Buzzard Collectors

[Dunrana]

Buzzard Collectors

There has always been a desire to get beautiful pictures of rockets launching. This has be frequently been hindered by the amount of buzzards circling over the pad. So the public relations crew cooked up a massive metal grate (now we know what they did with all the sink strainers) to grab buzzards out of the air. It was a dismal failure. Looking at that dish however, may have given bob some ideas.

The Buzzard Collector mod contains three sizes of Bussard Collector (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussard_ramjet).  These, when deployed safely beyond the atmosphere, and not stressed by even so much a slight breeze, and provided with a massive supply of electricity, will catch the Kerbol Wind, and use magnets to turn it to tiny amounts of liquid fuel.

How is this even slightly balanced?

It’s literally on the last node of the tech tree.

It only generates liquid fuel.

It’s huge and heavy.

It generates fuel very, very slowly.

It requires lots of constant electricity.

 

The Mod spotlight by the wonderful KottabosGames

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuSO5TORxi0

 

Download links

Warning! Dmagic Orbital Science is REQUIRED for this mod to function.  this mod is totally dependent on it!

DMagic Orbital Science: https://spacedock.info/mod/128/DMagic Orbital Science

Buzzard Collector Mod: https://spacedock.info/mod/1307/Buzzard Collectors

Compatibility versions

Buzzard Collectors "Hydrogen Lovers Version" for the CRP  https://spacedock.info/mod/1374/Buzzard Collectors "Hydrogen Lovers Version"

And a final shot of a buzzard collector being used on a mission to transfer a lander to lathe.

 

 

Edited May 17, 2017 by Dunrana
minor edit

[Dunrana]

How odd. this is the first thread I've ever  made not to receive a single reply. I should like to know what people thought of the mod (and especially any bugs or balance improvements).

[DStaal]

I'll admit I generally like the concept - and haven't had a chance to compare this implementation with Karbonite's or the upcoming one from NFT yet.

[Nansuchao]

6 hours ago, Dunrana said:

How odd. this is the first thread I've ever  made not to receive a single reply. I should like to know what people thought of the mod (and especially any bugs or balance improvements).

I'm surprised like you. The idea seems great, I had no chance to try it cause I'm full of mods in my main install and full of works on the others, but surely this mod needs some love from people. As soon as I can, I'll make a video about it.

 

You need DMagic for the models, right? Did you have a chance to see the Solar Sails from the old version of Interstellar and now parts of the Persistent thrust mod?

 

 

Edited April 12, 2017 by Nansuchao

[Benjamin Kerman]

I would love to check it out! Do you have a link for the source code, as this looks like an interesting piece of work!

[Dunrana]

1 hour ago, Benjamin Kerman said:

I would love to check it out! Do you have a link for the source code, as this looks like an interesting piece of work!

It doesn't really need a separate soure code download, as i wanted to keep the mod resource-light (it was built on a older system, for use in that system). it only consists of three .CFG files.

As the mod is situated at the very end of the tech tree, it seemed better not to introduce a new mechanic. in my experience, by the time you max out the tech tree, the game is starting to have glitches crop up due to the size of the save file

that said, if someone could advise me on a simple way to vary the collection rate, i would totally do it. High-risk high-reward edge of the atmosphere fuel-skimming missions is something I would love to see.

 

[Benjamin Kerman]

But do you have a place where just the code is without having to download the zip like GitHub? 

Basicly, where are you keeping the originals of the code?

[TheRagingIrishman]

11 minutes ago, Benjamin Kerman said:

But do you have a place where just the code is without having to download the zip like GitHub? 

Basicly, where are you keeping the originals of the code?

It doesn't use any custom plugin so I don't know what source code you keep asking about.

[Benjamin Kerman]

Just the cfgs, cause I am on mobile and can't open zip files... sorry for any confusion 

[Dunrana]

1 hour ago, Benjamin Kerman said:

Just the cfgs, cause I am on mobile and can't open zip files... sorry for any confusion 

Yep. Just a  carefully balanced resourse converter right now. If the'res intrest, i might be able to come up with a more complex system.

    MODULE
    {
         name = ModuleResourceConverter
         ConverterName = Busard Collector
         StartActionName = Start Collector
         StopActionName = Stop Collector
         ToggleActionName = Toggle Collector
         FillAmount = 1
        AutoShutdown = true
        GeneratesHeat = true
        UseSpecialistBonus = false
 
        
         INPUT_RESOURCE
         {
            ResourceName = ElectricCharge
            Ratio = 5
            FlowMode = STAGE_PRIORITY_FLOW
         }

         OUTPUT_RESOURCE
         {
            ResourceName = LiquidFuel
            Ratio = 0.0003
            DumpExcess = false
         }
    }

[Benjamin Kerman]

Cool, thanks. I thought you might have needed a plugin, but you have proved me wrong!

[Dunrana]

Okay, some recent gameplay testing has shown that it takes about 45 kerbol days to totally refiel two normal liquid fuel tanks. Is this too quick? should I slow down the rate of gathering? or is it too slow?

I ask because I've been able to refuel the tanks twice on a Jool flyby.

[Nansuchao]

6 minutes ago, Dunrana said:

Okay, some recent gameplay testing has shown that it takes about 45 kerbol days to totally refiel two normal liquid fuel tanks. Is this too quick? should I slow down the rate of gathering? or is it too slow?

I ask because I've been able to refuel the tanks twice on a Jool flyby.

It seems right, for me. It depends on what you're aiming for. Realism, and many more days are needed, Gameplay, it seems you're alright there.

[Dunrana]

I was shooting for gameplay more than realism, but it needs to be realistic enough.

[JadeOfMaar]

Hey @Dunrana. This is a fabulous concept for a mod. I think 45 days to fill two Mk1 LF tanks sounds good. Consider how long it will take to refuel a huge, practical, crew-carrying nuclear ship and how higher numbers of these dishes have to be placed on a ship to boost harvesting capacity and not look butt-ugly and clip each other in the process.

As for making your mod's system more advanced: if you could tie it to a resource distribution and enable scanner parts to measure it, that would make a world of a difference. Then there can be cases such as: using this near the Sun you refuel much faster; use this beyond Eeloo, you refuel much slower. Unfortunately, except for Karborundum I tend to see an abnormal and very ugly behavior when tying an exospheric resource directly to the Sun.

[Dunrana]

8 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

Hey @Dunrana. This is a fabulous concept for a mod. I think 45 days to fill two Mk1 LF tanks sounds good. Consider how long it will take to refuel a huge, practical, crew-carrying nuclear ship and how higher numbers of these dishes have to be placed on a ship to boost harvesting capacity and not look butt-ugly and clip each other in the process.

As for making your mod's system more advanced: if you could tie it to a resource distribution and enable scanner parts to measure it, that would make a world of a difference. Then there can be cases such as: using this near the Sun you refuel much faster; use this beyond Eeloo, you refuel much slower. Unfortunately, except for Karborundum I tend to see an abnormal and very ugly behavior when tying an exospheric resource directly to the Sun.

ideally, the resource could be tied to the planets, with the sun getting a very generic distribution. I'd like to make high-risk high-reward atmosphere-skimming missions a thing. unfortunately, I've never played with resource distribution, so i don't know ANYTHING about it. 

[Benjamin Kerman]

You might be able to have a simple plugin that determines what body you are around and gives you a different resource collection based on that.

[DStaal]

49 minutes ago, Benjamin Kerman said:

You might be able to have a simple plugin that determines what body you are around and gives you a different resource collection based on that.

I'm pretty sure you don't need a plugin - I think the stock resource mechanics have all you are likely to need here.  Take a look at CRP to see examples.

[Benjamin Kerman]

Dumb question: what is crp?

[TheRagingIrishman]

15 minutes ago, Benjamin Kerman said:

Dumb question: what is crp?

no such thing as a dumb question

[Dunrana]

On 4/21/2017 at 1:00 AM, TheRagingIrishman said:

no such thing as a dumb question

that source code looks like it has potential. I'll begin exploring two potentials for a future update.

the the possibility of "building up a static charge" (overheating) the dish.

Resource conversion from a "Interplanetary Media" to fuel. 

no matter what way I go, I want to keep this mod fairly light. I dislike the idea of introducing a new mechanic in the endgame.

[GDJ]

Cool mod!

I confess when I read the title of the thread I thought of this:



It's Bussard, not Buzzard. 

But I digress, cool mod!

Edited May 1, 2017 by GDJ

[Dunrana]

On 5/1/2017 at 3:47 PM, GDJ said:

Cool mod!

I confess when I read the title of the thread I thought of this:



It's Bussard, not Buzzard. 

But I digress, cool mod!

The Mis-spelling is quite deliberate. I pronounced "Bussard Collector" as "Buzzard Collector" for many years till my physics professor (who wasn't a native English speaker) corrected me on it. So it seemed a very Kerbal-ish name for the mod. 

The in game parts are referred to by the correct name, however.

Glad you liked it.

 

Edited May 2, 2017 by Dunrana

[N3N]

Hey Dunrana,

Nice mod!

 

Will it be available on CKAN, too?

[Dunrana]

15 hours ago, N3N said:

Will it be available on CKAN, too?

Thank You

I did a quick check to be sure, but as usual, Spacedock automatically made it available on CKAN.