[1.12.x] Mk2 Expansion v1.9.1 [update 10/5/21]

[ThePixeledFox]

what NUK-2 Reactor ? what ion engine ?

[ABZB]

wait, are you using the KSPI expansion pack? This is not the forum for that...

[StahnAileron]

@SuicidalInsanity Any thoughts on a single Mk2 to dual inverted Mk2 adapter for the future?

This idea came to me while I was testing out your SCRAM and ESTOC engines... and other multi-engine designs. I figure this would be a good way to increase MK2-profile engine counts (if needed/wanted) without making designs that are too wide or cause excessive asymmetric thrust.

[ABZB]

I concur. right now I am stuck with making engine pods on the wings, which don't look bad, but have some bendy-wing issues (due to the engine pods on the wing). My current mission's spaceplane (to duna) has dual ion engines (one per wing) and a single nuclear thermal ramjet (from my patch set) to achieve orbit. On takeoff, has a tendency to spin & explode from bending wings.

[SuicidalInsanity]

Hmmm... I've always just gone with a short bicoupler and a pair of suitable vertically oriented adapters:

Spoiler

Engine tilt optional; in this case its there to improve ground clearance

Or, if using the linear tricoupler:

Spoiler

...since it IMO offers more flexibility than I could get with a 1<->2 mk2 adapter.

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by SuicidalInsanity

[StahnAileron]

Those are viable workarounds I never thought of, actually. Huh...

Well, I was also looking at it for efficiency. One part instead of three, less dead weight (though you could argue a few hundred kilos isn't much compared to the rest of a craft that would be mounting multiple MK2-profile engines), length, fuel balancing (I have this very odd, bad habit of not liking it when I send anything up with less than the max fuel it can hold...), and I'm pretty sure you could make something far nicer looking than a hacked-together job from existing parts.

Oh, BTW, the Mk2 shroud solar panels seem to be a bit quirky:

The animation is a bit off on retraction if it needs to rotate to line up. The folding animation can easily finish before the rotation alignment is done, so it just suddenly snaps into retracted state when it's folded all the way done. Not sure if you could do anything able it. It's just a quibble from me. I do wish there was more clearance so I could place them in the fuselage close to the wings.

The model itself has an inconsistency: One door is higher than the other when closed. Again, small thing. I only noticed because I was zoomed way in using the offset tool on something. As I was moving the camera around to get different views of the work I was doing, I clipped though the panel and noticed the asymmetry.

[SuicidalInsanity]

The solar panel is one of the things that was/is getting reworked for the next update.

Edited January 17, 2016 by SuicidalInsanity

[Furious1964]

For some strange reason, Module Manager would hang when trying to load the M2X Generator CP. I don't know how to fix this. Any ideas?

http://www.mediafire.com/download/jm3dd1nuds0na1w/KSP.log

[SuicidalInsanity]

M2X Generator CP is a Mk2-KSPI Expansion pack part, not a Mk2Expansion part. That said, this issue has come up before, and looking at your log, it looks like the problem is NFE and KSPI don't play nice together; remove the GameData/Mk2Expansion/Patches/Mk2X_NFE_Functionality.cfg

[Rho-Mu 34]

On 17 січня 2016 р. at 0:41 AM, SuicidalInsanity said:

The solar panel is one of the things that was/is getting reworked for the next update.

Now that you mention it, is there any plans for dedicated spaceplane radiators? Dunno about descent phase cooling, but shrouded extendable radiators for quick heat venting after ascent or for use with nuke (and similar high-temp) engines would be neat option to have.
 

[SuicidalInsanity]

The stock line up of radiators are somewhat less than fully useful for spaceplane construction, aren't they? The KSP 1.1 M2X update will be adding a shrouded radiator, and possibly some sort of low profile radial surface radiator as well. Hmmm... another possibility would be to follow up my KBPP solar wings and make M2X radiator wing segments.

[Rho-Mu 34]

3 minutes ago, SuicidalInsanity said:

The stock line up of radiators are somewhat less than fully useful for spaceplane construction, aren't they? The KSP 1.1 M2X update will be adding a shrouded radiator, and possibly some sort of low profile radial surface radiator as well. Hmmm... another possibility would be to follow up my KBPP solar wings and make M2X radiator wing segments.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't radiators on descent soak up more heat than they dissipate, contributing to heat buildup? I remember reading something like that in one of the threads discussing radiator usage on reentering spaceplanes, though that was during 1.0.4, so might be wrong about that.

If that's the case, radiator wing segments isn't a good idea, especially since procedural wings are quite a bit more popular than wing segments.

[Toguspyder]

On 1/3/2016 at 3:36 PM, ABZB said:

You can look through my thread @ http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/118688-starlion-industries-kspi-ifs-compatibility-patches-for-fueltanks-spaceplanes-more-ckan/ to see if you can find a solution there - if you could post there the list of mods you have installed, I will try to determine the issue & solution.

After going through every one of the mods I use, I have found that the Near Future Electric Core by Nertea (even most current version, as of this post) causes the problem. I don't know why, but I thought I at least put it out there for some thought.

 

Thanks for the input.

[Melcom]

sorry if this was mentioned before:

 

The "R4-D Rontgen" Engine says in its description that it can function in non-oxygenated atmospheres.

But why does it still need Intake Air? Is it for balancing reasons?

[SuicidalInsanity]

@Toguspyder: The incompatibility is coming from the M2X_NFE_Functionality patch that adds a NFE reactor module to the Mk2 reactor, which is coming into conflict with the Mk2_KSPI mod, which also adds its own reactor module to the reactor - there's an error with the MM syntax somewhere that isn't disabling the patch; delete Mk2Expansion/patches/M2X_NFE_functionality.cfg and things should work again.

@Melcom: The Rontgen doesn't use or need IntakeAir. Because it is a jet, and needs some for of atmospheric medium to function, It uses IntakeAtm; the two are similar, but IntakeAir is oxygenated atmospheres only and used by standard jets, IntakeAtm is anywhere with an atmosphere, and lets the Rontgen function in any atmosphere - Eve, Duna, even Jool, if one desires the suicidal insanity of flying there.

Edited February 9, 2016 by SuicidalInsanity
edited for clarity

[Melcom]

So its a balancing thing...

Thank you for the reply.

[politas]

I'm working on pointing CKAN to the Github downloads now that KS has gone away.

[SuicidalInsanity]

@politas:Thanks! Anything i need to keep in mind for future github updates in terms of naming conventions and so forth for ease of use on CKAN's end?

[politas]

1 hour ago, SuicidalInsanity said:

@politas:Thanks! Anything i need to keep in mind for future github updates in terms of naming conventions and so forth for ease of use on CKAN's end?

Adding an AVC .version file to the Mk2Expansion folder would be a way for you to signal directly to the CKAN robot what KSP versions are supported by each release. Another thing that would make it easier is if you split your Agencies folder off into a separate download, since it is duplicated between Mk2Expansion and StockalikeMiningExpansion. We can fake it, but it's a little awkward.

[SuicidalInsanity]

@politas: SME 0.9 added its own agency and the Mk2 stuff in SME has been fully integrated into the main SME directory, which should solve that issue.

[MoeKitsune]

I got a Mk2 spaceplane part which I think is from this mod in career before I had any other Mk2 parts. I'll go see if it's from this mod or not.

[Legenderry]

Anyone else having trouble re-entering the atmosphere of Kerbin with a vessel using some of these parts? I am specifically having issues with a vessel with the MK2 Service Tank attached, which ends up burning up on re-entry looong before any other MK2 part - snapping my plane in half. Also, the bicoupler burns up too.

In the vessel builder I see that the stats on the tank and other parts from this mod are all set with a max. temp of 933/933 - a bit low compared to the 850/2706 of the stock MK2 parts.

[StahnAileron]

I haven't used those parts lately, so I can't comment for sure. On the other hand, have you considered adding radiators to your design? (Probably on the dorsal side so they aren't in the airflow during re-entry.) I've found having radiators can help a bit during hypersonic flight and re-entry.

Otherwise, have you looked at placing the service tank in a different spot if possible? Beyond that, you could always tweak the cfg file to align its stats closer to the stock parts.

[Legenderry]

I did look around in the .cfg files of the parts in question and found that the temps set are ignored in-game in favor of the much less values of 933/933. So I do suspect that it may be some other mod that interferes and overwrites something.

[SuicidalInsanity]

@Legenderry: Do you have DRE installed? It sets part max temperatures lower. and M2X comes with a DRE MM patch (Mk2Expansion/Patches/Mk2X_DRE.cfg). If you don't have DRE installed, it means the MM patch is still being loaded when it shouldn't be; remove the MM patch and things should work properly again.