[1.12.X] Orbital Survey Plus v2.3.6

[Wheffle]

 

 

Orbital Survey Plus

 

Recent Update Detailed Notes / Thoughts

Spoiler

2.3.5 Patch:

I reverted the SciBonus parameter in the OSP scanner module to 10 down from 20 by default. This matches the stock scanner module's value. My line of thought before was that it took a bit of extra effort to scan with OSP, so you should get more science for it. However, I think double was probably too generous. Even though it does take a bit more work to scan planets to 100% with OSP, I decided to drop the science reward back to stock levels simply because people don't use OSP to make things easier, but to make things a bit more complex. If you liked extra science, the value is easily tweakable by pulling up the config file in the "Patches" folder in a text editor and changing the value to whatever you'd like.

Introduction

Does the insta-scanning capability of the M700 Survey Scanner keep you awake at night? Are you thirsty for more realism but uninterested in complex add-ons that ignore or replace the rest of the stock resource system or add lots of parts? You might be in luck! Orbital Survey Plus is a light-weight mod that provides you with a more realistic and intuitive way to perform surveys with the survey scanner while still using the rest of the stock resource system. Gone are the arbitrary inclination requirements and instant full-body witchcraft resource reveals! The M700 will now only reveal resource data for terrain it has passed over and scanned.

How It Works

After deploying the M700 Survey Scanner and pressing the "start survey" button, survey of the current body will begin. As long as altitude conditions are met (which are the same as stock behavior) the scan will progress, gathering resource information for the terrain under the vessel and draining electric charge. There are no other specific orbit requirements besides current altitude. As the scan progresses, survey data is accumulated, which can be transmitted back to the KSC.

As soon as you transmit your first batch of survey data the stock resource overlay becomes unlocked. When you toggle the resource overlay, you will notice that regions that haven't been scanned and transmitted will be shrouded. As your vessel gathers more data as it passes over terrain, the resource overlay will become revealed for those regions after that data is transmitted.

[Science] Not only does transmitting survey data back to the KSC reveal planetary overlays, it also yields science!

[Biome Overlay] This mod adds a biome overlay toolbar button to go along with the stock resource overlay. The biome overlay will be shrouded in the same way for regions that haven't been scanned and transmitted by the survey scanner.

[Background Scanning] Once you get your scanner going, feel free to leave it and launch more ships! Scans will progress in the background, so there's no need to stick around and time warp.

[Settings] Many of the features of OSP can be tweaked or toggled through the KSP game settings menu. For example, if you're just here for the biome overlay, the advanced surveying feature can be disabled.

 

Download Current Version - 2.3.6 compatible with KSP 1.4.X through KSP 1.12.X

Spacedock  |  Curse

*ModuleManager included and required

 

Source code available here on Bitbucket.

 

Pictures!

Spoiler

 

Video! (Thanks KottabosGames!)

 

Changelog

Spoiler

[2.3.6 - 26 March 2018]
- Recompiled for KSP 1.4.1

[2.3.5 - 10 October 2017]
- Made compatible with KSP 1.3.1
- Fixed a bug with celestial body display names in screen messages (still English only unfortunately)
- Biome overlay toolbar button is now only visible when a planet is focused
- SciBonus parameter for the OSP scanner module has been lowered to 10 (from 20) to match the stock scanner, meaning by default you will now reap the same amount of science for 100% scanning a planet as you would with the stock system instead of twice as much (this is individually tweakable for your game by altering the module manager patch)

[2.3.4 - 2 June 2017]
- Made compatible with KSP 1.3

[2.3.3 - 2 June 2017]
- Fixed an issue that often caused significant slowdown when the resource overlay wasopen on partially scanned planets

[2.3.2 - 8 March 2017]
- Adjustments have been made to make OSP compatible with alternate solar system mods, including Real Solar System
- Scan grid size and minimum/maximum scan altitudes will adjust based on largest and smallest scannable planet
- Scaling is based on stock parameters, so users with stock KSP solar system will not be affected
- Added some caching behavior to optimize performance
- Optimized coverage percentage calculation
- Made changes to try to reduce a "zipper effect" on straight vertical and horizontal scan lines
- Made requested change to science transmission code for clarity to other mods
- Fixed several small UI bugs

[2.3.1 - 21 November 2016]
- New save compression that should reduce clutter in the persistence file a bit
- Improved efficiency of the overlay shrouding system which was hogging a lot of resources when an overlay was up
- Scan percentage calculation tweaked to be more accurate (it was neglecting projection scaling before)
- Various UI tweaks
- Various other attempted performance improvements

[2.3.0 - 13 November 2016]
- Scan area is now scaled to project correctly onto a globe, eliminating distortion at high latitudes (exact poles still see some weird stuff)
- Found and fixed a bug causing constant re-processing of the resource overlay shroud and bogging down the game
- Fixed an error in maximum scan altitude calculation
- Retroactive scanning added: an attempt will be made to fill in gaps caused by scanning at high time warp
- Optimizations made to compensate for the increased processing necessary for retroactive scanning
- Overlay auto-refresh implemented: active overlays will now refresh for new scan data when the processing requirement is reasonable

[2.2.0 - 3 November 2016]
- Made compatible with KSP 1.2
- Migrated OSP settings to stock KSP game settings menu

[2.1.1 - 5 May 2016]
- Scanning small bodies (Minmus and Gilly) now produces data for transmission properly
- Fixed a few other edge-case problems with data acquisition
- "Surface Scanned" percentage should now update when changing SOI
- Fixed an infuriating misspelling of "received"

[2.1.0 - 2 May 2016]
- Science! Survey data accumulates as the surface of a planet is scanned and can be transmitted!
- Default science reward for complete survey data is increased from stock (since OSP makes you work harder for it) (tweakable in module config)
- Furthermore, overlay maps only update when scan data is transmitted (toggleable in settings)
- When 95% of the surface has been scanned, the survey will auto-complete to 100% (tweakable in settings)
- Default electric drain while scanning raised a bit (tweakable in module config)
- Fixed NullPointerException spam when using the M700 part in the editor
- Shrunk scenario persistence data a bit (planets that are fully scanned are saved differently)

[2.0.2 - 29 April 2016]
- M700 now shows altitude parameters and percent surface scanned for the current main body
- IndexOutOfBounds exception spam around north pole has been dealt with
- Scan area "squishing" mitigation around polar regions improved
- Shrunk saved scan data in persistence file (still rather heinous but better), old saves should be ok
- "Time Between Scans" applies to active vessels also (it's not scanning every tick anymore)
- Added "enable background scan" setting
- Quick check to make sure everything works fine in 1.1.1

[2.0.1 - 26 April 2016]
- Vessels scanning in the background should no longer ignore altitude parameters
- "Perform Orbital Survey" button should no longer appear when extended surveyor is enabled
- M700 overlay buttons should always be available now
- Added "Start Survey" button so the M700 isn't always active when deployed

[2.0.0 - 26 April 2016]
- Overhaul! Resource scanning is now progressive and real-time instead of all-at-once. Overlays will be shrouded for areas that have not been scanned.
- Lots of fundamental changes, new part module, and new options.

[1.2.2 - 23 April 2016]
- Updated to work with KSP 1.1

[v1.2.1 - 26 June 2015]
- Toggling the biome overlay in map view now respects which planet you have focused
- Biome overlay button added to tracking station
- Icon art redone (hopefully not as ugly)

[v1.2 - 21 May 2015]
- The orbital surveyor now sports a "Toggle Biome Overlay" button for viewing a planet's biomes
- A toolbar button has been added to allow the biome overlay to be toggled without the orbital surveyor
- The biome overlay feature requires that the planet be surveyed first
- Option added in settings.cfg for allowing the biome overlay without having to scan first
- Option added in settings.cfg for disabling "extended surveyor", reverting surveyor back to stock functionality (in case you just want the biome overlay feature)
- An in-game settings menu has been added (via a toolbar button at the space center scene), which mirrors and updates the settings.cfg file
- A settings.cfg file will be generated automatically if none is found

[v1.1.1 - 15 May 2015]
- Vessels without power generation will not continue to scan while unfocused
- Orbit minimum and orbit maximum settings tweakables now affect stock functionality as well (still no luck with inclination)
- "Perform orbital survey" renamed to "Transmit survey data", but has the same functionality
- Fixed ModuleManager patch
- Fixed some bugginess having to do with electric charge drain
- Made context menu "Status" field more descriptive

[v1.1 - 14 May 2015]
- Survey Scanner now consumes electric charge while scanning
- Minimum and maximum orbits now obey stock surveyor rules more closely, i.e., they adjust depending on planet/moon radius
- Added tweakable setting for electric charge consumption rate
- Cleaned up source code a bit

[v1.0 - 13 May 2015]
- Initial release

 

License

Spoiler

"Orbital Survey Plus" Kerbal Space Program addon

Copyright © 2018 Chase Barnes

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

 

Known Bugs

- At the highest time warp speed scan lines can start to zig-zag

- Entering the map view can swap the biome overlay with the resource overlay sometimes

- Attempting to tweak the Scan Autocomplete Threshold in the options will peg the value to 0% or 100% (workaround: change it manually in the persistent file)

 

 I primarily built this mod for me, so I don't expect anything. But if you like it and you're the tipping type, feel free.

Edited May 15, 2022 by Wheffle
reflect compatiblity with 1.12.X

[forsaken1111]

I like it! Does the scan progress take some power over time as well?

[Wheffle]

I like it! Does the scan progress take some power over time as well?

Thanks! It does not take power at the moment, though I imagine that would be easy to add.

Edit

Just threw together a quick update, gave the scanner electric charge consumption (tweakable in the settings config file).

Edited May 15, 2015 by Wheffle
update

[Andrewmacor]

Can you make it to be more than one orbit, maybe 5, to make it closer to reality but not really?

[Fraz86]

Is this registered in CKAN? If so, under what name?

[Wheffle]

Can you make it to be more than one orbit, maybe 5, to make it closer to reality but not really?

Check out the "settings.cfg" file in the "OrbitalSurveyPlus" folder. The first value in there called "orbitsToScan" represents how many orbits it takes to do a full scan, which you can alter to your liking. If you do change it to something like 5, let me know how it goes! I haven't tested it on any higher number than 2. If it acts wonky I'll be sure to hotfix it.

Is this registered in CKAN? If so, under what name?

It's not currently, but I'll look into it!

Edit

Got the process started for getting this mod on CKAN. If I did it right, it should be registered as "OrbitalSurveyPlus" soon.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Wheffle
typo

[Bomoo]

This looks good!

[Wheffle]

Working on an update.

[KillAshley]

love it! Great work dude!

[Wheffle]

Updated to 1.2

It shouldn't break previous saves, but I can't promise anything. Just make sure to clear out all of the old files before installing the new ones.

Biome overlay is now available! (without using the cheat menu!)

[curiousepic]

Woo! Very nice, you beat ScanSat to displaying biomes in map view.

Along those lines, do you think it might be in scope to implement some sort of fog-of-war for planets that have not been scanned? Basically a forced map overlay that is a blurry version of the regular texture?

Also, do you think you could split out the number of orbits required to display biome view vs. resources in the cfg?

[iDisOrder]

I love it!

Wonderful first mod!

I had a few issues with installed mods so I can't test this out (doing a fresh install now),

...but Nertea has a mod called Near Future Solar

In it, he's got a 4 panel curved solar array that might fit on the reverse of the M700.

If not you could probably use TweakScale on the panels.

But you could also maybe add this to your mod if he allows it.

This way the M700 comes stock with "starter" panels.

Also, I'd have to agree on the "orbits to scan"

5 seems more realistic than 2.

Great work on your first mod!

+1 rep...keep it up!

[KerbMav]

I hate it ... when I overlook great mods for a full week!

Downloaded for the handy biome display, will see if I will use the delayed scan - really good to include all these options!

[Wheffle]

Thanks for all the support! It's been a lot of fun putting this together, and it's been fun playing with it. I'm glad others are getting some enjoyment out of it also.

Woo! Very nice, you beat ScanSat to displaying biomes in map view.

To tell you the truth, getting the biome overlay working was stinking easy with the new stock resource overlay system. The KSP team did a great job making it general-purpose and easy to hook into.

I expect ScanSat is taking longer because, among other countless reasons (that mod is CRAZY complex and very impressive), they aren't going to be displaying a full overlay all the time. They have to chop it up to only reveal what portions of the planet you've scanned. Me, I'm just yanking the biome map texture from the framework (which it hands over freely) and throwing it at the overlay system (which it happily accepts).

Along those lines, do you think it might be in scope to implement some sort of fog-of-war for planets that have not been scanned? Basically a forced map overlay that is a blurry version of the regular texture?

Also, do you think you could split out the number of orbits required to display biome view vs. resources in the cfg?

Hmmm... it would be interesting to limit planet detail a bit at least until you've entered its SOI at least once. I'll toy with that idea a bit. As far as decoupling the biome overlay unlock with the resource overlay unlock, I'm not sure that'll be a huge priority just yet. My goal was to extend the stock orbital surveyor as seamlessly as I could, and decoupling those overlay unlocks would mean separating one or both from the stock "this-planet-has-been-scanned" system, which would complicated things a bit. I'll keep it in mind, though.

Nertea has a mod called Near Future Solar

In it, he's got a 4 panel curved solar array that might fit on the reverse of the M700.

If not you could probably use TweakScale on the panels.

But you could also maybe add this to your mod if he allows it.

This way the M700 comes stock with "starter" panels.

I love the near future technology packs. I also have zero experience with modeling and part creation. I'm just a simple programmer.

Also, I'd have to agree on the "orbits to scan" 5 seems more realistic than 2.

I get the feeling everyone has wildly different ideas for what is "realistic enough" for them, which is why I left it configurable. Again, I haven't tried it at very high numbers (5+), so I encourage you to try it and report back if there's anything wonky with it. I might change the default value in the future based on continued feedback.

[gmiddlemass]

Really like the look of this mod, especially the ability to toggle the biome display on the map.

Will download and try it later...

[KerbMav]

I am not yet at IRUS..ISRU..stuff - how do the overlays work with the clouds from the EVE mod? (The clouds could be disabled somehow, couldnt they..?)

[iDisOrder]

I get the feeling everyone has wildly different ideas for what is "realistic enough" for them, which is why I left it configurable. Again, I haven't tried it at very high numbers (5+), so I encourage you to try it and report back if there's anything wonky with it. I might change the default value in the future based on continued feedback.

I wrote that before I DLed it and then saw you changed the default from 2 to 5.

Then I started thinking I'd try 10 orbits to scan.

I'll let you know how it works out when I run it

I'm just a simple programmer.

ppfft..

you, simple?

Last time I programmed anything was BASIC on a TRS-80

[curiousepic]

Hmmm... it would be interesting to limit planet detail a bit at least until you've entered its SOI at least once. I'll toy with that idea a bit.

Awesome. It would be great for new planet packs like OPM, and my own fantasy of creating a planet pack and not providing (detailed) images of the locations so players can feel like true explorers! I assume ScanSat intends to implement something like this eventually, but it would also be nice to have it available in this more lightweight mod (but scope creep yadda yadda).

[abowl]

.... yea. the biome overlay is amazing

[iDisOrder]

Awesome. It would be great for new planet packs like OPM, and my own fantasy of creating a planet pack and not providing (detailed) images of the locations so players can feel like true explorers! I assume ScanSat intends to implement something like this eventually, but it would also be nice to have it available in this more lightweight mod (but scope creep yadda yadda).

hmmm...

Based on my installed mods list I seem to be leaning more towards a realistic approach.

With the exception of some mods until I feel a bit more comfortable knowing what I'm doing like FAR and TAC.

I"m not saying this is a bad idea, to each his own

but I'm thinking if you were to send a satellite to a body you'd expect a full, accurate report on it before venturing out.

[curiousepic]

you'd expect a full, accurate report on it before venturing out.

Aw, where's your pioneer spirit?

[iDisOrder]

Aw, where's your pioneer spirit?

It died with the NASA shuttle program

[stardestroyer]

Hi Wheffle, this is an awesome mod!

Can I ask if it is possible to add an anomaly layer?

[Wheffle]

Hi Wheffle, this is an awesome mod!

Can I ask if it is possible to add an anomaly layer?

Thanks!

I don't currently have any concrete plans for adding more overlays, but I have been experimenting with modifying overlay textures and importing my own. I've run into a few weird hitches having to do with unfamiliarity with Unity, but who knows! If it gets asked for enough and I feel like it's a good fit, there's no reason it won't happen in the future.

[curiousepic]

Is it intended/known issue that you can't see or toggle the biome overlay when you focus on other planets in map mode?

Also, any further thoughts/progress on a low-res "unexplored body" overlay?