flying saucers [Min KSP 1.12.2] Kerbal Flying Saucers - Build Flying Saucers in KSP!

[Angelo Kerman]

9 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

@Angel-125  Any chance of getting a .version file in the next release?  Would make it a bit easier to know when a new version is out.

Will add that to next release’s task list. Next release will also have another bug fix for the engine along with infrastructure support for MAS. It should be ready in a couple of days. Hopefully the gravitic engine will be pretty solid at that point and I can start on the mothership.

[linuxgurugamer]

1 hour ago, Angel-125 said:

Will add that to next release’s task list. Next release will also have another bug fix for the engine along with infrastructure support for MAS. It should be ready in a couple of days. Hopefully the gravitic engine will be pretty solid at that point and I can start on the mothership.

Thank you !!!!!

Have I told you how much I love this mod?

[shdwlrd]

I love how the gravitic engines maximum lifting weight is based on how much power you can feed into it. If you can't see the it, the total vessel mass is 562,956kg. That's off of one engine!!! I can probably add another 80,000kg to it, but the kraken was starting to poke it's head around. The overall design is not practical, but you can do Atlantian city ships if you have enough power. (Stargate: Atlantis) Or if you're not a Stargate fan, a fully relocatable colony ship you can move from planet to planet. 

 

[Angelo Kerman]

@shdwlrd Cool ship! Thanks for posting your pics, it's really great to see what people are doing with the mod. Adding more power to accelerate a larger mass was one of the major design goals of the gravitic engine, and I'm glad I could pull that off. I wanted it to be distinctly different from regular engines but still have similar game mechanics to make it intuitive; it had to be based on acceleration instead of thrust to simulate the artificial singularity. I'm also happy that I was able to find a workable version of Crazy Mode to emulate the insane maneuvers that the bouncers flying saucers are reported to do.

Anyway, KFS 0.2.6 is now available:

- Fixed issue where the gravitic engine wouldn't produce acceleration when MechJeb tried to execute a maneuver node.
- Added infrastructure to KerbalActuators to support MOARdV Avionics Systems.
- Removed debug code left over from last release.
- Improved Crazy Mode performance when there are no other vessels in physics range.

I think at this point the gravitic engine is pretty solid. I'm also thinking of making a half-keel for those situations where it would look more fashionable for the half-circle designs @shdwlrd is making..

[The Minmus Derp]

Whoooooot!

[Angelo Kerman]

@shdwlrd All you need are a couple of Buffalo puddlejumpers and you're set.

[shdwlrd]

5 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

@shdwlrd All you need are a couple of Buffalo puddlejumpers and you're set.

Also will need the mothership grade generators and reactors. 29 wave generators and reactors is a bit too much. I was starting to lag really bad once I got everything started.

It's funny you mentioned the Buffalo puddlejumpers. I was thinking that a low profile gravitic engine and a surface attachable or a stackable version of the wave generator would be perfect for creating a Buffalo shuttle craft, or making a orbital drop rover (Mako?) like in Mass Effect. It would also make KFS a little easier to use with the stock parts and other part mods.

The half keel engine and structural parts would make some designs look cleaner and get rid of my personal pet peeve of Z fighting between parts. 

[Angelo Kerman]

31 minutes ago, shdwlrd said:

Also will need the mothership grade generators and reactors. 29 wave generators and reactors is a bit too much. I was starting to lag really bad once I got everything started.

It's funny you mentioned the Buffalo puddlejumpers. I was thinking that a low profile gravitic engine and a surface attachable or a stackable version of the wave generator would be perfect for creating a Buffalo shuttle craft, or making a orbital drop rover (Mako?) like in Mass Effect. It would also make KFS a little easier to use with the stock parts and other part mods.

The half keel engine and structural parts would make some designs look cleaner and get rid of my personal pet peeve of Z fighting between parts. 

Stock versions of the generator and engine are slated for Phase 3,so fear not.  if you need something soon, you could always clone an existing part and add functionality..

[shdwlrd]

1 hour ago, Angel-125 said:

Stock versions of the generator and engine are slated for Phase 3,so fear not.  if you need something soon, you could always clone an existing part and add functionality..

That's some time away I'm guessing. Now the question becomes; who's parts am I going to steal borrow from all the part mods I've collected? 

[Angelo Kerman]

33 minutes ago, shdwlrd said:

That's some time away I'm guessing. Now the question becomes; who's parts am I going to steal borrow from all the part mods I've collected? 

Yes. Phase 1, prototyping, is done. Proof of concept is the Flapjack, gravitic engine is working well, and I can make saucers fly in KSP. They can also move like flying saucers in lore.

Phase 2 is the Excalibur mothership, which could be considered as a flying portable colony with FTL that employs the technology and techniques perfected in Phase 1.

Phase 3 are the aforementioned stock form factor versions of components like the gravitic engine and gravitic displacement generator.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Angel-125

[shdwlrd]

After a little digging through my mods. I've found some parts to make a reasonable replica of an Federation shuttle craft. I've haven't had time to write any patches or configs for the parts I'm borrowing. So no shots of it in action.

[Angelo Kerman]

17 minutes ago, shdwlrd said:

After a little digging through my mods. I've found some parts to make a reasonable replica of an Federation shuttle craft. I've haven't had time to write any patches or configs for the parts I'm borrowing. So no shots of it in action.

Wow, little mini warp nacelles, where did you find those?

[shdwlrd]

5 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Wow, little mini warp nacelles, where did you find those?

They are from an older mod called Simian Endeavors.

 

[Infernx1]

On 5/29/2018 at 11:12 PM, JadeOfMaar said:

The general condition(s) to installing mods is this:

• The locations of everything are relative to the GameData folder. Folder hierarchy needs to be maintained. For KSP mods, GameData is treated like "C:\"
• For Angel-125's mods, everything is relative to his WildBlueIndustries folder which is always directly under GameData.
• Many parts are coded such that they need their assets to be in an absolute (exact) location and aren't relative so they'll break if not installed exactly.
• If the folder you drop into GameData contains dashes and a version number, you installed it wrong. Dig deeper in the zip file and get the folder that has just the mod name.
• Your install needs to look like this:

GameData
	> *alltheothermodsyoulike*
	> NearFutureProps // packaged with this mod
	> Squad
	> WildBlueIndustries
		> 00WildBlueTools
		> ClassicStockResources
		> Buffalo
		> FlyingSaucers // this mod
		> Pathfinder
	ModuleManager.3.0.6.dll (or higher number, very important too)

You may want to clip some downward-facing radial intakes into the ship. You get the least air when your only intake is facing up and you're moving down, subtracting further from intake speed.

 

On 5/30/2018 at 12:19 AM, Angel-125 said:

The K2 has a button that lets you start and stop a simulator. That simulator generates LabTime. It is very slow, and you need a lot of electricity, but it'll get the job done.

Be sure to copy all the folders into your GameData folder.

@Puggonaut Those look great! I can also see that I need to tone down the droning sound...

I've seen the multiple windows too, I haven't figured out why that's happening yet. I think there's a way to detect when the game UI is hidden; if I can find that then I can make the window go away too.

The trick to using the Coanda is to have a very light craft. Don't load up on LiquidFuel or you'll be weighed down and can't take off.

Thanks guys! It worked!

Absolutely LOVE the hover jet.

[Angelo Kerman]

1 hour ago, Infernx1 said:

 

Thanks guys! It worked!

Absolutely LOVE the hover jet.

Glad it's working for you. I'm currently working on other projects now that the saucer is stable. I'm doing some work on Pathfinder and updating my toolset (breakpoints in Visual Studio at last, yay!), then I'll be back to work on the mothership. My plan is to have it done by fall. Sounds like a long time, but my new job is taking up my day..

Edited June 18, 2018 by Angel-125

[shdwlrd]

It seems that the latest update is causing the VTOL manager not to respect the throttle position in forward or reverse flight. 

The link is a short video of what I'm seeing. https://www.dropbox.com/s/njo7hefxpcxpp28/Kerbal Space Program 6_18_2018 2_31_28 AM.zip?dl=0

Notice the throttle doesn't move from the 0 position when I click the forward and reverse buttons.

 

[Angelo Kerman]

7 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

It seems that the latest update is causing the VTOL manager not to respect the throttle position in forward or reverse flight. 

The link is a short video of what I'm seeing. https://www.dropbox.com/s/njo7hefxpcxpp28/Kerbal Space Program 6_18_2018 2_31_28 AM.zip?dl=0

Notice the throttle doesn't move from the 0 position when I click the forward and reverse buttons.

 

Should be fixed in 0.2.7

- Fixed issue where the throttle wouldn't be updated during Hover Mode and forward flight.

[MOARdV]

I am having a problem with the Flapjack shielded docking port.  Specifically, if I assign "Toggle Shield" to an action group, and then I try to toggle it with that action group, it doesn't cycle.  If I then try to open it using the right-click menu, it likewise doesn't open.  The "Status" field in the context menu reports "Locked".  Are there conditions that must be met in order to open the shield?  (all of this is taking place on the runway)

[Angelo Kerman]

11 minutes ago, MOARdV said:

I am having a problem with the Flapjack shielded docking port.  Specifically, if I assign "Toggle Shield" to an action group, and then I try to toggle it with that action group, it doesn't cycle.  If I then try to open it using the right-click menu, it likewise doesn't open.  The "Status" field in the context menu reports "Locked".  Are there conditions that must be met in order to open the shield?  (all of this is taking place on the runway)

Hm, will have to look when I get home. It uses ModuleAnimateGenericSFX, what happens if you just use ModuleAnimateGeneric?

[MOARdV]

14 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Hm, will have to look when I get home. It uses ModuleAnimateGenericSFX, what happens if you just use ModuleAnimateGeneric?

I did some more thorough characterization this morning.  It turns out the problem is not the docking port, it's the cargo hold.  If I attach a cargo hold to any of the four wing positions off of the gravitic engine / keel, it shields the docking port on top of the engine.  Curiously, it does not appear to shield the docking port if I attach the cargo hold to the aft keel attachment point.

If I change the shield's animation to "allowAnimationWhileShielded = True", the problem goes away.

This may also explain why I never realized the gravitic engine also had RCS capabilities until I looked at the config - "shieldedCanThrust" for ModuleRCS defaults to false, too, I believe.

[Angelo Kerman]

2 hours ago, MOARdV said:

I did some more thorough characterization this morning.  It turns out the problem is not the docking port, it's the cargo hold.  If I attach a cargo hold to any of the four wing positions off of the gravitic engine / keel, it shields the docking port on top of the engine.  Curiously, it does not appear to shield the docking port if I attach the cargo hold to the aft keel attachment point.

If I change the shield's animation to "allowAnimationWhileShielded = True", the problem goes away.

This may also explain why I never realized the gravitic engine also had RCS capabilities until I looked at the config - "shieldedCanThrust" for ModuleRCS defaults to false, too, I believe.

Awesome, thanks for troubleshooting this!

Here is 0.2.8 that contains the fixes:

- Fixed issues where the Flapjack docking port and Gravitic Engine's RCS thrusters wouldn't work with the cargo bay attached. Thanks for the solution, MOARdv!

[The Minmus Derp]

Woot!

[Angelo Kerman]

@MOARdV Could I ask another favor regarding MAS? I'm not sure if this is an ASET or RPM issue, but I noticed that without RPM, the labels on the manual don't show up:

Is there something I need to do to convert the manuals over to use MAS?

Thanks again!

[The Minmus Derp]

Cool!

[Angelo Kerman]

Next bug fix will also have this: