What are some must-have mods you came across?

[Stealth2668]

I came across this video (not my video) with "Modular Multiwheels" and "K.A.S" (rope lifting system)

I believe KAS includes the refuelling system shown at 9:35

This is probably widely known however I didn't know about so maybe noobs alike will now know about it. What are some other mods that you came across that add more parts/functionality? (Besides Kethane)

Edited April 23, 2013 by Stealth2668

[Deadpangod3]

ISA Mapsat

[whatisthisidonteven]

Kerbal Alarm Clock and Kerbal Engineer are the only must have mods imo. KAS is good if you plan on doing stuff that specifically requires such a feature.

[Tw1]

Mechjeb! At least for the telemetry and smart ASAS.

Kerbal Alarm clock! know transfer window times and when you're approaching a maneuvering node, and have it stop for you!

Protractor! Helps with burn and phase angles.

KSPX! Some of these parts will be stock someday.

Engineer redux! If you feel like reducing the guess work in ship design.

Subassembly loader! Save sections of spaceship for later use. Like reliable landers and launchers.

Mapsat! Locate anomalies, and map the worlds from orbit!

Muon detector! Helps you find those anomalies (easter eggs).

Ordan Industries Telescope! or Hubbazoot's zoom camera.

Crewmanifest! Choose your Kerbals, add extras when on the pad, move them around the ship..

Damned robotics! Because you could do with a robot arm on your spaceship.

Novapunch remix has some structural parts I find very useful. The super struts alone save time.

If you're willing to jump decades ahead of current technology there is the ion engine pack with more powerful ion engines, and hybrid ion/chemical engines. (I personally think these need a new model.)

That aught to get you going.

Or clog up your computer and overload your brain...

Edited April 23, 2013 by Tw1

[tyrant264]

awesome video man! and I like to use KAS for EVAs on my space station to make sure kerbals don't get to far in eva

[SkyRender]

Pretty much anything by Bobcat Industries is worth a look, though I particularly recommend HOME and the DEMV series (especially the ANT; a lightweight two-Kerbal rover with easy controls is a perfect addition to most expeditions). Everything else I'd recommend has already been suggested.

[Spatzimaus]

KW Rocketry for the 3.75m parts, better array of 2.5m engines, and heavier struts. A must-have for heavy-lift vehicles.

Kethane mod, because it adds a fuel refining system that makes more complex missions possible. Soon to be obsolete in 0.20, but great practice for the new system.

Common Berthing Mechanisms adds better 1.25m docking ports (they weigh more but have a stronger hold), plus 2.5m and 3.75m docks that are great for docking larger vessels. I use 2.5m ports on all my large ships instead of the old cluster of three smaller ports.

The Ion Engine mod adds bigger ions and bigger Xenon tanks, bigger batteries, bigger solar panels, plus the extremely useful Hybrid engines (900 ISP, and high enough thrust to be useful on regular ships, but extremely electricity-dependent). Even if you have no intention of ever using the engines, the batteries and solar panels are worth installing this (especially on space stations).

Flight Engineer allows you to see in real-time what your mass is, your current thrust-to-weight ratio, the terminal velocity at your current altitude, and so on.

Subassembly Loader, because it lets you design standardized boosters that can then be pasted into other designs.

Those are the ones I'd consider must-haves. There are others that are really handy, like the Robotic Arm mod, Modular Multiwheels, or Kerbal Attachment System, but your use of those would depend on your playstyle.

[musicpenguin]

Mechjeb is good. It helped me learn how to get into orbit and to the moon. It's good for training but dont get to used to it, It takes away alot of the fun unless most of the fun is building.

[Qumefox]

Kerbal engineer redux and protractor. Beyond that, i've managed everything i've attempted with stock parts so far. So no real need for other mods.

[Spartwo]

PB ion and Subassembly saver.

[rosenkranz]

KSPX for the parts and struts (heavier struts means fewer struts means lower part count means less lag means more fun )

MechJeb for the guidance mods and info

ORDA for docking (at least until MechJeb is up to it)

Engineer Redux (good for building info)

Crew Manifest (great for crew management)

HOME and DEMV

I'm sure there are a few others I use but too many parts will make your computers RAM cry until they start optimizing the code to load parts on demand.

[Noticeably FAT]

MechJeb

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Subassembly Loader/Saver

Lazor Docking Camera

Those are the ones I use constantly, and would really miss if I didn't have them.

Graphotron

ISA Mapsat

Quantum Struts

Crew Manifest

Damned Robotics pack

Fairing Factory parts

These I enjoy but could just as easily do without.

[Stealth2668]

Subassembly loader! Save sections of spaceship for later use. Like reliable landers and launchers.

Ahh, this will be very usefull for things like adding a rover to a ship, rather than having to rebuild either the ship or rover.

[Amaroq]

Usability:

• Kerbal Alarm Clock lets you set alarms, store planned maneuver nodes for the future, and lets you know when a craft arrives in a planet's SOI - once you have more than five or ten flights in progress, it becomes "Mission Control" more than "Alarm Clock"
  
• Kerbal Engineer Redux calculates available delta-V and gives you digital displays of key pieces of data (periapsis, distance to target, ejection angle to planet, height above terrain) that are not easily found in the default UI.
  
• Kerbal Crew Manifest lets you move Kerbals between command pods in flight, choose which Kerbals belong in a flight, and rename or edit Kerbals.
  
• Subassembly saver/loader lets you save off portions of a craft, such as a lift vehicle, oribtal module, or payload, to load and combine as you see fit. Lost in the shuffle.
  

Physics:

• Ferram Aerospace Research replaces the default atmospheric drag model with a much more realistic one. Nosecones, fairings, and symmetry matter.
  
• Debridement - Improved orbital decay and debris scrubbing, added salvaging. Lost in the shuffle.
  

Additional Missions:

• RemoteTech Relay Network adds a time delay in commands sent to probes, creating missions like "create a network of communications satellites".
  
• ISA MapSat gives you the mission of "map each planet", and also helps identify the location of gravitational anomalies, guiding your landing missions towards easter eggs.
  
• Kethane Pack adds a fictitious research which you can scan planets for, mine, and convert into fuel
  
• Ordan Industries Telescope lets you build your own orbital telescopes.
  

Spaceplanes:

• Taverio's Pizza and Aerospace
  

Lighting:

• Aviation Lights
  

Station Building:

• FusTek Parts: Munox, Karmony, and Docking Nodes has much more stable docking ports than the default with the game, plus a lot of good station parts.
  
• Lack Luster Labs excellent station part collection, including lit windows, docking lights, etc.
  
• Docking Struts - Like Quantum Struts, but with a more "realistic" model, help to strut two docked vessels together to keep your stations and assembled-in-orbit megaships stable.
  
• Spaceport: HOME is a good set of parts slightly more aimed at colonization than stations, but suitable for either.
  

Edited April 23, 2013 by Amaroq

[Sir Nahme]

My current list of must haves is;

Kerbal Engineer Redux

Subassembly saver/loader

Kerbal Crew Manifest

KSPX parts pack

Damned Robotics

I tend to also instal the kethane pack and kerbal attachment system but they aren't must haves. I also pretty much always use micro illuminators and BBI colour light pack.

I'm trying out the B9 aerospace and High visbility pod packs right now.

I used to swear by kw rocketry but have moved away from it lately finding that it simply added too many parts that just weren't needed and didn't seem to be quite on the same balance as the stock parts.

[M5000]

Absolutely essential for me:

-KSPX

-KW Rocketry

-Kethane

-Subassembly Save/Loader

-Advanced Editor Tools

-Kerbal Crew Manifest

-Common Berthing Mechanism (it's the only PROPER way to build large things in orbit.)

Fun or otherwise useful, but not essential:

-MechJeb (I use 2.0.6 ATM)

-Kerbal Engineer Redux

-Ordan Industries Telescopes

-Kerbal Attachment System

-Firespitter Plane Parts

-Damned Robotics

-Hooligan Labs Airship Parts

-ISA MapSat

-FusTek Station Parts Pack

-FusTek Kappa Pod

-FusTek Munox

-Bobcat's DEMV Mk2 (My favorite one. ANT is too small, Mk1 is not expandable enough, and Mk3 and 4 don't interest me enough to install right now)

-The REALLY old CleverBobCat cart parts (I just install the little Mun rover base with the golden wheels and the RCS systems for it, they're easily replaceable and outdated now, but I really like that rover model for some reason)

The above are all the mods I currently have installed in my working game. Some other mods that I enjoy but don't have installed right now to trim load times are:

-Kosmos Space Station Parts Pack

-Nova Punch Parts Pack

-C7 Aerospace (Mk3 Shuttle expansion)

-Mk2 Cockpit Internals (I hope this becomes stock)

-Bobcat's HOME 3m modules

-Bobcat's DEMV Mk1, 3, 4, and 5

-Bobcat's Soviet pack

-KerbX

-Dragon Rider Capsule

-Lionhead Aerospace's ships (All of them)

-Romfarer's Lazor System (I usually can't find much of a purpose for this that's worth the effort of using, TBH)

-RemoteTech

-Binky's RTGs (Some big ass RTGs that I may re-add since they're so cool..)

-Binky's Conformal Tanks

-Ion Hybrid Engine Pack

-Docking Strut (Ended up causing a ton of wobble on my crafts..)

-Quantum Strut (Not realistic enough for my tastes, personally..)

-Deep Space Mission Pack (Mediocre model and texture quality, provided nothing I couldn't just make myself. Waiting for the developer to refine the parts)

-TiberDyne Shuttle Expansion Pack

-Mk4 Fuselage System

-Modular Multi-Wheels

-Bobcat's Lunokhod-1 (I may re-add this, as this is one of the higher-quality models from Bobcat and still retains a bit of the stock style)

Really, nothing is inherently WRONG with those mods, I'm just not terribly keen on modding until version 1.0 comes out, then I'll have more parts than I can shake a stick at, likely. And probably several of those mods will be gotten rid of simply because stock features replace them.

But all those mods above have at one point been in my game. So I guess you could consider them various levels of "must have".

[Specialist290]

Most of the ones I tend to use have already been mentioned.

However, on top of all those, I'd also recommend Improved Maneuver Nodes. It adds an interface that lets you plan or tweak maneuvers by adjusting the numbers directly and shows you the delta-v you'll need for all your planned maneuvers, not just the one that's coming next. Really handy when paired with Kerbal Alarm Clock and KER's Flight Engineer (or MechJeb, if that's your cup of tea).

[Xenophobe]

So far just Kerbal Engineer Redux and Protractor. Subassembly Save/Loader looks promising now that I'm planning more complicated missions and want to mate standard payloads to launch vehicles.

[astropapi1]

KW rocketry is a main component of my lifters now, which I re-use with the Sub-assembly loader.

The new version of the KAS is going to be awesome for creating a base using my (super secretly awesome) crane.

Mechjeb is a must have, now that I do my orbital ascents without looking at the map view. The custom window editor is awesome for giving me only the Info I need.

KSPX is awesome, and I heard some parts are being implemented now that the girl who did it is in on the dev team.

ISA Mapsat is cool if you're on an easter egg hunt, if you want to plan your landing on the highest point of Eve, or just if you wanna give satellites a purpose.

The Chatterer mod is awesome for doing videos, as it adds "kerbal" chatter, or you can use it to give the game some life from time to time.

If you're doing a movie, use the KerbCam mod. It's awesome.

Kethane. I almost forgot it! It gives a purpose to your bases, and it's a blessing for multi-planetary missions.

The Mk3 Cockpit internals. It changes the basic IVA with a cooler one, and gives you some camera angles out of the ship, without plugins.

The Docking cam mod, if you can get it to work. I couldn't, but I heard it's awesome (Scott Manley uses it!).

.

.

.

I know there are a lot of mods I haven't tried, but these are the ones I like the most.

[Brotoro]

Until the game interface gets fixed, I must have these to keep from going nuts:

1) Maneuver Node Improvement (to reopen those pesky maneuver nodes that collapse)

2) Haystack (to select the ship I really WANT as my target)

3) Subassembly Saver/Loader (to re-use peices parts of ships). PAYLOADER was good for this, too.

All the rest are icing.

[llamatoes]

B9, KSPX, KEThane and Calcuator are the only mods I use. Never leave home without them.

[engraverwilliam]

So far just Kerbal Engineer Redux and Protractor. Subassembly Save/Loader looks promising now that I'm planning more complicated missions and want to mate standard payloads to launch vehicles.

It works really really well. I used payloader first but this one blows that away and should be put into main game.

[Rathkeaux]

It works really really well. I used payloader first but this one blows that away and should be put into main game.

They could just remove the need for command modules in the VAB SPH, then you could save whatever subassemblies you need using the current save buttons.

[The Destroyer]

Protractor. Can't live without it.

[ComradeGoat]

Kerbal engineer redux and protractor. Beyond that, i've managed everything i've attempted with stock parts so far. So no real need for other mods.

I'm using both of those. Also, Haystack (never again end up screaming, "BUT I'M CLICKING ON THE SPACE STATION, NOT THE DEBRIS! STUPID COMPUTER!" and Subassembly Loader (which would be much more useful if it didn't mess up fuel lines and struts);