pbristow

Hi, I spotted a "newly compatible" mod being offered via CKAN, called RSS-Icons. I installed it into my KSRSS game, hoping it would work, but no joy. So then I went looking for more info about the mod, to see if I could figure out how to get it working (or for a reason why it wouldn't work)... There's nothing, anywhere, except the name of the developer, ProximaCentauri. The mod contains a set of (lovely!) icons in .png files, and a simple config file. The config file makes sense to my eyes, and it seems like the intention is that it should just be picked up when the game loads and tell the game to use those or the various planets/bodies specified. If ProximaCentauri, or anyone else here, can shed light on the matter I'd be grateful. My KSRSS game is getting very cluttered in the map view, even when turning off visibility of things like debris and asteroids, so having distinctive icons to help me tell what's what in the map view would really help.

Wow, you're not kidding! I've just spent a fascinating hour reading through details of all the changes (because I'm nosey/paranoid =:o} ) before trying out the update, and I have to say I'm really impressed not only with the work being done to improve the "user-friendliness" of CKAN itself, but also the clarity and professional tone of all the explanations. In a world where so many devs seem to think terse, non-explanatory (and sometimes downright rude!) "communications" are good enough, this is a delight. My thanks to HebaruSan and all the other contributors for what looks like an awesome update. Now... I wonder if it all actually works...? [PAUSES WITH FINGER HOVERING NERVOUSLY OVER MOUSE BUTTON]... =;o}

I love that this mod exists, but I don't think I dare try playing it... My real-life scheduling gets stressful enough as it is! =;o}

I have to ask (and sorry if it's covered somewhere in the previous 237 pages and I missed it!): Why is this the "Barbie Edition"? Is it just Australian for "barbecue", or because this mod is an absolute doll? =;o} (I don't remember seeing "Deadly Re-entry Barbie" in the movie, but maybe she'll be in the sequel? [CROSSES FINGERS AND HOPES] ... ) - - - - UPDATE: Ah, I just found the explanation a few pages back. My sympathies. [SALUTES] Good hunting, Barbie Doll.

I'm currently playing KSRSS, so I can't try your mod right now. Sounds interesting though, so I've flagged it in my CKAN install as "interesting". (I've developed a strong habit of ignoring the "planes/aeronautics" branches of whichever tech tree I'm playing until I've researched everything else, so this mod might finally break that habit!) I look forward to future developments... =:o}

A first-time user intro window explaining that CKAN is able to manage multiple KSP installations, and recommending that users *not* use it directly with their live Steam-based installation (i.e. copy that to separate location first and use that copy for modding), might be a good idea.

Is that really a CKAN issue? I wouldn't expect Steam to report playtime for *anything* that wasn't launched via Steam. If they *are* hooking into my system deeply enough to be able to detect things happening outside of the Steam environment, I wanna know that about that! =:oo

I have some ideas for how to make these behave a bit more like real Lagrange points, but I've no idea if they are practical or even (in at least one case) possible to implement within KSP... But here they are, just in case anyone wants to try them out: 1. Change the shape of their "sphere" of influence into an oblate spheroid, with the short axis being the line between the two real bodies -i.e. the direction that shouldn't have any apparent gravity, but (slight) apparent anti-gravity. (Probably not practical, as it would mean changing KSP's calculation of when an SOI boundary is crossed.) 2. Hack a replacement for the inverse-square law into the gravity calculations specifically for Lagrange points, so that within their SOI you get an attraction that's proportional to distance from the centre. N.B. this would also mean that patched-conics could no longer be used for forward path predictions - But I'd suggest that could be handled just by putting up a warning message: "Lagrange point found on forward path. Do not trust trajectory predictions!". The game would also need to drop out of time-warp down into full physics mode whenever a vessel crosses into a lagrange point's SOI (a good reason to keep their SOIs small!). 3. If neither of the above are possible, just make their SOIs smaller, and their gravity weaker. This reduces the problem of getting an unwanted & unrealistic gravity boost/deflection from having a lagrange point "in the way" when you're trying to get somewhere else. (I hit that snag a couple of times when trying to get to Minmus, at a time when the Mun's lagrange point was right on my planned route and wanted to boost me right out of the local system into a Kerbolar orbit! =:oo ) Anyway, this mod has been fun to try out, and I look forward to any future developments. If you ever add the L3 and L4 points for Jool, I might have another go at creating my "grand hexagonal relay network". =:o} Ooh, one last idea: Can the lagrange for particular bodies be individually added/removed? Presumably it's just a configuration file change, yes? So I could set up my own version with just the lagrange points for the larger planets, say (Jool, Kerbin, Eve) and not for smaller planets or moons? OK, I should have a poke around in the mod directory myself to try to answer that question... =:o} [EXITS STAGE LEFT, INSPIRED]

[HIGH-FIVE] It's brave pioneers like you that are our hope for the future! All of Kerbalkind thanks you (and settles in with popcorn, to see what happens next...) =;o}

Very handy for anchoring satellites in realistic places, and I'm glad someone's finally done it, thankyou! =:o} However, people need to be aware that this won't emulate how real Langrange points actually behave (which is *way* different from the gravity around a planet or moon!). [EDITED TO ADD:] In two dimensions, the "gravity" of an L1 or L2 Lagrange point behaves more like that *inside* a planet, than that outside: Zero at the centre, and increasing linearly out until you're far enough from the line joining the two real masses that the inverse-square law takes over, and pulls it back downward again; While in the third dimension (the one pointing directly toward or away from each of the real masses involved), it behaves more like *anti*-gravity, "pushing" your orbiting probe towards whichever real mass has the stronger pull. In real life, any object with mass (to create the gravity) but no surface to bump into when you get too close, would be a black hole. In KSP, because of calculation precision limitations, it would basically behave like a somewhat random gravitic slingshot! (Anyone else remember the days when it was possible to accidentally fall inside a planet such as Moho, get accelerated all the way to the centre, and suddenly find yourself at the edge of the solar system on a rapid solar escape trajectory? =:o} - Actually, maybe it's still possible... It's been a long time since I've tried... )

Hi LGG! Wondering if you had any luck in fixing this. I note that it's a somewhat niche/un-used mod, so I quite understand if not. Yonge Tech Trees only came to my attention for the first time today, when searching for a way to switch between different tech trees in a single KSP installation. The goal is to be able to select the tech tree of my choice at the start of a new game session without corrupting any existing games that are underway, rather than having to run a whole separate KSP installation with the new tree installed. It looks like this mod can do that, but at the coast of some incompatibility issues/pitfalls...? Or am I just barking up the wrong tree (no pun intended!)...? =:o}

I finally had the sense to try adding this mod, to save me some hassle with the very slow scene changes in KSP by, well, not needing to do so many scene-changes! =:o} Just a quick check before I potentially bork my well-advanced savegame... Looking at the OP, it says the latest update is: "0.5.4 Updated for 1.4.1 ... " - Are people finding it still works fine with KSP 1.12.x?

It's safer if anything to make sure CKAN is closed before you start the game (or immediately afterwards). That way there's no risk of CKAN updating a mod while you're in the middle loading mods into the game, and creating a clash. Just my 2 cents as a regular CKAN user. =:o}

It would be lovely if this got a quick spit-wash and version number change to make it easier to install (I'm a CKAN user), but I quite understand if DMagic has other things on their plate.

Hi @linuxgurugamer ! Just got here thanks to your note over on the Craft Manager thread. Do you have any plans to add more features to this mod, perhaps to match some of those in CM? One thing I was hoping to find somewhere was a mod like this or CM that could tell me the total Delta-V of each craft in my saved list, without me having to load each one to find out. Something using the calculation code from KER, perhaps, but working directly from the craft file without having to have it load it first (displaying the info either directly in the list, or in a pop-up balloon when right-clicking on a craft in the list). This would save having to wait ages for a complex craft to load into the VAB, before finding out "Nope, *this* one doesn't have enough range either!". Possibly a bit much to hope for (after all, I could just tag each craft with it's Delta-V figure straight after saving it, or include the figure in the name), but... well, as Mum always said, "if you don't ask you won't get". =:o} (Obviously, fixing the bugs mentioned by others above would take priority over adding any new features, so *definitely* no pressure here!)

How soon are we likely to see CKAN's self-update feature offering the new v1.31.3? (Not nagging, just enquiring. =:o} ) I'll hold off doing any updates or installs until we've got the fix made "official", as it were, just to be safe.

Ah! And of course the R&D boffins always take their new toys to show off to the others over a few drinks, leading naturally to "let's try it out right now in the car park!" =:o]

"A rover launch site has been added in the parking lot for vehicles under 10 tons" Oh, excellent decision! That should work very nicely in the early stages of a career game, when gathering "local science" to help get some useful tech. =:o} (Slightly offf-topic, but it only just occurs to me that a natural extra spawning/"launch" site for rovers - or even non-mobile test "vessels" - would be the R&D labs. I mean, surely the boffins would be urged to thoroughly test all their newly developed instruments in their own parking lot, before they were allowed to take 'em anywhere near the launch pad or runway! I usually start my career games by "launching" a bare capsule with just a thermometer and a scientist on board...)

A momentous day! [THUMBS UP] =:o}

NICE! =:o] I can see myself getting use out of those extra ladders, especially with the EVA engineering and construction modes: Engineers always need somewhere convenient to "stand" to do their work. =:o}

Love the idea! Does it have it's own biome for gathering science, like the other site areas do? Perhaps it could be paired with an experiment and/or contract to test the effects of beer consumption on pilot competence! =:o} Maybe an hour spent in the bar gives Kerbals +1 courage and +1 stupidity, both off which are time limited? E.g. courage drops back to normal after 1 hour, stupidity after 6 hours.

Those all seem like sensible decisions. Looking forward to seeing the results! =:o}

Excellent idea! When I'm nearer the end of the tech tree in my current game, I'm thinking of some large construction projects to try, so this mod will probably be on my shopping list at that point. =:o} Ithink you're right that 15x lifting ability is probably a bit too high: I was thinking of 4 times, which is may be too low. Maybe 8x is about right? Another idea you might like to consider including: A simple "MLED" (Mechanical Lift Enhancement Device" - i.e. a car jack!) that a Kerbal can carry as an inventory item, and which doubles their personal lifting ability. This would be lighter and cheaper than exoskeleton, but still almost as useful has having an extra crew member around. Perhaps the jack should add more lifting ability if the Kerbal is an engineer (who knows how to use it best). Thus a typical team of three Kerbals - an engineer, a scientist and a pilot - could lift 7 Kerbals' worth of weight; Or the pilot could use the exoskeleton while the other two use their jacks... Lots of possibilities for optimising your crew's lifting ability. =:o}

I like the sound of this! Not gonna try it just yet, as I'm playing "almost pure stock" at present, but it's a definite candidate for once my tech tree is running out of new goodies to acquire, and I want to move on to more ambitious constructions. Just had an idea: A nice partner for this would be a powered exoskeleton, that a Kerbal can wear to enhance their lifting ability three or four times (thus reducing the required crew-count on long-distnace building missions). Or perhaps just an "MLED" - Mechanical Lift Enhancement Device (a car jack!) that a Kerbal can carry in their inventory to double their lifting ability. (And maybe it adds more to an engineer's lifting ability than to that of an "untrained" vertical elevation manipulation operative(TM), such as a mere pilot or scientist. =:o} ) D'OH!!! [SLAPS FOREHEAD] And I've just now seen the link to the Exoskeleton mod. Oh well, at least now I know it wasn't a completely stupid idea! =:oD

I love these! (Especially the, uh, *definitely* non-copyright "Police communications hatch"(TM) in blue. =;o] ). I like the docking collars and sleeves, too. Can the collars have a disposable fairing, to make them a bit more aerodynamic during launches? I'm just think that adding a stock fairing piece below/behind the collar uses up a fair bit of fairing material (and weight/costs) just getting past the length of the collar before you can start to taper inward. I'm playing "almost pure stock", right now, but once I get the tech tree maxed out I'll be looking for cool new "technologies"/parts to keep extending my game further. These will be high on my shopping list! =:o}