Are mods really necessary?

[Tim]

Been a while since I played. Now I'm trying to get my niece and nephew into playing. My question is are mods really necessary to get the most out of this game? Or is the 'vanilla' game good enough for somebody just starting out? Except for a few parts mods or visual enhancement mods, I've never really used that many. But I've seen that some people use 50 or more mods with the game. It got me to wondering if it was really necessary to even use mods to get a good gaming experience. I also don't want my niece and nephew to end up relying on mods as a crutch or shortcut to actually plaing the game. Opinions?

[Jupiter3927]

Vanilla KSP is good enough the way it is.
Extra part mods are fun to play with but not necessary.

[Chibbity]

There are some quality of life mods for serious players you'll want eventually.

Like:
Kerbal Engineer Redux: More info about your rocket.
Transfer Window Planner mod: Knowing when to go is more important than knowing how to go. You won't be going interplanetary without some kind of TWP.
Kerbal Alarm Clock: So you don't forget about the missions you launched several in game years ago when they get where they are going.

Exterior game resources you'll want:
A good Dv map.
https://i.imgur.com/gBoLsSt.png

Visual mods are something you seem comfortable with, so I'll just leave this here as it's really nice and a lot of people don't know about it. Adds post processing effects to KSP for little to no cost.
https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/168763-14x-ks3p/
If you don't like the default config, try mine; it's fairly popular.
https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/168763-14x-ks3p/&page=17&tab=comments#comment-3411910

[heuldoch]

Kerbal engineer redux, without it is trail and error.

For the grafics, vanilla is so bad and outdated so here you will find mods that not change the game but make it pretty, if squad not broke the mod with every "update" or whatever they call it ;)

[Rizendell]

Not really anymore since the delta v is shown in game, but its difficult to plan interplanetary encounters without at least having the alarm clock. It can be done by holding a protractor up to the screen, but you still need to know the angles, and that still requires outside help unless you are into doing long math or faffing with the maneuver nodes endlessly (which becomes boring and tedious because lets face it, the UI scaling of them is piss poor when you zoom out).

[Ed the Head]

Stock is perfectly okay. You can definitely enjoy the game without mods. Mods just add extra awesomeness. Here's a few I enjoy:

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/143288-ksp-142-131-stock-visual-enhancements-v1304-05-april-2018/

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/155465-15x-near-future-technologies-large-nf-spacecraft-update/&

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/170211-15x-stockalike-station-parts-redux-nov-22/

[kamikazi21358]

No, I spend most of my time playing vanilla. The only mod I use anymore is a delta-V calculator, which is in itself now obselete (but it does tell you net d/V, so I’ll keep it anyways).

[eberkain]

I would play stock until you feel like a pro, then add Kerbalism.

[Docsprock]

Ive got over 2200 hours and never had any mod installed. Its fine.

[Lezren]

Originally posted by Etack:

Been a while since I played. Now I'm trying to get my niece and nephew into playing. My question is are mods really necessary to get the most out of this game? Or is the 'vanilla' game good enough for somebody just starting out? Except for a few parts mods or visual enhancement mods, I've never really used that many. But I've seen that some people use 50 or more mods with the game. It got me to wondering if it was really necessary to even use mods to get a good gaming experience. I also don't want my niece and nephew to end up relying on mods as a crutch or shortcut to actually plaing the game. Opinions?

If you think mods are necessary, they're not... Go watch EJ_SA on Twitch if you want an example.

Personally, I mod the crap out of KSP, only because I want the added difficulty they bring. Vanilla can be way to easy for someone who has thousands of hours. Depending on how you play and your personal rule sets of course.

It's like Minecraft, I really can not play vanilla Minecraft after I've played it with mods and knowing all the extras they bring. I've tried, I just get bored within seconds.

[Aitesedba]

Originally posted by Lezren:

Originally posted by Etack:

Been a while since I played. Now I'm trying to get my niece and nephew into playing. My question is are mods really necessary to get the most out of this game? Or is the 'vanilla' game good enough for somebody just starting out? Except for a few parts mods or visual enhancement mods, I've never really used that many. But I've seen that some people use 50 or more mods with the game. It got me to wondering if it was really necessary to even use mods to get a good gaming experience. I also don't want my niece and nephew to end up relying on mods as a crutch or shortcut to actually plaing the game. Opinions?

If you think mods are necessary, they're not... Go watch EJ_SA on Twitch if you want an example.

Personally, I mod the crap out of KSP, only because I want the added difficulty they bring. Vanilla can be way to easy for someone who has thousands of hours. Depending on how you play and your personal rule sets of course.

It's like Minecraft, I really can not play vanilla Minecraft after I've played it with mods and knowing all the extras they bring. I've tried, I just get bored within seconds.

are you saying if I go into extra gameplay mods, then I can't go back without feeling bored?

[kamikazi21358]

Originally posted by Disbeetaa:

are you saying if I go into extra gameplay mods, then I can't go back without feeling bored?

No, I have used mods, and gone back to the base game just fine.

[Aitesedba]

Originally posted by kamikaziiiiiiii21358:

No, I have used mods, and gone back to the base game just fine.

Oh okay

[Trehek]

Yep, vanilla KSP is perfectly fine. I played vanilla until I had landed on both moons and Duna before I added any mods.

As people have mentioned, Kerbal Engineer and Transfer Window Planner are really convenient, but features added to the game make especially Engineer less of a requirement. The delta v info is no longer needed, but its in-flight info is still cool and useful to have on screen.

Transfer Window Planner saves you a lot of time and pain, but its functionality can also be substituted with using your noggin', for example with maneuver nodes on a cleverly placed satellite.

Personally I use Astronomer's Visual Pack, Stock Visual Terrain, PlanetShine and Distant Object Enhancement for the visuals, and Kerbal Engineer, Transfer Window Planner, Kerbal Alarm Clock, Precise Node and Trajectories for quality of life.

Once the vanilla game started to bore me I added B9 Aerospace, OPT Space Plane Parts and Kerbal Planetary Base Systems for new parts, replaced vanilla career strategies with Strategia, added an extra end-game science sink with Kerbal Research and Development, added extra challenge to compensate with Outer Planets Mod and made myself fall in love with my kerbals even more with Final Frontier. But all that stuff is completely optional. Just makes the game cooler.

[Enorats]

KER and TWP are good to have, for sure - but personally I just use Mechjeb as it basically does everything both of those do anyway. I prefer its interface over KER's as well. Technically you don't need a Delta-V calculator anymore, but I still prefer to use Mechjeb and/or KER anyway because they have a better interface than the stock one which needlessly spreads the information out all over the place and then hides it from you until you click to display it.. then hides it again when you make a change to the rocket.

Beyond that, it's mostly just preference. Additional parts can add a lot of life to the game, as can some of the life support mods that add another layer of challenge and planning. Personally I hate playing without a life support mod that adds some supply and habitation requirements as the game is just too easy without that. Put kerbal in command seat, send kerbal anywhere you wanted to go. The end.

[VladK02]

mechJeb is a must, because launching rockets and doing maneuvres by hand is reta-rded in the age of computers.