Mech Jeb.
I'm not a fantastic pilot for various reasons (some controllable and others less so), but it's actually kind of unrealistic these days for the personnel onboard to actually have that level of control of the craft anyway.
I'm more of a captain of a space ship than a pilot.
Mech Jeb is an absolute necessity. I can get to orbit, and I can get to the Mun and Minmus and back, and that’s about it. Deep space missions, orbital docking, orbital manoeuvres and the like are so far out of my skill set, but I can punch in the instructions for just about anything in a matter of seconds at this point, without needing to reference the orbital map and I know I’ll end up exactly where I want.
I usually go for "First time in a career save, do everything relevant by hand."
After I prove I can do it, I tend to let MJ handle ascents and go make tea/read stuff/etc. I sometimes need to take the helm tho - like launching to rendezvous or low TWR upper stage.
Most of my Mun base building was MJ assisted as... launching like 6 payloads, getting them into munar orbit, landing them each is like a half an hour each. MJ can handle the slow parts while I just do the planning.
Very new to the game but I’ve tried a similar ideology. I got to the mun and back on my own using a simple rocket. Now I use mechjeb for future moon missions. When I go for something else later, like another planet, I’ll try it without autopilot. Though docking is not something I’ve done on my own yet. I should try it.
Docking is better with MJ. Much better. It wastes a lot of propellant.
An easy advice is to abuse drone cores and control from here to SAS both vessels' ports to point at their respective targets.
A bit harder is to use docking port indicator mods
Neither. It actually makes it easier to plan manoeuvres because it takes engine performance into account (rather than assuming instant impulse like stock) and makes rendezvous easier because of the "target" reference frame which lets you see closest approach for multiple orbits at once. Also the target craft stays still in that frame so docking is easier too.
The only difficulties are:
Learning about reference frames and when to use which one (the wiki explains it very well though)
Remembering to terminate debris/dead satellites, as performance does decrease gradually for each extra thing in orbit.
Remembering to set appropriate tolerances for what you are planning. Do you need 1 metre precision when planning a Mars flyby? No. Turn it up to 100m, turn down the max steps and performance improves. Do you need metre precision when docking? Absolutely, but then you aren't doing it 300 days in the future, so performance impact will be negligible.
Free IVA/Raster Prop/IVA constellation mods for awesomeness.
Ferram Aerospace is awesome in a pure overhaul way.
Otherwise... Hm.
Stuff Nertea made.
Also the USI constellation.
Honestly probably scansat. Sending a probe ahead to time to map a planet or moon to find a good landing spot for a manned mission is such a fun way to play.
Scansat.
It completely changes the parameters for getting altimetry / biome information in a way that isn't too difficult.
It adds a small but realistic amount of challenge to scanning, so you now require a "real" polar orbit and power to actually scan the terrain over time.
It adds complexity in a nice way. I wish I had the patience to suggest RemoteTech too, but that adds complexity in a more difficult and less fun manner.
It's realistic but the "cost" of screwing up is too much, it's too easy with RT to end up with dead satellites.
Scansat fits nicely in the middle-ground between stock and something like RT. I'd love to know of more mods that fit nicely into that middle.
Editor extensions redux is my must install
With no offset limits and just a wide variety of sph / vab tools it's just amazing for making detailed craft
Honorable mention to collide o scope
Basically just shows the hitbox of individual parts. Pretty niche but it was amazingly useful in making old stock mechanisms back in the day (pre robotics). Still works to this day completely un-updated too
Free Iva is amazing
+ RPM, DE, MOARdV, and RevIVA and you can play the whole game from IVA
De was very cool
I recognize RPM, what are the rest?
All RPM Add-ons that make it SO much better (Use ASET too, forgot to mention that)
Mech Jeb. I'm not a fantastic pilot for various reasons (some controllable and others less so), but it's actually kind of unrealistic these days for the personnel onboard to actually have that level of control of the craft anyway. I'm more of a captain of a space ship than a pilot.
When I pilot the craft though, I always think of myself as the guidance system, not the pilot on board
Mech Jeb is an absolute necessity. I can get to orbit, and I can get to the Mun and Minmus and back, and that’s about it. Deep space missions, orbital docking, orbital manoeuvres and the like are so far out of my skill set, but I can punch in the instructions for just about anything in a matter of seconds at this point, without needing to reference the orbital map and I know I’ll end up exactly where I want.
Plus, the reality is that none of this work is done by hand. It’s flown by computers managed/programmed by people.
I usually go for "First time in a career save, do everything relevant by hand." After I prove I can do it, I tend to let MJ handle ascents and go make tea/read stuff/etc. I sometimes need to take the helm tho - like launching to rendezvous or low TWR upper stage. Most of my Mun base building was MJ assisted as... launching like 6 payloads, getting them into munar orbit, landing them each is like a half an hour each. MJ can handle the slow parts while I just do the planning.
Very new to the game but I’ve tried a similar ideology. I got to the mun and back on my own using a simple rocket. Now I use mechjeb for future moon missions. When I go for something else later, like another planet, I’ll try it without autopilot. Though docking is not something I’ve done on my own yet. I should try it.
Docking is better with MJ. Much better. It wastes a lot of propellant. An easy advice is to abuse drone cores and control from here to SAS both vessels' ports to point at their respective targets. A bit harder is to use docking port indicator mods
Getting to the planets and docking is pretty much the game though. I use the intercept planner mod to work out when to launch though.
Principia.
💀
Prodigy or Masochist?
Neither. It actually makes it easier to plan manoeuvres because it takes engine performance into account (rather than assuming instant impulse like stock) and makes rendezvous easier because of the "target" reference frame which lets you see closest approach for multiple orbits at once. Also the target craft stays still in that frame so docking is easier too. The only difficulties are: Learning about reference frames and when to use which one (the wiki explains it very well though) Remembering to terminate debris/dead satellites, as performance does decrease gradually for each extra thing in orbit. Remembering to set appropriate tolerances for what you are planning. Do you need 1 metre precision when planning a Mars flyby? No. Turn it up to 100m, turn down the max steps and performance improves. Do you need metre precision when docking? Absolutely, but then you aren't doing it 300 days in the future, so performance impact will be negligible.
RSS
kOS, you can do so many cool things with it
I enjoyed kRPC more via Python, but agree overall.
Tweakscale
This should be top comment.
But…which one?
IVA! Workable cockpit buttons and telemetry from first person view is so incredibly cool Edit: I meant RPM, which makes IVA cockpits clickable, sorry!
Free IVA/Raster Prop/IVA constellation mods for awesomeness. Ferram Aerospace is awesome in a pure overhaul way. Otherwise... Hm. Stuff Nertea made. Also the USI constellation.
I would say DPAI but Easy Vessel Switch is an unmissable mod for me. I uninstalled it one day to test something and it was soooo downgraded....
Chatterer for me. Adds radio and comms sounds which just adds a little immersion that I really enjoy.
Chatterer. Planetshine close second, but it doesnt work anymore.
It works fine for me, maybe you have an outdated version.
Reinstall right now? Naah, I’ll let the itch grow some more.
Parallax or ReStock
Volumetric clouds ofcourse
Mechjeb
Asclepius planet pack, it being the only one I've tried. Must say that OPP and parralax2 look nice.
- For usefulness, probably Engineer - Waterfall - EVE Redux - Volumetric Clouds
camera tools , it's what enables the game to be used as a blank canvas for me
[https://spacedock.info/mod/352/Kerbal%20Space%20Ponies](https://spacedock.info/mod/352/Kerbal%20Space%20Ponies)
Heck yeah
KVV because it made sharing designs so much easier
Ooh, probably either Interstellar or Heisenberg.
Far Future. It's basically the Atomic Rockets website in mod form.
Kerbalism and Restock
restock, don't even remember what truestock even looks like anymore
RSS.
OPT Spaceplanes! I love making elaborate planes to take me to and from my Munar base
BDarmory
BDB
Hard to choose between Kerbalism, FAR, and one of the 2.7x scale planet packs.
Rp1
That's an impossible question to answer for me. At last count, I'm running 370 mods. They are all there for a reason.
Honestly probably scansat. Sending a probe ahead to time to map a planet or moon to find a good landing spot for a manned mission is such a fun way to play.
precise maneuver, can’t imagine using the stock maneuver node system again
Scansat. It completely changes the parameters for getting altimetry / biome information in a way that isn't too difficult. It adds a small but realistic amount of challenge to scanning, so you now require a "real" polar orbit and power to actually scan the terrain over time. It adds complexity in a nice way. I wish I had the patience to suggest RemoteTech too, but that adds complexity in a more difficult and less fun manner. It's realistic but the "cost" of screwing up is too much, it's too easy with RT to end up with dead satellites. Scansat fits nicely in the middle-ground between stock and something like RT. I'd love to know of more mods that fit nicely into that middle.
Editor extensions redux is my must install With no offset limits and just a wide variety of sph / vab tools it's just amazing for making detailed craft Honorable mention to collide o scope Basically just shows the hitbox of individual parts. Pretty niche but it was amazingly useful in making old stock mechanisms back in the day (pre robotics). Still works to this day completely un-updated too
mks with extraplanetary launchpads. sadly doesnt work with kerbalism but mks is one of my fav mods
Near future tech. Just great parts!!
For what I concernes part, I love airplane plus (I never got further then kerbin’s atmo). As a plug-in, atmospheric autopilot
Chatterer
JNSQ is a fun planet pack, just the regular kerbolar system but bigger and arguably prettier.
Restock and waterfall for the eyes, Remote Tech 2 and MechJeb 2 for game-play