large ships with (too) many parts.

I've got roughly the same number of mods installed in your "utilities" list working on a box that is faaaaar inferior to the one you're describing (on the side is says "Manufactured in Byzantium" - it's pretty old). I'm pretty sure you could handle them all. 400 parts is about my limit too...which is why I try not to get my part counts up quite that high when I can get away with it.

Edited June 26, 2015 by capi3101

[Norcalplanner]

Editor extensions is a solid must-have in my book if you're going to be doing anything complicated in the VAB, such as multiple layers of onion or asparagus staging. KJR is also worth it's weight in gold.

[Yemo]

SETI-CommunityTechTree (starts with probes) and SETI-Contracts (progression contracts starting with probes)

[Juicy]

Infernal Robotics is great, main reason why I didn't upgrade to 1.0.4 yet, simply because IR isn't updated to that yet. My current base is based on IR, since it makes docking sooo much easier! (just don't ever use IR parts while two vessels are docked!)

SCANsat was the first mod I installed. It gives pretty maps, and a reason to learn to make satellites/probes, learn why satellites/probes take specific orbits, learn to make polar orbits with your eyes closed, etcetera..

Anyway, mod-updating is something you want to consider. Patches may break mods. And you don't want to loose half your ships because some patch broke your 5 months old mod that no longer got updated. Squad tries to keep stuff "intact" for minor patches (x.y.Z patches), but stuff may break in mayor patches (x.Y.z patches)

[micr0wave]

in addition to the ones already mentioned:

Ambient Light Adjustment (when it's to dark)

the Near Future stuff is neat

QuickScroll (can't play anymore without)

NavHud !!!

Chatterer (best mod ever)

RoverDude's mods

Procedural tanks/parts

and when you're into planes look for the B9 procedural wings

[Vanamonde]

Modding discussion moved to the modding subforum.

[clivman]

I would say stock-bugfix modules, stock plus, and all the sound mods are my favorite.

[Shadtiger]

I like Remote Tech, makes a nice pairing with TAC LS