Brand new to the game, must have mods?

[Dewm]

So I just picked up the game around 3 days ago, and so far I love it.. its the hardest most fun game I've seen..

....But when I wanted to look up some answers here on the forums I noticed most people have tons of parts I don't have access to.. So what mods would you suggest? and would you mind linking them

Thanks!

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Off main topic noob questions:

How do you guys steer rockets so easily? I watch youtube videos and people seem to be able to pinpoint exactly where they want to go. When I copy their rocket design 100% I'm lucky if I can get it to 40degree's let alone pinpoint my direction..

I do use the navball to steer.. but other then that, any tips?

Thanks!

[stringyquark]

It can be a steep learning curve. I was able to get to orbit, land on mun, rendezvous and dock, and make duna orbit before adding mech jeb. There are many excellent tutorials on YouTube that will aid you to do all of it without mods. I am not saying there's anything bad about mods, you just don't need them.

Biggest issue I had with steering was docking, I would start looking at the ship I was docking with and start seeing funny because of my orientation. Switching to chase cam helped with this a lot.

So imho you don't need mods, but I did start using mech jeb for some of the info it provides otherwise I am stock everything else. Biggest tip would be check those helpful YouTube vids for what you're having issues with, quick save often, and rejoice in the joy of failure. Killing kerbals learning was some of my most fun and memorable moments!

[xylotism]

Off main topic noob questions:

How do you guys steer rockets so easily? I watch youtube videos and people seem to be able to pinpoint exactly where they want to go. When I copy their rocket design 100% I'm lucky if I can get it to 40degree's let alone pinpoint my direction..

I do use the navball to steer.. but other then that, any tips?

Thanks!

Do you know how to use SAS/ASAS? If you made sure to include the module from the Control tab in design mode, use T to activate it in launch mode, it greatly helps with steering. If you're using SAS and it's still out of control, add some RCS fuel with RCS boosters, use R in launch mode to turn it on and SAS will use RCS thrusters to help with course correction.

If none of that works, your rocket is probably not balanced properly... too top- or bottom-heavy, or needs more struts for stability.

Also, make sure you're using decouplers or separators to seperate stages as the engines run dry, otherwise you're hauling dead weight for no reason.

[espm400]

See my comment in the other thread you started for my list and explanation of the mods I use. HERE

[lammatt]

to steer the rocket easily

you need to use rockets that allows thrust vectoring

ie... you cant steer well with a SRB because it doesnt have thrust vectoring

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also RCS comes handy if you ship is very heavy

[luchelibre]

SubAssembly Manager is a must-have in my opinion. Also, unless you enjoy doing the math yourself (which can be very rewarding), Kerbal Engineer Redux (or MJ's equivalent section) is vital to cut down on the trial and error of delta-v budgets in shipbuilding.

[Eric S]

Only you can define what mods are must have for you. For some people, MechJeb is a must have from the start, for others, they pick it up when they get bored of easily automated parts of the mission, some never do use it. Personally, I don't recommend using it until you find something that you just can't do, and then you watch how it does it (the 2.0 version actually creates maneuver nodes for most of the things it does, so you can take a look at what it is doing), or there's something you've done often enough that you're bored of.

I don't see a reason to stay away from things like Subassembly Manager, Kerbal Alarm Clock, Kerbal Engineer Redux, Editor Extensions, etc. Kerbal Crew Manifest was a must have until 0.21 in my book, but not so much now.

I do recommend you stay away from overly powered parts at least for a while. There are engines out there that take a lot of the challenge out of the game.