[1.11.x] RCS Build Aid v1.0.6

[gilflo]

Last version does not work for me on 1.0.5.

No valid indications on engines. I return to previous one and it works...

[NathanKell]

22 hours ago, pellinor said:

Are you aware that this method will break as soon as two modules use it? Suppose I add 1t to a part and you add 1t, then both modules will report a moduleMass of 2t. So it only works if each module remembers how much it added and only reports this as its moduleMass.

For TweakScale I'll give the "remember what you added" solution a try.

I really fail to see what this IPartMassModifier is good for, its purpose seems to collect an information that is already there (the part mass) in a more complicated way.

Yep, and this is why RF tells Tweakscale to not apply mass changes for engines/RCS, IIRC.

 

EDIT: But yeah, let's hope this works better in 1.1.

[m4v]

@gilfloWorks for me. I need more info to work with.

[fourfa]

Oh, man!  How sweet it is, being able to throw RCS pieces wherever I like and balance them with the thrust limiter.  THANK YOU!

[Spraki]

Worked for me too. 

I have issues here and there but this most likely due to testing it with mods - and as written in the OP, RCS Build Aid doesn't support custom pieces. 

Great mod. Also like how you can see your TWR and set it to the environment accordingly. I wish there was a seperate tool doing that, but meh :(. 

Thumbs up!

[igor_perusco]

If i may make a suggestion for a future version, this is a shower thought i just had.

There's code in RCS build aid right now to account for gimbal range and display resulting torque with gimbal actuation. Would it be possible to visualize the gimbal range of a rocket as a visible cone extending up into the rocket. If the center of mass is contained within this cone then the rocket would have sufficient control authority to overcome offcenter thrust, if it is not then the rocket would spin out of control even with maximum gimbal actuation. Optionally an arrow would show the direction that the center of mass should be offset in order to balance the rocket

If allowed the cone could be colored green, yellow or red depending on how close the CoM would get to its edges. In the case of multiple engines or engine clusters, the half angle of the resultant cone would be a weighted average of the half angles of all the cones, where the weight is the thrust of the engine. The tip of the resultant cone would lie at the center of thrust and the cone would be aligned with the resultant axis of thrust.

[gilflo]

I have another suggestion for SSTO

When i build SSTO I set the RCS Thrusters mainly for using of translation when docking.

I add Vernors or mono directional Thrusters on the cockpit, on top and below, to help sustaining high AOA on re entry in order to aerobrake and avoid overheating. They are not supposed to work for translation, just for nose up and down attitude.

Would it be possible to make a selection of the RCS devices we want to use and then proceed to the translation or attitude calculations ?

So when I would make the calculation RCS build aids would only use for the selected devices.

[smjjames]

Any idea what would cause this exception to trigger when I enter the VAB/SPH?

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at RCSBuildAid.RCSBuildAid.setupMarker () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at RCSBuildAid.RCSBuildAid.Start () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

 

[Boris-Barboris]

3 hours ago, smjjames said:

Any idea what would cause this exception to trigger when I enter the VAB/SPH?

I have. CorrectCoL sets overlays.CoL marker to null, then RCSBuildAid tries to add scaler component to it. I'll fix it today.

...Aaaand done, redownload if bothered.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Boris-Barboris

[smjjames]

6 hours ago, Boris-Barboris said:

I have. CorrectCoL sets overlays.CoL marker to null, then RCSBuildAid tries to add scaler component to it. I'll fix it today.

...Aaaand done, redownload if bothered.

Okay. I was suspecting CorrectCOL but since the exception was coming from this mod, I decided to post here about it.

[UpdogMcFreeley]

I just started trying to use RCS Build Aid for the first time and I'm having a problem. The CoM, DCoM, and ACoM indicators all display, but there are no arrows showing, no matter what I do. I'm on 1.0.4, Mac. Suggestions?

[m4v]

1 hour ago, UpdogMcFreeley said:

I just started trying to use RCS Build Aid for the first time and I'm having a problem. The CoM, DCoM, and ACoM indicators all display, but there are no arrows showing, no matter what I do. I'm on 1.0.4, Mac. Suggestions?

oh right, latest release should only work in KSP 1.0.5, if you're unable to update KSP you can download 0.7.5 from here, but you'll be stuck with that version.

[UpdogMcFreeley]

54 minutes ago, m4v said:

oh right, latest release should only work in KSP 1.0.5, if you're unable to update KSP you can download 0.7.5 from here, but you'll be stuck with that version.

Ah, thank you. I'm in the middle of a career so I want to stick with 1.0.4 for now. 

[OminousPenguin]

Hi @m4v,

I've just submitted a pull request: https://github.com/m4v/RCSBuildAid/pull/29

I was trying to use TweakableGimbal but, as both mods set gimbal rotations in the editor, engines were just flickering rapidly - not much use to anyone.

I expect there is a cleaner way to see if the rotation to the desired position has been completed rather than just waiting for some time... I look forward to your comments.

Thanks

Edited February 3, 2016 by OminousPenguin

[m4v]

FAR and RealChute users can skip this update, this feature doesn't work with those mods.

Version 0.7.7
-------------

* New parachute mode.

This was a feature that I had for ages internally but had to scrap when the aero update came. This should help in placing parachutes if you want to touchdown more or less horizontally and not nose first. However because parachutes have some quirks and I don't understand all the stuff that goes under the hood in the aero simulation your mileage might vary and not get the expected result. This is good enough for me.

Examples:

Edited February 6, 2016 by m4v

[Daveroski]

On 10/01/2016 at 9:38 AM, gilflo said:

I have another suggestion for SSTO

When i build SSTO I set the RCS Thrusters mainly for using of translation when docking.

I add Vernors or mono directional Thrusters on the cockpit, on top and below, to help sustaining high AOA on re entry in order to aerobrake and avoid overheating. They are not supposed to work for translation, just for nose up and down attitude.

Would it be possible to make a selection of the RCS devices we want to use and then proceed to the translation or attitude calculations ?

So when I would make the calculation RCS build aids would only use for the selected devices.

I just set the ones I don't want included to have a thrust of '0' until I have the translation as I want it and then reset them to the power that I want.

[gilflo]

Imad the same demand just a few posts ago.

that would be great!!!

[jippijip]

I love this mod, and it's been one of the core tools I use to build rockets, but after painstakingly adding in one mod at a time, it seems that my install of RCS Build Aid is conflicting with EVE's clouds. Does anyone know why this could be happening and/or how to potentially fix it?

Edited February 29, 2016 by jippijip

[blowfish]

29 minutes ago, jippijip said:

I love this mod, and it's been one of the core tools I use to build rockets, but after painstakingly adding in one mod at a time, it seems that my install of RCS Build Aid is conflicting with EVE's clouds. Does anyone know why this could be happening and/or how to potentially fix it?

1. Welcome to the forums
2. How exactly did you come to the conclusion that RCS Build Aid and EVE are conflicting?  These are just about two of the least related mods available.  Have you confirmed that uninstalling RCS build aid but changing nothing else fixes the clouds?

[jippijip]

13 hours ago, blowfish said:

1. Welcome to the forums
2. How exactly did you come to the conclusion that RCS Build Aid and EVE are conflicting?  These are just about two of the least related mods available.  Have you confirmed that uninstalling RCS build aid but changing nothing else fixes the clouds?

Thanks!

Pretty much. I had roughly 20 mods installed, and I noticed my EVE clouds weren't working and I had some time to kill, so I opened up a fresh install of KSP with EVE and nothing else. I added mods one at a time until it stopped working, and the two problem mods ended up being Tarsier and RCSBuildAid. Installing either one of those kills the clouds and uninstalling fixes them. I was confused too, which is why I asked. 

[m4v]

Even if you say that I can't imagine why there would be a conflict.

[softweir]

4 hours ago, jippijip said:

Thanks!

Pretty much. I had roughly 20 mods installed, and I noticed my EVE clouds weren't working and I had some time to kill, so I opened up a fresh install of KSP with EVE and nothing else. I added mods one at a time until it stopped working, and the two problem mods ended up being Tarsier and RCSBuildAid. Installing either one of those kills the clouds and uninstalling fixes them. I was confused too, which is why I asked. 

Try that again, only add RCSBuildAid in first (after EVE of course!). It might be it was the number of mods that was causing the issue.

[xchoo]

I can concur that EVE + RCSBuildAid causes EVE to stop functioning. The output_log.txt file produces the following error message:

AddonLoader: Instantiating addon 'GlobalEVEManager' from assembly 'EVEManager'
 
(Filename: C:/buildslave/unity/build/artifacts/StandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 56)

ArgumentNullException: Argument cannot be null.
Parameter name: source
  at System.Linq.Check.SourceAndPredicate (System.Object source, System.Object predicate) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at System.Linq.Enumerable.Where[EVEManagerBase] (IEnumerable`1 source, System.Func`2 predicate) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at EVEManager.GlobalEVEManager.Setup (Boolean late) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at EVEManager.GlobalEVEManager.Awake () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
UnityEngine.GameObject:Internal_AddComponentWithType(Type)
UnityEngine.GameObject:AddComponent(Type)
AddonLoader:StartAddon(LoadedAssembly, Type, KSPAddon, Startup)
AddonLoader:StartAddons(Startup)
AddonLoader:OnLevelWasLoaded(Int32)

 

[Brigadier]

Weird, because I run RCS, EVE and TST, plus 57 other mods, and I don't have this problem.  I'm not saying you don't or shouldn't, just that there may be another problem.  There's hope for you yet :-)

[m4v]

10 hours ago, xchoo said:

I can concur that EVE + RCSBuildAid causes EVE to stop functioning. The output_log.txt file produces the following error message:

AddonLoader: Instantiating addon 'GlobalEVEManager' from assembly 'EVEManager'
 
(Filename: C:/buildslave/unity/build/artifacts/StandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 56)

ArgumentNullException: Argument cannot be null.
Parameter name: source
  at System.Linq.Check.SourceAndPredicate (System.Object source, System.Object predicate) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at System.Linq.Enumerable.Where[EVEManagerBase] (IEnumerable`1 source, System.Func`2 predicate) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at EVEManager.GlobalEVEManager.Setup (Boolean late) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at EVEManager.GlobalEVEManager.Awake () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
UnityEngine.GameObject:Internal_AddComponentWithType(Type)
UnityEngine.GameObject:AddComponent(Type)
AddonLoader:StartAddon(LoadedAssembly, Type, KSPAddon, Startup)
AddonLoader:StartAddons(Startup)
AddonLoader:OnLevelWasLoaded(Int32)

 

That log shows that there's an exception in EVE's code, EVE's author might be interested in seeing that.

Still I did this:

• copy my KSP install to some other place.
• deleted all mods.
• installed EVE from ckan
• checked that had clouds (OK)
• installed RCSBA from ckan
• checked that had clouds (OK)

So I failed to reproduce. The exception you had didn't occur to me either.

Edited March 6, 2016 by m4v