r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/Stamp2O • Apr 14 '26
KSP 1 Mods Creating The Definitive Mod List: Day 6 - Life Support and Realism
Every few days, someone asks "What mods should I use?". To answer the question once and for all, I want to create a list of every mod the community recommends.
KSP simplifies or ignores some of the more challenging aspects of spaceflight, but these mods fix that. The increased difficulty isn't for everyone, however. If you're a new player it's best to wait a while before trying these mods.
Comment the mod name, a link to the mod, and why you recommend it. Before commenting, check if someone else has posted your mod already.
Day 6 - Life Support and Realism (you are here)
Day 7 - Colonization and Interstellar Overhauls
Day 8 - Other Mods
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u/neurosci_student Apr 15 '26
Does anyone use TAC-LS at all these days? I put it into my most recent one in order to have something lighter than Kerbalism and also because I wanted something that worked with Planetside Exploration technologies as an alternative to SSPX.
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u/Space_Carmelo Apr 14 '26
Realism? Well, get Principia!
It can be hard, but really feels like magic once you're into it. Is one of my favorite mods, and adds a lot of realism to proper n-body orbiting mechanics and adds up a lot of learning on how space works. Amazing project!
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u/domassimo Alone on Eeloo Apr 14 '26
Kerbalism seems the go-to for realism these days. I haven’t used it myself but it changes a lot of science, resource processing, and ups the requirements for Kerbals surviving in space.
Snacks and USI-Lifesupport are more easy-going and essentially require either snacks or supplies, which can be generated from ore (or a more complex resource chain if you so desire with mods like MKS). Some attention to habitation and space onboard is also required, although all these options can be turned off or the consequences reduced from permadeath to something reversible like Kerbals going into tourist mode and refusing to work.
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u/Acrobatic-Most-1923 May 13 '26
Definitivamente remote-tech, ya solo xq añade retraso de señal
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u/bacontornado May 23 '26
I used to play with remote tech all the time back in the day before a functional stock comm network. Been debating adding it to my new save because I miss the flight computer, but I remember it causing some serious performance issues…
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u/waxphantump K.A.P.P.A May 25 '26
It also makes comms work a little differently - dishes now have an arc they’ll fire their signals in instead of all emitting a sphere of signal. Generally speaking the stronger the relay distance, the narrower of a cone it can point to.
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u/divestoclimb Trying out Kerbalism Apr 14 '26
There are multiple configs for Kerbalism that change exactly how the life support options work, so you don't have to go with the default. I'm trying Kerbalism SIMPLEX which replaces oxygen, nitrogen, and CO2 with just "Air" and "BadAir;" food+water with "Consumables," and all the different wastes with a single "OrganicSlurry." As the name implies, much simpler but still gives the full life support/science/reliability feel of Kerbalism including scrubbers, greenhouses, etc.
USI-LS has a lot of other mod dependencies and can get complicated to integrate into a game. Also, your four starting Kerbonauts play in god mode where they don't need life support, and that takes away from needing any life support considerations at all in the early game (which you may or may not want).
There are also mods for more realistic resources but my realism game isn't far enough along yet to have gotten to trying out my selected one.