New Kerballer looking for some tips!

[The_FD]

Hi Guys,

KSP newbie signing in, just downloaded the game tonight!

I was wondering, I read somewhere that its quite possible to make KSP "real-world" like, with some mods and the likes. So I went ahead and installed a few that sounded reasonable, such as the Realism Overhaul with all the mods CKAN recommended, Real Fuels/Plume/Boosters/Solar System/Atmospheres, Life Support, FAR, etc. etc. So I think I'm pretty well set on the mods front, however I read somewhere that the scale is greatly reduced. Now that the physics should be somewhat accurate, is there any way to get the scale "right"?

Also, I don't mind a challenge and I would like to actually learn from this game.. but am I getting too far ahead of myself? Or is it perfectly doable to start of like this? I'm pretty damn far from a rocket scientist but as an airline pilot I do have some notion of physics and flight.

I tried to search for the answers to some of these questions but didn't find much.. I hope this hasn't been asked a million times before!

In any case, thanks in advance!

-The FD

Edited September 13, 2019 by The_FD

[Geonovast]

I don't know anything about the realism mods, but welcome aboard!

 

That said, I think it might be a good idea to play the game stock for a little while, before you start modding the game.  Personally I think it's better to get to know the game at its core, first, especially before something like Realism Overhaul.  Plus learning the basics like how to get to orbit is going to go smoother in the stock system.  Once you get some skills down - then go for the hard stuff!

 

[Vanamonde]

As a rule, I always advise new players to try the stock game for a while before trying mods. Otherwise you don't know if you're experiencing bugs or game features. 

Anyway, welcome to the forum.  

[IncongruousGoat]

Speaking as someone who plays a pretty good amount of Realism Overhaul, start with the stock game. Any intuitions you might have about how anything works are almost certain to not apply in the world of orbital mechanics, and it's much easier to learn the ropes in the stock game's simplified simulation than it is to try and dive straight into Realism Overhaul. In this case, the places where the stock game abandons realism for gameplay are there to take a thing that's a byword for complexity and make it into something somewhat manageable.

I also say this in part because I have a friend who did exactly as you did... and who then found himself unable to do anything in the game, because Realism Overhaul is too damn hard if you don't already have a solid framework of orbital mechanics, rocket engineering, and space history upon which to draw. Space is hard.

Don't worry - the stock game is plenty fun, and plenty challenging for a new player.

[bootsam]

I agree with above. Ive only just started with mods. I followed this. It needs some tweaking by the user to get it looking ok and not laggy etc or weird. I concentrated on the basics until I started looking at mods. Its sound advice from above.

Good luck.

[The_FD]

Alrighty, back to stock I go! Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

Two more questions then if I may..

- Any quality of life and visual mods other than EVE that I should consider? Redux maybe?

- If/when I get around to realism stuff, what scale should the KSP galaxy be scaled to?

Thanks again! 

[Dman979]

KER is pretty good. Scatterer is also popular, and Chatterer is pretty nice.

KSP is about 1/10th of the scale of the real solar system, IIRC. So you'd have to scale it up. But Real Solar System will do that for you. But play the stock game first to get a hang of things.

[The_FD]

Alright! Excellent, thanks very much for all the helpful replies!