WIP: D.E.F.L.E.C.T.O.R Shield - For those overcooked re-entries (literally)

[kimiko]

De-Fluctuating Energy Capacitor for Temperate or Overcooked Re-entries Shield

(D.E.F.L.E.C.T.O.R Shield)

This add-on desperately needs balancing, please read below for more info!

Credits:

Thanks to IRnifty for letting me use his "sound manager" code!

Thanks to Merill for providing me with some code.

Thanks to NathanKell for helping me out with some questions.

Thanks to everyone who have been asking and answering common newbie questions on the forum.

Thanks to everyone who have lots of useful //notes in their code.

Ramble

Ever since I installed Deadly Re-entry back in .23.5 (or was it .25) I had an idea of making some kind of cooling system that could be used on all sorts of aircraft parts. The initial idea was some sort of ablative gel coming out of small ports placed underneath the craft (think sun lotion), but that would require some Vector3D understanding, (and maybe worse, ray tracing), which is way above my mental capacity. So the decision was made to instead make small ports for one-use coolant fluid (Cool Goo TM). However, as I started dabbling around with the air-combat missions for the N.A.N.A contracts pack I realized I also needed something to help extend some of the escort and protection missions as the BDArmory AI are extremely accurate with the guns. So I thought I'd hit two birds with the same stone, with dual purpose. Which is probably best as I realized after 1.0 released: It's entirely possible and relatively easy to re-enter Kerbin without so much as a single temperature gauge pop up, so it sort of made the add-on a bit redundant. Nevertheless! Here it is!

Cool Goo TM? Aloe Vera? -- early experiments ahaha

Parts

No new models or textures (keeps the memory down). Stock Parts are recycled using Module Manager.

The add-on introduces five new parts, and some new resources (where only one is player relevant).

• A 1.25m In-line D.E.F.L.E.C.T.O.R Shield Generator. For avoiding Kerbals that kling on to your vessel when you're trying to launch.
  
• A 2.50m In-line D.E.F.L.E.C.T.O.R Shield Generator. For use on the Fourth of July (may catch a cold).
  
• A 3.75m In-line D.E.F.L.E.C.T.O.R Shield Generator. For use with your fully armed and operational battle station.
  
• A Radial Container with Cool Goo TM. For storing extra Cool Goo TM.
  
• A Radial Shield Booster. For improving shield integrity, at the cost of shield generator heat.
  

All parts are located in the Command and Control tab.

Relations with other add-ons

Dependencies:

• Module Manager
  

Recommended:

• Heat Management
  

For testing:

• BDArmory
  

Incomparable:

• Reserved
  

Before Re-Entry, charge up your shields. This is done by right clicking the generator, setting the Regen. Output to an appropriate level and press the Start Generator button. The Shield Integrity bar should now start to rise. This will consume Electric Charge depending on the output level. You can leave the generator on even if it has reached 100%, as it will not consume charge. Note that higher output levels will cause the shield integrity to rise faster, however it is exponentially more Electric Charge consuming.

Next up is to chose the appropriate temperature percentage at which you want your shields to start protecting. This can be done with the Shield Threshold slider. The default is 39% as the game will start showing temperature bars at 40% for most parts (it seems).

As you reach atmosphere you should now push the Shields Up button to activate the shield. This can be done before-hand as it will have no detrimental effects as long as the temperature is not passing the Shield Threshold.

When a parts temperature reaches the set temperature threshold the part will start glowing blue, indicating that it's being shielded (see top image for reference). When a part is being shielded you will start to lose shield integrity. The shield integrity loss is determined by how much heat the part should have had without shielding and the surface area of the part. You can counteract the loss by increasing the Regen. Output. As it is it is exponentially more costly to run at higher outputs, careful balancing is required so you do not risk running out of electric energy.

As you start shielding, the shield generator will destabilize and start to heat up. The amount of heat is determined by the same values above. If your shield should reach critical levels, there is built in emergency Cool Goo TM reservoir which you can inject into the core to stabilize it and cool it down. However, it is highly recommended that you use heat-sinks and radiators from Randazzo's Heat Management add-on as Cool Goo TM is, due to its special properties, expensive and hard to come by.

If you should be in need of some extra shielding, you can radially mount a shield booster to the Shield Generator. The booster will vastly improve your shield integrity, however due to its unstable nature, it will also cause the shield generator to heat up easier.

It is recommended that you strategically place the generator within your vessel, as the generator itself is not shielded. The generator also have high heat conductivity so it should not be attached to fragile parts. Ideally it should be isolated by using heat-sinks. Note that heat-sinks and radiators are not shielded.

Lastly, having a Scott or a Wookie or a blue droid in the crew will improve your shield regeneration.

Deflector Shield Cooling Tower for your capital ships perhaps?

HELP testing and tweaking!

As this type of add-on naturally comes with a large "cheaty"-factor, I wanted to make it a bit challenging to use. However, this proved to be extremely complicated as I have practically no knowledge in programming and game design (and physics for that matter). Thus, it may have ended up a bit too challenging. Therefore I'd like to enlist some help in trying to make it more balanced. And if someone is really eager, help clean up, and improve the plug-in itself.

I have only tested it with the type of ships that I usually build, and it have somewhat worked out. However, this may differ greatly from other peoples play style. My aim was to be able to re-enter with stock, "regular"-sized crafts (whatever that means), with not too much hassle. Then use heat-sinks, boosters and Cool Goo TM for larger ones. I.e. 1.25 are meant for 1.25 ships and MK2, 2.5 are meant for 2.5 and MK3 and 3.5 are meant for... those those star destroyers etc. The 2.5 and 3.75 are the least tested.

I have yet to test it with BDArmory, but will probably need some tweaking for it to work. The first priority is to make it work for re-entry. I also have no idea how this will work with Deadly Re-entry, or any other add-ons that has to do with heat.

To summarize: It would be very helpful if you could try it out and post your thoughts about it, maybe even a picture of the vessel you tested it on, the total surface area, and amount of parts being protected (glowing blue).

If you are .CFG adept: All important variables are available to dabble around with, so I invite you to have a go!

If you are C# adept, I welcome you to have a look at the code (warning: very messy) to see how it's all calculated!

WARNING

This is a very much a work in progress and needs tweaking to both code and game-play, and maybe even visuals, and should be used mainly for testing purposes (e.g. a new save or a separate copy of the game), as it may destroy your save/game. This is created by someone who's formal education is business innovation and marketing, as well as linguistics. Programming and game development-related things are merely something picked up by reading the KSP forums. You have been warned!

Known Issues (That I don't really know how to fix yet)

• Right-clicking the Shield Generator in the VAB/SPH will cause massive frame-drop.
  
• Sound effects play while paused.
  
• Balancing
  

Possible future things (if I can get level up by that time)

• More support parts (Shield boosters, Cool Goo TM tanks etc.).
  
• Start/Stop sound effects.
  
• Actual visual effects (when I figure out how to handle FXgroups)
  
• Comparability for BDArmory
  
• Proper GUI (if I can figure out how it's done)
  
• Custom parts tab
  

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Licence, source code etc.

• Licences for the respective add-ons referred to in this add-on are dictated by their specific creators. Check the links above to go directly to the authors thread.
  

• The licence for the original content in this add-on is: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  

• The "Sound Manager" code is created by forum user IRnifty and is used with permission from the author.
  

• The source code is provided in the download.
  

---------------

If there is anything offensive; any intellectual property transgressions; or anything against certain rules or terms of service in anything above or concerning the add-on, please inform me ASAP.

Edited May 31, 2015 by kimiko
language issues... again..again.. again

[JeffreyCor]

Love this idea! Will be trying it out for sure Quick peek at the config I might suggest part of balance for it to come late in the tree and probably staggered, unlocking the smaller models first then larger ones as technology advances.

[Tyren]

Well i tried for some spins now, but one of my mods seem to break it...no shielding for any parts, modded or stock doesnt matter....arrrw annoying

- - - Updated - - -

I will restock my install and test it again.^^

- - - Updated - - -

Update again: even with a complete stock install nothing happens...

[Tyren]

Just that no one forgets this mod Mabe you could let the visual effects be applied like the heating effect of reentry? A craft shaped blue overlay?

[Randazzo]

I shall try this!

[Seeker89]

So... how much heat could this take on?

Like if I was going towards kerbin at like 10k m/s with no heat sheld, a heat management device and this. would I burn up?

[Tyren]

Probably not, if you have enough electrical power to sustain shield regen, that is. But i think there is a limit to the regeneration value, at 10 km/s the drain will overcome the reg i guess.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Tyren
typos grmpf

[Tyren]

Update: tested it with my clean install, works pretty well.

Had a 4km/s reentry from Jool, the whole ship glowed blue But the energy drain is remarkable, be sure to have enough energy generation with you.

[Randazzo]

I may be doing something wrong (or something else might be conflicting), but my shields never charge and the generator never produces any heat either. It worked when I manually altered the lines I was instructed not to alter within the CFG, but otherwise no joy.

[kimiko]

Love this idea! Will be trying it out for sure Quick peek at the config I might suggest part of balance for it to come late in the tree and probably staggered, unlocking the smaller models first then larger ones as technology advances.

Yeah, you're quite right! It's a bit to magical to get early on. I'm thinking it could be spread on the same level, but different branches. Thanks!

Just that no one forgets this mod Mabe you could let the visual effects be applied like the heating effect of reentry? A craft shaped blue overlay?

I initially wanted to have a proper "bubble" effect! But at the moment I have very limited knowledge with Unity and the likes, so I have to stick with the blue glow until I'll get smarter! xD

I shall try this!

Excellent!

So... how much heat could this take on?

Like if I was going towards kerbin at like 10k m/s with no heat sheld, a heat management device and this. would I burn up?

No clue. Never tried it. Haha. I never imagined or intended such extreme speeds, but as Tyren said, there may be a chance if you have ridiculous amount of energy, and run on full capacity.

Your question is actually a bit of a dilemma for me. While I was creating and testing this thing, I was thinking of this as a sort of "multi-purpose, one-fits-all-shapes-of-ship heat-shield". Which, for a bit of extra weight and hassle, could get any "normal" type of ship through the atmosphere at "normal"-ish or emergency conditions.

But the more I mess around with it, I'm starting to think that maybe there is really no need for such after all. Since bringing the shield will add more mass and prompt less manoeuvrability, which is sort of what is (not) needed for normal aero-breaking anyway (and key factors for non-overheat re-entries). So it may be that bringing the shield generator will result in the need for it, and not bringing it results in not needing it. Sort of like having life-support generators (greenhouses) that basically converts LS of electric charge. Wouldn't need life-support function in the first place, it's just one more extra part.

So at the moment I'm considering tuning it for a bit more "ridiculous" use. o.O

Update: tested it with my clean install, works pretty well.

Had a 4km/s reentry from Jool, the whole ship glowed blue But the energy drain is remarkable, be sure to have enough energy generation with you.

Ahaha excellent! Glad to see you made it work! (any idea why it didn't the first time?). Also, do you think it was too much drain? I am, as you can see, considering "nerfing" it a bit.

[Seeker89]

So with some testing.... lol...

Hitting kerbin at about 9k m/s, I got to about 14k before overheat and exploding...

the second time was different, I added heat management system. Hitting kerbin about 9K m/s. some things did over heat, and a battery between the heat management system and the cockpit exploded but it made it through and landed... well crashed, killing everyone... but that's not the point..

[Tyren]

well i think the energy drain is good enough and i am glad you made this mod. going hypersonic is no fun with popping off control surfaces. Only one thing: my landing gear seems to be ignored from the shield, with DRE it burns up pretty fast...i lost Bill and Bob through this

[duckofthemoon]

This loks cool, could you also tune it to work with FAR? I only use FAR and I have been finding stuff overheats when i'm going at mach 4

[Tyren]

FAR shouldnt have an influence on this mod...except aerodynamic failure...how did u set up your shield generator?

[cavilier210]

Is this project still being worked on? I'm incredibly interested.

[TwinKerbal]

Is this still WIP? or is it finished?

[Jimbobalany]

Can you update this for 1.3.1?

[Jellybomb39]

On 6/3/2015 at 7:28 AM, Randazzo said:

I may be doing something wrong (or something else might be conflicting), but my shields never charge and the generator never produces any heat either. It worked when I manually altered the lines I was instructed not to alter within the CFG, but otherwise no joy.

I know I am three years to late, but I am having the same problem and was wondering if you could show me how to get it to work or just copy and paste the code. Thanks!

[Randazzo]

On 7/9/2018 at 7:00 PM, Jellybomb39 said:

I know I am three years to late, but I am having the same problem and was wondering if you could show me how to get it to work or just copy and paste the code. Thanks!

I'm afraid I don't have any idea what I did so long ago. I haven't had this or kerbal installed for a long while. Sorry.

 

[PalowPower]

Please Update...

I can't find a shield Mod that is 1.11.1 compatible...

[OrdinaryKerman]

5 hours ago, PalowPower said:

Please Update...

I can't find a shield Mod that is 1.11.1 compatible...

The mod author last visited the Forums over 3 years ago, and it's unlikely that they will suddenly return now.

[Ilya_G]

On 4/13/2021 at 11:49 PM, PalowPower said:

Please Update...

I can't find a shield Mod that is 1.11.1 compatible...

It is unlikely that the author will update it, because he has not been here for 6 years, and the last messages from his page were sent back in the 16th year

But the projects of this author are quite unique. It would be a pity to lose them forever...

I played around with the mod a bit and found out that apart from the nightmare in the form of the absence of any sorting, the dll file interferes with the loading of parts (to be more precise, the module that is located there does not allow the parts to load at all). I can share my best practices if you want, but they are unlikely to change anything