[1.0.2] NovaPunch 2.09. - May 6th - 1.0 Compatibility Update

[EvilotionCR2]

Soon,i will send you models(if i find time )

[mossman]

I notice that you've scaled up the M-50 engine into a 2 meter version.

What happened to the normal M-50? Why not call the 2 meter engine the M-51 or something and keep the 1 meter M-50?

I was rather partial to the 1 meter M-50 and I prefer to use 2 of them on a 2 meter tank instead of one large one just to keep the height of my launch vehicles down.

[Tiberion]

well rather than reuse models, I bumped the M-50 up to be an F1-analog (the main engines on the Sat V) and then added the Bearcat single-engine to be the "1m" heavy-lifter - it should be pretty close in performance to the M-50 of 1.2, though it was a late addition. Does it need tweaked?

[astroju]

Well, it looks like the mod update nerfed the engines. I had started building an interplanetary rocket in 0.15 and polished in 0.16, sadly when rebuilding it in 0.17 using 1.3b, the rocket doesn't have as much ∆v, which I find a little curious.

[Kreuzung]

There was a bug with fuel consumption in .16, at lower throttle fuel consumption went rapidly down.

[Koschei]

The F-1 analogue is a bit pointless as there is no J-2 analogue except the 1-meter K2-X.

[Tiberion]

The K2-X has always been the J-2 type engine. Thats the roles Sundaypunch had them in originally, as much as KSp allowed it technically at the time. I can keep adding rockets if we can really find a need for another one, but I don't want to bloat things up too much.

I'd like screenshots or craft files of builds you are having trouble with, its sometimes hard to judge balance just off of my own building habits.

I did warn that you shouldn't get used to the 0.16 "balancing" when using the old version, not only due to the fuel bug but because parts were getting rescaled.

I scaled the mass and fuel off of the stock parts and then made everything between 5 and 10% "better" by lowering tank mass and boosting engine power and Isp (fuel consumption.) I thought it hit a nice place, challenge-wise, but I am open to hearing otherwise.

How does everyone feel about the NP NERVA now? Its obviously about 4x as massive and 4x as powerful, with better efficiency as well. Does it work as an interplanetary engine for bigger ships than the stock one can handle?

[Koschei]

I use two NovaPunch NERVAs and a half-size 3 meter tank for my heavy transfer stage and they work great. The balance is nice. About the K2-X, I would like if it were to be upscaled, but then we would be missing an engine of that type. Also, I disagree with the ISP values on engines that perform better inside the atmosphere. I understand that it's for specializing them, but It's impossible in RL and I don't think you should use it here.

[CAPFlyer]

Also, I disagree with the ISP values on engines that perform better inside the atmosphere. I understand that it's for specializing them, but It's impossible in RL and I don't think you should use it here.

Can you be more clear on this point? Real world engines are tailored by using exhaust bell design by either reshaping the bell during flight or using ablative materials to reshape the bell as the burn proceeds. This has the effect of changing the ISP because the thrust stays constant as the engine is not operating at a higher fuel consumption rate.

[Koschei]

The ISP should increase as air gets thinner. However, it does the opposite with some engines here.

[CAPFlyer]

ISP only increases if the nozzle allows it. Some boost engines like those on the SpaceX Falcon loose efficiency amd ISP as altitude increases because the bells are fixed in design and thus cannot reshape the plume to a more efficient shape as altitude increases.

[EvilotionCR2]

Can you please do 5 meter fairings?

[MrBailey]

Hey, all.

I'm running KSP 0.17 with NovaPunch 1.3beta. I've made a nifty, tall ship...1m down to 1.75m down to 2m. The problem I'm experiencing is some nasty wobble during launch.

Is this wobble "normal"? Is it something I can more or less fix with struts or maybe some config tweaks?

I'd greatly appreciate any help.

And thanks for an awesome mod! Kudos!

Cheers,

Bailey

[Ekku Zakku]

Should be able to fix that with struts. However, if your computer is slowing down a lot when launching your ship, it can cause the strut code to be skipped over by the game, and then they won't have any effect at all. Wobble is certainly normal though, and if your ship flies stable enough, you can reduce some of the wobble effect by not using any SAS while launching (the SAS compensating back and forth when it gets off track will just make it worse lol).

If you want to see a rocket that really wobbles, check out the one in my signature, it almost looks like it'll snap like a twig when you watch it launch lol. Also you can see my use of struts to keep it from falling apart; it's so top heavy that without the struts, it really will snap in half XD

[MrBailey]

Okay, lol, thanks. I think I do have some SAS going on there. I'll play around with that and the struts.

Thanks and cheers!

[Tiberion]

Struts should help. Tall rockets plus the ASAS flopping the gimbals and winglets back and forth adds a lot of side to side torque. You also have to make sure when using shroud decouplers to join the stages at two nodes as close to the "bottom" of the decoupler as possible, as that is where the parts "collision box" is - if you leave a gap between the collider and the bottom of your engine, it has that much room to wiggle. Struts also help stop that.

[MrBailey]

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

[MinerEdgar]

Do mod capsules have working Internal spaces?

[Ekku Zakku]

I don't think they have any internal spaces yet, but I think it might be getting worked on. It'll be added eventually though, there just needs to be more documentation about it first.

[Tiberion]

No, they have internal spaces - they're using the stock cockpits though, and so the inside won't match the outside (IE the doors and windows don't exactly match up)

Making new internal spaces is going to be time consuming, and pretty far down the list for me personally.

[mnnm1234]

I don't know why but when i have np in ksp it lags ALOT. Help?

[Ekku Zakku]

No, they have internal spaces - they're using the stock cockpits though, and so the inside won't match the outside (IE the doors and windows don't exactly match up)

Making new internal spaces is going to be time consuming, and pretty far down the list for me personally.

Oh right, I forgot that you added the stock cockpits XD my bad lol. Didn't somebody talk about doing the internal spaces though? It would be great to have ones that match, but as you said, it would definitely be time consuming.

[Tiberion]

I don't know why but when i have np in ksp it lags ALOT. Help?

Well without system specs or anything its impossible to know why, but I would guess its because your system is running out of memory - each mod part you have installed uses RAM. So with low system emory, installing 100+ parts as NP does can use up most of your memory.

Installing less parts or an upgrade are usualy the only available options, though I suggest looking around the regular KSP support forum for other ideas

[EvilotionCR2]

Can you please again fix the extra skins?

[Tiberion]

Fix them how? They're in the download and should be working (I can't recall renaming any folders or converting any tanks to MU files)

The orange tanks are in the "Ares" folder and the originals are in "Saturn" if you need to revert (both inside the ExtraTankSkins folder in the zip file)

Just open Ares, select all the folders, and copy them into the Parts folder to overwrite the original texture files.