XanderTek

Sorry guys, something is clearly broken. It's been a while since I've had a chance to dive back into the code, but I should be able to this weekend. I'll let you know when I have an update!

I totally approve of the patch TheDog, and I appreciate the help. That's the beauty of open source! I'll have the official download updated with your fixes shortly.

Correct, Endspeed is the speed you'll be going when you contact the ground. Most of the time you can just leave that at zero. There's a bug that currently results in the landertrons getting confused if you build the lander in a different orientation than you end up landing it in. This often happens if you build the lander in the spaceplane hanger. Is it possible that's what you experienced? I'm working on a solution, but its been slow going. Or maybe something broke in 1.0. I haven't had a chance to check yet.

All Landertrons assigned to a stage will be taken into account when figuring out when to fire. So 2 sets of 4 Landertrons will work just fine so long as they're all activated at once. How big would you like to see them get? I was thinking about adding tweakscale compatibility.

Hey Bahamuto, would you be OK with me bundling some of your models in with my Landertron mod, rather than sending people over here to download them separately?

I'll have to check when I get home, but I think the Landertrons should do exactly this when set to "Short Landing" mode. It was intended for quickly stopping a spaceplane once it touches the ground, but I don't see any reason it couldn't work on a rover. They'll burn until your forward velocity is zero and then turn off automatically.

Actually, they calculate activation height based on current velocity, acceleration, orientation of the craft, orientation of the landertrons, and max burn time of the landertrons. It's possible the red icon is still just based on current velocity and orientation though, I'll have to double check. Considering parachutes or other rockets may be in use, I don't think your equation is sufficient to determine whether the craft will be going to fast by the time it reaches ground level. I'll see if I can do anything to improve the predictions, but its kinda a tricky problem and I'm trying to give the pilot very simple feedback. As a rule of thumb, keep your vertical speed a bit lower than the deltaV of the landertrons and you should be fine. Make sure the Baha parts are in Gamedata/BahaSP and the Landertrons are in Gamedata/XanderTek/Landertron. The landertron cfgs should be able to find the part models so long as everything is in the correct location. Let me know if you're still having trouble.

Good catch, I'll add it to the next release. This is the first I've heard of CKAN. I do like the idea of a more standardized way of handling mods. I'll need to look into what's required on my end, but yeah, hopefully I can support it in the future.

FYI, there's currently a Landertron bug that causes bad stuff to happen when you try to use it to land a vehicle horizontally. I hope to have a fix out soonish.

You're not doing anything wrong. I'm pretty sure you're running into the same bug that Tochas was on page 12 & 13 of this thread. Basically the mod isn't working right if you build a horizontal vehicle and then try to use the Landertrons for a vertical landing. I'm working on it, but it's proving to be tricky and I just haven't had much time lately. The next update should resolve this, but I don't have an ETA yet. There isn't exactly a max altitude. They'll either fire when necessary to bring the craft to a stop at ground level, or if they lack the fuel for that they'll fire such that they run out of fuel just as the craft reaches the ground. You're getting the red icons because the mod is mistaken about the direction you're facing. It thinks the rockets are pointed towards the horizon. It's part of the bug.

Yep, it works fine in 0.90 from my testing. I suppose I should update the title...

Thanks Bruce. I mostly just checked in-game to verify that the existing version of the plugin still works in 0.90. But you might be right about using out of date dlls. I'll look into it for future builds. Are you using this code for a project of your own? I'm just asking because you're the first person I'm aware of who has bothered to dig through my sourcecode (sorry about the mess! )

I'm considering adding the option for monoprop landertron rockets. Mostly because the devs of the Taurus HCV mod are interested in adding the feature to their pod, and that's what they use for their built in rockets. Anyway, it's doable technically, but I'm not sure how to balance these with the solidfuel variety. Currently, Landertrons vent any unused fuel when the landing burn is complete. Would it make sense to vent all remaining monoprop from the whole vessel upon landing? That seems a bit harsh, but I'd like to have some tradeoff for the crazy TWR that these engines provide. Any thoughts? Download this, and stick those folders in your GameData folder. If you already have the Bahamuto engine models, then when you start up the game you should see the Landertrons listed with the rest of the engines in the VAB. They'll probably be at the end of the list. They'll look exactly like the ones from the Bahamuto pack, but with different sizes, names, and descriptions. If you want to be able to refuel the Landertrons, you'll also need to install KAS. Hope that helps!

I discussed this with bsquiklehausen a while back, and did a little testing. SAS can pretty easily counter the asymmetric thrust. You might end up a bit off target, but it definitely works. To get it working go into the Taurus .cfg, add the Landertron module, and convert the rockets over to solidfuel. You also may need to increase the max fuel depending on your needs. In a future update I hope to include monoprop compatibility, as well as 2 stage Landertrons that can function as both an LES system and landing rockets. At that point it should hopefully be plug-and-play with the Taurus.

"a great many"? There are only two dependencies, and one is optional. From my initial testing, it appears the core functionality of this mod is working fine in 0.90, but KAS is busted. So they're usable, just not refuelable. Once KAS is updated they should be fully functional. I'm working on a new version with a fix for "control from here" bugs, and the ability to set the end height. No ETA at the moment. My life is going to be very busy for the next month or so, but I'll try to get it out as soon as possible. If anyone comes across any new bugs please let me know. I'll try to get a patch out promptly. I was sort of expecting some of my code in the VAB to break... but so far so good.

Hmm... that does look like a bug. I'll investigate. EDIT: Yeah, it appears the "up" direction isn't updating when you "Control from here" on a different part. I'll do some testing this weekend and see if I can work up a fix.

That actually used to be an option, but I removed it because no one seemed to have a use for it and the right click menu was starting to get cluttered. I suppose I could re-add it. What do you think a reasonable max altitude would be? 50m? I'm curious about why you'd need both landertrons and airbags though. Is this for Remotetech?

Glad to hear you guys are having fun with it! That's what keeps me coming back to the project. The next feature will (probably) be a launch escape mode. When activated, the rocket immediately burns a certain percentage of its fuel, then remains armed and burns the rest of the fuel to land. The idea is that one set of rockets will both carry you away from a failed launch and set you down safely. I've considered it. Currently the code only works with solidfuel rockets and bad stuff will happen if you add the module to any other part. Expanding it to work with all rockets is... tricky. The logic becomes a lot more complicated when you have to keep track of fuel all over the ship, and my code works best for very short burns that you typically wouldn't be able to achieve with other rocket parts. Also, MechJeb already does this, and I don't really want to reinvent the wheel. I will keep the request in mind, and see if I come across a simpler solution. Neat! I had not thought about using tweakscale on these parts. Maybe I'll add that in a future update. Good idea.

Correct! Just attach the hexcan to the landertron using KAS. The hexcan will vanish, and the fuel will automatically be transferred to the rocket. Thanks! Yeah, I've been considering switching over to the release forum for a while now. I suppose the mod is functioning as intended at this point. Ok, next update will be version 1.0.0! Actually, my plugin handles the animations for the landertrons, thanks to some of your code. I wanted the animations to trigger under different circumstances, and that was the best way I could figure out to make it happen. You make some really amazing mods! I hope you don't mind me repurposing some of your models here. They were pretty much exactly what I had in mind, and so far my own attempts at blender haven't gone well

So, I'd like to give my plugin the ability to create a hexcan full of SolidFuel (outside of the VAB/SPH). I could use some advice on the best/easiest way to go about it. KAS is already a requirement, so it doesn't really matter where the hexcan appears, so long as an EVA kerbal can grab it reasonably easily. I can see a few options, but they all seem a bit messy for simply creating a single part. Create the hexcan as a new vessel, similar to Extraplanetary Launchpads. This might involve some work to ensure the hexcan ends up nearby, but not within another vessel. Unload the current vessel, edit the protovessel so that a hexcan is sticking off the side, then reload the vessel. It would be hard to take into account every possible vessel configuration. Also, is doing this to an active vessel likely to cause any problems? Add the hexcan directly to a KAS container. I've looked at the KAS sourcecode and I think I wouldn't have access to the internal functions KAS uses for this. I could do the same thing as idea #2, but edit the protopart container to add the hexcan. Thoughts?

Yep, the hexcans can already be stored inside KAS containers. The hexcan has solidfuel inside when you select it in the VAB. Currently there's no way to add solidfuel to a hexcan. It's the same as any other fuel tank, with the exception that solidfuel can't flow between containers. When a landertron senses that a part with solidfuel is directly attached to it, the landertron deletes that part and adds the solidfuel to its own reserves.

Good point Dragon, I'll leave that alone for now. A couple things I'm considering for the next version: Contracts that ask you to perform Landertron landings on different planets and moons. A method for creating new SolidFuel canisters from Karbonite (or Kethane?) so that it's possible to refuel at off-world bases. Both present some significant coding challenges, so it might take a while...

Hey Orion, just wanted to give you a heads up that I've released a new version of the Landertron plugin. There's no rush to upgrade, the only change relevant to your implementation is that I fixed a bug causing the rockets to fire incorrectly if the user limited thrust via tweakables.

Woops! Fixed the typo. Thanks! A question for anyone using this mod: I could take over control of the orientation of the craft when the Landertrons are armed. It'd make landings easier because I would be able to point the ship retrograde, eliminating any horizontal movement automatically during landing. Does that make things too easy? Is it duplicating too much MechJeb functionality? Obviously it could be optional, but I'm not sure if it's worth bothering with.

The new version is up. In addition to what I mentioned yesterday, Landertrons can be decoupled when you no longer need them via action group or eva. It's a handy way to reduce the part count if you're going to continue using the landed object (such as a rover or part of a base). That's half the reason I made the mod