[1.4] Routine Mission Manager [v032]

[PrivateFlip]

...

Placed your shuttle mission folder in my mission folder, changed the career to my career name and your mun mission loads up on the first try. Also you don't get the toolbar texture even though it is in the folder. So my preliminary suspicion is you for some reason can't read files from the routine mission manager folder. Apparently you can write. What operating system are you using?

MaxOrbitAltitude is always 0 for the moons since you'll always be coming from "above" and the delta-v differences are relatively small.

Edited January 5, 2015 by PrivateFlip

[marce]

Placed your shuttle mission folder in my mission folder, changed the career to my career name and your mun mission loads up on the first try. Also you don't get the toolbar texture even though it is in the folder. So my preliminary suspicion is you for some reason can't read files from the routine mission manager folder. Apparently you can write. What operating system are you using?

MaxOrbitAltitude is always 0 for the moons since you'll always be coming from "above" and the delta-v differences are relatively small.

Oh, I want to use my missions too

This was on Win x86, the folder created by and belonging to my user. I can try on Linux x64 as well if you think it's needed?

This is how my mission selection looks like (in the save where I completed the missions I sent you):

EDIT:

With one of my mods I had the problem that CKAN created the wrong folder structure, however your's looks fine.

Here is it anyway in case that's the problem:

GameData

- RoutineMissionManager

-- Missions

-- RoutineMissionManager

--- Licenses and Source

--- Missions

--- Textures

--- CommercialOfferings.dll

--- CommercialOfferingsModuelManager.cfg

-- UserAcknowledgesKnownBugs

EDIT2:

After looking at your source I merged the subfolder RoutineMissionManager with its parent and now the button icon shows up and I'm able to spawn an "AdministrativeDockingNode" vessel not docked but in the same orbit which is an improvement

Maybe you have the same problem I had and can check your CKAN config file?

EDIT3:

I can now reliable spawn vessels in the same orbit as the station via procuring them, but haven't managed to have them dock a single time.

Plus return mission tracking is unreliable since undocking usually leaves the user in control of the "heavier part" of the vessel requiring a vessel switch. I had at least one case where the tracking was broken afterwards.

This mod is a great conecept but doesn't work for me yet.

Edited January 5, 2015 by marce

[Skipperro]

Hurray - my bug was confirmed. Now we are on the same page, but...

I'm using Linux x64 and I don't use CKAN, I simply copy mod manually inside GameData folder.

[PrivateFlip]

Okay, thanks Marce for finding that! Made a new ckan file. It's now waiting approval.

Previous one was made automatically by Kerbal Stuff. Kerbal Stuff did the same for my Davon Supply mod which turned out fine and was identical to the manual one I made for Davon Throttle Control mod, but I still should have checked.

Skipperro PM'd me some reproduction data. I Hope that will help me to squash that bug.

[Madman_Andre]

Wow. Just, wow.

Quick question: How compatible will this be with, say, the, Extraplanetary Lauchpads, Karbonite, and/or Kethane mods? Because the Idea of automating the logistics of those mods is massively appealing to me and probably most anyone else who uses those mods.

[Ratys]

Huh. I've been musing over exact same mod idea for a couple of days now; it was a fluke I stumbled upon this gem, you really deserve more attention! What I had in mind is a bit more in-depth, perhaps, with things like EPL integration, warp drive utilization, reusing vessels, etc; but the core idea of having the player "record" something first to figure out if it's possible was at the start of it.

I guess I'll tinker away at some tangential aspects for now and see for how long I can avoid "treading on your territory", then non-intrusively build upon your mod's functionality.

[PrivateFlip]

Used the save and the mission Skipperro send me and it all worked on the first try, so it did not give me any clues on what's going wrong, so no news on the current outstanding bug yet.

The new version will also attempt to post a small error log in the console which can be opened with alt+F2.

If someone is experiencing this particular bug and has the console return a short log, could they post it to me?

EDIT: the log message starts with the sentence "i'm at stage " " and can not find vessel " ". the vessels i can find are:"

Changelog version 007

-made sure only flights from current campaign are loaded.

-made a blind fix (try number two) for a bug which some players are reporting, but has not yet been reproduced by me.

Edited January 7, 2015 by PrivateFlip

[AccidentalDisassembly]

Please remove the modulemanager .dll from the directory in which your mod resides and instead place it in the base directory of your ZIP file - this is where it should be located!

EDIT: Also, I'm getting this in the ol' logs. Is it meaningful enough to dropbox an output_log?

AddonLoader: Instantiating addon 'RMMModule' from assembly 'CommercialOfferings'

(Filename: C:/BuildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/StandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49)

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

at CommercialOfferings.RMMModule.OnAwake () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at PartModule.Awake () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

UnityEngine.GameObject:Internal_AddComponentWithType(Type)

UnityEngine.GameObject:AddComponent(Type)

AddonLoader:StartAddon(LoadedAssembly, Type, KSPAddon, Startup)

AddonLoader:StartAddons(Startup)

AddonLoader:OnLevelWasLoaded(Int32)

Edited January 7, 2015 by AccidentalDisassembly

[PrivateFlip]

Please remove the modulemanager .dll from the directory in which your mod resides and instead place it in the base directory of your ZIP file - this is where it should be located!

EDIT: Also, I'm getting this in the ol' logs. Is it meaningful enough to dropbox an output_log?

...

No those are not the lines I'm looking for, but thanks anyway.

Looking for message "i'm at stage " " and can not find vessel " ". the vessels i can find are:"

Have changed the location of module manager.

[Captain Sierra]

Question:

My orbital station requires a resupply once every two Kerbin years (roughly). The actual process of what needs to happen is a rather complex docking and transposition maneuver that involves docking the new full module to the old one, pulling both off, flipping it around, having the tug change sides, redocking the whole assembly, then undocking with the empty module and de-orbiting.

In other words, there's a lot of docking, undocking, and redocking involved across a half dozen different docking ports.

How well would this mod handle a resupply that complex? Would I be better just doing a bulk resource transfer rather than a full module interchange if I use this mod? (interchange is faster when I do it by hand because these are 8-core 2.5m U.S. wedge modules).

[PrivateFlip]

Wow. Just, wow.

Quick question: How compatible will this be with, say, the, Extraplanetary Lauchpads, Karbonite, and/or Kethane mods? Because the Idea of automating the logistics of those mods is massively appealing to me and probably most anyone else who uses those mods.

About the Wow, it doesn't work for everybody. In fact I haven't actually yet heard of anybody for which it does work. Except for my own system, where it works fine.

As to your question: it will run along side them but at this point missions can only start at the launchpads and end at a station. I do understand the appeal. This mod is actually the scrapped together leftover from a very ambitious project in which launchpads, stations and 'landing sites marked with flags' were all part of a sophisticated "Logistics Planning" system. I ended up abandoning it.

In all honesty none of the things you want is currently really in the plans, not even long term. In time when I get this to work and I'll get i might consider some more functionality, but nothing I would want to commit to now.

...but maybe there are others here, who do want to pursue some of these things. You never know...

Ah, there you go:

Huh. I've been musing over exact same mod idea for a couple of days now; it was a fluke I stumbled upon this gem, you really deserve more attention! What I had in mind is a bit more in-depth, perhaps, with things like EPL integration, warp drive utilization, reusing vessels, etc; but the core idea of having the player "record" something first to figure out if it's possible was at the start of it.

I guess I'll tinker away at some tangential aspects for now and see for how long I can avoid "treading on your territory", then non-intrusively build upon your mod's functionality.

First off, and i think I speak for a lot of people when I say this, if you want to work out your mod idea, let go of the "avoiding treading on my territory" and the non-intrusive stuff. Would be a loss for yourself and the community.

Ideas aren't born in a vacuum; many players at times experience flying the same mission again. Many have at times pondered some kind of mod to do it for them. Just not everybody can or wants to do it.

Keep me posted on your exploits!

[Steambirds]

For some reason my ETA is showing "maybe later"? Can we have a quick rundown of what the ETA sayings of "Soon, "Just about now" mean?

[NihilRex]

About the Wow, it doesn't work for everybody. In fact I haven't actually yet heard of anybody for which it does work. Except for my own system, where it works fine.

Works for me, delivering Rocketparts resupply to my orbital construction dock.

[NihilRex]

@PrivateFlip - Does the return mission system invoke the standard ship delete function? If so, does it set the orbit to have a periapsis below 22km first? Just curious how this works, as I'm using StageRecovery, and would love to see them work together.

I'm going to test the pair tonight, first non-crewed supply missions building now.

[PrivateFlip]

For some reason my ETA is showing "maybe later"? Can we have a quick rundown of what the ETA sayings of "Soon, "Just about now" mean?

Under the hood this mod works by pasting in the mission vehicle. To reduce the amount in which this breaks immersion, I've made it so this only happens when you're away. This way the player in never confronted with a ship materializing out of thin air. This does however prevents the ship arriving when the player keeps hanging around the station. This can however not be explicitly explained to the player because it this would also break immersion. That's why as the mission time approaches zero the ETA becomes increasingly vague. When it actually goes past zero it even changes to "maybe later" to communicate to the player the ship will still arrive but there is no idea when, in the hope the player decides to do something else for a while and check back later.

Works for me, delivering Rocketparts resupply to my orbital construction dock.

Means so much to hear that. Thank you.

@PrivateFlip - Does the return mission system invoke the standard ship delete function? If so, does it set the orbit to have a periapsis below 22km first? Just curious how this works, as I'm using StageRecovery, and would love to see them work together.

I'm going to test the pair tonight, first non-crewed supply missions building now.

As your test have no doubt have shown the mod does not take into account any recovered stages from the launch system and only takes into account the landing of one single vessel on the return mission. So any repeat mission cost will not take be corrected with the money saved by the StageRecovery mod.

Edited January 11, 2015 by PrivateFlip

[Capt. Kerk]

This mod is not working for me, which is too bad because it is exactly what I'm looking for.

Everything appears to work correctly -- buttons appear in the UI, I can track a mission, get a "mission tracking -- ARRIVAL" message when I dock, I can register docking ports, and I can open the "Order Mission" window, but no missions appear for selection. Nothing ever gets placed in the "Missions" folder in the GameData directory, so I'd guess it's a problem with saving the mission profiles. I don't see any error messages.

I'm running on Mac OS X. I've tried both the version downloaded directly from Kerbal Stuff and one installed via CKAN. I had a handful of mods installed, but even after uninstalling all of them but this one and ModuleManager and starting a new (sandbox) game, it still doesn't work.

[Disposeable]

Random idea.

What if you rolled some of the functionality of your supply mod and this one into a kind of in between?

Like a docking port that allowed you to request an automated supply but in a fixed amount and only one resource at a time, as if a private company was sending out a small unmanned supply probe.

Perhaps with the cost/amounts/numbers of resourced could vary with the size of the port.

Possibly even requiring special ports incompatible with clamp-o-trons so you have to plan for it ahead of time.

Just a thought

[PrivateFlip]

This mod is not working for me, which is too bad because it is exactly what I'm looking for.

Everything appears to work correctly -- buttons appear in the UI, I can track a mission, get a "mission tracking -- ARRIVAL" message when I dock, I can register docking ports, and I can open the "Order Mission" window, but no missions appear for selection. Nothing ever gets placed in the "Missions" folder in the GameData directory, so I'd guess it's a problem with saving the mission profiles. I don't see any error messages.

I'm running on Mac OS X. I've tried both the version downloaded directly from Kerbal Stuff and one installed via CKAN. I had a handful of mods installed, but even after uninstalling all of them but this one and ModuleManager and starting a new (sandbox) game, it still doesn't work.

Do the buttons also have textures, in that it reads something like "em2"? If so than this is a new bug. Thanks for the detailed description.

Do folders exist in the the mission folder, e.g. "Missions/4537423"?

Could KSP lack write permissions to the folder? I can also imagine navigating directories on a mac takes some special care I'm currently not taking.

[linuxgurugamer]

Do the buttons also have textures, in that it reads something like "em2"? If so than this is a new bug. Thanks for the detailed description.

Do folders exist in the the mission folder, e.g. "Missions/4537423"?

Could KSP lack write permissions to the folder? I can also imagine navigating directories on a mac takes some special care I'm currently not taking.

Re. directory navigation. Windows uses backslashes, OSX and Linux use forward slashes. Also, Windows has a drive letter (ie: c:), OSX and Linux do not.

[marce]

Re. directory navigation. Windows uses backslashes, OSX and Linux use forward slashes. Also, Windows has a drive letter (ie: c:), OSX and Linux do not.

I'd like to add the very helpful KSPUtil.ApplicationRootPath which points to the KSP main directory, plus forward slashes are fine for me on win and nix so far.

[PrivateFlip]

Random idea.

What if you rolled some of the functionality of your supply mod and this one into a kind of in between?

Like a docking port that allowed you to request an automated supply but in a fixed amount and only one resource at a time, as if a private company was sending out a small unmanned supply probe.

Perhaps with the cost/amounts/numbers of resourced could vary with the size of the port.

Possibly even requiring special ports incompatible with clamp-o-trons so you have to plan for it ahead of time.

Just a thought

From my perspective both Davon Supply and this mod are primarily utility mods and and I don't feel like introducing constraints on the player. It would limit the player to the flights which I decided to add, while a player currently has all the options.

This doesn't mean a mod like you describe wouldn't be appreciated. It would introduce a new game element and there would also be some ease of use advantages compared to the current mod. Unfortunately I don't feel like adding such a mod to the mods I already maintain, especially since such a mod would cost lots of upkeep. You would need to make create a whole bunch of missions, with visually pleasing vehicles and also a little balanced. It would add such a hassle, especially if it should also support the resources of mod X. (And mod Y ). I would have to install the other mod make a bunch of missions again. It all sounds like a small amount of work, but you wouldn't believe how much time all this small stuff takes in practice. Therefore I rather aim for a versatile mod, which from a purely functional perspective can give the exact same options to the player.

Although it falls short of the suggestion made by Disposeable, this mod already contains some hidden functionality to allow anyone with no programming skill whatsoever to create mission packs which can be used with this mod.

A brief tutorial for those interested:

[B]How to create a mission pack for Routine Mission Manager:[/B]

[I]Preperation[/I]
Create a new folder inside GameData but outside the RoutineMissionManager folder which will contain the missions of your 'mission pack'. 
In the "Missions" folder of this mod there is a file "CommercialOfferingsPackMarkerFile". Place a copy of this file in your 'mission pack' folder.

[I]Adding missions[/I]
Step 1 - Fly a mission you want your players to be able to order.

The mission is now saved in the "Missions" folder. Since all mission are stored in folders named a random string of numbers, it might be difficult to find the folder of the mission you just flew.
Use the following steps to find your mission:

Step 2 - In game open the GUI you normally use to order missions.
Step 3 - In the list of mission, click on the mission you want to add to your mission pack.
Step 4 - Press Alt-F2 to open the console.

In it you will see the entry "<YourMissionName> in folder: <folder locations>". 
Write down the folder location. The mission you just clicked is saved in this folder.

Step 5 - Copy the mission folder to the new folder which will contain your 'mission pack'. You can optionally change the folder name.
Step 6 - After copying, open the info.txt file inside with your favorite text editor and change the "CompanyName" entry to something else. 
This will make the mission available in every campaign and not just the one you flew the mission in. In addition it will display the company name in the dialog screen where you order the mission.
You can optionally change some other variables like Price or MaxOrbitAltitude.

Step 7 - Test the mission. This one is important. Check if everything is like it you want it to be.

Repeat step 1 through 7 for all the other missions you want to add.

Zip the mission pack folder so you can distribute it to your players and instruct your players to place it in "GameData" along with installing this mod. If you use non-stock parts you should of course instruct your player which part packs to install as well.

Players will now be able to fly your missions in their games. 

EDIT: do take into consideration this mod still has some bugs which make it unusable for an unknown portion of players.

Edited January 12, 2015 by PrivateFlip

[Capt. Kerk]

Do the buttons also have textures, in that it reads something like "em2"? If so than this is a new bug. Thanks for the detailed description.

Here's what the screen looks like:

Do folders exist in the the mission folder, e.g. "Missions/4537423"?

No, the only thing in the Missions folder is "CommercialOfferingsPackMarkerFile".

Could KSP lack write permissions to the folder?

The permissions match those for the KSP "save" folder (to which KSP can definitely write). However the save folder seems to have some "extended attributes" (the Missions folder doesn't) which I am currently endeavoring to understand.

I can also imagine navigating directories on a mac takes some special care I'm currently not taking.

It should be just like navigating directories on any other *nix platform.

I'd edit the last post for this but I can't because it's awaiting mod approval, but I think I figured out the a possible source of the problem. In OS X, an "application" is secretly just a folder with some data inside it. I opened that and found a different GameData directory, containing only a RoutineMissionManager directory, in which there was a Missions folder with lots of subfolders. So, to summarize, my directory structure looked like this:

Applications

-- KSP_osx

---- GameData

------ RoutineMissionManager

---------- Missions

---- KSP.app

------ GameData

------- RoutineMissionManager

--------- Missions

----------- <assorted missions folders>

Unfortunately moving the missions folders to the other GameData directory does not cause them to appear as options for ordering missions.

[Moderator note: that's OK. We can edit them for you.]

Another Edit (and thanks for the first one, mod): Instead of copying the missions folders from the secret GameData directory to the normal one, I went the other way around, and copied everything else in the RoutineMissionManager directory (e.g. the Licenses and Source folder) to the secret GameData directory, and that made it work.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Capt. Kerk

[Sauron]

Question: does this deduct funds for launches in Career?

[Disposeable]

From my perspective both Davon Supply and this mod are primarily utility mods and and I don't feel like introducing constraints on the player. It would limit the player to the flights which I decided to add, while a player currently has all the options.

This doesn't mean a mod like you describe wouldn't be appreciated. It would introduce a new game element and there would also be some ease of use advantages compared to the current mod. Unfortunately I don't feel like adding such a mod to the mods I already maintain, especially since such a mod would cost lots of upkeep. You would need to make create a whole bunch of missions, with visually pleasing vehicles and also a little balanced. It would add such a hassle, especially if it should also support the resources of mod X. (And mod Y ). I would have to install the other mod make a bunch of missions again. It all sounds like a small amount of work, but you wouldn't believe how much time all this small stuff takes in practice. Therefore I rather aim for a versatile mod, which from a purely functional perspective can give the exact same options to the player.

Although it falls short of the suggestion made by Disposeable, this mod already contains some hidden functionality to allow anyone with no programming skill whatsoever to create mission packs which can be used with this mod.

A brief tutorial for those interested:

[B]How to create a mission pack for Routine Mission Manager:[/B]

[I]Preperation[/I]
Create a new folder inside GameData but outside the RoutineMissionManager folder which will contain the missions of your 'mission pack'. 
In the "Missions" folder of this mod there is a file "CommercialOfferingsPackMarkerFile". Place a copy of this file in your 'mission pack' folder.

[I]Adding missions[/I]
Step 1 - Fly a mission you want your players to be able to order.

The mission is now saved in the "Missions" folder. Since all mission are stored in folders named a random string of numbers, it might be difficult to find the folder of the mission you just flew.
Use the following steps to find your mission:

Step 2 - In game open the GUI you normally use to order missions.
Step 3 - In the list of mission, click on the mission you want to add to your mission pack.
Step 4 - Press Alt-F2 to open the console.

In it you will see the entry "<YourMissionName> in folder: <folder locations>". 
Write down the folder location. The mission you just clicked is saved in this folder.

Step 5 - Copy the mission folder to the new folder which will contain your 'mission pack'. You can optionally change the folder name.
Step 6 - After copying, open the info.txt file inside with your favorite text editor and change the "CompanyName" entry to something else. 
This will make the mission available in every campaign and not just the one you flew the mission in. In addition it will display the company name in the dialog screen where you order the mission.
You can optionally change some other variables like Price or MaxOrbitAltitude.

Step 7 - Test the mission. This one is important. Check if everything is like it you want it to be.

Repeat step 1 through 7 for all the other missions you want to add.

Zip the mission pack folder so you can distribute it to your players and instruct your players to place it in "GameData" along with installing this mod. If you use non-stock parts you should of course instruct your player which part packs to install as well.

Players will now be able to fly your missions in their games. 

EDIT: do take into consideration this mod still has some bugs which make it unusable for an unknown portion of players.

Fair enough. And mayhaps ill try your mission maker thing on my days off. Thanks a bunch.

Edit

BTW the ATV in this .od was what I was thinking about when I made my suggestion http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/77581-0-24-ProbiTronics-V0-22-20-7-2014

Edited January 13, 2015 by Disposeable

[PrivateFlip]

Instead of copying the missions folders from the secret GameData directory to the normal one, I went the other way around, and copied everything else in the RoutineMissionManager directory (e.g. the Licenses and Source folder) to the secret GameData directory, and that made it work.

Good to hear you found a solution!

- - - Updated - - -

Question: does this deduct funds for launches in Career?

It does and also refunds the recovery funds of the return mission.

Currently the refund amount is the same amount as on the original return mission, but next version will refund based on what you actually take back on the mission so players can automatically return and sell their Karbonite/Kethane products which the bring to a station in orbit of Kerbin.