[1.3.0] Solaris Hypernautics v0.5.5- latest virtual particle technology!

[Drelam]

Thank you so much for the update!!!

 

[DarkGod]

Oh yay! I love this mod. Combined with the IXS one it makes for some funky futuristic ships

[Denko666]

2 hours ago, DarkGod said:

Oh yay! I love this mod. Combined with the IXS one it makes for some funky futuristic ships

We want screen-shots!

[Carbonjvd]

BTW, the Mod is still fully compatible with the 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 versions of KSP, so an update won't be released unless 1.1.3 or whatever comes next breaks the mod and/or I finish work on the parts I'm still trying to balance out. So I'm updating the downloads to respect their continued compatibility, but the version will remain the same. Speaking of which, what are some new parts that players want to see in the mod, I know I've asked it before in the past, but its been a while!

-Carbonjvd

[DarkGod]

On 2/5/2016 at 7:56 PM, Denko666 said:

We want screen-shots!

Me too!

*offtopic*

Sadly due to squad making linux version second class with 1.1 I crash far too often to raech any point where I can design those :/

I'm now tyring the windows version on wine, if it works I shall screenshot away !

*/offtopic*

[Denko666]

31 minutes ago, DarkGod said:

Me too!

*offtopic*

Sadly due to squad making linux version second class with 1.1 I crash far too often to raech any point where I can design those :/

I'm now tyring the windows version on wine, if it works I shall screenshot away !

*/offtopic*

Uhm, I think u need to check your config. I'm running SteamOS (Debian Jessy) and KSP works fine. Not counting some hickups due to bugs in mods. (I got the Exception Detection mod installed for that)

[Drelam]

On 3.5.2016 at 4:44 AM, Carbonjvd said:

BTW, the Mod is still fully compatible with the 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 versions of KSP, so an update won't be released unless 1.1.3 or whatever comes next breaks the mod and/or I finish work on the parts I'm still trying to balance out. So I'm updating the downloads to respect their continued compatibility, but the version will remain the same. Speaking of which, what are some new parts that players want to see in the mod, I know I've asked it before in the past, but its been a while!

-Carbonjvd

The first thing that comes to my mind aren't any special parts, but something far more handy: tweakscale integration (only for certain parts, like the Kannae Drive for example). Let me explain, sometimes i intent to propel a bigger ship with some Q3 "positron" Kannae drives, but the amount of parts i would need to do so would raise the part count very high. Don't get me wrong, i'm not looking for a more efficient engine, just the possibility to make the existing one bigger to keep part count tolerable.

When it comes to new ideas for parts, i could imagine a engine, similar like the 'Project Orion' Nuclear Pulse Engine from the same mod (but working, lol). What i mean by that is a big and powerful Engine that is fuelled by very expensive or hard to create fuel. (Like using 1000 ore for 1 unit of fuel for example.) You know something that is and really feels powerful. It doesn't need to be precise, but powerful, similar like the mentioned "Project Orion" engine. Another thing would be to just scale up the Beta-SW "zubrin" nuclear drive to a more appropriate size (for it's power). I only mention it, because it seems way too powerful for its size for my taste, so how about scaling the model up about 2x and make it a heavier? (Don't get me wrong, but i never use it because it feels a bit too cheaty to me )

 

Some other random ideas:

If you want to go the more sci fi route, how about a fancy mass-reducing device? (with a appropriate high power consumption, of course)

Command pods (or better said Command centers) for sci-fi -is ships (not spaceplanes) would be nice too.

Before i forget, have you ever thought about creating virtual particles RCS thrusters?

 

Ever since i saw your mod i'm waiting for them to add additional star systems for your mod to really shine!

 

 

 

[DarkGod]

I'll second (and third, and fourth and ..) the virtual particle RCS part !

And also the zubrin thing, I too forbid myself from using it for it's insanely too powerful IMO

[Carbonjvd]

@Drelam & @DarkGod

You guys don't actually use the Zubrin engine? Bummer. I'll find some way to make it less OP. I don't feel comfortable making it even bigger since I'm trying to keep the mod as stock-compatible as possible. Btw, the Attero engine is meant as an up-sized virtual particle engine with limited duration of thrust for balance, does it really not cut it?

I have a few additional parts I've got in the works, engines, resource, and control! Hopefully out soon since my finals are over this week, thank god...

-Carbonjvd

[Drelam]

3 hours ago, Carbonjvd said:

@Drelam & @DarkGod

You guys don't actually use the Zubrin engine? Bummer. I'll find some way to make it less OP. I don't feel comfortable making it even bigger since I'm trying to keep the mod as stock-compatible as possible. Btw, the Attero engine is meant as an up-sized virtual particle engine with limited duration of thrust for balance, does it really not cut it?

I have a few additional parts I've got in the works, engines, resource, and control! Hopefully out soon since my finals are over this week, thank god...

-Carbonjvd

I like the idea of the Attero, but to me it's not a replacement for the Kannae drive. Notice, that i don't speak about the kannaes secondary (much more powerful) mode. But combined they are great imo, but you just need too many of the kannae to propel a bigger sized ship. I wouldn't even mind if you would increase the fuel ratio of a bigger sized Kannae, but the engine count you need for a bigger sized Ship is just not funny.

 

I'm far from being an expert in KSP (or interested in a "realistic" approach), but to make the Zubrin more adequate, i'd scale it's model size and mass x2 (and use a more massive looking model in the first place) and change the Ore fuel into something that needs a additional reactor or different fuel (like conversion the ore into something else like uranium for ex.)

 

Good luck with your finals!

[Kielm]

@Carbonjvd

Replying three months late because that's just how I roll, so some of this may be irrelevant by now.

For using nuclear fuels other than ore, don't be scared to bundle/link/require the Community Resource Pack, lots of mods do already.

On the gravity note, a mod called ESLD jump beacons used some gravity-based mechanics in fuel calculations, you can check out the source for ideas on GitHub at https://github.com/TMarkos/ESLDBeacons

Hope finals went well!

[Guest]

Hi @Carbonjvd

As I mentioned in a previous post this is one of my preferred mods and i use it in all my ships and stations.

I have a request to inprove it. @JPLRepo has recompiled the "BackgoundProcessing" mod (Thanks again man!)

 

and I want to ask you if it could be possible to use it to charge the solar dust in the background as it does with electric charge. For me it would be a big improvement because solar dust charges so slow and, of course you need to have the vessel loaded....

What do you think?

Thanks in advance

[Kielm]

So I started wondering why dust wasn't being collected in the background, as I was fairly sure that background 'catch-up' processing was integrated into the stock resource system when Regolith became part of KSP. 

Long story short, it was, and it appears the reason that dust isn't being collected in the background is because the module being used to collect it is ModuleDeployableSolarPanel, which (as far as I'm aware) has no capacity for catch-up processing.

@Carbonjvd, consider using ModuleResourceConverter instead. It'll do catch-up processing when the vessel regains focus, solving your problem. You may however, require an input resource for this to work correctly (give it a go and see), it's a bit of an untidy solution but it may work. A better solution would be to use ModuleResourceHarvester, since you're actually harvesting resources, but I'm pretty sure the resource has to exist (in the stock resource system, or Community Resource Pack) at the location you're attempting to harvest for that module to have any effect. Of course, there's nothing to stop you including a resource generation config to ensure that dust is always present throughout the solar system and can always be harvested. Check the Karbonite config in the community resource pack for some hints, I'd be happy to give you a hand there if you want. Once you've setup a configuration for it, the stock resource system will automatically generate it wherever you've specified (even retroactively in old saves) and make it available for harvesting. 

I'm not sure Background Processing is appropriate in this case. In mods where unfocused vessels play a key role in gameplay (e.g. life support, remote beacons requiring power etc) then it makes sense, but in this case all you need is a way to do some catch-up processing.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Kielm

[Guest]

In the mod there are parts that works as you say, like B-3 "Hoover" Dust Accumulator-inator but the background processing i'm suggesting is for the DP-7 "Stardust" Solar Wind Panel because this part works like a stock solar panel and  background processing is now working with them. i don't know how difficult could be to add this functionality. 

[Kielm]

I see your point, and sure, background processing will do the job. 

Looks like there are a couple of solutions here, it seems it's a design choice between dust being a harvestable, tangible thing, or more akin to radiation from a star that weakens with distance and is blocked by large bodies.

 

Either way it'll be interesting to see how it develops

[Carbonjvd]

Hello Everybody! I've been busy reworking some of the parts for my next update including making the Zubrin Drive far less OP, but still fun. A handful of new parts will also be added in including graplers, command module and a few others. Background processing will be a WIP for the time being, so it may or may not be ready for it. A new nuclear resource, Blutonium, is being considered for reactors and nuclear specific parts, such as the Zubrin. It would refined from ore and be cosumed into unrefined Blutonium, also a WIP. How do these ideas sound to everyone? And do you want the next update sooner than later, omitting more advanced features, or wait for the next KSP update to release it?

Thanks again for everyone's support!

-Carbonjvd

[Drelam]

10 hours ago, Carbonjvd said:

Hello Everybody! I've been busy reworking some of the parts for my next update including making the Zubrin Drive far less OP, but still fun. A handful of new parts will also be added in including graplers, command module and a few others. Background processing will be a WIP for the time being, so it may or may not be ready for it. A new nuclear resource, Blutonium, is being considered for reactors and nuclear specific parts, such as the Zubrin. It would refined from ore and be cosumed into unrefined Blutonium, also a WIP. How do these ideas sound to everyone? And do you want the next update sooner than later, omitting more advanced features, or wait for the next KSP update to release it?

Thanks again for everyone's support!

-Carbonjvd

I'd love to see the mentioned Command pod (i'm always eager for any non usual command pods).

And in general, i think things that don't have any immediate connection to the new resource (Blutonium), could be released imo. At least as long as it doesn't break current games or ships.

Take care and have fun!

 

Edit:

I'm wondering if you considered to make Blutonium production extensive enough to justify stationary bases. (Sorry for my clunky wording)

What i mean is will the parts producing Blutonium be too big to be installed on ships? I ask this, because i think it would be nice to have some reason to build orbital/planetary bases.

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2016 by Drelam

[Drelam]

I forgot to mention:

I don't know if that's possible but could you make the Attero engine benefit from the "magnetic cooling units" magnetic charge?

It looks like the Attero is supposed to be something like a afterburner to the Kannae drives (i think), but giving it some way to enhance it would be nice IMO.

And BTW: do you consider it cheating to let the Attero drive run at < 5% so it doesn't consume any magnetic charge at all, but still does create significant thrust?

 

What i'm trying to archieve is to have some kind of interstellar drive, without relying to the alcubierre drive or the (sadly bugged) Orion drive mod.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Drelam
Typos

[Guest]

Hi @Carbonjvd

When you say that you're working on the Zubrin Drive, what are you exactly changing? I like this little beast a lot and cheated it to be able to  reduce it's size (tweakscale). Now is my main engine for the shuttle with more than 9K dv! I can go to minmus, return to moon and then to Kerbin without refuel the shuttle  http://imgur.com/a/GWzEn 

And here, one of my ships done with your great mod: http://imgur.com/a/mFobS Perfect to visit all the planets in a day  

I really enjoy your mod man.

[Carbonjvd]

On June 14, 2016 at 1:37 PM, bice said:

Hi @Carbonjvd

When you say that you're working on the Zubrin Drive, what are you exactly changing? I like this little beast a lot and cheated it to be able to  reduce it's size (tweakscale). Now is my main engine for the shuttle with more than 9K dv! I can go to minmus, return to moon and then to Kerbin without refuel the shuttle  http://imgur.com/a/GWzEn 

And here, one of my ships done with your great mod: http://imgur.com/a/mFobS Perfect to visit all the planets in a day  

I really enjoy your mod man.

Just a quick response to what I'm changing on the Zubrin drive specifically. Dropping the ISP down to 800, so it matches the stock nuclear engine, dropped thrust down to 4500, and playing with the fuel ratios for the transition to Blutonium from Ore. These are only as it stands in development right now and are subject to change.

-Carbonjvd

[Carbonjvd]

The new update is out for 1.1.2, and has had the version updated from v0.4.8 to v0.5.0! So what's new to warrant such a change? At the request of various people, a new nuclear fuel has been added to the mod in form of Blutonium. That and a whole bunch of new parts!

This new resource has a power yield 10 times greater than ore, is similarly more expensive and a good bit more dense. All the existing reactors running on ore have been switched to Blutonium, so existing saves' ships will be been fully functional, although resources may be a bit wonky with both the ore and Blutonium storage in the same part. Blutonium has to be taken directly from Kerbin, since it now lasts 10 times longer, or be refined out of ore using one of two new massive parts that each function as centrifuge refineries. One is designed as orbital module with the other designed as terrestrial base hub, both doing the job of refining Blutonium out of ore. This will hopefully make the usage of reactors more challenging and encourage dedicated facilities to its production.

Other new parts include 2.5 meter versions of the Zubrin Nuclear Drive and the Attero Magnetic Drive with appropriate scaling. Along with a smaller version available, the Zubrin Nuclear Drive has been rebuilt to be more balanced with an ISP of 1200, shaved down thrust by 200KN, and use a local Blutonium stockpile instead of an external ore supply. A similar change has been implemented in every nuclear engine, specifically regarding the replacement of ore with Blutonium as a fuel requirement and the local Blutonium stores. No additional storage parts have been included due to nature of Blutonium being a radioactive resource, so only dedicated parts can store it. That being said it is still fully transferable between parts, just make sure the reactor isn't drained of Blutonium to run your engines or vice versa.

The rest of the new parts include a pair of asteroid grabbers, one larger and one smaller, that provide more options for asteroid utilization. A control bunker that functions as a very large probe core with a grabber attachment allows for even larger control options. A more normal sized Camera Core gives what would otherwise be a standard probe core with a built-in infrared telescope to hunt down addition asteroids. The final new part is Dual Maneuver Unit that combines a nuke RCS with a fully functional SAS for 1.25 meter craft.

Background processing is being looked into, but it won't be ready for a while. Hope everyone enjoys this latest edition of Solaris Hypernautics!!

-Carbonjvd

Edited June 19, 2016 by Carbonjvd
typo

[Drelam]

Sounds awesome!

Instant download!

[Carbonjvd]

Update time once again! Given that 1.1.3 is out, compatibility has been checked as always. Most of the work was put into balancing out the newer Blutonium production facilities. Now instead of compressing the Ore into Blutonium, it extracts the Blutonium while returning the excess Ore. Thermal additions were also made to the facilities to complete the thermal stats. That's really all there is in update v0.5.1!

Anyways, I looking for more feedback on the Blutonium system that was recently implimented. Is it better than before? Does it need more balancing? Anything at all, so long as its constructive. And as always, thanks to everyone who enjoys this mod!

-Carbonjvd

[Drelam]

On 8.7.2016 at 11:30 PM, Carbonjvd said:

Update time once again! Given that 1.1.3 is out, compatibility has been checked as always. Most of the work was put into balancing out the newer Blutonium production facilities. Now instead of compressing the Ore into Blutonium, it extracts the Blutonium while returning the excess Ore. Thermal additions were also made to the facilities to complete the thermal stats. That's really all there is in update v0.5.1!

Anyways, I looking for more feedback on the Blutonium system that was recently implimented. Is it better than before? Does it need more balancing? Anything at all, so long as its constructive. And as always, thanks to everyone who enjoys this mod!

-Carbonjvd

I hadn't had much time to play KSP lately, but the additions you made for this mod look very nice imo.

To be honest, i haven't got accustomed to the fact that Blutonium can't be stored on a seperate tank. It's a bit unpractical in my opinion to keep track of each part that uses that resource (if you happen to have more than part using it on a vessel).

I don't know about other people here, but i'm perfectly ok with (overly) powerful Sci-fi like engines, as long as it's hard/expensive to produce fuel for it. Especially when it's a bit Sci-fi -ish themed. If i had the time (and talent), i would love to create a small addition to this mod myself.

(I have some basic concepts but neither time nor the knowledge to realize it.)

 

Have you considered to create something like a (non warp) drive system that is powerfull enough to reach other star systems within a reasonable time?

I could imagine a enormous engine + energy source that are way too big and massive to be build on Kerbin or to be used on a SSTO, maybe something like a bussard ramjet or orion drive system for a pure space ship. A massive Blutonium reactor (or something even more powerful) could create enough energy to generate a wide area manetic field to collect resources while travelling (dust, Hydrogen or deuterium) to propel the engine with. But the critical resource would be blutonium (or something else) to run the reactor. So the ship wouldn't need to be refuelled with x amounts of tons of actual fuel but much smaller amounts of Blutonium (or whatever those even more powerful reactors need to run). The ship could be refuelled by a smal lander/shuttle carrying much smaller amounts of reactor fuel, instead of sending dozends of heavy rockets into orbit. The hard (or better said expensive) part of it would be to produce the reactor fuel and the costs to build the engine system (Reactor, Engine some other fancy parts maybe).

Of course that's a much more Sci-fi -ish concept than normal KSP mods are, but i would love to have something like this in KSP.

 

 

[Carbonjvd]

Moderate sized update this time to v0.5.2, mainly for cleaning up some parts and rebuilding the nuclear jets. In the direction of cleaning up, I removed the local Blutonium storage on the Nuke RCS since even I was getting annoyed with finding every last one of those... Grrr. The Magnetic Drag Array was moved from Utility to Aerodynamics because its a supped up heatshield anyways. The biggest portion was the nuclear jets being rebuilt.

Since realistic nuclear jets don't actually use liquid fuel work, but instead work on compressing and superheating air through the nuclear core. To that end I added yet another resource, Compressed Atmosphere aka "CompressedAtm" for use in the rebuilt nuclear jets. The two nuclear jets now have built-in Compressed Atmosphere intakes and use that as propellant instead. The nuclear scramjet however has had even more features added to it. Not only does it use the Compressed Atmosphere for propellant, but can switch to using Oxidizer for ultra-high altitude propulsion. To add to the increased functionality, it also has a built-in PreCooler that uses electricity to compress the atmosphere even further by a factor of 10, so you can fly in open cycle even higher without switching to Oxidizer in closed cycle. A secondary function of the PreCooler is that it also extracts a miniscule amount of Oxidizer from Compressed Atmosphere to slowly refill the oxidizer tanks, though does require electricity to run.

Looking into new ways to clean up the mod, and add more parts like the even more super engines everyone likes. Only time will tell what comes next. Hope everyone enjoys the rebuilt nuclear jets and have fun!!

-Carbonjvd