Mod recommendations for new career

[Lord Aurelius]

I haven't played KSP much in awhile (other than randomly messing around occasionally) but since we just got a decent sized update and mods seem to be updating fairly quickly I figured I should try another career game. I've been around KSP for awhile but haven't paid much attention to the new mods (and I'm sure there's some mods that have been around for a long time that I haven't seen before).

What I'm looking for is a refined/extended version of KSP that stays true to the KSP feel while addressing the shortcomings of the game as much as possible. I'll likely put together my own module manager configs to tweak things to my own liking as well. I'm not looking for mods like BDArmory or KSP Interstellar (as awesome as they are) that dramatically change the gameplay or provide OP parts.

In particular:

• Improved graphics and audio (I've got a beefy PC and a 4K TV and I want the game to look awesome)
• Better UI (flight and VAB/SPH)
• Reasonable system rescale that works with stockalike parts and some additional planets
• Kerbal Konstructs (particularly mods that add more easter eggs if they exist)
• More game mechanics (life support, construction time, KAS/KIS, robotics, more interesting science experiments, etc)
• Better story contracts to provide a "story mode" as the main career progression instead of just unlocking the tech tree
• Better economy/strategies/contracts
• More parts to fill holes in the stock part lineup (I'll probably prune some of the parts in my custom config file so mods with parts that overlap with stock parts are fine)
• Better tech tree
• Other miscellaneous quality of life mods

What mods would you recommend? It's a bit late here now, but tomorrow I'll put down a preliminary modlist.

[theJesuit]

Kerbalism

SIMPLEX tech tree (shameless plug)

Missing history

KS3P 

Galileo's Planet Pack.

Peace.

 

[COL.R.Neville]

id just start

stock

usi

mechjeb

Contract Pack: Anomaly Surveyor - 1.7.1  story pack
Contract Pack: CommNet Relays - 2.0.2
Contract Pack: Bases and Stations - 3.7.0.1
Contract Pack: Grand Tour Contracts - 0.1.10.3
Contract Pack: Unmanned Contracts - 0.3.27
Contract Pack: Tourism Plus - 1.5.2

strategia

station science

Nehemiah Engineering Orbital Science

there used to be alot more contract packs but most dont work anymore. 

dm magic's stuff,

research bodies set to hard. that starts you with only knowing about kerbol,kerbin,mun you have to discover the rest. 

tarsier space tech,

ubio welding weld as much as you can. 

but unless you have 32 gigs of ram or more this is about all your gonna be able to do anyway. 

see how all that works together then do your graphics last. 

 

 

[Lord Aurelius]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I've learned of a few new mods to try. I've got 32GB of RAM, so I'll see what else I can fit in there.

[Gargamel]

Lemme go digging.... some are old links, may have to find the new thread:

[1.3.1] ResearchBodies V1.9.6 (8th Oct 2017) - Add-on Releases - Kerbal Space Program Forums

[1.2.2/1.3] StageRecovery - Recover Funds+ from Dropped Stages - v1.7.2 (June 01, 2017) - Add-on Releases - Kerbal Space Program Forums

[1.3.1] RoverScience Continued - Better, interactive science for rovers! - Add-on Releases - Kerbal Space Program Forums

[1.3.1] Kerbal Launch Failure Revived - Add-on Releases - Kerbal Space Program Forums

[1.3.0] Launch Numbering 0.4.0 - Add-on Releases - Kerbal Space Program Forums

And final frontier... I don't have a link!  But FF is one of my first mods I throw into any new career game.   Makes the game feel so much 'fuller'.  

They are all mods that just give the game a bit more personality and twists.   Stage recovery and Launch Failure just force to tweak your design process some.  Launch Numbering just is a cool thing that adds a bit of realism to my game.