Galane

Jolly Roger Aerospace posted a BDA dogfight tutorial yesterday.

Checked the COM and COL for shifts with different cockpits? What about takeoff weight? A shift in lift or mass or lighter weight could make the plane take off at a lower speed.

The easiest cure for tail strikes on takeoff with the BDA AI is to raise the takeoff speed until it doesn't do that. That's combining several V-speed indicators into one, but especially Vr or Vrot which is rotation velocity, the minimum speed at which to lift the nosewheel off the runway. There's also Vmu or minimum unstick velocity, the minimum speed at which the aircraft takes to the air. What it looks like BDA attempts to do is Vrot instantly followed by Vmu when some real aircraft may roll a considerable distance on their rear gear between Vrot and Vmu. Naturally, taildraggers don't do Vrot, unless that's applicable to first picking up the tail wheel. Here's a list. https://www.ivao.aero/training/documentation/books/SPP_V_speed.pdf

That's been a thing since at least the version before 1.0.0. I've had pairs of jets get in a chase up to flameout altitude. Then they'd fall back down and get to shooting again, or crashing if they'd run out of fuel. Had one once going fast enough to coast up past 70KM. Sometimes they also refuse to obey the low altitude limit. I made a lightweight drone but it'd nearly always turn tail and smash itself into the ground or ocean, without even trying to launch missiles. I tried many tweaks and modifications, increasing armament too. But for some reason if the opposing team radar locked then first, they'd dive right into the surface without throttling down at 500 meters, or trying to climb until just before impact. Dunno what was wrong with it but I've built other drones with similar armament but plenty more engine power (and the weight that has to go with) that weren't scared of their own shadows.

Yup, not going to work with the latest BDA because the whole bullets and damage thing has been changed.

Any radar changes?

Have you tried talking to it about philosophy?

The only new things it *needs* are a Size 0 nose mount and inline radome so they're official parts instead of using module manager to hack the RADAR into other Size 0 parts.

Yup, exactly that. Make a new text document, copy and paste the code into it then save. Rename whateveryouwant.cfg and drop it into the Game Data folder.

A WIG that only operates from water needs to be maneuverable when landed. Thus their wing aspect ratio tends to be wide and short, just long enough to make 1/2 the wingspan an acceptable altitude for the plane. You want pitch control to be quick enough so that if something causes it to nose down the pilot can pull it up before hitting the water. That's likely where that baseball player got into trouble with his shiny new amphibious plane. Got into ground effect, skimming the water and pushed the stick forward or a wind gust picked the tail up. Destroyed the aircraft and himself.

There is a mod that adds altitude holding. Doesn't work if there are no engines pointing down. Needs to be able to read the terrain and adjust flight controls appropriately. A WIG plane gets reduced drag at altitudes up to 50% of its wingspan. How about a ground effect mod that adds a little box part to attach to a plane? When attached it reduces the drag and limits altitude to 1/2 the maximum width of the craft, while also additionally faking the effect by incorporating terrain following. There's plenty of info on the web on calculating the effects of ground effect on drag.

Before 1.0 I didn't bother much with aircraft.

In other words a ground effect style vehicle could be built but would require some mod to maintain height above terrain in order to fake it, and there wouldn't be the drag reduction effect that a WIG experiences.

Is WIG or Wing In Ground-effect possible? Can we build an Ekranoplan?

Always check the engagement type settings to make certain the missile or gun can attack the targets you want to blow up.

Which Procedural Parts? There are forks from the B9 original. I'd have to look to see which wings one I have installed. I downloaded and installed with CKAN in KSP 1.3.0 but CKAN doesn't show it at all for KSP 1.3.1

That's normal KSP procedure. All underscores in part names (the internal name, not the name displayed in the game) get swapped for periods within the body of a .craft file or save game file. Why? Probably some 'feature' of Unity. What I'd like to see is a program that can extract a craft from a save file, with a function to normalize the rotation. Being able to switch out a craft within a save, as long as the replacement has the same name, would also be useful. To avoid problems of craft getting damaged or destroyed, if the craft is tagged Landed, the swap would need to match the rotation and altitude and location of the root part. Wouldn't help much for replacing one that had a less than successful landing unless it allowed an upward altitude offset and orbital speed auto set to be stationary above ground. What could be better? A parts swapper for craft files. Decide you need a structural fuselage in place of a LF tank buried in the middle of an airplane? It's a PITA to tear it apart and rebuild it. Switching it out with a text editor works, some of the time. When I've done that (when it worked) I had to leave the fuel entries set to zero, invisible, non-tweakable etc. Same as if the fuel stuff isn't there but it still hangs around in the craft file and save games. Same deal for someone's plane I edited to replace the rocket LFO tank (emptied of oxidizer) with an LF fuselage to reduce weight and drastically improve endurance. Why build it around a rocket tank? 1.0.2 had the LF fuselage? No? https://kerbalx.com/Guard13007/GI-14-Mangle That loads fine into 1.3.x, (and looks fabulous) gets even more agility with the thrust vectoring. I replaced the gear with the small ones to save weight, got rid of the drop tanks, replaced the tail connector with the pointy BDA radome then gave it a load of missiles. That made it a formidable aircraft, so I renamed it the "Mangler".

If you're using any control surfaces backwards, with the normal trailing edge pointing forwards, BDArmory cannot handle that even though KSP itself can with manual flight control from the user, or holding steady with SAS. If you're using control surfaces backwards, the BDA workaround is to restrict them to one axis, Yaw, Pitch or Roll, then slide the authority tweak into negative numbers. However, that will screw it up for manual flight. If you're wanting to use backwards mounted canards for pitch and roll, IIRC BDA will operate them correctly for roll but not pitch. Since there's only one authority slider for all axes, inverting it will fix pitch but make roll wrong. It's sort of like turning a computer mouse over. Roll the ball to the left or slide your finger left across the sensor, the pointer goes left. but up and down gets inverted. The fix should be to have BDA tap into whatever system KSP uses to handle weird players who use control surfaces in odd ways.

*sigh* I have created a micro jet drone that is a big, fat CHICKEN. Does it turn to the fight when the battle begins? No! They flee and run out to sea before the mighty talons of the Falken! I gave them more missiles and still they run. I took away all their missiles to see if having to rely merely on a pair of Vulcans would stiffen their spines. Again, nope! That time one managed to start its cringing so early it smashed into the ground the instant the bell rung. The other three met quick ends by missile or allowed themselves to be chased down into the water, flagrantly ignoring the 500 meter limit. Perhaps Carrying four AIM-20 missiles that are about as long as the drone is a bit much of a load? They're not even 4 tons fully loaded. Other times they'll run so far the Falkens give up and go to circling, waiting for the cowards to return from their runs thousands of meters away, or up. It's not like the drones don't have the speed, they can easily hit 390 without missiles, 360 loaded with four AIM-20's. They can turn etc quite nicely. They're small, thus harder to hit with gunfire. On the rare cases when they do get aggressive, they can inflict damage, usually with their guns because 4 missiles VS 8 is a bit of a mismatch, but without all four in the flight getting stuck in, the best they do is damage one of the four Falkens. I've run many a battle with none of the four drones firing a shot before they crash themselves or get shot down. See the failure here. Needs Airplane Plus and MasterTech Weapons (for the jammer box). Has a combo AI and weapon manager antenna. Aviator Arsenal? Too many mods. https://pastebin.com/ZknZjmTR Avionics nosecone radar patch @PART[avionicsNoseCone] { #@PART[bdRadome1]/MODULE[ModuleRadar] {} } I do have some larger drones, and manned versions of them, which are aggressive and very adept Falken killers, no idea why the little ones built of size 0 parts, with three of the little afterburning engines from Airplane Plus, are so wussy. They use a MM patch to add the pointy radome capability to the avionics nosecone. Initially I did the snubnose one, dismal. Switching to the pointy didn't help. One of the bigger drones and its manned version, uses four of those small afterburners. Tiny wing area and huge control surfaces, who needs vectored thrust?

1.3.1 with BDArmory Continued 1.0.0. Physics Range Extender. Vessel Mover. Aviator Arsenal (with the module manager patch to make the bullets work with BDA). Airplane Plus. Firespitter. Janitor's Closet (haven't used it). Master Tech Weapons. Editor Extensions Redux. B9 Aerospace Procedural Wings. BahamutoD Animation Modules. KSP AVC. MechJeb 2. Haven't changed anything in a while but today I noticed that when I right click on fuel tanks in SPH (haven't tried in VAB) the only adjustments available now are the amount of fuel and whether or not the tank will pump out, like it was wayyy back when.

Looks like one of these.

Look for the folder with Trumpet in its name, somewhere under the Aviator Arsenal folder. Delete that folder and it'll work with BDArmory Continued 1.0.0 and the previous release. However, the Aviator Arsenal bullets still need updating to use the heat damage model BDAc changed to. Save this cfg and drop into Game Data BULLET { name = 12.7x108mmBullet//Berezin UBZ positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 25 key = 10 23 key = 100 18 key = 500 15 key = 1000 12 key = 1500 8 key = 2000 6 } } BULLET { name = 13x64mmBullet// MG 131 AP-T positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 24 key = 10 23 key = 100 18 key = 500 14 key = 1000 12 key = 1500 7 key = 2000 6 } } BULLET { name = 15x96mmBullet //MG 151 HE-T positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 27 key = 10 24 key = 100 21 key = 500 14 key = 1000 12 key = 1500 7 key = 2000 6 } } BULLET { name = 20mmShell //should be 2 since ShVaks used 20x99 and hispanios 20x110, but that seems an unneccesary level of granularity positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 23 key = 10 22 key = 100 16 key = 500 13 key = 1000 10 key = 1500 6 key = 2000 5 } } BULLET { name = 20mmMGeschoss //20x82mm MinengeschoB for the 151/20s positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 18 key = 10 16 key = 100 13 key = 500 10 key = 1000 8 key = 1500 6 key = 2000 4 } } BULLET { name = 23x152mmBullet //Vya-23 positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 29 key = 10 28 key = 100 27 key = 500 26 key = 1000 25 key = 1500 15 key = 2000 5 } } BULLET { name = 30x90mmMGeschoss //Mk 108 positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 23 key = 10 22 key = 100 16 key = 500 13 key = 1000 10 key = 1500 6 key = 2000 5 } } BULLET { name = 40x158mmShell //Vickers S positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 80 key = 10 75 key = 100 60 key = 500 45 key = 1000 25 key = 1500 10 key = 2000 5 } } BULLET { name = 75mmShell //Bk 7.5 positiveCoefficient = 0.2 penetration { key = 0 230 key = 10 230 key = 100 205 key = 500 175 key = 1000 110 key = 1500 85 key = 2000 50 } } @PART[ShVAKWing] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { @bulletVelocity = 790 //ShVak had a muzzle velocity between 750-790m/s bulletType = 20mmShell %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 3 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[ShVAKBody] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { @bulletVelocity = 790 bulletType = 20mmShell %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 3 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[hispanoExposed] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 20mmShell %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 3 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[hispanoEnclosed] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 20mmShell %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 3 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[Mg151Long] { //projectile mass/velocity stats for the SB/LB MG151/20s were for the 15mm version, so lets change the title and description to be accurate @title = WW2 MG 151 15mm Long Barrel @description = With a lighter bullet, the MG 151 does not hit as hard as the 20mm weapons, but the much faster round was proven efficient against targets at greater distances. @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 15x96mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 5 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[Mg151Short] { @title = WW2 MG 151 15mm Short Barrel @description = At expense of precision, the short barrel version of the MG 151 allows the projectile to be fired at a higher rate of fire. It fits nicely beside its longer brother. @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 15x96mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 5 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[MG151WingPod] { @description = Unsatisfied with the performance of 15mm rounds, the MG 151 was converted to the MG151/20, by rechambering it to fire 20mm MinengeschosS shells, trading armor penetration and muzzle velocity for better power. @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { @bulletVelocity = 805 //805m/s muzzle velocity with M-Geschoss, 705 with AP-T @bulletMass = 93e-6 bulletType = 20mmMGeschoss @weaponType = cannon %indirect = false %cannonShellPower = 1.9 %cannonShellRadius = 1.8 %cannonShellHeat = 3 //technically should be higher than the Vya-23 -MGeschoss had more explosive filler than 23x152, but reduced for balance reasons %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 5 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 %explModelPath = BDArmory/Models/explosion/30mmExplosion %explSoundPath = BDArmory/Sounds/subExplode } } @PART[Mk108] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 30x90mmMGeschoss @indirect = false %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 2 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[VickersShortPod] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 40x158mmShell @indirect = false } } @PART[Bk75] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 75mmShell @indirect = false } } @PART[VYa23] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 23x152mmBullet @indirect = false %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 2 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[BerezinUBK] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 12.7x108mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 4 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[BredaSAFATLong] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 7.7x56mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 3 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[BredaSAFATPort] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 7.7x56mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 3 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[M2Blister] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 12.7mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 4 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[M2ExposedBarrel] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 12.7mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 4 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[M2GunPort] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 12.7mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 4 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[M2Pod] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 12.7mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 4 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[BallTurret] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 12.7mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 4 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[MG131] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 13x64mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 3 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[shKAS] { @MODULE[ModuleWeapon] { bulletType = 7.62x39mmBullet %tracerDeltaFactor = 2.75 %tracerInterval = 10 %nonTracerWidth = 0.035 } } @PART[JerichoTrumpet] { !MODULE[JerichoTrumpet] {} //kill the custom jerichotrumpet module, it's not compiled for 1.3 and will cause KSP to crash on load if not removed }

Four teams would be great. A Free For All (FFA) mode would be awesome.

Have you checked the Engage settings to ensure they are enable to attack the type of target you want to shoot at? Air, Ground, Missile. https://pastebin.com/VzMVEBw2 It doesn't *always* come out that good. Sometimes all 4 get wiped without so much as a scratch on the 4 Falkens. Once, I ended up with a single one of these modded planes left standing, with one wingtip and its radome shot away. I must just be getting pretty good at figuring out how to setup planes for BDA AI dogfights when I can take someone else's bad design and make it at least an even match for the 'legendary' Falken. https://kerbalx.com/goduranus/ADF-01-Falken-Crewed

I want to add the radome1snub.cfg capability from BDArmory 1.0.0 to stock avionicsNoseCone.cfg PART { name = bdRadome1snub module = Part author = BahamutoD rescaleFactor = 1 node_stack_bottom01 = 0.0, -0.4816, 0.0, 0.0, -1.0, 0.0, 1 //node_attach = 0, 0, -0.313, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0 TechRequired = precisionEngineering entryCost = 6200 cost = 320 category = none subcategory = 0 title = AN/APG-63V1 Radome manufacturer = Bahamuto Dynamics description = A forward facing, aerodynamically housed radar. It can scan and lock targets within a 120 degree field of view. This is a dedicated ground attack version with much better performance against ground targets, but reduced air-to-air capabilities. attachRules = 1,0,1,1,0 stackSymmetry = 2 mass = 0.375 dragModelType = default maximum_drag = 0.1 minimum_drag = 0.1 angularDrag = .25 crashTolerance = 40 maxTemp = 2000 fuelCrossFeed = True bulkheadProfiles = size1 thermalMassModifier = 6.0 emissiveConstant = 0.95 MODEL { model = BDArmory/Parts/radome125/radome1snub } MODULE { name = ModuleRadar // -- Section: General Configuration -- radarName = AN/APG-63V1 Radome // if left empty part.title is used, but advised to set this to a nice printable text rwrThreatType = 1 // IMPORTANT, please set correctly: // 0 = SAM site radar // 1 = Fighter radar (airborne) // 2 = AWACS radar (airborne) // 3, 4 = ACTIVE MISSILE (DO NOT USE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! // 5 = Detection radar (ground/ship based) // 6 = SONAR (ship/submarine based) rotationTransformName = scanRotation //turretID = 0 // if needed resourceDrain = 0.75 // change to higher values for more capable radars, e.g AESA // -- Section: Capabilities -- omnidirectional = false // false: boresight scan radar directionalFieldOfView = 120 // for omni and boresight //boresightFOV = 10 // for boresight only //scanRotationSpeed = 240 // degress per second //lockRotationSpeed = 120 // only relevant if canLock lockRotationAngle = 4 showDirectionWhileScan = true // can show target direction on radar screen. False: radar echos displayed as block only (no direction) multiLockFOV = 40 // only relevant if canLock //lockAttemptFOV = 2 // only relevant if canLock maxLocks = 1 //how many targets can be locked/tracked simultaneously. only relevant if canLock canScan = true // scanning/detecting targets (volume search) canLock = true // locking/tracking targets (fire control) canTrackWhileScan = true // continue scanning while tracking a locked target canRecieveRadarData = false // can work as passive data receiver (NOTE THE SPELLING! [SIC]) minSignalThreshold = 80 // DEPRECATED, NO LONGER USED! use detection float curve! minLockedSignalThreshold = 100 // DEPRECATED, NO LONGER USED! use locktrack float curve! radarGroundClutterFactor = 0.4 // how much is the radar efficiency reduced to by ground clutter/look-down? // 0.0 = reduced to 0% (=IMPOSSIBLE to detect ground targets) // 1.0 = fully efficient (no difference between air & ground targets) // default if unset: 0.25 // Ground targets, especially ships, already have a massively larger RCS than fighters, hence // any ground clutter factor >0.25 is to be considered very good, making an efficient surface/horizon search radar. // values >1.0 are possible, meaning the radar is MORE efficient during look down than vs air targets. radarDetectionCurve { // floatcurve to define at what range (km) which minimum cross section (m^2) can be detected. // this defines both min/max range of the radar, and sensitivity/efficiency // it is recommended to define an "assured detection range", at which all craft are detected regardless // of their rcs. This is achieved by using a minrcs value of zero, thus detecting everything. // key = distance rcs key = 0.0 0 key = 5 0 //between 0 and 5 km the min cross section is 0, thus assured detection of everything key = 10 5 // key = 20 20 // key = 30 30 //maxrange of 30km } radarLockTrackCurve { // same as detectionCurve, just for locking/tracking purpose // ATTENTION: DO NOT USE an "assured locking range" here, as this would render lock-breaking // ECM-jammers & chaff completely ineffective!! // key = distance rcs key = 0.0 0 key = 5 5 // key = 10 7 // key = 20 25 // key = 30 35 //maxrange of 35km } } }