[0.15, PARTS] Mk2 Stock Parts (Alpha 0.2 "Released")

[RC1062]

Very nice! I shall be using these as \'stock\' for my control freak nature.

Any plans for testing before releases? (\'Cause I would be more than willing to test these crazy-awesome parts! )

[Thobewill10]

I\'ll attach the two 'done' ones

Balancing help greatly appreciated. I\'m currently testing interplanetary missions (transferring into a lower orbit and then transferring back up)

In other news:

I really like the look of that

I\'m also looking in to using the glowy particles that mechjeb emits as an exhaust, since, frankly, none of the available particle effects work.

And I STILL need to figure out emissive effects.

Tomorrow i\'ll texture up the 1mx0.5 m tank, and maybe model up something else, like a VASIMR ion engine which would have more thrust but a higher burn rate. I\'ll see about using the Variable Engines and the electrical power together, now that we have the ability to define multiple part modules.

Then maybe i\'ll make some power-generating things, like a nuclear reactor, which would be heavy, but provide far more power than solar panels, which I can hopefully make foldable.

Damn this is ambitious for a first time modder

[sal_vager]

It looks like I have to post, as I have set this to follow your thread and it doesn\'t seem to be working.

These parts look great, and it\'s interesting that you are balancing them against stock, even the look is spot on, so I may add these to my stock install along with other essentials like Tosh\'s carts.

I read elsewhere that the current stock parts are placeholders though, and are likely to change at some point, their statistics especially were hastily thrown together.

[Thobewill10]

It looks like I have to post, as I have set this to follow your thread and it doesn\'t seem to be working.

These parts look great, and it\'s interesting that you are balancing them against stock, even the look is spot on, so I may add these to my stock install along with other essentials like Tosh\'s carts.

I read elsewhere that the current stock parts are placeholders though, and are likely to change at some point, their statistics especially were hastily thrown together.

Well thanks for the compliments, and I am aware that the stock parts are placeholders, but I don\'t think that the visual style will be changing anytime soon, even if the balance does. I\'ll rebalance them when I need to, if I need to.

Again, though, thanks. It really means a lot to me.

[Thobewill10]

Okay, progress report.

The ion engine packaged above is officially way OP. Multiply the burn rate by like 10.

Currently its stats are

Thrust = 3 (way too much by irl standards, but for playability purposes)

Burn rate (adjusted) = 0.1 (up from 0.01)

Mass = 0.5

I\'m actually going to just go right into the plugin part as early as possible, mostly using what others have done. I\'ll have a prototype ion engine thing going in the next two hours, hopefully.

[thorfinn]

wrt the effects for the ion engine: have a look at

As for balancing, consider that a 'ion engine' that doesn\'t need to thrust for days on end is ultra overpowered by definition

[RC1062]

Testing under way. Achieved Munar intercept. I actually left the screen as the intercept popped up, so it allows you to make the transfer precise.

Got to go, will continue testing tomorrow!

*EDIT* I can up warp with the engine on full. I know that isn\'t the mod but it is quite funny. In case anyone is interested it won\'t speed up the fuel usage or transfer.

[sal_vager]

Frankly I am amazed at how fast you work, are you sure you won\'t have this pack finished by the end of the week?

As a mostly stock pilot, I can definitely see your parts along side the current stock parts, and that is just with the few things you have shown us so far.

You mentioned earlier you were having trouble with emissive effects, NovaSilisko mentions here that normal maps and heat maps can\'t both be on the same part at the same time, and it looks like it was never resolved.

Also that brain spark freaked me out, it\'d be just fine as an engine effect though.

[Thobewill10]

As for balancing, consider that a 'ion engine' that doesn\'t need to thrust for days on end is ultra overpowered by definition

I\'m aware of that, and I\'m disregarding realism with respect to that in exchange for playability. Now you only need to thrust for 30 min-5 hours, depending where\' you\'re going.

[Thobewill10]

Frankly I am amazed at how fast you work, are you sure you won\'t have this pack finished by the end of the week?

As a mostly stock pilot, I can definitely see your parts along side the current stock parts, and that is just with the few things you have shown us so far.

You mentioned earlier you were having trouble with emissive effects, NovaSilisko mentions here that normal maps and heat maps can\'t both be on the same part at the same time, and it looks like it was never resolved.

Also that brain spark freaked me out, it\'d be just fine as an engine effect though.

I don\'t have normal maps, so that should work out. I just don\'t know how to do the emissive animations in the first place.

As for my working speed, I have no life, and it\'s summer break. I\'m a pretty fast learner, so while the first UV mapping and texturing might take forever, I\'ve already got the hang of it. Modelling takes less than an hour per part--that\'s the easy part. Then I have to UV unwrap and texture, which is ~3 hours. Then I have to set up the part in unity and export, taking another 20 minutes. Then I just test.

Currently getting the xenon fuel type set up, then I\'ll use the powertech solar panels which turn toward the sun and calculate efficiency based on distance. I wonder if I should make the Xe tanks double as batteries, or whether i should just model a different, simple battery part.

[RC1062]

You could do the same but texture a battery in the place of the tanks.

That way everything will continue to have the same feel.

[Thobewill10]

I\'m thinking just a small disc, nothing more than a cylinder, like the old C7 OP fuel tank. Probably 1m x 0.5 m, though. It\'d have to store charge for when the ion engine is behind a planet, so it needs a somewhat sizable capacity. It should probably be quite dense as well.

[sal_vager]

The description for many parts say they were found by the side of the road, and there is a distinctly low tech feeling to much of Kerbal technology, so I wouldn\'t be surprised if Kerbals just used a rack of car batteries for their power storage.

Maybe a part about the size of the RCS tank, but with batteries and jumper cables visible from the sides would be most fitting?

[Thobewill10]

Well, I tried the batteries and jumper cables, but i ended up scrapping that. It didn\'t seem very much like the simpler designs of the other stock parts.

That said, car batteries in a rack was definitely my inspiration for this battery

UV mapping time!

[Thobewill10]

Done texturing the battery.

[Thobewill10]

Fuel types all set up

Screenshot time!

The Launch:

Aboard the Gamma IV Heavy:

Boosters jettisoned

Circularized @100K

Solar Explorer III decoupled

Panels deploying

Life force

Side shot, showing all the components

This is still in heavy need of balancing, though.

The battery can only take a 5 minute burn, and if you run it down all the way, it ceases to function (a limitation of the MuMech chaps).

[sal_vager]

Looks good Thobewill10, they are 'battery like' and suit your other parts well

There is supposed to be provision for refuelling and different fuel types in the new module system so you may have to look into that instead of MuMech.

Also I don\'t know what to suggest when it comes to balancing, I know the three pre 0.15 engines all have the same fuel usage depending on their power and only the weight changed on the lander engine, but Ion drives are known for far greater efficiency at the cost of piddly thrust, if I just keep halving the thrust and drain of the LV-T30 I get a burn rate of 0.125 at a thrust of 3, that would put your Ion drive in line with stock but you\'ll have to see how it feels in use.

[RC1062]

Fuel types all set up

Screenshot time!

The Launch:

Aboard the Gamma IV Heavy:

Boosters jettisoned

Circularized @100K

Solar Explorer III decoupled

Panels deploying

Life force

Side shot, showing all the components

This is still in heavy need of balancing, though.

The battery can only take a 5 minute burn, and if you run it down all the way, it ceases to function (a limitation of the MuMech chaps).

Are those panels your own?!

You are a crazy quick worker.

[willow]

This looks awesome, do you think it is possible to add rcs thrusters that use the same fuel your ion engine uses?

I like the idea that a ship slowly recharges it\'s fuel over time.

[RC1062]

This looks awesome, do you think it is possible to add rcs thrusters that use the same fuel your ion engine uses?

I like the idea that a ship slowly recharges it\'s fuel over time.

It only recharges the energy over time. The idea being that you need a small quantity of propellant and energy, but you can get that energy from the sun.

[Alchemist]

The panels are DynaVolt K30

[Thobewill10]

Yeah. I\'ll maybe eventually make my own panels, but as Alchemist said, the DynaVolt (by Maraz) panels are what you see there. I have to learn animation before I do that. Should have mentioned that earlier.

OKAY then. sal_vager, thanks for those numbers. That\'s around what I have now. I have it currently set up so Xenon burns at a rate 1/4 that of energy. Even with the panels facing the sun, you still can\'t run it on full for more than 20 minutes. The whole assembly will last for 80 minutes of continuous full thrust, which I think is more than enough to go places, but I\'m not sure about that.

I\'ll also look into different fuel types in the new part module system. It\'d be nice to have as few plugins as possible.

On today\'s (possible) agenda: the 1*0.5 m Xenon tank (capable of 40 minutes of sustained burn time), a nuclear reactor (heavy, but provides continuous energy and doesn\'t require a battery), a VASIMR engine (higher thrust, needs more energy) and maybe external xenon tanks. I have to study for SAT-II\'s at some point, but that shouldn\'t take long.

Other ideas and suggestions (especially with regard to balance) welcome, as always.

And finally, here\'s the sum total of yesterday\'s work. I\'m bundling the DynaVolt panels with this for now, for ease of use. They look amazing and do the job. Also included: Battery, Xenon Tank, and Ion Engine, and the three .dll\'s i\'m currently using (Powertech, MuMechLib, and Powertech_mumech)...

That\'s all, folks. Thanks for the support thus far, especially sal_vager and and RC1062.

To install, as always, extract this folder and put 'Parts' and 'Plugins' in your KSP 0.15 directory, merging with the default files. The plugins are the latest available versions of each.

[Jon Tash]

Awesome parts you have there. I tested it a little and everything works fine. I\'ve being waiting for something like this.

Right now I have a mission to go to Munar orbit with your parts and it\'s taking very looooooong but it\'s fun! =P

[Thobewill10]

Awesome parts you have there. I tested it a little and everything works fine. I\'ve being waiting for something like this.

Right now I have a mission to go to Munar orbit with your parts and it\'s taking very looooooong but it\'s fun! =P

Awesome, man. Glad to see you like it!

In other news:

[Thobewill10]

Currently doing interplanetary testing with this ship

After that\'s complete, I\'ll get to work on the higher-thrust, yet more energy-intensive VASIMR engine and a nuclear reactor to provide it with that energy. It\'ll burn energy 10x faster than the other ion engine, but also have 5x more thrust. It\'ll still run off of xenon fuel, which it will burn faster as well.