TiktaalikDreaming

From the top of every piece of source code; [FONT=Consolas] [FONT=Consolas] [COLOR=#888888][I]Author[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]:[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]Winchell [/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]Chung[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I] AKA[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I] Nyrath[/I][/COLOR] [COLOR=#888888][I]License[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]:[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]This [/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]work[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I] is [/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]licensed[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I] under [/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]a[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I] Creative[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]Commons[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]Attribution[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]-[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]ShareAlike[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]3[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I].[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]0[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]Unported[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]3[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I].[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]0[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]Unported[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]License[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I].[/I][/COLOR] [COLOR=#888888][I]http[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]:[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]/[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]/[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]creativecommons[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I].[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]org[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]/[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]licenses[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]/[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]by[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]-[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]sa[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]/[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]3[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I].[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]0[/I][/COLOR][COLOR=#888888][I]/[/I][/COLOR] [/FONT][/FONT] - - - Updated - - - So far, I've just looked at effects in game. I don't even know how to begin debuging this sort of thing yet.

Now available through CKAN. Yay!

Ckan is fixed up. The metadata file had actually been manually created by someone, but only worked with the rather broken 0.9. It's now fixed to work with an updated version, tested and tested.

Got it working via github yanky pully things. Please ignore this.

I've reached out to SirCmpwn (AKA Mr KerbalStuff) regarding this. The integration seems to be KS to CKAN, even though KS has an API for pulling. Not too sure.

SirCmpwn, I've been trying to muddle out how the CKAN integration works on KS. I have a mod, (https://kerbalstuff.com/mod/781/Super%20Heavy%20Boosters%20Historical%20-%20Nexus) that is listed on CKAN (which is pretty awesome work on your part, seeing I had not touched CKAN at all until yesterday), but it's the 0.9 build. And it won't update. I've made some changes to try and get things updated, but can't figure out what I need to do to get the mod to update CKAN. I'm a complete n00b as far as CKAN goes. I do have an install (as of yesterday) and have mucked about trying to get the Nexus to update, but it's pretty well stuck on 0.9. My guess at what's going on is that whatever fancy cleverness you did to list mods happened when my mod was at 0.9, and that's what's listed. But that the mod itself is badly formed for CKAN, so never updates. To make matters worse, the zip for 0.9 seems to be the daftest of folder structures ever. I have no idea how drunk I was when I built that file.

OK, a probable CKAN fix is now live. Not working... :-(

I'd guess at NukeFlash.cs or OrionPusherPlate.cs. The pulse units are selectable and fire out the back but never go boom.

Looking through CKAN, the change from 0.9 was to re-jig the folder structure, and my new folder structure is very non-CKAN-compatible. I'll need to look at re-arranging the folder structure again, and re-releasing. However, I'm also fixing up some attach nodes (70f fairing, GCRs, etc) and applying emissives to the gas core rockets etc. Give it a few days. It'll also need a minor version (as opposed to build) change to represent folder changes. Explanation: Way back at the beginning of this mod, I used the "Nexus" folder in GameData. But as I added flags, resources, agencies, I migrated the nexus folder into a higher level folder, "Tiktaalik". This served to contain the parts (still in "Nexus") and the Agencies, resources, etc. Also separated my stuff from Community Resource pack and so on. CKAN on the second hand uses the folder as a unique identifier. So when my top level folder structure stopped having "Nexus", the mod stopped being CKAN compatible. Esp as I have other mods that use the Tiktaalik folder. On the gripping hand, that means the folder is no longer a unique identifier. CKAN specifically rejects non-unique folder names. So, CKAN rejects all the versions prio to my folder structure change. I suspect I need to revert to Nexus as my top level folder name. Not some other name, but the same as I started with.

Ah, yes. It does seem I've tagged it as ckan when creating. I should read up about that. :-)

OK, as I never created any ckan metadata, I'm guessing this is some auto-ckan thing via Kerbal Stuff. Yay KerbalStuff! However, reading the ckan stuff I'd swear I should still be doing something to make it work. But, as I said, I haven't. There was an error in versions in the readme.txt file release notes. But no sign of any v0.9 there either. Also, could you enlighten me on the "config file typo preventing the game from loading"? Thanks

I haven't actually looked at ckan at all. I'll check it out in a week or two.

If you install Smokescreen, there's a setting to limit the number of particle effects as well.

The typos go all the way down. Blutionium != Blutonium Dammit me!

No worries. The idea made sense, even if the module doesn't work as expected. And it forced me to look at alternatives, which drove me to the multimode engine. Multimode acheives the goal of overheating once out of ablator, plus a decreasing mass during burn. I really should calculate the propellant mass fraction for ablator to adjust the Isp correctly. I just guessed for release. :-) It may be wildly too efficient if I guessed wrong. OK, I was wildly optimistic on how little mass it would add to the exhaust. 24% Holey crap.

V0.9 might be a bit confused with resources. I migrated to community resources after that and all blutonium went away. Also, not too sure when I added the ludicrous detail in the main rocket. It may just be stupid high poly count crashing stuff. Yeah, looks like resource issues. Update to 1.0.4 should cover off resource names, MM edits and stupid high poly count. Tested on this crappy laptop that I usually just use to look up recipes and it's crap at even that.

v1.0.4 uploaded. This has a lower poly count for the main plug engine and a new engine.

Try replacing the PlugEngine part with https://www.dropbox.com/s/876rpyikvc3d3wq/PlugEngine.zip?dl=0 That's a lower poly rocket for the 60 nozzles around the main plug. I intend to replace the over enthusiastic current version with this shortly. Just nutting out some issues with the giant L-30 AH engine of doom.

OK, weirdest thing. It looks like if I use ModuleAlternator, the resource value is automagically set to start at 0, regardless of what I set. It carries through the max storable, but starting ablator is set to zero. In case it was a processing order thing, I moved the resource tag to after the module, but it still has the same result. I'll probably release using propellant but keep working on a suitable replacement. - - - Updated - - - Ooo.... Multimode engine. With or without using ablator. Different heat and Isp values. :-)

Ah, yeah. I was thinking about this. Polygon-wise, I suspect I can cut down a lot on the main engine. I was always intending to do a minimal version of the rocket nozzle in play and never got to it, so it's actually the same 3-d object for the main engine as the control rocket. Except, instead of 6 of them, there's 60. At 9,752 tris (triangle polygons, all polygons are converted to tris for Unity) each. I was all, "oh yeah, that looks nice, but I should change it later", and never got around to it. I suspect if you delete the main engine part, it loads and behaves fine, even if it'll never get into orbit.

The point is that it's not cooled by the fuel, like a regular engine. The cooling mechanism eats away at the inside of the nozzle and should drop the mass as it goes. So, to model the performance, the engine needs to drop mass. To model the heat exchange, it looks like I can't use ModuleAblator. I'll release with dodgy work-around and put it on my list of modules to look at when/if I ever get around to installing visual studio. - - - Updated - - - Oh. Yes. Good thinking. :-)

Ah. See, I wasn't even aware things had a skin and core temp. :-/ Oh well. Back to ablator being a propellant.

In this case I'm intending to use it to model the evapourative cooling provided by sacrificial layers of (usually copper) metal on the inside of an engine nozzle. Rockets are typically ablatively cooled or regeneratively cooled. Regen cooling usually means passing a cryo propellant through pipes around the nozzle before feeding it into the engine. It preheats the propellant and cools the nozzle. Ablative cooling is where the inside of the nozzle is made of a material that will melt/evapourate and the phase change will provide cooling to the material in the nozzle that has yet to boil off. So, the ablator resource should be mostly just cooling the part in question. And once it's gone, the nozzle should heat up dramatically. Basic testing suggests that the cooling isn't actually happening. In particular, I suspect it won't work unless it's "re-entry heat". But it may be to do with how I've set up the rather confusing ModuleAblator. I was hoping someone had more info on the settings or if the ModuleAblator actually does do what I think it does.

I'm messing with a massive expansion deflection engine for a mod that was designed to use ablative cooling rather than fuel based regenerative cooling for the nozzle. I was thinking that the ablative module might be useful if it reduces heat while ablating. AKA, set it so it starts ablating at a fairly low temp and see if I can balance the numbers so it's fine until it exhausts the ablator resource. And then it should overheat pretty fast. But it doesn't seem to do anything about heat, it just deminishes if the temp is over X, and makes no change to temperature changes. Does anyone know how the ModuleAblator works? It seems like basically a clock that starts once the temp exceeds it's start value, and the existence or not of the resource makes no difference. :-/

I think that's pretty much what NASA said.