[1.0.4] Maritime Pack - 0.1.4

[Fengist]

Cool, so you found a way for keeled hulls to work? Because the hull of the patrol boat is definetly non-flat.

Will you take over boat parts?

Boat Parts + Maritime Pack

Well, it's been hinted at for weeks now so, time to make it semi official.

Here's how it began.

If you go back in this thread a good ways, you'll see some posts from InfiniteDice (ID) saying if he could be of any assistance to let him know. We exchanged a few private mails on the forums and he ended up giving me his skype name. A few weeks ago, I started working on Subs and knew he'd solved the problem with the fact that when viewed from below, the surface of water in KSP is... well... not there. So, I got into a chat with him and he gladly gave me rights to use his code that fixed that problem. I went to work. Not knowing a DAMN thing about C# but having some coding background in Pascal and PHP, I started tinkering. In the midst of that tinkering, ID and I got to chatting pretty frequently. ID is working on another project based on the Unity engine. He's pretty heavily involved in it and as a result, indicated he doesn't really have time to manage the Boat Parts thread or keep up with the parts themselves. As a matter of fact, his parts haven't been updated since the big 'Node Debacle" with .90 when all of the connection nodes in the .cfg files got nerfed. Which means, his parts didn't connect any more. What ID does enjoy doing is coding. And he's good at it. So, we began discussing the possibility of putting both of our salty heads together and making both of our packs better in the process.

Where it is now.

While we haven't hashed out all the details, here's what we discussed. And keep in mind, this may change. Since ID doesn't really have the time to manage his pack, I agreed to help him in that area. The Boat Parts thread will (remember this is tentative) will be shut down. We haven't decided if this thread will shut down as well or not. Either way, this thread or a new thread will become the home for both Maritime Pack and Boat Parts. I'll basically be working with the parts. Redoing all the .cfg files (which is already mostly done) and managing the combined forum thread. ID is going to handle the vast majority of the coding with me bashing the keyboard doing some coding. This way, he can focus on what he's good at. I have a background in Public Affairs and Journalism so managing the forum thread is right up my alley (hence all the WOT posts). With the two of us working together, hopefully, both packs will be improved as a result.

What's to come.

This is where things get fun. First, ID has been working on an entirely new 'float code' for boats. Your first question may be, "why?" AFAIK there's only 2 other mods that mess with KSP flotation: Firespitter and Better Buoyancy. Firespitter's code was written to handle aircraft pontoons. While it works, it leaves a lot to be desired. V hull ships still don't work with it. Better Buoyancy was written because apparently Ferram can't fly using his aerodynamic mod without crashing into the ocean. Rather than learn how to fly, he changed the physics of water. It does little or nothing to help boats. This will be the first plugin specifically designed for maritime usage. And, it's impressive.

I'm still working on a civilian submarine but I've been diving into code as well. I just completed a plugin that works with engines and animations. When the engine is started, the animation plays. When the engine is shut down, the animation reverses itself. Optionally, it can be throttle based. If your throttle is at 50%, the animation plays to the 50% point and stops. And there's smoothing so that if you instantly drop the throttle from 100% to 0, the animation plays gradually rather than instantly.

I also have working code to close air intakes underwater and to shut down engines specifically designed for water usage. I know that'll put a serious thorn in Jatwaa's behind but realistically guy, paddlewheels should not make good aircraft.

Eventually, I'm hoping both the plugins that ID is working on and the one I'm working on will be generic enough that they can be used on any mod.

And there's lots... LOTS more changes coming.

For now, our primary goal is getting Boat Parts with his carrier and his sub back on the board with a new set of code that works.

- - - Updated - - -

Hello everyone,

I do not want to seem as if I am advertising my mod at all but I saw a while back someone ask about new parts to move a vessel into the sea; especially since KerbinSide's ocean bases have not been updated yet.

You're more than welcome to dive in Whitecat. Since your mod is pretty specific to boats and since the only two mariners on Kerbin appear to be joining forces, this would be the place to advertise.

I can tell you though that when this merger does happen, ID has water launch code. I'm not certain if I'm going to apply it to Maritime as it's just too much like hyperedit cheating to me.

- - - Updated - - -

Actually i had a look and there was only really the clipper parts.

Then you may have gotten a bad download or you downloaded an old pack. Make sure to delete the entire Maritime Pack directory before installing 0.1.4. It creates a new directory structure. If you don't delete it, it'll produce some odd results.

- - - Updated - - -

you posted this back in June this is exactly what i meant when i said ship of the line, except bigger

now i only need cannons...

Acually, that was from the steampunk mod and he does have cannons. It just doesn't float all that well.

- - - Updated - - -

I'd like to report a bug that I've been having issues with but have not seen reported here before. It seems that the clipper deck adapter likes to randomly overheat like I've heard cubic octagonal struts like to do in stock (I use stock bugfix modules). This issue only happened on my paddle-replica of the USS Langley, probably because it used a ton of them for the runway. This issue actually led to it's demise when I turned on physics warp while testing Lack's nuclear ramjet within physics range of the KSC. The crew survived, but the entire runway was separated from the ship.

Ok, this is a new one to me. I looked into the config and the heat tolerances are in line with the rest of the parts. So, questions arise. Are you blasting these parts with engines? Do you have non-Maritime Pack parts on your boat that generate heat? Unlike CVE parts, the crash tolerance on that part isn't that high. I really didn't expect anyone to use it for a flight deck. You may want to try upping that tolerance in the .cfg and see if that solves the problem.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Fengist

[smjjames]

Boat Parts + Maritime Pack

-snip-

Awesome.

What's to come.

This is where things get fun. First, ID has been working on an entirely new 'float code' for boats. Your first question may be, "why?" AFAIK there's only 2 other mods that mess with KSP flotation: Firespitter and Better Buoyancy. Firespitter's code was written to handle aircraft pontoons. While it works, it leaves a lot to be desired. V hull ships still don't work with it. Better Buoyancy was written because apparently Ferram can't fly using his aerodynamic mod without crashing into the ocean. Rather than learn how to fly, he changed the physics of water. It does little or nothing to help boats. This will be the first plugin specifically designed for maritime usage. And, it's impressive.

Personally, I prefer Better Buoyancy over stock because stock water is really bouncy to the point of near absurdity.

Also, do either you or Infinite Dice know anything about water simulation in Unity 5.2? While SQUAD hasn't said much about the water simulation, there likely will be changes.

I also have working code to close air intakes underwater and to shut down engines specifically designed for water usage. I know that'll put a serious thorn in Jatwaa's behind but realistically guy, paddlewheels should not make good aircraft.

Lol! I had also found that out myself too, totally by accident.

I'd like to report a bug that I've been having issues with but have not seen reported here before. It seems that the clipper deck adapter likes to randomly overheat like I've heard cubic octagonal struts like to do in stock (I use stock bugfix modules). This issue only happened on my paddle-replica of the USS Langley, probably because it used a ton of them for the runway. This issue actually led to it's demise when I turned on physics warp while testing Lack's nuclear ramjet within physics range of the KSC. The crew survived, but the entire runway was separated from the ship.

It might have something to do with part clipping. The outrigger main part and the outrigger sections ABSOLUTELY HATE parts clipping into them and will heat up extremely quickly when you launch.

I've also run into issues when doing physics warp where the boat parts will heat up. That may have had to do with the blisters though.

[crasher925]

Acually, that was from the steampunk mod and he does have cannons. It just doesn't float all that well.

can i have a link?

[EdusacconBR]

MY CARRIERS WILL BE BACK

and what about swimming/diving plugin from ID?

[Fengist]

MY CARRIERS WILL BE BACK

and what about swimming/diving plugin from ID?

Swimming code.... included

- - - Updated - - -

can i have a link?

linky

[crasher925]

linky

thanks!

[mike9606]

I think my problem may be related to the fact that I am running the last pre-release version of the new parts, not the actual release version even though I remember it being said redownloading was not required.

[ThatOneBritishGuy...]

Fengist! Have you seen this?

We now have an actual reason to send subs to other planets (or at least we will soom^tm). Time to recreate the 2045 Europe submarine mission in 2015!

Also big congrats on the merge. As I supporter of this mod from (almost) day 1, I've watched the mod since the beginning and I'll say with certainty that this is the largest step forward you've taken since release . Best of luck to both you and ID.

Edited September 14, 2015 by ThatOneBritishGuy...

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Hey Fengist, whatever it is you embedded in your opening post of this thread HATES either IE or Adblock Plus. It locks the browser window up and even CTD'd my browser at least twice. You might want to lighten the load.

Also, just got done setting a container ship up. Put giant tracks on the bottom to get it to the water, and once there, got it going at 90 knots. If I had downloaded the BDArmory cannon turrets, I'd be all of going along to

tune.

[ThatOneBritishGuy...]

Hey Fengist, whatever it is you embedded in your opening post of this thread HATES either IE or Adblock Plus. It locks the browser window up and even CTD'd my browser at least twice. You might want to lighten the load.

Also, just got done setting a container ship up. Put giant tracks on the bottom to get it to the water, and once there, got it going at 90 knots. If I had downloaded the BDArmory cannon turrets, I'd be all of going along to

tune.

You mean Sketchfab? I use Adblock Plus and it works great for me. No idea what you mean by IE.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

You mean Sketchfab? I use Adblock Plus and it works great for me. No idea what you mean by IE.

I don't know what he's got on the page, but it's causing significant lockups with Internet Explorer (IE)*. And by lockups, I mean, I navigate onto the page with the OP, and the browser tab for it locks up and doesn't so much as allow me to scroll or even interact with it. Then it 'might' let me burst scroll before it either crashes the window entirely, or flashes the '[location] is unresponsive' message. I tried neutralizing ABP after last time when a similar chain of events actually killed the ABP engine. Jury's still out on that one. Seems like it both did, and didn't work. (Worked well enough to nab the DL, still had sketchy behavior on the OP.) I don't know.

*(And before anyone comes in here and goes 'Don't use X browser, use Y browser!', no. We're not going to start an argument about which browser and/or software is best while everyone else has the wool pulled over their eyes. This is a standard browser and there is something wrong with whatever was implemented on the front page. I should have zero issue with going to the OP and... Interacting at all.)

[Fengist]

I don't know what he's got on the page, but it's causing significant lockups with Internet Explorer (IE)*. And by lockups, I mean, I navigate onto the page with the OP, and the browser tab for it locks up and doesn't so much as allow me to scroll or even interact with it. Then it 'might' let me burst scroll before it either crashes the window entirely, or flashes the '[location] is unresponsive' message. I tried neutralizing ABP after last time when a similar chain of events actually killed the ABP engine. Jury's still out on that one. Seems like it both did, and didn't work. (Worked well enough to nab the DL, still had sketchy behavior on the OP.) I don't know.

*(And before anyone comes in here and goes 'Don't use X browser, use Y browser!', no. We're not going to start an argument about which browser and/or software is best while everyone else has the wool pulled over their eyes. This is a standard browser and there is something wrong with whatever was implemented on the front page. I should have zero issue with going to the OP and... Interacting at all.)

Hey Fengist, whatever it is you embedded in your opening post of this thread HATES either IE or Adblock Plus. It locks the browser window up and even CTD'd my browser at least twice. You might want to lighten the load.

Also, just got done setting a container ship up. Put giant tracks on the bottom to get it to the water, and once there, got it going at 90 knots. If I had downloaded the BDArmory cannon turrets, I'd be all of going along to

tune.

Normally I use Chrome or Edge which has no problem. I hadn't fired up IE in quite a while, but the instant I did and loaded the page, I saw the problem (I used a naked copy that came with Win 10 that I've never even started before). It's the sketchfab 3D imbeds. For some reason, the new IE has issues with WebGL, which is what sketchfab uses. I'll refrain from embedding any more until that's fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.

And there's no argument. You should be able to use any browser you want. If one has issues with some images I embedded, the images go away. Fact is, there's this big donate button on the OP and I want everyone to see it regardless of their browser . There are some more embeds somewhere in the middle of this thread, pardon me if I don't go digging for them.

- - - Updated - - -

I think my problem may be related to the fact that I am running the last pre-release version of the new parts, not the actual release version even though I remember it being said redownloading was not required.

The prerelease is almost identical (change to the Bathysphere causing a crash) to the final release. I have no idea why you're not seeing parts. Can you do a screenshot of the directory structure?

- - - Updated - - -

Fengist! Have you seen this?

We now have an actual reason to send subs to other planets (or at least we will soom^tm). Time to recreate the 2045 Europe submarine mission in 2015!

Because all my days are now spent in a stripped down 'dev' copy of KSP, I almost never download and install other mods. Hell, I haven't played my 'game' copy now in... several months. When you have to restart KSP 30 times in one sitting just to find out why your .dll is causing null ref's, you quickly learn that more mods = more waiting.

While I'm aware of Kopernicus, I've never used it. But, you informing me of this has changed my mind about one thing. I've been discussing with ID of setting a hard limit for dives to 1,000m (the point where the stock sea floor becomes penetrable). What you have made me realize is that should be an option in the .cfg for the main sub part so that should someone be using this mod, it'll allow for deeper dives.

Thanks

Also big congrats on the merge. As I supporter of this mod from (almost) day 1, I've watched the mod since the beginning and I'll say with certainty that this is the largest step forward you've taken since release . Best of luck to both you and ID.

Thanks, it's going to mean a lot more work trying to manage 2 mods but, the end result will be lots more boats for you guys (and the bigger carrier monkey will be off my back for a while). I've already resigned myself to the fact that getting done what I want is gonna take a long... long time and Maritime will probably be so large in the end that you'll have to select which parts you really want and ditch the rest. Someone said early in my modding that, together, Dice and I could rule the oceans. We'll, just like every country that has tried to rule the oceans I'm learning that while the imagination sets the limits, accomplishing that task won't be done overnight.

Edited September 14, 2015 by Fengist

[mike9606]

The problem I'm having isn't that parts are not appearing but that the clipper deck adapter likes to overheat and explode, especially when there are a lot of them together.

[Fengist]

The problem I'm having isn't that parts are not appearing but that the clipper deck adapter likes to overheat and explode, especially when there are a lot of them together.

Ah right, getting 2 problems confused. When exactly do they overheat? When sitting still, when moving, etc? Just wondering how I can reproduce these results.

Edited September 14, 2015 by Fengist

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Normally I use Chrome or Edge which has no problem. I hadn't fired up IE in quite a while, but the instant I did and loaded the page, I saw the problem (I used a naked copy that came with Win 10 that I've never even started before). It's the sketchfab 3D imbeds. For some reason, the new IE has issues with WebGL, which is what sketchfab uses. I'll refrain from embedding any more until that's fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.

And there's no argument. You should be able to use any browser you want. If one has issues with some images I embedded, the images go away. Fact is, there's this big donate button on the OP and I want everyone to see it regardless of their browser . There are some more embeds somewhere in the middle of this thread, pardon me if I don't go digging for them.

No worries. I was just preempting. I've got a friend whom I was actually talking to on Skype while perusing the page, and he was all critical of my browser choice almost the moment I started expressing my irritation. It irritates me when something I have works just fine forever, and then the one time I run into a problem, everyone comes out of the woodwork to tell me how horrible the thing I'm using is and how typical it is of developer X that said problem appears.

I'm like:

"Really? Naught but the occasional one-off problem every six to eight months considering almost non-stop 6 to 12 hour use every day, and that is 'horrible'?"

Especially if it concerns people taking a chance for an At Bat at Microsoft to try and 'sell' Firefox or Google Chrome, or whatever. The behavior can be tiresome. So yeah, like I said, I was preempting before someone decided when they spotted that comment to come in here and proselytize at me.

[colmo]

Boat Parts + Maritime Pack

Yes!

I'm still working on a civilian submarine but I've been diving into code as well.

Baddum-tish!

I also have working code to close air intakes underwater and to shut down engines specifically designed for water usage. I know that'll put a serious thorn in Jatwaa's behind but realistically guy, paddlewheels should not make good aircraft.

Can engines be made non-air driven by aggressively curtailing their performance curves, such that their thrust hits zero as soon as they reach >0m altitude?

And there's lots... LOTS more changes coming.

For now, our primary goal is getting Boat Parts with his carrier and his sub back on the board with a new set of code that works.

Looking forward to this a lot - I've wondering what a carrier with a civilian Maritime texture theme will look like. And if that untidy broken stuff (there for a damange mod that never was) on the underside of the landing deck can be removed, that'd be great. Dice had a destroyer hull quite a while ago (>1 year), even showed it off on YouTube. Will that finally see light of day?

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Hey Fengist, whatever it is you embedded in your opening post of this thread HATES either IE or Adblock Plus. It locks the browser window up and even CTD'd my browser at least twice. You might want to lighten the load.

Also, just got done setting a container ship up. Put giant tracks on the bottom to get it to the water, and once there, got it going at 90 knots. If I had downloaded the BDArmory cannon turrets, I'd be all of going along to

tune.

Yes, I get that too with IE. It's sketchfab, a while ago it just didn't load the model, but now...

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

As a thought after playing a bit with this, I might make a suggestion to the construction of ships and ship parts.

Instead of large, individual boat/ship segments, layer ships in three or four specialized layers.

Starting from the bottom:

Keel layer.

- In shipbuilding, the keel of a vessel is considered to be its spine, allowing both the structure to be built around it and in some types, to serve as a hydrodynamic 'fin' of sorts. It can also act as a point of weight on the hull, improving balance and preventing capsizing. While modern shipbuilding methods have turned to prefabbed hull section in large chunks, weight distribution can still be enforced and massive physical weights lined down near the keel itself to keep a vessel balanced. In KSP, a part's mass is centered on the part, or specifically placed, so giant prefab sections are actually not very stable, leading to your implementation of outriggers.

I suggest the implementation of 'keel' parts that are snapped together the way your main clipper hulls are put together now. Low buoyancy and high mass, but narrow with nodes on top for laying other parts..

Hull Layer:

- Your 'main' parts can be converted to this with some modifications. Hull parts clip onto the keel parts to create the tub-shape design of a ship and make it float upright. The modification is to uncap the top of them (remove the deck) and make the parts physically hollow. In doing so, equipment such as fuel tanks, cargo pods, and various machinery can be placed into the hull of the ship, instead of on top of it, keeping the center of gravity low, and the vessel stable in the water. Said hull parts would have a 'floating' connect node over the open middle part, that way the next part type can be snapped to the top of them to seal them up (or not, depends on your preference.)

Deck Layer:

- Instead of a big hull 'chunk', a deck layer would just be the lid to put on your hulls. They would connect directly to the floating nodes over hull parts to create the solid surface on the top of the ship. Like the current setup for this mod, the deck would still have its nodes, allowing the player to stack more pods onto the ship, increasing its cargo capacity. Or, with something like opening decks, clever use of KAS, and some patience, an entire cargo dock and crane setup could be employed.

Either way, I think customizability would improve, and vessel design would look more like real world designs, since now fuel doesn't have to be PART of the hull part (clipper fuel hull), but placed strategically inside the hull, same with cargo pods, etc.

Incidentally, I tested a design that had a hull loaded down with 1300 TONS of metal in a cargo container on the deck. Either physics acceleration hates that level of mass, or KSP just hates 1300 metric tons of mass on a vessel, period.

[Fengist]

As a thought after playing a bit with this, I might make a suggestion to the construction of ships and ship parts.

Instead of large, individual boat/ship segments, layer ships in three or four specialized layers.

Starting from the bottom:

Keel layer.

- In shipbuilding, the keel of a vessel is considered to be its spine, allowing both the structure to be built around it and in some types, to serve as a hydrodynamic 'fin' of sorts. It can also act as a point of weight on the hull, improving balance and preventing capsizing. While modern shipbuilding methods have turned to prefabbed hull section in large chunks, weight distribution can still be enforced and massive physical weights lined down near the keel itself to keep a vessel balanced. In KSP, a part's mass is centered on the part, or specifically placed, so giant prefab sections are actually not very stable, leading to your implementation of outriggers.

Ah hah! Someone else who thinks like a human and not a member of Squad. Not to worry, I made that same mistake when I first started modding. Allow me to demonstrate Squad's IMPROVED laws of physics:

I suggest the implementation of 'keel' parts that are snapped together the way your main clipper hulls are put together now. Low buoyancy and high mass, but narrow with nodes on top for laying other parts..

So, for your keel idea. While it would add mass, it wouldn't add a balancing effect even on a flat bottomed hull. What it WOULD do, is increase the drag to the point that you'd only be moving at 3-4m/s

Hull Layer:

- Your 'main' parts can be converted to this with some modifications. Hull parts clip onto the keel parts to create the tub-shape design of a ship and make it float upright. The modification is to uncap the top of them (remove the deck) and make the parts physically hollow. In doing so, equipment such as fuel tanks, cargo pods, and various machinery can be placed into the hull of the ship, instead of on top of it, keeping the center of gravity low, and the vessel stable in the water. Said hull parts would have a 'floating' connect node over the open middle part, that way the next part type can be snapped to the top of them to seal them up (or not, depends on your preference.)

Problems:

• Any mass below the surface adds drag.
  
• Any part node that comes into contact with the surface is checked for breakage.
  

So, putting cargo inside hulls, until collision checks and reduced mass on water can be fixed will only result in drag and explosions. Sorry.

Deck Layer:

- Instead of a big hull 'chunk', a deck layer would just be the lid to put on your hulls. They would connect directly to the floating nodes over hull parts to create the solid surface on the top of the ship. Like the current setup for this mod, the deck would still have its nodes, allowing the player to stack more pods onto the ship, increasing its cargo capacity. Or, with something like opening decks, clever use of KAS, and some patience, an entire cargo dock and crane setup could be employed.

In coming up with ideas for this mod, I think we're on the same track. I actually tested cargo containers using a crane built with Infernal Robotics and KAS. The containers had docking ports on them so they could be stacked. I even designed a rack system to store them in when placing them on the deck didn't work.

I'll say this. I haven't completely given up on the idea but currently, those parts are in the junkyard. When KAS attaches to a part, docked or undocked, trying to dock what's on the end of a KAS winch becomes nearly impossible.

Either way, I think customizability would improve, and vessel design would look more like real world designs, since now fuel doesn't have to be PART of the hull part (clipper fuel hull), but placed strategically inside the hull, same with cargo pods, etc.

As it stands now, there are 6 basic hull parts and already I have the first complaint about the memory usage of this mod (I'll be working on that). What you're suggesting is... I think... tripling the number of parts... textures... memory.... etc.

While I don't disagree with you on any part of this. I'd love to be able to put out a pack that allows that level of customization, the first hurdle to overcome would be part count/textures. The second hurdle, I'm working on. I've been modding now for just over 3 months. When I first came up with this idea, planning for 6 months down the road was NOT even considered as I honestly didn't think this mod would.... float.

Hopefully, I've managed to explain why developing this mod is an ongoing headache. I keep trying to think like a human when making these parts. I should instead be thinking like a member of Squad and, after months now of studying their thought process, I'm still not sure how to do that.

Incidentally, I tested a design that had a hull loaded down with 1300 TONS of metal in a cargo container on the deck. Either physics acceleration hates that level of mass, or KSP just hates 1300 metric tons of mass on a vessel, period.

Both. More than anything, it's the fact that it's 1300 metric tons on a vessel that's sitting on Squad water.

But... the upcoming code that Dice is working on... he floated nearly 500 tons with 0 issues. So, here's hoping.

[smjjames]

You may have missed my question earlier. Fengist, do either you or Infinite Dice know anything about the water simulation in Unity 5.2? I'm not hoping for a very realistic water simulation in 1.1, but I'm sure whatever basic package that's in Unity 5.2 will be improved over whatever basic package (or whatever they did) that SQUAD used.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

I get it Fengist. Though with the engine update on the way, it might be prudent to start prepping parts now and have them ready to slap code to.

Also, it wasn't 1300 tons in Squad water, it was 1300 metric tons sitting on a series of track wheels on the runway... That I was moving towards the water. (Why do you think I was using physics acceleration in the first place? Tracks are slow.) The Unity engine itself seemed not to like it. Lost control of my buttons and keyboard commands and had to force-kill the program.

And what was Dice working on, the Better Bouyancy mod? I've got I think the Dev Build of that installed.

EDIT: Nope, that's Ferram. Do we have a link floating around? Or is this modder dev chatter?

Edited September 15, 2015 by AdmiralTigerclaw

[EdusacconBR]

since you will take over boat parts can you do a ship like the nimitz ones?

(may not that big, just shaped like that )

[Fengist]

I get it Fengist. Though with the engine update on the way, it might be prudent to start prepping parts now and have them ready to slap code to.

Also, it wasn't 1300 tons in Squad water, it was 1300 metric tons sitting on a series of track wheels on the runway... That I was moving towards the water. (Why do you think I was using physics acceleration in the first place? Tracks are slow.) The Unity engine itself seemed not to like it. Lost control of my buttons and keyboard commands and had to force-kill the program.

And what was Dice working on, the Better Bouyancy mod? I've got I think the Dev Build of that installed.

EDIT: Nope, that's Ferram. Do we have a link floating around? Or is this modder dev chatter?

Nope, only Dice and I have a copy of what he's working on. But, I made the video below to show you where the thought process is going. Some things to keep in mind when viewing this:

• This is merely a proof of concept. It's still in the very early stages.
  
• The 'boxes' you see won't be in the final product. This is just so we have a visual reference while in development.
  
• Many things are not yet working as they should. While linear drag is something we can set, drag when at an angle doesn't exist yet. So, turning vessels doesn't work well, which is why this video is all straight line sailing.
  
• Many of the things you see in the GUI won't be adjustable via the GUI but will be via the config.
  
• There are other options in the config that you don't see on the gui.
  
• No, we have no idea as to when. Dice is doing this in his spare time.
  
• We have not tested this with tweakscale. While it does work on parts ranging from my clippers to Dice's carrier I won't make any promises that we'll even test it with tweakscale. I know you guys want big boats but to me, tweakscale is like a band-aid.
  

- - - Updated - - -

since you will take over boat parts can you do a ship like the nimitz ones?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/CVN-69-SPIE-training.jpg

(may not that big, just shaped like that )

I'll put it this way. Dice has carrier parts in his pack and we'll get those working. He has no plans to expand that any further. I have no plans to expand that any further. If you can take his parts and make a Nimitz, then yes. If you can't, then no.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Fengist

[smjjames]

Are you ignoring my question or something? If you don't know, then okay, just say you don't know.

[Fengist]

You may have missed my question earlier. Fengist, do either you or Infinite Dice know anything about the water simulation in Unity 5.2? I'm not hoping for a very realistic water simulation in 1.1, but I'm sure whatever basic package that's in Unity 5.2 will be improved over whatever basic package (or whatever they did) that SQUAD used.

Ah sorry, you know I don't ignore you typically. Just saw the question and forgot to answer.

I'm currently working with Unity 5.1 and am writing code using the 5.1 dll's. AFAIK, there are no changes to the way the code works, merely changes in the way it's accessed. It means, a lot of mods that are written prior to 5.1, should the modder upgrade, will find they have to rewrite large chunks of their code.

I'm pretty sure though that the way water works in KSP is the result of Squad's coding. I've seen other aquatic games/sims written in Unity and their water is nothing like KSP.

So, if there's going to be any changes, it'll be because Squad either wants to change it or has to change it.