Super Realistic Career

[Spfnym]

I'm wondering about what's the most realistic one can make Kerbal Space Program (but would probably make some tweaks to make it remain "playable"). Because of this I decided upon version 1.2.2 for which a lot of the realism mods seem to be available. I've toyed with several configurations involving for example Realism Overhaul and Real Solar System; one involving the SETI tech tree, and then I went on to Realistic Progression Zero. Principia is also a wonderful mod that I found out is available, just not on CKAN.

I've since started a video commentary (probably very on-and-off). Not that I'm even a good Kerbal Space Program player just yet; this just seems to be a not yet thoroughly explored idea for a playthrough so why not.

Here are the mods I'm currently using. Indented are requirements for the parent mod, though I tried to only mention each mod once so it's actually the first occurence of the requirement I came across.

Realism mods:

• Realism Overhaul
  • Advanced Jet Engine
  • Solver Engines Plugin
  • Ferram Aerospace Research
    • ModularFlightIntegrator
  • Kerbal Joint Reinforcement
  • Module Manager
  • RealChute Parachute Systems
  • Real Fuels
    • Community Resource Pack
  • RealHeat
  • Real Plume
  • SmokeScreen - Extended FX Plugin
• Real Solar System
  • Kopernicus Planetary System Modifier
• Principia
• Realistic Progression Zero
  • SXTContinued
    • Firespitter Core
    • Firespitter Resources config
    • Retractable Lifting Surface Module
  • Contract Configurator
  • Custom Barn Kit
  • Deadly Reentry Continued
  • Ven's Stock Part Revamp
  • Community Tech Tree
  • Kerbal Construction Time
    • MagiCore
• RemoteTech
• TAC Life Support (TACLS)
• (Semi)Saturable Reaction Wheels
• BackgroundProcessing
• PersistentRotation
• Dang It! Continued. (Okay, maybe TestFlight is the preferred option, but my engines keep losing efficiency and cutting off much before their rated burn time. Maybe I just don't understand the mod in which case I could reinstall it if I get better understanding of how to make workable rockets but as it stands it's just too much uncertainty for me to make pretty much any progress.)
• Kerbalism TAC profile (settings for compatibility: Signal = false, Reliability = false, EnforceCoherency = true) (since episode 8)
  • Kerbalism (since episode 8)

Other Gameplay Additions:

• EVA Parachutes_Ejection Seats
• Kerbal Attachment System
• Kerbal Inventory System
• KRASH - Kerbal Ramification Artificial. (I opted not to allow reverting of flights so this I felt like was a suitable alternative. I can simulate flights before putting my crew and a vast amount of funds in danger.)
• SCANsat
• StageRecovery. (I'm a bit hazy on whether this can recover even things that couldn't manually be recovered so I placed it under this category)
• TweakScale - Rescale Everything!
• KSC Switcher

Other Career Mods (I tried to find information on how well contract packs mesh with Realistic Progression Zero but I don't know if there is any so I just put in whatever I felt like):

• Contract Pack: Bases and Stations Reborn
• Contract Pack: Grand Tours
  • SpacetuxSA
• Contract Pack: Interplanetary Mountaineer
• Contract Pack: RemoteTech
• Contract Pack: Tourism Plus

Quality of Life:

• Mechjeb 2. (For statistics, or if I ever do get bored there's the option to use some automation. The other option here would have been Kerbal Engineer Redux. I feel like KER offers a nicer interface and I at least haven't found a way to show partial totals for delta-v in MechJeb but MechJeb is more.. extensible, so both are very good alternatives)
• Kerbal Alarm Clock
• [x] Science!
• BetterBurnTime
• BetterTimeWarpContinued
• Contracts Window +
  • Progress Parser
  • Contract Parser
• Docking Port Alignment Indicator
• Easy Vessel Switch
• Editor Extensions Redux
• EVA Enhancements Continued
• Kerbal Flight Data
• NavBall Docking Alignment Indicator
• RCS Build Aid
• Waypoint Manager
• Connected Living Space
• Ship Manifest

Aesthetic:
If there are any other visual mods that are a "must have", I'm also willing to listen to ideas. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get Real Solar System Visual Enhancements working properly. The first time I tried with new versions of its requirements some distance up in the atmosphere Earth becomes all blue, while with the versions its forum page said the ground's all black. For the latter configuration I tried setting rendererFixEnabled to True since I'm on Linux but with no effect.

• Real Solar System Textures - 8192 x 4096
• Scatterer
• Collision FX (since episode 5)
• Distant Object Enhancement (since episode 5)
  • Distant Object Enhancement Real Solar System config (since episode 5)
• PlanetShine (since episode 5)
  • PlanetShine - Default configuration (since episode 5)
• Soundtrack Editor (since episode 8)

Parts:

• B9 Aerospace Procedural Wings - Fork
• DMagic Orbital Science
• Procedural Fairings - For Everything!
  • Procedural Fairings
• Procedural Parts
• CxAerospace: Station Parts Pack
• FASA
• Soviet Engine Pack

Purely Interface Related or Just Fun:

• The Janitor's Closet. (For removing parts that I don't need. There's just too much clutter otherwise.)
• QuickExit. (It's tedious to exit from the game through menus and alt+F4 doesn't save the game)
• QuickHide. (Even though I tried to limit extra clutter, it was unavoidable with such a large arrangement of mods. This mod allows you to get rid of some of the clutter. However, for some reason it doesn't seem to hide every button it's seemingly allowed to. Help?)
• RSS DateTime Formatter
• Final Frontier. (For ribbons for your Kerbals!)
• Hide Empty Tech Tree Nodes

As for the difficulty settings, I'm thinking of going with hard but with Funds Rewards at 300% (later was changed to 200%) (I expect a lot of failing and I don't want to lose the game completely), Science Rewards and Reputation Rewards at 100%, 25000 starting funds, 80% resource abundance, quick loads allowed, Kerbals Level Up Immediately, Part Pressure and G-Force Limits and Kerbal G-Force Limits, Require Signal for Control, Plasma Blacout. For these I'm looking for something that's decently playable and possibly fun to watch if I were to record it.

So, any suggestions for any additions or changes?

Edited November 16, 2018 by Spfnym

[IncongruousGoat]

You may want to consider removing Principia. It's not that it's a bad mod - in fact, it's fantastic and it pains me to even have to say this. However. It and KJR do not play well with each other (i.e. pernicious, game-breaking physics bugs), and Realism Overhaul is unplayable without KJR since every rocket you build will wobble itself apart.

Also, Realistic Progression 1 is available and working pretty much as intended for KSP 1.3.1, and it makes things even more realistic than RP-0. There's a spreadsheet detailing the list of dependencies and any gotchas or special installation steps.

[Spfnym]

Is that so? Even for Coxeter, the last release for 1.2.2 that I was able to find a binary for? Is there an easy way to prove to myself that it indeed becomes unplayable since it's not apparent from the start?

And sadly, I may not have access to 1.3.1 currently. That was the other version of Kerbal Space Program I considered and asked for GOG support to give me (I hadn't the foresight that there might be need to ever downgrade a game so that didn't factor into where I bought KSP).

[Guest]

I haven't had any issue with KJR and principia from my experience. 

[Spfnym]

Okay, good, because I couldn't hold myself back any longer and just decided to start recording.

Mods added after my very first recording session:

• Collision FX
• Distant Object Enhancement
  • Distant Object Enhancement Real Solar System config
• PlanetShine
  • PlanetShine - Default configuration

Is the Crowd Sourced Science not available for this setup? If I select it in CKAN it colors itself red and disables the "Apply changes" button.

[Laie]

Beware what you wish for... If you want reasonably accurate physics, the basic Realism Overhaul package is 95% of what you can even get in KSP. Persistent rotation is cool but adds complications of it's own, an Principia does the same, only more so.

If you stick to a realistic progression and somewhat historical-like missions, you will not feel n-body physics. Ranger and Mariner missions play out exactly the same in terms of mission plan and dV requirement, and you'll be hard put to spot the difference on Apollo. Using Principia only means that you can no longer use all the common mission planning tools or node editors, though the latter may not be a problem depending on how well you get along with the Principia interface.

And RP-0 has lately become a "Space Agency Spreadsheet Simulator", only that you have to keep your own spreadsheets outside of the game. Actual rocketry, when and if it happens, feels like a minigame hidden inside the tangle of funding, astronaut managment and part upgrades.

[Spfnym]

I had in previous tests of these mods noticed just how much I have to think about part purchases in RP-0. It indeed felt like too much on top of everything else; the space program might fail pretty quickly like that; so that's why I had the funds rewards set to high. In my (not yet uploaded) second recording session I decided to lower it to "just" 200%, though. Maybe that's a good compromise; we shall see.

My rockets aren't historical, though. I don't for example care if I'm mixing US and Soviet parts. Also, I do plan on trying out putting satellites or space stations into those Lagrange points where Principia is indeed necessary.

My definition of fun may differ from the average so I'm at least not yet that concerned. But I may come to regret all those mods later on; I just have to actually experience it to believe it.

[Spfnym]

Since I nowadays use the Soundtrack Editor mod, I have put in a variety of free to use music for noncommercial use. Since it might someday be released to the public as well it even has a name: the ASTRO Music Pack (the name works by itself but I had to have an easter egg that there's a meaning to it; this time it's Anonymous Spathi's Tribute to ROcketry; my nickname is also a portmanteau of Spathi Captain Anonymous).

This is what I've been going for in the various situations:

Space Center:
Majestic but NOT full on epic. In fact can be quite calm.

Earth Landed:
Various kinds of music but still reserved enough

In Space Around the Earth, Construction and Other Buildings:
Stockalike.

Liftoff:
A powerful start with only a couple of seconds of leadup. Preferably also a tense and an epic feeling to it.

Flight Calm:
The idea was that this would play after the first track of Liftoff ended but I just can't get Soundtrack Editor to work like that. Anyway, something fairly calm and neutral for long flights but retaining some sense of motion. I suppose that's achieved by the louder melody being slow paced but the background accompaniment being fast paced.

Landing on a Rocky Body:
Tense for the whole duration.

Landing on a Body with an Atmosphere:
Starts not as tense but picks up during the middle.

In Space Around the Moon:
Evokes feelings of mystery, danger, the unknown, excitement, tenseness.

Moon Surface:
Evokes feelings of relief and calmness. In case somebody builds a permanent Moon base, we don't want it the music to be too tense any longer. Also can evoke feelings of achievement and mystery.

In Space Around the Sun:
Calm, not tense. At the same time evokes feelings of mystery, the unknown and excitement.

Mercury:
Quick tempo but also has a "high temperature" sort of powerful feeling to it.

Venus:
Evokes feelings of almost overwhelming inhospitability and also is tense.

Mars:
Similar to Gustav Holst's Mars. The melody is powerful and not very fast. Percussion and wind instruments predominant.

The Jupiter System:
The melody is fast and powerful, "big". Even dreadfully big so can be tense.

The Saturn System:
The melody is somewhat gloomy, slow and powerful (not necessarily epic) but even dreadfully "big".

Uranus:
Quirky and powerful, like Gustav Holst's Uranus.

Neptune:
So distant it's tense.

Pluto:
"Dead", somber, mysterious.