[1.2] Procedural Fairings 3.20 (November 8)

[Vorg]

I noticed last night that when you activate auto staging in mechjeb, it adds options for staging fairings. But it doesn't seem to work with Procedural Fairings. Maybe related to the same reason you don't get the new fairing icon in the staging tree, they look like normal decouplers.

[Phineas Freak]

@Vorg PF uses a custom decoupler module for the fairing sides ("ProceduralFairingDecoupler") so without explicit support from MJ they cannot be staged.

[SilverlightPony]

56 minutes ago, Phineas Freak said:

@Vorg PF uses a custom decoupler module for the fairing sides ("ProceduralFairingDecoupler") so without explicit support from MJ they cannot be staged.

They can, however, be added to action groups, and Smart Parts' Altimeter can trigger an action group at a set altitude.

[drtedastro]

Hello e-dog.

thanks for the update and nice to see ya ..

Cheers.

[Y0ssar1an]

Hi,

I seem to have hit a bug with 3.20 on 1.2.1. My decouplers staged above the fairing base do not separate properly. Looking in the debug menu I see "NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object." the stack was fine before I added the procedural fairing, so I think it's the mod. This is the first time I've reported a bug, so let me know what other info would be helpful to diagnose or replicate the problem.

Thanks!

 

[KortexM]

1 hour ago, Y0ssar1an said:

Hi,

I seem to have hit a bug with 3.20 on 1.2.1. My decouplers staged above the fairing base do not separate properly. Looking in the debug menu I see "NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object." the stack was fine before I added the procedural fairing, so I think it's the mod. This is the first time I've reported a bug, so let me know what other info would be helpful to diagnose or replicate the problem.

Thanks!

 

Could you please upload the craft file and ksp.log somewhere? 

[Y0ssar1an]

Hi, files plus save available here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v7dm4z6ebf021zk/fairing_bug.zip?dl=0

Thanks!

[Falcon Coupe]

After the last update I noticed that there is a few duplicate parts showing in the parts list in sandbox with a note saying they are for career upgrades. Should they be showing up? Because I don't remember seeing them before.

[KortexM]

@Y0ssar1an You did exactly what i had suspected - accidently connecting parts to one of the fairing interstage nodes and not to the one above the MK1 pod. The interstage nodes stay fixed and won't decouple.

However, the Nullrefexception is a different (minor) thing i'll have to look into.

I admit that the additional nodes can be irritating and picking the wrong one is fairly easy, just disable the nodes in the fairings tweakables and the one remaining is yours.. 
See here:

 

@Falcon Coupe umm.. no, there should not be such thing. Maybe it's coming from a different mod.. What does it look like?

[Y0ssar1an]

Thanks, I appreciate your time looking into this. I think I understand the problem now. I can avoid this going forward but is there any way of rescuing my current save with launched parts? I tried some save game editing but only succeeded in waking the Kraken. I can salvage the situation, but it would be a step back.

Thanks again!

 

[KortexM]

Good question.. I have to try myself, found this: 

 

[KortexM]

@Y0ssar1an think i got it. Check it out: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uhi2f4y83i22ks/aaaaa_maybe_corrected.sfs?dl=1

Edited November 21, 2016 by KortexM

[Y0ssar1an]

OMG thank you! That totally worked! You saved me a good couple of evenings of play. So much trouble for 1 incorrect parent character!

[Cheesecake]

Hi

I have an issue with Procedural Fairings. It looks like there is a dark shadow on it respectively the angle of the sunshine is reflectet to the wrong side. And the non-sunside is very, very dark. Here some pictures: Album

This issue only occurs when SVE is installed and i had this issue in 1.1.3 too. Galileo means that it looks like an issue with the normal maps of PF.

[KortexM]

1 hour ago, Cheesecake said:

Hi

I have an issue with Procedural Fairings. It looks like there is a dark shadow on it respectively the angle of the sunshine is reflectet to the wrong side. And the non-sunside is very, very dark. Here some pictures: Album

This issue only occurs when SVE is installed and i had this issue in 1.1.3 too. Galileo means that it looks like an issue with the normal maps of PF.

I just checked against the MR and HR versions of the SVE-All-In-One 1.1.4 package and everything looks fine, i can't reproduce that effect.

Do you use any special settings for SVE/Scatterer etc.?

Does the shape of the fairing change anything, is it the same for the standard conic/egg shapes? If only your special fairing config is affected, i'd like to have a look at the cfg file then.

[Cheesecake]

No, I have no special Settings for SVE/Scatterer and I use only the standard PF-Fairings and PF for everything.

Edit: I tested it again and it is Procedural Fairings for everything.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Cheesecake

[KortexM]

@Cheesecake 

Yes i found two faulty normal maps there and fixed them - Soyuz and Tsyklon.

Here are the fixed ones (just unpack into GameData folder):  https://www.dropbox.com/s/95a2x1ir0vqfv9u/PFforEverything_Soyuz_Tsyklon_NRM_fixed.zip?dl=1

[Cheesecake]

Wow, that was fast. Many thanks.

[VonFrank]

I'm having an issue where my fairing shells are always falling off no matter what I seem to do, and apparently I'm not the only one who has had this problem:

On 2016-05-19 at 8:30 AM, CodeFantastic said:

I'm getting a problem with interstage fairings in which after launch they just kinda, fall off? In the F3 menu it says structural failure but I dont know why.

The suggested solution of disabling autostruts did not make any difference for me whatsoever.

I never used to have this issue with Proc Fairings in the past, but ever since the move to 1.1 (and still in 1.2) this always seems to be problem.

Is there some way to make the fairing shells far more 'rigid' and impossible to fall off when unwanted?

[KortexM]

@VonFrank I'd have a look at it if you can provide a craft or a save to test it.

I personally am happy as it is and i do not really have any stability issues. Are you using the stock auto-strut option for stabilizing the whole ship? And yes, disabling the fairing auto-struts is not really recommended..

[VonFrank]

2 hours ago, KortexM said:

@VonFrank I'd have a look at it if you can provide a craft or a save to test it.

I personally am happy as it is and i do not really have any stability issues. Are you using the stock auto-strut option for stabilizing the whole ship? And yes, disabling the fairing auto-struts is not really recommended..

My game uses procedural parts and has most stock pieces scaled up by 1.6x, so providing you the craft file wouldn't work out so well I'm afraid.

From a visual diagnosis, it seems to be that the fuel tanks above and below the fairings are squeezing the fairing shells when they jiggle during liftoff or upon the physics loading for the vessel. Making them not 'collide' with the tanks might prevent this. Can the fairing shells me made to ignore collisions?

For the sake of simplicity though, is there a way to just increase the joint strength of fairings to base rings and inter-stage adapters?

[Falcon Coupe]

On 22/11/2016 at 3:41 AM, KortexM said:

@Falcon Coupe umm.. no, there should not be such thing. Maybe it's coming from a different mod.. What does it look like?

Here's a screenshot from in the VAB in sandbox mode:

I do run a few other mods, maybe a conflict causes it. I mostly have part mods, KER and KJR though which I wouldn't have though would cause any issues.

Let me know if you need anything else.

[Phineas Freak]

@KortexM, @Falcon Coupe these are "virtual" parts to indicate on the tech tree that there is an upgrade. Normally they are hidden but when you apply a filter (either by stock or by FilterExtensions) they show up as normal parts (they are NOT!).

MechJeb upgrades also operate with the same principle.

Also, @KortexM: can you create a PR with the fixed normal maps to the main PFFE repository?

[KortexM]

13 hours ago, VonFrank said:

My game uses procedural parts and has most stock pieces scaled up by 1.6x, so providing you the craft file wouldn't work out so well I'm afraid.

From a visual diagnosis, it seems to be that the fuel tanks above and below the fairings are squeezing the fairing shells when they jiggle during liftoff or upon the physics loading for the vessel. Making them not 'collide' with the tanks might prevent this. Can the fairing shells me made to ignore collisions?

For the sake of simplicity though, is there a way to just increase the joint strength of fairings to base rings and inter-stage adapters?

I can build and prove to myself that it doesn't do anything wrong over and over again but that won't you help anything - therefore to have a craft of yours that shakes up the fairings and the ksp.log would help indeed. I can't help if i can not reproduce, it is really that simple. I am using procedural parts and ts as well, so, no problem for testing.

Sure, the fairings can be made to ignore collisons and stuff  and yes joints can be made stronger - but that doesn't cure the cause, it would only hide the symptoms if anything.

Anyway, find the following lines in the cfg's and increase the values (double? triple them? i never had to touch those):

breakingForce = 2000
breakingTorque = 2000

specificBreakingForce  = 1280
specificBreakingTorque = 1280

 

6 hours ago, Phineas Freak said:

 

@KortexM, @Falcon Coupe these are "virtual" parts to indicate on the tech tree that there is an upgrade. Normally they are hidden but when you apply a filter (either by stock or by FilterExtensions) they show up as normal parts (they are NOT!).

Good to know!

 

7 hours ago, Phineas Freak said:

Also, @KortexM: can you create a PR with the fixed normal maps to the main PFFE repository?

Done!

[Dodovogel]

Hi

I wanted to say that I do experience the same symptoms as @VonFrank but in my case I think it really is due to PF auto-strutting. 

Generally speaking it happens to me with heavy rockets, typically my interstage breaks the link with the engines (setup is: Interstage top node connects to fuel tank node and the engines are attached to the tank using surface attachment) and the fairing walls break off the interstage adapter. I long though it is a 'squeezing' issue so I tried all possible ways to to strengthen the connections with struts or give the parts more clearance.

When I turn PF auto struts off, it usually fixes the issue. Another thing I observed is that when I play with stock auto struts, the point where the break occurs can change. But usually it breaks somewhere; latest, once the rocket starts accelerating.

Further I observed another issue which I believe is not connected to the breaking of structural connections. I had a rocket with multiple PF interstages and when loading up on the launch pad the shielding works as expected. Parts shielded counts also seem right. When flying nothing changes about this until I decouple the first interstage. Then suddenly I get aerodynamic problems. The aero overlay suggests that the remaining fairings stopped shielding as there is huge drag forces applied to the inside parts and the 'parts shielded' count reads 0 for all remaining fairing bases - despite their fairings still being in place.

I play without FAR.

I will try to reproduce the problem tonight when I get home and provide you with a reproducible scenario. I didn't manage to track the problem down last night. But I meanwhile I wanted to mention this. Perhaps somebody else has some more insight.