Mod Suggestions

[Tex]

Hey gang!

I've been dinking around with the Kethane mod, and I think it is a great system that sort of incentivizes my missions. I was wondering if there are more mods similar to this, that add new mechanics but not a whole lot of new parts. I've considered ISA MapSat, but is there anything else that I should know about? I'm into more science-related stuff mod-wise.

Thanks!

[Hodo]

There is ISA Mapsat, and the other mapping plugin. Interplanetary launch pads, which adds other resources and not a lot of other parts, I don't use it but I like the idea.

FAR adds more control and an actual aerodynamic function to the game, so no more flying bricks.

Deadly Re-Entry (DRE) adds a much harsher re-entry effect and G force limitations on crew, thus making re-entries far harder, but far more satisfying.

Remote Tech 2, adds a few parts, about a dozen, mostly antennas, and makes for building communications satellites far more realistic.

[Ralathon]

I'm mostly going to echo what the guy above me said.

Scansat has no official release yet, but I've been playing with the dev version (Find it in the dev forum) and it's more stable than most release versions of other mods. It is awesome, though I had to adjust the scanner models to some random science thingies from AEIS aerospace (parts mod). The models that come from the mod are placeholders and look rather bad in their current state. Dunno what ISA mapsat is up to but I presume it has the same sort of functionality.

Kerbal Attachment System is a real recommendation. It makes EVA's much more important. With this addon you can:

- attach small parts (solar panels, batteries etc) to your spaceships using EVA.

- Store those small parts in moveable containers.

- Link ships or bases together with EVA attached fuel lines and struts.

- Tow stuff around using winches.

It completely adjusted my playstyle and opened up so many avenues of design.

Extraplanetary Launchpads looks like a great deal of fun. But I've been avoiding it so far because I think the models look like ****. As soon as I find some nice models / make them myself I'll give it a try though. I can see this adding a great deal of depth since it allows you to move your production to a vacuum. If you play with a mod like FAR this is very important because it removes design constraints (fitting in the fairing) at the cost of resource extraction.

Deadly Reentry is one of my 'must have' mods. It adds a lot of excitement to reentry and forces you to really think about your design. Landing stuff on atmospheric planets takes some serious planning, I had to actually use something similar to the Curiosity rover Skycrane once, simply because I needed both retro rockets and a heat shield (with the shield in front of the retro rockets to prevent melting).

Procedural Fairings. Allows you to make fairings for any payload. Makes stuff look pretty, very cheap on parts and reduces drag if you play with FAR.

Ferram Aerospace Research. Proper aerodynamics. It takes some getting used to, but stuff will actually behave semi realistic. So nosecones reduce drag, asparagus staging will lead to a glorious out of control fireball and planes can stall.

Life support mod. There are many of these, but they all boil down to pretty much the same thing: Manned missions have a harsh time limit. This makes it much harder to do manned exploration, which is important imo since manned missions have some significant advantages over probes (Crew and EVA reports and KAS interaction). If you want one I suggest you either look for Ioncross Crew Support or TAC life support. Though they're currently also working on a really neat one over in the Bobcat Historic crafts thread, but that one isn't compatible with stock yet.

Remotetech2 lite. To make probes and science a bit harder. In essence, you need to have a radio link with the KSC to upload science or control probes. Either via direct LOS or via a relay network. Different antenna and dishes have different ranges so you'll need to set up a complex network of satellites if you want to talk to your probes or receive science.

City Lights and clouds. This is one of those "Oh my gosh! So pwetty!" mods that are just eyecandy. But it is very good eyecandy. As the name implies this mod adds city lights (to kerbin) and clouds (To planets/moons with atmospheres). Clouds are a 2d texture that moves slightly slower/faster than the planet for now, but they're working on volumetric clouds. It adds absolutely nothing in terms of gameplay, but if you've got the RAM to spare I can highly recommend it.

Other than that, just keep an eye on the "Addon releases and showcase" subforum. You'll usually find something to your liking fairly soon.

[pizzaoverhead]

[...] a great system that sort of incentivizes my missions. [...] add new mechanics but not a whole lot of new parts.

It sounds like Mission Controller would be of interest to you. It adds a monetary budget and gives missions. For example, launch a communications satellite in a specific area, create a Minmus impactor for scientific research. It's a lot of fun.

[Tex]

Thanks guys, I'll be checking some of these out.