This is a collection of what I think are the best and most useful mods for Space Engineers when you're just starting out. They are by some of the most promiment modders in the community: Eikester, Digi, Jimmacle, Shoustoul and Doctor Octagonapus have together contributed an enormous amount to my enjoyment of the game and in my eyes Space Engineers has gained an immeasurable benefit from their presence.

To help you decide if you want all these mods I've included a bried description of each of them below.

• Rover Cockpit (Fixed) by theimmersion - this is incredibly useful if you're going to be playing on planets. This or something similar should have been added to vanilla a long time ago. This cockpit allows you to easily see the ground in front of your rover and adds a good new element of style to rover builds.
  
  
• Build Vision by Jimmacle and Text HUD API by DraygoKorvan - together these mods allow you to interact with your blocks directly in your HUD without opening up the grid's control panel. It's incredibly useful for changing the settings of lights without having to work out which light is which in the control panel. Build Vision requires the Text HUD API to function.
  
  
• Dantus by Doctor Octagonapus - this is my favourite planet to play on. The sweeping open deserts, the steep cliff faces and sparse vegetation make it a very interesting place to build on. I have loved playing survival on this as well as filming machinima on it. As an extra bonus people with lower specced machines can enjoy some slightly improved performance on Dantus vs the earthlike or alien planets.
  
  
• Eikester's Decoration packs, Kitchen pack and Kolt - Command Console Pack by Eikester - these decorative mods take the beauty and design on space engineers to new levels. You can now fill the interiors of your ships with cool looking consoles, fully decked out break rooms and even a gym.
  
  
• Animated interaction by Digi - this adds a nice interaction animation whenever you try to access a console, more importantly in certain versions of the game it also helps keep the engineer in the correct position when sitting on many of Eikester's creations.
  
  
• Air Traffic and Planetary Cargo Ships by Meridius_IX - I haven't had the joy of using these yet, but I'm really excited to. The idea of having cargo ships fly by while you're on a planet will make the whole universe feel so much more alive. These are the only mods I've included here that I haven't had the joy of using simply because I feel that they add a much needed PvE element to the game on planets.
  
  
• Catwalks by Shaostoul - these are some of the best designed and complete sets of catwalks that I've come across. Shoustoul has created many other decorative and functional mods but these are my favourite of his and complement the other decorative blocks by Eikester that are in this pack.