Must have mods.

[Moeceefus]

What would all of you fine Kerbanauts define as must have mods for KSP? Perhaps we can comprise a list. I myself am looking for sustainable energy, rovers, stations, functional satellites, and many other great things. I wish I knew a bit about modding. I'd like to see ground and orbital telescopes that can provide images and various other information about the celestial bodies in KSP. What do you all think? What are the top mods for KSP that are worth looking in to?

[erkha343]

Mech-jeb

Nova Punch

Electrical engineering

DIY satellite pack

those are my must have.

[Richy teh space man]

DSM + electrical energy mod

Mech jeb

Rovers mod

The above mods are the ones I use most often.

[Anonymous_Jr]

I don't really like mech-jeb too much, seems cheaty :I Though the Rover mod might seem nice.

[deadshot462]

Cart plugin and related mods

Protractor plugin

MapSat mod

[phoenix_ca]

Kerbal.net

As for must-haves? If you want satellites and rovers and things, MMI Satellite pack. EEP and MechJeb, easily (anyone who calls it "cheaty" hasn't seen the inside of a space shuttle cockpit). Kosmos and DSM are big winners for space stations and such.

Kethane is nifty, but detection is sometimes depressingly difficult. When it comes to interplanetary things, Protractor and VOID can be indispensable.

Edited September 29, 2012 by phoenix_ca

[Bluejayek]

The only mod I use is the crew tank. Its great for rescue missions, and parties in orbit.

[Nibb31]

MechJeb (it isn't cheaty. If anything, it makes things more realistic and allows you to concentrate on stuff that matters.)

Tosh's cart plugin.

Erkle's docking mod (the other one seems to have been an unsupported hit and run).

Novapunch.

CbbP's Dragon (my all-time favorite space craft after some minor tweaking)

And I can't wait for the upcoming Angara set from CbbP...

[robly18]

Zoxygene, remotetech, damned robotics

I've been rocking vanilla since 0.17 tho.

[kacperrutka26]

Hey I want to use mods now that you all mentioned them! Can you give me the links to them please? And how can I get rid of the mods If I don't want them anymore without reinstalling ksp?

[Bluejayek]

kacp, if you have the disc space its probably easiest just copying your ksp folder and keeping a clean stock install, and then installing mods in the other.

[Koschei]

Protractor, MechJeb, NovaPunch, Erkle's docking, EscapePod.

[phoenix_ca]

There's a KSP mod manager. A ten-second google search should find it. O.o

[solomon]

Mechjeb, Deep Space, NovaPunch, Damned Robotics/Aerospace

[Moeceefus]

Wow! Thanks to all who have posted and to the modders that make these wonderful things. I was up all night launching mapping satellites, then rovers, and then Kerbals! Great stuff.

[CkGordon]

Check out this thread. I've installed almost all of them plus a couple extras. Can never have enough cool **** to build rockets with. I try to stay away from the cheaty mods tho.

[segaprophet]

The ones I don't play without currently are -

MechJeb (not because I'm bad at piloting manually, I just don't have the time to anymore)

ISA MapSat

MMI Kethane

Tosh's Carts

Protracter - Rendezvous Calculator

[Pingonaut]

Carts, Mechjeb are my favorite. Mechjeb because of all the information it can give on UIs.

[EndlessWaves]

I'd say the only essential mods are those that provide flight information because the game simply doesn't give you various essential points. Mechjeb is popular for this but I tend to find myself using Kerbal Engineer Redux instead as the interface is nicer. It also lacks mechjeb's autopilot function if you don't like that.

As for finding mods, just look at the add-ons section further down the forum mainpage. The popular ones mentioned here should also be in the first few pages of the release forum.

[Moeceefus]

I know where to find them. I just figured I'd inquire as to what the most popular ones are, as they are the most popular for good reason usually.

[TheDarkStar]

Although none are literally necessary, some that are nice to have are:

Tosh's carts

Any part pack

Either docking mod

Most mods that need a plugin.

[0jam3290]

Probodobodyne, KW Challenger+PLF packs, Bace Co., Tosh's Carts, Lionhead Inc. Prometheus Rover(Basically a Curiosity rover)