Thinking about starting a modded save

[thouston]

Never installed mods for KSP, what mod platform is the go to? What mods should I try out? Looking to keep the same scale and DV numbers because I'm familiar with them already.

[Yuki]

CKAN is a mod manager with download option. However not everything is available, especially nowadays (many mods didnt get updated anymore but may still work, making that work in CKAN is tricky...)
Other than that spacedock is probably your best bet.

Mods you probably want to try out:

Visual, lets start simple:
-Eve
-TUFX

Parts:
-MK2 Expansion if you like spaceplanes
-Octosat for satelites
-Pathfinder - inflatable modular bases
-Extraplanetary Launchpads, build things on the go!
-I would usually recommend tweakscale, a mod that lets you rescale parts. Even call it an essential BUT- its not compatible with the current version despite being shown different. It will lead to mass incompabilities with other mods and corrupted files so- for now better stay away from it. :(

Other:
-KIS/KAS. Give your Kerbals more options in EVA. KSP originally didnt have an "inventory" nor eva-construction, these two added it and are still required by many others.
-Chatterer
-Mechjeb 2

Once you have a working mod setup i recommend to backup your GameData folder to save it. In case a new mod will blow it up. Because you will probably want to add more on the go as well
Because most important! Which mods? Whatever looks fun!

[funkynutz]

Near Future Expansion pack. There's quite a few different mods under the Near Future banner. You may not like them all, but you'll probably like some.

[phoneticdecay]

I am Still tweaking some of the mods. I may drop some of the parts and pick up some of Nerteas now. Traditionally i have played with Stock A Like with (Faster Than Light & KSP warp drive).

This is the Current Career Mod List (Will Eventually Add an Interstellar mod when i get my infrastructure in place)

[x] Science! Continued (xScienceContinued 6.0.2)
4kSP_Expanded (4kSPExpanded 0.2.1.7)
Adiri's minimal TUFX (AdirisMinimalTUFXProfile 1.2.1)
ASET PRC (Portable Rover Components) (ASET-PRC 0.1.0.5)
Astrogator (Astrogator v1.0.2)
AT Kerbalized Names! CKAN Edition! (AtomicTechKerbalizedNames 2.0.1)
AtmosphereAutopilot (Fly-By-Wire) (AtmosphereAutopilot v1.6.1)
B9 Part Switch (B9PartSwitch v2.20.0)
ballisticfox's vintage TUFX profile (BallisticFoxsVintageTUFXProfile V1.0)
BetterKerbol (BetterKerbol v1.1.0)
BetterTimeWarpContinued (BetterTimeWarpCont 2.3.13)
Breaking Ground (BreakingGround-DLC 1.7.1)
CactEye-2 Orbital Telescope Refocused (CactEyeCommunityRefocused 1.5.2.8)
Chatterer (Chatterer 0.9.99)
Chatterer Extended (ChattererExtended 0.6.2)
Civilian Population (CivilianPopulation 1:3.0.1.2)
ClickThrough Blocker (ClickThroughBlocker 1:2.1.10.21)
Community Category Kit (CommunityCategoryKit v112.0.1)
Community Parts Titles (CommunityPartsTitles 0.10.3)
Community Parts Titles Extras: Categories (CommunityPartsTitlesExtrasCategory 0.10.3)
Community Planet Enhancement: Laythe (CommunityPlanetEnhancementLaythe 1.0)
Community Resource Pack (CommunityResourcePack v112.0.1)
Community Tech Tree (CommunityTechTree 1:3.4.5)
Community Terrain Texture Pack (CommunityTerrainTexturePack 1:1.0.5)
Connected Living Space (ConnectedLivingSpace v2.0.2.0)
Contract Configurator (ContractConfigurator v2.11.0.0)
Contract Pack: Anomaly Surveyor (ContractConfigurator-AnomalySurveyor 1.7.1)
Contract Pack: Bases and Stations Reborn (ContractConfigurator-KerbinSpaceStation 2:3.7.3.3)
Contract Pack: Constellations (ContractConfigurator-Constellations 0.8)
Contract Pack: Exploration Plus (ContractConfigurator-ExplorationPlus 2.0.1)
Contract Pack: Kerbal Academy (ContractConfigurator-KerbalAcademy 1.1.10)
Contract Pack: Research Advancement Division (ResearchAdvancementDivision 1.2.1)
Contract Pack: SCANSat (ContractConfigurator-ContractPack-SCANsat v0.6.0.1)
Contract Pack: Tourism Plus (ContractConfigurator-Tourism 1.5.2)
Crew Light (CrewLight 1:1.20.1.1)
Crew R&R (CrewQueueTwo 1.1.11.4)
Custom Barn Kit (CustomBarnKit 1.1.22.0)
Deflatable Heat Shield (DeflatableHeatShield 0.0.3)
Distant Object Enhancement /L (DistantObject v2.2.0.2)
Distant Object Enhancement /L default config (DistantObject-default v2.2.0.2)
Dr Kermnassus Parts (DrKermnassusParts 0.0.2)
Editor Extensions Redux (EditorExtensionsRedux 3.4.5)
EditorTime (EditorTime 1:1.0.7.2)
Engineering Roles - Final Frontier Ribbon Pack (STMsFFRibbonPackEngineeringRoles 0.5.1)
Environmental Visual Enhancements Redux (EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements 3:1.11.7.2)
EVA Enhancements Continued (EVAEnhancementsContinued 0.1.15.3)
EVA Handrails Continued (EVAHandrailsPackContinued 0.3.0.3)
EvaFollower (EvaFollower 1:1.1.2)
Extended information about scientific experiments in VAB (ScienceSituationInfo 1:1.3.5)
Extraplanetary Launchpads (ExtraPlanetaryLaunchpads 6.99.3.0)
Filter Extensions - Default Configuration (FilterExtensionsDefaultConfig 3.2.9)
Filter Extensions - Plugin (FilterExtensions 3.2.9)
Final Frontier (FinalFrontier 1.10.0-3485)
Firespitter Core (FirespitterCore v7.17)
FTL Drive Continued (FTLDriveContinued 0.2.5.3)
Fuel Tank Expansion Rebuilt (MunarIndustriesFTX 0.9.7.1)
FuseBox Continued (FuseBoxContinued 0.1.17.4)
Habitable Gilly (HabitableGilly 1.0)
Harmony 2 (Harmony2 2.2.1.0)
HeapPadder (HeapPadder 0.0.2.4)
Heat Control (HeatControl 0.6.2)
Hide Empty Tech Tree Nodes (HideEmptyTechNodes 1.3.2)
HUD Replacer (HUDReplacer 1.2.12-beta)
IndicatorLights (IndicatorLights 1.8.3)
Kerbal Attachment System (KAS 1.12)
Kerbal HotSeat (KerbalHotSeatCont 1.0.5.5)
Kerbal Inventory System (KIS 1.29)
Kerbal Joint Reinforcement Continued (KerbalJointReinforcementContinued v3.7.5.0)
Kerbal Occupation Colors (KerbalOccupationColors v1.2.0.1)
Kerbal Public Radio Service (KPRS) (KerbalPublicRadioServiceKPRS 0.0.4)
Kerbal Renamer (KerbalRenamer v1.7.0.0)
Kerbal Research & Development (KRnD 1.16.0.14)
Kerbal Weather Project (KerbalWeatherProject 1:1.0.7)
Kopernicus Planetary System Modifier (Kopernicus 2:release-1.12.1-212)
Kourageous Tourists /L (KourageousTourists 0.6.0.1)
KSP Achievements (Achievements 1.10.1.8)
KSP Community Fixes (KSPCommunityFixes 1.35.2)
KSP WarpDrive (WarpDrive 0.9.5.1)
KSP Wheel (KSPWheel 1:0.16.14.33)
Making History (MakingHistory-DLC 1.12.1)
MechJeb 2 (MechJeb2 2.14.3.0)
Midweeks TUFX Config (MidweeksTUFXConfig 1.0)
Moar Filter Extension Configs (MoarFEConfigs 1.0.5.2)
MOAR Station Science (MOARStationScience v2.6.2.1)
Modular Computer Package Revived (ModularComputerPackageRevived 2.0.1)
ModularFlightIntegrator (ModularFlightIntegrator 1.2.10.0)
Module Manager (ModuleManager 4.2.3)
Navball Docking Alignment Indicator CE-2 (NavballDockAlignIndCE 1.1.1.3)
NavHud (NavHudRenewed 1.4.0.5)
NEBULA Decals Continued (NEBULADecalsContinued 0.1.3)
Night Shift (NightShift v1.0.0)
Operations Roles - Final Frontier Ribbon Pack (STMsFFRibbonPackOperationsRoles 0.5.1)
OSE Workshop Reworked (OSEWorkShopReworked 1.2.14.3)
Outer Planets Mod (OuterPlanetsMod 2:2.2.10)
Outer Planets Mod - Final Frontier Ribbon Pack (OPMFinalFrontierRibbons 1.2)
Outer Planets Mod - Parallax with Scatters (Parallax-OuterPlanetsMod v1.0.5)
Parallax (Parallax 2.0.8)
Parallax - Stock Planet Textures (Parallax-StockTextures 2.0.8)
Parallax - Stock Scatter Textures (Parallax-StockScatterTextures 2.0.8)
Part Commander Continued (PartCommanderCont 1.1.6.4)
Phoenix Industries EVA Survival Suit (PhoenixIndustriesEVASuit 1)
Project Manager (ProjectManager v2.5)
PylonFix (PylonFix 0.0.0.1)
QuickGoTo (QuickGoTo 1:1.4.0.10)
Rational Resources (RationalResources 2.0.7.1)
RCS Build Aid (RCSBuildAid v1.0.6)
Real Plume (RealPlume 2:v13.3.2)
Real Plume - Stock Configs (RealPlume-StockConfigs v4.0.8)
Reentry Particle Effect Renewed (ReentryParticleEffect 1.9.1.1)
REPOSoftTech-Agencies (REPOSoftTech-Agencies V1.5.9.0)
ResearchBodies (ResearchBodies 2:V1.13.0)
ReStock (ReStock 1.4.5)
Restock Waterfall Expansion (RestockWaterfallExpansion 3.1.0)
ReStock+ (ReStockPlus 1.4.5)
Rover Science Continued (RoverScienceCont 2.3.5.7)
RSMP (SRBWaterfallEffects 2:4.0.1)
SCANsat (SCANsat v20.4)
Scatterer (Scatterer 3:v0.0878)
Scatterer Default Config (Scatterer-config 3:v0.0878)
Scatterer Sunflare (Scatterer-sunflare 3:v0.0878)
Science Roles - Final Frontier Ribbon Pack (ScienceRolesFinalFrontierRibbonPack 0.5.2.1)
Service Bay Limiter (ServiceBayLimiter 1.12.2)
Servo Controller (ServoController v1.2.1)
Shabby (Shabby 0.3.0.0)
Ship Effects Continued (ShipEffectsContinued 1.0.11.2)
Ship Manifest (ShipManifest 6.0.8.0)
Slingshotter Reslung (SlingShotterReslung 1.1.8.1)
SmokeScreen - Extended FX Plugin (SmokeScreen 2.8.14.0)
Space Age (SpaceAge v1.3.8)
Space X suits (SpaceXSuits 1.0)
Spacedocks Redeployed (SpacedocksRedeployed 0.3.0.4)
SpaceTux Library (SpaceTuxLibrary 0.0.8.6)
Station Keeping (StationKeeping 1:0.2.3.1)
STM's Expedition Ribbons - Final Frontier Ribbon Pack (STMsFFRibbonPackExpeditionRibbons 1:0.11.1b)
Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Redux (StationPartsExpansionRedux 2.0.11)
System Heat (SystemHeat 0.7.3)
TextureReplacer (TextureReplacer v4.5.3)
The Janitor's Closet (JanitorsCloset 0.3.8)
The SSR MicroSat: 0.35m Probe Parts Revived (MicroSatRevived 0.1.4.1)
Through The Eyes of a Kerbal (ThroughTheEyesOfaKerbal 2.0.4.4)
Toolbar (Toolbar 1:1.8.1.1)
Toolbar Controller (ToolbarController 1:0.1.9.11)
TooManyOrbits (TooManyOrbits 1.1.6.6)
Tracking Station Evolved (TrackingStationEvolved 7.0)
Trackingstation Ambientlight (TrackingStationAmbientlight 0.3.4)
Trajectories (Trajectories v2.4.5.3)
TUFX (TUFX 1.1.0)
USI Exploration Pack (USI-EXP v112.0.1)
USI Life Support (USI-LS v112.0.1)
USI Tools (USITools v112.0.1)
VAB Organizer (VABOrganizer 1.0.1)
Vertex Mitchell-Netravali Filtered Heightmap (VertexMitchellNetravaliHeightMap 0.3)
VertexColorMapEmissive (VertexColorMapEmissive 1.0.0)
VertexHeightOblateAdvanced (VertexHeightOblateAdvanced 1.1.4)
Waterfall - Restock (WaterfallRestock 0.2.3)
Waterfall Core (Waterfall 0.9.0)
WaypointManager (WaypointManager 2.8.4.2)
Xenon ISRU (XenonISRU 0.0.1)
ZTheme (ZTheme v1.1.3)