About to start modded career play. Help please.

[SmashBrown]

Hey folks, i am going to start a play through using the interstellar mod and a few other's i have seen on Scott Manley's interstellar quest series. However having only ever played stock KSP, and only ever managing to reach Duna, i think i am going to need your help & advice before i get started! What things should i use to work out how to build my rockets precisely, to work out how much delta-v they need to be bringing with them to get to and from their destinations, i am also going to have to practice docking and attaching in orbit because i really want to try out station science as well.

All in all this is going to be quite difficult for me, having only ever played KSP casually on and off. But setting up communication satellites and all the extra science stuff the interstellar brings with it looks really fun so i am prepared to learn.

For Science!!!

(Apologies if this has double posted i tried last night but not sure if it went on the forums correctly.)

[Lt.Havoc]

Well, you need Kerbal Engineer, its a must, because it tells you the thrust to weight ratio and the Delta-V when you are putting your rockets together. Its a very useful tool to have. Also, are you using B9 and Ferram Aerospace as well? I ask because Ferram can make things more difficult for you because of realistic flight physics and the whole aerodynamic failures option (you can turn that off btw so you do not have to worry about your rockets exploding out of nowhere because the stress became to great) and as for B9, that pack adds a ton of parts that you need to get familiar with at first.

I recommend to start slowly, build some easy rockets with stock parts to get the science for better tech, keep in mind that Kerbin also has biomes that you can explore for science. Dont rush things, it will be a long way to get all the tech in the Interstellar tech tree anyway.

[theend3r]

My advice is: Do not use Interstellar if you haven't managed to do everything there is to do in stock yet.

I personally play with Interstellar and B9 and both mods increase the replay value tremendously but Interstellar makes things too easy. You can build rockets with infinite dv (thermal turbojet in atmo, plasma in space), you can have small engines with 3000kN thrust... etc. It's great once you're really bored of stock KSP but... you're not playing KSP anymore.

Reaching only Duna means you're still at the beginning. Land and return manned craft from everywhere (except maybe Eve and Tylo, the rest isn't difficult), do some challenges here on the forum and then you'll be ready for Interstellar.

Edited December 8, 2014 by theend3r

[SmashBrown]

My advice is: Do not use Interstellar if you haven't managed to do everything there is to do in stock yet.

I personally play with Interstellar and B9 and both mods increase the replay value tremendously but Interstellar makes things too easy. You can build rockets with infinite dv (thermal turbojet in atmo, plasma in space), you can have small engines with 3000kN thrust... etc. It's great once you're really bored of stock KSP but... you're not playing KSP anymore.

Reaching only Duna means you're still at the beginning. Land and return manned craft from everywhere (except maybe Eve and Tylo, the rest isn't difficult), do some challenges here on the forum and then you'll be ready for Interstellar.

Good point indeed. I shall put some thought into it.

[SmashBrown]

Are there any mods you could suggest i begin with then? MechJeb for example is one i have heard of that's quite useful but doesn't change the game.

[cantab]

How much delta-V you have: Kerbal Engineer Redux. Alternatively VOID or MechJeb, or do it yourself with a scientific calculator.

How much delta-V you need: /r/KerbalAcademy's delta-v charts. Alternatively KSP Wiki's simple delta-V map, Alexmoon's Transfer Window Planner website, or the Transfer Planner mod in game.

[theend3r]

Are there any mods you could suggest i begin with then? MechJeb for example is one i have heard of that's quite useful but doesn't change the game.

What I use is:

Graphical mods (use with -force-opengl if it crashes):

Environmental Visual Enhancements - clouds, atmosphere, city lights, dust storms, auroras... etc.

Texture Replacer

Planetshine

Distant Object

Misc. mods that do not change the game much:

Chatterer

Collision FX

MechJeb

StripSymmetry (useful for more compicated designs, good for asparagus)

Kerbquake

Kerbal Flight Data

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Part Catalog

Raster Prop Monitor

Trajectories (reentry prediction)

Parts (make game non-stock):

B9

Interstellar

Tweakscale

Scansat

Various BahamutoD parts (BDArmory, engines...)

Real Schute

Pretty much everything in the first two categories improves the game while preserving the challenges and feel of the stock game (except MechJeb).

I also use FAR but the changes it does are very drastic. I'd recommend it to you but you'll need to research it a bit first and decide for yourself.

Edited December 8, 2014 by theend3r

[Cmdr. Arn1e]

Mechjeb is usually secondary to Kerbal Engineer, as it has autopilot as well as the readouts... (but if playing in Career, Engineer is unlocked with the initial parts, just have to click them in the research building, but Mechjeb doesn't unlock its first parts until tier 3... and then only the readouts, so if you wanted to use the autopilot you can't until you unlock the right parts! Didn't relise this myself at first, and thought I had messed up installing it! hehe...)

Getting just the readouts helps loads, using either KER or MJ, but many will say 'learn some things for yourself first' as then you are equipping yourself with some of the tools needed for extended missions... and of course, it's still possible to destroy the parts during the mission, which can mean having to find your own way back home anyway!

[cantab]

Are there any mods you could suggest i begin with then? MechJeb for example is one i have heard of that's quite useful but doesn't change the game.

I strongly recommend trying our FAR (Ferram Aerospace Research). Overhauls the aerodynamics and makes launches much more engaging. Bad design or bad flight can cause loss of control in FAR. If you have aerodynamic failures on then your craft can even be ripped apart by aerodynamic stresses; if you want things more forgiving turn failures off. A side-effect of FAR is it does reduce the delta-V required to orbit, meaning launchers have bigger payload fractions - a smaller rocket launches the same thing.

Fairings are recommended, though not essential, with FAR. Procedural Fairings are easy to use and very powerful. If you'd rather have the constraint of fixed-size fairings, try KW Rocketry or 0 Point.

Real Solar System changes the solar system. Various "configs" are available. Full RSS is just that, our own solar system. With the stock parts you get very small payload fractions, further mods are generally recommended. 6.4x is the Kerbol system made larger, and gives payload fractions like real-life rockets when using the stock parts; personally I dislike the way it flattens the terrain.

KIDS (Kerbal ISP Difficulty Scaler) lets you make the engines more or less efficient. If you're using FAR and want to stick with the standard Kerbol system, you can use KIDS to make you need larger rockets again.

[cicatrix]

My advice is: Do not use Interstellar if you haven't managed to do everything there is to do in stock yet.

I personally play with Interstellar and B9 and both mods increase the replay value tremendously but Interstellar makes things too easy. You can build rockets with infinite dv (thermal turbojet in atmo, plasma in space), you can have small engines with 3000kN thrust... etc.

I disagree, waste heat management makes things difficult. Every time I think I managed to put 'just barely enough' radiators, it appears that their weight it 'just a bit more' that the engine can conveniently handle. Add to that that you need an engine to be attached immediately to a reactor and the fact that you cannot cluster them. Thermal turbojet is nice enough, but big heavy ships are still a problem.

[SmashBrown]

hmmm looking at the posts from the devs i may wait to start a new career until .90 hits...

[cantab]

hmmm looking at the posts from the devs i may wait to start a new career until .90 hits...

Seconded, that's what I'm doing. In the mean time I'm trying out mods and mucking about in sandbox.

[SmashBrown]

So, for starters i will go with MechJeb, Kerbal flight data, kerbal alarm clock.

I'll have a look at others once i get familiar with the first few. Should i get kerbal Engineer aswell?

[Norpo]

So, for starters i will go with MechJeb, Kerbal flight data, kerbal alarm clock.

I'll have a look at others once i get familiar with the first few. Should i get kerbal Engineer aswell?

Probably, it's very handy for knowing *exactly* what your rocket is capable of. Less guesswork, but if you like trial and error then you should probably avoid it. Trial and error is fun for some people, but I personally don't like getting to Jool and then realizing I can't get back because I didn't pack enough fuel in there and I just underestimated it. It's very useful in conjunction with Delta-V maps.

[Van Disaster]

I have a "minimums" install with a bunch of utility mods I considered necessary:

FAR ( ferram aerospace research ): aerodynamics

KIDS ( kerbal ISP difficulty scaler ): varies thrust instead of fuel consumption with atmosphere, as it should be. Also has presets to adjust fuel use back to stock levels when using FAR, if you want it.

KJR ( kerbal joint reinforcement ) : far less need for struts - not really sure if you still need this with stock's better joints, but it's not a big deal

NavyFish's docking alignment indicator

Tac Fuel Balancer - Goodspeed fuel pump might replace this, although it's still a handy readout of what's in a particular tank anyway.

SelectRoot

EditorExtensions

Mechjeb - I use it for the readouts, SmartASS, the translatron, the node editor, and launch assist because I'm sick of launching over and over. If you're using KIDS then the TWR readouts are a bit messed up in atmosphere anyway.

Active Texture Management & the dds loader mods help keep memory use down - I preconvert everything to dds now ( and use -force-d3d11 ) so ATM is a bit redundant.

I seem to have the backgroundprocessing dll in the bare install, I think it tracks electrical drain when ships are in the background by default, not sure on that.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Van Disaster