[WIP] *EXPIRED THREAD* Kerbal Construction Time - see new thread for latest version

[Ekku Zakku]

Didn't get to the Editor Timer quite yet, but I was making so much progress with GUIs that I felt I had to get a new version out today. GUIs actually aren't so bad after all XD

I'll probably get the in-editor stuff done tomorrow. Can't guarantee that the "Show/Hide KCT" icon won't interfere with other mods, I'm just not too sure where to put it currently =P at least that massive main window can be minimized now lol. Also added a pop-up when time warp is stopped due to an SOI change.

[diomedea]

Didn't get to the Editor Timer quite yet, but I was making so much progress with GUIs that I felt I had to get a new version out today. GUIs actually aren't so bad after all XD

I'll probably get the in-editor stuff done tomorrow. Can't guarantee that the "Show/Hide KCT" icon won't interfere with other mods, I'm just not too sure where to put it currently =P at least that massive main window can be minimized now lol. Also added a pop-up when time warp is stopped due to an SOI change.

If your issue is just about the KCT icon (position and/or interference with other mods, very important issues actually to set correctly), everything should be set correctly by using the plugin currently under development here:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/60066-WIP-Toolbar-Plugin-Common-API-for-draggable-buttons

[jfjohnny5]

So glad to see this finally making it's way into a mod. Grats on the Alpha release Ekku! It looks like people are finally understanding the concept. Looking forward to trying it out.

[Ekku Zakku]

Thanks! Also to correct what I mentioned in my previous post about getting the in-editor stuff done today, I'm afraid that will have to wait. I was going to work on it in class, but we got our final exam assignments given to us today and I needed to start working on them. I've got a lot of work to do by this weekend, so I won't have a lot of time to work on the mod (*cough*but I will when I'm bored with homework*cough*). Can't say when I'll get more stuff done yet.

But, I do know what will come next. Along with the in-editor stuff, I will also add a "Stop Time Warp" button to the Flight GUI (since I realized it was needed today), and finalize the location and text of the icon to show/hide the GUI (I'm not gonna bother with an icon image, since text is going to be best for that I think. What would I even use for that anyways? A wrench? idk lol)

[diomedea]

Thank you not only for your mod, but for keeping us informed about development plans too.

Your Real Life issues get precedence: if we could survive up to now without your mod, I guess we may wait a bit more to see all your nice ideas implemented.

[Atragon]

Could you perhaps tie into Kerbal Alarm Clock for the warp control? I don't know if it has an interface for other plugins to interact with it, but having a unified list of upcoming events would be quite handy.

[Ekku Zakku]

Could you perhaps tie into Kerbal Alarm Clock for the warp control? I don't know if it has an interface for other plugins to interact with it, but having a unified list of upcoming events would be quite handy.

I'd like to get to that when I'm further along, they will go great together. I'd like to have it detect if KAC is running, and if so, use it. Adding alarms for when a ship is done being built would be great XD it's just not entirely feasible for me to do that right now.

[johnsonwax]

Could you perhaps tie into Kerbal Alarm Clock for the warp control? I don't know if it has an interface for other plugins to interact with it, but having a unified list of upcoming events would be quite handy.

Trigger Au mentioned in another thread that he wanted to add hooks to KAC but hadn't done so yet.

[Ekku Zakku]

Trigger Au mentioned in another thread that he wanted to add hooks to KAC but hadn't done so yet.

Cool. I think at the least, I can determine if KAC is running and disable a few things, just so they won't interfere.

Also, despite not having time to actually develop this this week, I ended up getting distracted from my school work after realizing some obvious bugs that I felt needed to get fixed right away XD so, you guys can get treated to a better version that handles time warping better, will actually make construction times for new rockets, and overall functions kinda properly now. Conveniently, as required by the bug fixing, I also added some of the stuff that I'll need for making a construction list.

I also fiddled with the construction timing algorithm, and got something I'm pretty happy with. I realized I needed a square root algorithm, so I put it in and it actually works quite well, giving me roughly the kinds of build times I felt were proper, based on the discussion over on the "Do you think rocket construction will ever take time" thread. It might need to be lowered a tad, but that can be done later. Let me know what your build times are and how many parts you have, if you try it out, so I can get a broader idea of how long it's taking for what size/complexity of rockets are out there.

[vardicd]

This mod is fatal if used with a life-support mod. I lost an entire crew of Kerbals in my no quick-save hardcore mode, and now I have to live with their loss on the launch pad <As a really embarrassing mistake> I like the mod, lesson learned.

[Ekku Zakku]

This mod is fatal if used with a life-support mod. I lost an entire crew of Kerbals in my no quick-save hardcore mode, and now I have to live with their loss on the launch pad <As a really embarrassing mistake> I like the mod, lesson learned.

Well, that won't be a problem when I finish implementing the construction list, since it will remove the vessel from the launchpad entirely XD sorry for your loss lol

Let me go add a disclaimer...

[blipadouzi]

I love the idea of this mod and everything you have planned for it.

If I could make just 1 suggestion... It makes sense that a space program would have planned several launches back to back, and while 1 mission is in flight, another one is bring built.

So I suggest adding some way to "bank" days while flying missions to spend later when building something in the VAB/SPH. That way if you spend more days building a vehicle than you have banked, then you warp the appropriate time difference. But if you have more banked than is required to build the vehicle, it gets built immediately, as it is assumed it was built during those flight days.

You might also want to consider having 2 separate time counters for the VAB and SPH, as it stands to reason each building would have different engineers and building crews and theoretically they can both build a craft simultaneously.

Keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing more.

[Ekku Zakku]

If I could make just 1 suggestion... It makes sense that a space program would have planned several launches back to back, and while 1 mission is in flight, another one is bring built.

I'm going to try to have multiple builds going at once, just add your ship to the list, and it will be ready after x days, and add another one and it will be ready after y days. Add as many as you want, and launch them as they're ready. I might have a slight time penalty for having a large list going, but probably not much. I think currency in the career mode will take care of limiting that kind of thing.

[vardicd]

Well, that won't be a problem when I finish implementing the construction list, since it will remove the vessel from the launchpad entirely XD sorry for your loss lol

Let me go add a disclaimer...

Sadly it occurred to me several hours later I use the crew manifest plugin, I could have simply removed the Kerbals from the ship till it was ready to go. {Facepalm}

[kookoo_gr]

haven't had much time playing with this mod and didn't download the latest version but here are some thoughts.

1. The only indication of the plugin being installed and working(?) was when i was on the launchpad, i placed it at the plugin folder (FYI you should include at the zip file the path of the zipped file for ease of installation and/or a txt with instructions). i had an indication of when the rocket was ready but i could launch at any time i wanted. When the indicated time passed the time went to negative numbers.

2. If possible add the option for the user to define a build time for a certain rocket/rocket parts like a build time for the launcher and a build time for the payload. This idea comes form the duna architecture challenge were the rocket build time is defined by the payload weight sent to orbit. Eg i build a rocket and i want to define for the launcher a build time eg 50 days and if possible to add to these days a 10 day build time for the payload. I believe this may need some integration with the game's subassemblies feature or rocket save files

[Ekku Zakku]

haven't had much time playing with this mod and didn't download the latest version but here are some thoughts.

1. The only indication of the plugin being installed and working(?) was when i was on the launchpad, i placed it at the plugin folder (FYI you should include at the zip file the path of the zipped file for ease of installation and/or a txt with instructions). i had an indication of when the rocket was ready but i could launch at any time i wanted. When the indicated time passed the time went to negative numbers.

2. If possible add the option for the user to define a build time for a certain rocket/rocket parts like a build time for the launcher and a build time for the payload. This idea comes form the duna architecture challenge were the rocket build time is defined by the payload weight sent to orbit. Eg i build a rocket and i want to define for the launcher a build time eg 50 days and if possible to add to these days a 10 day build time for the payload. I believe this may need some integration with the game's subassemblies feature or rocket save files

Thanks for your input! I'll definitely get around to doing #1 for the next release, this is my first mod after all and I know I'm missing a lot of things XD

I think with #2, something like that might be done, obviously a standard launcher is going to take less time to make since it's essentially coming off a production line. I'm just not sure how to implement it yet, and I'd just like to get more generalized features working first. I'm also not sure if it will even be needed, due to balanced build times being rather short in general. With a more difficult mode though, certainly =3

[ZobrAA]

Any screenshots just to know how it looks like?

[Ekku Zakku]

Any screenshots just to know how it looks like?

There is one on the SpacePort page, albeit a bit small. It pretty much shows all of what the mod currently consists of though. I'll put some more detailed screenshots on the opening post to show how it looks when it gets to a more complete state.

[Ekku Zakku]

Updated to Alpha Version 3; sorry about the wait, had to deal with finals, work, and being sick over the last week =P I'm not scheduled to work again until this Friday, and if I'm not called in to work at all, I should get the next update done by then. I really feel like a vessel list needs to be done next, so I'm going to work on that; that's the key feature to get this mod into Beta I think. Once that's in, I think it'll be quite usable as a mod, and the rest of the features will just be some nice polish =3

[diomedea]

@ Ekku Zakku: I like how you keep us informed about what affects this tool development.

But you don't have to be sorry if it takes longer then expected. I would say it is better to not rush development (even if I really need this tool to make my career game look correct) just because of some pressure to deliver. Do release alpha versions, as many as you like, if you need independent testing (I will certainly help test if needed).

The above is to mean, I believe the vessel list is a most important feature with this tool, so it may deserve a few alpha versions to make it right.

Beta version really means you consider the tool working as expected by design, just polishing ad adding a few more features if needed to make it final.

[Ekku Zakku]

@ Ekku Zakku: I like how you keep us informed about what affects this tool development.

But you don't have to be sorry if it takes longer then expected. I would say it is better to not rush development (even if I really need this tool to make my career game look correct) just because of some pressure to deliver. Do release alpha versions, as many as you like, if you need independent testing (I will certainly help test if needed).

The above is to mean, I believe the vessel list is a most important feature with this tool, so it may deserve a few alpha versions to make it right.

Beta version really means you consider the tool working as expected by design, just polishing ad adding a few more features if needed to make it final.

Of course! I just consider a vessel list a key feature to make the mod a beta, but I will still consider it an alpha until I'm sure it's in a releasable state and where I'm happy with it =3

Also I just said sorry because it was (I felt like) a long gap since I last said anything XD I don't feel rushed or pressured other than from myself; I'm trying to push myself to get out of my usual lazy mood when I don't have work (which I spend watching YouTube videos and playing games all day), and actually do something productive programming-wise. This mod is, after all, a programming project so I can improve my skills and be comfortable as a programmer who will be going into the workforce soon. Me being lazy with programming is a sign that I'm not where I need to be! I need to take the initiative on my days off y'know~

Anyways, I didn't get called in today, and I'm feeling pretty productive; time to get to work! Thanks so much for your input, diomedea

Edited December 17, 2013 by Ekku Zakku

[Jobin]

I like the idea of having to "wait" for launch, and by wait I mean it will automatically skip ahead to the launch time when I hit launch. I'm not going to use this if I have to use time warp to get to launch.

[kookoo_gr]

There is another mod called Athlonic Electronics / LCD – Launch CountDown (Audio&Onscreen) v1.5 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/42859-0-22-Athlonic-Electronics-LCD-Launch-CountDown-%28Audio-Onscreen%29-v1-2?p=548862#post548862 maybe you could also integrate with it?

[kookoo_gr]

Tried your last version and i have the following problem. When at the launchpad the ship has all the resources depleted no fuel, no electricity. This is upon placement on the launchpad and i had the same bug and at the previous version

[Ekku Zakku]

I like the idea of having to "wait" for launch, and by wait I mean it will automatically skip ahead to the launch time when I hit launch. I'm not going to use this if I have to use time warp to get to launch.

The problem with setting Universal Time in-game straight to when it's time for launch is that any vessels that have an SOI change will have very strange orbits afterward. This was the problem I ran into with my earliest implementation of the mod. I don't see this as currently being a problem though, since my built time algorithm is quite short and the largest vessel you can even hope to create will only take around 20 days to build, and at max time warp, that'll only take about 20 seconds of real time to warp through!

I can possibly get around it in the future by keeping a running log of every vessel's orbit and when their SOI transitions are, but that will take a bit of time. It also means that the mod won't be drop-in compatible with existing saves, since every vessel with an orbit will need to be switched to in order to log its orbit. Currently just a minor limitation with the game. Thanks for your input though!

There is another mod called Athlonic Electronics / LCD – Launch CountDown (Audio&Onscreen) v1.5 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/42859-0-22-Athlonic-Electronics-LCD-Launch-CountDown-%28Audio-Onscreen%29-v1-2?p=548862#post548862 maybe you could also integrate with it?

I think it will be compatible when I'm finished with this mod, I'm not sure what integration would achieve.

Tried your last version and i have the following problem. When at the launchpad the ship has all the resources depleted no fuel, no electricity. This is upon placement on the launchpad and i had the same bug and at the previous version

Ah, it appears a bug has cropped up there... Thanks for letting me know! I'll get a hotfix out real quick. That's my current way of denying launches until the ship is "built". Pressing "Warp to launch" and letting it go until "Remaining build time" says "0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds" should then replenish fuel and electricity and you should be ready to launch (And this is where you can start the countdown for the previous mod you mentioned as well ), but something went wrong and I must have broken it lol. Once you see "v3.1" up, download it and it should work as intended.

Sorry, forget the hotfix for now, I've currently gotta head out, have an appointment, but if you want to get around this bug, press the "Warp to Launch" button when construction is complete in order to fill the vessel up with resources. I'll just put off the hotfix and instead focus on the next version which will fix the problem entirely. Thanks again for letting me know about the bug!

In my next release version I should have a construction list implemented, and when you press "Launch" from the VAB or SPH it will be removed from the launchpad entirely and can't launch until its construction is complete in the list (note, when this is implemented, having one in the construction list will not hinder the speed of another rocket in construction list, I feel like that wouldn't be very fun for gameplay). That'll be a much better system XD

Edited December 18, 2013 by Ekku Zakku