I'm Turning to the Dark Side!

[Russoft]

My theory on mods comes from using mods in other games. If I install too much stuff too soon, I get overwhelmed by it all. Too much freedom in a sandbox game kills the game for me. The features of the game need to expand as my skill set expands. I have a single mod now (engineer), but I anticipate the mod list growing as my skill improves and I've exhausted myself of interesting missions in the stock game. Mods are certainly not the dark side!

[cantab]

My attitude has mainly been to add mods to fix annoyances I, personally, find. And to an extent because I see something and think I'd like that. So mainly usability stuff like VOID and Precise Node. I also tend to look for a more focussed mod than an "all-in-one", for example when I wanted to avoid EVAing loads of kerbals around I picked Crew Manifest rather than Ship Manifest.

Next in line will be something to edit action groups in flight I reckon.

[Pecan]

@ Cirocco: I'm using SH-MK2Cockpit and TT-MK3-IVA-v1.3 for internals. Unfortunately, like J4CKAL2014, I got them from spaceport and wouldn't know where to find them on curse. The MkII gives as good an all-around view as the Mk1 and docking to a large station in IVA is ... cool :-)

@ cantab: I can recommend Action Groups Extended (AGX) - not only does it let you set and edit action groups in flight and map them to any key but it also pops-up a window so you can activate them with a mouse-click. Oh, and there is the little matter of having a few more action groups available too - 250, to be precise!

@ OP: Ok, you've started with information mods because you need to know it. Cockpit-internals should be stock too so you slide into EVE then KerbQuake (how did it take so long for someone to do that!) and, well, Chatterer is just the audio equivalent and adds so much to immersion. Maybe then you think you'll add something for 'mission structure' and take a hit of SCANSat, Kethane or RT2 and with those last two you find you've changed the way you (need to) play the game. So FAR, DRE and one of the Life Support mods are only one more step and you're into hardcore. With Kethane bases, especially you'll find KAS looks very useful and FAR 'needs' Procedural Fairings to streamline your folded-up Infernal Robotics probes/rovers and, things would be so much better with a whole new range of parts. So then you buy a new computer ^^

Yeah! For the mod-makers :-)

[rkman]

If modding is the dark side of KSP, then Squad is the overlord of darkness because they deliberately put in a lot of effort to make KSP so that it is moddable.

[SkyRender]

Mods are not evil. They are not good either. They are entirely neutral; it is upon you to control yourself in how you use them. I have a strict "max 10 mods" rule I've followed since 0.21, so I tend to only pick ones that particularly enhance the experience for me. Comparatively frivolous part packs that add no actual new functionality, utility, or environmental visual enhancement aren't going to make the short list.

[weezl]

I'm new to this game (3 glorious weeks now).. My background is sciences (physics/chemistry) and computer science.. so advanced mathematics is no stranger to me.. so I do all the delta-V calcs for all my rockets in a spreadsheet.. thanks to the folks who put together the kerbal wiki, I didn't have to look up all the equations in college texts.. so for me it that part took about 30 minutes.

I also fly my own missions by hand and don't use any add-ons since I'm *also* heavily into flight-simulators.. If the maneuver interface wasn't in the game, it would make hohmann transfers mathematically challenging, since you would have to do all the equations for each transfer.. So thank god for the maneuver interface. I think even the Apollo planners had computers to fall back on for that.. but you get the point.. you'd need a program or spreadsheet to do the calcs.

Keeping that in mind.. if you didn't have my background I can see the learning curve to get efficient rockets flying being a HUGE investment in time (like the investment I made earlier in my life getting the knowledge.. literally YEARS of my life to get the math and science skill to understand all this stuff) so to me if you don't have a background like mine it would make something like MechJeb basically mandatory (or the next thing to it). Adults just don't have time to get an undergrad in college mathematics and physics just to play a game.

For me.. the mods would ruin MY fun.. since I already have the background to understand all this stuff.. but for someone with a background in something non-science/non-math.. it would ruin their fun to NOT have the mods. For them the builder/exploration portion is the fun part... This makes the use of mods a very personal choice. I for one am glad that are there for mods that allow folks to enjoy this game without all the math.. if you like math (like I do).. then don't use them! If not.. use and enjoy!

Edited June 3, 2014 by weezl
Tidying up the tidying up.. thanks Vanamonde!

[rtxoff]

Mods are not evil. They are not good either. They are entirely neutral.

You are ruining the fun in this thread

[Vanamonde]

An insulting post and some references to it have been removed from this thread.

Some players are going to use mods, and some are not. There's no reason for us to be enemies about it. Keep the discussion civil, please.

[Alephzorg]

You play stock and enjoy the game? Great!

You like mods and they add to they way you play? Go ahead and download some more.

As it has been said many times over all over this forum, there is no right way or wrong way to play a single player game.

I used to add a lot of parts to my KSP but later realized I didn't use a 1/10th of them. Now, it's mostly visual enhancements and some information mods (Kerbal Alarm Clock and MechJeb mostly).

And yes, cookies!

Edited June 3, 2014 by Alephzorg

[Rowsdower]

Mods or no mods, just have fun. If you want to take some baby steps into the world of mods, just remember that this forum is filled with recommendations for exactly what you might be looking for.

[WinkAllKerb'']

if you turn to the the darkside you'll get a higher sensibility to the light one might be interesting

Edited June 3, 2014 by WinkAllKerb''
and vice versa of course, who ever played pong ? a lot of ping request and answer ;)

[weezl]

if you turn to the the darkside you'll get a higher sensibility to the light one might be interesting

Paraphrasing (for humor's sake):

Come over to the Dark Side.. We have cookies!

[StrandedonEarth]

Yes... Yessss.... Let your feelings floooow.... Yes.... Join the Dark Side and you can rule the Galaxy......!

That said, a few simple info-mods can make the game less frustrating. The first mods I used (not sure which order) are KAC and Navball Docking Alignment Indicator (just a little plugin to make docking much easier). But ya, mods are like cookies (or is it Lays chips), it's hard to stop at just one. Then I went and got KER and Enhanced Navball. Finally, when I ran out of goals (returned from everywhere, altho I used the cheat-seat on Eve), I fully embraced the Dark Side and ate a whole box of cookies: FAR, Deadly Reentry, Proc Fairings, and Chatterer (for ambience). Don't worry, I still have a kernel of Light Side tucked away, no MJ (yet).

[karolus10]

No... You're not, and you forget about this one (no advertising, it's just good).

Mods aren't bad ,but use them with moderation, m'kay ?

Also I suggest to had at least 2-3 copies (beauty of DRM-free games) of the game on your disk, main one (stock or with reasonable amount of mods), modded one (place where you test all mod's you wish) and possible backup of stock game, so if you overdone with mods (many mods are changing the game in way it wasn't originally designed for ,so it can cause some issues), you can delete modded installation and quickly start over from new copy.

If you are steam user and you use a lot of mods you can keep main steam game untouched (also this will let you avoid situation when new update "destroyed" your precious modded game) and play on copies of your game so you can try every mod you wish.

I guess same process of discovering and testing mods it's a fun on it's own and it can provide entertainment for many hours.

EDIT1: On windows, I tend to use copies of KSP in "saved games" catalog, of course it dosen't matter where do you store your modded KSP copies but this catalog dosen't get much love from players lately.

Edited June 3, 2014 by karolus10

[[email protected]]

Maybe.

I don't really have much background in advanced mathematics but I do have a background in various forms of advanced logic including modal and natural deductive proofs. I had very little difficulty picking up and learning the formulas necessary to calculate my mission capabilities. I've never used mechjeb and I was able to reach and return from most of the planets and moons without using engineer, although I do use it now as a convenience.

[[email protected]]

I use a ton of mods, but my favorites are FAR, deadly reentry, procedural fairings, and procedural parts. I also use KW rocketry for the rocket engines (I delete everything else).

Don't be afraid of using mods, it keeps the game fresh and exciting. I like to delete my save file every now and then and do a fresh install with a load of new mods. I do this whenever the game gets stale.

Edited June 3, 2014 by [email protected]

[stevism]

i wanted to fall into modworld, but my computer keeps me in check sadly

youll be fine

[EdFred]

I have KAC, KER, and MJ.

KER is pretty much a must have for building. I'm not going to sit down with pencil and paper and do all the math to figure out TWR and dV. You guys who do that, are just using pencil and paper right? I mean, a calculator would be cheating, wouldn't it?

KAC, yeah, I can build a node with 0dV and then warp manually to it, but why? I mostly use it for this.

MJ, when I have a 20 minute burn (or more), I really don't want to baby sit a ship just to make sure it doesn't drift off course while I go make dinner, or play with the dog, or get a bowl of ice cream....mmmmm, ice cream.....

[ArmchairGravy]

I entirely understand. I played vanilla, then installed KER, then Kethane. Held that line for 6 months. Then I binged and got ScanSat, Chatterer, and Alarm Clock. Must. Stop. There.

[-ELF-]

It is ok, young Anakin Kerman.

Play KSP with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!

I have started with KER myself, and slowly progressing with KAS, ScanSat, RemoteTech...

Going to try Kethane, FAR, Fairings... More. MORE! MOARRR!!!

Always remember:

Modding is a path to the dark side:

Modding leads to lag, lag leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, suffering leads to the dark side...

[sewerbird]

Playing a while, I find that my 'mod list' resets with each official version release. "Oh! New Stock features! I'll start a new (career) save and see how they impact the vanilla game!" *An Hour Later* "Man I hate calculating Delta V: lemme just grab KER (or VOID more recently)" *A Day Later* "This massive rocket looks kind of silly: time to get Procedural Fairings. Oh my, look at all these other neat mods... I'll just have this one for now" and so on. Usually by the time a new Squad release happens I have every informational/UI mod and aesthetic mod available, and half the time a multiplayer mod installed. I tend not to go in for parts mods, mostly out of an irrational hatred of tab clutter: even the stock listings irk me.

[Frank_G]

I am in general a no-mod player with almost any game. But for KSP there are some not only useful but a lot of feel-good mods around. And some of them really integrate and add to the experience instead of destroying the game feeling. However i throw out mods, as KSP develops further and new features and parts are added.

Some mods i can recommend are RasterPropMonitors for nice IVA flight, Environmental Visual Enhancemet and Active Texture Management for nice cloud effects and ScanSat for the abilty to do terrain scans and create planetary maps from orbit.

Test them and enjoy. They wont kill the vanilla KSP experience and add to the gameplay in a good way.

[GuzWaatensen]

Well i have KER, KAC, FAR, Deadly Reentry, Remotetech, ECLSS and Procedural Fairings. Because i want an extra challenge and the added realism.

I do not like Mechjeb, as it would presumably make thing too easy. And i do not enjoy the other realism enhancing mods (besides the ones i've mentioned) because i still want this to feel like a game. And i do not like any part only mods, that kinda feels like cheating.

The only problem right now with this setup is career mode, as there is no tech tree specific to this kind of mod setup and also i still lack a mod (if there is one) that makes probe only missions viable...

For me these aren't pulling me to the dark side they are enhancing my experience with the game and quite clearly do not make it easier.

[Seret]

KER is pretty much a must have for building. I'm not going to sit down with pencil and paper and do all the math to figure out TWR and dV. You guys who do that, are just using pencil and paper right? I mean, a calculator would be cheating, wouldn't it?

Spreadsheet FTW.

Possibly my nerdiest post ever.

[OgreMagi]

Mods, as someone wrote in these forums before "they ant good for nothing but adding weight and decreasing you delta Vee..."

Seriously it more of a choice. you can open several games to play with, try the mods out see how you like them you can allways delete them, nothing wrong with that. What made me not install everything was the challenges. go the planet xxx, more points for the one who does not use mods..