[1.4.1] Fuel Tanks Plus 2.0.2 (2018-03-14)

[WuphonsReach]

Nice. And I spy a Comms 88-88 there.

[NecroBones]

Nice. And I spy a Comms 88-88 there.

Yeah, I was running out of things to stick on top that would show the auto-shrouds. Antennas are nice and thin.

[NecroBones]

Working on some intermediate and smaller sizes.

At the moment:

2.5m and 3.75m tanks that are 3/4 the length of the longest stock tanks of those diameters. White ones, and orange for 2.5m.

2.5m and 3.75m white tanks that are half the length of the smallest stock tanks of those diameters, for fine-tuning fuel supplies.

[NecroBones]

0.4 is up!

0.4 (2015-02-07) - Beta
 - Fixed the cap-shrouds to be hidden from the menu icons for the 1.25m tanks.
 - Changed TweakScale config to use wildcards instead of duplicating settings for every tank.
 - Altered appearance of the grey "Oscar" 0.62m tank to have fewer ribs.
 - Renamed most tanks to have better name sorting alongside the stock tanks. 
 - Mildly increased torque/breaking strength on 1.25m, 2.5m, and 3.75m cylindrical tanks.
 - Added three more 0.625m "Oscar" tanks in several sizes, with a spread of mass/fuel/size ratios to fill the gaps.
 - Added Orange/White 2.5m and 3.75m tanks that are 3/4 the length of the longest stock tanks in those sizes.
 - Added white 2.5m and 3.75m tanks that are half the length of the smallest stock tanks in those sizes.

[Vahal]

So basically it's redundant with MRS fuel tanks and 3.75m from Space Y, am I right? Time to download

[NecroBones]

So basically it's redundant with MRS fuel tanks and 3.75m from Space Y, am I right? Time to download

Heh, lol, I prefer to say they're complementary, rather than redundant. MRS has a 3/4-jumbo tank and some long 0.625m tanks. Otherwise, these are all new sizes. And of course, all new color combinations.

SpaceY doesn't add 3.75m tanks at all, just 5m (except the 3.75m nose cones). And most of MRS's tanks are redundant with the stock sizes, except in 0.625m and that 3/4 tank.

[Vahal]

my bad I forgot "nose cone" but anyway, I saw my mistake... Damn I can't save any bit of RAM Shame on you to melting my dear PC memory with your must have mods!!!

go back to see how his new beautiful new lifters fly in red.

[The Yellow Dart]

Hey Necrobones, another great mod!! Just a thought since this is a fuel tanks mod: would you consider making satellite-specific fuel tanks? Such as a tank that is just a square box with some texture to it so people could make something like Rosetta?

Or some kind of hexagon shape covered in gold foil?

Seems like that would keep with the theme of a largely asthetic mod. I get bored by always having my contract satellites never look anything like a satellite.

[NecroBones]

Hey Necrobones, another great mod!! Just a thought since this is a fuel tanks mod: would you consider making satellite-specific fuel tanks? Such as a tank that is just a square box with some texture to it so people could make something like Rosetta?

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/gallery_image/VUE02_01.jpg

Or some kind of hexagon shape covered in gold foil?

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/1nzmsnM7aHvXqVBCnxHafQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7aWw9cGxhbmU7cT03NTt3PTYwMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/e367127646c8ec7b59d8aa69be55dc930c9df994.jpg

Seems like that would keep with the theme of a largely asthetic mod. I get bored by always having my contract satellites never look anything like a satellite.

That's actually a pretty cool idea. I'll add it to the list of possible additions.

[NecroBones]

Hey Necrobones, another great mod!! Just a thought since this is a fuel tanks mod: would you consider making satellite-specific fuel tanks? Such as a tank that is just a square box with some texture to it so people could make something like Rosetta?

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/gallery_image/VUE02_01.jpg

Or some kind of hexagon shape covered in gold foil?

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/1nzmsnM7aHvXqVBCnxHafQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7aWw9cGxhbmU7cT03NTt3PTYwMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/e367127646c8ec7b59d8aa69be55dc930c9df994.jpg

Seems like that would keep with the theme of a largely asthetic mod. I get bored by always having my contract satellites never look anything like a satellite.

That's actually a pretty cool idea. I'll add it to the list of possible additions.

I'm actually working on this now. I hope to have a few tanks together soon.

[NecroBones]

Screenshots:

[WuphonsReach]

The triangles get me excited

[The Yellow Dart]

Wow, that sat looks great when it is all put together! Since they end up being pretty small, maybe the smaller ones of those could hold xenon? Just a thought. I wish stock would allow the player to toggle fuel types.

[NecroBones]

Wow, that sat looks great when it is all put together! Since they end up being pretty small, maybe the smaller ones of those could hold xenon? Just a thought. I wish stock would allow the player to toggle fuel types.

That's a thought. It's a tough call. Ion engines make a lot of sense for small probes, but then a lot of people prefer to forgo that and just use a 48-7S or something.

A possibility of course is to empty the fuel from it and stick xenon canisters on it too. As an empty tank, the mass isn't huge. So dunno. It's worth considering though.

The tanks in the above shots are looking pretty good, but I'm trying to decide what else to add to it before the next release. I'm thinking maybe an octagonal tank, and possibly a version of the triangular one with a built-in probe core? Not sure if that's worth it.

[The Yellow Dart]

I guess you could just include different versions. Do I smell another separate mod in the works? You already have like seven. What's one more gonna hurt?

[WuphonsReach]

The tanks in the above shots are looking pretty good, but I'm trying to decide what else to add to it before the next release. I'm thinking maybe an octagonal tank, and possibly a version of the triangular one with a built-in probe core? Not sure if that's worth it.

Probably not worth it. If I want something with an attached probe core, I break out UbioZur Welding Continued.

[jmbailey2000]

Just a thought. I wish stock would allow the player to toggle fuel types.

I was pretty much thinking the same thing. Sure would be nice (and significantly cut down on part in the VAB list) if you could select the tank you want to use, select the color and then the fuel type (or the color of the tank auto changes based on the fuel type). That would be really slick. I cannot count how many times I wanted to use a specific tank for aesthetic reasons but couldn't because it wasn't the right fuel type!

[Vahal]

How is the dV with those two fuel tanks and Sparkler engine from MRS?

About the probe cores, a triangular one fitting nicely with the fuel tank could be nice (Even if I like lower parts count, I'm not a fan of the all in one solution like I saw with some service module including in one part LFO, monoprop and electric charge) but I don't see any use for more, the existing probe core and the radial one from MRS are more than enough. Micro engine like Ant could be nice especially since the little vanilla engines are terribad or OMS downscaled wich is nice to combine RCS and thruster in one part for craft with few free space to put stuff on. I can see micro cargo bay to hold scientific instrumentation and of course micro landing legs with grabbers cause with a triangular body we HAVE TO build a Philae replica

What is nice with necrobones mods is there is no dependency to plugins that can be outdated so no problem and surprises. Sure Toggling fuel type of tanks can be nice (Jumbo monoprop! ) but plugin dependency can be a nightmare.

[NecroBones]

I guess you could just include different versions. Do I smell another separate mod in the works? You already have like seven. What's one more gonna hurt?

I know, right? LOL. But one thing I'm discovering is that people really like small, specialized mods. So what I'm tempted to do is make this batch of tanks just regular LFO tanks, but also keep in mind the possibility of another pack devoted to Xenon/Monoprop, and other probe accessories (maybe "Probes Plus"? lol). Ugh. I really need to finish some of my other mods too at some point. Heh.

Probably not worth it. If I want something with an attached probe core, I break out UbioZur Welding Continued.

That's what I'm thinking too.

I was pretty much thinking the same thing. Sure would be nice (and significantly cut down on part in the VAB list) if you could select the tank you want to use, select the color and then the fuel type (or the color of the tank auto changes based on the fuel type). That would be really slick. I cannot count how many times I wanted to use a specific tank for aesthetic reasons but couldn't because it wasn't the right fuel type!

Yeah, I think this is what makes procedural parts rather popular. It's a shame we don't have that flexibility in stock, for sure.

How is the dV with those two fuel tanks and Sparkler engine from MRS?

That's a good question, I'll have to fire up my dev copy with Engineer install at some point and see. The dV should be pretty good. I kept the mass ratios on the larger tanks similar to larger stock tanks. The really tiny ones are more like the Oscar-B, but not as bad (I think, I may double check my numbers before it goes to release).

About the probe cores, a triangular one fitting nicely with the fuel tank could be nice (Even if I like lower parts count, I'm not a fan of the all in one solution like I saw with some service module including in one part LFO, monoprop and electric charge) but I don't see any use for more, the existing probe core and the radial one from MRS are more than enough. Micro engine like Ant could be nice especially since the little vanilla engines are terribad or OMS downscaled wich is nice to combine RCS and thruster in one part for craft with few free space to put stuff on. I can see micro cargo bay to hold scientific instrumentation and of course micro landing legs with grabbers cause with a triangular body we HAVE TO build a Philae replica

What is nice with necrobones mods is there is no dependency to plugins that can be outdated so no problem and surprises. Sure Toggling fuel type of tanks can be nice (Jumbo monoprop! ) but plugin dependency can be a nightmare.

Yeah, keeping the dependencies to a minimum and working with a stock game is a big goal I've been striving for. That's how I like to play KSP myself, mainly with a stock experience but with more options (and more GUI too, such as Engineer, etc).

[Tangle]

I'm working on a config for the fuelswitcher thingy in atomic age so that I can take a gigantic SpaceY tank full of liquid fuel and burn for Proxima Centauri. and i mean BURN.

So far I have the tanks that match stock values and the way to figure out how much it is in oxidizer or LF.

Edit: Now I have all the 0.625 tanks. And I even realized I had to adjust the mass too.

Edit 2: Everything from 0.625 to 3.75 done. Debating on whether I should do the MRS ones because they're easy.

Edit FINAL: Did it all, 0.625 to 5. No MRS, at least not today.

Another Edit: Configs don't work at all. I give up.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Tangle

[NecroBones]

How is the dV with those two fuel tanks and Sparkler engine from MRS?

I fired up Engineer, and the sample satellite I made (with a 48-7S) shows a little over 2500 m/s dV (screenshot below). Haven't looked at other combinations yet.

Another Edit: Configs don't work at all. I give up.

Oh man, it sounded like you were making some good progess!

[Redchrome]

This looks like a pretty cool parts pack, and I will try it out soon.

I do however note that you have a separate part for each texture, rather than having one part config which has switchable textures.

Talisar's Spherical Tank pack and RoverDude's MKS/OKS both have parts which can have their textures changed in the VAB.

Did you do it your way to avoid a module dependency, to make it easier for people to find the texture they want, or just because you haven't gotten around to doing it the other way?

In any case, keep up the good work!

[NecroBones]

This looks like a pretty cool parts pack, and I will try it out soon.

I do however note that you have a separate part for each texture, rather than having one part config which has switchable textures.

Talisar's Spherical Tank pack and RoverDude's MKS/OKS both have parts which can have their textures changed in the VAB.

Did you do it your way to avoid a module dependency, to make it easier for people to find the texture they want, or just because you haven't gotten around to doing it the other way?

In any case, keep up the good work!

Yep, it's primarily to avoid a dependency, and be able to function with an otherwise purely stock game. Plus, several of the tanks have more than just a texture change, but also model differences. And the orange ones depend on the stock Jumbo texture, and have to map to its layout for that special case.

One of the things that these tanks do to save on memory, is to use elongated rectangular sections of a square texture, and use those strips repeatedly around the tank, thus allowing for several different tank designs and colors to fit in one texture file with a fairly normal resolution. So it's also about memory management.

[NecroBones]

Posted 0.5 with Fuel Switcher support, and the new probe tanks.

0.5 (2015-02-18) - Beta, probes
 - Added several probe/satellite tanks:
    - Three LFO "cube" tanks in varying sizes.
    - Two "triangular" tanks, one with LFO and the other with Xenon.
 - Added support for Fuel Switcher.

[NBZ]

Posted 0.5 with Fuel Switcher support, and the new probe tanks.

0.5 (2015-02-18) - Beta, probes
 - Added several probe/satellite tanks:
    - Three LFO "cube" tanks in varying sizes.
    - Two "triangular" tanks, one with LFO and the other with Xenon.
 - Added support for Fuel Switcher.

I like where this is going, and think the time is ripe for "Probe Parts Plus". I'm sure I can come up with lots of ideas. Here are some:

1. Distinguish Cube-80 from -18 (currently almost impossible in the menu):
   
   1. 
      
   2. Add X reinforcements to all four sides of Cube-80
      
   3. Make Cube-18 copper-colored
      
      
   4. Harmonize sizes:
      
      1. Shrink triangular tanks slightly, so the HECS's corners meet the wide sides and the Cube-18 has same width as the wide sides
         
      2. Shrink Cube-80 slightly, so it will be twice the width of a Cube-06, as if made of six M-2x2s
         

[*]Harmonize edge reinforcements to match QBE (like Cube-18 is):

1. Slim down Cube-80's
   
2. Thicken Cube-06's and TriPanels'
   

[*]Harmonize names to match Probodobodyne QBE (especially since amounts may change):

1. Cube-06 → Probodobodyne QBS Small Cubic Tank
   
2. Cube-18 → Probodobodyne QBM Medium Cubic Tank
   
3. Cube-80 → Probodobodyne QBL Large Cubic Tank
   
4. TriPanel-50 → Probodobodyne QBT Triangular Cubic Tank
   
5. TriPanel-2800 → Probodobodyne QBT-X Triangular Cubic Xenon Tank
   

[*]New parts:

1. Probodobodyne QBB Cubic Battery, a Cube-18 sized battery holding 800 ElectricCharge with attachment nodes (Gray edges, black panels, vertical yellow stripe on two sides, Z-200's lightning icon centered on two sides, electrodes, top panel has ⊕ and ⊖ icons. revolutionary breakthrough (...) arranging multiple cells in a cubic containment structure
   
2. FL-T50: (Rippled like the FL-T200. This should stay in FTP, not migrate to PPP.) twice as adorable
   
3. Mk2-RXS Radial Mount Parachute: weighing 0.025 excellent for for soft-landing very little
   
4. M-½x½ Structural Panel: (Dinkelstein's) twice as perfect for constructing all tiny things
   
5. EAS-3 Disconnected Strut: Try to make it about the length and slant as the static visual of the EAS-4 in the menu. While just a broken-off EAS-4, the EAS-3 is equally useful as a walking cane and as landing leg for the tiniest probes.
   
6. Surface Attachment Unit: (Kerbal Motion LLC) tiny surface-attachable foot with an ice screw (ModuleGrappleNode) , just long enough to reach over the edge if unit is centered on the tips of the triangular tanks, or on the sides of the cubic ones, or on the around the FL-T50... Imagine on the very tip of the EAS-3 here. AKA "The Skrew!"
   

[*]Facilitate building:

1. Add attachment nodes (and 3-way symmetry) to the tips of the triangular tanks
   
2. Make all cubic tanks surface attachable