[DEVTHREAD]Pathfinder - Space Camping & Geoscience

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

The foldable one is 'broken' and the other ones look weird

and whats the point of the cargo ramp? its not connected to the bay on the video

How is the foldable one broken? I might be able to tweak something and tell you what to tweak.

As for the cargo ramp. I do have two seats up inside it. Only thing I don't have a part for is that adapter. If it was hollow, it would be perfect and I'd be able to actually have the FULL capacity of a real MH-53. (It's got 18 now with the spots blocked and the vehicle spaced gently. If I Sardine Can the layout, I could get pretty close.)

[Angelo Kerman]

Love the rover and helicopter:)

[EdusacconBR]

Hey, Can you do a radial attach version of the ponderosa?

i cant attach it to other modules

[Angelo Kerman]

Hey, Can you do a radial attach version of the ponderosa?

i cant attach it to other modules

Right. The Ponderosa was designed to be the foundation for your base. Other modules attach to it. I did consider a radial version that you could attach to a standard crew port at one point, but rejected it in favor of another part yet to be created, because you'd need some kind of hub for the radial Ponderosa to attach to. On the other hand, you could potentially reduce your part count a bit by building a base out from a single hub and a radial Ponderosa... I'll look into it, thanks for the suggestion.

[EdusacconBR]

yay, now my base can look cool without 9999999 haciendas

[helaeon]

How about a hub part that sits on the Muncrete slab? It's just a pillar with 4 nodes on it to attach the other modules to? I've been wanting to run a crew tube from the underside of my lander to such a hub, then attach a science lab(s) and factory to that. Another cool part might be a bigger drill that node attaches to the inflatables.

[Angelo Kerman]

How about a hub part that sits on the Muncrete slab? It's just a pillar with 4 nodes on it to attach the other modules to? I've been wanting to run a crew tube from the underside of my lander to such a hub, then attach a science lab(s) and factory to that. Another cool part might be a bigger drill that node attaches to the inflatables.

I was thinking of reducing base part count by making the hub directly attachable to the ground, and then having it inflate. At that point you wouldn't need the Saddle, and the containerized Ponderosa as well. Bit of trivia: the container concept came about because at the time, I didn't know how to set up the colliders properly for the airlock. In earlier versions, I'd have the kerbal walk a few meters away and the game would still allow me to board the module. Now that I've solved that problem (the Hacienda, Doc, and Chuckwagon all have inflatable airlocks), I can revisit the Ponderosa...

[Angelo Kerman]

How about something like this for the hub and radial Ponderosa?

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

That looks good.

Can you make the hub inflatable too (if it isn't already)? Would seem counter-intuitive to make the hub a big clunky part when it's effectively one big hollow cross-tube.

[Angelo Kerman]

That looks good.

Can you make the hub inflatable too (if it isn't already)? Would seem counter-intuitive to make the hub a big clunky part when it's effectively one big hollow cross-tube.

I'm still figuring out how to make an inflatable hub work with that has the proper height for the crew ports. The in-game explanation for the hub shown is that it's assembled after you pull it from the crate. Its stored volume reflects the fact that it is assembled.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Angel-125

[Randazzo]

I'm getting some ugly behavior from a vessel carrying gold digger mini drills. After leaving the scene and switching back to the vessel (now en route to duna) I have no control of the ship, and it's bouncing back and forth with the drills vanishing and reappearing over and over. The engine on the ship still gimbals and the reaction wheel on the rear end can actually swing the fuel tank stuck on the bottom back and forth but the upper portion with the drills on it is totally immobile in space, except for the overall bouncing which I think is just the camera. It throws this nullref:

Unpacking Mining Rover

(Filename: C:/buildslave/unity/build/artifacts/StandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 56)

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at WildBlueIndustries.WBIExtractionMonitor.OnStart (StartState state) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at WildBlueIndustries.WBIDrillManager.PartUnpacked (.Part part) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at EventData`1[Part].Fire (.Part data) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at Part.Unpack () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at Vessel.GoOffRails () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at OrbitPhysicsManager.LateUpdate () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

[Angelo Kerman]

I'm getting some ugly behavior from a vessel carrying gold digger mini drills. After leaving the scene and switching back to the vessel (now en route to duna) I have no control of the ship, and it's bouncing back and forth with the drills vanishing and reappearing over and over. The engine on the ship still gimbals and the reaction wheel on the rear end can actually swing the fuel tank stuck on the bottom back and forth but the upper portion with the drills on it is totally immobile in space, except for the overall bouncing which I think is just the camera. It throws this nullref:

Unpacking Mining Rover

(Filename: C:/buildslave/unity/build/artifacts/StandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 56)

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at WildBlueIndustries.WBIExtractionMonitor.OnStart (StartState state) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at WildBlueIndustries.WBIDrillManager.PartUnpacked (.Part part) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at EventData`1[Part].Fire (.Part data) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at Part.Unpack () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at Vessel.GoOffRails () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

  at OrbitPhysicsManager.LateUpdate () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

Ick. Ok, I'll fix that asap. I think I know what's going on. Thanks for the feedback.

[Randazzo]

Ick. Ok, I'll fix that asap. I think I know what's going on. Thanks for the feedback.

No problem! Appreciate you being on top of it. I recorded this, since my description seemed lacking.

[Angelo Kerman]

I figured out the problem and am working on a fix. I hope to have something by the weekend. Thanks for the error report, it helped.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

I'll say this though.

I love that we can pop stuff into boxes.

One popup base, anywhere on Kerbin in just a few hours. So long as you can fit at least six Buckboard boxes into your vehicle.

Now I just wish there were more things to do on Kerbin outright. I love helicopters as much as any other aircraft or rocket.

EDIT:

I have some additional thoughts for you Angel.

I'm in the cfgs customizing it to work for me. (Creating a Kerosene production process and other things.)

I got around to messing with the Hot Spring geothermal power system, and I changed the unit from using rocket parts, to using water. Making it consume and produce water at a 1 for 1 ratio. Thus, it MUST have water to operate, but otherwise does not use it up since it is technically in a 'closed cycle' loop.

Then I had a thought. Considering the way geothermal works. You could easily simulate a full geothermal plant with what you have, plus a touch extra.

In this case, you would have to provide the Hot Spring with water, it 'converts' the water to 'steam' or 'hot water' and produces power. An additional part you can create later, can consume the steam or hot water to return water at a 1 for 1 ratio, while heating that part up (as soon as you figure part heating out). Configure it to be a radiator, and boom. Geothermal plant.

Going 'even further' in another step, you can require the planetary resource 'geothermal energy' and create geothermal potential maps of each planet for the scanners, which then makes the Hot Spring a little less 'drop anywhere' and more for use in acceptable situations. Don't ask me just yet how 'geothermal energy' would work. The 'WIP' version I'm thinking of would just treat it like an 'ore' named 'geothermal energy'.

What I would then do, is balance the Hot Spring against the Fusion.

First, reduce the rocket part usage of Hot Spring and balance it.

1: Remove the Rocket Part usage per second. (That, makes literally no sense. Steam turbines do not 'consume' parts in that manner. They run until something breaks, then you fix it.)

2: Decrease the cost of repair. (All things considered, the turbine, pumps, and valves are the only moving parts.)

3: Reduce the Hot spring power output to balance the reduced part cost. (I'm fully aware balance is a thing.)

Second, adjust the Solar Flare fusion reactor for power production.

1: Beef up the power produced significantly.

2: Add water to its usage in the same way the hot springs would use it above.

3: Balance the breakdown cost to reflect that you're working on a FUSION plant.

Results:

Hot Spring Power: Moderate Power in a limited range of locations for low cost of upkeep.

Solar Flare Fusion Power: Maximum Power, Anywhere you can make fuel for it, but far more expensive to operate.

Both units require access to water. Radiator not required if you vent steam, but that removes the ability to recycle the water.

As a side thought, just because it popped into my head and I figured I'd voice it.

Adding a middle tier of plant in the form of a fission reactor unit, and a centrifuge unit.

The centrifuge would obviously go in the Doc, and the Fission reactor would likely go in the Hacienda. The resources products would involve uranium, refined uranium, and some kind of radioactive waste.

Blah blah blah, balance rocket parts, blah blah blah, mechanics, etc... We know the drill.

EDIT2: Looking at various files, I decided to go ahead and toy with the idea in the configs. I'm testing out the water/steam configurations and if I'm reading how the community resource pack works, I may try to create the geothermal 'resource' later on today and test it. Right now, I've torn out the coolant manufacture in the Doc and I'm treating it as a 'radiator' to convert steam back into water.

Edited October 8, 2015 by AdmiralTigerclaw

[MaverickSawyer]

I'll say this though.

I love that we can pop stuff into boxes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v430/admiraltigerclaw/KH-60_GreenHokk_zpsatvjvijs.jpg

One popup base, anywhere on Kerbin in just a few hours. So long as you can fit at least six Buckboard boxes into your vehicle.

Now I just wish there were more things to do on Kerbin outright. I love helicopters as much as any other aircraft or rocket.

EDIT:

I have some additional thoughts for you Angel.

I'm in the cfgs customizing it to work for me. (Creating a Kerosene production process and other things.)

I got around to messing with the Hot Spring geothermal power system, and I changed the unit from using rocket parts, to using water. Making it consume and produce water at a 1 for 1 ratio. Thus, it MUST have water to operate, but otherwise does not use it up since it is technically in a 'closed cycle' loop.

Then I had a thought. Considering the way geothermal works. You could easily simulate a full geothermal plant with what you have, plus a touch extra.

In this case, you would have to provide the Hot Spring with water, it 'converts' the water to 'steam' or 'hot water' and produces power. An additional part you can create later, can consume the steam or hot water to return water at a 1 for 1 ratio, while heating that part up (as soon as you figure part heating out). Configure it to be a radiator, and boom. Geothermal plant.

Going 'even further' in another step, you can require the planetary resource 'geothermal energy' and create geothermal potential maps of each planet for the scanners, which then makes the Hot Spring a little less 'drop anywhere' and more for use in acceptable situations. Don't ask me just yet how 'geothermal energy' would work. The 'WIP' version I'm thinking of would just treat it like an 'ore' named 'geothermal energy'.

What I would then do, is balance the Hot Spring against the Fusion.

First, reduce the rocket part usage of Hot Spring and balance it.

1: Remove the Rocket Part usage per second. (That, makes literally no sense. Steam turbines do not 'consume' parts in that manner. They run until something breaks, then you fix it.)

2: Decrease the cost of repair. (All things considered, the turbine, pumps, and valves are the only moving parts.)

3: Reduce the Hot spring power output to balance the reduced part cost. (I'm fully aware balance is a thing.)

Second, adjust the Solar Flare fusion reactor for power production.

1: Beef up the power produced significantly.

2: Add water to its usage in the same way the hot springs would use it above.

3: Balance the breakdown cost to reflect that you're working on a FUSION plant.

Results:

Hot Spring Power: Moderate Power in a limited range of locations for low cost of upkeep.

Solar Flare Fusion Power: Maximum Power, Anywhere you can make fuel for it, but far more expensive to operate.

Both units require access to water. Radiator not required if you vent steam, but that removes the ability to recycle the water.

As a side thought, just because it popped into my head and I figured I'd voice it.

Adding a middle tier of plant in the form of a fission reactor unit, and a centrifuge unit.

The centrifuge would obviously go in the Doc, and the Fission reactor would likely go in the Hacienda. The resources products would involve uranium, refined uranium, and some kind of radioactive waste.

Blah blah blah, balance rocket parts, blah blah blah, mechanics, etc... We know the drill.

EDIT2: Looking at various files, I decided to go ahead and toy with the idea in the configs. I'm testing out the water/steam configurations and if I'm reading how the community resource pack works, I may try to create the geothermal 'resource' later on today and test it. Right now, I've torn out the coolant manufacture in the Doc and I'm treating it as a 'radiator' to convert steam back into water.

Well, a fission reactor is fairly easy to get already: Near Future Electrical has a few designs, including one (M-EXP) that is light and small enough to show in a Buckboard with all its associated support parts.

[Angelo Kerman]

Latest version is now available in the release thread. Link to the release post is here.

@AdmiralTigerClaw: Interesting ideas about the geothermal plant. Next release I can look at re-balancing the plant. From what I've read about geothermal energy, the plants are located in places where there's a lot of heat and available water. I can see what you're talking about for having a water resource, geothermal energy resource, and steam/hot water resource. My concern is about cluttering up the resource panel, which is why I abstracted things with the plant. Instead of creating a geothermal distribution map, I current have an arbitrary efficiency map for each planet/moon. That might not work with other mods like OPM, but since water and geothermal energy go together, I could piggyback on the existing water distribution map (and add some to Duna, especially given that Mars has flowing water). If I do that then there will be a minimum output level in case that the water levels are pretty low. it also fulfills my don't-clutter-the-resource-panel-unnecessarily requirement, by keeping some of the operations abstracted.

I do like the idea of upping the repair costs on the Solar Flare- it is supposed to be experimental, after all. It's basically my version of the Chicago Pile, in that it doesn't generate much EC. DSEV's fusion reactors generate a lot more and are much smaller, and of course more advanced.

Pretty cool that you can stuff Buckboards into the back of that chopper.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Angel-125

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Latest version is now available in the release thread. Link to the release post is here.

@AdmiralTigerClaw: Interesting ideas about the geothermal plant. Next release I can look at re-balancing the plant. From what I've read about geothermal energy, the plants are located in places where there's a lot of heat and available water. I can see what you're talking about for having a water resource, geothermal energy resource, and steam/hot water resource. My concern is about cluttering up the resource panel, which is why I abstracted things with the plant. Instead of creating a geothermal distribution map, I current have an arbitrary efficiency map for each planet/moon. That might not work with other mods like OPM, but since water and geothermal energy go together, I could piggyback on the existing water distribution map (and add some to Duna, especially given that Mars has flowing water). If I do that then there will be a minimum output level in case that the water levels are pretty low. it also fulfills my don't-clutter-the-resource-panel-unnecessarily requirement, by keeping some of the operations abstracted.

I do like the idea of upping the repair costs on the Solar Flare- it is supposed to be experimental, after all. It's basically my version of the Chicago Pile, in that it doesn't generate much EC. DSEV's fusion reactors generate a lot more and are much smaller, and of course more advanced.

Pretty cool that you can stuff Buckboards into the back of that chopper.

Water and Geothermal Energy do not necessarily go together. I don't know where you got that idea. But that's why I would make a separate resource to go with the community resource pack. Part of hunting down the right locations being that you need to find the right locations with water AND geothermal energy. (Or bring your own water.) Secondly, not all bodies are going to have geothermal activity. Take Minmus for example. Minmus is the size of a large asteroid, and doesn't even have the tidal stressing of a body like IO does in the real world. I doubt it has any internal heating significant enough to use for heating water.

Now, the way you spoke in the above post about what you read, I'm making the assumption that you're not terribly familiar with how Geothermal works. If this assumption is incorrect, I apologize.

Geothermal Energy works like any other form of energy such as a coal or oil power plant. The main difference is that the heat source, instead of being man-operated furnace, is the ground itself. Or rather, what's underground. Usually, the source is geologic such as a near surface magma chamber or spreading plate boundary (See: Iceland). Water may, or may not be readily available in the location where the geothermal 'vent' is located. Though, given the amount of surface coverage water has on earth, it's usually not too far away. Other planets may make this difficult.

All the geothermal plant really does is drill a hole into the hot rock and set up pipes. Cold or cool water is then piped down into the rocks and allowed to heat into either steam, or at least superheated water. Said steam forces its way back up another pipe and is directed to steam turbines, which in turn, provide torque to generators. There may be complexities in the system, such as a double-loop steam cycle (where the steam returning to the plant heats a second, closed, pressurized loop that circulates through the turbines... (High pressure steam/water holds more energy per mass unit. But we don't care about that at this time).

Long and short: As long as you have a supply of water, be it natural or brought with you geothermal could be a dried out, stand alone location. Current methods of course, take full advantage of the plentiful amount of water on Earth. So a lot of water is poured down into the geothermal vents to be lost as steam that doesn't make it back to the pipe (but rather, vents through the porous rock to the surface, see: Yellow Stone Ntl. Park). But I would imagine that in water-scarce settings, closed loops can and would be established.

As for cluttering the resource screen. Which one? The pathfinder resource views aren't exactly covered in walls of resources. Especially when reconfiguring a module limits it to only what that unit is utilizing.

Here is code for the modified hot sping template. Please be careful if you yank it to use it not to copy-pasta directly, as I've tweaked the breakdown settings to silly-easy for testing purposes.

MODULE
{
    name = WBIGeoThermalPlant
    ConverterName = Geothermal Power
    StartActionName = Start Geothermal
    StopActionName = Stop Geothermal
    AutoShutdown = false 
    GeneratesHeat = false //TODO: figure out how ModuleResourceConverter generates heat
    hoursPerCycle = 36 //Six days
    minimumSuccess = 2
    criticalSuccess = 95
    criticalFail = 1 //If the plant suffers a critical failure then it will break down and stop generating power.
    criticalFailModifier = 0 //Each time the plant fails is power check, the critical fail goes up by this number.
    repairSkill = Engineer
    repairResource = RocketParts
    repairAmount = 1
    showGUI = false
    efficiencyType = industry
    harvestType = 0
    planetEfficiencies = 0,0;1,1;2,0.5;3,0.3;4,0.45;5,.75;6,1;7,1;8,0;9,1;10,.7;11,.4;12,.1;13,.1;14,.25;15,.1;16,.1

    INPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = Water
        Ratio = 10
    }

	INPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ElectricCharge
        Ratio = 5
    }


    OUTPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ElectricCharge
        Ratio = 175
    }

	OUTPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = Steam
        Ratio = 10
    }


}

RESOURCE
{
    name = ElectricCharge
    amount = 2000
    maxAmount = 2000
    isTweakable = false
}

RESOURCE
{
    name = RocketParts
    amount = 1000
    maxAmount = 1000
    isTweakable = false
}

RESOURCE
{
    name = Water
    amount = 100
    maxAmount = 100
    isTweakable = false
}

RESOURCE
{
    name = Steam
    amount = 10
    maxAmount = 10
    isTweakable = false
}

Incidentally, you may notice that the system consumes 5 units of electricity. Well, simple: Water pumps don't run on well-wishes and dreams. And you need to pump water down to the geothermal sources. As I've tweaked these, any unit that would handle water would need to have a powered pump. So there will be minor consumption of electricity elsewhere. What this means for gameplay terms is that you can't just 'fire up' a geothermal without a kickstart of power.

And here is what I did in the Sun Burn lab to simulate it being a 'cooling tower'.

	MODULE
	{
		 name = ModuleResourceConverter
		 ConverterName = Cooling Unit
		 StartActionName = Start Cooling
		 StopActionName = Stop Cooling
		AutoShutdown = false
		GeneratesHeat = false
		UseSpecialistBonus = true
		SpecialistEfficiencyFactor = 0.2
		SpecialistBonusBase = 0.05
		Specialty = Engineer
		EfficiencyBonus = 1


		 INPUT_RESOURCE
		 {
			ResourceName = Steam
			Ratio = 10
			FlowMode = STAGE_PRIORITY_FLOW
  		 }
		 INPUT_RESOURCE
		 {
			ResourceName = ElectricCharge
			Ratio = 5
		 }
		 OUTPUT_RESOURCE
		 {
			ResourceName = Water
			Ratio = 10
			DumpExcess = true
			FlowMode = STAGE_PRIORITY_FLOW
		 }
	}

I essentially made it so that you need to cycle a decent amount of water per-second to get full power. In this case, I forget if the units are holding true to volume, but I'm assuming it's still in liters. So it's at least 10 liters a second. Steam, when I defined the resource, I defined it as regular steam for now at regular temperature and pressure. So it has a density around 0.5.

RESOURCE_DEFINITION
{
  name = Steam
  density = 0.5
  unitCost = 0.0001
  flowMode = STAGE_PRIORITY_FLOW
  transfer = PUMP
  isTweakable = true
}

Now, if some way to work it into a high-pressure, closed cycle steam system were used, I'd redefine steam to be higher density. Not that the mechanic of resource conversion being used right now would really notice the difference. However, for useful purposes: This Page has information on steam at various pressure levels. 1 Bar is roughly MSL if the boiling point is any indication. (I know STP in Inches. 29.92 being Standard Pressure). If you look at the Specific heat of the water/steam on the right side of the chart, you can see how increasing pressure makes it better and better at being an energy sponge.

Good times.

Edited October 9, 2015 by AdmiralTigerclaw

[CajunInABox]

I'm having some trouble with the Fireworks configuration for the Hacienda. When I click build, the production rate is effectively zero. I was having the same problems with Extraplanetary Launchpads' own survey workshop, which I managed to fix by changing the ProductivityFactor setting in the configs from its original 0.4 to 5.0 (to match the giant blue EL workshop's productivity factor). I couldn't find where to change this in Pathfinder's configs. Any ideas?

[Angelo Kerman]

I'm having some trouble with the Fireworks configuration for the Hacienda. When I click build, the production rate is effectively zero. I was having the same problems with Extraplanetary Launchpads' own survey workshop, which I managed to fix by changing the ProductivityFactor setting in the configs from its original 0.4 to 5.0 (to match the giant blue EL workshop's productivity factor). I couldn't find where to change this in Pathfinder's configs. Any ideas?

There should be a MODULE node that is named ExWorkshop. It should have ProductivityFactor = 10. I have some fixes coming this weekend that should fix it if it isn't there.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Angel, let me see if I've got this right:

Each of your parts contains a module with the line:

templateNodes = [TEMPLATE ITEM NAME]

:such as with the templateNodes = PATHFINDER

Then, in the templates folder, each type of facility template starts with the [TEMPLATE ITEM NAME] to signify which part it gets attached to.

So every template with the master name 'PATHFINDER' gets attached to the Ponderosa, while any template with 'FACTORY' gets applied to the Hacienda, correct?

I can do so much with this...

[CajunInABox]

There should be a MODULE node that is named ExWorkshop. It should have ProductivityFactor = 10. I have some fixes coming this weekend that should fix it if it isn't there.

I think I found that in the Fireworks config, called ExSurveyStation. Mine looks like this:

MODULE {
    name = ExSurveyStation


}

If that's not it, I haven't found an "ExWorkshop" module. I apologize for not being able to help more, I'm not much of a programmer

[Angelo Kerman]

I think I found that in the Fireworks config, called ExSurveyStation. Mine looks like this:

MODULE {
    name = ExSurveyStation


}

If that's not it, I haven't found an "ExWorkshop" module. I apologize for not being able to help more, I'm not much of a programmer

Ok, for whatever reason that's the older version. Ugh. Every time I go fast, stuff happens... Ok, I'll have that fixed as well this weekend.

Angel, let me see if I've got this right:

Each of your parts contains a module with the line:

templateNodes = [TEMPLATE ITEM NAME]

:such as with the templateNodes = PATHFINDER

Then, in the templates folder, each type of facility template starts with the [TEMPLATE ITEM NAME] to signify which part it gets attached to.

So every template with the master name 'PATHFINDER' gets attached to the Ponderosa, while any template with 'FACTORY' gets applied to the Hacienda, correct?

I can do so much with this...

That is correct (yay, something I did right).. Next release PATHFINDER nodes will be renamed PATH_HABITATION, SCIENCELAB nodes will become PATH_SCIENCE, and FACTORY nodes will become PATH_INDUSTRY, to make them consistent with the rest of the mod's descriptions.

I'm still thinking on your ideas for the geothermal plant, and have a way to simplify things. As I understand your concept, you turn water into steam via geothermal energy, and back into water via some cooling. One thing I can do after ditching the need for RocketParts in the converter is make Water a required resource. Stock converters have the ability to specity resources as required; basically, you cannot run the converter without x amount of resources sitting around. By making Water a required resource, I can abstract things a bit and not add a Steam resource into the mix. That way, you don't need another converter to turn steam into water. This is a good thing; too many converters running at the same time slows the game down. It makes me wonder why Squad didn't centralize all the converters into one thread and use coprocesses in their converter code...

Also, the CommunityResourcePack has a resource called ThermalPower. I'm not sure how it's used in other mods, but a resource distribution map with ThermalPower could suffice and account for 3rd party planets like OPM. Only the Hot Springs would have storage capacity for ThermalPower, I don't want a bunch of tanks holding the stuff running around, heh. Heck, I could even make ThermalPower another required resource.

So the geothermal plant could look like this:

MODULE
{
    name = WBIBreakableResourceConverter
    ConverterName = Geothermal Power
    StartActionName = Start Geothermal
    StopActionName = Stop Geothermal
    AutoShutdown = false 
    GeneratesHeat = false //TODO: figure out how ModuleResourceConverter generates heat
    hoursPerCycle = 36 //Six days
    minimumSuccess = 40
    criticalSuccess = 95
    criticalFail = 20 //If the plant suffers a critical failure then it will break down and stop generating power.
    criticalFailModifier = 2 //Each time the plant fails is power check, the critical fail goes up by this number.
    repairSkill = Engineer
    repairResource = RocketParts
    repairAmount = 500
    showGUI = false
    efficiencyType = industry
    harvestType = 0

    //You need a minimum amount of ThermalPower to function
    REQUIRED_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ThermalPower
        Ratio = 2000
    }

    //You need a minimum amount of Water to function
    REQUIRED_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = Water
        Ratio = 5000
    }

    //A small amount of ThermalPower gets consumed in the process
    INPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ThermalPower
        Ratio = .0001
    }

    //A small amount of Water gets consumed in the process
    INPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = Water
        Ratio = .0001
    }

    //This reflects a net result of EC, input EC is already factored in
    OUTPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ElectricCharge
        Ratio = 175
    }  
}

RESOURCE
{
    name = Water
    amount = 0
    maxAmount = 6000
}

RESOURCE
{
   name = ThermalPower
   amount = 0
   maxAmount = 3000
}

Edited October 10, 2015 by Angel-125

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

I believe Thermal Power is used by KSPI and is a product of the various nuclear reactors. I'd be careful making use of that one.

Now, something I'm trying to do myself is create an upscaled mining unit out of the factory. Code below:

FACTORY
{
  author = Admiral Tigerclaw
  name = ClaimJumper
  title = Claim Jumper Mining Station
  shortName = ClaimJumper
  TechRequired = advMetalworks
  description = If you're tired of panning for gold with a tiny drill that seems to extract ore at a rate of 'never-per-day', then you may find it time to move up to something a 

little more substantial.  The Claim Jumper may just be what you've been dreaming of.  Made with anti-static, dust-resistant materials, and a much bigger drill, you can rest assured 

that mining operations will be completed at the blistering speed of a slow walk.
  mass = 5
  rocketParts = 2000
  reconfigureSkill = Engineer
  logoPanel = WildBlueIndustries/Pathfinder/Decals/MetallicOre
  glowPanel = WildBlueIndustries/Pathfinder/Decals/MetallicOreGlow
  toolTip = Need a bigger drill?  Convert your facility into a fully operational mining station.  Then dig away.
  toolTipTitle = Your first mining station



//MODULE
//{
//    name = WBIEfficiencyMonitor
//    efficiencyType = industry
//    harvestType = 0
//}

RESOURCE
{
    name = ElectricCharge
    amount = 200
    maxAmount = 200
    isTweakable = true
}


MODULE
{
    name = ModuleResourceHarvester
    HarvesterType = 0
    Efficiency = 2
    ResourceName = Ore
    ConverterName = Surface Harvester
    StartActionName = Start Drilling
    StopActionName = Stop Drilling
    ImpactTransform = ImpactTransform
    ImpactRange = 5
    AutoShutdown = false
    GeneratesHeat = false
    UseSpecialistBonus = true
    SpecialistEfficiencyFactor = 0.2
    SpecialistBonusBase = 0.05
    Specialty = Engineer
    EfficiencyBonus = 1

    INPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ElectricCharge
        Ratio = 20
    }
}

MODULE
{
    name = ModuleAsteroidDrill
    DirectAttach = false
    StartActionName = Start Drilling
    StopActionName = Stop Drilling
    PowerConsumption = 0.5
    Efficiency = 1
    ImpactRange = 5
    ImpactTransform = ImpactTransform
    UseSpecialistBonus = true
    AutoShutdown = false
    GeneratesHeat = false
    UseSpecialistBonus = true
    SpecialistEfficiencyFactor = 0.2
    SpecialistBonusBase = 0.05
    Specialty = Engineer
    EfficiencyBonus = 1
}


//MODULE
//{
//    name = ModuleAnimationGroup
//    deployAnimationName = Drill_Deploy
//    activeAnimationName = Drill_Running
//    moduleType = Drill
//}




}

So far, The template sets up in the Hacienda nicely, but I'm stuck trying to figure the drill function out. I want it to be a much larger, more industrious mining station so I don't have to haul a dozen core sample drills or one bulky drill into place, but so far I can only get it to say the drill is active, but not actually draw up anything at all. Not to mention I don't get any drill reconfigure options. So effectively, it turns on, and eats power, but does nothing.

Ideally, I'd like to sink the controls into the interface you've built for the pathfinder modules. (The radio-button on-offs), but I'm not sure how much is cfg, and how much is swapped into your dll plugins.

Edit: Continuing my thoughts.

I've already tried tinkering with some of the drill code, as you might note by the comment-outs. But so far, no experiments in the code have yielded any results other than making things worse. (I wasn't expecting much from the animation code, maybe an off-chance that the drill code was looking for deployment state before doing anything. All I got when I deployed was for the status to be 'moving' eternally. So that set of code got commented out in case I learn something to come back to it.) Just kind of baffles me. The code is all but identical modules to the drill, the 'Claim Jumper', by all rights should be extracting ore. I know the core sample drill was.

Edited October 10, 2015 by AdmiralTigerclaw

[Angelo Kerman]

I believe Thermal Power is used by KSPI and is a product of the various nuclear reactors. I'd be careful making use of that one.

Now, something I'm trying to do myself is create an upscaled mining unit out of the factory. Code below:

FACTORY
{
  author = Admiral Tigerclaw
  name = ClaimJumper
  title = Claim Jumper Mining Station
  shortName = ClaimJumper
  TechRequired = advMetalworks
  description = If you're tired of panning for gold with a tiny drill that seems to extract ore at a rate of 'never-per-day', then you may find it time to move up to something a 

little more substantial.  The Claim Jumper may just be what you've been dreaming of.  Made with anti-static, dust-resistant materials, and a much bigger drill, you can rest assured 

that mining operations will be completed at the blistering speed of a slow walk.
  mass = 5
  rocketParts = 2000
  reconfigureSkill = Engineer
  logoPanel = WildBlueIndustries/Pathfinder/Decals/MetallicOre
  glowPanel = WildBlueIndustries/Pathfinder/Decals/MetallicOreGlow
  toolTip = Need a bigger drill?  Convert your facility into a fully operational mining station.  Then dig away.
  toolTipTitle = Your first mining station



//MODULE
//{
//    name = WBIEfficiencyMonitor
//    efficiencyType = industry
//    harvestType = 0
//}

RESOURCE
{
    name = ElectricCharge
    amount = 200
    maxAmount = 200
    isTweakable = true
}


MODULE
{
    name = ModuleResourceHarvester
    HarvesterType = 0
    Efficiency = 2
    ResourceName = Ore
    ConverterName = Surface Harvester
    StartActionName = Start Drilling
    StopActionName = Stop Drilling
    ImpactTransform = ImpactTransform
    ImpactRange = 5
    AutoShutdown = false
    GeneratesHeat = false
    UseSpecialistBonus = true
    SpecialistEfficiencyFactor = 0.2
    SpecialistBonusBase = 0.05
    Specialty = Engineer
    EfficiencyBonus = 1

    INPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ElectricCharge
        Ratio = 20
    }
}

MODULE
{
    name = ModuleAsteroidDrill
    DirectAttach = false
    StartActionName = Start Drilling
    StopActionName = Stop Drilling
    PowerConsumption = 0.5
    Efficiency = 1
    ImpactRange = 5
    ImpactTransform = ImpactTransform
    UseSpecialistBonus = true
    AutoShutdown = false
    GeneratesHeat = false
    UseSpecialistBonus = true
    SpecialistEfficiencyFactor = 0.2
    SpecialistBonusBase = 0.05
    Specialty = Engineer
    EfficiencyBonus = 1
}


//MODULE
//{
//    name = ModuleAnimationGroup
//    deployAnimationName = Drill_Deploy
//    activeAnimationName = Drill_Running
//    moduleType = Drill
//}




}

So far, The template sets up in the Hacienda nicely, but I'm stuck trying to figure the drill function out. I want it to be a much larger, more industrious mining station so I don't have to haul a dozen core sample drills or one bulky drill into place, but so far I can only get it to say the drill is active, but not actually draw up anything at all. Not to mention I don't get any drill reconfigure options. So effectively, it turns on, and eats power, but does nothing.

Ideally, I'd like to sink the controls into the interface you've built for the pathfinder modules. (The radio-button on-offs), but I'm not sure how much is cfg, and how much is swapped into your dll plugins.

Edit: Continuing my thoughts.

I've already tried tinkering with some of the drill code, as you might note by the comment-outs. But so far, no experiments in the code have yielded any results other than making things worse. (I wasn't expecting much from the animation code, maybe an off-chance that the drill code was looking for deployment state before doing anything. All I got when I deployed was for the status to be 'moving' eternally. So that set of code got commented out in case I learn something to come back to it.) Just kind of baffles me. The code is all but identical modules to the drill, the 'Claim Jumper', by all rights should be extracting ore. I know the core sample drill was.

Interesting. Hope you can get something that works for you. Also, you can use the stock Drill-O-Matic to extract a variety of different resources, just like the Gold Digger. The idea was that the Gold Digger was intended for scientific research but jurry-rigged to dig up resources. Once you unlock the Drill-O-Matic you can hook one up to your base and go to town. Once I get back to the wiki documentation, I'll make that apparent.

Thanks for the info on ThermalPower, I'm defining a custom resource called GeoEnergy.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Angel-125