Rubber Ducky

Hey everyone! I'm the guy who created this mod over two years ago - just returning to KSP and the internet and such. I don't want to take this mod over, but I wanted to give a public thank you to MOARdV who has maintained and improved this mod over the years! It really means a lot to me. Thanks MOARdV!

Hey everyone! I'm the original developer of this mod - I created and started work on this over two years ago. I've been away from KSP and the internet for a couple of years, so I stopped working on the mod. I don't currently intend on returning to update this mod or add anything new to it - it looks like there's some more capable people who have taken over! I just wanted to say thank you to all of the members of the community that have worked on this mod since I could no longer maintain it - especially to @Raven., @Angel-125, and now @icedown. It's pretty cool to see someone else maintaining/improving something you created over two years earlier and almost forgot about. The computer I built this mod on fried a while back, and I thought I'd lost the source files to this mod and some other ones, but skimming through some backup drives I managed to inadvertently save the files! If anybody (particularly icedown) is interested in the original models/textures for the parts, send me a PM!

Hey everyone, still here. I'll throw the Linux fix up in the OP real quick. I had a hunch that was the problem, but I didn't have time to get into it. Major thanks to agises!

Hey everyone, found a wee bit of extra time today so I threw together contract support. Entirely untested. The mod's still probably out of whack with budgeting, but I leave tomorrow indefinitely so I can't do much about it. Anyway, thanks! Also, been enjoying your series, Roninpawn, very well put together!

I've actually asked rbray89 (the wizard behind Visual Enhancements) to take over this mod, and he's graciously accepted. I'm not sure if he'll roll it into VE or not; I've left that up to him. And just to be clear, that'll be a few months down the road -- DOE needs some major work done and he has his other projects to worry about first. In the meantime, if somebody has a patched DLL that fixes all of the NREs and other tidbits (just to be clear, the NREs have existed since the initial release due to bad coding on my part), please PM me before tomorrow and I can update the OP. Thanks everyone!

'Tis listed in the known issues. AFAIK, it's due to the infamous floating point inaccuracies the KSP devs have been battling since the beginning -- Unity simply wasn't built to measure angular momentum/rotation on such a precise level.

Alright, thanks for checking. I wish I could investigate, as I'm sure it's something simple, but I just can't dedicate the time. I've added it to the known issues in the OP.

Install it, and then delete everything except the tele_bay folder in Parts and CET_FSanimateGeneric.dll in Plugins.

Contract support is actually included for this mod!

Not yet. If anyone's interested, shoot me a PM. Yes.

CactEye v1.0 released! See the new release thread here.

[Moderator note: See Raven.'s updated version, currently here] CactEye is a plugin and set of parts that allow for modular orbital telescopes. CactEye telescopes feature a fully-functional science system, and are upgradeable/serviceable (primarily through Kerbal Attachment System). Orbital telescopes also now become fundamental to discovering asteroids. [TABLE] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD] PARTS CactEye Optical System (left) The main part of the telescope; optical systems are the actual telescope part of the telescope. This optics system comes with an aperture door to protect it from the sun's damaging rays. FungEye Optical System (right) A 1.25m variant optical system which is cheaper, lighter, and less bulky. Of course, this part is much more limited - it only has a single-use aperture (once the aperture is opened, it stays open), and can only gather 10% of any possible science gain. [/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Wide Field Camera Processor Processors take the raw data from the optics system, do some wizardryâ„¢, and allow that data to be transmitted back home for scientific analysis. The Wide Field Camera is the most basic processor, and its use is simple. Just point the telescope at a celestial body, zoom in close enough, and snap a picture! [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Asteroid Camera Processor This processor will allow for scientific experiments to be done upon discovered asteroids based on their size classification. If a telescope is left with this processor running, it will increase the rate at which near-Kerbin asteroids are found. This module only works inside of Kerbin's SOI. [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Occultation Camera Processor This is the most advanced processor, and it is only available in the third and final generation of processors. This processor will continually compute random dates to observe a specific target. Observing the target at the specified date will allow for large science gains. It is very important to upkeep maintenance on your telescope for this processor. [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD] Processor Mount Easily mount a processor anywhere! Surface attachable. Make sure to turn off angle snap if placing inside the cargo bay. Also, note that FungEye has its own internal mount (pictured right), so a new processor mount is unnecessary. Service Bay (not pictured) You need a place to put all this stuff! Also allows all your modules and whatnot to be accessible on later servicing missions. [/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Gyroscope and Reaction-Wheel Unit (GRU) These are more advanced reaction wheel modules that allow for their torque to be reduced to make very fine adjustments. These deteriorate over time, so you'll need to replace or repair these periodically. [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Solar Panel Array This panel array features roll-out mechanics, like Hubble's first couple of arrays. It's rated at 8 e/s of charge. Servicing Ladder (not pictured) Goes nicely in the service bay. [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Smobodobodyne SLIM Probe Core A slim variant of the stock cubic probe core. It is radially mountable anywhere, but it does not feature any kind of reaction wheel. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] WARNING! Never point telescope directly at sun! [TABLE] [TR] [TD] Pictured: FungEye telescope fitted inside a Kerbin Shuttle Orbiter cargo bay.[/TD] [TD] COMPATIBILITY Designed for KSP v0.24 (32-bit or 64-bit). Fully backwards compatible with v0.23.5. I have no clue how it'll fair with future updates, but I doubt too much will break. Incompatible with Distant Object Enhancements, you'll have to turn off flares in its settings. It's even my own mod, but I seriously don't have enough time left to do an update for DOE, and for that I apologize. RECOMMENDED MODS None of these are required, however. The mod works on its own with no dependencies. Kerbal Attachment System by KospY and Majiir, with models by Winn75 and zzz This plugin allows for Kerbals on EVA to swap out and install new parts on the telescope. Highly, highly recommended, but due to its current instability on 64-bit platforms, not required. [*]Kerbal Alarm Clock by TriggerAu This plugin is incredibly helpful to use with the Occultation experiments. [*]Toolbar by blizzy78 This mod supports the Toolbar plugin. If you decide not to install Toolbar, you can simply right click on the optical system to toggle the GUI on and off. [*]Kerbin Shuttle Orbiter System by helldiver and Nazari1382 After many, many requests, the 1.25m optics system was designed with the standard orbiter in mind. The full-sized optics system will still fit in the EWBCL bay, but you'll have to fly up the service bay later or forgo it entirely [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] NOTICE Due to personal circumstances, I will be completely out of contact following July 30, 2014, and I will then be unavailable to update, maintain, or provide support for this mod in any way. It's hard to say goodbye, but my personal life takes priority over KSP. Because of this, always check the last few pages of this thread for compatibility! I've also given a very liberal license to allow others to upkeep the mod and update it for compatibility, if so desired. If this plugin ever becomes incompatible with a future version of KSP and another user posts a fixed version, I give full permission for a mod to edit this OP and insert a link to their post/thread. [TABLE] [TR] [TD] DOWNLOADS Mirror 1 (Box.com) Mirror 2 (Google Drive) Mirror 3 (MediaFire) License - Source Code KNOWN ISSUES The aforementioned incompatibility with Distant Object Enhancements There is some shaking visible at very high zoom levels. Remember that KSP wasn't built to measure the rotation of a vessel this precisely. Planets can get some weird clipping artifacts, and their lighting is incorrect. Remember that KSP wasn't really built to see planets from so far away. Solar panels occasionally block themselves -- just rotate the telescope a bit further so that they can find the sun CREDITS Rubber Ducky (me) - plugin and all parts agises - Linux compatibility fix (v1.1) Snjo - Firespitter plugin code The FSanimateGeneric class has been recompiled into another plugin file (with a few lines of original code) to avoid conflicts with the Firespitter mod. [*]Playtesters 4nxs johnwayne1930 nadseh SkyHook [/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Yep! Basic contract support is added (test X part in Y orbit kinda deal).

I specifically made sure it wasn't required due to KAS's current instability on x64 and problems with 0.24. The new update is still backwards-compatible with 0.23.5, though, for those who are still waiting for other mods to update. You won't be able to swap out parts or anything without KAS installed, but without the weird structure restrictions you can get pretty creative with your servicing missions. For instance, for one of my upgrading missions while testing the mod sans-KAS, I just slapped some upgraded processors onto a truss and jerry-rigged it to the telescope with the ARM claw. You could even just put a 2.5m docking mode between the optics and cargo bay and just swap out the entire bay for a really slick service mission. Also, I aim to release the update later today, if everything goes well!

The new update will remove all hard dependencies, and will no longer interact with Hullcam in any way. It now uses its own camera system. AFAIK, this is a problem with the game's imprecisions at extreme distances (the infamous floating point errors). When you consider the extreme distance being simulated between the two planets, I'm actually super surprised the result looks as good as it does. Do note that VisualEnhancements seems to worsen this effect as it's drawing another layer or two on top of the planet.

Um, that's not actually how it works... ? When you take a camera and zoom in, it's basically like looking at a smaller portion of the image, so everything will look closer. In fact, this is what allows photographers to make the real Moon look huge in the background by going far away from the subject and zooming in close. As you said, the effect you're thinking of would require a camera to physically move back and forth (as it does in the map screen), and that isn't technically a zoom.

Given that I leave in a little over a week, I simply won't have time for a DOE update -- I'm barely getting this update out the door. And, unfortunately, this also leaves DOE somewhat incompatible with the new CactEye; every time you want to use the telescope you'll have to go into DOE's settings and disable the flares. It sucks, but there's just nothing that I can really do at this point.

Hey everyone, update. I've been silently working on the major update for this for the past while, and it's mostly feature complete. Of course, it's in dire, dire need of playtesting - so if anybody wants to try the probably unstable(!!!) release I'm working on, shoot me a PM. I've also tested it and it works great with 0.24, and I've even implemented CactEye contracts (again, untested). It also seems to work fine with 64-bit, but KAS is still broken of course. It should be backward compatible with 0.23.5 as well, for those of you who don't want to update yet. Don't misread this, though. The update's public release is still several days away.

It'll definitely be toggle-able. I probably won't make it turn on when the GUI is off - then it'd ruin all of your screenshots - I'll probably make it the other way around. I also hope I can make settings adjustable in-flight this time around.

Most definitely, in fact, Anatid sent me a pull request with all of the code necessary for that already. It'll be included in the next version, if I ever get around to it before I leave. Of course, there's a ton of stuff that I want to do for the next version, mostly on the technical side, so hopefully I have time for it.

Heyo helldiver! This is as good time as any to show off the new ~1.5m scope: I'm calling it FungEye at the moment. As you can see, it fits nicely in the standard shuttle's bay. It also contains its own processor mount! I've left plenty of room for fuel systems, robotic arms, or whatever else you want. I've also discovered that since the cargo bay is no longer required, and the processor mount is now surface attachable, you can actually already fit a full sized scope in the EWBCL shuttle: It's not the prettiest option, but it works. You could even add a docking node underneath the scope and fly the cargo bay up later in a servicing mission. EDIT: But if you want to make a telescope hull more in-line with KSO's art style, that is 100% fine with me. I plan on switching to a very open license given that I will be leaving at the end of the month.

Make sure you grab the two fixes for HullCam and KAS - I've put links to both in the OP now. --- Also, update on new version. I completely rewrote the optics system from scratch to try and figure out what the problem is, and now I've got it working perfectly! On the off-chance that someone runs into this same problem, it turns out that I was creating the render texture with a wrong depth value. I've been working on the GUI for a couple of days, I'm quite happy with it for the moment: WIP, of course. Main GUI is on the left, with a realtime low resolution, grayscale preview. When you make an observation with a Wide Field Camera processor, it'll take a full size screenshot and save it in Screenshots/CactEye. I've managed to get it to display in the experiment results dialog as well! Again, not final, subject to change, etc. Obviously there's loads more work to be done, but I'm definitely getting somewhere for once. Right now I'm thinking that I'll take a break from coding and work on the much-requested 1.25m scope.

Not really, not without modifying the code and recompiling the plugin DLL. You could modify the optics part cfg to add a basic Hullcamera module, bypassing all the CactEye code entirely, but you couldn't get much if any science out of it, and you might as well use the telescopes Hullcam comes with at that point. The high orbit requirement should be removed in the next version, however.

A limited 1.25m optics system that is specifically modeled to fit in a cargo bay is tentatively planned. Its science return will be pretty pitiful, and its mostly useful for raising the discovery rate of asteroids. The main problem is that I have to actually model a couple of new parts, which is pretty time consuming, so hopefully I'll get around to it. --- EDIT: Also, does any programming gurus round here know how to fix this? I'm really quite stuck here. My code pretty closely matches other similar mods with GUI cameras, but some atmospheric effect (?) is drawing on top of the planet: Only happens while looking at nearby planets with atmospheres (for Kerbin, within 2500km). The planet also draws behind other, more distant objects. The Mun should obviously be behind Kerbin in this picture: Any ideas on what's happening? It feels like I've tried absolutely everything.

Heyo everybody, just a quick status update. Very little has changed - I've been on a lovely extensive vacation and just got home. I've still got about a month left to work on it before I begin other pursuits, so hopefully I can plow through some of these awful bugs I've been running into. And apologies that the current version is so broken - the new update is essentially rewritten from the ground up and should have no hard dependencies.