[1.3.1] Aviation Lights v3.14 [use MOARdV's version instead!]

[BigNose]

This. Is. EPIC! Thank you so much!

Woah, that was fast... 2.5 minutes after I posted. Glad you like it!

[Deadweasel]

I'm sitting here playing with the game, and I've got a mail notifier that pops responses to threads I'm subscribed to. I'm on this like white on rice!!

[BigNose]

Because the modes are now persistent, you can use them as docking lights on your space station, as signal beacons on splashed pods, or even as runway lights. No need to focus the vessel or re-enable them when you restart your game.

[BigNose]

I'm sitting here playing with the game, and I've got a mail notifier that pops responses to threads I'm subscribed to. I'm on this like white on rice!!

That's nice, I will definetly google that! ^^

[Deadweasel]

It's a Google Chrome plugin called Checker Plus. If the browser is open, it'll keep an eye on your GMail account and pop notices when new mails come in.

[GROOV3ST3R]

That is great news I will be making use of that

I wonder if there is anything else to add to these lights? lol

[Blaylock1988]

Woooo another update!

[Orphican]

Amen with the action groups implementation. Woot!

[anarkhon]

Nice! thx!

Became standard in my crafts very early

[BigNose]

That is great news I will be making use of that

I wonder if there is anything else to add to these lights? lol

Good question, I think they are pretty much done. If anyone has any suggestions for another update, let me know.

I think I will upload v3.0 again to fix the format of the .cfgs, I made them with MonoDevelop and know their format is broken in die Editor

Nevermind, it even works with Notepad++, which you should get anyways. It's small and useful.

Edited May 20, 2013 by BigNose

[artao]

Holy cow that was fast. Thanks!!!! I totally wasn't expecting anything until after 0.20 was out.

Question: Will we need to remove and re-add these lights to any craft that currently have the older version? I assume so seeing as the parts class has changed, not to mention all the other changes.

Thanks again.

[BigNose]

Holy cow that was fast. Thanks!!!! I totally wasn't expecting anything until after 0.20 was out.

Question: Will we need to remove and re-add these lights to any craft that currently have the older version? I assume so seeing as the parts class has changed, not to mention all the other changes.

Thanks again.

Thanks!

Regarding your question: I don't think so actually. Not a single filename has changed, and the conversion Part class -> PartModule class should work on the fly.

[Deadweasel]

Hmm...

I can't seem to get them to flash quickly any longer. Regardless of the .cfg settings, I still only get a roughly 1s on/1s off cycle for the flash mode on the new version. I was able to get them to flash at the rate I was looking for previously using OnState: 0.15 and OffState: 2.00 before, but now those settings seem to make no difference.

I really like the quick and sharp strobe effect over a slow steady blink rate. Any ideas?

Had a look at the source, but I am a complete n00b with C#. I didn't see any references to the .cfg file in there; does that happen based on the game engine itself, or am I just not recognizing the point at which it's called in the code?

[MAKC]

Would be nice if you could change the light radius & strength in .cfg, if it's possible, because at the moment they light up too much of my craft, making it look ugly. IMO they shouldn't be omni lights but rather beam lights like the spotlight with a wide beam angle (170-180° so they light up stuff infront and besides them, but not things behind them such as your craft. Good mod tho!

Edited May 20, 2013 by MAKC

[BigNose]

Hmm...

I can't seem to get them to flash quickly any longer. Regardless of the .cfg settings, I still only get a roughly 1s on/1s off cycle for the flash mode on the new version. I was able to get them to flash at the rate I was looking for previously using OnState: 0.15 and OffState: 2.00 before, but now those settings seem to make no difference.

I really like the quick and sharp strobe effect over a slow steady blink rate. Any ideas?

Had a look at the source, but I am a complete n00b with C#. I didn't see any references to the .cfg file in there; does that happen based on the game engine itself, or am I just not recognizing the point at which it's called in the code?

Did you try to delete and reinstall them?

You can change the flash timers by setting new values for the "Flash" and "IntervalToStayOff" variables in the part.cfg. The plugin takes those values and uses them for the ON and OFF time in the FLASH mode.

The INTERVAL mode just switches between ON and OFF in the time defined by the "Interval" value at the bottom.

Seems to me you accidently equalized the "Flash" and "IntervalToStayOff" values, or you are using the INTERVAL instead of the FLASH mode.

I will do some additional testing to make sure it isn't a bug in the plugin, but I'm very sure it isn't.

BigNose

[Deadweasel]

I did not do a full delete and reinstall of the parts and plugin. I just replaced the files with the new stuff, including the plugin .dll. Everything seemed to be affected by this update method, so I didn't think twice about it, but I'll try wiping them out and reinstalling completely to see if that makes a difference.

[BigNose]

Would be nice if you could change the light radius & strength in .cfg, if it's possible, because at the moment they light up too much of my craft, making it look ugly. IMO they shouldn't be omni lights but rather beam lights like the spotlight with a wide beam angle (170-180° so they light up stuff infront and besides them, but not things behind them such as your craft. Good mod tho!

In fact you can. To alter the intensity of the lights, just scale down the color components.

For example, you could take the red component of the red navlight:

Color = 0.50, 0.12, 0.07

and change it to let's say

Color = 0.25, 0.06, 0.04

to make it half as bright.

Regarding your suggestion to make it a directional lightsource... Hmm. I need to think about that.

It would be more realistic indeed, as real navlights have a beam angle of exactly 110° on the wingtip and 140° on the tail, so you can alway see just two of them (say white and green, so you know you are right and behind the plane at night).

But also this would kinda limit they use for other purposes or wings/tails which don't have a flat ending. I don't know if that's necessary.

I kinda like how they shine on wingtips.

[Deadweasel]

I too like how they light up the wingtips! Makes for a nice effect in orbit.

[BigNose]

I did not do a full delete and reinstall of the parts and plugin. I just replaced the files with the new stuff, including the plugin .dll. Everything seemed to be affected by this update method, so I didn't think twice about it, but I'll try wiping them out and reinstalling completely to see if that makes a difference.

You're right, a copy and paste of the new files should be enough. I just tested the FLASH mode with a 'Flash' value of 0.05 to 0.15 in 0.05 steps and a 'IntervalToStayOff' value of 0.5 up to 3 in 0.5 steps. Everthing works as intended.

[Talisar]

I am looking forward to using this one! The only reason I didn't use it much before was because the lights were tied to staging, but no I have no more excuses not to light up the night sky of Kerbin with flashy space stations!

[Deadweasel]

So here's what I'm seeing:

The settings I'm using in the configs:

MODULE
{
	//Energy consumption rate
	EnergyReq = 0.01

	// color changes the colour and intensity (0.1-3 recommended)
	// Intervals can be changed by modifying below

	name = ModuleNavLight

	Color = 1.00, 0.95, 0.91

	IntervalFlashMode = 0		//used only for reference - leave at 0
	Flash = 0.05					//Used to define the length of time the light is ON during Flash Mode
	IntervalToStayOff = 2.0		//Used to define the length of time the light is OFF during Flash mode

	Interval = 0.4				//Used by standard Interval mode
}

I'm starting to wonder if another plugin could be causing a conflict and making this one ignore the timing settings...

[GROOV3ST3R]

I think JDP may have messed something up because when I looked into the Source file, the values under the flashbasedswitcher were different to what they should have been - or how they were originally placed.

Regardless, I did test the lights on my own after replacing the files and they worked for me. Are you SURE that the action groups you selected are correct?

Because that looks an awful lot like the INTERVAL mode.

Also, try 0.1 and see if that works. IT may be that the program doesn't like values lower than 0.1 but I wouldn't be willing to bet on that.

EDIT:

They work for me. Re-add the lights and try again, this time make sure that the action group is Flash, not Interval. It could have happened that you accidentally chose the wrong one.

Edited May 21, 2013 by GROOV3ST3R

[Deadweasel]

I think JDP may have messed something up because when I looked into the Source file, the values under the flashbasedswitcher were different to what they should have been - or how they were originally placed.

Regardless, I did test the lights on my own after replacing the files and they worked for me. Are you SURE that the action groups you selected are correct?

Because that looks an awful lot like the INTERVAL mode.

Also, try 0.1 and see if that works. IT may be that the program doesn't like values lower than 0.1 but I wouldn't be willing to bet on that.

Thanks for the reply.

I did reset the configs to 0.1, and it made no difference. I double-checked the action group to be sure it was triggering properly, (I was expecting it to cycle modes, which does seem to be working fine)

I'm going to yank the other mod parts from the craft to see if they might be interfering somehow, and will post results.

[Deadweasel]

Nope. Removing the mod parts from the plane didn't change the lights behavior.

I'm going to do another fresh game install with ONLY this mod to see if it could be a conflict with something else that's loaded, even if it's not on the .craft itself.

[GROOV3ST3R]

I have B9 aerospace and plenty other mods, nothing conflicts with these lights AFAIK.

Well, the first mode in the cycle is always going to be the Flash mode. Maybe you double-tapped it or something. I will test it out myself to see if it will work.

EDIT:

I can see the game on a 2nd monitor as I'm writing this and it all works fine here. Cycle goes through flash -> interval -> on -> off without a hitch. 0.05 flashes for strobe lights, all lights on a craft toggled at the same time but they all have different lengths of flashes and still they toggle without a hitch.

Edited May 21, 2013 by GROOV3ST3R