KSP with/without Add-ons?

[Filippe999]

Hi, i've been pondering lately as i saw scott manley videos on some plugins for KSP, well, plugins can take the game in a complete different way and make certain things easier at the same time greatly increasing ths flexibility and challenge involved in doing so, personally i play with a bunch of mods, here a list if you're interested:

- Novapunch;

- b9 Aerospace(although i never designed a jet that could fly without crashing into the runway);

- KOSMOS;

- Interestellar(used to be my favorite until the recent update, now there's no point in launching a science lab in sandbox, at least not for part upgrades as it did before);

- Kethane pack;

- Achievements();

- extraplanetary launchpads(i'm yet to make a succesfull one yet, although i'm mapping ore as i type);

- firespitter( although i never made one);

- hexcans(fancy tanks!);

- procedural farings(it's really cool to deploy stations that way);

- KW Rocketry(their engines and tank for 3.75 rockets are really balanced);

- RLA Electric Engines(for more efficient kethane probing);

- MechJeb(only for the delta-V calculation and the smart A.S.S., the ascension guidance is kinda cheaty in my opinion).

Yes, it takes about 5min to start the game¬_¬", unfortunately there's no such thing as a cache for faster loading times yet in KSP, but i like the versatility these Addons grant me.

Do you play with mods? why not? if yes, which ones? why?, this is a discussion thread you know .

thanks, filippe999

[Wallace]

MechJeb ascension guidance: helps you move to a higher plane of existence.

I have avoided the mods which are large packs of parts mostly, only used the ones that added something totally new, like KAS and Infernal Robotics or picked just a couple of parts, I also had the procedural wings, fairing and tanks. I did have a lot of plugins in the last version, like protractor, mechjeb, editor extensions etc, but in the new version, I only have

- MechJeb + module manager cfg to add it to all pods with all the autopilot bits blacklisted so it's just the info displays, deleted the pod and box parts

- EVA parchutes with the add to all kerbals dll and deleted the parts

- Kethane + mm cfg to add to career mode.

[blizzy78]

- Achievements()

w00t!

I also run quite alot of mods here, I just like the wider gameplay options they give me. But alas, I try to avoid overpowered things because I think running things in god mode removes the fun very quickly.

[Filippe999]

w00t!

I also run quite alot of mods here, I just like the wider gameplay options they give me. But alas, I try to avoid overpowered things because I think running things in god mode removes the fun very quickly.

agreed, and let us pray that one day there is a persistent cache so it doesn't take so long to load the game

[RocketPilot573]

At the moment, I just have Chatterer, which is a great mod. I used to have Mechjeb and am planing on getting it again. I mainly use it for the specs of crafts (Delta V, TwR, ext...), and also it's landing guidance, which great for doing perfect aerobrakes, and landing at a certain place on an atmospheric planet. You want me to land at a Mun Base? Sure I'll land right on top of it! Oh, you want me to land at a Laythe Base? NOPE!

[Kasuha]

Why does this thread have the 'without' in the name if it's just a mod advertisement thread?

[katateochi]

I've always liked using mods that add new elements to the game; KAS, Infernal (damned) robotics, Kethane, Remote Tech, and more recently IonCross lifesupport.

I like the large part packs like B9, KW and NovaPunch but I have to trim them down to a selection of parts from each otherwise I get mem-exceptions too frequently.

Career mode has brought a change for me, I'm currently playing 100% stock just to see how that is. It's been fun, its been stable, but I'm certainly going back to using mods because its fun and adds different challenges.

[merlinux]

I have played .20 and .21 with mods. I am now playing .22 career mode stock for a try, but I am not enjoying it as much as in modded sandbox appart from the fact that it gives me a new challenge. Nice to be struggling in basics things again heh heh.

I am concidering starting a new sandbox save with all my favourite mods once I unlock the full science tree... But as of now I have a clean install

Mods I use are: Kethane, mechjeb, KAS, KW rocketry, procedural fairings, infernal robotics, ISA map sat, chatterer

Edited October 26, 2013 by merlinux

[Hodo]

I ran stock for about a week, then I wanted more of a challenge so I downloaded FAR and DRE. From there I wanted better looking parts so I added B9.

Now I can't play without certain mods, FAR, DRE, Kethane as it gives a reason to use probes, Procedural Wings and Procedural fairings, Kerbal Engineering Redux. Those are musts for me. Universe replacer is great but thats just for the eye candy. KAS is nice but I can live without it.

[boomerdog2000]

In my most recent career save just kerbal engineer and kerbal alrarm clock. Normally in sandbox I use kethane, B9, mechjeb, fustek, crew manifest, and TAC fuel balancer, isa mapsat and chatterer.

[Kerbol Prime]

I try to stay close to stock. Here's my list:

-Kerbal engineer: So useful, used on 90% of my ships

-Procedural fairings: used a lot for probe launching

-Hyperedit: used simply to test ships, not "cheating"

-kethane pack: fun to play with, adds another part to game play

-KSPX expansion: very stock-like parts

-Mobius Rocketworks: for clusters of engines

-Docking alignment indicator: easy docking and correctly aligned modules

-Protractor mod: seldom used, but is an alternative when I don't want to hold a paper to the screen

-Procedural wings: used on some planes

-Chatterer: sounds galore

-RLA power generation: big generators

-RLA stockalike: stock-like parts

-Selectroot plugin: very useful for building

-Steamguages: used sometimes when kerbal engineer chip is not there

-Universe replacer: clouds and stars!

[Matt56]

I have played largely without mods. I have nothing against them, but I find that some mods don't really fit in well with the stock parts. I've messed around with KW rocketry and B9, but found that when I use stock parts with the mod parts they just don't look right together. I was hoping when Bac9 joined the Squad team his artistic vision would influence the stock parts, but that hasn't happened yet.

I also find it frustrating when a new update comes out and you have to reinstall your mods and sometimes wait for them to be updated. When people make suggestions for new parts or game mechanics there are always people who will reply by listing all the mods with relevant features. This can be great, because I see people respond sometimes saying, "thanks, this mod is exactly what I was looking for," but I still think it can be a bit of a crutch until that feature is included in the stock game. Take subassemblies for example. I used the subassemblies mod for a while and found it invaluable, but when flags came out and the flag button replaced the subassemblies button, it kind of broke the mod. A short time later it was updated and I reinstalled it and moved over all my subassemblies into the right folders, a small inconvenience but still tedious. Now that subassemblies are in the stock game, I won't have to worry about loosing all my standardized launch stages in the next update.

I like mods, and I think they add a lot of interesting features to the game. I just think that many of them would be better as features developed within the stock game, with all the artistic and functional continuity that entails.

[Leatherneck]

I'm in the no mods category, at least for the time being. I have nothing against mods, as some of them look amazing and will certainly extend the life of this game indefinitely for me, but until I feel that stock is not getting me to come back to play by itself, no reason to change anything. Although, I might add the cosmetic/ambiance ones like Chatterer since it doesn't do anything to parts/physics etc.

If/when I do go with Mods, I'll probably look at Kethane, the Fairings, aerospace something (the one that accurately does drag), and perhaps the robotics.

[relin]

I use only Mechjeb since that has all the functionality that I desire. Can't argue the crowd that thinks it's a bit cheaty, but I paid my dues in Orbiter; here I just wanna explore.

[NASAFanboy]

I can't use mods.

I'm devout to Career Mode.

[SkipSpikowski]

I use several mods, but I always pull out the parts I don't want to keep the part number down. In Nova, I only use the struts and KW I only use the SRB's. I think B9, Kethane, and KAS are the only mods where I use all the parts. The robotics packs are pretty amazing too as you can build arms. I have basically built a space station with shuttles and the arm on the station. Mods and plugins make this game a whole lot better.

[SuperWeegee4000]

I'm what one calls a purist. No mods, not even Chatterer. I don't know why; I have no problems with modding games like Orbiter. The only plugins I have are custom flags.

[Godot]

At the moment I use exactly 2 Mods:

-Kerbal Engineer Redux

-Science Log

Don´t think i need anything more at the moment, although i am tempted to include the mod that gives you a city on Kerbin

[Galacticruler]

This may help:

-imgsnip-

Totally jusmped in after reading the title alone.

[Boosterspice]

Mechjeb, definitely!

Mostly the packs that either add something completely new, or small, practical ones, like Procedural Fairings and KAS

At one point I had Novapunch and KW Rocketry at the same time. 7 min load time, ten pages of structural and aerodynamic. Never again...

[brusura]

I like to use stock part, but I found those mods very helpfull to add functionality to the game

SelectRoot - really a life saver!

ProceduralFairings - too cool

Engineer - for all in game flying data

MechJeb2 - very needed for the aerobraking prediction and rover autopilot

NavBallDockingAlignmentIndicator - for easy alignment

[Traches]

I use B9 and KW rocketry, and while they each have several parts that are really handy I could do without them no problem. For me the important mods are things like Kerbal engineer, FAR, KIDS, editor part extensions, select root, RCS fuel balancer, docking port alignment indicator, etc. Basically, mods that change gameplay mechanics and improve the UI, rather than just big ol' parts packs.

[regex]

Both. I have three installs: one for programming, one for stock, and one fully modded.

[sharpspoonful]

Mods add diversity and more depth to the game for me. The game as it is is very bare bones, and I use the mods to fill the gaps and add fun stuff to the game. As such, I don't have save files that last for long, and thats totally ok by me. Purist or heavy modders like myself, it really doesn't matter so long as you are having fun!

What is in my .22 file as of right now:

-FusTek

-Ioncross

-RW Rocketry

-SDHI

-Chatterer

-ASET's Lander

-THSS Struts/JAFER Structures

-Bobcat's DEMV Mk V rover

-B9 Aerospace

-MechJeb 2

-Biofuels

-zzz's Science Module with SCIENCE!-enabled .cfg

-KAS

-Kethane

-Crew Manifest

-Radial Scientific Storage Container