Mod support¶
Not a guarantee
Kerbalism is best played in a lightly modded, stock-scale game. This page lists where the main repository provides patches or code, not a promise that every combo is bug-free. Large “future-scope” packs (KSPIE, many NFT/FFT/USI-MKS setups, interstellar planet packs, some huge part packs) remain high-risk. Pull requests for support configs are welcome.
Why Kerbalism touches other mods¶
Kerbalism simulates unloaded vessels (life support, ISRU, science, antennas, …). Stock and most mods only run their modules on the active vessel. To keep background behaviour coherent, Kerbalism often replaces or wraps stock/third-party modules instead of guessing their unloaded logic. That overlaps with other life-support, background-resource, or science overhaul mods.
Hard incompatibilities (startup list)¶
Default ModsIncompatible in code includes other life-support stacks:
- TacLifeSupport
- Snacks
- KolonyTools
- USILifeSupport
Do not combine these with Kerbalism’s official life-support profile.
Default science-overlap warnings include [x] Science! and KEI (features largely duplicated).
Explicitly unsupported (wontfix)¶
These are not hard ModsIncompatible blocks at startup, but upstream has marked them wontfix: do not expect official support patches, and combining them with Kerbalism is at your own risk.
| Mod | Issues | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pathfinder (Wild Blue Industries) | #428, #706 | Heavy feature overlap with Kerbalism habitats, processes, and science labs. Custom modules such as WBIScienceConverter break when Kerbalism removes stock ModuleScienceLab (PAW NRE spam). Full support would be large, hacky, and hard to maintain — same class of problem as USI MKS. Limited Buffalo / MOLE / WildBlueTools patches elsewhere do not mean Pathfinder is supported. |
Partial compatibility¶
These can run alongside Kerbalism, but some features will not work as their authors intended. Expect gaps; do not treat this as full support.
| Mod | Issues | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Strategia | #757 | Non-science strategies and the rest of the mod can be used. Science-modifying strategies (e.g. Probe Frenzy: probe bonuses and transmit-vs-recover differences) do not apply correctly under Kerbalism’s science pipeline. Kerbalism deliberately avoids transmit/recover science splits; fixing that properly would need non-trivial changes on the Strategia side. |
| MOAR Station Science (StationScience) | #746 | Experiments / parts can still be used. Recovery contracts that check for stock science data fail under Kerbalism because StationScience hardcodes stock data fields instead of using the stock science retrieval APIs. Fix belongs in StationScience, not Kerbalism. |
BackgroundResources / DeepFreeze / TAC-LS¶
If BackgroundResources is loaded (often with DeepFreeze or TAC-LS), Kerbalism tries to disable its unloaded-vessel processing and may show a popup. That is a conflict, not “full support.” Prefer not running DeepFreeze or TAC-LS alongside Kerbalism.
RemoteTech¶
Code integration for RemoteTech antennas / control path still exists, and Settings.cfg has RT-specific EC factors. A large RT install is still poorly maintained compared to stock CommNet. Expect warnings and edge cases.
Bundled Support patches¶
Patches live under GameData/KerbalismConfig/Support/ in the official config pack. Presence of a patch means someone contributed integration — quality varies.
Near Future / Far Future / related¶
| Area | Patch / notes |
|---|---|
| Near Future Electrical | NFElectric.cfg (+ SystemHeat-aware bits in main config) |
| Near Future Propulsion | NFPropulsion.cfg |
| Near Future Spacecraft / Exploration / Aeronautics / Launch Vehicles | NFSpacecraft*.cfg, NFExploration_Science.cfg, NFAeronautics.cfg, NFLaunchVehicle.cfg |
| Far Future Technologies | FarFutureTechnologies.cfg (main config; SH extras elsewhere) |
| CryoTanks / CryoEngines | CryoTanks.cfg, CryoEnginesExtensions.cfg |
| Kerbal Atomics | KerbalAtomics.cfg |
| Atomic Age | AtomicAge.cfg |
| Dynamic Radiation | DynamicRadiation.cfg |
| SpaceDust harvesters | SpaceDustHarvesters.cfg |
| Supplementary electric engines | SupplementaryElectricEngines.cfg |
| RDK | RDK.cfg |
Habitats / stations / parts¶
| Area | Patch / notes |
|---|---|
| Station Parts Expansion Redux (SSPX) | SSPX.cfg, SSPX_Science.cfg |
| HabTech / HabTech2 | HabTech.cfg, HabTech2.cfg |
| Bluedog Design Bureau | Bluedog.cfg (large pack — still often fragile) |
| Planetary Base Inc (KPBS) | PlanetaryBaseInc.cfg |
| Buffalo | Buffalo.cfg |
| MOLE / ALCOR / CxAerospace / Kerbalow | matching *.cfg |
| Restock / ReStockPlus | Restock.cfg, ReStockPlus*.cfg |
| SXT, SSTU, Tantares, VSR, mK2, … | matching support files |
| VABOrganizer | VABOrganizer.cfg |
Science / probes¶
| Area | Patch / notes |
|---|---|
| SCANsat | SCANsat.cfg + KerbalismScansat module |
| DMagic Orbital Science | DMagicOrbitalScience_Science.cfg |
| Sounding Rockets, Solar Science, Field Research, … | *_Science.cfg files |
| Universal Storage 2 | UniversalStorage2.cfg + science |
| Stock / Breaking Ground science | Squad_Science.cfg, BreakingGrounds_Science.cfg |
Utilities / realism-adjacent¶
| Area | Patch / notes |
|---|---|
| RemoteTech | RemoteTech.cfg |
| RealAntennas, RealBattery, RealChute, RealFuels | matching configs (RO/RSS users often use ROKerbalism instead) |
| TweakScale, B9PartSwitch, CCK, CLS | utility patches |
| Contract Configurator, Engineer, … | limited hooks |
| Kopernicus / planet packs (OPM, GPP, RSS, …) | radiation / body hooks where present — not full “support” |
| TestFlight / RO / RP-1 | incompatible with optional KerbalismEngineFailures (CKAN conflicts); use those stacks' own engine reliability. Core Kerbalism MTBF Reliability is unaffected |
USI and Sterling Systems¶
- USI — folder
Support/USI/(reactors, FTT, Kontainers). USI life support / Kolony stacks remain incompatible. - Sterling Systems — folder
Support/SterlingSystems/(including SystemHeat-aware converters). Do not also install Jade’s separateSterlingSystemsKerbalismpack.
Optional Extras (SystemHeat)¶
Not in default GameData. Copy from the repo Extras:
| Package | Role |
|---|---|
KerbalismSystemHeatCore |
Generic SystemHeat bridge (converters, harvesters, radiators, planner, migration) |
KerbalismSystemHeatCompat |
Requires Core. Patches stock + third-party parts (Squad LV-N/Dawn, AtomicAge, Buffalo, CryoTanks, FUR, HeatControl, KerbalAtomics, MissingHistory, NFA/NFP, KPBS, RestockPlus Cherenkov, SpaceDust, USI, …) |
Exclusive: do not install upstream SystemHeat Extras alongside these (SystemHeatFissionEngines, SystemHeatFissionReactors, SystemHeatIonEngines, SystemHeatConverters, SystemHeatHarvesters, SystemHeatCryoTanks / boiloff, or legacy Kerbalism-SystemHeat). Mixing double-patches parts. CKAN marks conflicts.
NFE, FFT, and Sterling Systems keep much of their Kerbalism (+ SH) support in the main KerbalismConfig package — install Core when you want Kerbalism’s generic radiator/ISRU SH behaviour.
Details: Extras/README.md.
Alternate config packs¶
Use instead of official KerbalismConfig when documented:
- ROKerbalism — RO / RP-1
- SIMPLEX
- SkyhawkKerbalism — BDB-focused
- LessRealThanReal(ism)
Adding support for your mod¶
See the technical guide, especially Profile, background simulation, and PartModules. Prefer MM patches + Kerbalism modules over fighting stock resource APIs on unloaded vessels.