LiLFA (Lithium Lorenz Force Accelerator) and extras

[rabidninjawombat]

Good looking stuff! I like it alot! (+rep!)

will definitely be happy to give this a spin once its available for download.

And if you haven't decided yet, I second roverdudes suggestion to use any CRP definitions that are available. Mod cooperation is a good thing =)

[Squiggsy]

thanks! yes I have decided to use it I think since I double checked densities and I had mine set at 0.0009 and CRP's Lithium is set to 0.001 so it is so little difference there really is no reason not to, it also includes plutonium-238 which is going to be used for the ASRG, but that I definitely think the density is wrong for that since its the same as Lithium aaaand:

Lithium's density = 0.534 g/cm3

Plutonium's density = 16.00 - 19.86 g/cm3

so something is very very off there

edit: however I have just thought that since it is not being used as a part of an ISP calculation I can just increase the max amount of plutonium the ASRG has and then increase the usage proportionally I suppose so it doesnt make much difference I just need to upscale. it doesnt need to be too realistic anyway, its already moved away from realism by consuming the plutonium like it does, since in a real radioisotope generator the lifespan of the fuel is determined by its halflife and what really noticeably decreases is the amount of energy produced, since the fuel will last for a very long time indeed, but i just felt that the RTGs in the game providing energy with absolutely no input at all was less realistic than one consuming plutonium so decided to go for this method.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Squiggsy

[Squiggsy]

Was looking through the Firespitter documentation this morning and I might have a look at using FSmeshSwitch for the ASRGs to switch between with bracing and without, this would save on memory for the multiple textures used and allow just one model and its textures for both parts.

[Squiggsy]

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so this is what I have been doing today, got the fairing finished and I'm quite happy with it, although i need to darken the yellow since it's way too light and looks weird next to the stock warning stripes. Have also done the texture for the slimline lithium tank and made a shorter 1.25m ASRG for landers (in the pics too)

[KillAshley]

Very nice work man!

[Squiggsy]

thanks!

and wow I must be behind on KSP news, just found out 1.0 release is coming Monday, good timing really in case much changes with plugin stuff since that's around the timeframe i was hoping to start seriously looking into doing some stuff, decided the eventual plan is to try and make a plugin that uses the plutonium at a rate that is consistant with half-life decay (only 10-20 times faster than real plutonium because we don't play this game on the same timeframe as real life) and have electric charge generated decrease as the plutonium decreases + an extra little bit for erosion of the system itself over time.

[KillAshley]

I like the sound of that man, decay always keeps things interesting over long missions. Have you thought about some kind of storage for additional plutonium, say that cuts decay right down, but has to be manually trasferred to the generators, that way you could have a generator on a ship doing an extremely long mission, but it requires the crew to transfer the fuel across....just a thought, don't know if it's actually feasible really.

[Squiggsy]

Funnily enough I had thought about pretty much exactly that idea yes! I even started making storage container (which turned into the slimline lithium container in the end) but at present I have no idea how I would get it to work so I'm making a note of those kinds of things and putting them to one side for now until I have learnt a bit more. I did also think about making a container that needs to be right next to the asrg to be able to transfer the resource, that should be easier to manage, but then make the container very heavy (all that lead shielding to stop kerbals from getting irradiated, they're green enough as it is ) to stop it from being an obvious choice, and make it more something that you only do to give yourself insurance on long missions.

at the moment though I'm working on some concentrating solar panels, spent a day and a half trying to make some inline deployable solar arrays (with a door on each side that slides open and the solar panels fold out) but because concentrating panels are so much thicker it turned out really awkward and wasn't good so I'm starting on another idea that I'm really happy with and should be done with tomorrowish, then onto the 2.5m LiLFA since they were the original aim of this release and I have got a bit sidetracked with energy generation to be able to power the damn things! haha

[Squiggsy]

Made some progress on the solar panels today but I am horribly ill so I gave up, only have texturing to do now unless I decide to change the model a bit, want to get it done so I can start on moar bigger LiLFAs! and redesigning the .625m one because I donut like it

[KillAshley]

any news on further progress dude?

[Yokito Zumi]

Lorenz force! GO!

(Im so sorry, im so very sorry)

This mod has my attention, i might come back later and install it when i clear out my mod list. it deserves a try.