RO & RP 1 Installation for 1.10.1

Welcome to the installation instructions for RSS, RO, and RP-1 on KSP 1.10.1.

RSS/RO/RP-1 is complex and fragile. Please carefully read and follow every word of this detailed guide.

Not following this guide to the letter will break things and make you very frustrated. Following this guide is also a requirement to ask for support.

Table of Contents

Disclaimer: Known Issues

1. Main Installation Instructions

• Preparing a New Install
• Main Installation

2. Optional Visual & Sound Mods

3. Next Steps

4. Optional Instructions

• Hide Unconfigured Parts
• Get the Latest Realism Overhaul

Disclaimer: Known Issues

Note: These are the issues you will encounter if you follow this guide exactly. They are mostly harmless.

• Scatterer doesn't load clouds over Earth as displayed in the main menu. This is normal and expected.
• If your game freezes right before loading the main menu just close it and launch again.
• During startup, there will be a warning about DeadlyReentry not being compatible with 1.10. Ignore it.
• Using SCANsat v20+ will cause extreme memory usage, often in excess of 32 GB. This can be resolved by going to SCANSat/PluginData/Settings.cfg, and setting "VisibleMapsActive = False"
• If you have a Linux installation, you have to start the game from the local game directory, or the game will pick up the wrong physics files (resulting in procedural wings overheating at launchpad and other issues)
• The Toroidal and Radial tanks from ROTanks have some texture issues.

§1: Main Installation Instructions

Note: This is a guide for KSP 1.10.1. If you wish to install on a different version, you will need a different guide.

Preparing for Installation

1. Install a new copy of KSP 1.10.1. Do not try to install on top of your old modded KSP.
   • NOTE: If this is a Steam controlled copy rename or move the game directory (in Steam/steamapps/common/) so that Steam cannot find your modded installation and attempt to overwrite or change it.
2. Install CKAN and point it at your new KSP 1.10.1 installation.
   • Go into Settings in the top left corner and click "Compatible KSP versions". Make sure to add a checkmark for 1.8 and 1.9 versions.
   • If you don't know how to install or use CKAN, read CKAN 101.
   • NOTE: CKAN will not overwrite a mod folder that you installed/modified manually. Unless you already know what you're doing, make sure that your GameData folder ONLY contains the Squad folder.
   • Add the Mechjeb-dev Repository:
   1. Open CKAN and go to Settings → CKAN Settings.
   2. Locate the list of Metadata Repositories and press New.
   3. Select the one called MechJeb2-dev and confirm it is added to the list.

Main Installation

Note: Pay attention when choosing to install a suggested mod. Have an idea of what it does and if you want those features. Most mods will have a forum page that includes a brief description of their functionality.

3. Via CKAN, select Realism Overhaul if you want to play sandbox, or Realistic Progression One if you want to play career.

4. Press green "Apply changes" button to start installing the selected mods and dependencies. Do NOT let CKAN install any "Suggestions", but most "Recommendations" are indeed recommended and should be installed unless you know what you are doing. Do note that some of the recommended mods have to be chosen from 2 options:

   • MechJeb 2 2.11.0.0 will be selected by default. Uncheck it and instead select MechJeb 2 - DEV RELEASE right below it for the latest MJ updates.

   • When installing RealAntennas, you will be prompted to choose a version of KSPBurst - either the full version (just KSPBurst) or KSPBurst lite. Choose the full version, as that greatly improves performance.

   • Ven's Stock Revamp or ReStock: Both mods change the models of stock parts. This is pretty much a matter of preference. Just do not install both, and make sure you do not remove Ven's Core and Ven's New Parts.

   • TestFlight or TestLite: Both implement engine failures and rated burn times, in slightly different ways. The difference is small enough that both can be considered equivalent.

   • RCS Build Aid or RCS Build Aid Continued: either should be fine, flip a coin. The original was recently revived, and may or may not now be more advanced than its spinoff

5. Via CKAN, Select one of the "Real Solar System Textures" in the resolution you want to play with. Higher resolutions look better but at the cost of performance and higher RAM/GPU requirements.

6. Launch KSP to verify that the game runs. Go into a new Sandbox or Career mode and just check that nothing looks obviously wrong or explodes.

7. Optional: Install Principia. See the link at the top of this README to download: https://github.com/mockingbirdnest/Principia/blob/master/README.md

   • WARNING: Principia is a complete modification of KSP, changing fundamentally how the game works. It may induce some bugs, and even when it works perfectly it makes learning the RP-1 mechanics even more difficult. Think twice or thrice before installing it if you never played both RP-1 and Principia.
   • What is Principia and why should I care? If you're a hardcore orbital mechanics enthusiast and have lamented that KSP doesn't properly simulate orbital perturbations and Lagrange points, then Principia is for you. If you're either new to RP-1 or are scratching your head and asking "What's a Lagrange point?" then you should probably pass on Principia and focus on mastering all the other the game mechanics. Only few orbits around the moon are stable, building comms network around moons is possible only for couple of months. Read this overview (also linked in the sidebar) for more info.
   • NOTE: Principia and Persistent Rotation conflict, as Principia provides & implements a more realistic model for rotation during timewarp.

Optional Visual & Sound Mods

RSSVE can be installed via CKAN, make sure to select either Low Resolution or High Resolution packages.

NOTE: For the visual pack of EVE/RSSVE/Scatterer it is important to install the specific versions specified below, even if a new version is available, as these are known to work properly together.

• EVE Redux 1.11.2.1, from release (Note EVE's instructions make mention of configs, just ignore those instructions and follow these)

• RSSVE 1.10, from release. You'll need to choose between high res (HR) and low res (LR) when selecting a .zip to download.

• Scatterer v0.0770, from release.

• Distant Object Enhancement v2.0.0.2, from release: https://github.com/TheDarkBadger/DistantObject/releases

• PlanetShine v0.2.6.3, from release: https://github.com/prestja/ksp-planetshine/releases/

• TUFX v1.0.2.3, from release: https://github.com/shadowmage45/TUFX/releases

  • See also: TUFX settings tweak
  • Don't copy ModuleManager.4.1.3.dll, that is contained in the zip-file. Will conflict with possible newer versions of ModuleManager

• RSS Correct Ultra High Resolution Unique Galaxy Background CubeMap for the best and most realistic skybox for RSS from here Skybox KSP forum link Load with your preferred way of texture replacing (tested with CKAN TextureReplacer install on 1.8 - 1.10)

• AudioMuffler v2.6.1, from release: https://github.com/SerTheGreat/Audio-Muffler-Redux/releases

§3: Next Steps

Congrats, you're done. Here's what you should do next:

1. Consider trying some of the optional installation steps below.
2. Maybe install even more mods from our Recommended Extra Mod List. Note that page is a mix of KSP versions and some of the information there might not be as up to date as this page. Consider this page to be correct if the two contradict each other.
3. Proceed to New Career Setup if you are playing RP-1.
4. Consider some thoughtful musings about your new installation.
5. Finally, scroll back up and locate the wiki sidebar. The "Getting Started" section contains a wealth of information for help and instruction.
6. If it's your first time playing RP-1, read the tutorial and the FAQ.

§4: Optional Instructions

Hide Unconfigured Parts

If you want to clean up your parts list in the VAB, make empty folders called NoNonRO, NoNonRP0 in your GameData folder to hide parts not properly setup for RO and RP1

Get the Latest Realism Overhaul

If you want to use the latest updates to RO, do the following:

2. Go into your GameData folder and COMPLETELY DELETE the RealismOverhaul folder.
3. Install RO from Github branch: https://github.com/KSP-RO/RealismOverhaul
   • If you are unsure how to do this, read this article: How to Install a Mod From Github.
   • You only need to put the RealismOverhaul folder into your GameData, not the EngineGroupController folder.

In the discord channel it was mentioned in March 2021, that the latest Realism Overhaul is actually necessary for some of the other mods.

Install In-Development RP-1

If you want to try the in-development build of RP-1, then follow these steps:

4. Go into your GameData folder and COMPLETELY DELETE the RP-0 folder
5. Download the master branch of RP-1 from here: https://github.com/KSP-RO/RP-0
6. Inside the downloaded zip, navigate to the GameData folder and copy the RP-0 folder into your installed GameData folder.