RSS modding for career mode

[Kerbalnaut #55487]

I've been playing KSP for a few months and had a great time with it - only using career mode so far.

Having watched a bunch of videos on youtube, I had noticed many of them seemed to not be launching from Kerbin. So after some investigation, I found out about the RealSolarSystem mod and some further investigation - a beginner guide to modding KSP (that has sadly been left to rot and is now no good for specific mods)... long story short...

I installed the latest versions I could find of -

Kopernicus (1.9.1)

Module Manager (4.1.3)

Real Solar System (16.4)

And the 4k RSS_Texture pack (no version number but updated 4 days ago)

After some initial issues with the location of the textures, I finally got a clean load with these mods installed and no errors... noting the textured being loaded during the startup sequence I was excited to start a new career mode in our Solar System.

 

To my dismay... after starting a new save, i was still on Kerbin.

 

I would really appreciate some help with this as I am usually a purest and have never modded any game before this so there may be something simple I have missed.

I checked for other threads on this but only found out dated ones that didn't address this particular issue.

 

Thanks

[plaguex1]

I was also curious about this. Real Solar System won't work for me either. I think it may be a version issue. I'm going to try downgrading to 1.8.x. It may even be some obscure prerequisite mod. 

[Kerbalnaut #55487]

There are a list of recommended mods for use with RSS but I have installed all those listed as a dependence, I may try some of those recommended mods if I can get the RSS to work.

If you do roll back your game version and get it working, it would be great to hear about it. It would also be great if there are any experienced modders that could lend some insight too though.

[hypervelocity]

Guys, I recommend you refer to the Realistic Progression 1 Installation Guide & Wiki. Although I would not recommend you to install RP-1 just yet (I'd say first get acquainted with RSS and RO, and then after gaining some experience maybe try tackling RP-1), its installation guide offers a clear & detailed walkthrough on how to install RSS and Realism Overhaul. There is also a section of Recommended Extra Mods that you'll certainly enjoy in the upscaled RSS environment.

https://github.com/KSP-RO/RP-0/wiki

Edited May 29, 2020 by hypervelocity

[Kerbalnaut #55487]

Thanks for your input hypervelocity, looks like a ton of reading. I guess I'll get started...

General question about modding though... I'm using KSP on an intel i5 gaming laptop, GeForce 1050 or 1080 (I forget) GTX 2GB, 8GB RAM.

I have been reading up on some mods using excessive RAM and considering I already need some extra cooling when running for extended periods... do you know how I can ensure that the mods I use aren't too numerous/RAM hungry for my hardware?

Edited May 29, 2020 by Kerbalnaut #55487

[Kerbalnaut #55487]

On 5/29/2020 at 2:43 PM, hypervelocity said:

Guys, I recommend you refer to the Realistic Progression 1 Installation Guide & Wiki. Although I would not recommend you to install RP-1 just yet (I'd say first get acquainted with RSS and RO, and then after gaining some experience maybe try tackling RP-1), its installation guide offers a clear & detailed walkthrough on how to install RSS and Realism Overhaul. There is also a section of Recommended Extra Mods that you'll certainly enjoy in the upscaled RSS environment.

https://github.com/KSP-RO/RP-0/wiki

A highly detailed and to be honest extremely daunting read - Thank you!

 

However I sadly discovered this statement in the installation guide - "KSP v1.9.1: Is awaiting Kopernicus support. RSS, RO, and RP-1 are not supported on KSP v1.9 or higher."

 

It seems - "KSP v1.8.1 (RO/RP-1 v1.4.1) Installation Guide: RP-1 v1.4.1, released April 2020, is the newest version of RP-1. KSP v1.8.1 is the latest version of KSP supported for use with RP-1." - a rollback to v1.8.1 is required for this to work.

 

Thanks for the information hypervelocity. I'll have to consider rolling back...

[hypervelocity]

That's correct, 1.9.1 is not yet supported - I suggest rolling back to 1.8.1

In terms of RAM usage, power consumption & heating - the best way to know is just trying! Mod-intensive installs will definitely use up more RAM than stock, but you can start with a few mods and take it from there: if there's still room for adding, just keep going until your PC begs you to stop!

EDIT: If I were to start with RSS and RO, I would install said mods and dependencies, and add ROTanks, ROCapsules, ROSolar and ROEngines. With that you should be able to start a good game. After playing for a bit, I would go back to the RP-1 Guide's Extra Mod list and see from my playtime experience what mods I'd like to try out first.

Edited May 30, 2020 by hypervelocity

[Kerbalnaut #55487]

1 hour ago, hypervelocity said:

That's correct, 1.9.1 is not yet supported - I suggest rolling back to 1.8.1

In terms of RAM usage, power consumption & heating - the best way to know is just trying! Mod-intensive installs will definitely use up more RAM than stock, but you can start with a few mods and take it from there: if there's still room for adding, just keep going until your PC begs you to stop!

EDIT: If I were to start with RSS and RO, I would install said mods and dependencies, and add ROTanks, ROCapsules, ROSolar and ROEngines. With that you should be able to start a good game. After playing for a bit, I would go back to the RP-1 Guide's Extra Mod list and see from my playtime experience what mods I'd like to try out first.

I have gone ahead with the rollback and steam seemed to force a fresh install of 1.9.1 so now I have both. I decided with an all or nothing approach so i'm following that guide verbatim and installed all that aren't listed as optional and I'll see if I just end up crying due to overload haha.

The first part of the install is completed and can confirm that that is an awesome guide for this, at the first point it says to load up KSP and try it, everything seemed to work perfectly... I'm on Earth baby!! First stop... PLUTO!! oh yeah... haha!

You're a legend for pointing me to this, thanks man!!

[hypervelocity]

Enjoy it man! The RSS + RO mods open up a whole new game in my opinion! I've never played stock KSP!

[Kerbalnaut #55487]

It was ALOT more mods than I was expecting to get it all working but seeing them all, I can understand why there are so many... and then there are the part mods with Russian engines and stuff that aren't even listed as optional in the guide, will most likely feel obliged to get those too 

 

Just hope my laptop doesn't explode... 

 

And i'm crossing my fingers I can at least make it into orbit in this... let alone managing a realistic re-entry...

Edited May 30, 2020 by Kerbalnaut #55487

[Nightside]

6 hours ago, Kerbalnaut #55487 said:

It was ALOT more mods than I was expecting to get it all working but seeing them all, I can understand why there are so many... and then there are the part mods with Russian engines and stuff that aren't even listed as optional in the guide, will most likely feel obliged to get those too 

 

Just hope my laptop doesn't explode... 

 

And i'm crossing my fingers I can at least make it into orbit in this... let alone managing a realistic re-entry...

Focus on the basics of flight before downloading every mod ever.

Launching basic sounding rockets is still more fun than watching a loading screen.

[Kerbalnaut #55487]

11 hours ago, Nightside said:

Focus on the basics of flight before downloading every mod ever.

Launching basic sounding rockets is still more fun than watching a loading screen.

I see where your coming from but my reason for wanting this was to do a career in our solar system with contracts relevant to that system. Seems to me that to get that I need the RP-1 mod and having read about it - for the gameplay I want - so many of these mods are essential to that experience, loading times be dammed.

 

And yes, it's been a vast increase to be honest. It's gone from a stock load in 5 minutes to this 41,108 patch modded load at 20 minutes... kinda sucks but I'll just find something to do while it loads.

I may well end up not using all (for instance, I don't see the point of having KER and MechJeb2), but I'm considering this as a stress test for my laptop at the moment. I need to know when it's had enough and then I may well end up removing this 1.8.1 install and starting again with it. Installing only the mods i deem necessary for my gameplay requirements.

I have managed to launch my 1st sounding rocket into space (the vapour present in the fuel line was a shock surprise challenge to overcome) and in the time that took, in stock ksp, I'd probably have already landed on the mun! It's simply incredible...

 

Big thanks to anyone and everyone involved in designing these mods!

Edited May 31, 2020 by Kerbalnaut #55487

[Kerbalnaut #55487]

It seems taking TestFlight off (didn't seem to do anything) and replacing with TestLite was enough to screw it all up - reinstalling from scratch now.

The procedure has gone somewhat differently this time round as CKAN forced me to install 2 extra mods that I don't recall happening the first time round... will soon find out if that works or not.

I do wonder about my changing 1 for the other though, CKAN wouldn't delete all of the TestFlight folders (due to files CKAN didn't install?) and I had to do it manually, is a procedure like that swap out inadvisable with modding generally?

Or could this just be a unique issue due to those being conflicting mods? Will try with the TestLite initially this time...

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Kerbalnaut #55487

[hypervelocity]

Yeah - I'd say having to re-install after one minor change is a common practice for RSS/RO installs. What I usually do every time KSP updates to a new version and I need to create a new install is to download the basic, minimum mods for RSS & RO to work, and to check if that install works. Once checked, I move it a side and save it as a base install for that given KSP version. I now know I have a working RSS/RO install for that KSP version, and having saved it elsewhere enables me to make copy versions of said install and fiddle around with extra mods without the risk of compromising the whole install.

In terms of CKAN, the app usually deletes the mod's folder upon deletion, but the tool also has several bugs so I'm not surprised by what happened to you. Remember CKAN also has the ability to scan your install folder and auto-detect manually installed mods, so don't be afraid of manually deleting a mod as CKAN will scan your install folder on startup and reflect installed mods, regardless of the installation method.