Angelo Kerman

Maybe that can be extrapolated. I'm just brainstorming here... You know the total EC capacity, I guess the real problem is knowing exactly what produces the EC. If it's all solar, then half the time you'd be in darkness so you'd have to look at batteries. Heck, maybe the way around the issue is to require that MKS power plant to be part of the vessel/base, and make sure it has enough EC to run the equipment. That way, you know the source and the EC production rate.

Yes definitely appreciated, I'm delighted that folks are so helpful on the forums. I'll pay it forward when the time comes.

Regarding magnetic lines for the air scoop: who says the karbonite has to be pure? Perhaps it is an "ore" in the atmoshpere that is combined with something else. That something else refletcs sunlight, so at least during the day you should be able to see something. The particles could then show the mag lines like iron filings does when sprinkled around magnets.

Definitely doable. When the vessel comes into focus, the mod would need to retrieve the last time it was in focus as well as the current time, then compute the difference between the two. by knowing the extraction rates, you'll know how much karbonite you've pulled from the environment.

OOOO that is good to know! I presume that instead of changing the RGB values, I'd just change the alpha? So like, it starts at alpha 0 and then reaches alpha 1?

Well, I gave up on 4.5.2, I just could not get it to work. I did have 4.2.2 downloaded, and followed the tutorial again, starting from scratch. This time I made sure to set the animation on the animation component. Here's the result: At last, I have an emissive on my part! Now that I know how, I can edit the animation to work how I want. Thank you much for your help!

Well derp on me! I didn't realize I had the editor in debug mode. That did the trick, I'm able to save the overheat animation as a text file and then edit it as the instructions say. I'm still not able to get the animation to play. Not sure why, does the GameObject in Unity need both an Animator component and an Animation component? I tried that but no luck. I keep getting this error: [LOG 20:06:35.207] PartLoader: Compiling Part 'WildBlueIndustries/NuclearEngines/Aerospike/part/NuclearAerospike' [WRN 20:06:35.218] PartLoader Warning: Variable ThermalAnim not found in Part In my part file, I have: MODULE { name = ModuleAnimateHeat ThermalAnim = overheat } When I export the module, is there a way to know if the animation is included in the .mu? This is the first time I've tried doing an animation, so I might be missing a few steps. Thanks again for your help.

I appreciate the efforts you made to help out fellow modders. Sadly I'm still stuck, I must be blind. I'm running Unity 4.5.2f1. If I go to Edit->Project Settings->Editor, and look for Asset Serialization Mode, I don't see any Asset Serialization Mode. The closest I have is Serialization Mode, but it's a numerical value. Assuming that the two fields are the same, what numerical value should I use to get the Force Text mode? Here's a picture if that'll help: Thanks!

I hope you keep the centrifuge, I like it better than what I've seen on OKS thus far. The whole kerbals getting stuck bugs me too, but if you'd like, maybe I can figure out what's going on when I'm in between working on Nuclear Engines.

The Supernova is definitely a big engine, it combines a spherical torus fusion reactor with a magnetic nozzle. Unlike the LV-N, the aerospike's collision mesh encompasses the whole model, so you should be able to attach things to it like landing legs. A nuclear-powered skycrane design sounds interesting. Perhaps something that tucks into a 2.5m size that unfolds arms with nozzles on the end, with the reactor in the center. I agree. Each engine I'm building offers something unique, but will also have limitations. For instance, the aerospike is a bit better than stock LV-N when in liquid fuel mode, and its OATS system gives it thrust comparable to the stock aerospike but with better ISP. It will require expensive FuelRods in addition to the fuel and/or oxidizer, which means I'll need to model a fuel rod container to refuel the thing with. I'll also learn ModuleManager so that I can change the stock LV-N to use just liquid fuel- if you look in its config file, even Squad says it's not supposed to burn oxidizer too. Now that I think of it, the LV-N could use the MultiFuelSwitcher module I created... The Supernova is a powerful engine for sure, but it will indeed be rather heavy (30mt at present, I might up that to 50mt given that we have Heavier Rocketry now), its FusionPellets fuel will be even more expensive than FuelRods, and the engine generates a lot of heat, which means I'll have some heat radiators to work on as well in addition to the ones on the pellet tanks. I can see a single radiator module with folding radiators that's big enough to meet the reactor's needs. That will keep the part count down (I hope). Following Porkjet's lead, I'm combining functionality in the parts I make- in my case, so I can keep that part count down and avoid stuffing the build tabs. I have a third engine in mind that is simpler than the other two, called a nuclear salt-water rocket, that consumes Nuclear Salted Fizzy Water (NSFW ). It offers both high thrust and high specific impulse, but it cannot be used in Kerbin orbit below 200km, it'll kill any kerbals 2km behind its exhaust plume, and any vessels within 500m of the exhaust plume will be vaporized (if I can figure out how to make ships spontaneously combust). Even scaled down it might be too OP for the game though, so the NSFW engine is on the back burner as I contemplate building the 2.5m DUMBO engine. Finally, fuel costs and engine costs will be high, but I plan to integrate parts into the upcoming karbonite mod that'll let you mine planets and convert materials into nuclear fuels. So a blutonium milling, enrichment and fabrication device that can plug into MKS (or do its own drilling too if no MKS is present) will create FuelRods from Ore, and an atmospheric/hydrospheric processing unit will extract deuterium for use in FusionPellets. Those are down the road though, the initial pack will have expensive fuel containers for the various fuels. Sorry about the link, I upgraded my website earlier this week and messed up the URL. I've updated it and posted the latest build. Yesterday was a detour as I refactored the multi-fuel switcher code, so the download only has the nuclear aerospike at the moment. I'm hoping to figure out emissives once and for all today as well, now that I have Unity 4.2.2. If you happen to have emissives working in 4.5.2, I'd be interested to know how.

My brain has been flying on this fusion engine... I am really digging the hybrid dual mode concept. Basically, a fusion thermal rocket combined with a pulsed plasma rocket. I'm looking at creating fusion pellet fuel tanks (the engine has small fusion pellet tanks built in as well), and a support module that's a truss structure of some sort. The pellet tanks will have built-in heat radiators to keep the pellets cool and to shed some of the engine's waste heat. Here's where I'm going with it:

Thanks. I'm creating each engine to offer something unique. The nuclear aerospike is almost done, I just need to figure out how to make emissives work and I'm banging my head on a wall tying to follow the tutorial I found. I've downloaded Unity 4.2.2, which I think will help (I use 4.5.2 for my own game). Well it's a magnetic confinement fusion engine from NASA's Discovery II spacecraft. Basically plasma from the fusion reactor is augmented by propellant to generate thrust. From what I understand, the Daedalus concept is different in that deuterium pellets are zapped by lasers to generate thrust- no outside propellant is used. Edit: Oh my, Porkjet, you're a genius! I realized that if I modified the code I wrote for the nuclear aerospike to support any type of dual-mode fuels (which wouldn't take much at all, it's pretty much there already), then add some electron guns to the fusion engine, then I can have a dual-mode fusion rocket! In Mode A, only a small amount of D3He fusion pellets are consumed, and liquid fuel/hydrogen is consumed to generate high thrust but relatively low isp. In Mode B, the engine burns fusion pellets exclusively for high ISP but low(er) thrust. Brilliant!

Working on the fusion drive now, here's where it's at:

Looks like this has already been done with MKS/OKS.

Don't tell you you've already built a KOTS-like system that lets you transport resources from base to station anywhere in the Kerbol system...

Kerbol Orbital Transportation Service (KOTS) This is an idea I’ve had for a while now, but I waited until the .24 release to start implementing. Mods like kethane and Kerbal Interstellar let you mine resources in-situ to extend your explorations. These are great additions to the game, and one result of their inclusion is the need for a transportation network to ship resources around the solar system. If you’re like me and you grow tired of trucking resources around your various stations and bases, then KOTS is the answer. Based upon the real-world Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program employed by NASA to resupply the International Space Station, KOTS takes the concept one step further. Design Goals I think all of these are possible. Ideally, KOTS lets you: List what resources are available on any vessel equipped with a KOTS module, even if that vessel is currently unloaded. Schedule regular supply runs between Kerbin and a vessel within Kerbin’s SOI (including the Mun and Minmus); just list what you need (Liquid Fuel, Oxidizer, Water, etc.), specify how much you want per shipment, and how often to deliver. KOTS will buy the resources and ship them for you- for a fee. If the receiving vessel hasn’t been focused upon in a while, KOTS will catch up on its shipments. Transport any resource in a vessel’s inventory to any other vessel anywhere in the Kerbol system so long as both vessels are equipped with a KOTS module. This is known as a supply route. You set up supply routes by focusing upon the vessel that will receive supplies, then checking the list of KOTS-equipped vessels for resources that they can ship. Setup supply routes from multiple vessels. Schedule regular shipments between vessels. Regular shipments can be either every n times or continuously. If possible, integrate with Kerbal Alarm Clock to remind the player when shipments are expected to arrive.] Integration with 0.24's native toolbar if possible. Generate contracts that encourage the player to establish supply routes between various celestial bodies. With 0.24’s new career mode, you have to pay for your vessels and resources; shipping items throughout the Kerbol system will also cost you. Technical Notes RESOURCE_DEFINITION now has a unitCost, which obviously specifies the cost per unit of resource. If shipping between vessels, then KOTS charges a small percentage of the resource’s unit cost, plus a shipping fee equal to the total units being shipped multiplied by a distance factor. If being shipped up from Kerbin, then KOTS charges a fee based upon the cost per unit of resource, plus the shipping percentage, plus the distance factor. The configuration node also lists density, which is the mass per unit of resource. Resources with a density of 0 (EVA propellant, electric charge) cannot be shipped. The KOTS module has a limited amount of mass that it can transport, about 16mt- the part itself should be around the size of a Rockomax-16 fuel tank very roughly representing the size of a Space X Dragon or an Orbital Science's Cygnus. The shipping manifest could specify how many metric tons of resource you want, and it will automatically calculate the number of units you’re shipping. If you don’t have enough units of capacity aboard your vessel, then the units indicator turns red. If you have sufficient capacity, but the current amount of resource you have plus the shipment amount would exceed capacity, then the indicator turns yellow. Green indicates that your current amount of resource plus the shipment's amount will be less than your vessel's capacity. Ideally, these indicators work across all shipments you're going to receive. Be nice to the player; if the player hasn’t focused upon a vessel receiving shipments in a while, then support partial shipments so that excess capacity isn’t thrown overboard (and the cost of shipping said excess isn’t paid).

This is actually something I've been thinking about since my playthrough with kethane. Setting up transportation infrastructure was fun, as was transporting a few fuel loads, but it got tedious. I came up with the idea of KOTS (Kerbol Orbital Transportation Services), based upon the real-world Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) that NASA employs to resupply the ISS. With .24 released, my shipping mod finally has what it needs to get off the ground. Of course, nothing is free unless you aren't playing Career mode; shipping supplies throughout the Kerbol system does cost funds... Here's the link if you're curious.

Solid karbonite? Interesting. I remember that the new Battlestar Galactica had tylium ore as a mined resource that is then liquified into fuel. I can see karbonite having a similar process.

Updated the build to 0.2, still have the emissives to do on the aerospike though. Enjoy.

I could see adding blutonium for a nuclear engine I'm working on. Gonna enjoy this new mod of yours.

This sounds like a fun project. I'm especially interested in the asteroid mining idea and integrating with ScanSat. I'm an iOS developer by trade and just starting to work on my own mod, but I'd be happy to contribute to the effort if you'd like an extra hand. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

It is? Nice! I didn't see a download link for 0.24, hopefully it'll be available soon. Meanwhile, I've got some engines to build.

I've been reading your stories and they're great. Does your universe use in-situ resource mining like, say, Kethane? Those poor kerbals having to wait years for supply tankers...

This is the dev thread for DSEV. The release thread can be found here. The Deep Space Exploration Vessels (DSEV) mod is inspired by numerous NASA studies on deep space exploration. Acknowledgements Module Manager by ialdabaot Community Resource Pack by RoverDude, Nertea, and the KSP community Portions of this codebase include source by Snjo and Swamp-IG, used under CC BY-NC SA 4.0 license Modular Fuel Tanks MM configs by Kolago. CrossFeedEnabler by NathanKell Spindle and Spin Ring concept based upon parts by ZodiusInfuser/Sirkut.

It was? Is there a solution for it?