Anyone running 0.17 unmodded?

[bainbridge]

It's complicated enough for me as it is, does modding make the game too easy or a good playing experience?

I've noticed on screenshots many people have an extra panel containing lots of data. What is this?

So far I've managed to do a safe return trip to Minimus, a return trip to the mun is pretty routine for me now.

By waiting 5 years I got to the surface of Duna.. but crash landed after running out of fuel on the descent

I got the chance of an encounter with Jool but again was just orbiting powerlessly having run out of fuel.

Can anyone suggest some simple mods which might help me?

Thanks

[kacperrutka26]

It depends what mods you use! The panel with lots of details is MechJeb it's a mod that adds information about orbits and other stuff you need! And mods that are really cool are

MechJeb- Details about craft and orbits, also autopilot

Tosh, rovers - Adds rovers so you can drive around on mun and other planets!

ISA Mapsat Maps the planets and moons in a cool map!

Kethane - It adds parts that you can collect kethane from other planets and make it into fuel! Really useful for Long missions!

P.S Welcome to the forums bainbridge!

[sal_vager]

I'm running unmodded bainbridge, and it is hard at least for me, mainly as my PC does not like overlarge rockets but I will keep at it

What you saw was most likely MechJeb, a very powerful autopilot that can do a lot of the hard work for you.

As to other add-ons, it depends on what they are, some make the game harder such as Zoxygen .

I'm probably going to have to use the Orbital rendezvous and docking assistant add-on so I can refuel in orbit, that way I can use several small ships instead of a framerate killing large one.

And I'll use this and this to help me get to the planets

[Tauge]

Some mods add flavor to the game, like the Rovers or Kethane or ISA. Some add parts that change the look of things. Others make it "easier" like Mechjeb (Mechjeb is easily the most divisive mod in the community). Honestly it depends on what you are looking for in your game. If you are a builder and explorer, then Mechjeb is something you would enjoy. If you enjoy piloting, Mechjeb will make more information available to you easily, but could take away the enjoyment of flying manually, so you might not get much enjoyment in that case. It's difficult to make a general statement about mods because everyone is different and each mod adds something different.

[John F. Kerman]

Only because the plugins I like haven't been updated to work in 0.17 yet.. ok well actually most of them still do, but it's just not the same without RemoteTech.

edit: nevermind, just checked and it is now

[technotica]

I run it unmodded so far but I'll definitely try out the kethane and rover mods someday. Probably MechJeb too at some point if getting to other planets prooves too difficult (haven't gotten past Minmus yet).

[Vanamonde]

I have no mods currently, partially because I just don't like to complicate things, and partially because I'm trying to simplify things to help diagnose that freezing problem. The mods I have used are only to fill in aspects of the game that aren't finished yet, such as the floodlights and Tosh's carts.

[-Gamah]

I may try kethane to support realistic situations for interplanetary returns, but at the moment I have always run completely stock.

That being said, I have visited every planet but moho, and visited ike, and orbited all of Jool's moons... it can be done stock without mech jeb.

[TerranCmdr]

I keep mine at stock for simplicity sake. Probably going to start using NovaPunch again soon though as it's proving difficult for me to make rockets large enough for interplanetary travel without them falling apart. The only mod I have been using is Protractor in order to make planetary transfers easy.

[Moeceefus]

Mods add a lot of extra game play we'd otherwise lack. Not that KSP isn't great on its own, its just still being fleshed out and developed. In the mean time, I'll be having great fun launching satellites, rovers, massive rockets and building space stations.

[OtherDalfite]

The only mod I'm using right now is the Cart Plugin by Tosh. I occasionally use part packs but I always end up just going back to stock. Always more of a challenge for me, especially when since the Fuel Bug was removed.

[Peppe]

In the base game you fly pretty blind. You can rule of thumb / ballpark your way to moons within a system. Transfers planet to planets are small targets over large distances. I don't enjoy missing an encounter because I thought something was about 45° ahead of me and instead it was 50°. Information mods improve the game experience for me.

It is easier to get an encounter, but if you still fly manual there will be plenty of challenges en-route to your goal. Missing because you didn't manually measure all the angles using an external tool or overlay outside the game is not fun to me.

I also don't like to use quicksave/load, so i hate the 'ballpark' plans to just orbit kerbin and try burns at different times until you get an encounter.

In the end it is a single player game, so play the way you enjoy.

In the base game a mission to duna might be:

wait for duna to be about a pie slice ahead of kerbin

orbit kerbin at x altitude (orbit east, 90 degree, with rotation, whatever you want to call it)

A little after going into the dark side of the planet burn prograde until your orbit hits duna's

get an encounter? If not burn a little more to maybe get a second shot at an encounter.... if not keep an orbit that crosses duna's and eventually you will have an encounter... or re-load and launch again with duna at a different starting point

With more information it is more like

Launch - when a little before Duna hits 44.36° ahead of kerbin (give some time to establish kerbin orbit)

Get in 100km kerbin orbit (if different orbit update angles/exit velocity)

Transfer orbit - burn ship's prograde when ejection angle is at 150.91° (with reasonably TWR)

Burn until velocity is 3289.2 m/s

Encounter ... likely or may require some minor adjustments on the way.

For full missions I fly manual, but usually have at least one information mod on at any time.

During engineering phases I do like to use mechjeb auto pilots to help test stages of a craft in the background while i go off and do other things.

I think more information is coming anyway, so don't feel too bad using information mods.

From the planned features list:

http://kspwiki.nexisonline.net/wiki/Planned_features

Currently implemented in mods:

Spacecraft Construction -> Spacecraft Stats: Total Weight, Loaded Fuel (per Stage?) =

Engineer Redux (in the hanger) - http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/18230-0-17-Kerbal-Engineer-Redux-v0-4-3-2-%2827-Sep%29

Or part of mechjeb (on the pad) - http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/12384-PLUGIN-PART-0-16-Anatid-Robotics-MuMech-MechJeb-Autopilot-

v1-9

Now that there are planets to target it seems likely in the base game we will get a little more information somewhere to plan transfer maneuvers. Both the mods above have information that helps with planet to planet transfer. The protractor mod gives you just about everything you would need in game to do planet/moon to planet/moon transfer:

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/21544-Plugin-Part-17-Protractor-Planetary-Lunar-Rendezvous-Mod

If you are tired of leaving kerbin at the wrong time than protractor is probably the one information mod to use.

In all the mods these stats are displayed with the ship. Maybe in the base game you will have to jump to mission control to see what some/all the angles are on the ship and in the solar system. Meanwhile your ship continues to orbit/move.

Docking is another planned feature, so I am taking a serious look at the two major docking mods at the moment:

[http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/20604-Plugin-Parts-0-16-Orbital-Rendezvous-and-Docking-Assistant] (ORDA)

[http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/20503-Plugin-Part-0-16-Erkle-Mods-Warp-Capable-Docking-Clamp-v0-3-released] (Erkle)

[segaprophet]

I played vanilla KSP until very recently, but now run a few mods, such as -

MechJeb

ISA MapSat

Tosh's Carts

MMI Kethane

Protracter - Rendezvous Calculator

all really quality mods and make the game a lot more fun for me!

[colonel0sanders]

I run 0.17 stock. I do have an excel spreadsheet to help me get places, and doing the math is part of the fun for me.

[sal_vager]

Something that can help a lot for the base game is simply modifying your settings.cfg

Look for CONIC_PATCH_LIMIT and set it to 3 or 4, that will display more orbit lines making it easier to see where you will end up, it is less accurate with each successive line though.

Also CONIC_PATCH DRAW_MODE can be changed to give different ways of linking the orbit lines together, 3 seems pretty good but is less accurate than 1

[bainbridge]

Thanks for all your replies folks, looks like I have a whole load of new stuff to learn if I want to get the most out of this game!

Also thanks for the warm welcome

[TheDarkStar]

The only mod I have installed is MechJeb, and that was only to check the TWR of a rocket. I have used ionly stock since.

[Aescwulf]

I mostly run stock but at times I will stick in a Mod to see if I like it then if I do it stays if I don't then I delete it.

But I keep the mods in their folders and when I want to use one then I stick in the parts.

But I mainly use the Mods based on what might be stuck in and stuff for scientific missions like probes.

( I use Jeb 9000 to stick on the side of the rocket just for decoration )

[ddavis425]

Some people think that mods can ruin your game experience and are unbalanced, but the majority of mods are well balanced to the stock parts and in some cases they add what the game is currently lacking (Reentry heat, docking for example). Some mods such as KW Rocketry cut down on the number of parts you need by adding larger fuel tanks, as well as enable you to make more realistic-looking rockets. MechJeb provides loads of data that is useful for precise navigation and autopilots for repetitive tasks.

[Vindicator]

I use

-nova punch because I like the way rockets look.

-deep space mission pack for easy-to-adjust-orbit satelites with cool looking solar panels

-mapsat to give purpose to those satelites

-relay network because I find it cool to create a network of information and having unmanned probes seems plausible to me

-mechjeb. I have it just in case I want some info but I normally fly in the kerbal way: guessing what I have to do

[cardgame]

Some people think that mods can ruin your game experience and are unbalanced, but the majority of mods are well balanced to the stock parts and in some cases they add what the game is currently lacking (Reentry heat, docking for example). Some mods such as KW Rocketry cut down on the number of parts you need by adding larger fuel tanks, as well as enable you to make more realistic-looking rockets. MechJeb provides loads of data that is useful for precise navigation and autopilots for repetitive tasks.

Is KW rocketry really balanced?

I tried it in .15 and the one meter kerosene engines were insane OP for launch stages.

[Accelerando]

I almost always use mod parts for adding to gameplay, such as through docking, mining, and base-building but the actual boost stages are almost always all stock. I really don't like having to pick from dozens of different fuel tanks and engines that bog my computer down and increase KSP loading times when I know I could just strap on a relatively small amount of stock equipment and fly almost anywhere in the solar system.

Also, I like Nova and C7's parts more than most modders'.

[stargazer1235]

I try to stick to the core game as much I as I can. I don't really fancy mods that add parts or extra bit since the original provides enough already. I used mechjeb once and I hated it. I only likes to burn at full trust are which it adds to much velocity and the karken gets me. I threw it way with 0.17. Getting to planets is hard and now I am really only using one mod. It is that protractor mod which give you the information on the right time to burn to another planet. It isn't really a cheat since it would be the same information you get if you had use the oxly interplanetary calculator. It just beats using a onscreen protractor and eyeballing it.

[EvilotionCR2]

never!!!

(VBulletin is very bad at this)

[Awaras]

The only mods I use regularly are the Cart mod and DEMV for rovers, Crew Tank to let me carry more than 3 kerbonauts in one rocket and the AdamKSP protractor mod (to plot my course to the planets). I have recently begun experimenting with the fuel transfer mod (I sent 3 ships to Jool orbit - a Kerbin return vehicle, a SSTO lander and a big fuel ship. I managed to land on all moons by returning the lander to the fuel ship and refueling).