All about mods

[paoul]

Hello community, I'm a new Kerbonaut from Vancouver Island Canada, and I'm already trilled by the game. But as I evolve through the game (slowly you might say) I've heard about mods you could add to your current game to enhance certain particularity of it.

Question: How? and is there some spec showing how it affect your computer :RAM, Htz etc.

I've already download 2 of them but no change at all and it doesn't appear to have any indication on how to proceed after downloading.

So, could someone explain to me how to do so? and Where do we see how much it'll affect my system?

Thank you!

[DuoDex]

Which ones? Are you sure you installed them properly? And I personally recommend the DDSLoader mod which will slice your load times in half (or better!)

[Starhawk]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

To install most mods, you need to unzip the file you downloaded and place the contents into a specific directory within your game install. The website where you downloaded the mod will usually give specific directions. As far as how hard they will hit your performance, that is probably discussed within the discussion thread on these forums which is dedicated to that specific mod.

Hope this helps.

Happy landings!

[nightingale]

And of course, CKAN is the easy go-to for automatically downloading/installing mods.

[Commander Jebidiah]

To install mods you dump them in the gamedata folder

[Engineer of Stuff]

To install mods you dump them in the gamedata folder

If there is no GameData folder in the mod .zip, just put the highest folder in the mod .zip in GameDate. Mechjeb is an example of this.

[paoul]

To install mods you dump them in the gamedata folder

You may have to deal with a dummy here but I don't see where is that famous gamedata folder you're talking about? Even after reading other comments on this subject I'm still confused. The only thing "Curse.com" is asking me when I download is where I want it. So desktop seem at first the easiest way, easy access, to find. Then I extracted it. Then what? I tried to copy it into "My Game" but nothing happened! I must be missing something very elementary in computer literacy...I don't even know where KSP has been saved in. I thought the "program files (x86)", and I search everywhere I could.

[Northstar1989]

Glad to have you aboard paoul!

Since the stock aerodynamics revision is coming out relatively soon, and it will make for more realistic aerodynamics, I *STRONGLY* advise trying out the Ferram Aerospace Research mod now, to get in the habit of building more realistic planes/rockets...

The Kerbal Engineer Redux or MechJeb2 (which includes KER functionality) mods are also nice, and will get you in the habit of designing with Delta-V in mind, which will FINALLY be a figure we can see in the stock SPH/VAB, with the new Engineer's Report feature coming out (Maxmaps said "Engineers will be learning something that rhymes with Schmelta-Vee in the next update.")

Regards,

Northstar

[PB666]

You may have to deal with a dummy here but I don't see where is that famous gamedata folder you're talking about? Even after reading other comments on this subject I'm still confused. The only thing "Curse.com" is asking me when I download is where I want it. So desktop seem at first the easiest way, easy access, to find. Then I extracted it. Then what? I tried to copy it into "My Game" but nothing happened! I must be missing something very elementary in computer literacy...I don't even know where KSP has been saved in. I thought the "program files (x86)", and I search everywhere I could.

If you bought on through steam, the somewhere like steam/steamapps/common/"kerbal space program" is the games root directory.

one of the folders is gamedata another is parts. In "GameData" you will subfolder called Nasa, Squad and you may even add your own parts in your own folder. Inside Squad you will see parts and lots of subfolders and subsubfolders. In these subsubfolders you will find *.cfg which are basic text files and parameters you can change. All you have to do is:

Just my two cents here.

Mods come in two flavors. Parts and functions (notable for *.dll extensions)

Part mods can be created by simply changing a parameter in the *.cfg. You can find said files in the "Gamedata" folder.

search for "Kerbal Space Program"

or

"GameData"

or

"NASA"

To do this:

duplicate the file

rename the duplicate

modify the duplicate.

-most people say: duplicate your parts directory first elswhere (like common in the root parent) and then tinker. Move the new mod into its original folder to test. I like risk so I just copy and paste in the Gamedata folder. You can update the mods in-game by going to KSC main screen and AltF12, the third tab has a button called "reload . . . . ." that loads. But if you add and use a mod, that assembly is now dependent on the mods name, so if you delete or change the name, the assembly will not load.

For example if I copy and rename change the "MK1structural" cfg to say "MK1structural2X" cfg

Then edit the 2X version by adding

changing: "name = Mk1FuselageStructural2X"

adding: "rescaleFactor = 2"

changing:"title = Double-size Structural Fuselag"

changing:"mass = 0.8"

Save it and reload the game a new part 2wice the linear dimensions, 8x volume and weight will appear.

I can also add fuel to the part or change the type of fuel the part has. The only thing I have to change to have a new glitchless part is the "name" identifier. It must be unique. If I do only that I have a new albeit redundant mod.

For example if I add

"

RESOURCE

{

name = XenonGas

amount = 10000

maxAmount = 10000

}

}

"

to the bottom of the CFG an new Xenon storage tank will appear. I might want to change the price also since I hear X is very expensive on Kerbin.

I need to change the ingame location of it

by changing

"category = FuelTank"

The lines in MK1structural within the Parts\MK1 directory

you can also change the dimension of the part, you can:

turn that tank into a pipe, flatten it into a disk, or flattening on its side into a "wing" (e.g. nacell arm)

In this way you can change part parameters in dozens of ways to get dozens of parts from a single starting part or you can make parts (using blender and unity utilities) and they are different from the stock parts in just about every way.

The other type of mod are called function mods. These alter the way the game works or information you gain. They can also be new sounds, or new resources.

MechJeb is one of these. Modulemanager is another. Unlike part mods, these often need to be updated frequently (with each new KSP patch) and may not work after new patches come out. MechJeb for instance uses both function and part mods.

[Commander Jebidiah]

The game data folder is inside your ksp install folder.

I think squad should put tutorial video on how to install mods on their website.

[cicatrix]

If you have a steam version, then navigate to (steam folder)\steamapps\common\Kerbal Space Program

If you have a stand-alone version, then go to the game install folder.

Once there you would see the gamedata folder.

Generally, mods can alter the game very dramatically.

Roughly there are the following types of mods:

1) Visual and sound mods that provide visual enhancements to the game (better textures, better skies, better engine exhausts, etc) - usually they are the most demanding for RAM/CPU so if you have a slow PC you shouldn't probably install them

2) Parts - these mods usually add to the stock parts some new engines, fuel tanks, wings, cabins, fairings, science instruments, wheels, etc, even antimatter-reactors and warp drives - usually they are small (though, there are bigger packs like KW Rocketry or B9)

3) New functionality - like KAS, or FAR, or Realism Overhaul, or KSPI - they add new functions that weren't there in the stock game like in-situ resource utilization, completely overhauled aerodynamics, reusable struts, robotic parts, propellers, etc. They add new parts too.

4) Tools and helpers - perhaps the most useful category. Here you will meed a 'must have' mods like Kerbal Alarm Clock and Kerbal Engineer Redux, also dock alignment indicators, maneuver node editors, autopilots - some people cannot fly without MechJeb, etc.

There are literally thousands of mods - there is a mod for everything. I have the impression that if I ever want something added to KSP - there IS already a mod for that.

Advantages - mods add a whole new layer of fun an complexity to KSP, you can have any mod for anything you want (I'm not joking here, 99% of your wildest fantasies are probably already implemented or there is a 'work in progress' on that).

Disadvatages - mods eat memory, mods are bugged (some more, some less), one mod can be incompatible with another one, if a new version of KSP is released, all your mods would probably need to be upgraded as well - and this doesn't happen overnight; you grow accustomed to playing with mods that playing without them becomes difficult for you.

My recommendations (short list) for mods:

1) Visual and sound

Environment Visual Enhancements

PlanetShine

Distant object Enhancements

Chatterer

2) Parts

KW Rocketry

B9 Aerospace

3) Functionality

Kerbal Attachment System (KAS)

Ferram Aerospace Research (FAR) - if you ever find it difficult, try NEAR

Karbonite

Real Chute

4) Tools and helpers

Kerbal Engineer Redux (KER) - MUST HAVE!

Kerbal Alarm Clock - very useful

Docking port alignment indicator

Trajectories

RCS Build Aid

...

MechJeb - I added MechJeb but since there is an endless holywar about whether we should or shouldn't use MechJeb going on I leave it apart from any other mod. Personally I find it very useful and I learnt a lot about orbital mechanics from it so I suggest you install it as well.